Giesbrecht Plight Proves Taliban are a Fraud

Friday, 27 March 2009 05:41 Henry Makow

The plight of a Canadian convert to Islam who ran a pro- Mujahideen website “Jihad Unspun” proves the Taliban are a fraud ultimately run by the CIA and MI-6. Beverly Giesbrecht, 52, was kidnapped by the Taliban last November while working on a documentary film in Northwest Pakistan. Apparently they are demanding $375,000 for her release. Look at this heartbreaking recent video in which Giesbrecht pleads for her life. She is obviously in terrible health and says she will be beheaded at the end of March.

“The time is now very short and my life is going to end,” she concludes. In a previous video last month, she said: “I am very sick. I need a hospital right away. I’m missing teeth. I have pneumonia and I need this release to happen quickly.”

The politics behind this kidnapping are puzzling. Giesbrecht ran what was virtually a pro-Taliban website. Why would they treat a friend and fellow Muslim in this fashion? Why would they expect their common political adversary to ransom her? Are they so out of touch? The news stories make clear that the Taliban is holding her hostage. She repeats this twice in the video and in four months, the Taliban have not denied it.

The Canadian government, which is fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, is being asked to ransom her. Naturally they are dragging their feet. In contrast, when a female Canadian CBC-TV reporter was kidnapped in Afghanistan recently, they arranged a prisoner exchange immediately.

The Canadian government should take pity on Giesbrecht and negotiate her release. They should treat all Canadian citizens the same, not depending on their beliefs.

The story illustrates that these Illuminati wars are fabricated to perpetuate war for war’s sake. They have bankrolled both sides of every war in modern history. No one should put his or her life on the line. Giesbrecht converted to Islam in 2002 and took a Muslim name. She obviously bought the Taliban message. I wonder what she thinks of it now.

As everyone knows, the Taliban were created by the CIA and probably still do their bidding. No one can carry on a war without substantial financial backing and you know who has all the money. The various Western intelligence agencies work for the Central Banking Cartel and its New World Order.

Giesbrecht, in better days

Giesbrecht’s heart was in the right place even if she wasn’t. We should get behind this courageous woman and let both the Taliban and the Canadian government know they will be held responsible for her death.

Related: My “How They Control the World“

Source: Henry Makow

Jesus Was Not A Jew

My Savior Was Not A Jew!
Part 1 of 8by Lt. Col. Gordon “Jack” Mohr, A.U.S. Ret.

A critical look at the historical Christ,
free of Jewish distort!

“. . . I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan.” - Rev. 2:9

“. . . They (Jews) shall build up, and I (God) shall throw down: and they (true Israel) shall call them (Jews), The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation forever . . .” - Malachi 1:4

Introduction

Jesus — Not A Jew

Seemingly, in every age, since the advent of the Christian Church, a book or writing, like a messenger, comes along which vociferously and indignantly silences the false teachings and heresies of it’s day. From the writings of St. Paul, the early church fathers, Augustine, Acquinas, Abelard, St. Francis of Assisi, Luther, Wesley, and scores of others there has always been a “generational” witness against the heresies of that particular era. Especially right and proper has this been when such erroneous teaching has become almost universally accepted by the so-called “purveyors of truth”, usually those individuals who speak from a voiceless, and stagnant church age such as this one.

Such a book is this one.

In an age when much false teaching abounds, Jack Mohr has scripturally and historically “slammed the door” on one such false teaching, namely that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was a Jew and thus, Christianity sprang from Judaism.

Mohr exposes the hypocritical facade and lack of in-depth research into this vitally important subject in a myriad of ways and from a wide range of sources. With careful attention to true historical analysis, he effectively dismantles the monstrous apparition created over the centuries by a deceived and gullible populace which has been led and controlled by tired, lazy, “so called” scholars who willingly accept any and all information spoon-fed to them in colleges and seminaries across the land.

He begins this expose’ by reviewing the true historical facts surrounding the times and message of the apostle, St. Paul. References to Paul’s missionary direction and his denunciation of “Ebionite” teaching, (that Christianity sprang from Judaism) prove conclusively that the early church did not espouse a JudaeoChristian theology, but, on the contrary, adamantly opposed such a teaching. The careful and meticulous extrication of Judaizing influences in the early church by the apostles is further noted as a causative factor in maintaining it’s purity. By carefully detailing the antithetical differences between Judaism and Christianity, he very astutely cuts away at the fabric of Judeo-Christian philosophy. Such differences include the all encompassing aspect of Christianity compared to the egotistical exclusiveness of Judaism.

His very credible sources further detail plans of a universal Jewish conspiracy with references to taped and written interviews, writings (Jewish Protocols), events that have transpired right here in the U.S., infiltration techniques, “modus operandi”, and most importantly, the manifest “fruits” of Judaism proving them to be the enemies of our Lord.

His proof that the province of Galilee (dwelling place of Christ), was non-Jewish coupled with a complete historical look at the land of Galilee, including a survey of it’s geographical terrain all combine to make oft-time boring factual data more invigorating and interesting. The numerous varieties of people who settled in and around the area of Galilee (practically all of whom eventually became the progenitors of European and Scandinavian stock) testify to God’s providential intervention in maintaining an area of comparative purity and productivity destitute of overriding Jewish influence. The influence of Greek culture and language upon the people in and around the area of Galilee were the prime movers in the promotion of the physical and spiritual beauty of that region. Both by temperamental and physiological differences, Mohr proves the people of Galilee were not at all like their neighbors to he south, the Judeans. Thus, this area provided the perfect setting for our Lord’s human growth and development.

Upon reading his detailed descriptions of the character and nature of Jesus Christ one is left aghast at those who would even remotely compare Him with the Jew. By a careful analysis of the arrest and trial of Christ, Mohr rightly lays claim to the premise that Jesus Christ in no wise exemplified the personality traits of the apostate crowd who instigated the whole affair. This highly factual information regarding Christ is supported by historians of that era and even a letter discovered to have been written by Pontious Pilate to emperor Nero describing in some detail the physical appearance of Christ including His demeanor and countenance.

The historical life and times of Jesus is further meticulously surveyed with emphasis upon

(1) Christ’s rejection of Jewish Messiahship(2) His attitude toward Gentiles

(3) and finally, as noted, His trial and crucifixion, all of which reveal his character, temperament, and objectives as being totally antithetical to the personality and objectives of His Jewish adversaries.

The trials, tests, and even apostolic confrontations encountered by Christianity in the first century and while escaping from Jewish influence, epitomize the common practices experienced by true believers of all succeeding ages.

As one reads the episodes of vivid accounts of confrontations of Paul and Peter, the firm verbal and written exhortations made by the Apostle Paul against adherences to Jewish philosophy, dogma, and fables he is gripped with the realization that nothing has really changed since that time. The constant haranguing and persistent historical confrontations between these two distinctly different theological philosophies prompted diligent oversight from the apostles and leaders of 1^st Century Christendom. Even today among those who truly understand the issues does this scenario perpetuate itself.

Mohr cites the confusion interjected by various scriptural translations has contributed in a large matter to the ambiguity in scriptural interpretation and thus, proved a valuable tool to Jewish influence.

The clarion call of “we must act now” screams from Mohr’s writings as he indignantly and vociferously voices the concerns of multitudes across this land, those who truly understand the evil, cancerous system at work.

An indictment against compromising Christians is rightly resounded as their acceptance of the fallacious doctrine of Jesus was a Jew combined with the acceptance of His doctrine as springing from Jewish doctrine has rendered most pulpits across the land as barren and ineffectual. Furthermore, as America’s pulpits have increasingly leaned toward the Jewish concept of universal brotherhood, (with them as “big brother”) and global One-Worldism, the unction and anointing so prominent among 17th and 18th pulpiteers has likewise departed the sanctuary, giving way to watered-down, milk toast sermons having little spiritual value.

The arrogant boast of Jewish antiquity is exposed as fallacious and without historical merit with references to the early Sumerian (Mesopotamian River Valley) inhabitants (5,000 BC) as not being Jews but Aryans who were forerunners of the Semitic people (not Jews) who later settled there.

The author factually declares that the Jews have not changed since their origination which began even before the Assyrian captivity of 745 – 721 BC and reaching the high water mark with the Babylonian captivity in 606-586 BC. Quotes from Roman and contemporary historians add credence to the claims of Jewish subterfuge and chicanery. Even the early church fathers, who because of intense stress and persecution were perhaps inclined to be more tolerant than the average Christian of today, noted their disapproval of Jewish influence. Rulers, Czars, and Presidents all have acknowledged similar reactions to the Jewish problem prevalent in their time. American generals of times past noted the despairingly ineffectiveness of attempted disciplinary assimilation of these people.

Perhaps the significant witness of all, however, has come from the pen of the Jew himself. Brazenly and arrogantly acknowledging their goals, Jewish writers have continued on their road of anticipated world conquest.

Even with all this boundless deluge of information available, thousands of pastors in Evangelical and Fundamental churches, Mohr says, still stubbornly refuse to look at truth. He rightly laments the fact that because of “the binding cords” of denominational dogma and tradition these pastors and leaders have inadvertently set the stage for a final showdown between these two mutually exclusive beliefs.

Because of the Jews’ intense hatred for Christ and His church, coupled with the world-wide acceptance of the doctrine of the New World Order and it’s accompanying Jewish implementations, the final manifested “showdown” of the ages is to occur. From both a scriptural and historical point of view it’s inevitability is certain.

Any true Christian believer who would ever have the opportunity to look upon the pages of the Jewish “Bible”, the Babylonian Talmud, could never come away from such an experience the same person, believing the same thing as before about Judaism. The author further exposes Jewish teaching by simply allowing this Jewish book to speak for itself. His review of the historical information surrounding the compilations of the now 63 volume set, along with the precariously attempted sanitized versions, both adamantly testify to the inconsistencies of the Jewish mind in any proposed attempt at dissemination of truth. The open admittance on the part of those translators of sanitized editions of having omitted certain portions along with extremely questionable sources employed by the early Pharisaical Elders in compiling the information contained in earlier (and even later) volumes, combine at the very outset of such investigation to question the genuine truthful spirituality of such writings.

The extreme secrecy involved in Jewish thinking in not allowing non-Jews to review their religion, should make any

Christian leery of it’s message As the Author meticulously dissects the details of Talmudic Law, one quickly discerns why it’s message has been concealed for generations from the unsuspecting. The refinement of Jewish cruelty and inhumaneness is vividly revealed as the forms of capital punishments of offenders of Talmudic Law (not the Torah) are duly noted. Special attention is given to certain acts which automatically call for the death penalty along with the punishments meted out for insignificant “crimes” such as “grinding” (chopping vegetables), “hammering”, and paring of toe nails or fingernails. The dichodemus traits of the two “beliefs” becomes overwhelmingly apparent as one reads on into this sordid material, derived from the heathen occult background of Babylon, and practiced long before the advent of Christ on earth.

The several sources of the Talmud which have become available in an English translation further testify to the concealment techniques of these “emissaries of Babylon” and offer no help to the sincere seeker in understanding the source material behind the writings of Judaism. The real “unexpurgated” Talmud edition, the Soncino edition, became available in English simply because there were Jews who could not read Hebrew.

