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NYT report on killing of Gaza paramedic Rouzan al-Najjar is a big step forward, though flawed

James North
Mondoweiss
Mon, 31 Dec 2018 17:26 UTC
Rouzan al-Najjar
© Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Rouzan al-Najjar, 20, was killed by an Israeli sniper on June 1 while she was treating the wounded at protests at the Gaza border.
The New York Times surprised us yesterday by running a long, front-page investigation into the Israeli army's killing last June 1 of a 20-year-old Gazan health worker, Rouzan al-Najjar. Before we criticize, let's state clearly that this article was inconceivable in the Times up until a year, or even 6 months ago. By contrast, when Israel killed four small boys who who playing soccer on the beach during its 2014 assault on Gaza, the paper swallowed the army's dishonest explanation, without challenge, even though the one of its own photographers had been an eyewitness to the killings.

This time, the Times came right out and said its inquiry showed that ". . . the shooting [of Rouzan al-Najjar] appears to have been reckless at best, and possibly a war crime, for which no one has yet been punished." The paper waited until the 9th paragraph to say this, but better late than never.

This improved Times coverage is no accident. The paper understands that its reading public is growing steadily more informed about Israel/Palestine, partly due to alternative news sources like this site. Public comments sections that follow some Times reports show that readers will no longer accept one-sided pro-Israel coverage.
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Question

Jim Webb for US Secretary of Defense ?

Curt Mills
The American Conservative
Mon, 31 Dec 2018 16:58 UTC
Jim Webb
© The American Conservative
Jim Webb speaks at The American Conservative foreign policy conference in November 2016.
The Democrat and scourge of foreign wars is drawing praise from many Trump supporters.

Jim Webb-the former Virginia senator, Ronald Reagan Navy secretary, and brief but memorable 2016 Democratic presidential candidate-addressed The American Conservative's foreign policy conference in November 2016, immediately following Donald Trump's shock White House victory.

He recalled what a friend and fellow Marine told him about Trump: "He said: 'This guy Donald Trump. The Republicans hate him. The Democrats hate him. The media hates him. I think I found my guy.'"

Webb, a Vietnam veteran, then graciously added: "I would like to salute Donald Trump for his tenacity, for the uniqueness of his campaign."
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Megaphone

Ex-Macron aide confirms post-sacking contact with Macron, says powerful people make president do 'BULLS**T'


RT
Mon, 31 Dec 2018 17:18 UTC
macron
© Reuters / Stephane Mahe
Alexandre Benalla stands next to French President Emmanuel Macron
Alexandre Benalla, ex-aide of Emmanuel Macron, says he kept in touch with his former boss for months after his dismissal, challenging claims made by the presidency that all contact with him had been severed.

Macron talked to Benalla on the Telegram messenger app, discussing various topics related to statecraft, the ousted aide told Mediapart in an interview on Sunday.

"We talk about different topics, it's often like 'how do you see things?' It can be about Yellow Vests, about this-and-that, and about security issues," he stated, adding that all the "exchanges are on my mobile phone" and it will be very hard for the Elysee to further deny it.
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Black Magic

Be afraid! Semi-mythical 'White Widow' reportedly planning dastardly terror plot in London

Patrick Hill
Daily Mirror, UK
Sun, 30 Dec 2018 17:08 UTC
Samantha Lewthwaite
© Sunday Mirror
Samantha Lewthwaite is said to be planning a terror attack in London
'White Widow' Samantha Lewthwaite - the world's most wanted woman - has been secretly plotting a terror attack in London, security sources believe.

The 35-year-old former wife of 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay is said to currently be in Yemen - and is alleged to have ordered around 400 deaths.

Lewthwaite, a mum-of-four from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, is believed to have had plastic surgery and piled on weight to alter her appearance.

She is said to have recently visited Dubai and sources fear she is plotting a string of new terror attacks, including strikes on London.

The latest intelligence is said to have been gathered after an MI6 officer in Kenyan capital Nairobi recruited a source with close links to Lewthwaite.

The information, described as "credible", is believed to include word that she already has a vast range of contacts in Yemen, particularly in the former British colony of Aden and the major seaport of Mukalla.

Comment: If pretty much every element of the above article sounds ridiculous and not quite credible, that's because they are ridiculous and not quite credible.


See also: Who is Samantha Lewthwaite? - Porkins Policy Radio

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X

PC ideological European Parliament wants to abolish sexist words like 'man-made', 'mankind' and 'layman'

James Crisp
Telegraph, UK
Thu, 27 Dec 2018 16:59 UTC
eu parliament
© Reuters
MEPs gather in the plenary chamber of the European Parliament in Strasbourg to hear a speech by Jean-Claude Juncker.
The European Parliament is attempting to stamp out the use of words such as "mankind" and "manpower" and replace them with more gender neutral terms such as "humanity" and "staff."

Officials and MEPs in the parliament, which has seats in Brussels and Strasbourg, have been sent a guidebook on using gender-neutral language in communications, EU legislation and interpretation. It calls on them to avoid the "generic use of man".

"Gender-neutral or gender-inclusive language is more than a matter of political correctness", the guidebook reads. "Language powerfully reflects and influences attitudes, behaviour and perceptions." "Political leaders" should be preferred to "statesmen" and items should be called "artificial" or "synthetic" rather than "man-made".

"Businessperson" should be chosen over "businessman or businesswoman, according to the guidelines, which were updated from the first edition in 2008. "Chair" should be used instead of Chairwoman. "Chairperson" is discouraged because "the tendency has been to use it only when referring to women."

The guidebook is at pains to insist that its recommendations are not "binding rules" but encouragement.


Comment: How eminently reasonable... Maybe the creators of this guidebook can be encouraged to just go away?

