New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW)

NYCLAW Antiwar Digest

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OVERVIEW

US troops to stay in Iraq and Afghanistan for years

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday American troops will remain in Iraq and Afghanistan for years.

http://www.rttnews.com/Content/Policy.aspx?Id=725003

The most destructive, expensive empire since WWII

No other country in the post-Second World War world has been so globally destructive or inflicted so many war fatalities. . . . Yet, so gargantuan and labyrinthine are U.S. military expenditures that the above grossly understates their true magnitude, which, as we shall see below, reached trillion in 2007.

http://www.monthlyreview.org/081001foster-holleman-mcchesney.php

Poor people are connecting the dots

For the men in front of Johnson's, there was plain symmetry between the Iraq war and the financial crisis: Young people shipped out to a trillion-dollar bloodbath in the Middle East, in pursuit of nonexistent weapons of mass destruction; and banks collapsing on top of mortgages.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/nyregion/01about.html?ref=nyregion



AFGHANISTAN & PAKISTAN

Petraeus: Afghan resistance gaining

"Obviously the trends in Afghanistan have been in the wrong direction, and I think everyone is rightly concerned about them". . . . The same went for Pakistan, he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/world/asia/01petraeus.html?ref=world

Afghan blow-back

The escalating insurgency in Afghanistan is being spearheaded by a trio of warlords who came to prominence in the CIA-backed war to oust the Soviets but who now direct attacks against U.S. forces from havens in Pakistan. . . . "[W]e have assumed the place of the Soviets."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-warlords1-2008oct01,0,7634578.story

US-backed attacks force 20,000 Pakistanis into Afghanistan

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled into other parts of Pakistan as a result of the 2-month-old offensive.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-as-afghan-pakistan-refugees,1,387804.story



IRAQ

The cost of boots on the ground

It takes half a million dollars per year to maintain one sergeant in combat in Iraq. . . . The 190,000 contractors in Iraq and neighboring countries, from cooks to truck drivers, have cost US taxpayers 0 billion from the start of the war through the end of 2008.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JJ02Ak01.html



GI RESISTANCE

'Please listen,' say veterans of Iraq war

"One day I will die. One day I will stop talking about this. So please listen."

http://www.madison.com/tct/news/306861

Soldiers protest Iraq war

"I think the occupation is illegal, immoral and the right thing to do is to give the country back to the people. We've taken away their sovereignty."

http://www.dailycardinal.com/article/20613

Interview with an Iraq vet

When you see someone [who is] 18 or 19 die, someone who hasn't lived or had real life experiences, didn't have a chance to have a kid and a family, you think, Why are we doing this? People are dying. The Iraqis are dying. We're killing off all of their people and for what?

http://www.wiretapmag.org/warandpeace/43761/

Ithaca becomes sanctuary for GI resisters

Common Council Wednesday night unanimously passed a resolution designating Ithaca as a "Community of Sanctuary" for veterans and military personnel "who are organizing to stop the wars in and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan."

http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20081002/NEWS01/810020353



PALESTINE

US sends radar and troops to Israel

U.S. European Command has deployed to Israel a high-powered X-band radar and the supporting people and equipment needed for coordinated defense against Iranian missile attack, marking the first permanent U.S. military presence on Israeli soil. . . . to operate and defend the U.S. installation.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/defense_xband_092608/

Pentagon to sell fighter jets to Israel

A Pentagon official said Wednesday that the sale of the stealth jets to Israel was essential to American national interests and was meant to ensure that Israel maintained its qualitative edge over armies of neighboring countries.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017427629&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

US troops undermining Hamas

American soldiers have teamed up with Egyptian troops in the Sinai in recent weeks for an operation designed to uncover Palestinian weapons' smuggling tunnels underneath the Philadelphi Route, along the Egypt-Gaza border.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3604575,00.html

Hezbollah: Israel is US watchdog

"We do not deny the influence of the Zionist lobby in the world, but Israel does not control the US. . . . Israel is the product of the US and Britain aimed at tearing the region apart. It is the arrowhead of this inspiration.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3602654,00.html

5,389 Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers over 8 years

In the eight years since the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifadah Israel has destroyed Palestine's infrastructure and killed 5,389 Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. . . . 32,270 Palestinians were injured.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32212

West Bank settler pogroms continue

"They have the army to protect them even while they are attacking us. But we have no one to defend us."

