Middle East

Human Rights Watch: Kuwait using ‘excessive force’ against protesters

"During large demonstrations staged by the opposition since October 15, police frequently used tear gas and stun grenades and beat up protesters, leading to the injury of dozens and the arrest of many more, said HRW. The Islamist, nationalist and liberal opposition, angry over an amended electoral law, has been staging protests almost every night since December 1 polls to demand the parliament’s dissolution and scrapping of the amendment." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHuman Rights Watch: Kuwait using ‘excessive force’ against protesters

‘Liberator Of Kuwait’: ‘Stormin Norman’ Schwarzkopf dead at 78

"Norman Schwarzkopf, the US general who led 1991 Operation Desert Storm, which liberated Kuwait from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, has died at the age of 78, a US official said Thursday. Schwarzkopf, an American hero known popularly as 'Stormin Norman,' died in Tampa, where he retired after his last military posting as commander-in-chief of US Central Command. Former president George H. W. Bush, himself sick in intensive care in Texas, was first to issue a statement mourning the loss of the man he chose to lead the war that came to define both of their careers." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Liberator Of Kuwait’: ‘Stormin Norman’ Schwarzkopf dead at 78

I Met the Enemy

"I recently had an opportunity to visit Iran. Family and friends warned me not to go because everyone knows the people in Iran all hate Americans. I found the Iranian people to be among the friendliest I have ever met anywhere in the world. I have new friends there that I will hold dear to my heart for the rest of my life. Oh how I wish a million Americans would visit Iran and meet the people there. If more Americans could see for themselves what I saw, they would demand our government change its policies toward these wonderful people. I met the enemy ... and I love them." Continue reading →

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Tunisian president stoned by protesters

"Protesters on Monday hurled rocks at Tunisia’s President Moncef Marzouki and parliamentary speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar in Sidi Bouzid, cradle of the revolution that erupted exactly two years ago. The police held back, after violent clashes over the past few months, which have often followed attempts to disperse protesters angry over the Islamist-led government’s failure to improve living conditions in the poor region. Clashes and strikes, as well as attacks by hardline Islamists, have multiplied across Tunisia in the run-up to the second anniversary of the start of Tunisia’s revolution." Continue reading →

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U.K. pays Iraqi torture victims millions in compensation

"The Ministry of Defence has paid out £14m in compensation and costs to hundreds of Iraqis who complained that they were illegally detained and tortured by British forces during the five-year occupation of the south-east of the country. Hundreds more claims are in the pipeline as Iraqis become aware that they are able to bring proceedings against the UK authorities in the London courts. Human rights groups and lawyers representing former prisoners say that the abuse was systemic, with military interrogators and guards responsible for the mistreatment acting in accordance with both their training in the UK and orders issued in Iraq." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.K. pays Iraqi torture victims millions in compensation

Egypt approves new constitution with 32.9% voter turnout

"Egypt’s constitution was passed with 63.8 percent voter support in the two-stage referendum that ended last weekend, the national electoral commission said on Tuesday. Turnout was 32.9 percent of Egypt’s total 52 million voters, the president of the commission, Samir Abul Maati, told a news conference in Cairo. The figures confirmed those given by President Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which had backed the new charter." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEgypt approves new constitution with 32.9% voter turnout

U.S. Ready to Offer Mercenaries $10 Billion for a Drug-War Air Force

"Unsure how your private security firm makes money as the U.S. war in Afghanistan winds down? One option: Go into the drug trade — more specifically, the lucrative business of fighting narcotics. The State Department needs a business partner to keep its fleet of drug-hunting helicopters and planes flying worldwide. You could make up to $10 billion-with-a-B. Without much publicity, the State Department has built a bespoke air force since the mid-1980s, one that’s stacked with helicopters and heavily reliant on contractors. From its headquarters at Florida’s Patrick Air Force Base, the State Department directs 51,000 annual hours worth of air operations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Ready to Offer Mercenaries $10 Billion for a Drug-War Air Force

Israeli PM aims to deport tens of thousands of Africans

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he aims to repatriate tens of thousands of African illegal migrants and that the inflow into Israel from the Sinai peninsula has been brought to a halt. 'We have reached this result over the past several months, and next month we will have completed the construction of the fence on the border with the Sinai,' facing Egypt, he said. Interior Minister Eli Yishai had warned in August that Sudanese illegals who did not leave the country by October 15 would be detained, held in camps and deported." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIsraeli PM aims to deport tens of thousands of Africans

Syrian Christians ‘pray for peace’

"In the heart of Damascus, more than 1,000 people attended Christmas mass on Monday, praying for peace to return to Syria, after almost two years of bloodshed. The church entrance was thinly decorated, a far cry from the usually ornate facade that welcomes the faithful. But a donations box at the entrance gives away the sea-change that Syria has suffered ever since the outbreak of an anti-regime revolt in March last year. Many Christians have remained neutral in a conflict estimated to have killed more than 44,000 people. Most church leaders have taken President Bashar al-Assad’s side, for fear of the rise of Islamic extremism." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSyrian Christians ‘pray for peace’

Glenn Greenwald: Newtown kids v Yemenis and Pakistanis: what explains the disparate reactions?

"It's easy to express rage over the Newtown shooting because so few of us bear any responsibility for it and there is ultimately little we can do to stop psychotic individuals from snapping. Fury is easy because it's easy to tell ourselves that the perpetrator has so little to do with us and our actions. Exactly the opposite is true for the violence that continuously kills children and other innocent people in the Muslim world. Many of us empowered and cheer for the person responsible for that. US citizens pay for it, enable it, and now under Obama, most at the very least acquiesce to it if not support it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: Newtown kids v Yemenis and Pakistanis: what explains the disparate reactions?