Edited, re-reported with comment by Carolyn Bennett
Violence in U.S. foreign relations we know of —
ARMS to
Bahrain
India
Israel
Saudi Arabia
|
DRONES on
Afghanistan
Iraq
Libya
Pakistan
Somalia
Yemen
|
Washington officials’
aggression against peoples of —
Afghanistan
Bahrain
Colombia
Cuba
Eritrea
Haiti
Honduras
|
Iraq
Iran
Kashmir
Mexico
Nigeria/Niger
Pakistan
Palestine (Gaza, West Bank,
Jerusalem)
Somalia
Syria
USA
Yemen
|
The United States has deployed
its drones for aerial attacks in at least six countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, Yemen, and
Somalia.
One-sided violence — hegemony’s war against defenseless nations,
peoples, individuals
In “Torture, War, and the Limits of Liberal Legality,” chapter five in The United States and Torture, U.S. activist and Princeton professor emeritus Richard
Falk writes this.
When he returned to the United States from Vietnam in 1968, what struck him most “was
the total disinterest in … the one-sided nature of the war and its horribly
inhumane effects on a poor peasant society of the sort that existed in Vietnam”—
a perplexing indifference that continues in the present day, Falk writes. “It bears on what is a most dangerous and
unacceptable ‘disconnect’ between
condemning a reliance on torture while silently accommodating, or at least not
vigorously protesting, the tactics and actualities of one-sided warfare …
“What never became problematic in assessing the lessons of the Vietnam
War — and should have been the most troubling reflection — was the magnitude of
Vietnamese casualties (estimated to be 3-5 million) and the ratio of loss on
the two sides.…
“…The United States, and some of its allies, rely on and seek to
sustain and enhance a posture of military dominance enabling the pursuit of
political goals throughout the world; and this dominance basically relies upon
American technological superiority in warfare that enables it to inflict limitless
devastation on a foreign country anywhere on earth without fearing retaliations
at home.… It is this contrast between the helplessness of the victim and the
total control of the perpetrator that properly causes … moral revulsion.”
A mask worn by American leaders in the aftermath of bombing Hiroshima
and Nagasaki (as with U.S. officials and contemporary torture) let them “hide
one of the worst of modern atrocities — one that was generally accepted by the
liberal mainstream.…” Former President Harry Truman “lent his authority to such
a rationalization of criminality.”
It never stops — Murder Premeditated
A program in which names are added to a list through a secret
bureaucratic process and remain there for months at a time plainly goes beyond
the use of lethal force as a last resort to address imminent threats, and so goes
beyond what the Constitution and international law permit. Lawyers and analysts
at the Center for Constitutional Rights were concerned with the case of the
U.S. Executive branch and Anwar Al-Aulaqi. Under
international human rights law, lethal force may be used in peacetime only when
there is an imminent threat of deadly attack and when lethal force is a last
resort.
“Targeting individuals for
killing who are suspected of crimes but have not been convicted — without
oversight, due process or disclosed standards for being placed on the kill list
— poses the risk that the government will erroneously target the wrong people,”
CCR wrote. Since 9/11, the U.S. government has detained thousands of men as ‘terrorists,’
only for courts or the government itself to discover later that the evidence
was wrong or unreliable and release them.
“In early July 2010, CCR and the ACLU were retained by Nasser
al-Aulaqi, the father of U.S. citizen Anwar Al-Aulaqi, to bring a lawsuit in
connection with the government’s decision to authorize the death of his son,
who [had been] placed on kill lists maintained by the CIA and
the U.S. military’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) …. The U.S. Secretary
of the Treasury then [on July 16, 2010] labeled Anwar al-Aulaqi a ‘specially
designated global terrorist,’ which makes it a crime for lawyers to provide
representation for his benefit without first seeking a license from the Office
of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).”
The Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties
Union sought a license and the government failed to grant a license,
despite the urgency created by an outstanding authorization for Al-Aulaqi’s
death.
Then on August 3, 2010, then CCR and ACLU filed suit against Treasury
and the OFAC challenging “the legality and constitutionality of the licensing
scheme requiring them to obtain a license to file suit concerning the
government’s asserted authority to carry out targeted killings of individuals —
including U.S. citizens — far from any battlefield.” At the end of that month, CCR
and the ACLU filed suit on behalf of Dr. Nasser Al-Aulaqi against U.S. President
Barack Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates
challenging their decision “to authorize the targeted killing” of Nasser
Al-Aulaqi’s son, U.S. citizen Anwar Al-Aulaqi, “in violation of the U.S. Constitution
and international law.”
This week drones ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama reportedly
killed the son of Dr. Nasser Al-Aulaqi.
