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French Scientists: Childhood Leukemia Spikes Near Nuclear Reactors

By John LaForge | Huntington News | January 18, 2012

French researchers have confirmed that childhood leukemia rates are shockingly elevated among children living near nuclear power reactors.

The  International Journal of Cancer  has published in January a scientific study establishing a clear correlation between the frequency of acute childhood leukemia and proximity to nuclear power stations. The paper is titled, “Childhood leukemia around French nuclear power plants – the Geocap study, 2002-2007.”

This devastating report promises to do for France what a set of 2008 reports did for Germany — which recently legislated a total phase-out of all its power reactors by 2022 (sooner if the Greens get their way).

The French epidemiology — conducted by a team from the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), the Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) and the National Register of hematological diseases of children in Villejuif, outside Paris — demonstrates during the period from 2002-2007 in France the doubling of childhood leukemia incidence: the increase is up to 2.2 among children under age five.

The researchers note that they found no mechanistic proof of cause and effect, but could find no other environmental factor that could produce the excess cancers.

Without getting overly technical, the case-control study included the 2,753 cases of acute leukemia diagnosed in mainland France over 2002-2007, and 30,000 contemporaneous population “controls.” The children’s last addresses were geo-coded and located around France’s 19 nuclear power stations, which operate 54 separate reactors. The study used distance to the reactors and a dose-based geographic zoning (DBGZ), based on the estimated dose to bone marrow related to the reactors’ gaseous discharges.

All operating reactors routinely spew radioactive gases like xenon, krypton and the radioactive form of hydrogen known as tritium. These gases are allowed to be released under licenses issued by federal government agencies. Allowable limits on these radioactive poisons were suggested to governments and regulatory agencies by the giant utilities that own the reactors and by reactor operators themselves. This is because their reactors can’t even function without regularly releasing radioactive liquids and gases, releases required to control pressure, temperature and vibrations inside the gigantic systems. (See: “Routine Radioactive Releases from Nuclear Power Plants in the United States: What Are the Dangers?” from BeyondNuclear.org, 2009)

In Germany, results of the 2008 KiKK studies — a German acronym for Childhood Cancer in the Vicinity of Nuclear Power Plants — were published in both theInternational Journal of Cancer (Vol. 122) and the European Journal of Cancer (Vol. 44). These 25-year-long studies found higher incidences of cancers and a stronger association with reactor installations than all previous reports. The main findings were a 60 percent increase in solid cancers and a 117 percent increase in leukemia among young children living near all 16 large German nuclear facilities between 1980 and 2003. These shocking studies — along with persistent radioactive contamination of Germany from the Chernobyl catastrophe — are largely responsible for depth and breadth of anti-nuclear public opinion all across Germany.

Similar leukemia spikes have been found around U.S. reactors (European Journal of Cancer Care, Vol. 16, 2007). Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina analyzed 17 research papers covering 136 reactor sites in the UK, Canada, France, the U.S., Germany, Japan and Spain. The incidence of leukemia in children under age 9 living close to the sites showed an increase of 14 to 21 percent, while death rates from the disease were raised by 5 to 24 percent, depending on their proximity to the nuclear facilities.

When the U.S. public owns up to the dangers of nuclear power, we too can get around to its replacement and phase out.

John LaForge is on the staff of Nukewatch, an environmental justice group in Wisconsin, and edits its quarterly newsletter. This commentary was distributed by PeaceVoice, a program of the Oregon Peace Institute, Portland, OR. http://www.peacevoice.info

January 19, 2012 Posted by | Nuclear Power | Leave a comment

NATO rapped over ‘war crimes’ in Libya

Press TV – January 19, 2012

A new report by human rights groups in the Middle East has charged NATO with committing war crimes and human rights violations in Libya.

The report was published on Thursday by the Arab Organization for Human Rights, together with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and the International Legal Assistance Consortium.

Following interviews with eyewitnesses and victims of the Libyan war and after examining areas bombarded by NATO fighter jets, the report states that the Western military alliance targeted a number of civilian areas instead of military sites, particularly in the city of Sirte, during its war in the North African country.

The development comes as NATO’s Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen claimed in a recent statement that “NATO carried out this operation very carefully, without confirmed civilian casualties.”

The independent report also implicates other warring factions and participants in the war, including forces loyal to former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi as well as the nation’s revolutionary forces in its war crime charges.

