Tag: Civilians

I Read The News Today

Made me think of a Beatles song……sorry got side-tracked…..

We are told daily about the plans to “degrade and destroy” the barbarians we call ISIS or ISIL or IS (you choose the one you prefer)……we have been told that we maimed their leader….then we blew up their cash stash….and I have been waiting for further proof that what we are doing is truly deliver the promises…..and waiting…….then while surfing the net I found an article on military.com…..

A new intelligence assessment shows the size of the Islamic State force is shrinking in Iraq and Syria — but growing in Libya, a defense official said.

The new estimate for the number of fighters for the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, is between 19,000 and 25,000 in Iraq and Syria, down from prior figures ranging from 20,000 to possibly more than 30,000, according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The exact reasons for the declining force size are unclear but may include battlefield deaths, the impact of U.S. airstrikes, desertions and recruiting problems, the defense official said.

Deserters also played a role in trimming IS military manpower, according to the National Security Council. “The decrease reflects the combined effects of battlefield deaths, desertions, internal disciplinary actions, recruiting shortfalls, and difficulties that foreign fighters face travelling to Syria,” National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne told Reuters.

Now is this just another “bright” intel assessment or is this true?

I ask because we have been given many “bright” intel assessments in the last several years…..and yet the conflict continues……or maybe the numbers are declining in Syria because soldiers are being moved to areas like Libya and Afghanistan…..

I realize that the intel report will not give all the particulars…..but I, personally, want to know the status……

More research is needed…..

As long as we are talking about the news……I saw something today that John Kerry said…….

Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday accused Russia of bombing women and children “in large numbers” in Syria.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, he said the Russian bombing campaign was not precise and that the Russians were using “dumb bombs.”

“This has to stop,” Kerry declared.

(CNN)

Seriously?  After all the civilians the US has “accidentally” killed with bombs and drone strikes and you are going to call Russia out on this?

Coalition bombings on oil refineries held by ISIS in the northeast of Syria killed fourteen militants associated with the group, but also five civilians. In total, since the bombing of Syria began on Monday, SOHR estimates that of the 183 total killed by U.S. bombs, 36 were non-combatants, many of them women and children.  And that was just recently….what about in all the years we have been engaged in this conflict?

Civilian deaths are just that civilian deaths…..no matter who dropped what…..I think it is the height of hypocrisy to point a finger at anyone….or as my grandfather use to say….”when you point your finger at someone just remember there are 3 pointing at you”……

Welcome to a new Parker Bros. game……Geopolitics…..fun for all…… 8 to 80……

Legality of Drone Warfare or Illegality of Drone Assassination? by Coleen Rowley — Antiwar.com

I have written in opposition to the targeted assassination by the US government……I have questioned whether it is acceptable to kill innocent civilians in the effort eliminate a “terrorist”?

Another question is whether or nor it is internationally legal to do so….please read the article and let me know what you think of the tactic……

 

Legality of Drone Warfare or Illegality of Drone Assassination? by Coleen Rowley — Antiwar.com.

Obama’s Unaccountable Drone War | The American Conservative

Yes, I am on my roll about the drone program……I see the necessity for the drones but I do not approve of the targeted assassination that they are being used for in the Middle East……..

I have a problem with the attempts to justify killing innocent civilians to kill one or two “terrorists”……….

There is No one being held accountable for these deaths……….short of paying hush money.  The drone programs need to be reassessed……is the deaths of countless civilians worth the assassination of a single “bad guy”?

 

Obama’s Unaccountable Drone War | The American Conservative.

The Key War on Terror Propaganda Tool: Only Western Victims Are Acknowledged – The Intercept

The recent attack by drone has killed an American and Italian citizen….and it become big news, well at least for a day or so and then we moved on the Jenner’s sex…..so sad.

My point is while it is horrible that these innocent people were killed….what about the 100’s of innocent people that we NEVER hear about?

 

The Key War on Terror Propaganda Tool: Only Western Victims Are Acknowledged – The Intercept.

Are You A R2Per?

About now after reading the title there is a massive amount of my readers scratching their heads and uttering “HUH”?

R2P is short for “Responsibility To Protect”…..basically it means that US should intervene in a war torn situation to stop the harming of innocent civilians…..in other words a “humanitarian intervention”……..

But to this day it is used only in limited incidents….is there a good reason why it is used here and not there?

 

Neocons, R2Pers and Hypocrisy | Consortiumnews.

Justice Is Served

After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 there were a couple of despicable situations that went mostly unnoticed and under reported…..,,the sexual assaults on female soldiers by their comrades and the electrocution deaths of soldiers in military showers built by an American company KBR and of course the stupidity of the treatment of Iraq prisoners by military personnel…….but the one that I thought that might be totally swept under the rug was the Iraqi deaths caused at the hands of the security contractors of Blackwater.