Scripture passages have been conveniently twisted to meet the approval and dictates of the Talmudic sages, says Mohr, revealing the “higher revelations” of the post Babylonian Rabbinic sages over those of the original Torah authors.

Multitudes of scriptures are cited showing Christ’s scorn and contempt for these imposter interpreters of Hebrew law, all of which are taken from the New testament disannulling the theories so predominant today in Judaeo-Christian circles that Christ’s manifested attributes during His earthly sojourn were only those of love and peace.

Other witness, all through history, have warned if Jews were allowed to remain in the country in just a short time that country would belong to them while the original inhabitants would become their slaves.

Mohr’s conclusion is summed up rather succinctly. There is only one formula for survival.” It is found in II Chronicles 7:14. God’s people must repent. Because this conflict has been from the very outset, intrinsically a spiritual one, it will not be waged with the weapons of the flesh, but rather as we submit to the God of our fathers and implore His blessings as we physically and most importantly, spiritually prepare for the days immediately ahead.

Was Jesus of Nazareth a Jew? Of course not. The historical Biblical, and spiritual evidence is overwhelmingly to the contrary. The author has “laid the axe to the root” of the falseness of this stumbling-block of heresies. It is my sincere prayer that each and everyone privileged to read this account will contemplate, with prayer and re-commitment, the needed return to the commands and dictates of our Lord in eager anticipation of the soon cleansing and restoration of our land.

Evangelist William Smith
1516 Pippins Lane
Albany, Georgia 31707

BSO leader’s ‘disappearance’ triggers protests in Quetta

By Malik Siraj Akbar

QUETTA: The Baloch Students’ Organisation-Azad (BSO-A) alleged on Thursday that the group’s president of the Quetta chapter has been arrested by intelligence agencies – a claim that was followed by massive protests by activists in Quetta.

The BSO-A activists blocked Quetta’s crowded Manan Chowk in protest at the disappearance of its senior leader, Shahzaib Baloch – who they claimed was picked up by officials in plainclothes from Fatima Jinnah Road. Shahzaib reportedly tried to resist the arrest, but was reportedly tortured and taken away.

The organisation is claiming that police have refused to register a case, saying that cases involving intelligence agencies were beyond their jurisdiction.

Protesters also burnt a bus on Sariab Road.

The Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF) recently accepted responsibility for the kidnapping of John Solecki – an American who headed the Balochistan office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) – in a bid to secure the release of Baloch citizens it claims have gone missing.

The BLUF has demanded the release of around 4,000 Baloch men and 141 women, who it claims are in official custody, in return for the freedom of Solecki – who was kidnapped on February 2 in Quetta.

Senator Calls National Security Meeting on Drone Assaults

Senator calls meeting on national security

By Zulfiqar Ghuman

ISLAMABAD: Senator Raza Rabbani, chairman of the parliamentary committee on national security, has summoned a meeting of the forum on Saturday at 11am to finalise its policy recommendations regarding drone attacks inside Pakistan and the ongoing war against terror.

“We have received the invitation for the meeting. I hope we will finalise our policy recommendations regarding US drone attacks inside Pakistan and the war on terror. These recommendations will be submitted to parliament and government as well,” a member of the 17-member committee said on condition of anonymity.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has called a meeting of the parliamentary parties of the coalition at the same time to finalise the coalition’s strategy ahead of the presidential address to a joint sitting of parliament at 4pm on Saturday.

Bajaur jirga decides to uphold peace deal

Staff Report

KHAR: A jirga of all tribes of Bajaur Agency on Thursday decided to uphold a peace deal with the government and continue to support it in maintaining its writ.

The jirga, consisting of the Tarkhani Khel and Amtani Khel tribes was held in the agency’s headquarters, Khar.

The agency’s political agent said the tribes had signed the agreement with the administration but had yet to enforced it.

The officials said the Mamoond tribe had yet to abide by the deal and repeated violations of the accord were adversely impacting the agreement.

Nawagai Assistant Political Agent Muhammad Jamil said the Mamoond tribesmen had still not handed over wanted men from their tribes to the authorities.

The tribal elders asked for three days for deliberations and assured the APA that they would soon hand over the wanted men.

The jirga decided that a grand jirga would be held on Monday.

Taliban–vs–Taliban in S. Waziristan

Here is the mystery of the Pakistani Taliban, Guantanamo graduate Abdullah Mehsud.  He was an obvious CIA plant, released from Guantanamo, sporting the most modern weapons, leading an army of several thousand Uzbek and Northern Alliance fighters, flush with cash, he immediately begins waging war against Chinese engineers for the agency, bringing down the wrath of the Army and the real Taliban leadership in Afghanistan.  He relinquishes command of the Uzbek “al Qaida” to Baitullah and is unceremoniously killed in Quetta.

Baitullah calls him an “agent of CIA;” Qari Zainuddin Mehsud lays claim to Abdullah’s mantle of leadership.  Now Baitullah, the mastermind of suicide attackers in the nation, begins bombing his rival.

Pakistan is watching the most deadly play-acting ever devised by the minds of evil men unfolding within its borders.  It took a very long time for the CIA to set the stage for this production and get all the most bloodthirsty actors together so that the drama could begin.

If you know what is good for you, you will wreck the stage and evict the stage managers, before it is too late.

Taliban groups fight for local support in South Waziristan

PESHAWAR: Two Taliban groups in South Waziristan have stepped up campaigns to attract local support by accusing each other of waging a proxy war for the government. “Baitullah Mehsud is not involved in jihad because Islam does not allow suicide attacks, which his group is perpetrating,” Commander Qari Zainuddin Mehsud, the self-appointed successor of Taliban commander Abdullah Mehsud, claimed in a pamphlet distributed in Tank and South Waziristan on March 16. On Tuesday, the Baitullah group retaliated by describing Abdullah as a ‘puppet’ of the government. “Our doors are open to all those who have suffered injustice at the hands of Baitullah,” Zainuddin’s pamphlet added. “We also warn people against keeping contacts with Baitullah or facilitating him in prolonging his rule.” Baitullah’s pamphlet, meanwhile, stated: “Zainuddin and his comrades are cruel robbers and have rebelled against Islam and the (Mehsud) nation.” The late Abdullah Mehsud emerged as a Taliban commander in South Waziristan following his release from Guantanamo Bay. However, after his death in Balochistan’s Zhob district in July 2007, Baitullah Mehsud emerged as the leading Taliban leader in the country. Recently, the Abdullah group has gained ground against Baitullah by forming an alliance with the Turkestan Bhittani group, and also winning tacit support of Taliban commander Maulvi Nazir. According to analysts, such small groups could be engaged against Baitullah Mehsud, and could provide valuable information of his whereabouts. staff report

FATA officials deny North Waziristan missile strike

PESHAWAR: The FATA Secretariat on Thursday denied there had been a US missile strike in North Waziristan said to have killed five people.

Earlier on Thursday there were reports of missiles being fired by a US drone killing four people, hours after a similar strike killed seven in neighbouring South Waziristan, Reuters reported.

A press release issued by the FATA Media Cell said the news was baseless as there had been no attacks on Mir Ali in North Waziristan.

The press release said it was an explosion at the house of Malik Sher Adam Khan in Hasoo Khel village in Mir Ali.

“Nobody was killed even in the explosion. Only a tractor was damaged,” said the press release. Two senior security officials, who declined to be named, denied there had been a missile strike but declined to speak on the record. staff report/agencies

Zardari vows to pacify disgruntled Baloch

* President directs Balochistan govt to form parliamentary committee for talks with dissatisfied people
* Says government will resolve Balochistan’s problems on priority

QUETTA: President Asif Ali Zardari has directed the Balochistan government to form a parliamentary committee to hold talks with the disgruntled elements in the province.

Presiding over a briefing on law and order in the province, he stressed the need for expediting the reconciliation process so that the disgruntled people could be brought into the mainstream and play a proactive role in the province’s development and progress.

Zardari assured the meeting the federal government would ensure the provision of funds for strengthening and capacity-building of the law enforcement agencies of the province.

He also directed the formation of a parliamentary committee to repatriate the emigrants from the province who moved away because of law and order problems.

President Asif Ali Zardari assured Balochistan that its share in the revenue generated through the exploitation of natural resources would be increased and ordered the formation of a federal parliamentary committee to look into the matter and submit recommendations.

He recommended construction of delay-action dams and application of latest agricultural techniques to improve performance of agriculture sector in the province. He assured full technical and financial support by the federal government in this regard.

Earlier, President Zardari was briefed on a proposal to construct eight new dams in the province to irrigate about 0.5 million acres of land.

The president was also briefed on law and order, Gwadar port and exploration of oil and gas in the province. The meeting also reviewed arrangements for security of oil and gas installations and workers of the foreign companies engaged in exploration of mineral resources in the province.

Addressing the provincial cabinet later, Zardari said the government would resolve problems of Balochistan on priority basis to bring progress and prosperity to the province.

The president said that the federal government would implement the recommendations by the cabinet members for improving law and order and initiating development projects in Balochistan.

Addressing the PPP leaders, workers and supporters at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, President Zardari said the government would take sincere steps for giving the people of Balochistan their rights, leaving no need for some of them to resort to violence.

“No one knows better than PPP the problems and issues of Balochistan and we have resolved them to a great extent,” he said. agencies

Pakistan’s Survival Depends on Willingness to Expose America’s “Ambiguous” Hand in Taliban Creation

Pak, Taliban in “ambiguous” relationship: Eikenberry

Published: March 27, 2009

Pakistan’s security forces and its intelligence agency have facilitated the rise of the Taliban, with whom they have an “ambiguous” relationship, a former top American army official, now headed to become the country’s representative to Afghanistan has said. ISI’s relationship with Taliban remains “unclear and ambiguous,” Lt Gen Karl Eikenberry, nominated by the US President as his next Ambassador to Afghanistan, said terming it a focus area for the US administration right now. Eikenberry, who was the top US commander in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2007 said this during his testimony in response to a question from Senator John Kerry, who is Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “The Pakistan army, ISI, has had a very unclear – has had a very ambiguous relationship with the Taliban over the last 15 years,” he told Kerry when asked to comment on a New York Times report about ISI’s involvement in supporting the Taliban and facilitating their activities. “Pakistan of course and its security forces and the ISI are the ones that facilitated the rise of the Taliban, when it first advanced into Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. Since that time, it’s been unclear if all elements of ISI have dropped their support for Taliban and their extremist allies,” he said. “The ongoing discussions that we have right now, with Pakistan, with Afghanistan and with ourselves of course are focusing on this problem,” Eikenberry said. He said the trilateral initiatives that have begun under the aegis of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have appeared to be promising in their focus on the problem. “I know that in early May, there are another set of talks between Afghan, Pakistan and the US leaders, which will include intelligence exchanges. So this is what we’re going to need to continue to have to do is to try to get cooperation and collaboration, not only between the United States and Pakistan but very importantly with Afghanistan as well,” he said.

Indian state minister arrested over Gujarat riots

NEW DELHI: A cabinet minister in India’s western state of Gujarat surrendered to police Friday over charges that she incited a mob during 2002 anti-Muslim riots that left at least 2,000 dead.

