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Only 2 Countries Have Not Joined the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child: South Sudan and…United States

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An international agreement created to better protect children from abuse and exploitation has been embraced by all of the world’s nations except two.<br />
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One the holdouts is still very young as a nation, having only gained its independence four years ago: South Sudan.<br />
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The other outcast doesn’t have this excuse, given its nationhood started about 230 years ago: the United States.<br />
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The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which protects and promotes the rights of children everywhere, has been around since 1990.<br />
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The U.S. was heavily involved in drafting the CRC under the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, and did sign it in 1995. However, President Bill Clinton never submitted it to the U.S. Senate, which must approve it with a two-thirds majority vote before the president can ratify it.<br />
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George W. Bush also did not ask the Senate to ratify it.<br />
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Nor did President Barack Obama, who, during his 2008 presidential campaign, said of the CRC, “It is embarrassing that the U.S. is in the company of Somalia, a lawless land. If I become president, I will review this and other human rights treaties.”<br />
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Obama still hasn’t sent the treaty to the Senate, while Somalia ratified it last week.<br />
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Supporters of the CRC say it’s unlikely the U.S. will ratify it anytime soon, given that Republicans—who have previously expressed opposition to the treaty and often reject ideas coming out of the United Nations—are in charge of the Senate now.<br />
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The basis for U.S. conservatives’ opposition to the CRC is twofold, according to Meg Gardinier, chair of the Campaign for U.S. Ratification of the CRC. One is their stock position that U.S. ratification of international human rights treaties will weaken U.S. sovereignty. The other is their stated belief that being a party to the treaty will undermine the role of American parents in raising their children.<br />
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The treaty is “not meant to set children against parents,” countered Gardinier in an interview with the Inter Press Service. “It is the Campaign’s conviction that the CRC protects children, preserves and strengthens families and is unquestionably improving the lives of children.”<br />
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“The U.S. cannot credibly encourage other nations to embrace human rights for children if it fails to embrace these norms,” she added.<br />
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South Sudan, meanwhile, has passed a bill for the ratification of the treaty. If that happens, the U.S. will stand alone in the world in opposing children’s rights for all nations.<br />
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Source:<br />
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/only-2-countries-have-not-joined-the-un-convention-of-the-rights-of-the-child-south-sudan-andunited-states-150127?news=855492" target="_blank">http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/only-2-countries-have-not-joined-the-un-convention-of-the-rights-of-the-child-south-sudan-andunited-states-150127?news=855492</a><br />
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Only 2 Countries Have Not Joined the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child: South Sudan and…United States

An international agreement created to better protect children from abuse and exploitation has been embraced by all of the world’s nation...

Friday, June 30, 2017

Half a Century of Pain – 50 Years of Agent Orange Disaster in Vietnam – 1961-2011

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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "geneva" , sans-serif;">A selection of images from the book </span><em style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;">Half a Century of Pain – 50 Years of Agent Orange Disaster in Vietnam – 1961-2011</em><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "geneva" , sans-serif;">, published by the Ministry of Information and Communication of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "geneva" , sans-serif;">Click here to view images: </span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "geneva" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.cpa.org.au/photos/half-a-century-of-pain/index.htm" target="_blank">http://www.cpa.org.au/photos/half-a-century-of-pain/index.htm</a> </span><br />
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Half a Century of Pain – 50 Years of Agent Orange Disaster in Vietnam – 1961-2011

A selection of images from the book Half a Century of Pain – 50 Years of Agent Orange Disaster in Vietnam – 1961-2011 , published by th...

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Untold Story of Hurricane Katrina (USA): Blackwater, White Militias & Community Empowerment

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special coverage dedicated to the ninth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, discussing the military response to the humanitarian disaster and why Blackwater mercenary forces were sent in to New Orleans as first responders. <br />
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Abby then speaks with Ward “Mack” McClendon, founder of the Lower Ninth Ward Village, a community center that served as one of the only sanctuaries for adults and children of the Lower Ninth Ward, the area hardest hit by Katrina about his experience with the storm and how he is revitalizing his community. BTS wraps up the show with an interview with two co-founders of Common Ground Collective, Malik Rahim and Scott Crow, about the white militias that patrolled the Algiers Point neighborhood and killed as many as 11 black people in the aftermath of the storm.<br />
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Untold Story of Hurricane Katrina (USA): Blackwater, White Militias & Community Empowerment

special coverage dedicated to the ninth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, discussing the military response to the humanitarian disaster a...

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Will Donald Trump Ever Be Interested In the Death of a Muslim?

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by Dean Obeidallah<br />
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Nabra Hassanen, 17, was known as a “really nice girl” who "always talked with a smile."   Like millions of other American Muslims, this hijab-wearing young woman was observing the month of Ramadan. In fact, very early Sunday morning she was doing what so many Muslims do during Ramadan, which requires fasting from sunrise to sunset: She was eating breakfast before sunrise and then heading to the mosque to pray.<br />
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But that’s where Hassanen’s story differs from others. While walking with her teenage friends toward the mosque after eating a nearby IHOP, she was confronted by a motorist who jumped out of his car and began swinging a baseball bat at this group of hijab-wearing teenagers.  The girls ran for safety but soon they noticed that Hassanen was not with them.  That’s when the authorities were contacted.<br />
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Tragically on Sunday afternoon what was believed to be Hassanen’s lifeless body was located in a nearby pond.  Hassanen’s mother stated that the police told her that her daughter “was struck with a metal bat.”   As Loudoun County Sheriff Michael L. Chapman remarked, “I can’t think of a worse instance to occur than the loss of a 17-year-old on Father’s Day, as the father of a 17-year-old myself.”<br />
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More ..<br />
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<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/will-donald-trump-ever-be-interested-in-the-death-of-a-muslim" target="_blank">http://www.thedailybeast.com/will-donald-trump-ever-be-interested-in-the-death-of-a-muslim</a><br />
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Will Donald Trump Ever Be Interested In the Death of a Muslim?

by Dean Obeidallah Nabra Hassanen, 17, was known as a “really nice girl” who "always talked with a smile." Like millions o...