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-us-palestinians-israel-settlers.html

Israeli terrorism in Syria?

Israel's Mossad spy agency was behind a deadly car bomb attack in Damascus on Saturday which killed 17 people, according to a columnist in the semi-official Jordanian daily Ad-Dustour.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=96377

Olmert: Vanishing two-states

"The international community is starting to view Israel as a future binational state."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080930/wl_time/olmertslameduckepiphanyaboutpalestinianpeace

Fall and rise of the "one-state solution"

[T]he short period of acceptance of the "two-state solution" was a departure by Palestinian nationalism from its more natural stance, and the current trend of return to the "one-state" option is a return to a position more in keeping with the deep view of the conflict held throughout by this trend.

http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=2473

PA's shameful conduct

It is beyond shameful when Palestinian figures, in an apparent attempt to curry favor with the Americans and Israelis, refer to Hamas as "terrorists" and try to insinuate a connection with al-Qaida and Iran. Palestinians listen to this nonsense and seethe; Hamas was never the enemy, and its assessments of the PA's direction have been borne out by events.

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9860.shtml

What "Israeli Left"?

The so-called "Israeli Left" is not left at all. . . . [Peace Now's] logic was that Israel might allow itself some concession from a point of strength, thus denying the Palestinian refugees right of return and clinging to Jewish domination.

http://www.antiimperialista.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5786&Itemid=55

L.A.'s Democratic mayor boosts Israeli consulate

"As we mark 60 years of Israeli independence, as we paint Wilshire Boulevard blue and white, we must reaffirm in one voice our support for the Jewish state," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told those gathered for the flag-raising ceremony.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-flag29-2008sep29,0,4260835.story

Lobby on defensive in US

Concerned that public support for Israel is flagging because of that nation's conflict with Palestinians, the umbrella organization that funds much Jewish community life in Boston is proposing a variety of new efforts to bolster the Jewish state's image here.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/09/26/push_on_to_bolster_israels_image/



VENEZUELA

Human Rights Watch's lies, crimes and cover-ups

HRW has played an insidious role as backer and adviser of US imperial intervention, providing the humanitarian ideological cover while issuing harmless and inconsequential reports criticizing 'ineffective' excesses, which 'undermine' imperial dominance.

http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_28340.shtml



TORTURE & CIVIL LIBERTIES

US "terror" suspects tortured by African governments

American officials said the suspects were never in American custody. . . . Several men said they had been beaten repeatedly, suffered permanent injury and disfigurement.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-af-africa-terrorism,1,6793183.story

Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1

[T]his new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/

Government informants promote illegal acts

''Lately, the government has been instructing its informants and taking a more active approach in planning and participation'' of illegal acts.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Fort-Dix-Plot.html

A cruel display of anti-Muslim hate in Ohio

Despite the reluctance of police to label the attack on the Dayton mosque a hate crime, there should be no doubt that the wide distribution of hate-filled propaganda like Obsession has been a factor in at least some attacks on Arabs and Muslims since September 11 -- including verbal and physical assaults, as well as arsons at mosques and high-profile incidents in which Arab and Muslim passengers have been barred from airplanes.

http://socialistworker.org/2008/10/02/anti-muslim-hate-in-ohio



CASH-FOR-TRASH

Both Obama and McCain push bailout

Publicly the communications strategies of both candidates were strikingly similar on Tuesday. . . . And Mr. Obama made the rare move of not criticizing -- or even mentioning -- Mr. McCain.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/us/politics/01campaign.html?ref=us

Labor on tranquilizers

Labor's dramatic decline in power and influence derives more from it's lack of political independence from the essentially pro-big business, liberal establishment than from fewer members.

http://counterpunch.org/finamore09292008.html

Not another rip-off

We demand:

http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2/1626061135?JServSessionIdr001=vse2k8h942.app8a&abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=8845&news_iv_ctrl=1621

Stop the Wall Street bailout

Instead, I demand the following emergency measures:

http://prismwebcastnews.com/2008/10/03/stop-the-wall-street-bailout-bail-out-the-people-not-bankers-on-wall-street/

Why not a bailout for the rest of us?

The Paulson plan will be back before both houses of Congress before the week is out, perhaps with some token changes to pick up a few more votes. But the essence will be unchanged: It is a proposal for the greatest transfer of wealth from workers to the rich in U.S. history.

http://socialistworker.org/2008/10/01/bailout-for-the-rest-of-us

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