Four UN observers dead in Lebanon

Four UN observers killed in south Lebanon when their position was hit by an Israeli airstrike. This, despite repeated warnings by the UN to the IDF to stay away from their position. Kofi Annan rightfully suggests it was deliberate. I have a hard time believing that it wasn't.

My question is, if we are correct in assuming that the attack was deliberate, what was Israel's interest in carrying out the attack. It mjust have been pretty strong, as they would have known that huge negative repersuccsion would have arisen from the debacle? Is there maybe something they didn't want the observers to observe?

death tolls

According to Juan Cole, the death in the Israael conflict so far stands at about 235 in Lebanon, and 25 in Israel as of late Tuesday. That's about a 10:1 ratio. Now, no civilian death is OK, but this ratio should betray any suggestion that the Israeli response is in any way measured.

Israel and Lebanon

The current conflict between the Israel and Lebanon/Hesbollah is one in which two of the three parties hold no moral high ground. Hezbollah should never have kidnapped the Israeli soldiers in the first place. They must have known that such an action would mobilize the government of Israel to respond, and that they would never release all Hezbollah prisoners.

The government of Israel is using by any measurement a disproportionate level of force. Not only have airports and roads out of Lebanon been bombed, but by now probably over 200 civilians have been killed. There is absolutely no justification by any standard for invading a soverieign democratic country, especially where the hostile opponent, Hezbollah, do not form the government. Furthermore, it will only provoke more extremism in Lebanon. Gwynne Dyer says:

Everyone knows that the Lebanese government does not control Hezbollah, but Israel held Beirut responsible, rolled its tanks across the border, and launched a wave of air strikes that has already killed over 50 Lebanese. That won't free the hostages, and it poses the risk of a wider war that could involve not only Lebanon but Syria, but at least it protects Olmert from the accusation of being "weak," always the kiss of death for an Israeli politician.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are adept at pushing Israel's buttons and getting it to overreact (even if that does involve Israel destroying what little infrastructure there was in the Gaza Strip, and destroying Lebanon's infrastructure all over again). The dwarf superpower of the Middle East is good at smashing things up, and so long as the real superpower behind it does not intervene, nobody else can stop it. But nobody in this game has a coherent strategy for getting out of it.

On the human rights front, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have both called on the Israeli government and Hezbollah to avoid intentional or indiscriminate killing of civilians.

Seven Canadians have been killed as a result of an Israeli airstrike. I would like to see Stephen Harper, proud defender of Israeli government's "measured response," meet the families of the Canadian casualties, look them in the eye and tell them that Israel's response was measured.

I hate having to talk about this stuff. I wish we were not talking about seven dead Canadians, or 200 dead civilians. However, now that it has happened, noise has to be made to ensure that it never happens again. Now that Canadians have been killed, maybe even the hard-hearted Canadians who have supported Harpers comments will see the wrongness of this. It's not about supporting or opposing Israel, or supporting or opposing Hezbollah. It's about opposing the indiscriminate civilians, regardless of who the attacker is and who the victims are. Maybe upon seeing the folly of bombing seven Canadian civilians, they can open their minds a bit and see the folly of killing of any civilian.

List - great anti-war songs.

In no particular order:

Univeral Soldier by Buffy Sainte Marie

Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2

Weapon by Matthew Good

Masters of War by Bob Dylan

Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits

Give Peace a Chance by John Lennon

Holiday by Green Day

Blue Skies Over Bad Lands by Matthew Good

Blowin' In The Wind by Bob Dylan

A Hard Rains A Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan

One Gun by 54-40

This War by Sting

World Leader Pretend by REM

Revolution by The Beatles

Imagine by John Lennon

Bullet the Blue Sky by U2

In A World Called Catastrophe by Matthew Good

Ohio by Neil Young

World Wide Suicide by Pearl Jam

June 24, 2006, World Peace Forum, Vancouver

I had a busy day yesteday at the World Peace Forum.

I was at the Amnesty Table up at UBC in the morning.