Meanwhile, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno-Ocampo stated in November 2011 that an investigation would be carried out on the role of the NATO alliance as well as the two Libyan groups involved in the operations.

NATO launched a major air campaign against forces of the former Libyan regime on March 19, 2011 under a UN mandate to “protect the Libyan population.”

The Western military alliance, however, was heavily criticized for its failure to protect civilians and taking action beyond the terms of the UN mandate.

January 19, 2012 Posted by | War Crimes | 1 Comment

Follow Up Protest for #No2Negotiations

By Linah Alsaafin | The Electronic Intifada | January 19, 2012

In a blatant demonstration of the Palestinian Authority’s colossal gap between the interests of itself and the people it claims to represent, unelected chief negotiator Saeb Erekat will meet up with his Israeli counterpart Yitzhak Molcho for the fourth round of talks in Amman, Jordan on January 25th. The announcement came barely  a day after Palestinians protested against the farcical negotiations in front of the PA compound of al-Muqata’a in Ramallah.

Nevertheless, the group Palestinians With Dignity have been quick to issue another statement out, calling for another protest this Saturday the 21st. It is clear that these protests are not reactionary, and will continue until all negotiations between the occupied and the occupier cease once and for all. Last week saw the arrest of a young man who participated in the protest by the PA security forces. He was attacked and interrogated before being released.

In a true and classical behavior that characterizes Arab repressive governments who are merely puppets of western interests, will violence against protesters by the PA escalate?

Below is the statement [emphasis not mine], with a link to a petition against negotiations at the bottom:

Last Saturday 14th of January, we stood in silence in front of the Presidential Compound (Muqata’a) in Ramallah demanding the immediate stop of the bilateral negotiations between Saeb Erekat and Yitzhak Molcho in Amman. The bitter cold did not stop us from protesting against the return to these fruitless talks.  The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) has retreated from its earlier position that they will not return to negotiations, until settlement expansion is halted and all the political prisoners were released; this represents the bare minimum demands of the Palestinian people.

The PLO’s reneging on their promise to the Palestinian people and their return to negotiations implies that the leadership accepts the continued theft and seizure of Palestinian lands, legitimizes the ever-going attacks of the settlers, and furthermore undermines the Palestinian people in whole.

As Palestinians youth, we do not see any benefits from these futile negotiations. We have grown weary of representatives that don’t represent us, a national consensus that does not include us, and an implied future pseudo-state that does not guarantee our rights; specifically the rights of the majority of Palestinians who are refugees and live in exile.

It appears that our message last Saturday fell on deaf ears. The Palestinian leadership is still moving forward with negotiations, despite the Israeli occupation’s expansion of illegal colonies in the West Bank, the continued siege on Gaza, and Israel’s continued practice of the crime of Apartheid against Palestinians.

Nevertheless, we have not been deterred from acting. We demand the Palestinian leadership bears its responsibility in defying all sources of foreign pressure to return to negotiations. Instead of pursuing negotiations at this moment in time, we are in need of a resistance-based strategy. A strategy that begins with the unification of Palestinians and the political, economic, cultural and academic boycott of the apartheid state of Israel. We unequivocally demand that our leadership invests in its people, because when unified, together we can alter the balance of power to our favor.

On Saturday, January 21st at 1 PM we will again protest at the doorsteps of the Presidential Compound (Muqata’a). Join us on Saturday, and let us together stand tall with dignity and full of pride until our demands are met.

Show your support by signing the following petition against negotiations:
http://www.aredaonline.com/petition_against_negotiations

Palestinians for Dignity

Palestinian tweeps on the ground will be using the hashtag #No2negotiations for live updates.

January 19, 2012 Posted by | Deception, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | 4 Comments

NYPD to use body scanners in New York

Press TV – January 19, 2012

Adding a new weapon to their war on freedom, the head of the New York Police Department is working with the Pentagon to develop body scanners to be used throughout the city.

In a speech on Tuesday morning, New York Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly announced that the new gun-scan technology would be ‘capable of detecting concealed firearms’, Russia Today reported.

The high-tech radiation detector will operate as a mapping tool that can measure the energy emitted from a person’s body up to 16 feet and can pinpoint anything blocking it, like a gun.