Murdered victims, whether citizens or not citizens of the United
States, off or on a “battlefield” cannot face their murderers, tell their side
of the story, or challenge murderous acts of impunity. This is another example of U.S. lawlessness.
PERSIAN
GULF (Arabian Gulf)
A shallow
marginal sea of the Indian Ocean that
Lies
between the Arabian Peninsula and southwestern Iran
Bordered
on the north, northeast and east by Iran;
On the
southeast and south by part of Oman and by the United Arab Emirates;
On the
southwest and west by Qatar, Bahrain,
and Saudi Arabia; and
On the
northwest by Kuwait and Iraq
The term
Persian Gulf sometimes refers not only to Persian Gulf proper but
Also to
its outlets —
The Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, which
open into the Arabian Sea
Authoritarians: Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia; occupied Iraq, Palestine
BAHRAIN (U.S-allied with
despots)
Another anti-government protester is killed in Bahrain due to tear gas
inhalation. Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters have continued to
take to the streets demanding freedom and democracy in Bahrain.
Yesterday’s demonstrations organized by the country’s main opposition
group, al-Wefaq, called again for ending the four-decade rule of the Al Khalifa
dynasty. The day before, hundreds of Bahraini women staged a protest rally in
the village of Maqsha condemning the imprisonment of medical personnel.
For having treated anti-government protesters, a military court
sentenced each of 20 medics to up to 15 years in prison, after convicting
them of conspiracy to overthrow the regime. The special security court, in a
separate case, sentenced a protester to death over the alleged killing of a
police officer. The same court upheld life sentences handed to eight opposition
leaders convicted of having vital roles in the anti-government protests in the
country and upheld sentences of up to 15 years on 13 other activists.
Protesters called on the international community to stand by the
Bahraini people.
JORDAN (U.S-allied with despots)
King Abdullah II announced some concessions in June in an attempt to
appease protesters in this country. Among the promises was the formation of
future governments based on an elected parliamentary majority rather than
government appointed by the monarch. However, the monarch delayed, saying the
changes might take two to three years to put an elected government in place.
Friday, nearly 4,000 anti-government protesters took to the streets of
Amman, Jordan’s capital, accusing the government of Prime Minister Marouf
Bakhit and lawmakers of ‘protecting corruption’ and demanding the resignation
of Bakhit and dissolution of the lower house of parliament.
Protests came after the lower house had approved a bill to criminalize
corruption allegations: people who “publicly accuse officials of corruption
without proof will be fined between 30,000 and 60,000 dinars
($42,000-$85,000).”
SAUDI ARABIA (U.S-allied with despots)
Human Rights Watch says more than 160 dissidents have been arrested
since February as part of the Saudi government’s crackdown on anti-government
protesters. Saudi-based Human Rights First Society (HRFS) reports detainees
have been subjected to physical and mental torture.
Saudi activists say there are more than 30,000 political prisoners,
mostly prisoners of conscience, in jails across the Saudi Kingdom.
Families of political prisoners have repeatedly pleaded with the ruling
monarchy to give their loved ones at least a fair trial but, according to the
families, for years the king has ignored their calls.
Despite tight security and a strict ban on all anti-government rallies,
hundreds of anti-government protesters poured into the streets in Saudi
Arabia’s Eastern Province yesterday. They were demanding the immediate release
of political prisoners. Demonstrators in the cities of Qatif and Awamiyah also
expressed solidarity with anti-government protesters in neighboring Bahrain and
condemned Manama’s violent crackdown on peaceful protesters.
Activists say most of the detained political thinkers are being held
without trials or legitimate charges, that they have been arrested “for merely
looking suspicious.”
IRAQ (U.S. is occupier)
Iraq has experienced bombing attacks, roadside bombs, and shootings on
an almost daily basis since the US-led invasion of this oil-rich country in
2003.
One of the deadliest recent attacks came on Monday (September 25), when
twin bombings rocked the southern Iraqi city of Karbala. Twenty-five people
died and dozens suffered injuries.
Yesterday, at least 18 people died and 48 others suffered wounds when a
large bomb exploded near a mosque. Whoever detonated the bomb was reportedly
targeting people mourning the death of a local sheikh in the city of Hillah in
central Iraq, 60 miles from Baghdad.
On Thursday, two women and a man died and 76 people were wounded in a truck
explosion incident in front of a bank in Kirkuk. Police officers were
reportedly collecting their monthly salaries. In clashes in Baghdad and north
of the capital in Tarmiyah, a police officer and a U.S. soldier died and others
were injured.
PALESTINE (U.S. allied with occupier)
Acting PA Chief Mahmoud Abbas officially submitted his bid for UN
recognition of a Palestinian state to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on
September 23.
