Bush Lies to the Minneapolis Bridge Collapse Victims

First Lady Laura Bush is shown the bridge collapse scene by Minneapolis Deputy Chief Rob Allen. She then thanked first responders.

For Immediate Release

Office of the Press Secretary

August 3, 2007

Audio

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Today, I am traveling to Minneapolis to the site of Wednesday's tragic bridge collapse. Like millions of Americans, I was shocked and saddened when I heard the news that the I-35 bridge gave way during rush hour. The bridge was a major traffic artery, and when it collapsed dozens of cars fell into the Mississippi River.

Laura and I join all Americans in mourning those who lost their lives and in sending our thoughts and prayers to their families. And we pray that those injured will make a full recovery.

On Thursday morning, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and Federal Highway Administrator Richard Capka traveled to Minneapolis. They announced $5 million in immediate federal funding for debris removal and to help restore the flow of traffic. This is just the beginning of the financial assistance we will make available to support the state in its recovery efforts. Several federal agencies are on the ground aiding state and local officials, including the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

recognize how important the I-35 bridge is to the state of Minnesota, and my administration is committed to working closely with Governor Pawlenty and Mayor Rybak to rebuild this bridge as quickly as possible.

In times of tragedy, our hearts ache for those who suffer, yet our hearts are also lifted by acts of courage and compassion. We saw those qualities in the residents of a nearby apartment building who rushed to the scene to offer their help. We saw them in the divers who fought the mighty currents of the Mississippi to reach victims. And we saw them in the firefighters who searched car to car for survivors.

Among the survivors was a group of kids returning from a summer field trip. Their school bus had just passed over the Mississippi River, when the bridge below them gave way. The bus dropped more than 20 feet and came to rest on the guardrail of the collapsed bridge span. A staff member named Jeremy Hernandez quickly swung into action. He broke open the backdoor and helped evacuate the terrified children to safety. The mother of one of the children on board credited Jeremy's presence of mind with helping spare her daughter from tragedy. She put it this way: "I don't know what he was thinking but it must have been something really good."

Our country is fortunate to have brave and selfless citizens like Jeremy, and all those who risked their own safety to aid in the rescue. This is a difficult time for the community in Minneapolis, but the people there are decent and resilient, and they will get through these painful hours. As they do, they know that all of America stands with them, and that we will do all we can to help them recover and rebuild.

May God bless those who are hurting in Minneapolis, and may God bless our wonderful country. Thank you for listening.

END

Less We forget those still in need on the American Gulf Coast!

On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

26 July - 01 August 2007

Suffering of Palestinian civilians continues at Israeli checkpoints

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Escalate Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

· 10 Palestinians killed by IOF.

o 1 Palestinian youth beaten to death in Bethlehem

o 3 of the victims killed in IOF extra-judicial executions.

· 12 Palestinian civilians, including 1 woman, were wounded by IOF gunfire.

o 3 were injured in a failed extra-judicial execution.

· IOF conducted 26 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

o IOF arrested 18 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and 2 in the Gaza Strip.

o IOF raid the Union of the Handicapped and Islamic Club in Qalqilya.

o IOF raid El-Zuhur Kindergarten and desecrate the Islamic Cemetery in Dura near Hebron.

· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT, and continues to isolate the Gaza Strip from the outside world.

o Severe humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip due to the closure.

o 5,000 Palestinians still stuck on the Egyptian side of the Gaza Strip border for 6 weeks. The number of travelers who died in Egypt so far is 17.

o Approximately 1,000 Palestinians allowed to pass from Egypt through El-Ojeh – Erez route.

o IOF positioned at various checkpoints and border crossings in the West Bank arrested 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child.

Summary

Senior Palestinian Officials still in Wrongful Israeli Detention

Family members of arrested Hamas lawmakers wait outside Ofer Israeli military court near the West Bank city of Ramallah, 25 September 2006. (Moti Milrod/ MaanImages)

2 August 2007

From B'Tselem

Shortly after the abduction of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, in June 2006, Israel detained dozens of Palestinians holding senior positions in the Palestinian Authority, some of them ministers in the Hamas government, and most of the members of the Palestinian Legislative Council on behalf of Hamas in the West Bank. The Judge Advocate General's Office informed B'Tselem that forty-five members of the PLC had been detained. According to B'Tselem's information, at least twenty-two of them remain in detention. In May 2007, following a Qassam attack on Sderot, the army arrested dozens more senior Palestinian officials, among them Minister of Education Nasser a'-Din Sha'er and the Minister for Fence and Settlements Affairs Wasfi Qaba. These two ministers and forty-five members of the PLC continue to be held in detention in Israel.

The timing of the arrests raises the suspicion that the action was taken to put pressure on the Palestinian population and its leadership. That suspicion is strengthened by statements made by Israeli officials. For example, in an interview with the Associated Press a few hours after the first wave of arrests, on 29 June 2006, Major-General Yair Naveh, OC Central Command, said that the decision to arrest senior Palestinian officials was made by the political echelon and that they would be released upon the release of Gilad Shalit. In an interview with the army radio station on 24 May 2007, the day that the second wave of arrests took place, the then-Defense Minister, Amir Peretz, stated that "the arrest of those heads of Hamas is to show the military organizations that we demand that the firing stop." It is clear, therefore, that the senior Palestinian officials are being held not to prosecute them for acts they had committed, nor even out of concern for what they might do in the future; rather, it is to benefit from neutralizing their political activity and from the hardship they, their colleagues, and the public they represent will suffer. If this is indeed the case, Israel is misusing the arrest power and is employing the criminal process to achieve extraneous objectives.

Some of the officials are being held in administrative detention and some have been indicted. In all the cases, the denial of their liberty was carried out in violation of law and in outrageous contempt for their rights and for the rights of the persons they were elected to represent.

Illegal administrative detention

The two ministers mentioned above and five of the PLC members are being held in administrative detention. As the term indicates, the detention is based solely on an administrative order. In complete breach of the "principles of natural justice" (the fundamental rules for ensuring a fair judicial proceeding), in administrative detention, the authorities deny a person liberty without filing an indictment against him or her, without giving the individual the opportunity to mount a defense in court, and without the court making a decision in the matter.