According to Kelly, the scanners would be used in ‘reasonably suspicious circumstances’. However, the American Civil Liberties Union has already questioned the New York Police Department (NYPD) over what they say is an unnecessary precaution that raises more issues than it solves.

The detector will allow NYPD to run illegal searches on anyone walking the streets of the city and any suspicious detection can prompt the officers to search people for anything under their clothes.

“It’s worrisome. It implicates privacy, the right to walk down the street without being subjected to a virtual pat-down by the Police Department when you’re doing nothing wrong,” Donna Lieberman the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NUCLU) was reported as saying.

In the first quarter of 2011, more than 161,000 innocent New Yorkers were reportedly stopped and interrogated on the streets of the city leading to the assumption that NYPD are already going beyond the law by searching anyone they choose.

According to MIT’s Technology Review, the new devices could also be biologically harmful as the waves used by the scanners could ‘unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication.’

January 19, 2012 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance, Timeless or most popular | 1 Comment

Web blackout ends: SOPA bleeding, but not dead

RT | 19 January, 2012

The Internet strike opposing the US anti-piracy bills SOPA/PIPA has ended. The webquake spearheaded by giants like Wikipedia, Reddid and Google led to key sponsors withdrawing their support for the acts. However, they are not dead, activists warn.

Massive opposition to the controversial legislation resulted in Congressmen and Senators swinging against the bills. Up to 18 Senators, of which seven were former co-sponsors, voiced their opposition to PIPA on Wednesday. On the SOPA side, at least two sponsors have dropped out, while Oregon’s Earl Blumenauer blacked out his website in support of the protest.

The protest was timed to coincide with a scheduled hearing in the House of Representatives on SOPA. However amid the online outrage, it was postponed, and the bill will now not be moved to the floor until legislators have reached a consensus.

The conflict, however, is far from being resolved. “SOPA and PIPA are not dead: they are waiting in the shadows,” Wikipedia warns. PIPA is scheduled be put to a vote in the Senate on January 24, while SOPA sponsors plan to push the bill forward in February.

SOPA co-sponsor Lamar Smith dismissed the protest, saying Internet giants are using false allegations to stir up panic in the online community.

“When the opposition is based upon misinformation, I have confidence in the facts and confidence that the facts will ultimately prevail,” Smith said.

Wikipedia reports that 162 million people saw its blackout message and 8 million used its search tool to find their legislative representatives.

“You said no. You shut down Congress’s switchboards. You melted their servers. Your voice was loud and strong. Millions of people have spoken in defense of a free and open Internet,” the website said in a statement, calling the protest extraordinary.

Google’s “Stop piracy, not liberty” petition scored 4.5 million supporters as of 4:30 pm ET, said Google spokesperson Christine Chen.

All in all at least 75,000 websites participated in the blackout, according to Fight for the Future foundation.

The protest action swept across the world wide web, with SOPA/PIPA-related topics trending throughout Wednesday on Twitter. Those were ranging from the dead-serious “SOPAstrike” to the humorous “factswithoutwikipedia” to the satirical “save porn.”

January 19, 2012 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance | Leave a comment

False Prophets: The Puzzling Matter of the Israeli Liberals

By Ramzy Baroud | Palestine Chronicle | January 19, 2012

Regardless of who may rule Israel, little change ever occurs in the country’s foreign policy. Winning parties remain obsessed with demographics and retaining absolute military dominance. They also remain unfailingly focused on their quest to initiate racist laws against non-Jewish residents of the state, and continue to hone the art of speaking of peace, while actually maintaining a permanent state of war.

Every few years the media becomes captivated by Israeli democracy. Commentators speak of right, left, center, and anything in between. Despite Israeli elections still being a year and a half away, media pundits are already discussing possible outcomes of the vote against the peace process, economic reforms, social equality, and so on.

In a recent article, Israeli columnist Uri Avnery decried the fact that the main opposition to the rightwing parties – “the Likud, the Lieberman party and various ultra-nationalist, pro-settlement and religious factions” – is no other than the center-left Kadima. The party, led by the “incompetent” Tzipi Livni, is allegedly in “shambles”. Moreover, left parties, such as Labor and Meretz, are not expected to pose a real threat to the right party conglomerate, despite their temporary rise in the polls.