Women and Child Welfare Minister Maya Kodnani is the highest-ranking Gujarat official to be arrested in the wake of the riots.

She is accused of leading a mob that killed more than 100 people during some of the worst religious riots since India’s independence in 1947, but denies all charges.

The arrest is a major embarrassment for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the run-up to national elections, where the BJP is contesting as the main opposition party.

Kodnani turned herself in to a special investigation team in the city of Ahmedabad, where a court had previously cancelled the anticipatory bail which had kept her out of jail until now.

At least 2,000 Muslims were hacked, beaten, shot or burnt to death in the 2002 riots, which erupted after 59 Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire first blamed on a Muslim mob, but which an inquiry later concluded was accidental.

In March 2008 the Supreme Court ordered a fresh probe, after accusations that the Gujarat government was dragging its feet.

Suicide blast kills 48 at mosque in Khyber

Security officials examine the site of a bomb blast in Batta Beir on the outskirts of Peshawar, February 17, 2009. — Reuters

JAMRUD: A suicide bomber attacked a packed mosque in northwest Pakistan at prayer time on Friday, killing 48 people and wounding dozens more, the top local administration official said.

The bombing took place in the town of Jamrud in the restive Khyber tribal region, which is located on a key road used to ferry supplies to western troops across the border in Afghanistan.

‘Forty-eight bodies have been pulled out of the debris and many others may still be trapped under the rubble,’ Tariq Hayat, the top administration official in Khyber, told AFP by telephone.

‘More than 70 people were wounded. There may be many more dead,’ he said.

‘The bomber was present inside the mosque and blew himself up when Friday prayers began,’ Hayat said.

A top security official said earlier that 40 people had died.

‘The entire building collapsed,’ the security official said, referring to the temporary mosque.

Pakistan Mosque Suicide Blast Kills 48

Readers Number : 10

27/03/2009 A suicide bomber attacked a packed mosque in northwest Pakistan at prayer time on Friday, killing 48 people and wounding dozens more, the top local administration official said. The bombing took place on the weekly Muslim day of rest in the town of Jamrud in the restive Khyber tribal region, which is located on a key road used to ferry supplies to Western troops across the border in Afghanistan. “Forty-eight bodies have been pulled out of the debris and many others may still be trapped under the rubble,” Tariq Hayat, the top administration official in Khyber, said. “More than 70 people were wounded. There may be many more dead,” he added. “The bomber was present inside the mosque and blew himself up when Friday prayers began,” Hayat said. A top security official said earlier that 40 people had died. “The entire building collapsed,” the security official said, referring to the temporary mosque. Pakistani security officials said they suspected Friday’s attack was to avenge ongoing security operations against Taliban fighters and other militants in Khyber’s Barra area.

Searching Al Qaida base in Bangladesh

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury

Commerce Minister Lt. Col [Retired] Faruk Khan, who also is the coordinator of three prove committees formed by the Bangladesh government to investigative the February’s carnage inside Bangladesh Riffles headquarters told reporters repeatedly that, Bangladeshi militancy groups have links with Talibans. He also said that, militants have penetrated into Bangladeshi law enforcing agencies as well as disciplined forces. It may be mentioned here that more than 70 army officers were brutally murdered inside the Bangladesh Riffles [border security guard] headquarters in Dhaka during February 25 and 26. Minister Faruk Khan’s comments were taken seriously by local and international media and it got tremendous coverage in Bangladesh as well as in the world. Meanwhile, giving reference to the statement of the Bangladeshi minister, who claimed militants have penetrated into Bangladesh’s law enforcing and disciplined forces, United Nations is already approached by various quarters to take this matter into serious consideration to justify as to whether Bangladeshi participation in the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces [UNPKF] should be continued or suspended.

Due to minister Faruk Khan’s comments, potential foreign investors have already started turning their face from Bangladesh. It is even learnt from various sources that, some of the existing foreign investors are also suffering from insecurity being continuing their business in this country.

Although Lt. Col. Faruk Khan said, Bangladeshi militants have Taliban connection, but counter-terrorism experts understood the theme that the minister was pointing to Al Qaida connection by terming it as ‘Taliban connection’.

Faruk Khan, according to his own website www.faruqkhan.blogspot.com is the next generation leader of Bangladesh Awami League. He proclaims himself to be “Next generation leader of Bangladesh” and “A name of excellent personality” in the same website.

Business community on March 23, 2009 expressed concern over too much discussion on militant issue.

“The government, media and other stakeholders are talking in such a way that there are terrorists behind every bush,” said Annisul Huq, president of Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry [FBCCI], at a pre-budget meeting.

The community does not support it as the propaganda has serious implications externally, he said.

“A couple of FBCCI directors are already facing problems in getting visas from some countries,” he added at the budget meeting.

Right after the statement of the Apex business body, commerce Minister Lt Col [Retired] Faruk Khan in another dramatic bid on March 23, 2009 retracted his earlier comments linking Islamist militants to the Pilkhana carnage.
He said the statements he had made before were not based on probe findings; rather they were his personal observations. Earlier, Faruk Khan made the comments quoting investigators of the February Massacre.

“After an analysis of the information gleaned from different sources, it seemed to me that militants were involved. Besides, I have visited the crime scene and talked to many people,” explained the minister.

Earlier on March 16, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed said until the enquiry reports are available, no-one should be accused of involvement in the Pilkhana bloodbath.

Soon after being assigned by the government to coordinate the work of probe committees, Faruk Khan said Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh [JMB] had a hand in the BDR massacre.

Speaking to reporters on March 12, he said, “We have gathered that a number of jawans arrested in the mutiny case were involved in JMB somehow or other. I won’t give more details as that might alert others having links to the mass killings.”

A couple of days later, the minister said, “We have some evidence that several militant organisations had role in the bloody revolt.” He, however, did not elaborate on the proof.

Then he told reporters in Gopalganj that they had found some more proof of “various types of organisations’ involvement in the BDR carnage”.

“However, we won’t disclose anything until we reach a stage when we can prove those beyond doubt,” he added.

On March 23, 2009 commerce minister Faruk Khan told reporters that the investigators found video footage and an audiotape containing evidence of massacre at the Darbar Hall on February 25. Meanwhile Criminal Investigation Department [CID] said, they did not find any video footage of the last month’s massacre by Bangladesh Rifles members at Pilkhana. According to CID, an audiotape containing the speech of Major General Shakil Ahmed was only retrieved.

Habit of shifting statements of Faruk Khan, who holds a very responsible position in the government as well as the coordinator of the probe committees, may create questions in the minds of people about the mental condition of him. Many may consider him to be mentally insane, some as bluffest while many as a senseless person without minimum degree of patriotism, who is assigned in projecting Bangladesh as the new avenue of Al Qaida.

Meanwhile on March 24, 2009 [Tuesday], members of Rapid Action Battalion [RAB] seized a large cache of weapons including revolvers, shotguns and bomb making materials in a raid on a Islamic school in village at Bhola district [southern part of the Bangladesh].

A special unit of the elite rapid action battalion stumbled upon the weapons when they raided the Green-Crescent Islamic seminary run by an Islamic charity and Madrassa in southern Bhola island, 105 km from the capital.

RAB team found about a dozen guns, several thousand bullets, bomb-making materials and booklets on “jihad” or holy war at the “Green Crescent” Islamic charity school. A teacher and three employees at the religious school, or Madrassa, had been arrested and officials were continuing to search the premises.

RAB sources said the school, which also houses orphans, was opened a few months ago in a remote area of the coastal district, about 60 miles [100 kilometers] south of the capital, Dhaka.

The raids on the seminary-cum-Madrassa came as authorities have launched investigations against Muslim charities, Madrassas and outfits amidst allegations that they are funding or breeding militants.

Finance minister AMA Muhith has said that the new government is scrutinising activities of all NGOs operating in the country to investigate the funding sources of militant outfits, as part of a massive security vigil.

“There are some investments in the country that patronise militant activities,” Muhith said adding that all NGOs created between 2001-06, when the BNP was in power, would be scrutinised.

According to local media, 30 groups were under investigation. The probe comes a month after a bloody mutiny in Bangladesh Rifles.

Bangladesh on Tuesday alerted its intelligence agencies and local governments against possible militant attacks on garment industries contributing major export earnings to its economy, state minister for Home Affairs said.

“We have alerted the intelligence agencies so that the militants cannot unleash attacks on the ready-made garment industries,” Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj, the state minister for home affairs, said at a press briefing after a meeting with the leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

The state minister warned that some militants are bent on sabotage but assured the association that the government would protect the industry, which accounts for 76 per cent of the country’s exports and is concentrated in the central districts of Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj and the southern port city of Chittagong

This latest recovery of arms etc from the Madrassa and Islamist NGO will definitely ring the bell of rise of Islamist militancy within the religious schools in the country. This will even add to the previous assumptions that Madrassas are the breeding ground of jihadists in the country.

While the chief executive of the government in Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina should put a check-valve on the mouth of her minister, it is equally important to initiative immediate survilance of all the 69,000 plus Madrassas in the country. Continuation of hate speech in the mosques should also be checked for the sake of stopping the culture of jihadist instigations.

Another London Link to Southeast Asia Terror, Wahabbi Madrassas

See: South Asian Terrorism: All Roads Lead To The British Empire

Charity chief focus of arms probe

Dr Mostafa was previously cleared of plotting explosions

Bangladeshi police investigating a huge arms haul in the south of the country are investigating the possible role of the head of a British charity.

The whereabouts of Dr Faisal Mostafa are unknown, although some unconfirmed reports say that he is in police custody in Bangladesh.

The weapons cache was found at an Islamic school, or madrassa, allegedly run by a charity based in Manchester.

The UK’s Charity Commission is investigating the allegations.

Bomb-making equipment

Newspaper reports in Britain say that Dr Mostafa – the head of the Green Crescent charity which runs the madrassa – had previously been tried for plotting explosions in the UK.

Bangladeshi police say they have unearthed a mini ordnance factory

He was cleared in 2002 of planning to cause terrorist acts by using high explosives.

In November 2008 Dr Mostafa was found guilty by a court in Manchester of possession of dangerous weapons and making a false statement about baggage cargo at the city’s airport.

A court spokeswoman told the BBC he was given a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to do 100 hours unpaid community work.

Bangladeshi police say that the arms haul – which included weapons, bomb-making equipment, bullets and booklets about jihad – was found in the coastal district of Bhola, about 100km (60 miles) south of Dhaka this week.

No-one at the charity, based near Manchester in north-west England, has so far commented on the allegations.

On Wednesday the UK Charity Commission said it wanted to find out “whether or not the charity, its funds, or funds raised on its behalf were used unlawfully”.

The commission’s website said that in 2008, Green Crescent had a turnover approaching £70,000 ($102,733).

British newspapers say that Dr Mostafa is a chemistry graduate. He is listed as a trustee for the charity on the commission’s website.

In the past we have recovered arms caches from militant groups, but none were as destructive as these Lt Col Monirul Haque, Bangladesh police

According to the charity’s website, Green Crescent is involved in other projects around Bangladesh and at least one in Pakistan.

