Category Archives: Gun-violence

Once in Guantánamo, Afghan Now Leads War Against Taliban and ISIS – The New York Times

At 54, Mr. Ghalib’s face is creased, and his eyes are both exhausted and watchful, as though all they really expect to see is the next bad turn that will befall his life. There have been many, including the death of both wives, his daughters, a sister and a grandchild at the hands of the Taliban.“I don’t have good memories of life, to be honest,” Mr. Ghalib said.In a recent interview in Kabul, he cataloged the enemies he has fought during a life of struggle — first the Soviets, during the jihad of the 1980s; then the Taliban over the next three decades; and now the Islamic State.More slowly, he recounted the long list of relatives he lost over these decades of calamity, from a brother who died in the war against the Soviets in the 1980s to his 70-year-old brother-in-law, who was beheaded this month. The Taliban killed more than 19 relatives in all.“Everything has been fighting and killing,” he lamented.Now, his latest fight has even pitted him against a man he once considered a close friend: a poet named Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost, whom he lived alongside in Guantánamo.

Source: Once in Guantánamo, Afghan Now Leads War Against Taliban and ISIS – The New York Times

Emirates Secretly Sends Colombian Mercenaries to Fight in Yemen – The New York Times {Reap what you sow?}

“The private military industry is global now,” said Mr. McFate, adding that the United States essentially “legitimized” the industry with its heavy reliance on contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan over more than a decade of war. “Latin American mercenaries are a sign of what’s to come,” he said.The Colombian troops now in Yemen, handpicked from a brigade of some 1,800 Latin American soldiers training at an Emirati military base, were woken up in the middle of the night for their deployment to Yemen last month. They were ushered out of their barracks as their bunkmates continued sleeping, and were later issued dog tags and ranks in the Emirati military. Those left behind are now being trained to use grenade launchers and armored vehicles that Emirati troops are currently using in Yemen.

Source: Emirates Secretly Sends Colombian Mercenaries to Fight in Yemen – The New York Times

Cameron calls for UK to join airstrikes in Syria | News | DW.COM | 23.11.2015 AKA: Cameron lusts for bloodsport to show manliness?

Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday that he would address parliament on Thursday to urge MPs to back strikes against the self-styled “Islamic State” (IS) militants in Syria.”On Thursday I will come to this house to make a statement” on the air campaign, Cameron said, having flown back to London from an earlier meeting with President Francois Hollande in Paris.The announcement came as the British government pledged an increase in the country’s military spending.Writing in Monday’s “Daily Telegraph” newspaper, the prime minister said: “As the murders on the streets of Paris reminded us so starkly, Islamic State is not some remote problem thousands of miles away; it is a direct threat to our security.”

Source: Cameron calls for UK to join airstrikes in Syria | News | DW.COM | 23.11.2015

UNHCR: ′ We can′t cope with mass Burundian refugee influx in Tanzania′ | Africa | DW.COM | 23.11.2015

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned that heavy rains, flooding and a spike in new arrivals could threaten the lives of over 110,000 Burundian refugees living in overcrowded camps in Tanzania.An upsurge of new arrivals in the camps in April saw the figures rise to almost 180,000 Burundian and Congolese refugees in Tanzania. The violence in Burundi sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term has claimed at least 240 lives and sent more than 200,000 Burundian fleeing to neighboring countries.

Source: UNHCR: ′ We can′t cope with mass Burundian refugee influx in Tanzania′ | Africa | DW.COM | 23.11.2015

Nationalistic or Culture War Breeds More War…

According to the political scientist Ulrike Guérot at the European Democracy Lab, the West’s double standards contribute ultimately even to the reinforcement of IS. “The talk of ‘defending our values'” in the “war on terror,” merely steadies “the stirrups, for, first, an exorbitant buildup of police and security measures throughout Europe,” and “second, for an exorbitant military buildup, for which more finances can be mobilized at the bat of an eyelash, than we would have been ready to spend on the refugees.” “The sorely felt discrepancy between our proclaimed values and reality is a breeding ground for IS,” explains Guérot. “We are certainly the rich, but, since quite some time, no longer the “good guys,” in the eyes of many. Some even see us as the barbarians.” “With each drone that fires a missile and bombards IS bases, IS will blow up our European cities and we will be even more terrified,” warns this former employee of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), and the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). “As long as we do not understand that each person’s life is just as precious, we will have lost the fight against IS already, even before it has really begun.”[6]

Source: www.german-foreign-policy.com

Murder, Incorporated: Guns and the Growing Culture of Violence in the US, by Henry A. Giroux « Algérie Résistance