As genuine as he is, Avnery is once again presenting the false hope of a savior emerging to save Israel from itself. Avnery envisions Israel being rescued from its ‘neo fascists’ and  returned to the over-romanticized scenario of old, when early Zionists supposedly dreamed of an Israel governed by universal ethics, true democracy, peace and social equality . “I fervently hope that a different kind of new political force will emerge – a center-left party with a clear and inclusive message: social reform, narrowing the gap between rich and poor, the two-state solution, peace with the Palestinians and the end of the occupation.”

But this is as far as the imagined narrative of a kinder, gentler Israel can possibly go. Many outside Israel struggle to reconcile familiar discourses of democracy and equality with the reality on the ground. True, the ailment is not exclusive to Israel itself, but few other self-proclaimed democratic countries have such a massive gap between mainstream political discourses and actual policies.

Recall, for example, what the media touted as Israel’s own ‘Arab Spring.’ Even those who knew Israeli history hoped for a fleeting moment that the mass protests throughout Israeli cities could actually challenge the political and social status quo in Israel. But not Seraj Assi, a columnist and PhD student at Georgetown University. Assi wrote: “The dirty secret of the Tel Aviv protests is that the bulk of those middle-class Ashkenazi protestors are moved by a racist hysteria. They are simply afraid of being moved to the city peripheries and the far less fashionable parts of the country. For when they complain that they only feel at home in Tel Aviv, they explicitly express a racist desire to stay away from the development towns and neighborhoods populated by Arabs, poor Mizrahi and Ethiopian Jews.”

Indeed, the protests labored to stay clear of contentious discussions of military occupation, war, and even racial inequality within Israeli itself.

Not even the one-sided war on Gaza, which resulted in the killing of over 1400 Palestinians, was enough to raise the level of mass consciousness to challenge political and military apparatuses in Israel in any meaningful way. Under the title, ‘The Moral and Military Meltdown in Israel’, Hamid Dabashi, Professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University, wrote: “It is not just the worst of the Israelis who (according to a recent poll by Haaretz) condone and actively support the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, but so have their very best, their intellectuals, professors, journalists, filmmakers, novelists and poets, from Amos Oz to David Grossman to A. B. Yehoshua to Meir Shalev and scores of others” (Jan 12, 2009).

While rightwing Israeli parties are often dismissed as anti-peace and hawkish, the ‘liberal’ Zionists in the Israeli Left have been viewed by some as an alternative, capable of writing wrongs and achieving the long-awaited peace. These are mere ‘delusions’, argued Roger Sheety in a recent article. “Scratch just a little below the surface and you discover that .. when it approaches the Palestinian person in particular, (Liberal Zionism) suddenly stops and fully reverses itself,” he wrote (Jan 9).

Sheety suggests a “clear and concise word for this phenomenon…hypocrisy.” But ‘hypocrisy’ might be too easy a term to explain this very involved trend in Israeli politics, which defined the Zionist movement long before the state of Israel was established in 1948. A most compelling book by Israeli author Tikva Honig-Parnass traces the roots of liberal Zionism from an insider perspective. False Prophets of Peace: Liberal Zionism and the Struggle for Palestine is a profound addition to a growing library that challenges ‘liberal’ Zionists’ claim to liberalism or progressiveness.

After reading Honig-Parnass’ book, one is left with a clear impression that liberal Zionists are neither ‘Israel’s best’ and nor is their double-speak a simple reflection of hypocrisy. Liberal Zionists were, and remain at the heart of the problem. After all, the Israeli Right didn’t emerge as a powerful player in politics until the late 1970s. All that proceeded – the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing, the Law of Return, the 1967 war and further colonial expansion, and even the war on Gaza in 2008-09 – were orchestrated by Israel’s Zionist Left leaderships. More, the “systematic institutional discrimination against Palestinian citizens was (also) applied through the strengthened power of the Zionist Left,” Honig-Parnass argues. Even the most ‘radical’ forces in Israel are tainted, as the Zionist Labor movement rallied around racial discrimination against non-Jews before the establishment of Israel; later laws made racial discrimination against non-Jewish laborers the status quo, as is the case today.

To hold hope in the new election cycle in Israel is like waiting for false prophets. No salvation will be heralded by some imagined center-left party that will bring “an end to the ultra-rightist frenzy,” as hoped by Avnery.