In 2002, Dr Mostafa, from Stockport in the north of the UK, was cleared by a jury after being accused of conspiring to build home-made explosive devices using a “terrorists’ handbook” detailing bomb-making techniques.

He faced a joint charge at Birmingham Crown Court of conspiracy to cause explosions with intent to endanger life and cause serious injury to property in the UK by stockpiling bomb-making material.

Bangladeshi officials say that the madrassa is located on a remote river island only accessible via a drawbridge.

They have described the premises as a “mini-ordnance factory” and said the whole compound was being used for militant training.

Police in Bhola say a leading member of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) extremist group was arrested in the raid along with three other people in a raid on Tuesday.

The JMB carried out a series of bombings across the country in 2005 and is blamed by some in the government for a mutiny last month which killed 74 people.

Bangladesh has in recent years been hit by a number of bomb attacks at political rallies, in courts and at cultural venues.

Scotland Yard Asked to Investigate MI5 Over Torture for CIA

Police launch investigation of MI5 over torture claims

Inquiry into agent who was present during Binyam Mohamed’s interrogation

By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor

Mr Mohamed was released last month after seven years in detention

The security service, MI5, is to be investigated by the Metropolitan Police over allegations that its officers were complicit in the torture of a UK resident held by the US government for seven years.

It is believed to be the first time that the police have publicly investigated the secret services.

The Attorney General, Lady Scotland, asked Scotland Yard to investigate torture allegations made by the former Guantanamo inmate Binyam Mohamed, 30, during his detention in Pakistan, Morocco and Afghanistan between 2002 and 2004.

Related articles

• The terror suspect, the agent, and 15 months of hell in a Moroccan jail

Any evidence to support torture or war crime charges will be passed to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who will decide whether a case can be brought to trial.

Last night, Mr Mohamed’s lawyers, human rights groups and politicians called for the investigation to be as wide-ranging as possible so that all those who knew about Britain’s alleged collusion in torture, including ministers and foreign agents, could be held to account.

Mr Mohamed, 30, an Ethiopian national granted British residency, was released from the US naval base last month after seven years in detention.

He was arrested at Karachi airport in Pakistan in 2002 while trying to return to Britain following a trip to Afghanistan. He alleges that he was tortured at a series of secret prisons in Pakistan, Morocco and Afghanistan, being beaten, scalded and having his genitals slashed with a scalpel.

In a statement made after he returned to Britain, he said “the very worst moment came when I realised in Morocco that the people who were torturing me were receiving questions and materials from British intelligence”.

Yesterday, Mr Mohamed said he was “very pleased” that an investigation would now take place. But he made it clear that the MI5 agent who interviewed him in Pakistan should not carry the can for a wider policy: “I feel very strongly that we shouldn’t scapegoat the little people. We certainly shouldn’t blame ‘Witness B’ [the MI5 agent also known as John] – he was only following orders.”

Mr Mohamed’s claims were originally referred to Lady Scotland last year by the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith after they surfaced in a High Court case brought by his lawyers. Lady Scotland said that she and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, had reviewed a “substantial body of material” relating to the case, including the testimony of the MI5 officer identified as Witness B.

According to his note of an interview he conducted with Mr Mohamed in Pakistan in 2002, Witness B offered to use his influence with the US authorities to help him if he was co-operative.

“I told Mohamed he had an opportunity to help us and help himself. The US authorities will be deciding what to do with him and this will depend to a very large degree on his degree of co-operation,” Witness B noted, according to evidence to the High Court.

“I said that if he could persuade me he was telling the complete truth I would seek to use my influence to help him. He asked how and said he did not expect ever to get out of the situation he was in.

“I said it must be obvious to him he would get more lenient treatment if he co-operated. I said that I could not and would not negotiate upfront but if he persuaded me he was co-operating fully, then (and only then) I would explore what could be done for him with my US colleagues.”

According to court documents, Witness B made clear under cross-examination that he had been acting with the full authority of his superiors in MI5. “I was always, whenever conducting an interview, careful to make sure that I had the clearance of my management to proceed and I did in this case,” he said. “I was aware that the general question of interviewing detainees had been discussed at length by Security Service management legal advisers and Government and I acted in this case, as in others, under the strong impression that it was considered to be proper and lawful.”

Zachary Katznelson, the legal director of the charity Reprieve, which represents Mr Mohamed, said he was concerned that secret evidence would be excluded from the investigation.

“The Attorney General absolutely did the right thing today,” he said. “It is critical we get to the bottom of what was done to Binyam Mohamed and the role of any British official in his torture.

“But for this to be a proper inquiry the police have to be given access to all the information and that includes any secret information. Many of the documents related to Mr Mohamed’s treatment have been classified either in the US or the UK and unless the police have access to all of them they will only see one tiny piece of the picture.”

Reprieve also wants the investigation to consider the evidence against CIA and Moroccan agents who are alleged to have tortured Mr Mohamed – and to seek extradition if appropriate.

The MI5 agent: His chain of command

* Witness ‘B’, MI5 agent. Interviewed Binyam Mohamed in Pakistan in 2002.

* Witness B’s controllers. Telegrams between MI5 and the CIA show Witness B’s superiors met at MI5 headquarters to discuss Mohamed’s case, suggesting they knew he was held by a third party while they supplied questions. Witness B said that his superiors had cleared his interview.

* Head of MI5. Mohamed was accused of planning a bomb attack on the US. This would likely have been brought to the head of MI5. Sir Stephen Lander was director general from 1996 to 2002, then Elizabeth Manningham-Buller until 2007. She said in 2006 that British services do not ask if intelligence was obtained by torture as “that would make things difficult”.

* David Blunkett, Home Secretary in 2002. The head of MI5 briefs ministers on the terror threat. Because of the seriousness of the case it is possible the Home Secretary was aware.

* Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary in 2002. The Foreign Secretary often clears joint US intelligence and interrogation operations.

US jets ‘bombed convoy in Sudan’

Salim said the air raids were launched from the US fleet in the Red Sea A Sudanese minister has told Al Jazeera that the US launched two air raids in the country earlier this year. Mabrouk Mubarak Salim, the state minister for highways, said on Thursday that Sudanese, Somalis, Ethiopians, and Eritreans were killed in the attacks in January and February. The attacks targeted a number of cars in the desert near the eastern city of Port Sudan, Salim said. Photos released by a Sudanese intelligence source to Al Jazeera show what is said to be the aftermath of the attacks. More than 50 people received treatment at a hospital in the town of Kassala after the raids, which were launched from the US fleet in the Red Sea, he said. However, Deng Alor, the Sudanese foreign minister, said in Egypt on Wednesday that he had no knowledge of any such air raid. “We have no information about such an attack,” he said. ‘Israel involved’ The US-based CBS network reported similar attacks on Wednesday, but said its sources had told David Martin, its Pentagon reporter, that Israeli aircraft were involved. CBS said that the jets were targeting weapons convoys heading through Sudan on their way to Egypt, where they would have been taken across the Sinai into the Gaza Strip. “Sudan used to provide Hamas with weapons but that is not the case any more,” Alor said. Salim said that the air raids hit human-traffickers travelling through the desert area and the only weapons in the convoys were small arms being carried by guards.Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, spoke about such attacks on Thursday at a conference near Tel Aviv. “Anywhere we can harm the infrastructure of terrorism, in near-by locations as well as far-away locations, we will act,” he said. ‘Low supplies’ Ronen Bergman, an Israeli investigative journalist, told Al Jazeera that his Israeli and US sources backed up the CBS take on events. Bergman said that weapons are smuggled to Gaza either from Syria by sea to the Sinai peninsula or from Iran via Sudan. “The last operation executed by the Israeli military forces in the Gaza Strip has caused Hamas to lose quite a lot of its arsenal and, therefore, to request for more and more supplies from Iran,” Bergman said. “Some of those supplies were intercepted in that alleged raid by the Israeli air force.” Neither the US, which has troops based in the African state of Djibouti, nor Israel has commented on the alleged incident. Israel fought a 22-day war in Gaza which ended when it declared a unilateral halt to military operations on January 18.

DALIT VOICE, March 16th – 31st, 2009

DALIT VOICE Vol. 28 March 16th – 31st, 2009 No. 6 Editorial Marathas may hate Brahmins but in thought & action they are more Brahminical Reports Rulers embracing world’s most hated country Why Romah Catholic church is afraid of Brahminical rulers ? Iran goes nuclear ? Corrupt Pandit gets light punishment INDIA SHINING LETTER TO EDITOR Articles Editor launches new party of Dalits & Muslims in Bengal Political power will not come if cultrual struggle is ignored Without a powerful media of our own we can’t fight the Enemy BOOK REVIEW : Pakistani scholar’s tribute to Dr. Ambedkar Meera murdered by vaidik Brahmins for disobeying their order Editor to address Bombay meeting on April 25 Hindus persecute Dalits even in Pakistan Brahmins suppressed Lotus Sutra as it will liberate Dalits Budhism died because Brahminical enemy killed Lotus Sutra Lotus Sutra is not a cock & bull story Vipassana good only for individual but not for collective development

© 2004 – 2008 Dalit Voice

South Asian Terrorism: All Roads Lead To The British Empire

By Ramtanu Maitra

25 March, 2009
Countercurrents.org

This is the first part of a two-part series. Next week:“Baluchistan and FATA in Pakistan.”

The growing violence throughout Pakistan since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in the Winter of 2001, the November 2008 attack on Mumbai, India, and many other smaller terrorist-directed killings in India, and the gruesome killing of at least 70 top Bangladeshi Army officers in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed last month, were evidence that the terrorists have declared war against the sovereign nation-states in South Asia. The only bright spot in this context is Sri Lanka, where a powerful terrorist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), better known as the Tamil Tigers, are about to lose their home base. That, however, may not end the LTTE terrorism, particularly since it is headquartered in London, where many South Asian terrorists are maintained in separate cages for future use by British intelligence, with the blessings of Her Majesty’s Service.

Since none of the South Asian countries, where the terrorists are gaining ground, have, so far, shown the ability to evaluate, and thus, eliminate, the growth of this terrorism, it is necessary to know its genesis, and how it has affected the leaders of the South Asian nations to the detriment of their respective security. What is evident is that the South Asian terrorism has little to do with territorial disputes among nations, but everything to do with the past British colonial rule which poisoned the minds of the locals, so they have become disloyal to their own countries.

In this article, we will deal with the terrorism that continues to prosper in India’s northeast; and the terrorism in Sri Lanka, brought about by the British-induced ethnic animosity among its citizens. This history is the narration of a tragedy, since those who fought for independence in these South Asian nations, made enormous sacrifices to bring about their independence; many of those heroic figures turned out to be mental slaves of the British Empire, and pursued relentlessly the policies that the British had implemented to run their degenerate Empire.

India’s Northeast

Six decades after India wrested independence from its colonial rulers, its northeast region is a cauldron of trouble. Located in a highly strategic area, with land contiguous to five countries—Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and China—it is full of militant separatists, who take refuge in the neighboring countries under pressure from Indian security forces. Since most of these neighboring countries do not have the reach to control the border areas, the separatist groups have set up armed training camps, which, over the years, have attracted international drug and gun traffickers. As a result of such unrelenting terrorist actions, and violent demonstrations over the last five decades, this part of India remains today a dangerous place.