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Bullseye

2018 was the year of Russophobia

Neil Clark
Sputnik
Sun, 30 Dec 2018 16:57 UTC
bear
© CCO
At the start of the year, you probably thought: ' Russophobia simply can't get any worse'. But guess what? It did. 2018 was the year that the Russophobes went full-scale Monty Python and Ministry of Silly Walks. Let's take a look back of what we've been through the past twelve months.

January: UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson warns that Russia could cause 'thousands and thousands and thousands of deaths' by targeting Britain's infrastructure. "The plan for the Russians won't be for landing craft to appear in the South Bay in Scarborough and of Brighton Beach. "They are going to be thinking, 'How can we just cause so much pain to Britain?' The Russian Defence Ministry said Williamson had 'lost his grasp on reason'.

Which begs the question: did he have any in the first place?
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Heart - Black

Saudi-led coalition accused of using Sudanese child mercenaries 'like firewood' to fuel Yemen war


RT
Mon, 31 Dec 2018 16:40 UTC
child soldier saudi arabia yemen
© Reuters / Andreea Campeanu
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen is recruiting Sudanese child soldiers from war-torn Darfur to serve on the front lines, according to a new report claiming children as young as 14 comprise up to 40 percent of some units.

Reports from Sudanese soldiers who've returned from Yemen indicate up to 14,000 Sudanese have been fighting for the Saudi-led coalition. Most hail from Darfur, a region still mired in chaos after a prolonged and bloody war that saw 300,000 people killed and 1.2 million displaced from their homes, and many are children, according to a shocking report from the New York Times.

So few are opportunities in war-torn Darfur that some families actually bribe militia officers to take their sons to fight in Yemen, according to the report. The Times interviewed five fighters returning from Yemen who confirmed children as young as 14 comprised at least a fifth of their units. Two soldiers said the proportion was closer to 40 percent.

Comment:

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Arrow Up

No need for America: Iraqi forces kill 30 ISIS commanders in Syria after agreement with Assad


Sputnik
Mon, 31 Dec 2018 16:53 UTC
iraqi military planes
© AFP 2018 / ALI AL-SAADI
The airstrike comes after RT Arabic reported that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had granted Iraqi jets general permission to conduct strikes on the Daesh terrorist group in the country.

"Today, Iraqi F-16 aircraft have carried out a painful and powerful airstrike on al-Susah in Syrian territory. The target has been completely eliminated - a two-storey house used as a shelter for terrorists and a meeting place", Iraqi Air Force said in a statement, stressing that "30 top Daesh officers" were holding a meeting in the building at the time.

Earlier in December, Iraqi planes hit a meeting of Daesh fighters in the area, claiming they killed some 44 militants.

The village of al-Susah is located near the Eastern Syrian city of Hajin, which was previously one of the last remaining jihadist strongholds in the country. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) also opposes Daesh in the area.

Comment: That is, one of the last remaining jihadist strongholds in the country, which the U.S. and their SDF allies have been unable or unwilling to do anything about for many months. Syria, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, and Iraq can do just fine without Uncle Sam:
Iraqi forces have on several occasions noted that the exchange of intelligence between Iraq, Iran, Moscow and Syria has helped them locate targets for their airstrikes.


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Rocket

US hoping to have hypersonic weapon by 2025 as Putin watches Russia's Avangard glider fly


RT
Mon, 31 Dec 2018 16:52 UTC
avangard
© Russia's Defense Ministry
Worried at Russia and China's technological edge, the US aims to have a hypersonic weapon by 2025, the US Navy said in a report. A fortnight later, Vladimir Putin was watching the test launch of Russia's newest hypersonic missile.

The state-of-the-art Avangard hypersonic glider was successfully tested December 26. It performed in-flight vertical and horizontal maneuvers and hit its intended target, according to the Defense Ministry. The actual speed of the missile, which will enter service in 2019, can reach a whopping 30,000km/h.

The test launch was observed by the Russian President Vladimir Putin, who labelled it "a big event for the armed forces, and probably for the entire country. "
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Mr. Potato

Failed US general says pulling out of Syria is bad, Trump immoral


RT
Sun, 30 Dec 2018 16:37 UTC
Stanley McChrystal
© YouTube/ABC
Retired General Stanley McChrystal
Retired General Stanley McChrystal became the latest military heavyweight to round on the US president for curtailing American army presence in Afghanistan and Syria.

"If you pull American influence out, you're likely to have greater instability and of course it'll be much more difficult for the United States to try to push events in any direction," said the 64-year-old, who led the spec ops force that captured Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003, and later headed the entire NATO contingent in Afghanistan.


Comment: McChrystal is not only an idiot, he's an immoral idiot. U.S. presence has been one of the greatest causes of instability in Syria (not to mention Iraq, Libya, Yemen). But at least he gives the real reason for his criticism: it will be much more difficult for the U.S. to "push events in any direction". Well, you know what? Thank God for that! Just look at the 'direction' the U.S. has pushed events for the past 17 years...


"There is an argument that says we just pull up our stuff, go home, let the region run itself. That has not done well for the last 50 or 60 years," continued the four-star general, who spoke as part of a long sit-down interview with ABC's This Week.


Comment: Yes, let the region run itself. A Middle East without foreign influence and intervention would actually be populated by millions who have been killed in your immoral wars, General.


Earlier this month Donald Trump announced plans to halve the current 14,000 US contingent in Afghanistan - though the White House later announced that no firm decision has been taken - and has ordered for all 2,000 American troops in Syria to leave.


Comment: The war whores are working hard on Trump, including the Queen of War Whores, Lindsey Graham: US troop withdrawal from Syria 'needs a pause' according to top senator. They may end up getting their way, but for now Trump is giving them all what they deserve on Twitter:







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