GAAW March Bulletin

galway | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Friday March 22, 2013 16:01 by GALWAY ALLIANCE AGAINST WAR

CONTENTS

1. CAUSES FOR CONCERN: STOP EXTRADITION TO THE USA! GUANTANAMO HUNGER STRIKE
2. PEACE IN THE NORTH
3. 10 YEARS SINCE IRAQ AND ANOTHER MILITARY INTERVENTION ON THE OFFING
4. I AM BRADLEY MANNING
5. MAKE WAR NOT LOVE
6. RTE – NOTHING BUT THE SAME OLD STORY
7. CHINA – THE BOGEYMAN

GALWAY ALLIANCE AGAINST WAR
MARCH BULLETIN 2013
FOR YOUR DIARY
GAAW PUBLIC MEETING
NUCLEAR POWER – NUCLEAR WASTELAND & WAR
Speaker: Wayne Jones
Veteran Campaigner & Adviser Against Nuclear Power
Venue: Richardson’s, Eyre Sq., Galway
Monday 8th April @ 8pm
At a time when five proposed new nuclear reactors are threatening the Irish Sea and 16 new reactors proposed for the Indian Ocean coastline, the nuclear industry worldwide is in disarray. In the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster some nations are announcing abandonment of their nuclear programmes, others are schizophrenically going one way then another to allay the fears of their populations. It is time to look at the reasons nuclear power needs to be rejected.

GAAW SUPPORTED PEACE EVENT
Shannon Peace Vigil
Sunday, 7th April, 2013
14:00 until 15:00
Meet at small roundabout just before Shannon Airport

CONTENTS

1. CAUSES FOR CONCERN: STOP EXTRADITION TO THE USA! GUANTANAMO HUNGER STRIKE
2. PEACE IN THE NORTH
3. 10 YEARS SINCE IRAQ AND ANOTHER MILITARY INTERVENTION ON THE OFFING
4. I AM BRADLEY MANNING
5. MAKE WAR NOT LOVE
6. RTE – NOTHING BUT THE SAME OLD STORY
7. CHINA – THE BOGEYMAN
8. PS: MONEY MAKES THE WARS GO AROUND: THE TOP TEN MOST PROFITABLE WAR COMPANIES

CAUSES FOR CONCERN: STOP EXTRADITION TO THE USA
& GUANTANAMO HUNGER STRIKE

Our attention has been drawn to the plight of an Algerian man, Ali Damache, who is resident in Ireland and is now being threatened with extradition to the USA to face “terrorist offences”. Last month, Mr Damache pleaded guilty – in unusual circumstances – to making a threatening phone call to a US lawyer involved in the tabloid-termed Jihad Jane case in the USA. As Mr Damache had been held in custody for 3 years, the Irish court released him, only for him to be re-arrested on face of a US extradition warrant.
Mr Damache has served his sentence and should be freed. Why should he be re-tried in another jurisdiction for an offence committed in Ireland and for which he has been punished? Besides, we have absolutely no faith in the US justice system. In the February GAAW Bulletin we outlined in detail how leaders of the Muslim community in the USA have been systematically targeted by the authorities and sentenced to decades in prison for no justifiable reason. Mr Damache should not be extradited because he would not face a fair trial.
We would ask our supporters to start contacting their elected representatives on this issue as well as contacting the Human Rights Commission, ICCL, FLAC and also NUIG’s Centre for Human Rights.

Remaining on the subject of the US justice system: almost all of the 166 prisoners at Guantánamo Bay have been on hunger strike since early February. This protest was prompted by the confiscation of personal items from cells and the desecration of copies of the Koran. Forced feeding is now being used by the authorities in contravention of the prisoners’ human rights.

In a letter sent by lawyers for the prisoners to the prison commander on 4 March, they state that the “situation is potentially life-threatening.”

The US military denies the situation, which is clearly getting out of hand. Over half of the prisoners have been cleared for release and less than a dozen face any charges after more than a decade of arbitrary detention. The desperation shown in the latest episode of this hostage crisis has been ignored by the mainstream media.

