Abu Ghraib mercenary torturers on trial

The caption by Al Jazeera with this photo is: “US soldiers posed with prisoners in humiliating positions [AP]“. However, the Iraqi pictured in the photo was no longer a prisoner who could be humiliated by then, as he had been tortured to death in Abu Ghraib jail.

From Al Jazeera:

Iraqis to sue US firm at Abu Ghraib

A US court has given the green light to 72 Iraqis to proceed with a lawsuit against a private contractor accused of complicity in the alleged abuse of detainees at the US-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

US District Judge Peter Messitte ruled that the Iraqis can proceed in their case against L3 Communications and its unit formerly known as Titan Group, which provided interpreters to the US army in Iraq after the US invasion.

In the ruling obtained on Friday, the judge said the alleged actions by the company “arguably violated the laws of war such that they are not immune from suit under the laws of war”.

“Further, the suit does not raise a political question since this is a suit against private actors which does not implicate the separation of powers issues which the political question doctrine is meant to protect,” the judge added.

The 72 former prisoners released after being imprisoned for between one month and four years from 2003 to 2008, accuse L3 employees of beatings, torture, sexual aggression, the use of electric shock, mock executions and hangings from their feet.

‘Profited from misery’

Plaintiff lawyer Susan Burke said that as a result of the ruling “these innocent men are a step closer to completing the true history of the infamous Abu Ghraib prison“.

“These men were senselessly tortured by a company that profited from their misery,” she added.

L3, which had argued the company was immune from litigation because it was acting under the aegis of the US government, may appeal the decision.

Up to now, the only cases that have concluded in the Abu Ghraib affair have been in military courts.

Eleven soldiers have been found guilty and sentenced to up to 10 years in prison in the case which was a huge setback for the United States’ image when photos were released showing naked and hooded prisoners beaten bloody and being made to commit humiliating acts such as human pyramids or simulating homosexual sex.

Soldiers also posed with the prisoners in humiliating positions.

Iraq crisis sharpens with no government, the trade unions banned and no electricity: here.

Last month was occupied Iraq’s deadliest in more than two years according to new official figures suggesting that militants are taking advantage of politicians’ failure to form a new government since March elections: here.

DC Catholic Worker: We must demand an immediate end to US war-making and the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan: here.

Bomb-Sniffing Dog Gina Comes Home From Iraq Traumatized, Suffering From PTSD: here.

Human rights charity War on Want has hit out at reports that British mercenary firm Aegis has relocated its headquarters to Switzerland, allegedly to avoid paying tax: here.

No free press in ‘new’ Iraq

This video is called WikiLeaks Video of US Army in Iraq Killing Journalists.

Iraq is seeking to extend the powers of the state over the media, with the announcement earlier this month of the creation of a special court to try journalists: here.

THE International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions has expressed outrage at the banning last week of the Iraqi electrical trade unions by the Maliki puppet government: here.

Obama Speech and Iraq Realities: here.

Duisburg protest against Love Parade disaster culprits

This is a German video about a press conference in Duisburg against Mayor Sauerland because of his responsibility for the Love Parade tragedy.

The fact that the deadly disaster at last Saturday’s Love Parade techno music festival was so foreseeable makes it a crime: here.

A crowd of around 500 people gathered on Thursday in front of the Duisburg city hall to demand the resignation of the mayor who had insisted that the Love Parade take place despite obvious and serious security risks: here.

“Nothing will ever be the same”—interview with a Love Parade eyewitness: here.

A recent decision by Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court strengthens the powers of the government over parliament and undermines the limitations preventing the deployment of troops against the German population: here.

BP oil still polluting

This video from the USA is called Gulf Oil Disaster: BP Cover Up of Sick Humans and Dead Animals.

Despite Anger Over BP Spill, Washington Might Not Act on It: here.

BP Bans Workers From Sharing Photos of Animals Killed by the Oil Spill: here.

100s of Gulf turtle eggs relocated: here.

Wildlife rescue escalates at Michigan pipeline oil spill site: here.

