Two US soldiers in Afghan civilian massacre?

This video is called Merkel visits Afghanistan amid rage against NATO.

From CBS in the USA, about Afghanistan:

Nine of the 16 civilians killed on Sunday in Balandi and Alkozai villages were children and three were women, according to the Afghan president. Some of their bodies were burnt after they were killed.

The U.S. has an Army staff sergeant in custody who is suspected of carrying out Sunday’s pre-dawn killings but has not released his name.

Villagers have described the gunman stalking from house to house in the middle of the night, opening fire on sleeping families and then burning some of the dead bodies.

Witnesses interviewed by The Associated Press after the attack described only one shooter, and U.S. officials have been adamant that there was only one soldier involved.

But on Tuesday, villagers who testified to the delegation insisted there were two soldiers, citing relatives who survived the attacks.

Mohammad Wazir, who was away from his home in Balandi village that night, said his sister saw two U.S. soldiers enter the house and start shooting. Everyone started running different directions, and she ran to the kitchen to hide. When the gunfire ended and she re-emerged, 11 of her relatives were dead.

In Alkozai to the south, a man named Sayed Jan said his cousins told him that they saw two soldiers come into his house and start firing. Jan’s relatives barricaded their door and snuck out another exit. Jan was away in Kandahar city that night.

The villages are about 40 miles southwest of Kandahar city.

The villagers’ anger was evident in discussions with the visiting officials before the attack cut the visit short.

“Today, the Kandahar governor was trying to explain to the villagers that he was only one soldier, that he was not a sane person and that he was sick,” said Abdul Rahim Ayubi, a Kandahar lawmaker who was part of the delegation.

“But the people were just shouting and they were very angry. They didn’t listen to the governor. They accused him of defending the Americans instead of defending the Kandahari people,” Ayubi said.

Also from CBS:

The gunbattle came as images of the aftermath of Sunday’s killings spread across the country, and the public reaction — which at first seemed surprisingly muted — began to build.

In the east, students staged the first significant protest in response to the killings, raising concerns about a repeat of the wave of violent demonstrations that rocked the nation after last month’s burning of Korans by troops at a U.S. base.

Burning an effigy of President Obama and chanting “Death to America,” the protesters in the city of Jalalabad demanded the accused U.S. soldier face a public trial in their own country, Clark reports.

See also here.

Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt, The New York Times News Service: “The Obama administration is discussing whether to reduce American forces in Afghanistan by at least an additional 20,000 troops by 2013, reflecting a growing belief within the White House that the mission there has now reached the point of diminishing returns”: here.

Britain: Three-quarters of public believe war in Afghanistan is unwinnable: here.

Stick to the plan in bloodsoaked Afghanistan, David Cameron insists – but pollsters revealed today Britain officially wants the troops home now: here.

The killing of innocent Afghans must end – and not just at the hands of “lone gunmen.” That was the message as Afghans gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square last night after a US soldier killed 16 civilians in a shooting rampage in southern Kandahar on Sunday: here.

Afghan Massacre: After Losing Homes in NATO Attacks, Victims Moved Near U.S. Base Hoping for Safety: here.

Was Soldier-Shooter in Afghanistan Redeployed With PTSD? Ralph Lopez, War Is A Crime: “The Army is keeping mum on whether the Army sergeant who went on a rampage in Afghanistan has ever been evaluated or asked for evaluation for PTSD, but it is well known that in recent years the culture of the military has been to sweep such problems under the rug, in order to redeploy as many soldiers as possible. The Army has acknowledged that the soldier had been diagnosed with a ‘traumatic brain injury’ after a vehicle rollover in Iraq”: here.

The LEFT condemns assassination attack on women’s rights activist Malalai Joya in Afghanistan: here.

USA: This week, peace groups around the country are calling Congress with the message: end the Afghanistan war now! Call your Representative at 877-429-0678 and tell him or her to support and co-sponsor H. 780, which would limit funding for the war to funds that are necessary for a safe and orderly withdrawal. Check the link to see whether your Rep is already a co-sponsor–if so, thank him or her for their support, and tell them to everything in their power to promote the bill and its mission: here.

Afghanistan and pipelines: here.

Australian sharks’ feeding frenzy on video

Discovery News says about this video:

Shark Feeding Frenzy Captured on Video

Analysis by Jennifer Viegas

Tue Mar 13, 2012

Yanchep Beach in Western Australia was recently closed when a school of about 50 sharks, some over 8 feet long, engaged in a feeding frenzy less than half a mile from shore, according to PerthNow. The event was captured on video.

