Month: July 2011

Apparently John Brennan, President Obama’s counter-terrorism advisor, told the public last month that zero (that’s right, zero) civilian casualties have occurred as a result of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan. For anyone reading Antiwar.com on anything close to a regular basis, this is one of the most shameful and blatant lies the Obama White House has uttered.

There are some updated estimations on civilian deaths from drones in Pakistan, thankfully…

ACLU blog:

Zero civilian casualties — during a period when there were more than 100 CIA drone strikes — sounded almost too good to be true. As it turns out, it was. According to a new report from the UK’s award–winningBureau of Investigative Journalism, released last night, at least 45 civilians were killed in 10 strikes since August 2010. Among these, the Bureau reports that it has identified, by name, six children killed in drone strikes. More civilians are likely to have been killed in an additional 15 strikes for which precise information is not available.

There is also Noor Behram – who has been on the ground in Pakistan counting the dead himself – and his estimations of innocents killed:

“For every 10 to 15 people killed, maybe they get one militant,” he said. “I don’t go to count how many Taliban are killed. I go to count how many children, women, innocent people, are killed.”

[…] Noor Behram has managed to reach 60 [drone strike sites], in both North and South Waziristan, in which he estimates more than 600 people were killed.

I can find neither the reports of on-the-ground estimates nor of the fact that Obama is absurdly lying about this issue on any of the headlines in the mainstream American media.

George Washington University Law School professor Dan Solove, author of Nothing to Hide: the False Tradeoff between Privacy and Security is interviewed by the ACLU.

On his book:

We’ve all heard the argument that “people shouldn’t worry about government surveillance if they have nothing to hide.” Or the argument that “in times of crisis, we must trade privacy and liberty for greater security.” The book responds to these arguments, exposes their false premises, and corrects myths about how the law protects privacy.

On what should have been asked post 9/11:

Do you want the NSA to engage in surveillance in the war on terrorism without a warrant, probable cause, or any judicial oversight or do you prefer the NSA to engage in such surveillance with a warrant, probable cause, or some form of judicial oversight?

On free speech:

When government power chills speech, it doesn’t just affect the speaker but all of society. We have less robust speech and fewer perspectives. A precedent is set that can chill speech by many others in the future.

Israeli naval commandos forcefully boarded another Gaza aid boat, diverting it to the Israeli port of Ashod:

“Now, the activists are held in a building in the port where they are going through various interviews. Their boat is going to be thoroughly checked for weapons and cargo, which the Greek captain said he did not have on board.

[…] “This ‘little’ boat symbolises the determination of the international solidarity movement to break the blockade on Gaza and express its support for the 1.6 million Palestinians imprisoned there since 2007,” a statement released from the boat said.

Yes, the aim of the people on this boat was the same as previous Gaza-bound flotillas: to provide much needed aid to people that are suffering…a malicious pursuit if there ever was one.

Meanwhile, Jonah Goldberg points to a poll claiming that 60% of Palestinians reject a two state solution (among other cruel absurdities) and plays down the importance of the settlement issue, sarcastically titling the post “Nothing a Settlement Freeze Won’t Fix, Right?” What is really important, if one is to construct these kinds of arguments, is to completely ignore three important things.

1. Most polls show overwhelming majorities of Palestinians supporting a two state solution and opposing suicide bombings in Israel. Both the PLO as well as Hamas – the two authorities that officially represent the Palestinians – have consistently voiced support for the two state solution provided Israel freeze settlements which are illegal in any case. (The conductors of the poll Goldberg points to have distorted things before.)
2. This has remained the demonstrable consensus despite uninterrupted confiscation of Palestinian land, ceaseless settlement construction, abusive military occupation, and unrelenting military attacks on innocent Palestinians.
3. Both the actions of the Israeli government as well as official statements of policy show that the established Israeli position is to reject the two state solution and to use disproportionate violence against civilians in order to achieve this political aim (precisely what Goldberg’s poll condemns the Palestinians for preferring).

So while Israel continues to deny Palestinians the sovereignty and security the Israelis demand for themselves, to misrepresent the preferences of the Palestinian people, and to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza by invoking false claims of malicious intent, the U.S. government is continuing to follow in lock step, most recently with this attempt to strip foreign aid if Palestine seeks U.N. recognition. And Goldberg still believes Palestinians are the malicious ones.

The security situation in northern Nigeria continues to deteriorate as Boko Haram steps up its attacks. Boko Haram is a militant, Islamist group calling for the imposition of Shariah law. The name, Boko Haram, translates into “Western education is a sin.” The name comes from the fierce opposition that Boko Haram members have to western education, which they see as corrupting Nigeria.

With the hot, Nigerian summer has come a new barrage of attacks. The governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima, has pled with the radical sect to stop its assault,

“Once again, I wish to beseech my brothers in the Jama’atul ahlul sunnah lidda’awati wal jihad to lay down their arms and come and dialogue with us, for indeed this is the only way we can move our beleaguered state forward.”

As a result of Boko Haram’s attacks on anything from churches to restaurants to police and government offices, thousands are fleeing the northern city of Maiduguri out of fear for their lives. Boko Haram is not the only culprit, however. The infamous Joint Task Force, a part of the Nigerian security apparatus, has been accused of waging a brutal and irresponsible crackdown on Boko Haram. The Task Force has shown very little restraint or professionalism, which has resulted in countless incidents of random killings, rapes, and detention without cause.

While Boko Haram has limited itself to attacking northern Nigeria, the possibility remains that the group could attack central and southern Nigeria, which is home to a majority of the country’s Christians, in order to fulfill its plan of ousting any western influence. The prospect of inter-religious conflict looms large, especially when considering the carnage left behind from the 2010 Jos riots.

Additionally, Nigeria is consistently the fourth or fifth largest importer of crude to the United States. The security situation is undoubtedly being watched closely by the United States because of the sheer volume of oil Nigeria provides the United States, and any attack on oil infrastructure is likely to warrant some type of response. As of now, however, Boko Haram has been unwilling to attack anywhere near the Niger Delta, which is where all of the oil is located.

America has seen what happens when an oil producing country is “disturbed” by Muslim radicals. Could Nigeria be just another front in the multifaceted War-on-a-war-tactic? Only time will tell.

Listen to Antiwar.com’s Development Director Angela Keaton on Ernest Hancock’s radio show Declare Your Independence. She will talk about the antiwar movement, ComeHomeAmerica.US, and the open letter to Obama and Congress urging them to “redirect U.S. foreign policy down the pathways of peace, liberty, justice, respect for community, obedience to the rule of law and fiscal responsibility.”

Find it streaming here at 4PM PT/7PM ET