But news has broken that these murderers got what was coming to them…….

A federal judge sentenced former Blackwater security guard Nicholas Slatten to life in prison and three others to 30-year terms for their roles in a 2007 shooting that killed 14 Iraqi civilians and wounded 17 others. The carnage in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square caused an international uproar over the use of private security guards in a war zone. US District Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Slatten, who witnesses said was the first to fire shots in the incident, to life on a charge of first-degree murder. The three other guards—Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard—were each sentenced to 30 years and one day in prison for charges that included manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and using firearms while committing a felony.

Lamberth announced the sentences after a daylong hearing at which defense lawyers had argued for leniency and presented character witnesses for their clients, and prosecutors asked that those sentences—the minimums mandatory under the law—be made even harsher. He rejected both requests. “Based on the seriousness of the crimes, I find the penalty is not excessive,” Lamberth says. All four were convicted in October for their involvement in the killings in the crowded traffic circle in downtown Baghdad. The legal fight over the killings has spanned years. Prosecutors described the shooting as an unprovoked ambush of civilians and said the men haven’t shown remorse or taken responsibility. Defense lawyers countered that the men were targeted with gunfire and shot back in self-defense.

Murder is murder and must be punished…..and these Blackwater thugs have had their day in court and were found guilty of the deaths of the Iraqi civilians……and the rest will go to appeals……..

Justice Has Been served!

Iraq: Mercenaries And Murder

While Americans were breathing a sigh of relief over their waning fear of Ebola…..BAM!  We have something else to clog the airways with endless hours of trivial bullshit…..the armed attack on Canada’s Parliament building…..the shooting was horrific….what followed afterwards is trivial filler.

But while you were sitting on the edge of your seat there was another news item that will be little reported.

The murder of Iraqi civilians by American mercenaries, oh my bad….American security consultants in 2007…….

.Four former Blackwater security contractors were convicted today in federal court for a 2007 mass shooting in Baghdad that left Iraqi civilians dead, the AP reports. (Some accounts cite an original death toll of 14, but the BBC notes that an Iraqi investigation later raised the total to 17; about the same number were injured.) Nicholas Slatten was found guilty of first-degree murder, while Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard were found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and gun charges. The defense had claimed its clients were acting in self-defense after insurgents and Iraqi cops shot at them, while prosecutors painted a picture of the guards having a “low regard and deep hostility toward Iraqi civilians,” as the AP describes it.

The defendants were ordered to jail immediately. Slatten faces life in prison and the others long stretches, but all are expected to appeal. On the day of the Sept. 16, 2007, shootings in Nisur Square, Blackwater guards were trying to clear the way for a State Department convoy before shots rang out, Reuters reports. There was “gunfire coming from the left, gunfire coming from the right,” as hundreds of Iraqi people in the square fled, a prosecutor said in closing arguments. The case incited Iraqi outrage and anti-American feelings around the world and made some question what rules government-employed security contractors had to follow overseas, Reuters notes. (Not surprisingly, Blackwater isn’t known as Blackwater anymore.)

I have been a very vocal opponent of these so-called private security companies, which in reality is a bunch of highly paid mercenaries….who act like they are not to be held accountable….that they are above the law.

There should be NO need for private security firms……it is solely to drive large profits to private hands.

These, especially Blackwater, are private armies…I am sure there should be some sort of constitutional thing concern this situation….

Anyway….did anyone see the movie 7 Days in May?  Maybe you read the book?  If not may I suggest that you do so and see what I am talking about…..okay?

Why Israel’s bombardment of Gaza neighborhood left US officers ‘stunned’ | Al Jazeera America

Many people have questioned just why Israel continued to attack Gaza…the tunnel BS has been debunked……rockets are notoriously inaccurate and have killed less than 10 people…..then why?

My opinion is that it was to destroy as much of the infrastructure as possible before the ceasefire……would make a two state solution harder to enact….

Even the US is asking some of the same questions…….read it for yourself…..

 

Why Israel’s bombardment of Gaza neighborhood left US officers ‘stunned’ | Al Jazeera America.

Israel-Gaza conflict: The myth of Hamas’s human shields

There have been a lot of “he said, she said” about the most recent war in Gaza.  The one that is the most disturbing is the one about the use of “human shields” as an explanation to account for the increasingly high count of civilian dearths and injuries.

I have looked for some facts on whether this is actually happening or just part of a PR campaign used to lessen international blow back…….and then I came across this article.

 

Israel-Gaza conflict: The myth of Hamas’s human shields.

 

It appears that Israel is continuing its run from victim to monster……..and if the Old Testament is to be believed then this is what Israelis do……..GENOCIDE!