*Just Foreign Policy News January 6, 2011 * *Just Foreign Policy News on the Web: * http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/798<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=RB02BFyibqzsKbvJfqTiCL1w8x9zZsDY>
[To receive just the Summary and a link to the web version, you can use this webform: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/switchdailynews<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=YUbc4Ys7ZojV%2B5Puyjiqbb1w8x9zZsDY> ] *Help Support Our Advocacy for Peace and Diplomacy* The neocons never sleep. Help us be an effective counterweight. http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=X7ZtJiA2Cxkq8impHYJ2qr1w8x9zZsDY> *A "Pledge of Resistance" to Defend Social Security (and Defund the Empire)* If we had a "Pledge of Resistance" to defend Social Security, like the "Pledge of Resistance" that pledged to resist a U.S. invasion of Nicaragua, much of the support for cutting Social Security benefits would likely evaporate. Such a Pledge could force a national debate in which proposed cuts to domestic spending and proposed military spending are examined on the same chalkboard. The deficit commission co-chairs' proposal to cut Social Security by lowering the cost of living adjustment would save $70 billion by 2020. By comparison, drawing down U.S. troops in Afghanistan to where they were when Obama took office would save $150 billion by 2014. http://www.truth-out.org/a-pledge-resistance-defend-social-security-and-defund-empire66591<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=FzIMntIKwNd6rIoMuwWa5b1w8x9zZsDY> *Truthout**: Army's "Spiritual Fitness" Test Comes Under Fire* An Army mental-health initiative tests "spiritual fitness" in apparent violation of the U.S. Constitution. Meanwhile, the Army is promoting the idea that PTSD can be prevented with "positive psychology." http://www.truth-out.org/armys-fitness-test-designed-psychologist-who-inspired-cias-torture-program-under-fire66577<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=dT2gEbmUdujXqr%2BoVjVnXr1w8x9zZsDY> *National Priorities Project: Upgrade to "Cost of War" Trade-Off Calculator* The NPP's "Cost of War" calculator now gives domestic spending trade-off numbers broken down by Congressional District. You have to select "State" first. http://costofwar.com/en/tradeoffs/<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=aSb4U8YOwZBwdDImb%2FxCjv645AWaaXfD> *Summary:* *U.S./Top News <#12d5d72a5b356881_January611r1>* 1) Pakistan and a visiting delegation of Afghan officials charged with trying to broker peace with the Taliban have agreed to hold a peace " jirga" between the two countries, AFP reports. Pakistan's foreign ministry said the decision was made during a visit by members of Afghanistan's High Committee for Peace. A Pakistani spokesman said they discussed the opening of an Afghan Taliban representative office in Turkey, an idea recently floated by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to kick-start stalled negotiations with the rebels. "We have no problem with that if Afghanistan and Turkey agree. We agree with any effort made by the Afghan government to bring peace," the spokesman said. 2) Defense Secretary Gates has decided to send an additional 1,400 Marine combat forces to Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reports. U.S. commanders in Afghanistan face intense pressure to show sustainable security gains in the first half of 2011, the Journal says. Military officials fear an upswing in attacks by the Taliban in the spring could convince the White House that the Pentagon's war strategy is flawed and that the troop pullout - the details of which have yet to be ironed out - should be accelerated. Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said it was unclear what impact a temporary increase in combat power would have on the overall military campaign as long as havens in Pakistan remain open to the Taliban. Some officials have voiced concerns about the military's ability to maintain control of areas cleared of Taliban, citing the group's ability to replace leaders killed or captured in Special Operations raids. "As much as we are hammering them in the south and east, their numbers aren't dwindling. They have so many young men who are disenfranchised, who have nothing better to do," a senior U.S. official said. 3) Most observers now believe the earliest a deciding vote could take place in Haiti is February, when current President Préval's current term officially expires, the Globe and Mail reports. An independent recount of more than 11,000 tally sheets from Haiti's Nov. 28th election by CEPR found nearly 12 per cent of the tally sheets were never received by Haiti's Electoral Council or were quarantined by the CEP due to irregularities. These tally sheets account for more than 15 per cent of the total votes counted. Turnout was extremely low: an estimated 22.3 per cent of the electorate cast a vote, compared with 59.3 per cent in the 2006 presidential election. 