2nd US drone strike kills 18 in Pakistan
At least 18 people have been killed in a second US drone attack on Tuesday in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region of North Waziristan, bringing to 25 the number of fatalities in the two unauthorized strikes in a single day.
The non-UN-sanctioned attack targeted a house and a vehicle in the Dari Nashtar area of North Waziristan, a Press TV correspondent reported. The number of missiles fired during the US attack is not yet clear.
Hours earlier, a US drone fired four missiles at Barmal area of tribal South Waziristan in northwestern Pakistan, killing seven people and injuring four others, according to a Press TV report.
The non-UN-sanctioned attacks comes a day after another deadly US drone strike in the same region that killed at least 25 people. Initial reports had put the number of fatalities in the Monday attack at 10, but local officials later said the number of those killed had reached 25.
There has been a significant rise in the frequency of the US drone attacks on Pakistan’s tribal areas, which has sparked criticism among Pakistani officials and nation.
Despite Islamabad’s calls on US to halt its unauthorized strikes, the newly appointed US Secretary of State, Leon Panetta threatened on Saturday to continue and intensify unauthorized American drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, in what he claimed as efforts to hunt down al-Qaeda leaders.
US military officials persistently claim that the airstrikes target militants, but most of the attacks have, in fact, resulted in civilian casualties.
Soldiers destroy wells, water pumps in the Jordan valley
Ma’an – 12/07/2011
NABLUS — Israeli forces destroyed water wells and water pumps in several villages in the Jordan Valley on Tuesday.
The villages of Al-Nasaryah, Al-Akrabanyah and Beit Hassan, all situated in the Jordan Valley, had water pumps and engines confiscated. The equipment was used by farmers in the villages.
Nabil Jawda, Muhammad Wahdan, and Najih Zaid all had property destroyed, Ziad told Ma’an.
The coordinator for the Save the Valley Campaign, Fathi Khuderat, said the villages were located in Area A of the Jordan Valley, which according to the Oslo agreements should be under full Palestinian civil and security control.
The vast majority of the Jordan Valley, however, is classified as Area C, with full Israeli control over security, planning and construction, and Israel has taken various measures to stifle the growth of Palestinian communities while promoting settlements in the region, rights groups say.
Khuderat noted that the Jordan Valley is rich agricultural land, with many Palestinian families earning a livelihood from agriculture.
He added that the destruction of wells, which are the only source of income for some Palestinian families, is devastating and a serious violation of the right of Palestinians to live in dignity on their land.
Irish delegation to visit Bahrain
Press TV – July 11, 2011
An Irish delegation plans to visit the Bahraini capital Manama to attempt to determine the fate of 47 doctors and nurses arrested during the anti-government protests in the Persian Gulf state.
The delegation, headed by Professor Damian McCormack, includes Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Marian Harkin, Fianna Fail Senator Averil Power, former foreign affairs minister David Andrews, and representatives from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organization (INMO).
Bahrain has released 34 doctors and paramedics who were detained during the brutal crackdown on massive demonstrations in March but announced that they would soon be tried in special military courts. Many of the doctors have stated that they were coerced to sign confessions through torture while in police custody.
The delegation, which plans to leave for Manama on July 12, has requested to hold talks with Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa through Bahrain’s embassy in London.
“It’s quite extraordinary for doctors to be arrested in any country. These doctors were arrested for doing their jobs,” the Herald quoted Senator Power as saying.
‘Please continue to be with us’ –a Palestinian’s letter to int’l supporters
By Hekmat Bessiso | Mondoweiss | July 11, 2011
A letter from a Palestinian woman to the supporters of Palestine.
I would like to talk to you as the voice of the thousands of Palestinians who appreciate what you are doing. You who have a great commitment to human rights and who actually act upon your beliefs, you risk your life to both witness and tell the truth of what you see. You are a group of people who understand what is happening in the holy land and have decided to dedicate your time, money and energy to the issue. You demonstrate that religion nor race is important when it comes to standing up for the rights of human beings. And every step you take justice and humanity wins.
I want you to trust that your actions are making a difference and changing the violence we see here in our land. Your solidarity is helping fuel our nonviolent fight. Palestinians face many kinds of violence and torture. However, being ignored is the worst punishment of all. Those who refuse to hear and see us are just as bad as those who occupy us. Those who stand in solidarity with us send a strong message of humanity and are helping us to overcome our suffering. In the middle of all this crisis, your help puts a smile on our face. From this smile you will always be welcome in our hearts even if you are unable to enter our land.