I wonder what terrified person may have been in the water when this frenzy started? Hopefully the frenzy happened too early for most vacationers. The beach was closed at 9:40 AM after pilots from Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter saw the sharks feeding hungrily on a school of fish.

Department of Fisheries shark research scientist Rory McAuley told PerthNow that it was a natural phenomenon, but that it happened unusually close to shore. He and others indicate that the sharks consisted of three species: blacktip reef sharks, spinner sharks, and copper sharks.

Shark diving more profitable than shark finning – And chumming does no harm: here.

Short-tailed shearwaters and aboriginal Australians

This video from Australia says about itself:

A walk up to Cape Woolamai heads at sunset taken on a wrist mounted GoPro Hero HD2. The walk passes hundreds of thousands of Short Tailed Shearwater burrows to the head of the cape. There’s 4 wallabies in the video but you gotta look close to spot them.

From the Knox Weekly in Australia:

Boonwurrung salute sheer grit and showmanship of shearwater

STEVE BUTCHER

12 Mar, 2012 03:00 AM

FOR almost two hours before sunset, the dark birds stream offshore over rough seas like wind-blown wreckage, splintering southward towards the granite headland of Cape Woolamai and back.

Some veterans among these short-tailed shearwaters – the muttonbird – may be trans-equatorial voyagers to Phillip Island after their 40th summer, with 2-million-kilometre lifetime trip counters.

An estimated 23 million yearly navigate 15,000 kilometres from Alaska to south-east Australia, with about a million making the island where most reclaim perpetual breeding burrows around the cape. Facing west into Bass Strait from the rookery, we ready for the birds’ nightly return as the sun sinks.

At twilight about 8.15, the horizon radiates an orange afterglow and two birds flash nearby, then hundreds follow.

Within moments, tens of thousands are rising off the black sea, swarming like locusts littering the dusky sky, then we are surrounded by a flight show of winged arrows.

On brief, strong wing beats they turn and twist and streak and dive and soar and slice the air, brush by our heads, avoid collisions and close on burrows.

A few nights before, members of the Boonwurrung Aboriginal community, led by elder Aunty Carolyn Briggs, gathered here, as their descendants had, to watch the shearwaters’ display.

Guided by Phillip Island Nature Park education ranger Graeme Burgan, the group’s visit was part of a cultural reconnection and renewal with the birds that will culminate in a festival in September when they return.

Long protected on the mainland, where the Boonwurrung once collected birds, eggs and down, licensed hunting continues in Tasmania.

Mr Burgan’s father and grandfather, like many others, once slipped onto the island to raid the rookeries and today, after 28 years with the park, his devotion to the shearwaters, their protection and people’s awareness is legend. ”I’m pretty well connected to it all,” he says laconically, as are the shearwaters to their environment.

”If there are any issues with climate change and changes in the ocean that affects krill production [a major food source],” Mr Burgan says, ”then the first thing that is going to tell us about that are the shearwaters.”

Their cycle spans spring to autumn – breeding, feeding at the polar front, rasing one chick, dodging cars and feral cats, foxes and natural predators – until departure next month. By Mother’s Day they are gone, come grand final day they are returning – the Boonwurrung will be waiting.

Police arrest Murdoch underling Rebekah Brooks

This video from the British Parliament is called Rebekah Brooks admits to paying police.

It says about itself:

9 April 2011

Rebekah Brooks (neé Wade) admitting to paying police for information, before Andy Coulson

Coulson is another Rupert Murdoch underling and David Cameron associate, involved in the phone hacking scandal

silences her. This was in front of a select committee in March, 2003.

“We have paid the police for information in the past.”

From daily The Guardian in Britain:

Rebekah Brooks among six arrested in phone-hacking investigation

Former Sun editor held by Operation Weeting detectives on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice

Vikram Dodd and Josh Halliday

Tuesday 13 March 2012 11.00 GMT

Rebekah Brooks is among six people arrested by Scotland Yard detectives on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, as part of the investigation into phone hacking.

The former News International chief executive was arrested at her home in Oxfordshire by detectives from Operation Weeting. Sources also said that her husband, racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks, was arrested.

The Metropolitan police refused to confirm the names of those arrested, but said that a 43-year-old woman and a 49-year-old man had been held. News International and the lawyer for Brooks declined to comment on the reports.

This morning’s arrests took place between 5am and 7am at addresses in London, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Hertfordshire. …

Brooks was also previously arrested on 17 July last year on appointment at a London police station on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section1(1) Criminal Law Act 1977 and on suspicion of corruption allegations contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.