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Man sets fire to memorial for Muslim girl, 17, who was 'beaten to death by Terrorist - Virginia USA

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On Tuesday night, Washington D.C. residents held a vigil at the city's Dupont Circle to pay respects and grieve for the 17-year-old Muslim girl (Virginia teenager Nabra Hassanen.) who was fatally beaten this weekend as she walked back to her mosque.<br />
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But on Wednesday morning, the New York Daily News says Jonathan Solomon, a 24-year-old from South Carolina was arrested just after 10am on suspicion of kindling a bonfire at the site.<br />
Pictures from the memorial show some flowers were burned along with some memorial placards<br />
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more ..<br />
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<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4626784/Man-sets-fire-memorial-Muslim-girl-beaten-death.html" target="_blank">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4626784/Man-sets-fire-memorial-Muslim-girl-beaten-death.html</a><br />
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Man sets fire to memorial for Muslim girl, 17, who was 'beaten to death by Terrorist - Virginia USA

On Tuesday night, Washington D.C. residents held a vigil at the city's Dupont Circle to pay respects and grieve for the 17-year-old ...

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Virginia (USA) - Muslim girl found dead near mosque - Terror Suspect in Custody

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Police in the US state of Virginia have found the remains believed to be of a 17-year-old Muslim girl who was assaulted near a mosque before disappearing.</div>
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The teenager, identified as Nabra Hussein, was walking with friends when they got into a dispute with a driver in Herndon, police said.</div>
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The man left the car and assaulted the girl, they said. She then disappeared.</div>
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A 22-year-old suspect has been arrested and charged with murder.</div>
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The reason for the attack was still unknown, but police said it "appears to be the result of a road rage incident".</div>
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"Our investigation at this point in no way indicates the victim was targeted because of her race or religion", the Fairfax County Police Department said in a statement.</div>
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More .. </div>
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<span style="font-size: 1rem;">During the search, which included a helicopter, police said they stopped a car driving suspiciously in the area, and took the driver, identified as Darwin Martinez Torres, into custody.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Terrorist in custody ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 1rem;">More ..</span></div>
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<span style="color: #404040; font-family: "helmet" , "freesans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40323999" target="_blank">http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40323999</a></span></div>
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Virginia (USA) - Muslim girl found dead near mosque - Terror Suspect in Custody

Police in the US state of Virginia have found the remains believed to be of a 17-year-old Muslim girl who was assaulted near a mosque befo...

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Architects and Engineers: Solving the Mystery of Building 7 (911 USA)

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<a href="http://www.ae911truth.org/" target="_blank">http://www.ae911truth.org</a><br />
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<span class="watch-time-text" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;">Published on Feb 24, 2015</span></div>
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This is the original video that YouTube took down, without notice, on or about Feb 20, 2015 - which left the following notice for those who follow one of thousands of locations of the YouTube link out there on the internet:<br />
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<a class="yt-uix-sessionlink  " data-sessionlink="itct=CDIQ6TgYACITCLG48tPm0dQCFYHnnAodIAsIDCj4HQ" data-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZEvA8BCoBw" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZEvA8BCoBw" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZEvA...</a><br />
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"This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube's policy against spam, scams, and commercially deceptive content"<br />
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Which makes no sense whatsoever given the scientific evidence that this documentary sticks to. Of course we are appealing the action to the extent that we can and will take legal steps as well.<br />
The video had over a Million and a half views prior to be taken down.</div>
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Architects and Engineers: Solving the Mystery of Building 7 (911 USA)

http://www.ae911truth.org Published on Feb 24, 2015 This is the original video that YouTube took down, without notice, on or about ...

Thursday, June 22, 2017

The Men In Building 7 (WTC 911 Documentary)

The Men In Building 7 (WTC 911 Documentary)

The most taboo subject in corporate media history, 9/11. In the Salomon Brothers Building, also known as WTC Building 7, there was an eme...

Thursday, June 22, 2017

9/11 Firefighter Blows WTC 7 Cover Up Wide Open

9/11 Firefighter Blows WTC 7 Cover Up Wide Open

Infowars reporter Lee Ann McAdoo talks to Rudy Dent, 32 year veteran of NYC fire department and the NYPD, about his incredible first hand ...

Monday, May 01, 2017

Why Is Obama Still Killing Children?