Because of the grave harm to the right to due process inherent in administrative detention, and the clear danger the procedure will be misused, international law permits administrative detention only in exceptional cases, when the detainee represents a clear and present danger, and then only if lesser means are ineffective in eliminating the danger. The use of administrative detention as a means of punishment is absolutely forbidden. The present case does not meet these conditions.

First, it is very doubtful that these ministers and legislators comprise a clear and present danger. They were chosen in elections that Israel allowed the Palestinians to hold and served in their positions for months during which the Israeli authorities did not even hint they constituted a danger. To justify holding them in administrative detention, the authorities must prove their incredible claim that, right after Cpl. Shalit was abducted and right after the National Security Cabinet's decision to allow the army to take stronger action against the Qassam rocket fire on Sderot, a concrete and real danger arose in respect of each and every one of the senior Palestinian officials who was detained. It is much more reasonable that the mass detentions were not made as a result of a candid fear of the detainees, and was instead based on extraneous, improper considerations, such as the desire to punish and pressure the Palestinian leadership.

Second, even in the event that each of them suddenly constituted a clear and present danger, the authorities should have coped with the danger in less drastic ways, in a manner that did not breach the rules of natural justice, such as by instituting criminal procedures against the person. After all, concluding that a person constitutes a clear and present danger to public safety is not based only on speculation relating to acts that the person is liable to do in the future, but also on information as to the dangerous acts that the individual did in the past. If no such acts can be found, it is hard to understand the suspicion that the person will endanger the public in the future. And if he did commit such acts in the past, which are probably forbidden by law, he should be prosecuted in a fair proceeding in which he can defend himself. The decision not to use this alternative and to deny the leaders their liberty for a protracted period of time without trial tramples on their rights and on the rights of the public they represent.

Even if the improbable claims that these Palestinian leaders constitute an immediate danger and that the only way to defend against the threat is by detaining them are correct, the manner in which they were placed under administrative detention is still unjustifiable. Administrative detainees are not without rights, which, in this case, the Israeli authorities breached. Holding them in detention facilities inside Israel flagrantly contravenes international humanitarian law, which states that an occupying state is not permitted to detain residents of the occupied territory inside its territory. This breach brings with it other infringements of rights, given that the detainee's legal counsel and relatives are not allowed to enter Israel without a permit, which is frequently denied, making it impossible for the detainees to meet with them regularly.

Improper use of criminal proceedings

Indictments were filed against the other senior officials. Most of the indictments were for "membership," "activity," and "holding a position" in an "unauthorized association." As explained below, the statutory provisions on which these charges are based are problematic in and of themselves. Also, by deciding to arrest the officials and prosecute them on these charges, the authorities are applying the law improperly and in an attempt to achieve extraneous objectives.

The offenses regarding an unauthorized association are specified in the Emergency Defense Regulations that Israel has applied since the founding the state and which date from Mandatory times. Israeli law recognizes the extraterritorial application of these offenses given their definition as external offenses against the security of the state and its citizens. According to the interpretation of the relevant provision, anyone holding a position in an association that Israel classifies as illegal, and anyone who is active in such an association, even a person who is only registered as a member and lives anywhere in the world, is an offender against whom criminal proceedings may be initiated in Israel. This provision applies even if the defendant has not committed any other act that endangered the state or its citizens. Such an interpretation is unreasonably broad, and improperly impedes the freedom of association and freedom of conscience.

The criminal laws are intended to punish persons for criminal acts they have committed. These laws are sufficient and provide the necessary tools to punish a person who commits an act harming the security of the state and its citizens. It is not necessary to expand the interpretation to include as an offense membership in one association or another, which in and of itself does not comprise a security threat. This sweeping criminalization is similar in nature to administrative detention: it enables punishment of a person and denial of his liberty not for harmful acts that he committed, but out of fear of a future danger that the person represents. This far exceeds the theory of punishment on which the criminal law is based.

In this case, had there been evidence that the officials indeed committed any of the dubious criminal acts attributed to them, the authorities presumably would have filed an indictment covering these offenses. This was not done, so it is likely that such evidence does not exist, and that they are being held not for harmful acts they committed, but because they belong to Hamas or another organization that is classified as a prohibited association.

In addition to the fundamental problems inherent in offenses relating to an unauthorized association, there is also the problem of application of the law in the present case. Hamas is a large and diverse movement. The movement indeed contains a violent wing and persons who are responsible for crimes committed against Israeli civilians, but it is also a sociopolitical movement that conducts a broad range of activities. Many of its hundreds of thousands of members and many of those who operate the movement and hold positions in it do not take part in violent activity against Israel and do not assist in that activity. It is improper to attribute to all these persons, which include also the senior officials who were arrested, as offenders only because they belong to Hamas. The decision to open criminal proceedings against them even though they are not suspected of having committed violent or dangerous acts of any kind appears therefore as political prosecution in the guise of a criminal proceeding.

Furthermore, the State of Israel allowed the elections in the Palestinian Authority in which the arrested officials were elected, and did not oppose the participation of the Movement for Reform and Change, which identifies with Hamas, or of any other list, in the elections. By so acting, the Israeli authorities gave the impression that they do not consider the list an "unauthorized association" membership in which and activity in which constitutes a criminal offense. Thus, Israel is now prevented from taking criminal actions against anyone who relied on Israel's representation.

As stated above, the timing of the waves of arrests indicates that the arrests were intended to put pressure on the Palestinian people and its leadership. Although the authorities have discretion in enforcing the law, it is clear that, in this case, the decision to change its policy and initiate proceedings for a dubious offense that until then not been enforced was not based on material and relevant considerations. Rather, they were political and completely unrelated to the objectives of the criminal law.

The Jena 6 Are Not Economically Viable

United States Racism against the Black Population

La Salle Parish Courthouse (Jena, Louisiana)

1 August 2007

by Stacie Adams

Racism remains one of the most confounding and damaging aspects of life in the United States and few issues contain such a vast difference of opinion. Some people seem to believe all racist thought has been thoroughly eradicated, while others are bound and determined to seek it out in all situations, whether warranted or not. There are unrepentant racists, loudly proclaiming their ignorance at every opportunity, while others coolly attempt to conceal it, only letting loose under duress. Despite this, I was under the impression that racial segregation was a thing of the past, similar to scurvy or trephining as a medical procedure. Surely this cruel and unnecessary social control has no place in the 21st century?