Your solidarity reminds the world that we are all one human family and that we Palestinians are still part of it. Please do not give up. Even if your boats do not make it to the shores of Gaza or if your planes refuse to fly, the unseen effects are still huge.
I want to say thank you for all that your work involves. Thank you for booking your tickets, taking time off from work, leaving your loved ones, and for all of the other small things, I am truly grateful.
Please continue to be with us, hand in hand, in our non-violent struggle. We need to reach the end of the path of occupation and your presence on this journey is crucial, we cannot make it alone.
I hope one day to share a coffee with you in my home or in yours, for when this day comes we will have reached our freedom.
Hekmat Bessiso is a Gazan living in Ramallah
Israeli Authorities Uproot, Confiscate 450 Olive Trees in Salfit
WAFA – July 11, 2011
SALFIT – Israeli authorities Monday uprooted and confiscated 450 olive trees in Wadi Qana, an area west of Deir Estia near Salfit in the northern West Bank, according to Nazmi Salman, mayor of Deir Estia.
Israeli soldiers prevented Palestinian farmers from reaching their land in Wadi Qana under the pretext of it being classified as a closed military area, said Salman.
He added that an Israeli bulldozer accompanied by officers in the civil administration and soldiers uprooted 450 olive trees and destroyed land that belongs to a Palestinian resident in Deir Estia.
He said that Israeli forces confiscated the olive trees and the fence that surrounds the lands. It is believed that they took the trees to the nearby settlements of Karnei Shomron, Yakir and Nofim.
The mayor condemned the continuous Israeli attacks against Palestinians, targeting the area of Wadi Qana, uprooting olive trees and destroying land reclamation projects in the area without any justification.
He pointed out that these measures are for the benefit of settlements and settlers who aim to control the water-rich area of Wadi Qana.
Salman stressed that Wadi Qana is witnessing an unprecedented campaign of occupation to make its residents’ lives difficult in order to pressure them to leave the area, as a prelude for Israel to judaize it.
He said these measures are taken on grounds of protecting nature and said, ‘Does uprooting trees protect nature?’
Israeli authorities had uprooted and confiscated 300 olive trees in the same area in late June.
2,500 US Jews aim to fill gaps in northern occupied territories
Palestine Information Center – 11/07/2011
NAZARETH — An Israeli organization has announced plans to bring more than 2,500 Jews from North America to the occupied Palestinian territories this summer, as it seeks to resettle the regiment in areas with high Palestinian populations.
The organization, Nefesh B’nefesh, which encourages the migration of Jews from North America and the United Kingdom to the Palestinian territories, said it would cooperate with the Jewish Agency for Israel and Israel’s migration ministry to bring 2,500 Jews from the United State and Canada during the summer, according the organization’s website.
The first batch of 245 immigrants should land on Tuesday 12 July at the Ben-Gurion airport, the organization said.
Nefesh B’nefesh recently launched a project encouraging resettling the immigrants in the northern region of the territories occupied in 1948, where there is a high concentration of Palestinians, a step observers say is an attempt to change the demographic features of the area.
The project, dubbed “go north”, has cost a total of 10 million US dollars. It aims at settling 1,500 Jews in neighborhoods in the Triangle, Galilee, Marj Ben Amir, as well as Tabariya and Golan.
The formerly Arab city of Haifa and vicinity, which have a Jewish majority, were excluded from the project.
Settler runs down boy, others vandalize farmlands in tense West Bank
Palestine Information Center – 11/07/2011
BETHLEHEM– A Jewish settler ran down and seriously injured a 6-year-old Palestinian boy on Sunday south of Bethlehem, while other settlers vandalized farmland in Safa village near Beit Ummar in northern Al-Khalil province on Sunday.
The boy, Ismail Shahein, was transported to Haddasa hospital to be treated for serious injuries after being hit by the settler’s car in Beit Sakarya in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, Hassan Zawahira, a local resistance committee head, reported.
In Al-Khalil province, a gang of Jewish settlers reportedly opened fire at Palestinian farmers and burned down fruit trees and cut down vineyards.
Israeli troops intervened with tear gas and rubber bullets after local Palestinian youths responded to the attack with stones. The force arrested two of the youths in the aftermath of the scuffle.
Locals say the attack came as a prelude to the confiscation of hundreds of dunums of land paving the way for the construction of a section of the apartheid wall in the area, as has happened repeatedly.