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President Barack Obama closed his speech at last week’s National Prayer Breakfast with a prayer for forgiveness.<br />
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“I pray that my failings are forgiven,” Obama told the audience of spiritual leaders. “I pray that we will see every single child as our own, each worthy of our love and of our compassion. And I pray we answer Scripture’s call to lift up the vulnerable, and to stand up for justice, and ensure that every human being lives in dignity.”<br />
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Obama may find that asking for forgiveness is a lot easier than receiving it, at least in this life. Chief among the many things for which this president needs to be forgiven is his expansion of George W. Bush’s drone assassination program. According to reporting by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, thousands of civilians, including hundreds of children, have fallen victim to his preemptive drones strikes over the last seven years.<br />
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One person who will not forgive Obama is Nasser al-Awlaki. He is the grandfather of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a 16-year-old American citizen who was summarily executed in a 2011 drone strike as he sat in a cafe in Yemen. Abdulrahman was looking for his father, American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, who had already been assassinated by Obama two weeks earlier. U.S. officials would later concede that Abdulrahman’s killing was a case of mistaken identity.<br />
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“I cannot comprehend how my teenage grandson was killed by a Hellfire missile, how nothing was left of him except small pieces of flesh,” Nasser told Time magazine in October 2011.<br />
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“I urge the American people to … expose the hypocrisy of the 2009 Nobel (Peace) Prize laureate. To some, he may be that. To me and my family, he is nothing more than a child killer.”<br />
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Obama has tried to disguise his illegal drone program with the patina of legal legitimacy. Perhaps the most horrifying aspect of the drone program — aside from the serial child killing — is the normalization by the U.S. of extrajudicial assassination as an accepted practice under a tortured interpretation of constitutional due process and International law.<br />
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Obama first publicly acknowledged the pre-emptive first strike drone program during a May 2013 speech at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.<br />
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“America’s actions are legal,” Obama said. “We were attacked on 9/11. Within a week, Congress overwhelmingly authorized the use of force. … We are at war with an organization that right now would kill as many Americans as they could if we did not stop them first. So this is a just war — a war waged proportionally, in last resort, and in self-defense.”<br />
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This argument had previously been rejected by Christof Heyns, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, summary or arbitrary executions. “It’s difficult to see how any killings carried out in 2012 can be justified as in response to (events) in 2001,” Heyns told a conference in Geneva, Switzerland.<br />
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Read more: <a href="http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/why-obama-still-killing-children" target="_blank">http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/why-obama-still-killing-children</a> </div>

Why Is Obama Still Killing Children?

President Barack Obama closed his speech at last week’s National Prayer Breakfast with a prayer for forgiveness. “I pray that my faili...

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

US Muslims need to make a choice on who to vote for

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<br />
The choices for Muslims are as follows:<br />
<br />
Vote 1 : Vote for the party who will stab you from the back, while smiling at you from the front.<br />
<br />
Vote 2 : Vote for the party who will stab you from the front and will tell you they are going to do it before they do it.<br />
<br />
Either way it is murder.<br />
But the sheep think they are getting a good deal if they do not know.</div>

US Muslims need to make a choice on who to vote for

The choices for Muslims are as follows: Vote 1 : Vote for the party who will stab you from the back, while smiling at you from the fro...

Monday, February 29, 2016

David Duke of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) endorses Donald Trump

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<br />
<br />
<br />
Donald Trump said Monday he didn't disavow the endorsement of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke during a CNN interview because of a "lousy earpiece" — an answer that doesn't make much sense.<br />
<br />
Appearing on CNN on Sunday, Trump declined to condemn the support of Duke and other white supremacists. He referenced Duke specifically by name.<br />
<br />
Here's what Trump told CNN's Jake Tapper:<br />
<br />
<i>Honestly, I don't know David Duke. I don't believe I've ever met him. I'm pretty sure I didn't meet him. And I just don't know anything about him.</i><br />
<br />
After the interview, Trump wrote on Twitter that he did in fact disavow Duke. Appearing on NBC's Today show on Monday, he again reiterated his disavowal of Duke's endorsement — this time by blaming CNN for his initial comments:<br />
<br />
I'm sitting in a house in Florida with a very bad earpiece that they gave me, and you could hardly hear what he was saying. But what I heard was various groups, and I don't mind disavowing anybody, and I disavowed David Duke and I disavowed him the day before at a major news conference.<br />
<br />
Trump backs down from controversial Duke remarks<br />
<br />
It's worth pointing out that Trump's defense doesn't make any sense.<br />
<br />
It'd be one thing for Trump to say that he didn't want to disavow a group he hadn't heard of, and that he couldn't make out the name Tapper cited during the interview.<br />
<br />
But that's not what happened. If you look at the transcript from his comments on CNN, Trump clearly heard the subject matter at hand — "I don't know David Duke … I just don't know anything about him" — in a way that makes the "earpiece" defense transparently false.<br />
<br />
And clearly Trump knows David Duke. Back in August, Trump said he didn't want his endorsement.<br />
<br />
Read rest of article here: <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/2/29/11132876/donald-trump-kkk" target="_blank">http://www.vox.com/2016/2/29/11132876/donald-trump-kkk</a> </div>

David Duke of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) endorses Donald Trump

Donald Trump said Monday he didn't disavow the endorsement of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke during a CNN interview because...