Recent events sickeningly suggest otherwise. Right now in Jena, Lousiana six black youths are suffering continued abasement thanks to the local judicial system. The events read like some sort of dystopian science fiction; in fall 2006, a black student requested permission to sit under the so called white tree, a spot on campus informally delineated by white students. School officials granted permission (as though they had a choice; segregation has been illegal since the 1960s) and the next day the student body was treated to the sight of three nooses, proudly ablaze in school colors, hanging from the aforementioned tree. Predictably, things grew worse from there.

When the Jena high school principal suggested that the perpetrators be expelled, he was overruled by superintendent Roy Breithaupt. Breithaupt recommended only a three day suspension and when black students protested, obviously aghast at the lax punishment doled out, they were allegedly threatened by the LaSalle Parish DA. At a school assembly DA Reed Walters claimed to be capable of ruining the lives of anyone making trouble over what he termed an “adolescent prank.” That December, a flurry of conflicts set in motion the most troubling events thus far. A black youth was attacked by a gang of white kids at a party. Those responsible received no punishment. A white man pulled a loaded rifle on a group of black men at a convenience store. When one of the men wrestled the weapon away from the assailant, he was arrested and charged with felony theft (conversely, the white man received on a $5,000 fine for carrying a loaded weapon). At another party, a group of black students attacked Justin Barker, a fellow student frequently named as an instigator in many of the events leading up to this altercation. Barker was taken to the hospital, released the same day and even felt well enough to attend a party later that night. The six youths arrested for beating him were charged with second degree attempted murder and each faced up to100 years in prison.

So far, only one of the six has been to trial. Mychal Bell refused a plea bargain and was convicted of the reduced charge of second degree aggravated battery, which entails assault with a lethal weapon. Bell ’s lethal weapon consisted of a shoe. Apparently in Louisiana a black teenager with a shoe is more dangerous than a white man with a loaded rifle. Bell faces a possible sentence of 22 years and is awaiting an appeal. The remaining members of the now named Jen 6 are awaiting trial.

Rumors of corruption during the proceedings abound. Bell ’s court appointed district attorney called no witnesses in his defense, nor did he dispute the selection of Bell ’s all white jury. In addition, some members of the randomly selected jury had uncomfortably close ties to either the DA or several witnesses, one of whom was actually related to a juror. The overwhelming sentiment from officials seems to be that justice was amply served and it’s best to put all this unpleasantness behind us.

Raynard Johnson, 17, was found hanging from a pecan tree in front of his home on June 16, 2000.

Adding insult to injury, this story has made nary a blip on the national news. The Jena 6 have received more thorough coverage from the international press, who no doubt use the situation to illustrate US’s waning moral authority. These are the same news outlets that relentlessly pummeled the public with hourly updates in Don Imus and the irreparable damage he supposedly caused, yet no one can be bothered with what is akin to a giant step backward in our social evolution.

There is no quick and easy solution for the plight of these young men. No sound bites, nor symbolic funerals, nor peaceful vigils can help them now. No amount of hand wringing or rhetoric will afford them the fair trial they obviously deserve. Consider that many of the citizens of Jena feel that nothing untoward has transpired at all. Many echoed the sentiments of the school superintendent and labeled those responsible for the initial hanging of the nooses as typical adolescent pranksters. A noose portends some dark things, especially in the south, where black men and women were not so long ago hanged with great frequency for often manufactured crimes. In light of this, I would not be so hasty to dismiss the appearance of three nooses as a mere prank.

* The Jena 6 petition

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco contact info:

PO Box 94004
Baton Rouge , LA 70804 -9004
Phone: (225) 342-0991

Stacie Adams is an unassuming and introverted young woman with plans to take over the world and make it tolerable. Her heroes are few, but precious: Bill Hicks, Nat Turner, Orson Welles, and Hunter S. Thompson. She detests useless celebrity, bureaucracy, and unfettered stupidity. "I am disgustingly provincial and I’ve never stepped foot outside the US, but it is my dream to travel the world.

Car Bomb in Collaborating Police Station

Car bomb hits Iraqi police station

The dead included five policemen [Reuters]

4 August 2007

A suicide bomber has driven a car bomb into a police station, killing 13 people and wounding 15 in the town of Hibhib, north of Baghdad near Baquba, police said.

A police source said the attacker struck a queue of recruits lined up to join the police force in the town on Thursday. The dead included five police and eight civilians.

The attack came a day after a series of high-toll explosions in Baghdad, in which suicide bombers killed more than 70 people.

Lieutenant-Colonel Ibrahim Khalil, a provincial police officer, said that five policemen were killed in the blast.

Hibhib is in Diyala province, which has been the focus of a US offensive for the past two months after Washington dispatched extra troops to Iraq.

The US has said Diyala province has seen an influx of al-Qaeda fighters driven out of Baghdad and western Anbar province as a result of the US fighting and disagreements with local tribes.

Political divisions

Leaders of Iraq's main political groups are due to meet in the coming days to try to reform their coalition, which was set up last year.

The coalition has so far failed in its aim to reduce violence and agree on reconciliatory laws.

The office of Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, said he would remain in permanent contact with the Sunni Accordance Front, despite the group's decision to pull its six ministers out of the government on Wednesday.

The front said it was quitting al-Maliki's coalition because he had failed to meet its demands, including giving the Sunni bloc a greater share in security matters.

The political bloc of Muqtada al-Sadr, a populist Shia leader, quit the government in April.

Source

Monsoon Floods Displace 19 Million

Bangladeshi flood victims row a boat to a safer area in Sirajgonj

4 August 2007

Video

LUCKNOW, India (AP) -- Havoc from monsoon rains killed another 12 people in India, including two children swept away by floods and a man attacked by a rhinoceros forced out of its inundated habitat, officials said Saturday.

Helicopters dropped food to hundreds of thousands of frightened villagers perched on rooftops.