4) A U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks quoted US officials as saying a key Israeli cargo crossing for goods entering Gaza was rife with corruption, AP reports. The 2006 cable says major US companies told U.S. diplomats they were forced to pay hefty bribes to get goods into Gaza. It was unclear whether the practice still continues, AP says. A local Coca-Cola executive claimed an unidentified "high-level official" at the crossing headed the corruption ring. The cable says other companies, including Proctor & Gamble, Caterpillar, Philip Morris, Westinghouse, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Aramex and Dell, had complained of corruption at the crossing. The Coca-Cola executive told U.S. diplomats that the cost of the bribes would rise after extended closures of the border. 5) Oxfam says 1 million people remain under tents or tarpaulins and rubble still clogs Port-au-Prince, the Guardian reports. "Too many donors from rich countries have pursued their own aid priorities and have not effectively coordinated amongst themselves or worked with the Haitian government," Oxfam said. Only 5% of rubble has been cleared. 6) The UN says food riots and increasing hunger among the planet's poorest people are among likely effects of a new surge in world food prices, The Independent reports. The UN's index of food prices stands at its highest since the index started in 1990, surpassing even the peaks seen during the 2008 food crisis. 7) An American teenager detained in Kuwait two weeks ago and placed on an American no-fly list claims that he was severely beaten by his Kuwaiti captors, the New York Times reports. The teenager said he was beaten with sticks, forced to stand for hours, threatened with electric shocks and warned that his mother would be imprisoned. His lawyer charged that he was taken into custody at the behest of the U.S. Because he was put on the no-fly list, he cannot return home, even though his brother says Kuwaiti officials told him they are pushing for his release. * Israel/Palestine <#12d5d72a5b356881_January611r2>* 8) Israeli human rights groups expressed outrage after Israel's parliament moved toward approving a formal inquiry into their sources of funding, describing it as a step to stifle dissent and limit democracy, AP reports. The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel called the legislation "authoritarian, immoral and illegitimate," adding that it "mourns the slow but sure death of democratic values in Israel." * Iran/Afghanistan <#12d5d72a5b356881_January611r3>* 9) The US and NATO plan to spend $11.6 billion this year building Afghanistan's security forces, the largest yearly sum to date, the Washington Post reports. The new funding pushes the total for 2010 and 2011 to nearly $20 billion, as much as in the seven previous years combined. * Haiti <#12d5d72a5b356881_January611r4>* 10) An Amnesty report said little is being done to help victims of rape and sexual violence in Haiti's refugee camps, AFP reports. "There is no security for women and girls in the camps," said Gerardo Ducos, Amnesty International's lead Haiti researcher. "Armed gangs attack at will, safe in the knowledge that there is little prospect that they will be brought to justice." * Contents:* *U.S./Top News* 1) Pakistan-Afghanistan to hold peace jirga AFP, January 7, 2011, 4:06 am http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/8607341/pakistanafghanistan-to-hold-peace-jirga/<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=4WlRHbAiwLZm6CMc3DcLpb1w8x9zZsDY> Islamabad - Pakistan and a visiting delegation of Afghan officials charged with trying to broker peace with the Taliban have agreed to hold a peace "jirga" between the two countries, Islamabad said on Thursday. A spokesman for Pakistan's foreign ministry said the decision was made during a visit to the capital by two dozen members of Kabul's High Committee for Peace, led by its chairman, former Afghan premier Burhanuddin Rabbani. "Both parties agreed to convene a peace jirga with representatives of both countries in the coming months," spokesman Abdul Basit said, without elaborating on the location and date. Basit said both sides discussed the opening of an Afghan Taliban representative office in Turkey, an idea recently floated by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to kick-start stalled negotiations with the rebels. "We have no problem with that if Afghanistan and Turkey agree. We agree with any effort made by the Afghan government to bring peace," said Basit. [...] The visit marks the beginning of a new phase in Kabul's attempts to woo Taliban rebels to negotiate peace after nine years of war in Afghanistan and as US and NATO-led coalition forces plan to send some troops home this year. The HCP was set up last summer by Afghan President Hamid Karzai who appears more willing to include Pakistan in talks, after years of accusing its neighbour of sponsoring the insurgency to defend strategic interests in the region. The Taliban and other militant groups including Hezb-i-Islami, which is led by former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, vowed Thursday to keep fighting until foreign forces have left the country. [...] Haroon Zarghoon, a spokesman for the Hezb-i-Islami which is waging a separate insurgency against Karzai's administration also dismissed the peace body as powerless. Before holding peace talks "we want the foreign forces to start withdrawing Afghanistan from this July and complete the withdrawal in six months," Zarghoon told AFP by phone, adding the HCP has "no authority to make big decisions." [...] 