These secessionist groups were not created by New Delhi, although New Delhi failed to understand that the promotion of ethnic, sub-ethnic, and tribal identities were policies of the British, who had come to India to expand their empire. The British Empire survived, and then thrived, through identification, within the subcontinent, of various ethnic and sub-ethnic groups and their conflict points; and then, exploited those conflict points to keep the groups divided and hostile to each other.

India and the other South Asian nations failed to comprehend that it was suicidal to allow a degenerate colonial power to pursue such policies against their nations. As a result, they were carried out by New Delhi for two ostensible reasons: One, to appease the militants, and the other, to “allow them to keep” what they wanted— their sub-national ethnic identity. The policy deprived the majority of the people of the Northeast of the justification for identifying themselves as Indians.

The die was cast in the subversion of the sovereignty of an independent India by the British Raj in 1862, when it laid down the law of apartheid, to isolate “the tribal groups.” The British came into the area in the 1820s, following the Burmese conquest of Manipur and parts of Assam. The area had become unstable in the latter part of the 18th Century, following the over-extension of the Burmese-based Ahom kingdom, which reached into Assam. The instability caused by the weakening of the Ahom kingdom prompted the Burmese to move to secure their western flank. But the Burmese action also helped to bring in the British. The British East India Company was lying in wait for the Ahom kingdom to disintegrate.

The Anglo-Burmese War of 1824-26 ended with a British victory. By the terms of the peace treaty signed at Yandaboo on Feb. 24, 1826, the British annexed the whole of lower Assam and parts of upper Assam (now Arunachal Pradesh). The Treaty of Yandaboo provided the British with the foothold they needed to annex Northeast India, launch further campaigns to capture Burma’s vital coastal areas, and gain complete control of the territory from the Andaman Sea to the mouth of the Irrawaddy River. What were London’s motives in this venture? The British claimed that their occupation of the northeast region was required to protect the plains of Assam from “tribal outrages and depredations and to maintain law and order in the sub-mountainous region.”

The ‘Apartheid Law’

Following annexation of Northeast India, the first strategy of the British East India Company toward the area was to set it up as a separate entity. At the outset, British strategy toward Northeast India was:

• to make sure that the tribal people remained separated from the plains people, and the economic interests of the British in the plains were not disturbed;

• to ensure that all tribal aspirations were ruthlessly curbed, by keeping the bogeyman of the plains people dangling in their faces; and,

• to ensure the tribal feudal order remained intact, with the paraphernalia of tribal chiefs and voodoo doctors kept in place. Part of this plan was carried out through the bribing of tribal chiefs with paltry gifts.

Lord Palmerston’s Zoo

The British plan to cordon off the northeast tribal areas was part of its policy of setting up a multicultural human zoo, during the 1850s, under the premiership of Henry Temple, the third Viscount Palmerston. Lord Palmerston, as Henry Temple was called, had three “friends”—the British Foreign Office, the Home Office, and Whitehall.

The apartheid program eliminated the Northeast Frontier Agency from the political map of India, and segregated the tribal population from Assam, as the British had done in southern Africa and would later do in Sudan. By 1875, British intentions became clear, even to those Englishmen who believed that the purpose of Mother England’s intervention in India, and the Northeast in particular, was to improve the conditions of the heathens. In an 1875 intelligence document, one operative wrote: “At this juncture, we find our local officers frankly declaring that our relations with the Nagas could not possibly be on a worse footing than they were then, and that the non-interference policy, which sounds excellent in theory, had utterly failed in practice.”

Apartheid also helped the British to function freely in this closed environment. Soon enough, the British Crown introduced another feature: It allowed Christian missionaries to proselytize among the tribal population and units of the Frontier Constabulary. The Land of the Nagas was identified as “virgin soil” for planting Christianity.

“Among a people so thoroughly primitive, and so independent of religious profession, we might reasonably expect missionary zeal would be most successful,” stated the 1875 document, as quoted in the “Descriptive Account of Assam,” by William Robinson and Angus Hamilton.

Missionaries were also encouraged to open government-aided schools in the Naga Hills. Between 1891 and 1901, the number of native Christians increased 128%. The chief proselytizers were the Welsh Presbyterians, headquartered in Khasi and the Jaintia Hills.

British Baptists were given the franchise of the Mizo (Lushai) and Naga Hills, and the Baptist mission was set up in 1836.

British Mindset Controlled New Delhi

Since India’s Independence in 1947, the Northeast has been split up into smaller and smaller states and autonomous regions. The divisions were made to accommodate the wishes of tribes and ethnic groups which want to assert their sub-national identity, and obtain an area where the diktat of their little coterie is recognized.

New Delhi has yet to comprehend that its policy of accepting and institutionalizing the superficial identities of these ethnic, linguistic, and tribal groups has ensured more irrational demands for even smaller states. Assam has been cut up into many states since Britain’s exit. The autonomous regions of Karbi Anglong, Bodo Autonomous Region, and Meghalaya were all part of pre-independence Assam. Citing the influx of Bengali Muslims since the 1947 formation of East Pakistan, which became Bangladesh in 1971, the locals demand the ouster of these “foreigners” from their soil.

Two terrorist groups in Assam, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic front of Bodoland (NDFB) (set up originally as the Bodo Security Force), are now practically demanding “ethnic cleansing” in their respective areas. To fund their movements, both the ULFA and the NDFB have been trafficking heroin and other narcotics, and indulging in killing sprees against other ethnic groups and against Delhi’s law-and-order machinery. Both these groups have also developed close links with other major guerrilla-terrorist groups operating in the area, including the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Muivah) and the People’s Liberation Army in Manipur. In 1972, Meghalaya was carved out of Assam through a peaceful process. Unfortunately, peace did not last long in this “abode of the clouds.” In 1979, the first violent demonstration against “foreigners” resulted in a number of deaths and arson. The “foreigners” in this case were Bengalis, Marwaris, Biharis, and Nepalis, many of whom had settled in Meghalaya decades ago. By 1990, firebrand groups such as the Federation of Khasi, Jaintia, and Garo People (FKJGP), and the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) came to the fore, ostensibly to uphold the rights of the “hill people” from Khasi, Jaintia, and the Garo hills. Violence erupted in 1979, 1987, 1989, and 1990. The last violent terrorist acts were in 1992.

Similar “anti-foreigner” movements have sprouted up across the Northeast, from Arunachal Pradesh in the East and North, to Sikkim in the West, and Mizoram and Tripura in the South. Along the Myanmar border, the states of Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram remain unstable and extremely porous.

While New Delhi was busy maintaining the status quo in this area by telling the tribal and ethnic groups that India is not going to take away what the British Raj had given to them, Britain picked the Nagas as the most efficient warriors (also, a large number of them had been converted to Christianity by the Welsh missionaries), and began arming and funding them. The British connection to the NSCN existed from the early days of the Naga National Council. Angami Zapu Phizo, the mentor of both factions of the NSCN, had led the charge against the Indian government, spearheading well-organized guerrilla warfare. Phizo left Nagaland hiding in a coffin. He then turned up in 1963 in Britain, holding a Peruvian passport. It is strongly suspected that the British Baptist Church, which is very powerful in Nagaland, is the contact between British intelligence and the NSCN terrorists operating on the ground at the time.

‘Dirty Bertie’ and the Nagas

Once Phizo arrived in Britain, Lord Bertrand (“Dirty Bertie”) Russell, the atheist, courted Phizo, and became his new friend. Russell was deeply impressed with Phizo’s “earnestness” for a peaceful settlement. What, perhaps, impressed Russell the most is that Phizo had control over the militant Nagas, who had launched a movement in the mid-1950s under the Naga National Council (NNC) to secede from the Indian Republic. In a letter dated Feb. 12, 1963, Sir Bertrand told Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, “I find it hard to understand the difficulty of coming to an agreement which would put an end to the very painful occurrences incidental to the present policy of India.”

It is believed in some circles that New Delhi’s 1964 ceasefire with the Nagas might have been influenced by the letter from Russell that was handed to Nehru by Rev. Michael Scott. Scott later went to Nagaland as part of a peace mission, along with two senior Indian political leaders.

While Russell was pushing Nehru to make the Nagas an independent country through peaceful negotiations, British involvement in direct conflict continued. On Jan. 30, 1992, soldiers of the Assam Rifles arrested two British nationals along the Nagaland-Burma border. David Ward and Stephen Hill posed as members of BBC-TV, and were travelling in jeeps with Naga rebels carrying arms. Subsequent interrogation revealed that both were operatives of Naga Vigil, a U.K.-based group. Both Ward and Hill claimed that they started the organization while in jail, influenced by Phizo’s niece, Rano Soriza. Both have served six-year prison terms for various crimes in Britain. Naga Vigil petitioned for their release in the Guwahti High Court. Phizo’s niece took up the issue with then-Nagaland Chief Minister Vamuzo.

Sri Lanka’s Violent Ethnic Strife

In Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tiger terrorist group is in its last throes. Ousted by the Sri Lankan Army from almost all of its “claimed” territories, the militants are now holding on to about 19 square kilometers of land, with about 70,000 Sri Lankan citizens, mostly of Tamil ethnic origin, as their hostages. It is evident that they will be totally routed by the end of this month.

While the U.S. Pacific Command personnel in contact with New Delhi are formulating an evacuation plan for the hostages, London and the European Union are trying to protect the last vestiges of Tiger territory by urging Colombo to work out a cease fire with the terrorists.

The emergence of violent conflict between the Tamil Sri Lankans and the Sinhala Sri Lankans, which gave birth to the London-backed Tamil Tigers, was yet another product of the British colonial legacy. This ethnic conflict, which has engulfed this little island, and unleashed unlimited violence in the region for almost three decades, is, as in the case of Northeast India, due to the British mindset of the Sri Lankan and Indian leaders involved in “resolving “the crisis.

To begin with, Sri Lanka (then, Ceylon) had the misfortune to be colonized by three brutal European colonial powers—the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British. Nonetheless, it is to the credit of the locals that they withstood these brutes and prevented the break-up of the country.

After the Dutch ceded Sri Lanka in the 1801 Peace of Amiens, it became Britain’s first crown colony. Immediately, the British colonials started setting up the chess pieces. The ruling Kandyan King, of Tamil ancestry, was ousted with the help of local chieftains of Tamil and Sinhala origin. The coup set up the British crown as the new King.

As part of the “divide and rule” policy, the British colonials promoted the Buddhist religion, resulting in the 1817 Uva rebellion. The Buddhist religion was given protection by the Crown, and the people were told that Christianity would not be imposed on the unwilling masses as had happened during Portuguese and Dutch rule. Following the quelling of the rebellion, the British did what they do best: They carried out one of the worst massacres of the 19th Century, wiping out all able-bodied Sinhalese men from the Hill Country, and 80% of the native population of able-bodied, according to one report. The Kandyan Kingdom was the kingdom of both the Tamils and Sinhalas—both these groups came from India to settle on that island.