Monday, February 29, 2016

90 Percent Of People Killed In Drone Strikes Were Not The Target

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<br />
U.S. drone strikes have killed scores of civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.<br />
<br />
The controversial U.S. drone strike program in the Middle East aims to pinpoint and kill terrorist leaders, but new documents indicate that a staggering number of these "targeted killings" affect far more people than just their targets.<br />
<br />
According to a new report from The Intercept, nearly 90 percent of people killed in recent drone strikes in Afghanistan "were not the intended targets" of the attacks.<br />
<br />
Documents detailing a special operations campaign in northeastern Afghanistan, Operation Haymaker, show that between January 2012 and February 2013, U.S. special operations airstrikes killed more than 200 people. Of those, only 35 were the intended targets. During one five-month period of the operation, according to the documents, nearly 90 percent of the people killed in airstrikes were not the intended targets. In Yemen and Somalia, where the U.S. has far more limited intelligence capabilities to confirm the people killed are the intended targets, the equivalent ratios may well be much worse.<br />
The report, compiled from classified documents released by a source in the intelligence community, corroborates the many news accounts of civilian deaths caused by drone strikes. U.S. drone strikes have killed scores of civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia since 2009.<br />
<br />
In December 2013, a drone strike in Yemen killed 14 people returning from a wedding. Government officials mistook their vehicles for those of al Qaeda militants. Parents in Pakistan have reported taking their children out of school to protect them from possible strikes.<br />
<br />
Read more: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/civilian-deaths-drone-strikes_us_561fafe2e4b028dd7ea6c4ff" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/civilian-deaths-drone-strikes_us_561fafe2e4b028dd7ea6c4ff </a><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>

90 Percent Of People Killed In Drone Strikes Were Not The Target

U.S. drone strikes have killed scores of civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. The controversial U.S. drone strike pr...

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Nevada Residents Fight Energy Monopoly's Attempts to Control Solar Power

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<br />
The Nevada Public Utilities Commission's (USA) two unassuming office buildings in Carson City and Las Vegas, usually only occupied by attorneys and engineers, are now the staging ground for a populist revolt against monopoly utility NV Energy, owned by billionaire Warren Buffett's multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway.<br />
<br />
Nevadans have turned out in force against new regulations enacted by the three-member commission that effectively wiped out the fastest growing residential solar market in the United States. This is not your run-of-the-mill environmentalist versus industry fight, with government cowering in the corner. This is a conflict that has brought people from all walks of life and all political leanings out in force. It is a struggle that defies categorization and ideology - a struggle that ultimately may decide the future of distributed, people-owned power throughout the nation.<br />
<br />
The people in Nevada are mad and they aren't going to take it anymore.<br />
<br />
Solar Access Under Attack    <br />
<br />
In December 2015, the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN), appointed by Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, voted to slash net metering credits and raise fixed fees on solar customers by 40 percent, making it prohibitively expensive for most Nevadans to go solar, and also making it uneconomical for the over 17,000 people who had already switched to solar power. Many solar rooftop companies shut down, hundreds of solar workers lost their jobs and homeowners are left with higher energy bills than if they would never have gone solar.<br />
<br />
Although many were caught off guard, Louise Helton, owner of the only woman-owned solar installation company in Las Vegas, 1 Sun Solar, wasn't surprised.<br />
<br />
"Solar is a political animal," Helton told Truthout. "It shouldn't be but it always has been."<br />
<br />
Read rest of story here: <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34937-nevada-residents-fight-energy-monopoly-s-attempts-to-control-solar-power" target="_blank">http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34937-nevada-residents-fight-energy-monopoly-s-attempts-to-control-solar-power</a><br />
<br />
<i>Conclusion: The Government is taking away our God given right for free sunshine and so another way to control our existence.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br /></div>

Nevada Residents Fight Energy Monopoly's Attempts to Control Solar Power

The Nevada Public Utilities Commission's (USA) two unassuming office buildings in Carson City and Las Vegas, usually only occupied b...