I hooked up with Don Wright at the Peace Walk, and walked with him for Amnesty.

We ,along with an estimated 10,000 people sick and tired of war and not going to take it anymore, meandered our way through downtown.


We ended up at Susnet Beach where we were met with the presence of a stage.

I saw a couple of notable people there.


In a surprise appearance, the beautiful, graceful Buffy Sainte Marie performed "Universal Soldier." She still has an incredible voice, that, when combined with that song, can move me deeply.


The courageous Cindy Sheehan also made an appearance.


All in all, it was a great day to be alive in Vancouver.

Letter to Stephen Harper on Climate Change

On April 18, Gordon McBean of the University of Western Ontario organized an open letter to Stephen Harper, expressing concern over climate change, and the direction the PM seems to be taking. Ninety scientists signed the letter. Here is the full text. The italics and bold types are the authors'.

An Open Letter to the Prime Minister of Canada
on Climate Change Science

April 18 2006

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A3
Dear Prime Minister:

As climate science leaders from the academic, public and private sectors across
Canada, we wish to convey our views on the current state of knowledge of climate
change and to call upon you to provide national leadership in addressing the issue.
The scientific views we express are shared by the vast majority of the national and
international climate science community.

We concur with the climate science assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) in 2001, which has also been supported by the Royal Society of
Canada and the national academies of science of all G-8 countries, as well as those of China, India and Brazil. We endorse the conclusions of the IPCC assessment that
“There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities” and of the 2005 Arctic Climate Impact Assessment that “Arctic temperatures have risen at almost twice the rate of those in the rest of the world over the past few decades”.

Climate variability and change is a global issue and the international IPCC process for assessment of climate science, with its rigorous scientific peer review processes, is the appropriate mechanism for assessing what is known and not known about climate science. Many Canadian climate scientists are participating in the preparation of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report which will be completed in 2007.

The following points emerge from the assessments and ongoing research by respected
Canadian and international researchers:

• There is increasingly unambiguous evidence of changing climate in
Canada and around the world.
• There will be increasing impacts of climate change on Canada’s natural ecosystems and on our socio-economic activities.
• Advances in climate science since the 2001 IPCC Assessment have provided more evidence supporting the need for action and development of a strategy for adaptation to projected changes.
• Canada needs a national climate change strategy with continued investments in research to track the rate and nature of changes, understand what is happening, to refine projections of changes induced by anthropogenic release of greenhouse gases and to analyse opportunities and threats presented by these changes.

We have supplied justification and more detail for each of these points in the
accompanying documentation.

We urge you and your government to develop an effective national strategy to deal with the many important aspects of climate that will affect both Canada and the rest of the world in the near future. We believe that sound policy requires good scientific input.

We would be pleased to provide a scientific briefing and further support, clarification and information at any time.

Yours sincerely:

Signed by 90 Canadian climate science leaders from the academic, public and private
sectors across the country.

Cc: Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of the Environment, Honourable Gary Lunn,
Minister of Natural Resources and Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and
Oceans
2

Satire personified

Satire is arguably the most important form that dissent can take. Nothing can bring to public consciousness the foolishness of the decision makers like a reflection of that foolishness. From fictional characters like Hawkeye Pierce and Archie Bunker to comedians like Jon Stewart, quick wit has caused many a headache for the targets upon which their talents are focussed. A classic example of this was Stephen Colbert's speech to the White House Press Correspondents' Dinner. Here are some gems:

I'm a simple man with a simple mind. I hold a simple set of beliefs that I live by. Number one, I believe in America. I believe it exists. My gut tells me I live there. I feel that it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and I strongly believe it has 50 states. And I cannot wait to see how the Washington Post spins that one tomorrow. I believe in democracy. I believe democracy is our greatest export. At least until China figures out a way to stamp it out of plastic for three cents a unit.

[...]

Now, I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32% approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in "reality." And reality has a well-known liberal bias.

[...]

I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message: that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound -- with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.

[...]

