U.S. Marine tank in Baghdad, April 14, 2003.
Photo source: Wikipedia
As American combat troops left Iraq in December 2011, at that point, the war was largely forgotten by the American public. What remains in public memory are retrospectives of the war, especially on its ten-year anniversary. The dominant narrative is that the Iraq war was a mistake because of the lies or “faulty intelligence” that were used to justify it, costs to the United States, and the strategic folly of invading the country in the first place. However, the war was more than a mistake — it was a crime. Portraying the war as a mistake does three pernicious things: downplay the gravity of the crime, does not question the premises of militarism and permanent war, and perpetuates the myth of American benevolence. Cumulatively, these retrospectives amount to a gross revision of history. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: 9/11, anti-war, Condoleezza Rice, crime of aggression, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, empire, George W. Bush, Global War on Terror, hegemony, Human Rights, imperialism, International Law, Iraq, Iraq war, Middle East & North Africa, oil, Paul Wolfowitz, War, war crimes, war of aggression, War on Terror, weapons of mass destruction, WMD
Predator drone fires a Hellfire missile (Source: Wikipedia)
On Monday, NBC News reported on a leaked Department of Justice “white paper” summarizing memos that make the Obama administration’s legal case for targeted killing of U.S. citizens suspected of links to al-Qaeda or “associated forces”. In September of 2011, the Obama administration launched a drone strike against alleged al-Qaeda leaders Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan in Yemen, both of whom were U.S. citizens. Neither was charged or convicted of any crime. In fact, Yemen experts raised doubts about how operational al-Awlaki was in al-Qaeda.
Two weeks later, al-Awlaki’s 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, was killed in another drone strike, even though he was not charged or convicted of any crime. It is very likely that he wasn’t the intended target. In fact, one Obama administration official called the strike that killed Abdulrahman “an outrageous mistake…. They were going after the guy sitting next to him.” Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Afghanistan, anti-war, Barack Obama, CIA, civil liberties, drone warfare, drones, Human Rights, International Law, Iraq, John Brennan, JSOC, Kill List, legal memo, Pakistan, permanent war, Somalia, targeted killing, War, War on Terror, white paper, Yemen
Camp X-Ray (Gitmo) detainees, 1/11/2002, Source: Wikipedia
A few days before the new year rang in, I made three predictions for Turnstyle News about what’s in store for the year 2013. The first was a “drawdown but not a complete end to the war in Afghanistan”, the second was “continuation of drone strikes and targeted killing”, and the third was “indefinite detention of U.S. citizens will remain”. It’s a few days into 2013 but a few recent events show that the dismal state of peace and civil liberties will not cease any time soon. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Barack Obama, CIA, civil liberties, drone warfare, drones, extraordinary rendition, Gitmo, Global War on Terror, Guantanamo Bay, Guantanamo Bay prison, Human Rights, indefinite detention, international human rights law, International Law, Kill List, laws of war, NDAA, Obama, Pakistan, Somalia, targeted killing, War, war crimes, War on Terror, Yemen
“Justice for Alan” poster. Part of Justice for Alan Blueford campaign in Oakland. (Photo Credit: IndyBay)
While the death of Trayvon Martin has largely fallen off the public radar, the killing of black people by police officers, security guards, or armed vigilantes continues unabated. On May 6, Alan Blueford, an 18-year-old African-American male who was about to graduate from Skyline High School, was shot three times by two Oakland police officers. Oakland police stopped and frisked Blueford and his two friends that night for drugs or weapons. Shortly after, Blueford ran and the police chased him. During the chase, police claim Blueford fired at them to which they responded with three shots. A fourth shot was fired into an officer’s foot, which police also claimed came from Blueford.
However, according to witnesses, investigators, and a coroner’s report, Blueford never shot at the police. There was a pistol found at the scene but it was never fired and it’s unclear whether it belonged to Blueford. In addition, Oakland Police Department (OPD) admitted that the fourth shot was a self-inflicted wound. One of the officer’s shot himself in the foot but initially blamed it on Blueford — a kid who never shot them. On the bright side, the Oakland community has shown their outrage at the killing in the form of robust activism. There is now a “Justice for Alan Blueford” campaign with support from Occupy Oakland.
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Tags: Alan Blueford, Emmett Till, extrajudicial killing, Human Rights, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Oakland, Oakland Police Department, Occupy Oakland, OPD, police brutality, racism, Rodney King, stop and frisk, systemic racism, Trayvon Martin
Map of Africa, Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
As the U.S. supposedly winds down in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is increasing its shadow wars in Africa. Since 9/11, under the guise of fighting terrorism, the U.S. expanded its military presence in Central Asia (with the invasion of Afghanistan), the Middle East (with the invasion of Iraq), and the Horn of Africa — regions that are predominantly Muslim. In 2003, the Combined Joint Task Force — Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) was established to carry out civil-military operations in the Horn of Africa to counter terrorism. Its base is at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, the only major U.S. military outpost in Africa. In 2008, the U.S. created the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) to coordinate its military operations on the continent, even though it’s headquartered in Germany. Under the rubric of the Global War on Terror, the U.S. military and CIA have been spreading their forces throughout Africa to fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. However, there are deeper geopolitical reasons motivating Washington’s militarism in Africa. This increased militarism is destabilizing Africa and exacerbates human suffering on the continent. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Africa, AFRICOM, air wars, Camp Lemonnier, China, CIA, Djibouti, drone warfare, drones, empire, espionage, Ethiopia, hegemony, Human Rights, imperialism, Libya, Mali, NATO, natural resources, oil, secret prisons, shadow war, Somalia, special operations, Uganda
I wrote a piece in Turnstyle News about the growing domestic use of drones. It’s the second in a series of two articles I wrote about drones.
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Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, MQ-9 Predator B. Drone used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Photo source: Wikimedia Commons
Imagine hearing a buzzing sound over your head in the sky everyday. It’s not a bug. Nor is it an airplane. It’s an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), also known as a drone. There is no pilot inside the vehicle; it’s being controlled by remote control in a secret location a few dozen or hundreds of miles away from you. The drone flies over you, tracking your movements every day. Everywhere you go — to work, to school, to visit friends, or even to a protest or party — the drone buzzes over your head and watches what you do.
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Tags: ACLU, CIA, civil liberties, Department of Homeland, domestic drones, drones, FAA, FBI Security, Fourth Amendment, Human Rights, mass surveillance, police state, privacy, privacy rights, surveillance, U.S. Constitution, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, UAV
I wrote a piece in Turnstyle News about drone warfare. It’s the first in a series of two articles I wrote about drones.
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MQ-9 Reaper drone flying over Afghanistan in 2007. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
From the National Public Radio (NPR) to the New York Times, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), otherwise known as drones, have been receiving a lot of press coverage. These high-tech, unmanned aircraft are changing the way the United States, and other countries, go to war. While drones are mostly used for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes, they are increasingly being used for military strikes. Most of the drone strikes occur in Pakistan but are increasing in Yemen, Somalia, and elsewhere. Under the Bush administration, the U.S. launched 52 drone strikes in Pakistan. The Obama administration has dramatically increased that number to nearly 280 so far, along with dozens more in Yemen and Somalia. As a writer and peace activist, I am concerned that this technology will make it far too easy for nations to go to war, hence why I’m writing about it. The international community needs to mitigate the insidious implications of drone warfare. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: drone warfare, drones, Human Rights, International Law, Kill List, laws of war, Obama administration, Obama Kill List, Pakistan, Somalia, targeted killing, War, Yemen