Thursday, February 25, 2016

MUSLIM WOMAN IN TEXAS TRAIN LOCAL POLICE OFFICERS ON CULTURAL SENSITIVITY

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<i><br /></i>
<i>It all happened after a Muslim woman threatened to sue the police department when they forcibly removed her hijab during her arrest.</i><br />
<br />
There’s a police officer in the room with me, and he’s shouting “You don’t know what you’re talking about, ma’am!”<br />
<br />
I tremble inwardly, but I don’t back down.<br />
<br />
In fact, I tell him: “I must ask you to sit in your seat, officer, and listen carefully to what I’m saying.”<br />
<br />
Yes, this really happened, and no, I wasn’t getting arrested. In fact I was training him and about a hundred other officers on cultural sensitivity.<br />
<br />
It all started when I got a phone call from a police officer in the Houston Police Department (HPD) one morning in 2011. He was an instructor at the police academy and he wanted to know if I would be willing to participate in a training program he was designing. It was a series of presentations by community leaders of minority groups, and they wanted me to present on Islam.<br />
<br />
He told me he’d been referred by someone who had been to some of my interfaith events. I am vocal in the Houston area for my interfaith programs and I frequently write for websites and newspapers about issues pertaining to Muslims.<br />
<br />
While I wasn’t a celebrity, I would often meet strangers in the mall who told me they’d come to one of my events. But this police training was to become a turning point for me in many ways, in the reach and exposure of my work and so much more.<br />
<br />
This was before the videos of police brutality became common, before the #BlackLivesMatter. I wondered why was the HPD wanted to train officers on cultural sensitivity now.<br />
<br />
The last diversity training had been years ago and since then the demographics of Houston had shifted tremendously. We’re now the fourth largest city in the nation, with a population growth of 5% between 2010 and 2013. Approximately 72% of Houstonians are native born (statistics from the City of Houston website).<br />
<br />
Bottom line: The police department realized that officers had to know how all residents think and feel and practice, not just a small minority.<br />
The final piece of the puzzle fit later. I learned as the months went on that a Muslim woman had threatened to sue the police department after they had forcibly removed her hijab during her arrest.<br />
<br />
As a proactive step, the HPD wanted to train their officers on dos and don’ts about Muslims, as well as African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and other minority groups.<br />
<br />
I agreed to the training, because it sounded really interesting and valuable. We had a grueling schedule of three weeks out of the month, every month, for a full year.<br />
<br />
Yes, it was that long and intensive because the HPD wanted every officer with at least one year of experience on the force to go through this training. That meant all officers at every level, including the chief of police.<br />
<br />
Over the next few weeks, I created my training materials, assembled my team (I needed a couple of other people to take over the classes when I wasn’t able to attend) and got ready to train more than 5,000 police officers.<br />
<br />
I had been told that I couldn’t teach about religion itself but about the cultural aspects of it: What a police officer could expect when he entered a Muslim home, stereotypes about Muslims, why we do certain things and don’t do others.<br />
<br />
I still remember my first session. I was shaking in my shoes, and my note cards were trembling because I couldn’t keep my hands still.<br />
<br />
It was a huge auditorium with about a hundred officers in uniform. I probably didn’t sound too confident or knowledgeable, as adrenaline rushed to my head.<br />
<br />
As time went on, the nervousness eased, and this year-long experience helped me develop my public speaking skills like nothing else could have.<br />
<br />
I probably taught my students a lot, but I also learned an immense amount.<br />
<br />
True, there were students like the police officer I mentioned earlier: rude, obstinate, convinced of the ugly lies Fox News was feeding them. But there were countless officers who listened carefully, made notes, and asked questions.<br />
<br />
They wanted to do a better job in dealing with the rapidly growing Muslim population in Houston (the largest in Texas by some accounts) and that gladdened my heart to no end. I wanted to make my city a more open place to live, somewhere I could wear my hijab without dirty glances or snide remarks. This was just one small step toward achieving that goal.<br />
<br />
I also learned that Houstonians — and possibly all Americans — have an immense curiosity about Muslims and Islam.<br />
At the start of each session, when I would introduce myself as a Pakistani American, born and bred in Pakistan, I was frequently asked probing questions about my life there.<br />
<br />
Most queries started with “I have heard…” or “is it true…?” The media presents very stereotypical images of Muslims, and doesn’t do a great job of portraying everyday Muslims doing ordinary average things.<br />
<br />
Americans often don’t know much about people living in the Middle East or Asia, the majority of the Muslim world.<br />
<br />
Often they don’t even know how their own American Muslim neighbors live, the Islamophobia we face every day and the ways we live and love American life.<br />
<br />
After my police training ended, and things became less hectic, I sat down to write. This time, instead of an op-ed or an academic paper, I turned to fiction. And so my short story collection Brick Walls: Tales of Hope & Courage from Pakistan was born.<br />
<br />
Thanks to the training sessions, I realized that there are issues I am well-positioned to address, questions I am well-equipped to answer.<br />
<br />
I can share my experiences, I can allow my stories to portray a culture and people the way they deserve to be portrayed: truthfully.<br />
<br />
My book is full of anguish and misery and pain. But it’s also full of hope and help and courageous people who struggle regardless of circumstance.<br />
<br />
It’s my way of showing Americans what the media isn’t telling them: Muslims are just ordinary human beings, with emotions and fears and weaknesses like them.<br />
<br />
Saadia Faruqi is the author of Brick Walls: Tales of Hope & Courage. This piece was previously published at xojane.com.</div>

MUSLIM WOMAN IN TEXAS TRAIN LOCAL POLICE OFFICERS ON CULTURAL SENSITIVITY

It all happened after a Muslim woman threatened to sue the police department when they forcibly removed her hijab during her arrest. T...

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Hijab a form of ‘passive terrorism,’ says US Air Force paper

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<br />
A US Air Force policy paper alleges that the hijab Muslim women wear as part of their religion represents a type of “passive terrorism.”<br />
<br />
Titled Countering Violent Extremism: Scientific Methods & Strategies, the publication has dedicated a chapter to unsubstantiated theories of radicalization, with scholarly merited articles written by academics and researchers in the field of counterterrorism, the Intercept reported Tuesday.<br />
<br />
One of the articles has set forth a number of bizarre solutions to overcome terrorism.<br />
<br />
It claims that “hijab contribute[s] to the idea of passive terrorism” and represents an implicit refusal to “speak against or actively resist terrorism.” However, its authors never make it clear how they have reached that conclusion.<br />
<br />
The article also argues that addressing the lack of sexual activity among young men is key to reducing support for militant groups.<br />
<br />
The strange assertions have drawn criticism from terrorism experts and academic figures, who dismiss them as baseless.<br />
<br />
“This characterization of the hijab demonizes millions of women whose reasons for covering have nothing to do with the advocacy of political violence,” says Arun Kundnani, a lecturer on terrorism studies at New York University.<br />
<br />
He said the paper’s theories of terrorism are not “genuine” and are rather a poor effort “to supply national security agencies with bogus surveillance rubrics.”<br />
<br />
Amarnath Amarasingam, a fellow at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, also rejected the theories.<br />
<br />
“There is virtually no evidence that sexual deprivation is somehow a cause of radicalization, or suicide attacks,” he said.<br />
<br />
Ingrid Mattson, a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Western Ontario, pointed out to the diverse array of women who choose to wear hijab, citing 2014 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai as an example.<br />
<br />
Yousafzai was the subject of a Taliban assassination attempt in northwest Pakistan after campaigning for women’s rights.<br />
<br />
The policy paper, first published in 2011, was reissued by the Air Force last summer, after President Barack Obama announced his national counter-extremism strategy. The revised copy was published online this January, by Public Intelligence, an open source research website.<br />
<br />
Sources:<br />
<a href="http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/24/452147/USAF-Hijab-Extremism" target="_blank">http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/02/24/452147/USAF-Hijab-Extremism</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/6-women-terrorists-wearing-hijab-202300514.html" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/6-women-terrorists-wearing-hijab-202300514.html</a><br />
<br /></div>