I'm sorry, but this reading initiative. I'm sorry, I've never been a fan of books. I don't trust them. They're all fact, no heart. I mean, they're elitist, telling us what is or isn't true, or what did or didn't happen. Who's Britannica to tell me the Panama Canal was built in 1914? If I want to say it was built in 1941, that's my right as an American! I'm with the president, let history decide what did or did not happen.

[...]

But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works: the president makes decisions. He's the Decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put 'em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know - fiction!

[...]

And, of course, we can't forget the man of the hour, new press secretary, Tony Snow. Secret Service name, "Snow Job." Toughest job. What a hero. Took the second toughest job in government, next to, of course, the ambassador to Iraq.

Got some big shoes to fill, Tony. Big shoes to fill. Scott McClellan could say nothing like nobody else. McClellan, of course, eager to retire. Really felt like he needed to spend more time with Andrew Card's children. Mr. President, I wish you hadn't made the decision so quickly, sir.

The full text is here. The video is here.

Sandra Day O'Connor warns against dictatorship

This is about a month old (March 9), but I just came across this. Former US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor suggests US citizens be on guard against signs of dictatorship. Here is the transcript from Raw Story, derived from the original NPR piece:

Supreme Court justices keep many opinions private but Sandra Day O’Connor no longer faces that obligation. Yesterday, the retired justice criticized Republicans who criticized the courts. She said they challenge the independence of judges and the freedoms of all Americans. O’Connor’s speech at Georgetown University was not available for broadcast but NPR’s legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg was there.

Nina Totenberg: In an unusually forceful and forthright speech, O’Connor said that attacks on the judiciary by some Republican leaders pose a direct threat to our constitutional freedoms. O’Connor began by conceding that courts do have the power to make presidents or the Congress or governors, as she put it “really, really angry.” But, she continued, if we don’t make them mad some of the time we probably aren’t doing our jobs as judges, and our effectiveness, she said, is premised on the notion that we won’t be subject to retaliation for our judicial acts. The nation’s founders wrote repeatedly, she said, that without an independent judiciary to protect individual rights from the other branches of government those rights and privileges would amount to nothing. But, said O’Connor, as the founding fathers knew statutes and constitutions don’t protect judicial independence, people do.

And then she took aim at former House GOP leader Tom DeLay. She didn’t name him, but she quoted his attacks on the courts at a meeting of the conservative Christian group Justice Sunday last year when DeLay took out after the courts for rulings on abortions, prayer and the Terri Schiavo case. This, said O’Connor, was after the federal courts had applied Congress’ onetime only statute about Schiavo as it was written. Not, said O’Connor, as the congressman might have wished it were written. This response to this flagrant display of judicial restraint, said O’Connor, her voice dripping with sarcasm, was that the congressman blasted the courts.

It gets worse, she said, noting that death threats against judges are increasing. It doesn’t help, she said, when a high-profile senator suggests there may be a connection between violence against judges and decisions that the senator disagrees with. She didn’t name him, but it was Texas senator John Cornyn who made that statement, after a Georgia judge was murdered in the courtroom and the family of a federal judge in Illinois murdered in the judge’s home. O’Connor observed that there have been a lot of suggestions lately for so-called judicial reforms, recommendations for the massive impeachment of judges, stripping the courts of jurisdiction and cutting judicial budgets to punish offending judges. Any of these might be debatable, she said, as long as they are not retaliation for decisions that political leaders disagree with.

I, said O’Connor, am against judicial reforms driven by nakedly partisan reasoning. Pointing to the experiences of developing countries and former communist countries where interference with an independent judiciary has allowed dictatorship to flourish, O’Connor said we must be ever-vigilant against those who would strongarm the judiciary into adopting their preferred policies. It takes a lot of degeneration before a country falls into dictatorship, she said, but we should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings.

Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

change of plans

Looks like travelling plans for Easter have changed. White-out conditions on the Highway to Penticton. Just as well. I can kick back and relax the next few days.

