Stephen Lendman

Palestinian policemen killed at the start of the Israeli Cast Lead
Massacres, December 2008 - January 2009.

Launched on March 4, 2009, "The Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RTP) seeks to reaffirm the primacy of international law (to settle) the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (by focusing on) the enunciation of law by authoritative bodies (and) address(ing) the failure of application of law even though it has been so clearly identified. (It begins where the International Court of Justice) stopped: highlighting the responsibilities arising from the enunciation of law, including those of the international community, which cannot continue to shirk its obligations."

RTP is part of the BRussell Tribunal, named after famed philosopher, mathematician, and anti-war/anti-imperialism activist Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970), who warned over 50 years ago:

"Shall we put an end to the human race, or shall mankind renounce war and live in peace, because there's no other choice."

Established in 1967, the BRussell Tribunal investigated Vietnam war crimes, more recently Iraq war ones and Bush administration imperialism continued under Obama. RTP exposes decades of Israeli crimes against Palestinian civilians, calling for an end to colonialism, occupation and apartheid and for justice, equality, and peace.

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William Bowles

Sarah Meyer, 73, who published her work on Index Research, died at 11:00 PM Wednesday, March 3rd. 2010 from cancer. We hung out a couple of times, once at her little hideaway in the country and on demos, but most of our contact was via the Web and our related writings. An American ex-pat, her writing was exhaustive, thoroughly documented analyses on Iraq, Afghanistan and much more. According to Sarah, her decision not to go through treatment in an attempt to delay the inevitable was hard for the NHS to accept, which resulted in her fighting her final battle with doctors, who just could not understand why she refused to undergo treatment. Perhaps her own words sum up her reasons: ‘The language applied to cancer sounds like Obama’s wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. We hear about “battles” – “Fighting the Enemy” and the “War on Cancer.” Constructively discussing the actual process of life and death can often be a no-go zone. Even the word ‘death’ is replaced by the awful term, “passing away.” ‘I am almost 73 now, and I am ready for death. The suffering of peoples on our planet is a burden for me. I have tried for much of my life to be useful, but of course one cannot ‘cure’ this central crux of life itself.’ But her life lives on through her contributions, which is more than many of us can claim. Hamba Kahle, Sarah.* ___________________________________________________________________________________ AWIP/Musafir's Musings: Hands Across the Seas. AWIP/Sarah Meyer: My Cancer: The Waiting Game. Sarah's website HERE. * Zulu for farewell.

James Cogan

The third parliamentary election held in Iraq since the US invasion of the country in March 2003 took place yesterday, with some 6,529 candidates, 86 political parties and 20 electoral coalitions competing to win 325 seats in the legislature. A preliminary result is expected to be announced on Tuesday and a final result by the end of the month. Initial indications suggest that none of the main coalitions will win an outright majority.

The voting was disrupted by some 100 small explosions in areas of Baghdad and other cities that killed as many as 38 people. Overall, however, a massive security operation involving hundreds of thousands of Iraqi troops and police, supported by US aircraft and helicopter gunships, prevented anti-occupation opponents from carrying out threatened attacks on polling stations.

The reportedly high turnout among voters elicited a predictable response from the American political establishment and in the media. President Barack Obama declared it was proof that “the future of Iraq belongs to the people of Iraq”. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said it “was a good day for the Iraqis”. The New York Times’s report hailed Sunday’s voting as “arguably the most open, most competitive election in the nation’s long history of colonial rule, dictatorship and war”. Concealed by such empty statements is the real state of Iraq.

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Joanne Nova

Somehow the tables have turned. For all the smears of big money funding the "deniers", the numbers reveal that the sceptics are actually the true grassroots campaigners, while Greenpeace defends Wall St. How times have changed.

Sceptics are fighting a billion dollar industry aligned with a trillion dollar trading scheme. Big Oil's supposed evil influence has been vastly outdone by Big Government, and even those taxpayer billions are trumped by Big-Banking.

The big-money side of this debate has fostered a myth that sceptics write what they write because they are funded by oil profits. They say, follow the money? So I did and it's chilling. Greens and environmentalists need to be aware each time they smear with an ad hominem attack they are unwittingly helping giant finance houses.

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