Economic crisis, Greek workers resist

The same week that European officials announced the results of rigged bank stress tests, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet demanded that governments across the continent press ahead with austerity programs that will slash jobs, wages and social programs: here.

This video is called Greek Truckers Ignore Government Order to Resume Work.

Greek truck drivers decided on Friday to continue their five-day national strike, following a series of punitive measures by the social democratic government of Prime Minister George Papandreou aiming to break their action: here.

About 100 Greek radio and TV technicians and journalists gathered outside the building of the Ministry for Labour in central Athens at midday on Thursday protesting against a new Bill by the Minister for Labour Loverdos which annuls and make unlawful already signed collective agreements which include pay rises for this year: here.

Greece slides into depression as austerity ‘backfires’: here.

Company Profits Not Translating Into Workers: here.

BP oil spill and PR tricks

BP Is Considering Rebranding Their Gas Stations As Amoco — Will it help or hurt their image? Here.

Amoco was bought by BP in the 1990s. However, rebranding as Amoco might not really stop reminding people of oil spills.

Remember the Amoco Cadiz oil spill disaster.

According to Wikipedia:

Amoco Cadiz was a very large crude carrier (VLCC), owned by Amoco, that split in two after running aground on Portsall Rocks, 5 km (3.1 mi) from the coast of Brittany, France, on 16 March 1978, resulting in the largest oil spill of its kind in history to that date.

This video is called AMOCO CADIZ OIL SPILL DISASTER – HUGE PROFITS BEFORE SAFETY.

Guardian: BP’s incoming boss Bob Dudley says clean-up operation may be scaled down: here.

Politico op ed on how Gulf disaster is harming birds and their habitat: here.

Laura Erickson’s Birding Blog: “Situation Grave” as she reports from the Gulf: here.

USFWS helps move 89 Kemp’s Ridley Turtle eggs from area affected by oil spill facility near Merritt Island Refuge: here.

Discovery Earth: Fishing Industry Fears Oil’s Lingering Effects: here.

Oil Contamination of Crab Larvae Could Be Widespread – ScienceInsider: here.

Today’s ‘spillionaires’ may become tomorrow’s ‘BP whores’: here.

New at Newstalgia: BP By Any Other Name – The Anglo-Iranian Oil Dispute – 1951: here.

Bill would make oil companies pay, but Republicans say no: here.

America’s Wetland Foundation, a Big Oil front-group, says taxpayers should pay to restore the Gulf & more enviro news: here.

A new oil spill endangered the Louisiana marshes, July 27, a day after BP announced that Tony Hayward was leaving the company’s CEO post, effective Oct. 1: here.

“It would be a tragedy of historic proportions if this reached Lake Michigan”: here.

Fracking With Food: How the Natural Gas Industry Poisons Cows and Crops: here.

Critical Alaska habitat spared from oil & natural gas development: here.

US kills Afghan civilians in Kabul

This video from the USA says about itself:

13 May 2009

Thousands of Afghan villagers hurled stones at police last week as they vented their fury at American air strikes that local officials say killed up to 147 civilians.

From Al Jazeera today:

Afghans riot after deadly accident

Rioters in the Afghan capital have set fire to two US embassy vehicles shouting “death to America” after one of the SUVs collided with a civilian car killing a number of passengers, officials and witnesses have said.

Police fired into the air to disperse the crowd of angry Afghans who threw stones and chanted “death to Karzai” in reference to Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Afghanistan James Bays said the exact details of the incident are still unclear, but security officials are concerned.

“Some in the crowds said people got out of a [passenger] vehicle and embassy guards started firing,” our correspondent said on Friday.

Nato’s International security assistance force (Isaf) said it had dispatched a quick reaction force to the area outside the American embassy and near Afghan and US army bases in the centre of Kabul.

Saleh Ahmed, a local resident in Kabul, said the accident happend when the civilian vehicle attempted to drive onto the main road from a side street and was hit by one of the two SUVs.

“The civilian vehicle was trying to get into the main road when the two foreign vehicles hit it and killed all four occupants,” Ahmed said.