Many Still Question Megrahi Conviction in Bombing of Pan Am 103
By Andrew I. Killgore | Washington Report | July 2011
Libyan intelligence officer Abdel Basil Ali al-Megrahi was convicted on Jan. 31, 2001 of destroying Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on Dec. 21, 1988, killing the plane’s 259 passengers, including 179 Americans, and 11 people on the ground. Megrahi was tried under Scottish law by Scottish judges in a special court sitting at Camp Zeist, a former American military base in The Netherlands.
As readers of the Washington Report are aware, the American media coverage of the Lockerbie trial was very thin, despite the heavy loss of American lives. There seems to be a determined silence about even the existence of an organization called “Justice for Megrahi,” whose members include (full disclosure) this writer and several distinguished Britons, including Dr. Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the crash, and Dr. Robert Black, former professor of criminal law at Edinburgh University and creator of the idea of trying Megrahi and his co-defendant, Lamen Fhimah, in The Netherlands under Scottish law.
The revolution in Libya, and particularly the defection to Britain of former Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, has stirred some peripheral interest in Lockerbie. Before he became foreign minister, Koussa was head of Libyan intelligence, and close to Muammar al-Qaddafi. He would know what was in Qaddafi’s mind when he agreed to turn over Megrahi and Fhimah for trial. Was it because the Libyan leader thought the two men were guilty, or because he knew he was obliged to do so to gain sufficient Western approval for the development of his country, including increased oil production?
The April 9 Washington Post ran an article saying that Scottish officials had “met” with Koussa, who they think may have crucial information about Lockerbie. According to the article, “Prosecutors said that they would offer no additional details of their conversations with Koussa.” Just what did Koussa tell them, and why is no more information about the meeting forthcoming?
So far as this writer has seen, no American newspaper has mentioned that the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission ruled that Megrahi may have suffered a miscarriage of justice—a finding that presumably remains valid despite Megrahi’s release from prison on compassionate grounds. Yet, the Washington Post article writes that “the case remains open despite Megreahi’s conviction.”
The heavy lethargy of the American media on Lockerbie includes no word that many outstanding Britons who lost relatives or friends in the Lockerbie crash do not believe that Megrahi is guilty. If members of “Justice for Megrahi,” who obviously think he is not guilty, could possibly arrange a discussion with Moussa, it could clear up a lot of questions. Depending on Koussa’s answers, it could reopen the question of who really bombed Pan Am 103.
Andrew I. Killgore is publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
France Says NATO Bombing Has Failed
Hillary says war must continue
By FRANKLIN LAMB | CounterPunch | July 11, 2011
On Sunday July 10, France seemingly allied itself with Russia and China in calling on NATO to immediately stop its counterproductive and counterintuitive bombing, as more countries witness public demonstrations against NATO’s actions in Libya. French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said in Paris that military action in Libya must end and Colonel Gaddafi be welcomed around the negotiating table. Continual bombing of the country is not working, and diplomacy is the only solution – even if Gaddafi retains limited power, In an apparent U-turn in policy, Mr Longuet said Gaddafi could remain in Libya ‘in another room of the palace, with another title.’
Longuet said:
‘We must now sit around a table…
‘We will stop bombing as soon as the Libyans start talking to one another and the military on both sides go back to their bases.
‘They can talk to each other because we’ve shown there is no solution through force.’
NATO and the Obama administration can have no part of a dialogue because they will be the major losers if peace comes to Libya without Qadaffi leaving power.
No sooner had the French Defense Minister spoken than the US State Department issued a statement insisting that “the United States will continue efforts as part of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) coalition to enforce a U.N. Security Council-authorized no-fly zone in Libya designed to protect civilians under threat of attack, the State Department said. The spokesman did not mention that the no-fly zone was achieved back in March in 48 hours and that no Libya aircraft have flown since. Mission accomplished 100 days ago.
Hillary Clinton repeated her earlier words, “Our efforts in Libya will take time, but let there be no mistake that the political, military, and economic pressure on Qaddafi continues to grow. The allies will continue to increase pressure until the Libyan people are safe, their humanitarian needs met, and a transition of power is fully under way.”
And so it goes.