More on this news: http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/03/04/guantanamo-...ems/#

PEACE IN THE NORTH
Exactly 25 years ago this month, the conflict in the North saw a spiralling of violence as a result of the shoot-to-kill policy of the British Government with the gunning down of 3 unarmed IRA volunteers in Gibraltar.
Now 25 years later the IRA’s guns have thankfully fallen silent. The Republican Movement has chosen the path of peace. But what of the other protagonist in this bloody drama, the British state? Its lust for violence continues unabated. Indeed, together with fellow Western powers its bloodlust has become more brazen. From Afghanistan to Yugoslavia, especially from Asia to Africa, imperialism of assorted nationalities has joined forces to kill and conquer.
The worst example of this was the illegal war in Iraq that has seen the killing of well over a million innocent people and many more to come. From the Irish Government benches in the Dáil you will hear little of this. Instead, there will be the regular baiting by Kenny and Gilmore of Sinn Féin for the IRA’s role in the conflict decades ago. What bothers GAAW is not the bashing of SF, but the hypocrisy of Fine Gael and Labour. These government parties are accessories to mass murder through their assistance to the US war machine at Shannon airport. They are also complicit in war by sending first Irish troops to Afghanistan and now to Mali, where they will be training an army that was involved in a putsch less than a year ago. It is time this hypocrisy was highlighted.
Back 25 years ago, British PM Thatcher denied there was a shoot-to-kill policy. Today, US President Barak Obama does not. Every Tuesday he chooses a “kill list” for the week to be carried out by drones. Imperialism has become more barefaced, while the obsequiousness towards imperialism by Ireland’s banana republic is more pronounced.

10 YEARS SINCE IRAQ AND ANOTHER MILITARY INTERVENTION ON THE OFFING

It is exactly 10 years since the Iraq War and this weekend plans are afoot in Dublin for another Western military intervention in the Middle East. At the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in our capital city the British and French governments are advocating intervening in the Syrian civil war by supplying Assad’s opponents with weaponry. By throwing more munitions into this bloody conflict they absurdly argue will bring peace. However, the real aim is to overthrow the Syrian government. It is not a negotiated peace between the two belligerent parties, but the removal of an obstacle on NATO’s march towards Iran.
This week the top US military commander in Europe US Admiral James Stavridis told the US Senate Arms Committee that plans were well underway for NATO involvement in Syria: "We are prepared if called upon to be engaged as we were in Libya," he said.
There is no desire from the US and its sidekicks, Britain and France, to join with the Russians to force the two sides in the Syrian civil war to the negotiating table. The resource wars of the 21st century will continue unabated. Meanwhile, the BBC is reporting a 60% rise in birth defects in the Iraq city of Basra since 2003. These defects are being directly linked to the illegal war waged by Bush and Blair. If this is happening in Basra, then it is happening all over Iraq, where depleted uranium weapons were in widespread use. Then, of course, there were the Weapons of Mass Destruction, white phosphorous, used against the inhabitants of towns like Fallujah.
Nothing seems to have changed since the Vietnam War only the names of the dreadful weaponry employed: Agent Orange in Vietnam, depleted uranium etc. etc. in Iraq.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21873892

or read Sami Ramadami: Iraq’s Pain Has Only Intensified Since 2003
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/14/ira...=SRCH

MAKE WAR NOT LOVE
The US Government’s maxim is “Make War Not Love”. Proof of this is personified by the fall from grace of the once high-powered General Petraeus. He was forced to resign his post as CIA Director because of an extra-marital affair. There are many reasons why Petraeus should have been sacked, his pursuance of a “dirty war” in Iraq or the torture centres set up in that country under his watch, as revealed by the Guardian newspaper ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/06/pentagon-ir...=SRCH ). But no, these all led to his promotion to the top post in the CIA. The world in Washington is truly sick, truly upside down.

I AM BRADLEY MANNING
“Here you have Bradley Manning one thousand days in prison. I hope that in a military court martial that begins in June that the ultimate resolution to it is that Bradley Manning does not have to spend the rest of his life in jail. But I’m not too sure about that….I think the US Government is going to make an example out of Bradley Manning. They want to scare everyone. They don’t want whistleblowers.” Retired US Colonel Ann Wright speaking in Galway 18th February 2013
On Saturday, 23rd February GAAW members took to Shop St Galway to mark Bradley Manning’s 1,000 days in prison and sought locals to take part in a new kind of petition that has appeared online since the advent of Facebook, a photo-petition. In this case if you support Bradley Manning then you have your picture taken holding a sign that reads: “I am Bradley Manning”.
But who is Bradley Manning? He is anything but a household name!
That was a problem that further complicated GAAW’s task on that Saturday: first explain who this young man is and then convince people to allow their picture to be taken – but it didn’t prove that difficult: in a matter of two hours over 50 people agreed.
Manning is the young US soldier – he was only 22 years old when arrested in Iraq – that is accused of blowing the lid on the US war in Iraq by releasing secret US cables to Wikileaks. So the world got to see and hear the US helicopter gunship slaughter a large group of innocent Iraqi civilians and journalists in Baghdad in the video “Collateral Murder in Iraq”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zok8yMxXEwk
Other cables released were to cause some Irish politicians an embarrassment. Eamon Gilmore for example, told the Irish citizenry via RTE 6 o’clock news after the Lisbon Treaty was defeated in a first referendum that Labour was against a second referendum. Meanwhile he was telling the US Ambassador to Ireland that he was actually in favour of a re-run of the referendum!
To the great pleasure of GAAW peace activists, more than 50 people volunteered to declare their solidarity with Bradley. It certainly was brave act by people to put their faces out there for Bradley Manning and we would like to thank all of them. Many of the signatories knew of Bradley Manning, while others agreed he deserves all of our support.
One well-known face – Little John Nee – volunteered his support with no hesitation. We sent his picture declaring “I am Bradley Manning” and a short press release to the national and local media. But lo and behold, it got no coverage!!!