After Palestine went to the UN for full member state status, Israel
committed its usual tactic to continue putting off the resolution of
conflict with Palestinians and in the greater Middle East. The interior minister
approved construction of more than 1,100 homes in the contested Gilo
neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
Palestinians had initially agreed to negotiate, but only if Israel
freezes all construction on Palestinian lands.
The economy minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA) said this week,
“No matter what the Palestinian people achieve by our own efforts, the
occupation prevents us achieving our potential as a free people in our own
country.”
A report the PA released this week says “Israel’s illegal occupation of
the West Bank and Gaza has deprived the Palestinian economy annually of an
estimated $4.4 billion.” Moreover, the majority of costs have no “relationship
with security concerns but rather come from the heavy restrictions imposed on
the Palestinians in the access to their own natural resources — including
water, minerals, salts, stones and land — many of which are exploited by Israel
itself.”
If not for the illegal occupation, the report found, “the Palestinian
economy could have been nearly twice as large. Current losses amount to some 85
percent of the current Palestinian GDP” [Ma’an News Agency].
Also this week Press TV interviewed Valentine Azarov with Al-Haq, a
Palestinian human rights organization, who said, “There are ongoing violations
of international laws [by Israel] that constitute international crimes that the
ICC has jurisdiction over — the basis for going to the International Criminal
Court already exists.
“That is irrefutable. There is sufficient material in the hands of the prosecutor
that he has received over the last year, specially since the Operation Cast Lead
happened, and that indeed has been indicated by him to civil society and
international organizations as enough to look into certain cases.
“The reason the court has not accepted Palestinian declaration from
January 2009 is largely political. The court has not made a decision on
whether Palestine is a state for the purpose of the Rome Statute. That is why
this is a very important moment to push forward the declaration and also to
open the opportunity for the state of Palestine to become a member of the court
to ratify Rome Statute.”
Today in Tehran the 5th International Conference on Palestinian Intifada opened. It focuses on “the restoration of Palestinian rights, including
their right of return and to determine their fate as well as the liberation the
territories occupied by Israel.”
In an opening address, the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah
Seyyed Ali Khamenei, criticized U.S. President Barack Obama for considering
Israel’s security as his red line. He said the president’s “red line would be
crossed by the awakened Muslim nations.”
“Muslim nations,” the Ayatollah Khamenei said, “will no longer want or allow
the U.S., Europe, or their puppets to rule over their countries.”
GULF OF ADEN
A deepwater basin that forms a natural
sea link between the
Red Sea and the Arabian Sea
Named after the seaport of Aden, in
southern Yemen,
The gulf lies between the coasts of
Arabia and the Horn of Africa
YEMEN (U.S-allied with despots)
Hundreds of people died during regime-ordered crackdowns on anti-government
protests. Since President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s return last Friday, more than
170 protesters have died in newly revived brutal campaigns against popular
demonstrations in the Yemini capital, Sana’a.
Yesterday, crowds of Yemenis again took to the streets of Sana’a, Press
TV reported, “to condemn Saleh for seeking the approval of scholars to crush the country’s popular uprising.” Tribal leaders and opposition figures said
anyone giving such approval would be brought to justice for aiding the Saleh regime
in killing civilians.
Ali Abdullah Saleh had been in Saudi Arabia since a June rocket attack
on the presidential palace in which he and other senior officials were seriously
injured. Saleh returned to Yemen on September 23.
HORN OF AFRICA — SOMALIA (U.S. stands against)
Somalis are suffering from lack of food and are contending with
disease, including malaria, measles and pneumonia. Their famine is compounded
by armed conflict in Somalia and the United States is bombing the country.
Free Speech Radio News reports this week that the expanding U.S.
presence in Somalia is also giving rise to questions among rights groups about
the U.S. role in detention and interrogation in the Somali capital, Mogadishu,
and a rise in drone attacks throughout the Middle East and Horn of Africa
region.
Somali officials yesterday confirmed that a U.S. spy drone had crashed
near the port city of Kismayo. Somalia is the sixth country where the US
military has engaged in unauthorized aerial bombing campaigns through the use
of its remote-controlled aircraft.
The United States has also deployed its so-called drones for aerial
attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, and Yemen.
Officials in Washington claim the airstrikes target militants but these
drone attacks have mostly resulted in civilian casualties.