One specific impact of the British colonial presence was the emergence of English as the local language, undermining both the Sinhala and Tamil languages. According to one historian, the two most important effects observed during British rule were: one, by the start of 20th Century, the English language became the passport to getting employment; and those who had an English education became dominant in Britain’s handcrafted Sri Lankan society. Due to input of the Christian missionaries, more minority Tamils could read and write English, as opposed to the southern Sinhalese and Kandyan Sinhalese.

The other observed impact on Sri Lankan society of British colonial rule, was the reconstituting of the Legislative Assembly. The Assembly of 1921 had 12 Sinhalese and 10 non-Sinhalese, at a time when the Sinhalese constituted more than 70% of the population. Things changed in 1931, when, out of 61 seats, the Sinhalese won 38. This troubled the Tamils, because they had had special privileges under British, and never wanted to accept the dominance of the Sinhalese majority.

In addition, the British also brought to the island a million workers of Tamil ethnic background from Tamil Nadu, and made them indentured laborers in the Hill Country. This was in addition to the million Tamils already living in the provinces, and another million Mappilla Muslims, whose mother tongue is Tamil. Thus, the British sowed seeds of ethnic discord. During the colonial rule, the minority Tamils had a disproportionate representation in the bureaucracy.

The Role of British Assets in Independent Sri Lanka

However, when in 1948, the British finally left the island, they left behind their assets, in powerful places, many of whom were educated at Oxford-Cambridge, and some of whom had adopted Christianity, on both sides of the ethnic divide London had so carefully created.

Instead of seizing the opportunity to build the nation and set about undoing the misdeeds they were forced to carry out under British rule, beginning in the 1950s, Sinhalese-dominated governments implemented public policies that would institutionalize the majority community’s dominance. Sinhala was declared to be the country’s sole official language; Buddhism was favored as the state religion; and the unitary nature of the state ensured Sinhalese political domination. Major Sinhalese-Tamil riots in 1956, 1981, and 1983 further heightened Tamil insecurities.

Meanwhile, the Tamils began to press for autonomy. Political parties, such as the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), utilized conventional means, which included participating in coalition governments. Militant Tamils, the LTTE, sought the creation of an independent Tamil state, referred to as Tamil Eelam, which would comprise the North and East of the country.

Throughout the 1980s, various Tamil rebel groups engaged in attacks against the Colombo government and its security apparatus. However, the situation worsened on that island because of the British mindset of New Delhi, which made a number of attempts to intervene in the violent Sri Lankan situation. Besides helping the Tamils to get armed training and intelligence, New Delhi, under late-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, deployed around 50,000 Indian peacekeepers (IPKF) in Tamil areas in Sri Lanka to help ensure peace. In return, the Sri Lankan government agreed to devolve power to the North and East through the creation of autonomous provincial councils.

Neither Colombo nor the Tamil militants were sincere about the deal; both were looking at the Indian troops as the barriers against their independent state. The failure of the Indian intervention led to more deaths and the assassination of Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa, and India’s Rajiv Gandhi, among many other high-level Sri Lankan officials, by the terrorist Tamil Tigers.

London: Break Up India into 100 Hong Kongs

But, the British were in the middle of all this. Besides the fact that the LTTE was headquartered in London, and raising most of its illegitimate funds from Britain and its former colonies in Australia, South Africa, and Canada, within ten days of Gandhi’s death, Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa, who would be assassinated by the LTTE in May 1993, forced the hasty departure from Sri Lanka of British High Commissioner David Gladstone. The charge was that Gladstone, a descendant of the Victorian-age Prime Minister William Gladstone, was interfering in local election politics. But he had also been criticized earlier for allegedly meeting with known drug traffickers in Sri Lanka. Gladstone, who had previously spent years in the Middle East, was a known British intelligence link to the Israeli intelligence service, the Mossad, which was involved in training both the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the LTTE.

Britain’s continuing intent to break up India was also expressed openly in this political context. On May 26, 1991, only five days after the British-controlled LTTE-led assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the Times of London, the premier voice for the British Foreign Office, put forward this view in an editorial entitled “Home Truths”: “There are so many lessons to be learnt from sorrowing India, and most are being muttered too politely. The over-huge federation of almost 900 million people spreads across too many languages, cultures, religions, and castes. It has three times as many often incompatible and thus resentful people as the Soviet Union, which now faces the same bloody strains and ignored solutions as India. . . .

“The way forward for India, as for the Soviet Union, will be to say a great prize can go to any States and sub-States that maintain order without murders and riots. They should be allowed to disregard Delhi’s corrupt licensing restrictions, run their own economic policies, and bring in as much foreign investment and as many free-market principles as they like. Maybe India’s richest course from the beginning would have been to split into 100 Hong Kongs

U.S. air strike on the Sudan-bound weapons aimed at a convoy to Gaza

In a strange twist to this report on the first incident of American/Israeli/International forces enforcing the Hamas weapons embargo, it is claimed that the bombs left “18- holes [craters?] diameters ranging between 160 and 430 meters.”  The weapons used in the barren Sudanese desert, beyond the reach of the media, must have been huge!

The Trinity bomb left a crater 330 meters wide.  Even if the translator confused meters for feet, what kind of conventional bombs leave craters of 160 feet or more?

Below is a picture of a 70 foot crater left by 38,000 pounds of explosives.  Does this incident have anything to do with the arrest warrant for Sudanese President Al-Bashir, since his government recently denounced the US/Israeli raid?  There is a lot more to this story.

U.S. air strike on the Sudan-bound weapons aimed at a convoy to Gaza

آخر تحديث: الثلاثاء 24 مارس 2009 8:12 ص بتوقيت القاهرة Last updated: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 8:12 GMT Cairo

الخرطوم ــ خاص «الشروق»: - Khartoum special «sunrise»: –

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دمرت الطائرات الأمريكية قافلة شاحنات قيل إنها كانت محملة بالأسلحة ومتجهة إلى الحدود المصرية، للشك فى أنها مهربة إلى سيناء، تمهيدا لادخالها عبر الأنفاق إلى قطاع غزة في أواخر يناير الماضي. American planes destroyed a convoy of trucks was told it was loaded with weapons and headed to the Egyptian border, on suspicion that they smuggled to Sinai, as a prelude to bring through tunnels into the Gaza Strip in late January.

وقالت مصادر مطلعة لـ«الشروق»: إن القافلة ضمت 17 سيارة، وأن عدد ركابها كانوا 39 شخصا. The informed sources told Al «sunrise»: The convoy included 17 vehicles, and the number of passengers who were 39 people. وكان القصف قويا لدرجة أن السيارات جميعها قد تفحمت بركابها، الذين لم ينج منهم أحد. The bombing was so powerful that the car had been burnt, all passengers, who did not survive one of them. ولشدة القصف فإن الصواريخ التى أطلقت خلفت 18 حفرة تراوحت أقطارها ما بين 160 و430 مترا. The intensity of the shelling, the rockets fired left 18-hole diameters ranging between 160 and 430 meters.

تحدثت المصادر عن أن هذه أول عملية كبيرة تم فيها احباط محاولة تهريب السلاح إلى غزة، إعمالا لقرار مجلس الأمن القاضى بوقف إطلاق النار فى غزة، وحظر تجارة وتصدير السلاح إلى غزة، وتنفيذا للاتفاق الأمنى الذى تم توقيعه بين الحكومتين الأمريكية والإسرائيلية. The sources said this is the first major operation was a foiled attempt to smuggle arms into Gaza, pursuant to Security Council resolution on the cease-fire in Gaza, and the prohibition of trade and export of arms into Gaza, and the implementation of the security agreement was signed between the governments of America and Israel. وهو الاتفاق الذى يلزم الولايات المتحدة بالتعاون مع حلف الناتو والقوى الفاعلة الأخرى بالعمل على وقف تهريب السلاح إلى غزة، عبر شرق أفريقيا والبحر الأحمر وخليج عدن والبحر الأبيض المتوسط، بالإضافة إلى تعاون استخباراتى لتحديد مصادر الأسلحة، وبصفة خاصة القادمة من السودان وإيران. An agreement which required the United States in cooperation with NATO and other actors to stop arms smuggling into Gaza, through East Africa and the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and the Mediterranean Sea, in addition to the cooperation of intelligence to identify the sources of weapons, particularly from Sudan and Iran.

وعلم مندوب «الشروق» أن الحادث وقع فى آخر شهر يناير الماضى، فى منطقة صحراوية تقع شمال غرب مدينة بورتسودان، قرب جبل الشعنون. And informed the representative of «sunrise» that the incident took place at the end of the month of January, in a desert area in north-west of the city of Port Sudan, near the Mount Alcanon. وقد تكتمته حكومة الخرطوم، التى لم تستطع أن تحدد المكان الذى خرجت منه الطائرات الأمريكية، فضلا عن أن عملية القصف تمت داخل حدودها، الأمر الذى سبب لها حرجا كبيرا. The Tktemth the Khartoum government, which has not been able to identify where they came from the United States aircraft, as well as the bombing that took place within its borders, which caused major embarrassment.

وصرح مصدر مسئول بأن المقاتلات الأمريكية التى قامت بالعملية موجودة لدى عدة دول فى المنطقة. The official source said that U.S. fighter jets carried out the process in place in several countries in the region. ورجحت تلك المصادر أن تكون تلك المقاتلات قد خرجت من أريتريا أو جيبوتى. Likely that those sources may be those fighters out of Eritrea or Djibouti.

وذكرت المصادر أنه جرت اتصالات رفيعة المستوى بين القاهرة والخرطوم كانت لها صلة بهذا الموضوع، الذى مازالت الحكومة السودانية تجمع تفاصيله وتدرس كيفية التعامل معه. The sources said that there had been high-level contacts between Cairo and Khartoum have been associated with this topic, which combines the Sudanese government is still studying the details of how to deal with him. إذ رغم أنها تسعى لضبط وملاحقة شبكات تهريب السلاح، إلا أنها تعتبر عملية القصف عدوانا أمريكيا على أراضيها. As though they seek to control the networks and the pursuit of weapons smuggling, but it is a U.S. bombing attack on its territory.