RTE – NOTHING BUT THE SAME OLD STORY
“The biggest problem Ireland has is RTE….[it] refuses to report on the financial rape of Ireland by crooks that should be in jail. Two years ago I was asked to appear on RTE. Leading up to the interview, while I was on hold waiting to be introduced, I was asked to give a summary of my views. I explained that an IMF bailout was coming if the country did not start to take these criminal bankers seriously. They reversed the invitation, hung up on me and have never called back. It’s a shame.” Max Keiser

There is little doubt RTE, the “national” broadcaster, is a national disgrace. It has led many of us simply to turn off and tune into the social media, where there is a semblance of balance.
GAAW’s most recent experience of RTE bias was its failure to give any coverage to the speaking tour in Ireland of Ann Wright, a former US diplomat and US Army Colonel, who resigned 10 years ago from her state position over the illegal war against Iraq. In contrast, in the same week the head of NATO – a Mr Rasmussen or is it Rasputin – came a calling to Dublin and was treated to a fawning interview on Prime Time.
On top of the political bias, much of what RTE serves up as news is normally not news at all. It is primarily tabloid junk. One only has to recall the news headlines that preoccupied RTE’s newsroom for almost an entire week concerning one South African "celebrity" shooting another South African "celebrity". What has that got to do with the real world? It is all part of RTE’s ploy of dumming down the news and its listnership/viewers. On issues of Ireland's role in war, of Ireland's financial rape it peddles propaganda or tabloid tittle tattle. We can only concur with the views set out by Max Keiser above.
Despite RTE’s censorship GAAW’s public meeting with Col. Ann Wright was hugely successful. Thanks to the social media and the local media, both radio and the press gave her visit good coverage. ( join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/galway.antiwar
Or https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/312442090965/)

What you didn’t see on RTE: Ann Wright speaking in Galway – courtesy of Tommy D!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeTK1FLpyxU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qDE6lOfBDc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG0_VClVNyQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XzY-XRIRd0
CHINA – THE BOGEYMAN
“China is all over Africa – I mean, all over Africa…..And we got to get in.” - Secretary of State John Kerry during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill.

Imperialism needs its bogeymen: there was the Red Russian threat, Reagan’s “Evil Empire”, Bush’s “Axis of Evil” and now Obama’s Asian “pivot”. The latter is apparently a basketball term, but has much the same intent as the others to invent a dangerous enemy, this time China
So, there’s plenty in the news about the Chinese cyber-attacks on US and Western interests, but simply nothing about the “Stuxnet” cyber-attack despite it being the most severe and irresponsible act of cyber aggression in recent times. Stuxnet was initially aimed at disabling the Iranian centrifugal facility, but the virus spread to 100,000 hosts in 150 countries. You won’t hear too much about Stuxnet, because it was made in the USA.

And if Kerry’s remark at his confirmation hearing suggests the US isn’t already in Africa then that is deliberately misleading. The Pentagon’s African Command, Africom, has been operating on this continent for some 5 years. And just like other US military command structures in other parts of the world has already been waging war: during the Libyan war US warplanes flew 26,000 sorties in 8 months of fighting.

But Africom is all part of a global strategy to complete world domination. China is the bogeyman at present, so in Australia and the Asian continent, the US military build-up continues unabated. Unless, you use the social media sites you will probably never hear anything about the plight of the Jeju Islanders in South Korea, where the government is building a massive naval base to serve the USA's militaristic "pivot to Asia" in order, it claims, to check China. Take a look at this film to see which country is the real threat in this world:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/jeju-in-the-crosshair...ejeju

And for more information on the new “Scramble for Africa” read Ben Schreiner writing in counterpunch:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/02/20/imperial-jockeyi...rica/

PS: MONEY MAKES THE WAR GO AROUND

THE TOP TEN MOST PROFITABLE WAR COMPANIES

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/09/war-companies-....html