The Blues go anti-Green

Going away for Easter weekend. In the meantime, check this out. I was shocked to hear about it on the radio. It would seem that in spite of their minority status in Parliament, they're not going for the subtle approach.

OTTAWA (CP) - A scientist with Environment Canada was ordered not to launch his global warming-themed novel Thursday at the same time the Conservative government was quietly axing a number of Kyoto programs.

The bizarre sequence of events on the eve of the Easter long weekend provided an ironic end-note to the week in which Prime Minister Stephen Harper introduced his first piece of legislation - aimed at improving accountability and transparency in government.

The day began with what was supposed to be the low-key launch of an aptly titled novel, Hotter than Hell.

Publisher Elizabeth Margaris said that Mark Tushingham, whose day job is as an Environment Canada scientist, was ordered not to appear at the National Press Club to give a speech discussing his science fiction story about global warming in the not-too-distant future.

"He got a directive from the department, cautioning him not to come to this meeting today," said Margaris of DreamCatcher Publishers.

"So I guess we're being stifled. This is incredible, I've never heard of such a thing," she said.

Margaris had driven to Ottawa from New Brunswick to attend the speech, where Tushingham was expected to talk about his novel and the science he based it on.

The novel imagines a world where global warming has made parts of the world too hot to live in, prompting a war between Canada and the U.S. over water resources.

"Due process for this event was not followed and that's why it was cancelled," said Ryan Sparrow, a spokesman for Environment Minister Rona Ambrose .

Publicity for the planned book launch identified Tushingham as an Evironment Canada scientist, Sparrow said, "and it was assumed that he would be representing the position of the department.

"We would not have objected to Mr. Tushingham's appreance if he had been referred to as a private citizen."

Harper says he was not aware of the details, but his government was elected on a platform that included developing a new plan to deal with climate change.

"I obviously not only hope, but expect, that all elements of the bureaucracy will be working with us to achieve our objectives," Harper said at an appearance in Wainright, Alta., Thursday.

The prime minister's comments might be seen as a clear warning to public servants thinking of straying from government orthodoxy.

Harper has been criticized for the tight control he wants to exercise on what cabinet ministers and civil servants say in public. He also opposes the Kyoto protocol, which many scientist believe could help slow global warming.

The scientific, or literary, muzzle was put on Tushingham just as the Tory government was preparing to quietly confirm it is killing off over a dozen research programs related to the Kyoto protocol.

Late Thursday afternoon, on the eve of a long weekend when governments traditionally dump bad news for the least possible public exposure, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn issued a news release saying 15 programs were being eliminated.

Lunn said the programs had run their course.

"The new government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper is committed to putting an end to the massive increase in (greenhouse gas) emissions that Canada has seen over the past decade," said a release.

"To do that, we need a new approach to addressing climate change that is effective and realistic for Canada."

Harper said the Conservative governing platform "will include measures we're going to develop over the next year or so to deal with both pollution and greenhouse gases."

But cabinet documents obtained by the Globe and Mail suggest the cuts won't stop at 15 programs.

The newspaper reported Thursday that the Conservatives will cut 80 per cent of programs aimed at curbing global warming at Environment Canada.

Budgets in other government departments aimed at climate change will be slashed by 40 per cent, the newspaper reported.

Liberal MP Scott Brison was crying foul Thursday.

"It is clear the Conservative government has no plans to listen to expert advice from their own department and is willing to sacrifice sound environmental policy to partisan ideology," said Brison.

Under the Kyoto treaty, Canada is committed to a six per cent cut in emissions from 1990 levels by 2012. Yet emissions have risen by 30 per cent. Harper has said the target is impossible to meet.

Leading environmentalists from across Canada say the opposition parties should defeat the government if it abandons the effort to meet Canada's Kyoto commitments.

Canada can meet its emissions-cutting target under the Kyoto Protocol despite government claims to the contrary, activists from eight environmental groups told a news conference Wednesday.

Sy Hersh on Iran Plans.