The task will not be easy, but a true shift in Israeli politics can only occur at the foundational level by confronting the country’s Apartheid-like political institutions. More, by challenging the “Zionist Left political and ideological perspectives,” a way could open for “progressive forces among Jews and Palestinians to fight together against the Zionist/Jewish state,” as suggested by Honig-Parnass.

~

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story (Pluto Press, London).

January 19, 2012 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular | Leave a comment

Dutch lawmaker incites Israel to build more colonies, violate international law

By Ali Abunimah | The Electronic Intifada | January 19, 2012

A Dutch lawmaker is calling on Israel to continue building Jewish-only colonies in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including eastern Jerusalem, in violation of international law.

Raymond de Roon, a member of Geert Wilders’ extreme anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian Freedom Party – known by its Dutch initials PVV – tweeted: “Today I ask Netanyahu in parliament for Israel to continue building in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria as long as Palestinians hinder peace.”

  @rderoonpvv
raymond de roon Vandaag vraag ik Netanyahu in 2e Kamer om voor Israel te blijven bouwen in Jerusalem, Judea en Samaria zolang palestijnen vrede verhinderen
Jan 19 via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet Reply

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been visiting the Netherlands, cementing close relations with that country’s government which has emerged as one of the most anti-Palestinian in Europe.

The PVV, although not a member of the governing coalition, lends its support to the government through a formal agreement.

While officially, the Netherlands opposes Israel’s settlements, Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal, and Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Verhagen have worked actively to strengthen the Dutch relationship with Israel, effectively shielding the latter from any accountability or consequences for its crimes.

During Netanyahu’s visit, Verhagen announced that the Netherlands planned to send an economic mission to Israel to deepen trade ties.

Colonization is war crime

Israel’s settlement construction in the occupied West Bank – what Israel calls “Judea and Samaria” – is universally condemned as illegal under international law. In particular, it violates the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention which protects civilians in occupied territories. Article 49 of the Convention States:

Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.

Israel’s settlement program has often involved the forced removal or exclusion of Palestinians from their lands, as territory is seized for Jewish-only settlements.

The UN Security Council has affirmed the criminality of Israel’s settlement enterprise on numerous occasions. Resolution 465 of 1980 for example begins by:

Affirming once more that the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 is applicable to the Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem,

Deploring the decision of the Government of Israel to officially support Israeli settlement in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967,

Deeply concerned over the practices of the Israeli authorities in implementing that settlement policy in the occupied Arab territories, including Jerusalem, and its consequences for the local Arab and Palestinian population,

And then:

  1. Determines that all measures taken by Israel to change the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem, or any part thereof, have no legal validity and that Israel’s policy and practices of settling parts of its population and new immigrants in those territories constitute a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and also constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East;
  2. Strongly deplores the continuation and persistence of Israel in pursuing those policies and practices and calls upon the Government and people of Israel to rescind those measures, to dismantle the existing settlements and in particular to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem;
  3. Calls upon all States not to provide Israel with any assistance to be used specifically in connexion with settlements in the occupied territories;

In 2004, the International Court of Justice in The Hague reaffirmed that Israel’s settlements and its separation wall in the West Bank are illegal and countries should act to prevent and reverse them.

Despite this and many other clear resolutions, Israel has continued to get away with what amount to war crimes thanks to the indulgence and complicity of governments like the Netherlands.

h/t @occpal for spotting the tweet.

January 19, 2012 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | Leave a comment

UN slams collective punishment of Gaza

Press TV – Jan 19, 2012

Head of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has expressed concerns over the Israeli regime’s dismantlement of the Karni crossing in northeastern Gaza Strip.

Valerie Amos said in a press conference at the UN Security Council on Wednesday that the dismantlement of the Karni crossing means that commercial activity into Gaza will decline and it will have the impact of “de-developing Gaza rather than re-developing it.”

The senior UN official was referring to the continued Israeli blockade of Gaza and its devastating impact on the economic development there.

The Israeli regime has full control over the airspace, territorial waters and border crossings of the impoverished Gaza Strip.

Amos also commented on the impact of continued Israeli settlement activities on Palestinian residents in terms of their “access to basic services, including schools and health centers” in the occupied West Bank.

About 500,000 Israelis live in more than 100 illegal settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

The UN official also pointed to the “increase in the levels of settler violence” over the past few months in the West Bank.

The Israeli regime has repeatedly been censured by the international community for its illegal settlement activities on the occupied Palestinian land.