Vital to farmers, the annual rains are a blessing and a curse for the subcontinent. At least 198 people have been killed in India and neighboring Bangladesh and 19 million driven from their homes in recent days, according to government figures.

The South Asian monsoon season runs from June to September as the rains work their way across the subcontinent. It's always dangerous -- last year more than 1,000 people died, most from drowning, landslides or house collapses.

This year, estimates of total deaths vary wildly from a few hundred to well over 1,000.

Two villagers were killed in a house collapse and two children were swept away by flood waters in several districts of India's northern Uttar Pradesh state. Another person died from a snake bite on a flooded road, said Surender Shrivastav, a state official.

Helicopters dropped food to nearly 2 million people in 2,200 villages cut off by flood waters in the worst-hit eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh, said Umesh Sinha, the state relief commissioner, adding that nearly 279,223 acres of paddy rice crops have been destroyed in the region.

On Friday, six people drowned in northeastern Assam state. One-horned rhinos straying from the state's Kaziranga National Park killed one person and injured two others, said state Revenue Minister Bhumidhar Barman.

Jehir Ali, 28, was riding a bicycle near the village of Gendheli when a rhino charged at him, said Dhiren Gogoi, a wildlife official.

"Ali fell down and was badly mauled by the adult rhino. He was shifted to a hospital where he died," Gogoi told The Associated Press.

Seventy percent of Kaziranga Park has been flooded by the Brahmaputra River, forcing out several rhinos.

"Two rhinos have entered villages in the area resulting in panic among the population," Diganta Barbaruah, another wildlife official, said.

With hundreds of villages submerged across the fertile plains that stretch along the southern edge of the Himalayas, people were taking refuge wherever they could.

Women and children were spotted screaming for help from treetops in Uttar Pradesh. In parts of the state, river levels rose so quickly that villagers had no time to save any belongings.

"The gush of water was so sudden we did not get the time to react," Vinod Kumar, a resident of a flooded village in Basti district, told Enadu TV.

One woman in Uttar Pradesh who identified herself only as Savitra said she had not "eaten anything for the last two days."

Health workers were fanning out across parts of Bangladesh and India to try to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases like diarrhea, typhoid and cholera.

In northwestern Bangladesh, farmer Rahmat Sheikh and his family were among 2,000 people who fled their flooded village for higher ground in the Sirajganj district.

"The floods have taken away all I had," said the 40-year-old Sheikh. "Rice paddies in the field, two cows and my house all are gone. I don't know how we will now survive."

Some 14 million people in India and 5 million in Bangladesh have been displaced or marooned by flooding, according to government figures. At least 144 people have died in India and 54 more in Bangladesh.

India's Meteorological Department said unusual monsoon patterns this year have led to heavier than normal rains

'Civilians Dead' in Nato Air Raids

3 August 2007

As many as two hundred people have been reported killed or wounded in Nato-led air strikes in southern Afghanistan.

A spokesman for US-led forces said late on Thursday that the raids in Helmand province had targeted a meeting of Taliban commanders but local officials said about 50 civilians were among the casualties.

Taliban sources told Al Jazeera that a number of their fighters had been killed but claimed that the number of civilian casualties was much higher.

Mohammad Hussein Andiwal, Helmand police chief, confirmed to Reuters news agency that there were "heavy bombardments" in the area.

"We have heard of heavy casualties too and have sent a team to investigate this," he said.

At least 20 wounded civilians had been brought to a main hospital in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand province, he said.

Casualty claims

Officials and aid agencies say that about 350 Afghan civilians have been killed in air strikes this year [AFP]

In the hospital, Shokhi Khan, a relative of one of the wounded, said several hundred civilians were killed or wounded in the strikes.

He said people had gathered for picnics and to go to a shrine in Baghran district north of Lashkar Gah on Thursday when the raids started.

"During a sizeable meeting of senior Taliban commanders, coalition forces employed precision guided munitions on their location" US military statement

Haji Hakim Jan, 27, said he lost four of his brothers in the attack.

"I had another brother of mine and an eight-year-old sister wounded in the bombing," he said

The US military said in a statement that the air raid had been conducted against two "notorious Taliban commanders" holding a meeting in a remote area of the Baghran district.

"During a sizeable meeting of senior Taliban commanders, coalition forces employed precision guided munitions on their location after ensuring there were no innocent Afghans in the surrounding area," a statement said.

It added that the fate of the pair was unknown.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force which works alongside the US-led coalition said the air strike was only called after multiple sources confirmed that several Taliban leaders and their followers were at the site.

Public execution

Some residents and an official said the bombings occurred as a large crowd of people had gathered to watch an execution being carried out by the Taliban movement.

The Afghan defence ministry said several Taliban leaders including Mansour Dadullah, the group's senior commander in the south, were attending the execution of men accused of spying for the government.

A purported Taliban spokesman denied there had been a public execution and said those killed were all civilians attending a ceremony at a shrine.

There was no independent verification of the reported accounts from either side.

More than 350 civilians have been killed in operations by foreign forces this year in Afghanistan, according to government officials and aid workers.

Source

Raw Footage of the Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

This is the scene of the collapsed 35W bridge over the Mississippi River Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Photo by Elizabeth Flores Star Tribune
Abundia Martinez, 31, weeps as she hugs her 2-month-old daughter, Lorena Trinidad Martinez. Her husband, Artemio Trinidad-Mena, 29, was killed in Wednesday's bridge collapse.

Further Information:

More Than 70,000 Bridges Rated Deficient

Iraq violence: Monitoring the surge

3 August 2007

An extra 30,000 US troops have been deployed in Iraq, mainly in and around the capital Baghdad, since the launch of the security drive, or "surge", in February.

The BBC World Service is monitoring its effects, week by week, by looking at casualty figures, the pressure on hospitals and quality of life for ordinary civilians.

The graphics and analysis are based on figures from the US and Iraqi authorities, Baghdad's hospitals and three families from different neighbourhoods in the capital.

SECURITY

During the seven-day period from 26 July to 1 August there were 482 violent deaths across Iraq. This is a rise of nearly 70 people on last week's total.