Sy Hersh has written for the New Yorker that a military attack on Iran is in the planning stages. Here are a couple of excerpts:

One former defense official, who still deals with sensitive issues for the Bush Administration, told me that the military planning was premised on a belief that “a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government.” He added, “I was shocked when I heard it, and asked myself, ‘What are they smoking?’ ”

But those who are familiar with the Soviet bunker, according to the former senior intelligence official, “say ‘No way.’ You’ve got to know what’s underneath—to know which ventilator feeds people, or diesel generators, or which are false. And there’s a lot that we don’t know.” The lack of reliable intelligence leaves military planners, given the goal of totally destroying the sites, little choice but to consider the use of tactical nuclear weapons. “Every other option, in the view of the nuclear weaponeers, would leave a gap,” the former senior intelligence official said. “ ‘Decisive’ is the key word of the Air Force’s planning. It’s a tough decision. But we made it in Japan.”

Crooks and Liars also has a clip of Hersh talking on CNN about the article, and of Scott Ritter explaining why Iran wouldn't be close to developing nuclear weapons.

See also this piece by Christopher Hitchens.

Hey strangers

Okay, time for some catch-up.

First, relatively good news from Israel. I say relatively, because overall, the news is pretty awful. It looks like a centre-left coalition has been elected in Israel. Even better, Likud has been reduced to a rump. This is excellent news for the prospect of peace in the Middle East. Yes, the Palestinians elected Hamas. Yes, I wish they hadn't. However, the cycle of violence has to end somewhere, and the pursuit of peace has to begin somewhere. Anyway, Hamas was was elected on a platform of cleaning up Fatah corruption, not pursuit of terrorist objectives.

Second, I went to see former UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq Hans van Sponeck speak tonight. He talked passionately about the need for the United Nations, while maintaining that it needs to be reformed. He gave no specific proposals, but said that it is important to include civil society in the UN milieu. He also talked about the oil-for-food program of which he was a part, and the devestating effect of UN sanctions on Iraq.

An Afghan man who had from Islam to Christianity was let go by Afghan authorities because they declared he was not competent to stand trial. No doubt, this decision was influence by pressure from the West. Pressure, by the way, which I agree with in this case. He would have faced the death penalty. Apparently, some Muslim fundamentalists have protested saying that he should be put to death. Clerics have apparently called for his murder. As I understand it, this man is trying to leave Afghanistan. Good move. Good case for refugee status as well. Italy is considering giving him asylum.

Fuck them. Fuck all of them. I don't give a shit what Afghan law says about who should be put to death, just like I don't give a shit about what US law says about the same. Human rights are universal, and one of those rights is freedom of religion.

This ModernWorld: Can we talk?

continued

continued

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more later

M20 3rd Anniversay anti-war march

more later

Matters of war and peace

There's a third Anniversary anti-war march tomorrow. I will take pictures, and post them. If I don't, call me a liar.

There are a lot of things that need to be posted about, things related to peace and human rights.

The Bush Administration has released a new National Security Strategy. It maintains the right to pre-emption.

The UN General Assembly voted 174-4 to create a new Human Rights Council. Overall, it sounds like an improvement over the Human Rights Commission. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty both support it, and HRW makes suggestions for maximizing its effectiveness.

The Bush Administration continues to make noise about Iran. It sounds like Seymour Hersh was right. Iran might well be next.

For light does the darkness most fear

This is for me as much as anyone.

If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be that we're all OK
And not to worry 'cause worry is wasteful
And useless in times like these
I won't be made useless
I won't be idle with despair
I will gather myself around my faith
For light does the darkness most fear
My hands are small, I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
And I am never broken
Poverty stole your golden shoes
It didn't steal your laughter
And heartache came to visit me
But I knew it wasn't ever after
We'll fight, not out of spite
For someone must stand up for what's right
'Cause where there's a man who has no voice
There ours shall go singing
My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
I am never broken
In the end only kindness matters
In the end only kindness matters

From "Hands", by Jewel

This Modern World: The Nitpicking Squad