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Eric Allie | The key to mid-east peace / media.cagle.com

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Obama fails in the Mideast

  • The message to Israel was clear: there is no better ally to Israel than the U.S. He went on and on about how Israel will always be backed by the U.S., no matter what. Militarism won the day.
  • Obama's speech to the Israeli People...

vindy.com

Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Jim Fuller

This article is made possible with the generous contributions of all reader supported Evergreene Digest readers like you. Thank you!

Sun, March 24, 2013 | As I watched President Barack Obama’s helicopter pass above my home, just before landing at the Palestinian Presidential Compound next to Ramallah, I just shook my head in disappointment, first as an American, then as a Palestinian. I thought: “Another U.S. president, on another high fanfare visit, carrying the same, failed political messages.”

It was difficult to follow Obama’s visit on TV. In normal practice when dignitaries come to town, Israel disrupts the satellite signals that feed our televisions. Nevertheless, I was able to tune in to a single Arabic channel, broadcast from Lebanon, that was unaffected by this.

Full story...

Related:

Obama's speech to the Israeli People..., Michael Lerner, Tikkun

...and my commentary

 

 

Bosnian woman helped make rape a war crime

  • Today, it's partly thanks to Sivac's efforts to gather testimony from women across Bosnia that rape has been categorized as a war crime under international law.
  • New Front in the War on Women

Aida Cerkez, Associated Press / Huffington Post

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Bosnian Muslim Nusreta Sivac is seen during the interview with The Associated Press in Sanski Most, 260 kms west of Sarajevo on Tuesday, March 5, 2013.  (AP Photo - Amel Emric)

March 08, 2013 | There were days when she prayed for a bullet to end her suffering. When she thought she was dying of a heart attack, she whispered "Thank you God."

A young judge, Nusreta Sivac was one of 37 women raped by guards at a concentration camp in Bosnia. They never discussed the nightly traumas — their pained glances were enough to communicate their suffering. She also witnessed murder and torture by Bosnian Serb guards — and was forced to clean blood from walls and floors of the interrogation room.

She told herself to memorize the names and faces of the tormentors so that one day she might bring them to justice.

Full story...

Related:

New Front in the War on Women, The Progress Report, ThinkProgress

 

Obama's speech to the Israeli People...

...and my commentary

Michael Lerner, Tikkun 

If you like reading this article, consider contributing a cafe latte to all reader-supported Evergreene Digest--using the donation button above—so we can bring you more just like it.

Read the full text of  Obama's  brilliant but flawed speech (to Israelis today, March 21, 2013, in Jerusalem) on line by clicking here

It is prefaced by my commentary which both praises it and shows what is tragically missing from it. 

Full story...

Dying Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran Writes to Bush and Cheney

  • Iraq War veteran Thomas Young has written a powerful open letter to former President George W. Bush and ex-Vice President Dick Cheney accusing them of war crimes, "plunder" and "the murder of thousands of young Americans—my fellow veterans—whose future you stole."
  • How the US public was defrauded by the hidden cost of the Iraq war.

Livan Diaz, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) 

This article is made possible with the generous contributions of all reader supported Evergreene Digest readers like you. Thank you!

Dying Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran Tomas Young

03/20/13 | An Iraq War veteran who joined the U.S. Army two days after 9/11 has written a powerful open letter to former President George W. Bush and ex-Vice President Dick Cheney accusing them of war crimes, "plunder" and "the murder of thousands of young Americans—my fellow veterans—whose future you stole."

Tomas Young, who was shot and paralyzed during an insurgent attack in Sadr City in 2004, five days into his first deployment, penned the letter from his Kansas City, Mo., home, where he's under hospice care.

Full story...

How the US public was defrauded by the hidden cost of the Iraq war, Michael Boyle, Guardian UK

While its leaders may have grand international ambitions, most Americans have no appetite for, or interest in, nation-building abroad. This mismatch between our leaders and ourselves means that our politicians will lie to us about running their wars on the cheap while finding ways to pass on the costs to those not yet born.

 

Special Report | Hugo Chavez: Week of March 17, 2013

  • The simple fact remains: Chavez, who died of cancer at the age of 58, was the only president of Venezuela in modern memory who did anything for the poor people of that country who make up the vast majority of its nearly 30 million citizens.
  • 8 New items including:

David Culver, Ed., Evergreene Digest 

At a time when corporations are buying up elections - not to mention the 24-hour news cycle - help ensure that a source for truly independent journalism lives on. Support all reader supported Evergreene Digest today by using the donation button in the above right-hand corner. 

Hugo Chavez (Credit: AP/Leslie Mazoch, photo treatment by Salon)

CIA and FBI Had Planned to Assassinate Hugo Chávez, Kurt Nimmo, Global Research

March 06, 2013 | Now we have a bit more evidence the CIA and the FBI connived with reactionary elements to not only briefly overthrow Chávez, abolish the constitution and the National Assembly, but later assassinate the Venezuelan State Prosecutor, Danilo Anderson. He was killed by a car bomb in Caracas on November 18, 2004, while investigating those who were behind the coup. Giovani Jose Vasquez De Armas, a member of Colombia’s right wing paramilitary group called the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, claims he was in charge of logistics for the plot to kill Danilo Anderson. Vasquez De Armas told the Attorney General’s office that those planning the killing, “all discussed the plan with the help of the FBI and CIA.”

