Month: January 2009

So far, Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip has produced no surprises. On the physical level of war, the IDF is triumphing. The Palestinians are suffering about one hundred people dead for every dead Israeli. To a 2GW military, which is what Israel’s formerly Third Generation army has become, that is the main measure of … Continue reading “Israel Doesn’t Get 4GW”

Nearly 70 years ago, in the course of World War II, a heinous crime was committed in the city of Leningrad. For more than a thousand days, a gang of extremists called "the Red Army" held the millions of the town’s inhabitants hostage and provoked retaliation from the German Wehrmacht from inside the population centers. … Continue reading “How Many Divisions?”

One of my morning rituals is to have a latte at the Java Shack and spend some time solving all of the world’s problems with a crew of regular friends. One of the crew is Roger Cirillo, a retired Army officer who manages the book program at the Association of the United States Army, which … Continue reading “Why War?”

Updated at 8:56 p.m. EST, Jan. 13, 2009Reports of violence dropped off as U.S. Vice President-elect Biden continued his trip to Iraq. At least two Iraqis were killed and another 18 were wounded in light violence. Meanwhile, a newly released report sheds light on the mismanagement of the rebuilding of Iraq’s oil infrastructure. Separately, Iraqi … Continue reading “Tuesday: 2 Iraqis Killed, 18 Wounded”

BOGOTA – Declassified U.S. documents show that the CIA and former U.S. ambassadors were fully aware, as far back as 1990, that the military in Colombia – the third largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel and Egypt – were committing extrajudicial killings as part of "death-squad tactics." They also knew that senior Colombian officers … Continue reading “Secret Documents Show US Aware of Colombian Army Killings in 1990s”

RAMALLAH – "There is no doubt that Israel is using phosphorous bombs over Gaza. Israel is flagrantly violating the Fourth Geneva Convention," says Raji Sourani, head of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza. "This is not the first time we have documented Israel using this kind of prohibited weapon against Gaza’s civilian … Continue reading “Israelis Rain ‘Phosphorous Bombs’ Over Gaza”

While millions know that the administration of George W. Bush has left Barack Obama with the job of closing the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, relatively few are aware that the new president will also face a similar but far larger dilemma 7,000 miles away. That dilemma is what to do with what has … Continue reading “Bagram: Worse Than Guantanamo?”

Waltz with Bashir, an autobiographical “animated documentary” from Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman, examines the repressed memory and guilt of an IDF soldier’s participation in the horrific 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre of Palestinian refugees, while simultaneously offering a sobering reminder of Israel’s current, brutal military offensive in Gaza. The audience accompanies Folman on this unique, … Continue reading “A Waltz With Injustice”

As Israel rejected the terms of the proposed United Nations cease-fire at the weekend, Israeli military analysts were speculating on the nature of the next stage of the attack on Gaza, or the "third phase" of the fighting as it is being referred to. Having struck thousands of targets from the air in the first … Continue reading “Blueprint for Gaza Attack Was Long Planned”

A small but significant trial balloon went up late last year when Charles Winters received a presidential pardon. Winters delivered three converted World War II B-17 bombers to the nascent Israeli armed forces in the late 1940s. Co-conspirators Herman Greenspun and Al Schwimmer were fellow operatives within a vast network of nonprofit front organizations stealing, … Continue reading “Pro-Israel Pardons and Leniency Too Costly to Continue”