WARS ORDERED FROM WASHINGTON, U.S. CONSEQUENCES
In an interview with Press TV this, retired U.S. General John Adams expressed
outrage at U.S. spending “on unnecessary wars when we have people hurting in
our country and other countries.” Talking from the U.S. perspective, he
said, “[there are people] who can’t get jobs, are running out of the ability to
pay for their medical care, have to look to the next paycheck just to be able
to figure out if they can put food on the table — and we’re spending this kind
of money on wars of choice. It’s staggering, it’s really outrageous to me.”
Since 2001, “we spent 7.5 trillion dollars on defense and security, a
staggering amount of money and opportunities lost.”
In his first of a four-point
conclusion to his chapter “Torture, War, and the Limits of Liberal Legality,”
Falk urges this.
The ethical resemblance between one-sided warfare and torture
[both one-sided violence] must be acknowledged and addressed.
Sources and notes
Notes from The United States and
Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration, and Abuse edited by Marjorie Cohn.
New York: New York University Press, 2011, pp. 119-129
Chapter 5: “Torture, War, and the Limits of Liberal Legality” by
Richard Falk
U.S. Targeted killings
“CCR and the ACLU v. OFAC and Al-Aulaqi v. Obama,” http://ccrjustice.org/targetedkillings
U.S.-involved aggression
KINGDOMS
“Tear gas claims another Bahraini life,” September 30, 2011,
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/202057.html
“Bahrainis rally for freedom,” September 30, 2011,
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/202025.html
“Jordanians call for resignation of PM,” September 30, 2011,
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/202002.html
“Saudis want political prisoners released,” September 30, 2011,
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/202062.html
U.S. in Iraq
“Funeral turns into bloodbath in Iraq,” September 30, 2011,
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/202032.html
“U.S. soldier killed in northern Iraq,” September 29, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/201880.html
U.S. in Palestine
“U.S.-armed Israel expands settlement construction in Palestinian
territory,” September 28, 2011, http://fsrn.org/
“Occupation costs Palestine $4.4bn per yea,” September 30, 2011,
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/201953.html
“‘Ample evidence to take Israel to ICC,’” September 30, 2011,
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/201970.html
“Leader blasts Obama red line, Israel,” October 1, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/202118.html
U.S. in Yemen
“Yemenis protest govt. crackdown,” September 30, 2011,
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/201935.html
“Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh says that the United States intelligence
apparatus is closely following up and keeping a close eye on the situation in
the country — He said Washington was investigating a June attack on the
presidential palace that inflicted serious injuries on him as well as other
Yemeni officials,” Press TV interviews
Ian Williams, from Foreign Policy in Focus,
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/201945.html
U.S. in Somalia
“U.S. role in Somalia questioned as drone attacks, interrogation step
up,” September 28, 2011, http://fsrn.org/
“Al Shabab’s power shifting as famine spreads in Somalia,” September
28, 2011,
“The crisis in the Horn of Africa continues, with aid agencies warning
that 750,000 people are at risk of dying by the end of the year. … Earlier this
summer, the militant group Al-Shabab withdrew from Mogadishu but the capitol is
still war-ravaged and militants still have a strong presence in other areas,” audio/us-role-somalia-questioned-drone-attacks-interrogation-step/9199
“U.S. spy drone crashes in Somalia,” September 30, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/201984.html
A U.S. General on U.S. endless wars
“‘U.S. wasting the citizens’ money on wars,’” September 20, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/200215.html
U.S. in Pakistan
From Pakistan: “We are not afraid of the U.S. threats; we are ready to
protect our country at all costs if the American forces attack us” [a
protester]
Pakistanis have staged nationwide
rallies to condemn the United States’ threats of unilateral attacks on Pakistan’s
tribal belt in an alleged hunt for the militant Haqqani network. Pakistan’s Foreign
Minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, has denied U.S. accusations against the Pakistani
intelligence agency. She says “the Haqqani network was once the ‘blue-eyed boy’
of the CIA.”
On Friday, days after Washington claimed Pakistan’s intelligence agency
was supporting the Taliban-allied Haqqani network, activists from religious
parties took to streets.
“Pakistanis rally against U.S. threats, October 1, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/202102.html
“Pakistan: Haqqani network, CIA agents,” September 27, 2011, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/201398.html
Falk
Notes from The United States and
Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration, and Abuse edited by
Marjorie Cohn. New York: New York University Press, 2011, pp. 119-129
Chapter 5: “Torture, War, and the Limits of Liberal Legality” by
Richard Falk
Richard Anderson Falk (b. 1930) is U.S. professor emeritus
of international law at Princeton University and author or co-author of 20
books, editor or co-editor of another 20 books. He is a speaker and activist on
world affairs; and has held United Nations positions on the Palestinian
territories.
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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Talking Leaves Books-Elmwood: talking.leaves.elmwood@gmail.com [Buffalo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire
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