"I Came, I Saw, I Destroyed!"
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- Written by Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom
- Published: 19 March 2008 19 March 2008
- Hits: 4587 4587
WHAT HAPPENED this week is so infuriating, so impertinent, that it stands out even in our familiar landscape of governmental irresponsibility.
On the near horizon, a de facto suspension of hostilities was taking shape. The Egyptians had made great efforts to turn it into an official cease-fire. The flame was already burning visibly lower. The launching of Qassams and Grads from the Gaza Strip into Israel had fallen from dozens a day to two or three.
And then something happened that turned the flame up high again: undercover soldiers of the Israeli army killed four Palestinians militants in Bethlehem. A fifth was killed in a village near Tulkarm.
THE MODUS OPERANDI left no doubt about the intention.
Noam Chomsky: The Most Wanted List
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- Written by Noam Chomsky presented by Jewish Peace News Noam Chomsky presented by Jewish Peace News
- Published: 19 March 2008 19 March 2008
- Hits: 4544 4544
Pentagon admits postponing brain screenings
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- Written by Ed Pilkington in New York for The Guardian (Because the American press is so lame) Ed Pilkington in New York for The Guardian (Because the American press is so lame)
- Published: 18 March 2008 18 March 2008
- Hits: 4555 4555
The Pentagon has admitted that it delayed introducing a routine screening of troops returning from Iraq for mild brain injuries because it feared that the extent of the problem could mushroom to the scale of the Gulf War syndrome after the first Iraq war.
The head of the Pentagon's medical assessments division has told USA Today that he wanted to avoid another controversy as potentially huge as Gulf War syndrome.
He said the military feared announcing a screening programme would encourage troops to think they had a condition and make correct diagnosis more difficult.
"Some individuals will seek diagnosis from provider to provider to provider," Col Kenneth Cox said.
The first evidence of what is known as mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) was discovered among soldiers in Iraq just months after the invasion in March 2003.
By January 2006 federal scientists specialising in the condition were calling for immediate screening.
Yet the Pentagon is only now gearing up to implementing the screening process, which involves soldiers being asked a series of questions designed to indicate whether they are suffering symptoms.
Those symptoms include headaches, dizziness, memory loss, nausea and convulsions.
Over the five years of the Iraq war, the extent of the problem of TBI has become better understood, and it is now classed as a "signature injury" of the war. The injuries are caused largely by roadside bombs that can send concussion waves through the brain even at a distance.
An army survey of more than 2,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan suggested that about 11% showed signs of mild TBI, though some estimates have put it closer to 20%.
Since 2003, 1.6 million troops have served in Iraq alone, many of whom return to the US without any awareness of their condition and hence no treatment.
In Britain, the Ministry of Defence has admitted that about 500 personnel had suffered mild TBI. Like the Pentagon, the MoD is now considering planting sensors into soldiers' helmets to monitor the shock waves passing through them.
The delay in the Pentagon's screening programme has been fiercely criticised by politicians of both main parties and by the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force.
Bleak picture of Iraq conditions
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- Written by BBC News BBC News
- Published: 17 March 2008 17 March 2008
- Hits: 4763 4763
Millions of Iraqis have little or no access to clean water, sanitation and healthcare, five years after the US-led invasion, according to the Red Cross.
The Swiss-based agency says Iraq's humanitarian situation is "among the most critical in the world".
It warned that despite better security in some areas, millions had been left essentially to fend for themselves.
Some families spend a third of their average monthly wage of $150 (£75) just buying clean water, the report found.
'Worse than ever'
An even worse humanitarian crisis in Iraq will only be averted if much more attention is paid to the everyday needs of Iraqi citizens, the report by the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
Healthcare in Iraq was "now in worse shape than ever" and the services that are available are too expensive for many people, the report said.
Abbas: Israel guilty of ethnic cleansing
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- Written by Elizabeth Stewart and agencies, The Guardian Elizabeth Stewart and agencies, The Guardian
- Published: 14 March 2008 14 March 2008
- Hits: 4619 4619
The Palestinian Authority president has accused Israel of maintaining policies in Jerusalem that are tantamount to "an ethnic cleansing campaign".
Speaking to leaders from Muslim countries gathered in Senegal, Mahmoud Abbas said Israel's actions were calculated to force Palestinians from the city.
"Our people in Jerusalem are under an ethnic cleansing campaign," he said. "They are suffering from a series of decisions like tax hikes and construction prohibitions."
Abbas said Palestinians were "facing a campaign of annihilation" by the Israeli state.