Of the groups charted in the graphic above, only the Iraqi police saw their number of fatalities fall.

Iraqi civilians had both the greatest rise in their number of people killed and the greatest total number of deaths; as has been the case since this series of reports began seven weeks ago.

Looking back over the whole of July, Iraqi officials say more than 1,600 civilians were killed.

This figure is higher than the number of deaths for February this year, when the US surge began.

Political developments in Iraq this week include the announcement from the main Sunni Arab political bloc in the country, the Iraqi Accordance Front, that it is withdrawing from the government.

ECONOMICS

Fuel shortages remain a major problem for Iraqis, with long power cuts and fuel queues a common feature of civilian life, particularly in Baghdad.

The families helping paint a picture of these hardships in this survey are from different areas of the city - which can mean different pressures according to the religious make-up of the area and the subsequent security risks.

Family 1 is located in Palestine Street, a Shia neighbourhood in the east of the capital.

Family 2 is located in Zayouna, a mixed neighbourhood in south-east Baghdad.

Family 3 lives in Saba Abkar, a northern Sunni neighbourhood.

Fuel shortages worsened for two out of the three families this week. The Palestine Street family saw their access to power plunge from an hour a day to 10 minutes, while the Zayouna family received no power for the entire week. The third family experienced no change at 30 minutes a day.

There have been some improvements; the al-Hurriya district of Baghdad has had a very limited access to electricity this week for the first time in three weeks.

The people of the Adhamiyia district are again without power.

Day-long petrol queues are still being reported by some, as are waits of between seven and eight hours, by others.

The price of fuel at forecourts is 9,000 Iraqi dinars ($7) for 20 litres. After falling last week black market prices are rising again; 20 litres of fuel now costs 25,000 dinars.

Prices for gas cylinders range from 7,500 dinars at petrol stations, up from 4,000 dinars, to 30,000 dinars on the black market in Baghdad, and 40,000 dinars on the black market in Falluja, where cars are not allowed into town.

Food is scarce in the Adhamiyia district, as food trucks are all being checked by the Iraqi army before being allowed inside.

The shortages come as a report by Oxfam and Iraqi NGOs has said that nearly a third of Iraq's population needs emergency aid, while US authorities say corruption in the country is so bad that it amounts to "a second insurgency".

One of the al-Kindi hospital's staff, an assistant pharmacist was killed this week, as was a physiotherapist working for the Iraqi Olympic committee.

Figures for the number of people arriving at the hospital after suffering violent injuries have not yet been compiled.

In the last seven days the al-Yarmouk hospital has received a large number of unidentified bodies, including 30 from Dura, eight bodies from the Taji district, seven from the Amil and Bayaa districts as well as the bodies of nine policemen.

Data compiled by BBC producer Mona Mahmoud

Marine sentenced over Iraq murder

Sgt Hutchins led the unit that abducted and killed the civilian

3 August 2007

A US marine has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of an Iraqi civilian during a failed search for an insurgent by the unit he led.

Sgt Lawrence Hutchins was also dishonourably discharged and demoted to private by a court martial jury.

The sentence came a day after he was found guilty of unpremeditated murder and conspiracy to murder.

Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, was shot dead during a raid in Hamdaniya, near Baghdad, last year.

Prosecutors said the unit, led by Sgt Hutchins, had abducted Mr Awad from his house when it could not find a suspected insurgent who lived next door.


HAMDANIYA DEFENDANTS
Sgt Lawrence G Hutchins: Guilty of murder, conspiracy, making a false statement, theft; 15 years in prison

L Cpl Robert Pennington: Guilty of conspiracy to murder, kidnapping; eight years in prison, demoted

L Cpl Tyler Jackson: Guilty of conspiracy to murder, kidnapping, making a false statement, housebreaking; 21 months in prison, demoted

Cpl Marshall Magincalda: Guilty of conspiracy to murder, theft, housebreaking; 448 days in prison, demoted

Petty Officer Melson Bacos: Guilty of conspiracy to murder, kidnapping, making a false statement; One year in prison, demoted

Cpl Trent Thomas: Guilty of conspiracy to murder, kidnapping; demoted, dishonourably discharged

L Cpl Jerry Shumate: Guilty of aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice; 21 months in prison, demoted

Pte John Jodka: Guilty of aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice; 18 months in prison, demoted

The Iraqi civilian was then taken to a ditch and shot in the head at least 10 times. The unit later placed a rifle and shovel by his body to make it seem as if he had been an insurgent planting a roadside bomb.

Another member of the unit, Cpl Marshall Magincalda, was convicted of conspiracy to murder by the court martial at Camp Pendleton, California.

He was freed after being sentenced to the 448 days he had already served in custody, and demoted to private.

Cpl Magincalda was also convicted of theft and burglary, but acquitted of premeditated murder and kidnapping.

Another member of the unit, Cpl Trent Thomas, was acquitted of murder last month, but convicted of conspiracy to murder and kidnapping.

He escaped a prison sentence but was reduced in rank and dishonourably discharged.

Five of the eight soldiers originally implicated in the murder entered plea bargain deals with prosecutors for their testimony and have already been sentenced to between one and eight years in prison.

The case is one of several in which US troops have been accused of killing Iraqi civilians.

Source

Democracy for the Middle East

Bush Signs Homeland Security Bill

President Bush, seated, signs the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007, Friday, Aug. 3, 2007, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. Standing behind the president, from left to are, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

3 August 2007

by DEB RIECHMANN

Video

WASHINGTON -President Bush signed legislation Friday that intensifies the anti-terrorism effort at home, shifting money to high-risk states and cities and expanding scrutiny of air and sea cargo.

"This legislation builds upon the considerable progress we have made in strengthening our defenses and protecting Americans since the attacks of Sept. 11," Bush said in a statement.

The bill requires screening of all cargo on passenger planes within three years and sets a five-year goal of scanning all container ships for nuclear devices before they leave foreign ports. It also elevates the importance of risk factors in determining which states and cities get federal security funds. That would mean more money for such cities as New York and Washington. It also puts money into a new program to ensure that security officials at every level can communicate with each other.