The widespread availability of guns is the reason for the shooting and killing of children and adults in Chicago, Boston, Ferguson, New York City and in other major cities. The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence reports that « in 2010, guns took the lives of 31,076 Americans in homicides, suicides and unintentional shootings. This is the equivalent of more than 85 deaths each day and more than three deaths each hour. [In addition], 73,505 Americans were treated in hospital emergency departments for non-fatal gunshot wounds in 2010. » (7) And the toll of gun violence on young people is truly heartbreaking with almost 30,000 young people killed in a 10-year period, which amounts « to nearly 3,000 kids shot to death in a typical year. »(8) According to a Carnegie-Knight News21 program investigation,For every US soldier killed in Afghanistan during 11 years of war, at least 13 children were shot and killed in the United States. More than 450 kids didn’t make it to kindergarten. Another 2,700 or more were killed by a firearm before they could sit behind the wheel of a car. Every day, on average, seven children were shot dead. A News21 investigation of child and youth deaths in the United States between 2002 and 2012 found that at least 28,000 children and teens 19-years-old and younger were killed with guns. Teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 made up over two-thirds of all youth gun deaths in the United States. (9)

Source: Murder, Incorporated: Guns and the Growing Culture of Violence in the US, by Henry A. Giroux « Algérie Résistance

Shabbat morning in Hebron | “And you shall teach this to your children”

The soldiers are bad here, but the settlers are worse. There is a Jewish woman who is notorious for trying to run over internationals and Palestinians with her car and a Jewish man who pretends to be a paramedic. He drives an ambulance but has no medical training or skills and arrives at scenes of injury to Palestinians for the purpose of impeding real medical assistance and causing further harm.While here, I have come to associate tzizit, kippah, and the star of David as synonymous with rifles, machine guns; harassment and/or impending injury. I have somewhat adjusted to this association, but this Shabbat morning it is more difficult. I find a part of myself wanting to forget that the soldiers and Jewish settlers call me a whore and traitor. I find myself wanting to follow the tallit wearing youth down the hill, wanting to hear the morning prayers. Quietly, under my breath I say the Sh’ma and feel tears well up in my eyes. I wonder what has become, and what will become, of Judaism?

Source: Shabbat morning in Hebron | “And you shall teach this to your children”

Brussels′ Great Mosque and ties with Salafism | News | “Saudi Funded”

The Great Mosque of Brussels is financed by the Muslim World League, which receives most of its money from the Saudi Arabian government. The story of the mosque began in 1967, when Belgium’s state coffers were empty and the nation was looking for access to cheap oil.

Source: Brussels′ Great Mosque and ties with Salafism | News | DW.COM | 21.11.2015

Raad Rahman: Will I Die a Muslim? – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

I wonder how I will die, because none of this is my Islam. I’ve spent the better part of the years since 9/11 instinctively apologizing for the acts of extremist Muslims who have absolutely nothing to do with me, and everything to do with a brand of Islam that is despicable to all Muslims. I am exorbitantly angry with these extremists for continuing to try to tie my identity with their damnable actions.One look at my mini-skirts, tube-tops, and swimsuits, and if you’re even the most conservative of Americans, you end up asking me, “But you look so ‘normal.’ What causes you guys to take the step to go over the other side?” This actually happened with a well-meaning white woman from the Midwest on a flight to Chicago, who was shocked to hear there is no other side for us moderates and liberals. Such ignorant Islamophobia is pervasive to many of the encounters I have had over the last decade.

Source: Raad Rahman: Will I Die a Muslim? – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

www.german-foreign-policy.com France to Germany and rest of EU: assist in attacking IS

The EU Mutual Defense ClauseTo rally the EU behind its leadership in its fight against the IS, Paris has now evoked the “EU Mutual Defense Clause” in accordance with Article 42, Paragraph 7 of the Lisbon Treaty, according to which all EU member nations are obligated to come to France’s aid. The political results are obvious. Whereas, over the past few years, EU foreign policy has been focused on the struggle around Ukraine – under German predominance and leadership – the new set of priorities for fighting IS would be predominantly under France’s leadership. Paris, at least, would be able to relativize Berlin’s predominance. Therefore, the French government has leaked its wish to have the Bundeswehr participate in this fight against IS – of course, under French command – i.e. German support with aerial refueling of French fighter bombers and German air freighters. Berlin, however, is not disposed to submit to a French command, and made it clear that it will not participate in France’s attacks on IS in Syria. According to Germany, “there are already enough participants intervening with their fighter bombers.”[4] However, they would gladly come to France’s aid by sending the Bundeswehr to Northern Mali to relieve French troops operating there. In fact, the basis for an operation in Northern Mali had been adopted already months ago. (german-foreign-policy.com reported.[5])

Source: www.german-foreign-policy.com