Hijab a form of ‘passive terrorism,’ says US Air Force paper

A US Air Force policy paper alleges that the hijab Muslim women wear as part of their religion represents a type of “passive terrorism.”...

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

WHY IS RE/MAX SELLING PROPERTIES IN ILLEGAL ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS?

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<br />
ISRAEL’S COLONIZATION OF Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank is widely recognized as a moral, legal, and political disaster for the peoples of the Middle East. Despite this, becoming a colonist in an Israeli settlement is relatively easy. In fact, it’s as easy as logging on to the website of the country’s local RE/MAX franchise and checking out the abundant housing listings in illegal colonies like Ariel, Ma’aleh Adumim, and Givat Ze’ev.<br />
<br />
Last month, Human Rights Watch released a report on corporations profiting from the military occupation of the West Bank. The sole American corporation identified in the report was RE/MAX, the Colorado-based real estate company whose name is synonymous with home buying in the United States. As noted in the report, titled “Occupation, Inc.,” as of November 2015 RE/MAX offered 80 properties for sale in 18 different settlements, with a combined value approaching $36,250,000.<br />
<br />
RE/MAX did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Intercept. In 2014, following criticism of its settlement listings from the left-wing activist group CODEPINK, RE/MAX released a statement claiming that it was not responsible for the actions of its Israeli franchisee, having sold its brand rights to Israeli businessman Bernard Raskin in 1995. But, according to Human Rights Watch, RE/MAX still earns financial benefits from its Israeli franchise operations in the form of broker fees, revenue, and annual dues. The company also maintains control of its brand name and promotional materials. It could potentially withdraw these privileges from any franchise that acts in contravention to company policies.<br />
<br />
“RE/MAX has said that it does not control its Israeli franchise and therefore isn’t responsible for its actions, but local franchises can only operate subject to a franchise agreement with the company,” says Sari Bashi, Israel/Palestine director for Human Rights Watch. “Any such agreement must require franchises using the RE/MAX name to perform due diligence, ensuring that their business activity does not contribute to or benefit from serious violations of human rights or international law.”<br />
<br />
The Israeli RE/MAX website lists properties only in Hebrew and English, excluding Arabic language listings despite the fact that roughly 20 percent of the Israeli population is of Arab background. One unnamed Israeli real state agent who spoke with Human Rights Watch investigators reportedly told them, “I don’t buy from or sell to Arabs. It’s not racism, I just prefer not to deal with [them],” adding that his relationship with RE/MAX headquarters was simply to share profits. “They can’t make me sell to anyone,” he said.<br />
<br />
Not only does RE/MAX’s Israeli franchise list properties for purchase in the settlements, effectively using the power of the market to help entrench the occupation, it also operates an office in the larger settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim.<br />
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As per Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, it is illegal for an occupying power to transfer its citizens into territory under occupation. The United Nations has repeatedly made clear that Israel’s ongoing settlement program violates international law, and the Obama administration has gone on record to call the settlements themselves illegitimate. Despite such international opprobrium, however, the settlements continue to grow. In the week immediately following the HRW report, the Israeli government announced the construction of an additional 150 housing units in the colony of Ariel.<br />
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Such moves have further dimmed the prospects for future Palestinian statehood. Even U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro, a vocal supporter of Israel, noted in comments recently that continued settlement activity in the West Bank “raises honest questions about Israel’s long-term intentions.” In 2014, Secretary of State John Kerry caused a similar furor when he said that the settlements were sending Israel on a path toward “apartheid.” Such statements have been widely viewed as reflecting a growing American exasperation with Israeli policy.<br />
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The growth of the settlements has also provided momentum to the so-called BDS movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel. The housing rental company AirBnB has also recently come under pressure from BDS campaigners for listing on its website rental properties in the occupied West Bank.<br />
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The findings of “Occupation, Inc.” should be viewed against this backdrop of growing pressure against the Israeli government and companies profiting from Israeli colonialism. The report insists that its profiles of corporations profiting off the occupation are “not intended to single them out as particularly problematic,” but the case studies it provides of RE/MAX and other companies active in the West Bank Israeli settlement of Ariel provide fodder for BDS campaigners.<br />
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Last week, a longtime RE/MAX broker wrote in The Independent that he had resigned from the company after repeatedly voicing his concerns to company management, but being ignored. “Appeals to RE/MAX’s sense of morality and its obligations within the framework of international law had failed,” the former broker wrote, saying the company and others were “risking their reputation for a small market with enormous ethical challenges.”<br />
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Human Rights Watch says that RE/MAX has a duty to confront the illegal activities of its Israeli franchisee.<br />
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“RE/MAX is selling apartments to communities built on Palestinian land that Palestinians themselves are banned from entering without a permit, and then, only to work as laborers,” Bashi says. “These are activities that not only violate the Geneva Conventions against population transfer in occupied territory, but also the Rome Statute that specifically defines such transfers as war crimes.”<br />
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“Any due diligence that RE/MAX does on its franchisees requires it to cease activities that violate international law, and that means ensuring that its Israeli franchisee does not sell properties in the occupied West Bank.”<br />
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Source: <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/02/11/why-is-remax-selling-properties-in-illegal-israeli-settlements/" target="_blank">https://theintercept.com/2016/02/11/why-is-remax-selling-properties-in-illegal-israeli-settlements/</a><br />
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WHY IS RE/MAX SELLING PROPERTIES IN ILLEGAL ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS?