While lauding Congress for passing the bill, Bush said he will continue to work with lawmakers to ensure the cargo screening provisions are workable and don't impede commerce. And he said Congress should strive to better target grant dollars to cities and states based on their vulnerability to a terrorist attack.

"This legislation makes some progress, but it also authorizes billions of dollars for grants and other programs that are unnecessary or should not be funded at such excessive levels," Bush said in a statement. "I will not request this excessive funding in my 2009 budget request."

Bush signed the bill into law in the Oval Office before heading to the FBI to have lunch with counterterrorism advisers and then talk with members of his homeland security team. "We've done a lot of work since September the 11th to make this country safe, and it is safer but it's not completely safe," he said at the FBI.

Bush meets this weekend at Camp David, Md., with Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, where South Korean hostages are being held by the Taliban and where the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is considered a haven for the al-Qaida terrorist network.

The measure carries out unfulfilled recommendations that the Sept. 11 Commission made three years ago in the wake of the terror attacks on the U.S. homeland in 2001. It was passed in the House on a 371-40 vote and 85-8 in the Senate. Republicans generally backed the bill while stressing their own administration's success in preventing another major terrorist attack.

"There is still other work to be done. I continue to believe that Congress should act on the outstanding 9/11 Commission recommendations to reform the legislative branch's oversight of intelligence and counterterrorism activities, which the commission described as dysfunctional," Bush said. "While this legislation does not heed the commission's advice, I hope Congress revisits the issue soon."

The independent 9/11 Commission in 2004 issued 41 recommendations covering domestic security, intelligence gathering and foreign policy. Congress and the White House followed through on some, including creating a director of national intelligence, tightening land border screening and cracking down on terrorist financing. Democrats, after taking over control of Congress, promised to make completing the list a top priority.

Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, said with enactment of the bill some 80 percent of the panel's recommendations will have been met. According to Hamilton, one shortcoming of the bill is that it fails to carry out the commission's recommendation that Congress streamline its own overlapping setup for monitoring intelligence and homeland security matters.

The legislation also:

_Authorizes more than $4 billion for four years for rail, transit and bus security.

_Requires the screening of all container ships in foreign ports within five years, but give the Homeland Security secretary authority to delay implementation.

_Establishes a new electronic travel authorization system to improve security for visitors from countries participating in the visa waiver program. Bush said he would continue to work with Congress to provide more flexibility to bring some of the closest U.S. allies into the program.

_Strengthens a board that oversees privacy and civil liberties issues.

_Establishes a voluntary certification program to assess whether private entities comply with voluntary preparedness standards.

_Requires the president and Congress to disclose total spending requested and approved for the intelligence community.

_Provides civil immunity to those who, in good faith, report suspicious activities that threaten the safety and security of passengers on a transportation system or that could be an act of terrorism.

_Requires the president to confirm that Pakistan is making progress combatting al-Qaida and Taliban elements within its boarders before the United States provides aid to the country.

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The bill is H.R. 1

On the Net:

Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov/

Complaint’s of Israeli Mistreatment of Prisoner’s

Asfraf Ajrami, Palestinian minister for prisoner's affairs, speaks 31 July 2007 at a press conference in the Palestinian administrative West Bank city of Ramallah. Ajrami accused Israeli prison officials of medical negligence in the death of Palestinian prisoner Shadi Saaydah who died yesterday in the Soroka Hospital in Israel. (ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

Abbas Allow's Execution Order on Journalist?

Unidentified gunmen lead failed assault on Palestinian writer and political analyst, Dr Shawar

3 August 2007

Qalqilia –

Ma'an – Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Friday morning at the home of writer and political analyst Dr. 'Isam Shawar. Although he was at home, he was not injured during the attack.

Shawar declared that "around 2:00am, shots were fired at my home. Some shots penetrated the house, causing no injuries."

According to the writer, the motives behind the attack could be his latest article, which bore the title: "We die at the checkpoints, and still contend stubbornly."

In the article, Shawar criticises the standpoint of the Palestinian representative to the United Nations and the Palestinian authorities towards the Qatari-Indonesian initiative which aims at lifting the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, and to open the closed Rafah Crossing to ease the situation of Palestinians stranded on the Egyptian side of the border.

The Palestinian delegation was displeased with the proposal, at it was submitted to the United Nations without their knowledge or prior consent.

What's in the Mail?

Palestine

1940, diplomatic. US Consular service corner card cover with official business hand stamp over struck by Palestine censor hand stamp, to Iraq. ( Count 2)

Israel

1949, interim postal stationery, registered.

Palestine

1919, registered philatelic cover to GB

Palestine
1943, censorship permit hand stamp on postcard to US; thematic: medicine.

Palestine

Ca. 1945, British Red Cross Society, Jerusalem, return address & handstamp on back of cover (to Chief Secretary, Committee of the Jewish Community, Haifa).

Israel
1949, Zionst, postmark commemorating transfer of Jewish refugees from Cyprus camps on registered cover to US.

Source

Defense Ministry: Palestinians' requests for travel permits can no longer be ignored

3 August 2007

By Amira Hass

Under orders from the High Court of Justice, the Defense Ministry recently drafted regulations requiring all the relevant bodies - the Israel Defense Forces, the Civil Administration and the Shin Bet security service - to respond within a reasonable time frame to Palestinians' requests for travel permits.

The regulations, which were issued on June 27, require permit requests to be answered at least five days before the scheduled trip, as long as the request was submitted at least 14 days beforehand. To date, many Palestinians who have requested travel permits have received no response.

The regulations were formulated pursuant to a High Court ruling issued about a year ago on a petition by nine lawyers from Gaza who had been invited to a professional seminar in the West Bank. The attorneys applied for travel permits well in advance and followed up with dozens of letters and telephone calls, but never received a response to their applications. For a year, the ruling was ignored, prompting additional petitions to the court over other incidents. Finally, a Gaza resident whose request for permission to visit a sister in an Israeli hospital was ignored - the court ordered the ministry to submit appropriate regulations to it by June 14.

Settlers attack UN personnel near southern Hebron Hills

A settler jumping on a UN vehicle, ultimately shattering its windshield, in the southern Hebron Hills on Thursday. (Alex Levac)

3 August 2007

By Amira Hass

Two residents of an illegal settlement outpost near Hebron attacked United Nations workers on Thursday.