Latin America after Chávez, Independent Institute

March 12, 2013 | When Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez succumbed to cancer last week, did his revolution die with him? Chávez’s hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, will attempt to lead the Latin American left—with the backing of Havana, which has gained huge influence in Venezuela by providing 45,000 Cuban workers to help staff Chavez’s social programs. But according to Independent Institute Senior Fellow Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Maduro faces two major challenges: he lacks his predecessor’s charisma, and he faces stiff competition from other leaders eager to take Chávez’s place as a regional leader. 

President Hugo Chavez and America’s “Backyard” Joseph Palermo, LA Progressive 

  • Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contribuing Editor Jim Fuller
  • March 7, 2013 | The simple fact remains -- Chavez, who died of cancer at the age of 58, was the only president of Venezuela in modern memory who did anything for the poor people of that country who make up the vast majority of its nearly 30 million citizens.

Why Chavez Won BIG! Mark Vorpahl, Workers Compass

  • Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor John Stoltenberg
  • October 8, 2012 | U.S. workers and those who are unemployed are frequently told that the current presidential elections are among the most important in this country’s history. With continuing high unemployment and underemployment, declining wages, and looming massive cuts to social programs that help workers, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, we are at a grave point regarding the direction of this country. However, the policies of both presidential candidates and their parties have perpetuated the devastating effects of the Great Recession for workers. Wall Street, the banks, the corporations, and the wealthy have been the beneficiaries of these policies while the only thing workers have received has been more sacrifices.
  • A Comparison Between the Presidential Elections in the U.S. and Venezuela

Hugo Chavez’s economic miracle, David Sirota, Salon

March 6, 2013 | The Venezuelan leader was often marginalized as a radical. But his brand of socialism achieved real economic gains

In Death as in Life, Chávez Target of Media Scorn, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)

  • Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Lydia Howell
  • March 6, 2013 | His independence, help for Venezuela's poor will not be forgiven

Vaya con Dios, Hugo Chavez, mi Amigo, Greg Palast, Vice Magazine

  • In the film The Seventh Seal, a medieval knight bets his life on a game of chess with the Grim Reaper. Death cheats, of course, and takes the knight. No mortal can indefinitely outplay Death who, last night, checkmated the new Bolivar of Venezuela.
  • Argentina begins prosecution of military-era human rights abuses

 

 

Poverty and Progress: Comparing the US and Venezuela, Stop Imperialism <http://stopimperialism.org>

Republicans and Democrats, President Obama and House Speaker Boehner alike are culpable for the massive suffering and despair of the poor in the US who can look to Venezuela and the Bolivarian Revolution as a model for a truly progressive vision of the future.

http://evergreenedigest.org/poverty-and-progress-comparing-us-and-venezuela

Vaya con Dios, Hugo Chavez, mi Amigo

  • In the film The Seventh Seal, a medieval knight bets his life on a game of chess with the Grim Reaper. Death cheats, of course, and takes the knight. No mortal can indefinitely outplay Death who, last night, checkmated the new Bolivar of Venezuela.
  • Argentina begins prosecution of military-era human rights abuses

Greg Palast, Vice Magazine

Venezuela's late president Hugo Chavez. (photo: Reuters)

08 March 13 | In 2005, Reverend Pat Robertson - channelling the frustration of George W Bush's State Department, said, "Hugo Chavez thinks we're trying to assassinate him. I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it."

Despite Bush's providing intelligence, funds and even a note of congratulations to the crew who kidnapped Chavez (we'll get there), Hugo remained in office, re-elected and wildly popular.

But why the Bush regime's hate, hate, HATE of the President of Venezuela?

Reverend Pat wasn't coy about the answer: It's the oil.

Full story...

Related:

Argentina begins prosecution of military-era human rights abuses, Jonathan Gilbert, Christian Science Monitor / MinnPost

  • “This is a huge step to achieve the truth internationally,” says Atilio Borón, an Argentine political scientist who studies social movements and democracy. Human rights have become a cornerstone of Argentine politics since Néstor Kirchner, the predecessor and late husband of current President Cristina Kirchner, overturned impunity laws.
  • Eyes Wide Open (2010)

 

 

No backdoor to war with Iran

Rebecca Griffin, Peace Action West

Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Andy Driscoll

March 4, 2013 | The run-up to war doesn’t happen overnight. It’s made up of small steps to slowly build acceptance for the idea of military action.

A group of senators have introduced just such a bill that urges US military and other support if Israel attacks Iran. Tell your senators to oppose this backdoor to war with Iran.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a powerful lobbying group with hawkish positions on Iran, is marching on the Hill this week, bringing thousands of supporters to DC to lobby in favor of this bill.

It is very difficult for senators to say no to pressure to support this bill if they aren’t hearing from the other side. Your senators need to hear from you right now.

Full story...

Related:

Americans Fear Iran but There Is Much to Learn From Cuba, William Pfaff, TruthDig

We have paid, and the Cubans paid ever since much more heavily than Americans—to no purpose. Now, Americans seem ready to make the Iranians pay for the price of our obsessions. We will pay, too, as we always have before. Will there be anyone someday to apologize? 

 

 

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