أضافت تلك المصادر أن القاعدة الأمريكية فى جيبوتى (كامب ليمونير) تقوم بدور أساسى فى مكافحة ما يسمى بالارهاب، وفى عمليات الدعم والاسناد. The sources added that the U.S. base in Djibouti (Camp Imonner) play a key role in the fight against the so-called terrorism, and in the support and backing. وتضم تلك القاعدة 1800 جندى أمريكى، ومئات من عناصر القوات الخاصة، التى كلفت بالتركيز على سبع دول اعتبرتها القيادة العسكرية الأمريكية محطات للعناصر الارهابية، وهذه الدول هى: اليمن، الصومال، كينيا، السودان، أثيوبيا، أريتريا، جيبوتى. The 1800 rule that U.S. troops, and hundreds of special forces elements, which was focusing on the seven countries as the U.S. military command stations to terrorist elements, and these countries are: Yemen, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti. وفى إطار هذه القوة ثمة وحدة مشتركة هى الوحدة CTF-150، التى تشترك فيها كل من فرنسا وإسبانيا وألمانيا وبريطانيا مع الولايات المتحدة بسفن حربية تقوم بدوريات مشتركة تغطى بالإضافة إلى البحر الأحمر، منطقة القرن الأفريقى وخليج عدن، ومنطقة المحيط الهندى. As part of this force, there is a common unit is the CTF-150, which is shared by both France and Spain, Germany and Britain with the United States military vessels are covered by joint patrols in addition to the Red Sea, the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

وعلم مندوب «الشروق» أن السلطات السودانية أعدت ملفا شاملا حول الموضوع، تضمن تصويرا لمسرح العمليات وتفصيلات بقايا الغارة، التى تمثلت فى كميات من الذخائر التى احترق بعضها ولم يحترق البعض الآخر، وبنادق جيم 4، وبنادق كلاشنكوف، إضافة إلى عدد من الهواتف المحمولة من طراز «ثريا»، التى يبدو أنها كانت واسطة الاتصال بين عناصر القبائل العربية فى شمال السودان التى كانت تقوم بالتهريب، ونظائرها فى سيناء التى كانت تتولى التسلم وتوصيل السلاح إلى داخل القطاع. And informed the representative of «sunrise» that the Sudanese authorities have prepared a comprehensive file on the subject, which included graphic details of the theater and the remains of the raid, with the quantities of munitions, which burned some others did not burn, and C 4 rifles, Kalashnikov rifles, in addition to a number of mobile phones a «rich», which appeared to be the mode of communication between the elements of the Arab tribes in northern Sudan, which was smuggling, and their counterparts in the Sinai, which was the receipt and delivery of arms into the Gaza Strip.

وكانت «الشروق» قد أشارت قبل أيام إلى اجتماع سرى فى مقر الخارجية البريطانية حضره ممثلو أمريكا و8 دول أوروبية أعضاء فى حلف الأطلسى، واتفق المشاركون فى الاجتماع على مكافحة تهريب الأسلحة إلى غزة. The «sunrise» had indicated a few days ago to a secret meeting at the Foreign Office was attended by representatives of American and 8 European countries and NATO members, and participants agreed at the meeting to combat the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. بجانب الاتفاق الأمنى الذى رفضته مصر جملة وتفصيلا، بين إسرائيل والولايات المتحدة ووقعته وزيرة الخارجية الأمريكية السابقة كوندوليزا رايس مع نظيرتها الإسرائيلية. The side of the security agreement, which was rejected out of hand, Egypt, between Israel and the United States and signed by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the former with its Israeli counterpart. وتعهد الجانب الأمريكى فى هذا الاتفاق بمكافحة تهريب الأسلحة. He pledged that the U.S. side in the fight against arms smuggling.

وكان المسئولون فى الخارجية البريطانية لم يفصحوا عن الآلية التى ستطبق بها الدول التى اتفقت على مكافحة تهريب الأسلحة، وقالت مصادر فى حينه إن هذه الدول شددت على عدم اللجوء للقوة فى تعقب شحنات الأسلحة أو السعى إلى مصادرتها، وأن الاتفاق والاجراءات ليست موجهة إلى الدول العربية وهو ما لا يتفق مع العملية الأخيرة التى تمت فى شمال غرب مدينة بورتسودان. The British Foreign Office officials did not disclose the mechanism by which they will be applied by the States that have agreed to combat the smuggling of weapons, sources said at the time that these countries emphasized the non-use of force in tracking shipments of weapons or the pursuit of the forfeiture, and the Agreement and the actions are not directed to the Arab countries which is not consistent with the latter process, which was in the northwest of the city of Port Sudan.

وكان من المفترض ــ حسب الاجتماع السرى الالتزام بالقانون الدولى وبما تسمح به السلطات الوطنية فى الدول لدعم جهود اعتراض التهريب، وذلك بإجراءات تشمل التحقيق والصعود إلى ظهر السفن والتفتيش والايقاف ومصادرة الأسلحة. One of the supposed secret meeting, according to abide by international law and as permitted by the national authorities in the States to support efforts to intercept smuggling, and that the procedures include investigation, boarding, inspection, arrest and confiscation of weapons.

واعترف أحد المصادر لـ«الشروق» فى حينه أن الدول التى اتفقت على برنامج وقف الأسلحة لا تملك تفويضا دوليا لهذا التجمع، ولكن المصدر أوضح أنه جزء من المبادرات الثنائية بين الولايات المتحدة وبريطانيا للتوصل إلى تسوية سلمية للأزمة فى قطاع غزة. He admitted one of the sources of «sunrise» at the time that the countries that have agreed to halt the weapons program does not have an international mandate for the rally, but the source pointed out that part of the bilateral initiatives between the United States and Britain to reach a peaceful settlement to the crisis in the Gaza Strip.
يذكر أن الدول التى وقعت على هذا الاتفاق فى اجتماعها بوزارة الخارجية البريطانية فى مطلع مارس الحالى هى الولايات المتحدة وبريطانيا وكندا وفرنسا والدنمارك وألمانيا وإيطاليا وهولندا والنرويج. The countries which have signed this agreement in the meeting the British Foreign Office in early March the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway.