In most of the other Arab countries Fridays are days of rage against the government du jour but in Tripoli Friday prayers are followed by massive pro-Qadaffi rallies. One of the jokes heard at this week’s big pro-government Friday post prayer rally at Green Square is about how each morning Libya’s leader, following early morning Fajr prayers, dons his formal uniform, complete with those huge epaulets, and salutes the small NATO flag he tapes to his bathroom mirror as he moves from place to place dodging NATO drones and assassins. “Our leader does this”, one young lady informed me first with a wide smile and then growing serious, “because the NATO bombing of Libyan civilians, which the US/NATO axis claims Qaddafi is doing, has caused his popularity to skyrocket among our proud and nationalist tribal people. I am one example of this. Yes, of course we can use some new blood and long overdue reform in our government. Which country cannot? But first we must defeat the NATO invaders and then we can sort out our problems among our tribes including the so-called NATO Rebels.”
Since the beginning of the NATO operation, March 31, the alliance has conducted nearly 15,000 sorties, including close to 6000 bombing missions according to NATO’s media office in Naples. The most recent attacks reported on July 9 included 112 sorties and 48 bomb/missile attacks, and that is about average.
The two most active Embassies in Libya these days are the Russian and the Chinese. On February 2, according to the Bulgarian Embassy staff, which was falsely rumored to be currently handing US consular services, the US Embassy essentially ordered all EU and NATO Embassies to pack up and join their chartered plane and boats. Libyan officials tell visitors that they were shocked by the fast exodus. “They did not even say goodbye. Suddenly they were on their way to the airport,” one Foreign Ministry advised during a meeting last week.
The Russian and Chinese leadership has grown increasingly critical of NATO’s actions in Libya and are demanding a immediate and permanent ceasefire. Some cynics here are pointing out that these countries, unlike NATO, knows exactly what they are doing and it includes the realization that they have an excellent chance to obtaining many billions of dollars in lucrative contracts. It is partly this realization that it’s “all of nothing” that keeps the US and its potent military asset, NATO, focused on assassinating Colonel Qaddafi and breaking his civilian support base. If Qaddafi lives, NATO loses and so do the current major oil industry contractors who are reportedly becoming depressed seeing reports of all the Russian and Chinese businessmen arriving in Libya.
As one student at Tripoli’s Al Fatah University commented, “What your American government has done in the region to destroy yourselves since 9/11 is amazing to Libyans. Now you are going to fight us? Why? You already had all our oil you wanted at a bargain prices; we stupidly put our sovereign funds in US banks and we did not even bother Israel much. Every day that NATO bombs it kills more Libyan civilians. We sacrificed nearly 1/3 of our population, or more than one million of our brothers and sisters, expelling the Italians 70 years ago. Doesn’t anyone in your government study history? We are not Bahrainis or Syrians. We are armed and will use our weapons.
Among the errors our leadership has made, one of the worst is that it believed the US agreements we made in 2004. The Iranians and North Koreans laugh at us for trusting you and giving up nuclear and biological weapons programs. Believe me, if Qadaffi leaves power you will miss him because the Libyan people will be tougher against your projects than he has been.”
On July 9, 2011, NATO claimed its aircraft carried out another “precision strike” on a pro-Qaddafi missile firing position near Tawurgha, south of Misrata. According to its media office, “NATO intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance were conducted over a period of time to ascertain the military use of the site. It was confirmed as being used to launch indiscriminate attacks on Libyan civilians in the area and a staging area by pro-Qaddafi villagers, including planning attacks on rebel’s forces near the port and city of Misrata.” The next morning, 7/10/11, local inhabitants denied that the farm had any military activity on the property and an examination of the farm buildings failed to discovery any.
NATO is getting hammered by critics, including during its press conferences, especially by reporters from such groups as Jane’s Defense Weekly who know a thing or two about weapons and war. Last week Jane’s ridiculed the NATO commander who claimed that seeing satellite dishes on roofs were evidence of a particular site being a “Command and Control Center.” Jane’s found that assertion silly.
As international pressure builds on the White House to call off the NATO bombing campaign, several proposals are being discussed within the African Union, the Russian and Chinese Embassy’s, and even between the “NATO rebels” and representatives of the Libya government in Tripoli.
One possible scenario might be for Libya to offer Obama and NATO a fig leaf which would include Colonel Qadaffi “retiring to his tent to write and reflect” while dialogue takes places among the Libyan people, including the tribes and 600 plus Peoples Congresses which of course should have been allowed to take place as Congressman Dennis Kucinich and others insisted back in February, 2011 before NATO invaded.