ISRAEL’S COLONIZATION OF Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank is widely recognized as a moral, legal, and political disaster ...

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Killing people with drones is working out great for America, says ex CIA chief

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Michael Hayden sure does love him some drone-killing.<br />
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In a New York Times opinion piece titled “Drone Warfare: Precise, Effective, Imperfect,” the former head of the National Security Agency celebrates the joy of wiping people out from a distance.<br />
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Do innocent men, women, and children routinely get murdered by an errant strike?<br />
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Sure, says Hayden.<br />
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“Civilians have died, but in my firm opinion, the death toll from terrorist attacks would have been much higher if we had not taken action.”<br />
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But here is the bottom line: It works. I think it fair to say that the targeted killing program has been the most precise and effective application of firepower in the history of armed conflict. It disrupted terrorist plots and reduced the original Qaeda organization along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to a shell of its former self. And that was well before Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.<br />
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Source: <a href="http://boingboing.net/2016/02/19/killing-people-with-drones-is.html" target="_blank">http://boingboing.net/2016/02/19/killing-people-with-drones-is.html</a><br />
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Killing people with drones is working out great for America, says ex CIA chief

Michael Hayden sure does love him some drone-killing. In a New York Times opinion piece titled “Drone Warfare: Precise, Effective, Imp...

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

“I helped create ISIS”