“People gathered around the crash site to see what happened, got angry and started attacking the foreigners.”

Security concerns

Security forces were concerned that the deadly traffic accident could lead to widespread rioting, our correspondent said.

A similar accident in May 2006 led to massive riots in Kabul that left at least 14 people dead.

…

Outside of the capital, three US soldiers were killed in two seperate blasts in Afghanistan, bringing this month’s death toll to at least 63, making July the deadliest month for American forces in nearly nine years of war.

The three service members died in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, Nato said in a statement on Friday.

The statement did not provide the nationalities of the dead, but US officials speaking on the condition of anonymity said all three were Americans.

June had previously been the deadliest month for US troops as well as the overall Nato led force.

A total of 104 international troops died in June, including 60 Americans, according to a tally compiled by Associated Press.

See also here.

Afghans protest civilian deaths, American presence and NATO bombardments: here.

Pakistan’s U.N. ambassador says the Afghanistan war “doesn’t seem winnable”: here.

Top Democrats Pressure White House on Afghan War as WikiLeaks Reveals Bloody Realities: here.

US Congress war spend busts $1 trillion mark: here.

An in-depth study into the effect of nine years of war on US troops has found that the suicide rate in the military now exceeds the rate nationally: here.

As casualties in Afghanistan rise, Army suicides, drug use set new records: here.

British army counts huge rise in Afghan war amputees: here.

Dutch troops end Afghanistan deployment: here.

The last month has seen six Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, bringing our country’s total to seventeen. Yet even with a federal election looming and 61 percent of Australians wanting troops brought home, our involvement in the war has bipartisan support. In fact, far from raising questions over our mission there, these deaths seem to only strengthen the government’s resolve to remain. The same seems to be true of the U.S. and many other NATO countries. It strengthens their resolve not because it makes the mission there any more necessary, or more strategically important, but because of a principle called “the sacrifice trap”: here.

Why talk of ‘fighting poverty’ rings hollow in Afghanistan and beyond: here.

Why is the US in Afghanistan – Russia and China? Here.

‘Capture or Kill’: Germany Gave Names to Secret Taliban Hit List: here.

Dutch soldiers left Afghanistan for home on Sunday as the Netherlands became the first Nato state to withdraw combat troops from the underdeveloped country: here.

A new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research supports the prevailing view of counterinsurgency strategists who believe civilian casualties help Taliban recruiting drives: here.

Capitalist crisis, video

Capitalist Crisis, Radical Renewal? Here.

In closed-door hearings, a parliamentary committee approved bitterly unpopular pension cuts in France, which are scheduled to go to a vote in the National Assembly in early September: here.

USA: The population of the coalfields region of eastern Kentucky and southwestern West Virginia has hemorrhaged with the collapse of wages and jobs in the coal industry since the 1980s: here.

President Obama and congressional Republicans both claim to defend small business, while advocating tax breaks and other handouts that mainly benefit corporate America and the wealthy: here.

Radioactive boar in Germany

This video says about itself:

Highly radioactive wastes are dangerous and deadly wherever they are, whether stored at reactor sites (indoors in pools or outdoors in dry casks); transported on the roads, rails, or waterways; or dumped on Native American lands out West.

Highly radioactive wastes include solid irradiated nuclear fuel assemblies (called spent or used by the industry that creates them) and liquid high-level radioactive wastes resulting from the reprocessing (extraction of fissile plutonium and uranium) of solid irradiated fuel rods. The vast majority of highly radioactive wastes generated in the U.S. come from commercial nuclear power reactors. Irradiated nuclear fuel rods discharged from commercial nuclear power plants are highly radioactive, a million times more so than when they were first loaded into a reactor core as fresh fuel. If unshielded, irradiated nuclear fuel just removed from a reactor core could deliver a lethal dose of radiation to a person standing three feet away in just seconds. Even after decades of radioactive decay, a few minutes unshielded exposure could deliver a lethal dose.