Franklin Lamb is reachable at fplamb@gmail.com
Featured Video
Russia, China & Iran Seek to Contain U.S. Military
or go to
Aletho News Archives – Video-Images
From the Archives
Truth Telling, Whistle Blowing and the American Way
By Prof. Tony Hall | American Herald Tribune | July 15, 2016
The Kevin Barrett-Chomsky dispute in historical perspective – 3rd part of the series “9/11 and the Zionist Question”
Over decades Chomsky has moved towards the center of formidable networks of academic associations, publishing enterprises, activist groups, speakers forums and New Media operations. The fact that the senior professor is so well wired into such an effective communication grid of activist interaction has hugely amplified his voice and his influence.
Chomsky’s ideas have been broadcast to the far corners of the world in every conceivable format. His work is translated into many languages as the MIT professor goes from honor to honor, distinction to distinction, all the while seeming to combat the expansionary impulses emanating from some of the world’s leading centers of power including those in Israel. The phenomenal success of Chomsky’s career would seem to prove and illustrate that there is still some substance in the conception of America as the land of the free, home of the brave. … continue
Blog Roll
Recent Comments
loongtip on Showdown loongtip on New York Bans Israel-Linked Te… loongtip on Trump tells India to stop purc… eddieb on The Old Testament and the Geno… papasha408 on Trump’s war posturing against… Coronistan on This is How We Should Have Res… Coronistan on NO MANDATES, NO PROFITS: MODER… Lutz Barz on Russia Vows to Protect Its Oil… loongtip on Russia Vows to Protect Its Oil… loongtip on Hamas never agreed to lay down… eddieb on Conspiracy Denial eddieb on WEF Calls for ‘Cultural Revolu…
Aletho News- ‘Israel’ bulldozes part of Gaza war cemetery holding allied graves
- Coordinated Media Messaging Is Prepping for Iran War
- Beijing cancels Panama deals after court blocks Chinese port operations
- Idea of strategically defeating Russia an ‘illusion’ – Lavrov
- Russia doubts ‘bright future’ for US economic ties – Lavrov
- Russia Urges International Community to Curb Arms Flow From Ukraine to Africa
- US’s Lack of Response to Russia’s New START Proposals Regrettable – Foreign Ministry
- Douglas Macgregor: Russia, China & Iran Seek to Contain U.S. Military
- Judge Strikes Down Hawaii Deepfake Law as Unconstitutional
- Sen. Schumer: I Will Continue to Fight to Give Israel All the Aid It Needs
- If Americans Knew
- Israel kills at least 23 in Gaza, in one of deadliest days since “ceasefire” began – Not a ceasefire Day 118
- U.S. Envoys Refused to Report “Apocalyptic” Conditions in Gaza. Exclusive Photos Show the Reality They Suppressed
- Israel tells Gazans, “smoking is hazardous to your health” – Not a ceasefire Day 117
- The Truth About Gaza’s Dead – Part 1: How We Got Here
- They were forced to hand one son over to the Israeli army in return for another. Eight months later he was dead in prison
- Exclusive: New owner of CBS coordinated with former Israeli military chief to counter the country’s critics, according to leaked emails
- AIPAC Gears Up for Midterm Election Cycle With $95 Million War Chest
- Official US gov’t reports contradict Mike Waltz’s rants against UNRWA
- Israel lets just 5 patients out of 20,000 exit Gaza – Not a ceasefire Day 116
- Trump Again Bypasses U.S. Congress to Push $6 Billion in Arms Sales to Israel
- No Tricks Zone
- Climate Scientist Who Predicted End Of “Heavy Frost And Snow” Now Refuses Media Inquiries
- Polar Bear Numbers Rising And Health Improving In Areas With The Most Rapid Sea Ice Decline
- One Reason Only For Germany’s Heating Gas Crisis: Its Hardcore-Dumbass Energy Policy
- 130 Years Later: The CO2 Greenhouse Effect Is Still Only An Imaginary-World Thought Experiment
- New Study Affirms Rising CO2’s Greening Impact Across India – A Region With No Net Warming In 75 Years
- Germany’s Natural Gas Crisis Escalates … One Storage Site Near Empty …Government Silent
- Polar Colding…Antarctica Saw Its Coldest October In 44 Years!
- New Study: Sea Levels Rose 20 Times The Modern Rate During The Roman Warm Period
- As German Gas Storage Dips Dangerously Low…Shortage Hardly Avoidable
- New Study: Brazil’s Relative Sea Level Was 2+ Meters Higher And SSTs 3-4°C Warmer 6000 Years Ago
Aletho News 