Incriminating Evidence of Israeli War Crimes in Gaza

Stephen Lendman

March 25, 2009 Throughout its history, Israel has willfully and repeatedly committed crimes of war and against humanity, always with impunity. Yet under customary legal standards and norms (including Geneva, Hague, the UN Charter, S.C. and G.A. resolutions), it’s lawless, a serial abuser, a threat to the region and humanity, mostly as an oppressive occupier. Attacking Gaza is the latest episode in its six-decade reign of terror satisfying the definition of genocide against defenseless Palestinian civilians. This article covers more evidence from some disturbing but unsurprising newly published information. On March 19, in the first of a series of articles, Haaretz headlined: “IDF killed civilians in Gaza under loose rules of engagement.” Military correspondent Amos Harel revealed Israeli soldier and pilot (“dirty secret”) testimonies of being ordered to kill unarmed civilians and destroy their property – accounts at variance with official claims that only military targets were attacked and that “Israeli troops observed a high level of moral behavior during the operation.” Defense Minister Ehud Barak calls the IDF “the most moral army in the world.” “Moral” examples included an infantry squad leader recounting the shooting of a mother and her two children: “There was a house with a family inside….We put them in a room. Later we left the house and another platoon entered it, and a few days after that there was an order to release the family….The platoon commander let the family go and told them to go to the right. One mother and her two children didn’t understand and went to the left,” after which a rooftop sniper “shot them straight away….I don’t think he felt too bad about it, because after all, as far as he was concerned, he (followed orders, and, besides, Palestinian lives are) less important” than our own soldiers. Other incidents included: – a squad leader telling of a company commander ordering an elderly Palestinian woman to be shot and killed; – soldiers saying “we should kill everyone (in the center of Gaza); everyone there is a terrorist;” – soldiers writing “death to the Arabs on walls” and spitting on family pictures; – a squad leader saying: “At the beginning, the directive was to enter a house with an armored vehicle, break the door down, (and) start shooting inside – I call it murder – to shoot at everyone we identify;” commanders called it OK “because everyone left in the city is culpable because they didn’t run away;” – soldiers ordered to indiscriminately destroy property and farmland; – orders given to enter a house, “switch on loudspeakers and tell (occupants) you have five minutes to run away and whoever doesn’t will be killed;” These and other accounts typify regular incidents in occupied Gaza and the West Bank. When revealed, official denials follow or in response to clear evidence, officers, like military advocate general Avichai Mendelblit, say the incidents will be investigated, after which everything is whitewashed, quietly forgotten, none of the guilty are prosecuted, and security forces keep using disproportionate force against defenseless Palestinian civilians. In a March 19 analysis, Harel concluded that this “happen(s) in the field most of the time (and) as usual, reality is completely different from the gentler version provided by the military commanders to the public and media during (an) operation and after. The soldiers are not lying, for the simple reason that they have no reason to” and every reason to stay silent. The rule is: “You don’t ask, we won’t tell,” but these soldiers, squad leaders, pilots and commanders did. Further, there’s a “continuity of testimony from different sectors that reflects a disturbing and depressing picture” of a rogue military willfully committing war crimes because they know they can get away with them. Harel concluded: “The IDF’s ethical problems did not start in 2009.” They go back decades, but according to some, military “deterioration” has been continuous from the 1967 war to Operation Cast Lead. Worse still is that Israeli history reveals six decades of relentless and continuous terror. Attacking Gaza for 22 days is just the latest episode. On March 21, the London Independent’s Donald Macintyre wrote: “Israelis (were) told to fight a ‘holy war’ in Gaza….a religious war” against Arabs, according to a soldier citing “the martial role of military rabbis during the operation.” In rabbinate literature distributed to the troops, the message was: “We are the Jewish people, we came to this land by a miracle, God brought us back to this land, and now we need to fight to expel the Gentiles who are interfering with our conquest of this holy land.” According to the Israeli human rights group, Yesh Din, IDF head chaplain, Rabbi Avichai Rontzki, a brigadier general, distributed booklet material saying that it was “terribly immoral” to show mercy to a “cruel enemy” and that soldiers were fighting “murderers.” Imagine rabbis claiming to be men of God, yet violating core Jewish dogma by preaching hate, premeditated murder, and lying about innocent civilians they’re vilifying. Another example of the viciousness of a so-called civilized state, acting like barbarians (in the name of God) and calling it just. There’s more. On March 22 in Haaretz, Amira Hass headlined: “IDF soldiers ordered to shoot at Gaza rescuers” in citing a Hebrew handwritten document, “Rules of Engagement – Open fire also upon rescue.” It confirms numerous reports and testimonies like the above that soldiers shot Palestinian civilians in cold blood, murdered them (and their rescuers), or in cases where they were still alive prevented their evacuation and let them bleed to death. Hass stated: “The (above-mentioned) document provides written proof that IDF commanders ordered their troops to shoot at rescuers” besides ordering the killing of unarmed civilians and destruction of their property. On March 22, London Observer writer Peter Beaumont headlined: “Gaza war crime claims gather pace as (still) more troops speak out.” He cited a yet to be published “Breaking the Silence” report containing statements from 15 former soldiers. From their contacts with Operation Cast Lead participants, they corroborate the above claims of random killings and vandalism. According to the group’s Mikhael Manekin: “We have spoken to a lot of different people who served in different places in Gaza, including officers. We are not talking about some units being more aggressive than others, but underlying policy. So much so that we are talking to soldiers who said that they were having to restrain the orders given.” According to one, Amir Marmor, orders from a Lt. Col. who briefed the troops were: “Shoot and don’t worry about the consequences.” On March 20, Haaretz reporter Uri Blau disclosed that IDF soldiers ordered T-shirts marking the end of Operation Cast Lead featuring grotesque images of dead babies, mothers weeping at their children’s graves, a gun aimed at a child and bombed-out mosque, and a pregnant Palestinian woman with a bull’s eye depicted on her stomach with the English slogan, “1 shot, 2 kills.” These aren’t just anecdotes from what Ehud Barak calls “the most moral army in the world.” On March 22, Haaretz correspondent Gideon Levy wrote: “IDF ceased long ago being ‘most moral army in the world.’ ” Moreover, imagining the military will investigate the charges is “propagandistic, ridiculous (and) meant not only to deceive the public, but also to offer shameless lies” as part of a cover-up the way these revelations are always handled. These practices have gone on for decades. Orders come right from the top – to kill Arabs and commit atrocities and vandalism, and according to one Operation Cast lead soldier: “That’s what is so nice, as it were, about Gaza – You see a person on a road….and you can just shoot him.” This message is ingrained in young recruits, to see Jews as superior, Arabs as sub-humans, so it’s “morally” OK to slaughter them. Yet on March 22, Haaretz published GOC Home Front Command General Yair Golan’s reply saying: “The reports were exaggerated and any deviations from the IDF’s moral standards will be dealt with.” Then on March 23, it added IDF Chief Gabi Ashkenazi’s claim that he did not believe Israeli soldiers harmed Palestinian civilians in “cold blood.” He and Golan lied the way top commanders and government officials always do. Yet Ashkenazi echoed Ehud Barak saying that “the IDF is the most moral army in the world” despite volumes of clear evidence to the contrary. He added that any “incidents” were “isolated,” but Haaretz stated: “The soldiers’ testimonies run counter to the IDF’s claims throughout the operation that troops observed a high level of moral behavior. A number of officers told Haaretz….that the testimonies did not surprise them, as ‘anyone with eyes in his head knows that these things happened during the fighting in Gaza,’ and they weren’t ‘isolated’ incidents.” Gaza Civilian Testimonies Documented by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), they recount Operation Cast Lead’s horror – highlighted by an Israeli soldier’s message on Abu Hajaj’s bedroom wall: “Death will find you….Soon.” PCHR noted the importance of finding “sanctuary in the comfort of one’s home” at times of trauma, but Gazans lost it for 22 days and still suffer the effects. Briefly some examples: – the IDF occupied Mos’ab Dardona’s Jabal Al Rayes northeast Gaza home, leaving behind wall drawings of soldiers urinating on toppled mosques and “devouring Palestinians villages;” – next door in Ibrahim Dardona’s home, instead of using the bathroom, they left behind dozens of bags of feces and crude sexual diagrams on walls; – the defacing and other actions show a disturbing picture of racial hatred throughout Israeli society, according to PCHR’s democratic development director, Hamdi Shaqqura; PCHR says thousands of Gazans are homeless, displaced, and forced to find shelter with relatives or move back to partially destroyed homes and cope as best they can; – in the agricultural area of Johr-ad-Dik, the IDF took over homes, displaced half the 2500 population and maliciously destroyed hundreds of olive and citrus trees; – the IDF ordered local residents near Saleh Abu Hajaj’s home to leave; Saleh’s daughter tied a white scarf to a stick, led out a group of civilians, then along with her mother was shot dead by the military; – in the Zeytoun district, IDF desecrated walls with messages like: “Die you all..Make war not peace..Arabs need to die,” and on a gravestone “Arabs 1948 – 2009;” – inside Rashad Helmi Al Samouni’s home, soldiers wrote: “There will be a day when we kill all the Arabs….Bad for the Arabs is good for me….A good Arab is an Arab in the grave (and) Peace now, but between Jews and Jews, not Jews and Arabs.” PCHR’s conclusion was that whatever war crimes investigations reveal and what, if anything, follows from them, “it will do little to comfort the thousands of civilians whose sense of safety (in their own homes was) so categorically violated,” something they no longer feel and for many never did. PCHR published the names of 1417 Gazans killed by Israeli forces. It said 926 were civilians, 236 fighters, and 255 others civilian security forces, mostly police. Israel disputes the list claiming most targets “legitimate” despite clear evidence to the contrary, including from its own soldiers. In response, it’s preparing its own list identifying most of the slain as “combatants or legitimate targets” without a shred of evidence for proof and plenty to disprove it. PCHR also reported that in the week ending March 18: – IDF forces shot and injured 19 Palestinian civilians, including nine children and a US human rights activist; – the Israeli air force bombed selected Gaza sites, forcing civilians to abandon their homes and property in the areas; – Israeli forces conducted 39 incursions into West Bank communities, a practice occurring nearly daily; 39 Palestinian civilians were arrested, including six children for the crime of being Arab under Israeli occupation; – additional IDF arrests occurred at West Bank checkpoints, and measures to remove East Jerusalem Palestinians continue to make room for new Jewish settlements; – five West Bank homes were demolished leaving 49 Palestinians homeless; three other families were ordered from their homes in preparation for demolition; – West Bank settlement construction goes on unabated as part of an ethnic cleansing process; – settlers regularly attack Palestinians with impunity, and the Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens reported (on March 21) a 1000% rise in 2008 crime rates over 2007 on Israeli Arab citizens; its leader, Jafar Farah, called it a “moral collapse;” – Gaza remains under siege with no progress made to end it; and – on March 23, PCHR reported that the IDF violated medical ethics during Operation Cast Lead by preventing Palestinian and ICRC medical teams from reaching the wounded; it also said Israel attacked 34 medical facilities, including eight hospitals, killing 16 medics and wounding 25 others. Meanwhile on March 19, Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, said: “If the (IDF) cannot (distinguish between civilians and military targets), its attack becomes unlawful and constitutes a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law.” He added that the UN (and human rights groups like Amnesty International) has clear evidence to support this conclusion and called for a formal investigation of IDF shelling of schools, mosques, ambulances, educational facilities, and homes as well as use of illegal weapons like white phosphorus. Whatever follows, Gaza remains under siege. Allowed in humanitarian aid falls way short of supplying 1.5 million people with the barest subsistence they need. Through March 2, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that Israeli violence continues and “authorities (still) limit the amount and range of goods allowed into Gaza….A range of essential goods, including supplies and equipment needed for rebuilding, are not being allowed into the territory.” They’re still kept out. Basic items like medical equipment, veterinary supplies, macaroni, chickpeas, and lentils were suspended or delayed, and border crossings remain closed, except for brief periods. Like before, everything is in short supply or not available, including essential medical care, food and fuel. Earlier Amnesty International said “Gaza (was) reduced to bare survival.” Today, it’s no better under a continuing Israeli siege, illegal and brutal in the extreme, yet not denounced by world leaders to give Israel cover to maintain it. The Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel’s Position Paper on Israeli Civilian Killings in Gaza Adalah (meaning justice in Arabic) is a 1996-established independent, non-profit, human rights organization serving Arab Israeli citizens’ rights on issues of land, civil, political, cultural, social, religious, and economic matters among others. In February 2009, it examined the legality of Israel’s 22 day Gaza attack, specifically the killing of civilian police and bombing of government buildings and Hamas institutions. In citing the laws of war, it identified four central principles: – military necessity – that only those targets intended to “weaken or overcome the enemy or bring the battle to an end may be attacked;” – distinction – that must be drawn between combatants and military targets on the one hand, and civilians and non-military objects on the other; international law prohibits attacking the latter; doing so is a war crime; non-combatant civilians are protected by law under all circumstances; also, targets must clearly be military ones and nearby civilians must be warned in advance so they may leave; – proportionality – that prohibits disproportionate force likely to cause damage to or loss of human lives or objects; in other words, disproportionate to an intended military objective or that in any way is indiscriminate; and – the prevention of unnecessary suffering, especially for non-combatant civilians. Beginning December 27 and continuing for 22 days, the IDF attacked uniformed police cadets and officers killing them and other civilians. During the period of fighting, non-combatant civilian Hamas members were also struck, including from its government. International law prohibits attacking non-combatant civilian security forces, especially police whose role is to maintain law enforcement and public order. Further, and despite using “rocket attacks” as a pretext, Israel attacked preemptively and aggressively, not in response to Hamas-initiated hostilities, and most initial targets were civilian ones. The IDF erroneously claimed that attacking uniformed police was legitimate because their role for 22 days changed from enforcers to combatants. By this logic, all civilians are legitimate targets because under attack they may defend themselves. That, in fact, is what Israel claims. Under international law, civilians may only be harmed accidently or inadvertently as a result of attacks on legitimate military targets but never for reasons of military necessity, even when large numbers of combatants are present. Adalah concluded: “Members of a civilian police should benefit from the protection which is conferred upon them as civilians under customary international law. Given that the conditions for the exception to this rule – i.e., taking a direct part in hostilities at the time of the attack – were not met, the attack ran counter to customary international humanitarian law” and was illegal. The same holds for attacking government buildings and institutions – a total of 68 buildings plus 31 offices belonging to NGOs, completely destroyed or damaged during the conflict. According to Major Avital Leibovitz, Head of International Communications Section in the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Office: “Anything affiliated with Hamas is a legitimate target,” meaning all 1.5 million Gazans, the vast majority being non-combatant civilians, including women, children, and infants. International law refutes Israeli policy, including under the principles of military necessity and distinction. These principles demand that military targets be differentiated from civilians and civilian objects (including government ones) to prevent deliberate attacks on them. The only allowed exceptions relate to narrowly defined “vital and immediate military need” to defeat the enemy and end the battle, matters to which Israel didn’t comply. Also, Israel ignored the requirement “to take all feasible precautions in attack, in particular the obligation to verify that objects (and individuals) to be attacked are military objectives,” legitimate targets under international law. Again Adalah: “Thus it is apparent that the attack on government buildings and institutions (as well as non-combatant civilians) on the basis of the claim that they formed part of the Hamas regime is illegal” under international law. “Attacks that fail to distinguish between combatants and military targets and civilians and civilian objects constitute grave breaches of customary international law and are considered as war crimes. Attacks perpetrated against a civilian population may also be considered crimes against humanity if they are committed ‘as part of a wide or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.’ “ Planned months in advance, Israel’s attack was premeditated, and under Article 8(2)(a)(1) and Article 8(2)(b)(1) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) constitutes a war crime. It’s also a crime against humanity under the statute’s Article 7(1) relating to the deliberate killing of civilians or deliberately attacking non-combatant ones. Further, attacking government buildings and institutions is also a war crime under Article 8(2)(a)(1), Article 8(2)(b)(8), and Article 8(2)(b)(13) of the Rome Statute that prohibits the destruction of property and civilian objects for non-military necessity reasons. Even though Israel is not party to the Statute, its Articles 7 and 8, relating to crimes of war and against humanity, reflect customary international law under which Israel, its officials, and military commanders at all levels may and should be held accountable. Under international law, responsibility relates to perpetration, planning, inciting, and/or ordering a crime to be committed as well as “vicarious” (indirect) responsibility of civilian leaders and commanders for crimes committed by their subordinates. These conditions apply in the case of the 22 day Gaza attack – planned well in advance by high-level government and military officials and launched with overwhelming force against multiple targets on December 27. Again, the evidence is clear, unequivocal, overwhelming, and conclusive that high-level Israeli government and military officials planned and willfully committed systematic crimes of war and against humanity of such gravity that justice demands they be held to account in an international court of law – either the ICC in the Hague or a special International Criminal Tribunal for Israel (ICTI). Doing so will warn future Israeli governments and all others that no one is exempt from the law and they, too, will be prosecuted if evidence provides justification. The rule of law is sacrosanct, especially for wanton killing that when ongoing for sustained periods satisfies the definition of genocide. Israel long ago passed that threshold. No longer can its lawlessness go unpunished. Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday – Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national issues. All programs are archived for easy listening.