The former Sun and News of the World editor was held in the summer 48 hours after she resigned as News International‘s chief executive.

Rebekah Brooks became editor of the News of the World in 2000, before moving to the same position at the Sun in 2003. A close confident of Rupert Murdoch in her time at the titles, she was elevated to become chief executive at News International in 2009, until she was forced to resign in July of last year as hacking allegations mounted in the wake of the revelation that a phone belonging to missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler was targeted.

Both Rebekah and Charlie Brooks are close Oxfordshire neighbours of David Cameron. Their friendship with the prime minister came under fresh scrutiny recently after Cameron admitted he did ride a retired police horse lent to Rebekah Brooks by Scotland Yard in 2008. Cameron described his fellow Old Etonian Charlie Brooks as “a friend of mine of 30 years’ standing“, but attempted to draw a line under the so-called “Horsegate” saga when he said he had not been riding with Brooks since the 2010 election.

See also here. And here.

From the Financial Times in Britain:

Two senior reporters at The Sun have apparently attempted to commit suicide as the police intensify their scrutiny of alleged illegal journalistic practices at News International.

Economic crisis for 90%, more riches for 1%

This video is called Fat Cats in Crossfire: Occupy Wall Street aims for all streets.

By Kate Randall in the USA:

13 March 2012

Income for the top 1 percent of US households rose dramatically in 2010, the first full year following the official end of the recession, according to recently released data. By contrast, the average income of the bottom 90 percent of households remained at its lowest level since 1983.

The Widening Wealth Divide, and Why We Need a Surtax on the Super Wealthy: here.

Shrikes and wheatears, new research

This is a red-backed shrike video.

Translated from an article by Erik van der Spek, on birds in the dunes of Texel island in the Netherlands:

Red-backed shrike and wheatear have been chosen for this study because they being predators, are at the top of the food pyramid in the dune grasslands. So, when they will do well, the entire food chain should be in order.

Results

The red-backed shrikes are hurt more by a scarcity of flowers than the wheatears. Red-backed shrikes eat more flower visiting insects than wheatears do. Wheatears can catch for the second clutch chicks only about half the protein and fat compared to the first clutch chicks. In June and July there are too few insects which are suitable as food for the baby wheatears. Important prey animals of the wheatear have been found to benefit from somewhat more drift-sand like conditions in the dunes. With the antler moth (caterpillars) and Melanotus punctolineatus beetle doing very poorly in the Netherlands, only 50% of the food supplied by wheatears consists of these animals. That results in too few chicks fledging.

Management?

The opinion of the researchers is that the grasslands should be varied. Not only short and open, but a variety of local drift-sand pits, short dune grasslands, more overgrown areas and floral parts. Flowering herbs on the verges of paths may be important for bumblebees and other bees and butterflies and, as a consequence, for the birds that eat them. When the rabbit population will increase, there will be less need for cattle grazing. …

The research into the management of the dunes is still continuing.

US atrocities in Afghanistan like in My Lai

This music video, recorded in England, is called Jimmy Cliff at Glastonbury 2011 singing We Don’t Want Another Vietnam in Afghanistan. The lyrics are here.

Turning Point: America’s My Lai Moment In Afghanistan: here.

By Patrick Martin in the USA:

Afghanistan’s My Lai

13 March 2012

The action of the unidentified US staff sergeant in Panjwai district in Kandahar province, slaughtering at least 18 innocent civilians, including nine children, is a demonstration of both the brutality and the deepening crisis of American imperialism’s war of aggression in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The atrocity recalls, in both its horror and its potential political impact, the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War, an even greater act of mass murder that brought home to much of the American population, and particularly to young people, the barbarism of the war in southeast Asia.

The My Lai massacre was first brought to public attention in articles written by Seymour Hersh, then an investigative journalist for the New York Times, which described the killing of hundreds of Vietnamese villagers by a platoon of US soldiers under the command of Second Lieutenant William Calley.

There are obvious differences in detail between the events of March 12, 2012 and those of March 16, 1968, 44 years ago almost to the day. Sunday’s massacre appears to be the work of a lone gunman who, according to press reports, had suffered mental problems in the course of four combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If, indeed, media reports of the mass murder suspect suffering from brain damage from his Iraq deployment are true, then that is an indictment of the Pentagon policy of sending even severely wounded soldiers again and again as cannon fodder back to war zones.