The UN personnel were driving in the South Hebron Hills area when one of the settlers jumped on the car and smashed the windshield, sending shards of glass into the driver's eye.

A Haaretz reporter and photographer were in the car at the time, along with three members of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

An illegal outpost in the South Hebron Hills. (Alberto Denkberg)

The settlers, residents of Mitzpeh Yair, claim that the OCHA workers were trying to uproot the outpost's olive trees.

The OCHA workers had been visiting the nearby Palestinian town of Bir al Eid. As they were leaving, they spotted a man approaching. The driver braked in order not to hit him and the man drew near, as if to speak to the occupants.

Instead, he jumped on the car and refused to get down. UN orders forbid employees to leave a car that is under attack, so instead, the driver drove forward, very slowly. The settler held on to the windshield wipers and pressed against the glass until it shattered.

Meanwhile, another settler appeared and demanded to see the identity cards of everyone in the car, which sported a UN flag. He also brandished an iron bar and blocked the road with stones and tires.

About 25 minutes later, after the Haaretz reporter called the Israel Defense Forces, an army jeep arrived, followed half an hour later by a police car. According to the police, the man who attacked the car has been involved in similar incidents before. The second man is a British citizen. Both were questioned at the Kiryat Arba police station.

Israeli military kills one in Nablus, arrests others in Nablus and Tulkarem

Images from a recent Israeli invasion of Nablus [Ma'anArchive]

3 August 2007

Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli sources have revealed that army troops have arrested a Palestinian citizen in the city of Tulkarem on Friday at dawn. His name has not yet been disclosed.

Also in the north of the West Bank, troops are launching a heavy artillery attack in the city of Nablus, during an ongoing military operation which started in the middle of the night. Although damage has not yet been assessed, Israeli troops killed a member of the Fatah-affiliated Al Quds Brigades, and arrested others.

Talks underway between Hamas, Fatah and other factions over formation of Second Unity Government

3 August 2007

Bethlehem – Ma'an – High-ranking Hamas sources revealed to Ma'an on Friday that contact and dialogue have been established between Hamas dignitaries and Fatah representatives, in addition to the president's office alongside the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine PFLP and the Palestinian People's Party PPP, in order to set the basis of bringing to an end the state of division in the Palestinian arena.

The same source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that intense consultations were being conducted between figures from Hamas, Fatah, the PPP, the PFLP and the Palestinian National Initiative.

Among those who met were Ghazi Hamad from Hamas, Jibreel Rajoub from Fatah, Bassam Salihi from the PPP, Abed ar Raheem Mallouh from the PFLP and Mustafa Barghouthi, representing the Palestinian National Initiative, in addition to former minister of education, Nasser Addin Ash Shaer.

They arranged to establish a national government of independent figures, to last for 9 months, or one year and a half. The security services will be restructured, and the security HQs will be turned over to President Abbas.

The sources added that the conveners discussed the presidential decrees which were issued by the Palestinian president during the violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.

The suggested proposals are to entrust Palestinian national committees to take care of the security headquarters, due to the absence of security service members in the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, two security services will be formed only, the police and national security, as the Palestinian arena "does not need several security services with over 80,000 members".

The Executive Force might well also be assimilated into the police service, in order to avoid having any security service with a factional affiliation.

It was agreed that the Palestinian National Security Council will be activated, "according to the right standards".

Many of the former security members will also be absorbed into the ministries and other governmental institutions.

Child Abuse Rampant in U.S. Army Families

2 August 2007

By Christina Hernandez

Washington: When a military parent is deployed to a combat zone, the children left behind might be plagued by more than frightening dreams and aching hearts.

A new study funded by the US Army found that child abuse and neglect was about 40 per cent higher in Army households during combat-related deployment than during non-deployment - and that civilian mothers are significantly more likely to mistreat their children than civilian fathers.

Researchers in North Carolina tracked nearly 1,800 Army families with at least one substantiated incident of "child maltreatment" through periods of deployment and non-deployment from 2001 to 2004.

The study, one of the first to examine child mistreatment in military families during deployment, found that the rate of physical abuse by female civilian parents was nearly twice as great during times of deployment. The rate of child neglect by civilian mothers was nearly four times higher during deployments.

However, the rate of child mistreatment was not significantly elevated for male civilian parents during deployment.

Deborah A. Gibbs, lead author of the study and a senior analyst with RTI International, an independent, nonprofit research institute in North Carolina, said the report was part of a larger study of family violence in the military.

The child mistreatment portion of the study emerged when many soldiers were being deployed to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gibbs said.

"It's easy to imagine that deployments would increase stress on the parent who is left behind," she said.

Gibbs said moderate to severe mistreatment of children was about 60 per cent higher during deployment. She said the ratings of moderate and severe mistreatment depend both on the risk of harm to the child and the actual harm. For example, mild abuse could be inappropriate discipline; severe abuse could be an action that results in significant injury.

Gibbs said the findings were generally consistent across age, rank and ethnic groups.

James E. McCarroll, director of the Family Violence Research Project in the Centre for the Study of Traumatic Stress at Uniform Services University of the Health Sciences in Maryland, said the study confirms other research, including his own.

The study's results did not surprise Michelle Joyner, director of communications for the Virginia-based National Military Family Association, a nonprofit advocacy group that focuses on quality of life issues for military families.

Why Now Mr. Bush

31 July 2007

Since he has been elected, Bush didn’t care about the Palestinian case or the Palestinian rights. He was blind, because the Zionist policy want that. The Zionist associations like AIPAC is making a huge pressure to make Bush as a servant to the Zionist. And if you followed his policy, he is just what the Zionist want exactly.

As we saw in the late war in Lebanon, America backed the Zionist with the smart bombs. In addition to the unlimited financial support. Also, every time the Zionist entity face problems or came under pressure, America interfere by making conferences to establish the fake peace.

We wonder how America will make the peace and in the other hand, it gives full support to the Zionist to kill everything is a Palestinian and show its objection to the international community decisions which convicted the Zionist.

The Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Monday that members of the body welcomed the "positive elements" of a new Middle East initiative by U.S. President George W. Bush, especially those related to "founding an independent Palestine state, his call for ending the Zionist settlements and ending the Zionist occupation."

In a statement issued after the talks, the League said it "supports convening a meeting or a conference with the participation of all parties concerned with the peace process, in order to launch talks on all tracks."

"Peace cannot be completed without withdrawal from Syrian territory, so all the parties have to be there," Moussa told a press conference in Egypt after the talks.

The Syrian representative at the meeting, Yousif Ahmed, told reporters that the priority should be to achieve reconciliation between Palestinian factions.

"I expressed reservations about any form of welcome for what is called U.S. President George Bush's initiative because we in Syria believe that discussing the Palestinian issue in the meeting under the current state of Palestinian schism... would lead to killing off the Palestinian cause".

Ahmed later stormed out of the talks. Delegates said that he left the meeting to protest the fact that Arabs were even agreeing to discuss Bush's proposal. "The suggested conference will liquidate the Palestinian cause," delegates quoted him as saying.

The strange that the Zionist and the American politicians has common things, they make the peace efforts, as they called it, in the end of their periods in the authority and when they became out of the government, they give opinions contradict their stations before, despite they were able to apply these stations.

The funny thing that an Arab diplomat in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the sides were still trying to work out what such a meeting might do for peace, especially as the Bush administration has only 17 months left in office.

Oil Reached $78.77 a Barrel

Wednesday (1 August), oil prices hit a new record of $78.77 a barrel. Though it fell back later.

Their’s some estimates, that oil prices are being predicted to reach a $100 barrel within the next five years.

Update:

Claiming the Arctic's Oil (Video)

"Four!!!"

George Galloway Defends Afghan Fighters...

Taken from the Global Peace and Unity Event 2006 broadcast Live on The Islam Channel.

George Galloway condemns the U.S. and Great Britain for killing "Afghans who reject the foreign occupation of their country."

He then accuses the U.S. government of faking interest in the genocide of Darfur only to get access to steal oil resources, effectively condemning any future U.S. intervention in the area.

PBS: Telling the Truth About Bush and His Administration

“It is very hard to do real reporting at the Bush White House your just being spoon-fed stories...”

This is an excerpt for PBS, WHERE IS THE AMERICAN INDEPENDENT MEDIA; from PBS' Independent Lens' episode DEMOCRACY ON DEADLINE. Please visit the Independent Lens website for more in-depth info.

A Story About a Dog Named "Sugar"

The Amazing Two-legged Dog

"Sugar is a two-legged miracle dog who was found in the mountains near Daxi/Sansia, Taiwan; more dead than alive as a puppy. At the time she was found she was only two months old; as well as emaciated, wet, cold, with a fever and a badly broken leg.

She was taken to the nearest available vet for emergency treatment and remained there in intensive care for the next two weeks, too sick to undergo surgery to correct her broken leg. She was also found to be a parvo carrier, but had so far not succumbed to the disease.

After settling the rather hefty bill at the Sansia vet, AnimalsTaiwan transferred her to the Jia Ching Animal Hospital on Nanking East Road, where she was further assessed. It was decided to operate on her leg, to reset it to enable her to walk better.

She ended up undergoing three operations to put it right, staying at the vet for about three weeks, and running up further bills. But "she is an extremely lovable and brave little girl," said by the eople that took upon themselves for her care.

"Sugar recovered beautifully, and after fulfilling the required - and rather lengthy - quarantine period, was soon snapped up by a kind foster family, who agreed to care for her until a permanent home could be found. But, of course, they fell in love with her, and they decided to adopt her themselves.

Everything went very well, with Sugar winning everyone’s hearts with her sweet nature and gorgeous looks. Then she got sick - pneumonia. She was rushed to the vet, where she stayed in intensive care for another couple of weeks. "

Sugar recovered from her pneumonia, and returned to full health, leaving only another costly bill behind.

Just when we thought she had finally beaten poor health and was destined for a full and loving life, tragedy struck; Sugar collapsed, paralyzed from the waist down, her brain permanently damaged from the trauma it had sustained from overheating in the hot summer months. This time she was rushed to NTU Veterinary College for tests to determine what could be done to save her, but the vets there felt that her crippling brain injury was permanent and nothing could be done for her.

She was taken back to the AnimalsTaiwan who was responsible for her original care when she was found. She was given the very best treatment they could giver her. She began to play fights all day along with her favorite play partner who is apparently another wheel chair bound dog named “ Ariel.”

“Sugar always gets on with life the way it’s presented to her. She is never sad and lives her life to the full. But having two very stiff legs jutting out underneath her made her posture poor, her mobility limited, and her legs prone to scratches, sores, and infection.

With an eye infection, Sugar demonstrated to Dr Yang how much she loves to scoot around, despite her handicap, prompting Dr Yang to suggest something quite radical: we could remove Sugars paralyzed legs, and she could then get around by balancing on her two front legs, as she was almost doing already. This was quite a decision to make, but Dr Yang is usually right, so we agreed. We’d come this far with her, and we decided that the surgery would be money well spent. Sugar was taken in for her operation last Thursday.

Well, it’s not often that Dr Yang calls me up, but that evening, just a couple of hours after the surgery, he did. “She can walk! She is walking now!” Fantastic news! Sugar had taken to her new situation beautifully, putting all her weight on her front legs and walking around the clinic like she’d been doing it all her life.

What this means is that Sugar is now able to go outside with the other dogs at exercise time. She can run out to greet visitors, as she loves to do, and learn to become housebroken. It also means she is now far more likely to be adopted - something we are all dearly waiting for. A very kind Japanese donor has offered to purchase a wheelchair for Sugar, so she can go for long walks with the other dogs, so things really are looking up for this sweetest of little dogs - and bravest.

Let’s hope her dream comes true and someone will see her for all that she is rather than what she doesn’t have.”

So you wonder, what hapened to Sugar next?

Sugar finally found a home with an apparent non-Muslim family, that wanted to help her with her disabilities and generally give her a better life.

As in the video below which to my understanding was aired on CNN, you have the opportunity to see Sugar as to how she is doing today.

Further Reading and Photo's