Certain radioactive elements (such as plutonium-239) in spent fuel will remain hazardous to humans and other living beings for hundreds of thousands of years. Other radioisotopes will remain hazardous for millions of years. Thus, these wastes must be shielded for centuries and isolated from the living environment for hundreds of millenia. For more on the problems of this waste disposal, go to the Radioactive Waste Project site of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service at http://www.nirs.org/radwaste/hlw/hlw.htm . This clip is from the 1980 Disney film, The Atom: A Closer Look, available at the Internet Archives.

A Quarter Century after Chernobyl: Radioactive Boar on the Rise in Germany: here.

Chernobyl zone shows decline in biodiversity: here.

Wild boar in the southern Netherlands: here.

Mammals in Utrecht province, the Netherlands: here.

Berlusconi quarrels with fascist ally Fini

From British daily The Guardian:

Silvio Berlusconi faces parliamentary crisis as speaker refuses to resign

Rebel lawmakers announce they have signed letter of resignation from Freedom People’s parliamentary party

* John Hooper in Rome
* Friday 30 July 2010

Silvio Berlusconi‘s ruling Freedom People (PdL) movement was on the verge of a split last night that would pitch Italy into a political and constitutional crisis after a group of rebel lawmakers announced they had signed a letter of resignation from the PdL’s parliamentary party and delivered it to their leader, the lower house speaker, Gianfranco Fini.

The move came after the party leadership issued a vehement statement denouncing Fini, the co-founder of the PdL, for stirring up internal dissent and “devastating criticism of decisions taken by the party”. The statement brought to a head long-simmering tensions between the prime minister and the former neo-fascist who had been his principal ally since entering politics 16 years ago.

An unlikely convert to David Cameron-style conservatism,

In fact, Fini’s conversion from fascism to non-fascism is even less credible than Cameron’s conversion from Thatcherism to non-Thatcherite conservatism (which still includes many unpleasant aspects, like the British Tories‘ alliance with Latvian neo-nazis and Polish homophobes). Even after supposedly ceasing to be fascist, Fini’s policies are still racist.

Fini has increasingly argued for more progressive policies, greater internal democracy in the PdL and a less tolerant attitude to suspected corruption among government and party officials.

The prime minister told a press conference afterwards: “We’ve tried everything to make it up with Fini. It hasn’t been possible. I am no longer prepared to accept dissent.”

Berlusconi demanded his former partner leave his job as speaker. But Fini was quoted by associates as having said the post was not in the gift of the prime minister and that he had no intention of going.

He was reported to have responded in the same way to calls for him to leave the PdL – at a meeting Fini was said to have told other senior party officials they would need to resort to the courts to remove him. But the latest statement from his followers indicated they were prepared to set up a separate group in parliament.

Berlusconi insisted his majority was safe, adding “the government is not at risk”. But sources in the Fini camp said that they could tip the balance in the 315-seat upper house and could count on the defection of “at least 34″ rebels in the chamber of deputies. That would rob Berlusconi of his majority in the 630-seat lower house too, making his survival dependent on the goodwill of a conservative opposition Christian Democrat party. In such circumstances, he might be tempted to call a snap election.

The leader of the biggest opposition group, the centre-left Democratic Party, Pierluigi Bersani, said: “This is a crisis. Berlusconi must come before parliament.”

But it remained to be seen whether Fini and his supporters would leave and, if they did, how many deputies would join their new group. Fini said he had no intention of resigning from the speaker’s role because of the letter of censure, which stopped short of expelling him from the party.

In an interview with Il Foglio newspaper on Thursday, Fini said he was prepared to come to an agreement with Berlusconi.

“Let’s reset everything, without resentment,” he said. “Berlusconi and I don’t have a duty to be friends or even to appear to be friends, but we should honour a political and electoral commitment with the Italian people.”

The speaker of Italy’s lower house and former ally of Silvio Berlusconi, the prime minister, has refused to step down after being censured by his own party: here.

See also here.

Italy’s ‘summer of homophobia’: here.

Berlusconi laughs it up with sexist, Hitler and gay bashing jokes: here.