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A former US Marine who served in Iraq in 2003-05 explains how much ISIS is the product of the accumulated wrongs and horrific crimes committed by the US against the Iraqi people during its genocidal military campaign in that country.<br />
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For the last several years, people around the world have asked, “Where did ISIS come from?” Explanations vary but largely focus on geopolitical (US hegemony), religious (Sunni-Shia), ideological (Wahhabism) or ecological (climate refugees) origins. Many commentators and even former military officials correctly suggest that the war in Iraq is primarily responsible for unleashing the forces we now know as ISIS/ISIL/Daesh/etc. Here hopefully I can add some useful reflections and anecdotes.<br />
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Mesopotamian nightmares<br />
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When I was stationed in Iraq with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, in 2003-05, I didn’t know what the repercussions of the war would be, but I knew there would be a reckoning. That retribution, otherwise known as blowback, is currently being experienced around the world (Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, France, Tunisia, California, and so on), with no end in sight.<br />
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Back then, I routinely saw and participated in obscenities. Of course, the wickedness of the war was never properly recognised in the West. Without question, anti-war organisations attempted to articulate the horrors of the war in Iraq, but the mainstream media, academia and political-corporate forces in the West never allowed for a serious examination of the greatest war crime of the 21st century.<br />
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As we patrolled the vast region of Iraq’s Al-Anbar Province, throwing MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) trash out of our vehicles, I never contemplated how we would be remembered in history books; I simply wanted to make some extra room in my Humvee. Years later, sitting in a Western Civilisation history course at university, listening to my professor talk about the cradle of civilisation, I thought of MRE garbage on the floor of the Mesopotamian desert.<br />
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Examining recent events in Syria and Iraq, I can’t help but think of the small kids my fellow Marines would pelt with Skittles from those MRE packages. Candies weren’t the only objects thrown at the children: water bottles filled with urine, rocks, debris and various other items were thrown as well. I often wonder how many members of ISIS and various other terrorist organisations recall such events.<br />
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Moreover, I think about the hundreds of prisoners we took captive and tortured in makeshift detention facilities staffed by teenagers from Tennessee, New York and Oregon. I never had the misfortune of working in the detention facility, but I remember the stories. I vividly remember the Marines telling me about punching, slapping, kicking, elbowing, kneeing and head-butting Iraqis. I remember the tales of sexual torture: forcing Iraqi men to perform sexual acts on each other while Marines held knives against their testicles, sometimes sodomising them with batons.<br />
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However, before those abominations could take place, those of us in infantry units had the pleasure of rounding up Iraqis during night raids, zip-tying their hands, black-bagging their heads and throwing them in the back of Humvees and trucks while their wives and kids collapsed to their knees and wailed. Sometimes, we would pick them up during the day. Most of the time they wouldn’t resist. Some of them would hold hands while Marines would butt-stroke the prisoners in the face. Once they arrived at the detention facility, they would be held for days, weeks and even months at a time. Their families were never notified. And when they were released, we would drive them from the FOB (Forward Operating Base) to the middle of the desert and release them several miles from their homes.<br />
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After we cut their zip-ties and took the black bags off their heads, several of our more deranged Marines would fire rounds from their AR-15s into the air or ground, scaring the recently released captives. Always for laughs. Most Iraqis would run, still crying from their long ordeal at the detention facility, hoping some level of freedom awaited them on the outside. Who knows how long they survived? After all, no one cared.<br />
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We do know of one former US prisoner who survived though: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS.<br />
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Amazingly, the ability to dehumanise the Iraqi people reached a crescendo after the bullets and explosions concluded, as many Marines spent their spare time taking pictures of the dead, often mutilating their corpses for fun or poking their bloated bodies with sticks for some cheap laughs. Because iPhones weren’t available at the time, several Marines came to Iraq with digital cameras. Those cameras contain an untold history of the war in Iraq, a history the West hopes the world forgets. That history and those cameras also contain footage of wanton massacres and numerous other war crimes, realities the Iraqis don’t have the pleasure of forgetting.<br />
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Unfortunately, I could recall countless horrific anecdotes from my time in Iraq. Innocent people were not only routinely rounded up, tortured and imprisoned, they were also incinerated by the hundreds of thousands, some studies suggest by the millions.<br />
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Only the Iraqis understand the pure evil that’s been waged on their nation. They remember the West’s role in the eight-year war between Iraq and Iran; they remember Clinton’s sanctions in the 1990s, policies which resulted in the deaths of well over 500,000 people, largely women and children. Then, 2003 came and the West finished the job.<br />
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Today, Iraq is an utterly devastated nation. The people are poisoned and maimed, and the natural environment is toxic from bombs laced with depleted uranium. After 14 years of the War on Terror, one thing is clear: the West is great at fomenting barbarism and creating failed states.<br />
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Living with ghosts<br />
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The warm and glassy eyes of young Iraqi children perpetually haunt me, as they should. The faces of those I’ve killed, or at least those whose bodies were close enough to examine, will never escape my thoughts. My nightmares and daily reflections remind me of where ISIS comes from and why exactly they hate us. That hate, understandable yet regrettable, will be directed at the West for years and decades to come. How could it be otherwise?<br />
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Again, the scale of destruction the West has inflicted in the Middle East is absolutely unimaginable to the vast majority of people living in the developed world. This point can never be overstated as Westerners consistently and naively ask, “Why do they hate us?”<br />
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In the end, wars, revolutions and counter-revolutions take place and subsequent generations live with the results: civilisations, societies, cultures, nations and individuals survive or perish. That’s how history works. In the future, how the West deals with terrorism will largely depend on whether or not the West continues their terroristic behaviour. The obvious way to prevent future ISIS-style organisations from forming is to oppose Western militarism in all its dreadful forms: CIA coups, proxy wars, drone strikes, counterinsurgency campaigns, economic warfare, etc.<br />
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Meanwhile, those of us who directly participated in the genocidal military campaign in Iraq will live with the ghosts of war.<br />
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Source: <a href="http://www.cpa.org.au/guardian/2016/1720/20-culture.html" target="_blank">http://www.cpa.org.au/guardian/2016/1720/20-culture.html </a><br />
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“I helped create ISIS”

A former US Marine who served in Iraq in 2003-05 explains how much ISIS is the product of the accumulated wrongs and horrific crimes com...

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Muslim-American Group Challenges Donald Trump to Debate: 'Only Way to Deal With a Bully Is to Stand Up to Him'

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A prominent Muslim-American organization challenged Republican frontrunner and billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump to a debate in response to his anti-Muslim comments.<br />
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The Muslim Public Affairs Council (<a href="http://www.mpac.org/" target="_blank">http://www.mpac.org</a>) released a statement Saturday challenging Trump to a debate on issues pertaining to faith, community, and his negative comments about Muslims.<br />
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"Ever since you announced your run for Presidency of the United States, you have scapegoated the American Muslim community and other minority groups for all your perceived ills of America," stated their letter to Trump.<br />
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"We challenge you to a debate with a representative from the American Muslim community on the issues you have raised about Islam and Muslims. We are confident that you, a person of great rhetorical ability, will appreciate this opportunity to showcase to America your strength and knowledge in such matters."<br />
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Rabiah Ahmed, spokesperson for MPAC, told The Christian Post that her organization decided to challenge Trump to a debate as a way of standing up against a bully.<br />
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"They say that the only way to deal with a bully is to stand up to him/her. This call for a debate is the American Muslim community doing just that," said Ahmed.<br />
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"We are sick and tired of being his scapegoat for everything that is wrong with America. He regularly uses the fears and insecurities of his base to fuel the flames of hate and divisiveness across our country."<br />
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Last December, Trump garnered many headlines and much criticism for his support for a temporary ban on Muslim immigration to the United States.<br />
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Visit: <a href="http://www.mpac.org/" target="_blank">http://www.mpac.org</a><br />
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Read more: <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/muslim-american-group-donald-trump-debate-bully-158363/" target="_blank">http://www.christianpost.com/news/muslim-american-group-donald-trump-debate-bully-158363/ </a><br />
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Muslim-American Group Challenges Donald Trump to Debate: 'Only Way to Deal With a Bully Is to Stand Up to Him'

A prominent Muslim-American organization challenged Republican frontrunner and billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump to a debate in ...

Tuesday, February 23, 2016