At My Lai, some 26 soldiers participated in the killing of 504 civilians. They were following orders by the US high command, which tasked them to destroy the village, burning every home, and identified the entire population as sympathizers of the National Liberation Front, the Vietnamese nationalist insurgents.

The stench of Vietnam, the greatest-ever defeat of American imperialism, now hangs over the whole US-NATO intervention in Afghanistan. The puppet regime in Kabul, like its predecessor in South Vietnam, is the creation of a vast influx of American troops and American dollars, without any significant support in the local population. The leading personnel of the regime are drawn from the most rapacious and unprincipled social types, worried more about fattening their offshore bank accounts than prevailing in a war that they regard as hopeless and for which they are prepared to risk nothing.

In just the past week, there have been reports in the US press of widespread looting of billions in American aid by Afghan cronies of President Hamid Karzai, linked to the failure of the Kabul Bank, and of intervention by Karzai’s top aides to block an investigation of the thieving. The Wall Street Journal reported that US officials are now investigating charges that the Afghan Air Force, created by the Pentagon, has been used to ferry narcotics and illegal weapons around the country—Afghanistan is the source of 90 percent of the world’s opium. Anyone familiar with the history of the Vietnam War will recognize the process of corruption and decay that is the prelude to collapse.

As was the case in Vietnam, fratricide has become a leading cause of death for the occupation forces in Afghanistan. In Vietnam, it was reluctant American conscripts “fragging” particularly brutal or reckless officers with grenades while they slept. In Afghanistan, US-trained Afghan policemen and soldiers have killed dozens of their US and NATO “allies” in a series of what the military describes as “green on blue” attacks. Last week, an Afghan policeman allowed Taliban insurgents to enter a checkpoint and kill nine of his fellow policemen as they slept, then escaped with them.

The parallel between Panjwai and My Lai is a stark refutation of the incessant claims by the administration and the corporate-controlled media that American imperialism is engaged in military interventions around the world for “humanitarian” reasons. First under George W. Bush, then under Barack Obama, US bombs and missiles have rained down on the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Libya, and now potentially on Syria and Iran.

The truth is that, like Vietnam, the explosion of American militarism over the past decade has an absolutely criminal character. The US ruling elite is no less brutal and ruthless than in the 1960s. If its methods have become more technologically sophisticated—smart bombs and drone-guided missiles instead of B-52s and napalm—the fundamental imperialist contempt and arrogance toward the people being targeted is the same, inevitably finding expression in the type of savagery meted out on Sunday morning.

In Afghanistan, in particular, Obama has played the main role in the escalation of violence, tripling the US troop presence and extending the war into every corner of that country, as well as across the border into Pakistan. He installed General Stanley McChrystal, who headed the assassination campaign against insurgents in Iraq, to lead a similar effort in Afghanistan, then fired him when he expressed reluctance to use airpower indiscriminately against civilians.

Under McChrystal’s successor, Gen. David Petraeus, US special operations forces greatly increased the night raids that have devastated many Afghan villages. This has been accompanied by mounting outrages, a few of them well-publicized, like the urination on corpses, taking fingers and other body parts of murdered Afghans as “trophies,” and the burning of Korans at Bagram Air Base.

From Rethink Afghanistan blog in the USA:

As of today, the Obama administration and its NATO allies are clear that, despite tons of speculation in Western media, this weekend’s atrocity in Afghanistan will not affect long-standing plans for a drawdown of troops to finish in 2014 with an expected 15-20,000 US soldiers staying in Afghanistan on five or six large permamnet bases for the forseeable future. It’s a plan to paper over the cracks and head for the exits that was set in stone at the London Summit in 2010 and nothing has or will be allowed to derail it – not even the domestic political (not military) necessity of a Surge(TM) or the paper peeling of those cracks in the walls wholesale.

USA: 2 dozen senators call for quicker withdrawal from Afghanistan: here.

Britain: Anti-Vietnam war protests had been rumbling around in the 1960s but March 17 1968 marked a major watershed in the streets of London when violence erupted: here.

Occupy Bahrain video

This video from Bahrain says about itself:

Occupy Bahrain: The largest demonstration in Bahrain. We are the 99%.

More than 700 thousand citizens demanding to achieve self-determination, freedom and democracy and the rejection of dictatorship.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Bahrain offers a perfect example of successful crackdowns, with an information blackout achieved through an impressive arsenal of repressive measures: exclusion of the foreign media, harassment of human rights defenders, arrests of bloggers and netizens (one of whom died behind bars), prosecutions and defamation campaigns against free expression activists, disruption of communications: here.