January 19, 2012 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Subjugation - Torture | Leave a comment

Three Arab Students Exiled from Jerusalem for Seven Days

By Saed Bannoura | IMEMC News | January 19, 2012

The Arabs48 news website reported on Wednesday that three Arab students, studying at the Engineering Academy in occupied Jerusalem, have received police warrants exiling them from the city for seven days after they called for a boycott of a speech by Israeli President, Shimon Peres.

The students, Khalil Gharra from Jit, Rafat Shaban from Majd Al Koroum, and a third student who remained unidentified due to the ongoing investigation, were forced out of Jerusalem.

They were sent to court on Wednesday and the judge decided to release them under exile until January 25, and sentenced them to house arrest under the condition that they do not communicate with other students.

The issue in question started after the college invited Peres to give a lecture; some of the Arab students then wrote on their Facebook pages that they will not attend the lecture, and expressed their rejection to the college’s decision to urge students to attend.

Representing the students, Attorney Alaa’ Mahajna told the Arabs48 news website that some Israeli media outlets exaggerated in their reporting on the issue, and added that all student groups have the right to express their opinions by calling for the boycott of any program or official.

He also said that there are talks and discussions of boycott in Israel itself, and that prosecuting the students is a direct violation to their freedom of expression. It is worth mentioning that all Arab students boycotted the lecture by President Peres.

Israel has been recently debating and passing laws that criminalize calls for the boycott of Israeli settlement products and Israel officials, due to Israel’s illegal occupation in Palestine.

January 19, 2012 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | 2 Comments

Pakistan seizes fuel destined for NATO

Press TV – January 19, 2012

Pakistani security forces have seized at least 12 trucks in southwestern Balochistan province, carrying fuel for US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, Press TV reports.

A convey of trucks carrying around 300 drums filled with fuel for the US-led NATO forces were stopped at Chaman bordering region of Balochistan province near Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Thursday when they were trying to cross the border, a Press TV correspondent reported.

At least 26 people, including drivers and their subordinates were arrested after the recovery of fuel drums from the trucks.

The arrested crew was transferred to an unknown location for further investigation.

Hundreds of Afghan transit trade containers have been blocked in Pakistan over the past weeks, under the suspicion of carrying goods for the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Pakistan blocked NATO supply routes to landlocked Afghanistan following US-led NATO airstrikes on two Pakistani military checkpoints that killed 24 soldiers in Mohmand Agency on November 26.

In 2001, Pakistan entered an alliance with the US in the so-called war on terror. Thousands of Pakistanis, including many civilians, have lost their lives in the violence since then.

January 19, 2012 Posted by | Aletho News | 1 Comment

Chavez: U.S Threats to Sanction Latin America Are “Absurd”

By Rachael Boothroyd | Venezuelanalysis | January 17th 2011

Caracas – Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has criticised the U.S. State Department’s “absurd” decision to threaten Latin American countries with sanctions should they engage in trade with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Chavez made the comments following a State Department briefing last week, in which the body’s spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, warned Latin American countries that they would be liable to U.S. sanctions if they were to use Iranian banks or purchase Iranian oil.

”If [decisions behind closed doors] are going to take those countries in the direction of buying more Iranian crude oil and making more use of the banks, then they make themselves vulnerable to U.S. sanctions,” said Nuland, who added that the countries in question wouldn’t have “any doubt that this is not something that the U.S. would think was helpful to the overall global policy”.

“We have… with a number of these [Latin American] countries… difficulties that go well beyond this [and] that need to be worked through,” concluded Nuland.

Presidents Rafael Correa (Ecuador), Raul Castro (Cuba), Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua) and Hugo Chavez all met with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week as he conducted a short tour of Latin America. During his visit to Caracas the Iranian President signed various bilateral agreements with Venezuela in industry, science and technology, and politics.

Addressing viewers on state television channel VTV, Chavez criticised Nuland’s statements and cited them as proof of continued U.S. neo-colonialism in the region.

“This decision is an absurdity… it’s the same absurd history of the U.S., trying to look at us like their back yard and wanting to keep controlling the destinies of Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador and the whole of Latin America,” said the Venezuelan president.

“We are free countries…The United States will end up being what Mao (Tse Tung) said, they will become a paper empire and we; steel tigers,” he added.

January 18, 2012 Posted by | Wars for Israel | 2 Comments

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