2) U.S. Boosts Afghan Surge Pentagon Plans to Send 1,400 Extra Marines to Supplement Spring Campaign Adam Entous and Julian E. Barnes, Wall Street Journal, January 4, 2011 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703675904576064021086613148.html<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=qz49lLbjVj1pxVCDIo8C571w8x9zZsDY> Washington - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has decided to send an additional 1,400 Marine combat forces to Afghanistan, officials said, in a surprise move ahead of the spring fighting season to try to cement tentative security gains before White House-mandated troop reductions begin in July. The Marine battalion could start arriving on the ground as early as mid-January. The forces would mostly be deployed in the south, around Kandahar, where the U.S. has concentrated troops over the past several months. Commanders in Afghanistan and advocates of the strategy in Washington say temporarily adding front-line forces could help counter an anticipated spring offensive by Taliban militants returning from havens in neighboring Pakistan. Commanders are examining other proposals to temporarily boost the number of combat troops in Afghanistan in addition to the Marines authorized Wednesday. If the plans are approved, the front-line fighting force could be increased in total by as many as 3,000 troops. U.S. commanders in Afghanistan face intense pressure to show sustainable security gains in the first half of 2011. Military officials fear an upswing in attacks by the Taliban in the spring could convince the White House that the Pentagon's war strategy is flawed and that the troop pullout-the details of which have yet to be ironed out-should be accelerated. [...] Some Democrats in Congress are likely to question the decision to boost U.S. combat strength, even temporarily, at a time when the U.S. and its allies are preparing withdrawals, a senior congressional aide said. No congressional approval would be required for the new boost in combat troops, but congressional support is important for Pentagon leaders and commanders who want lawmakers to stand by the strategy. The additional Marine deployment could push the total surge troops in Afghanistan beyond the 30,000 announced by Mr. Obama in December 2009. At the time, Mr. Obama gave Mr. Gates authority to add an extra 10%-or 3,000 more troops-to respond to unforeseen contingencies. The Pentagon initially said it intended to use the 10% reserve to rush support units, such as medical or roadside bomb-removal teams, into the war zone if needed. The reserve has, however, been tapped to fill other military needs, including trainers for Afghan security forces. Officials estimate that up to 2,000 of the 3,000 reserve slots have been deployed, but the numbers fluctuate frequently. [...] Anthony Cordesman, a defense analyst at the bipartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said it was unclear what impact, if any, a temporary increase in combat power would have on the overall military campaign as long as the havens in Pakistan remain open to the Taliban. "If the enemy simply chooses to hunker down, ride out, adapt the kinds of tactics that other guerrilla movements have used under acute pressure…you don't win the war-all you do is basically create a battle of attrition," he said. Some officials have voiced concerns about the military's ability to maintain control of areas cleared of Taliban, citing the group's ability to replace leaders killed or captured in U.S. Special Operations raids. "As much as we are hammering them in the south and east, their numbers aren't dwindling. They have so many young men who are disenfranchised, who have nothing better to do," the senior U.S. official said. [...] 3) Haiti set to delay presidential runoff Sonia Verma and Jessica Leeder, Toronto Globe and Mail, Jan. 06, 2011 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/haiti-set-to-delay-presidential-runoff/article1859346/<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=A9HzmR1dmcZ26bHeElRODL1w8x9zZsDY> Toronto and Jacmel, Haiti - Haiti faces a period of prolonged political drift after the country's electoral authority signalled it would delay a second vote to select a new president. Officials said a new date for the runoff - meant to take place Jan. 16 - would not be set until the Organization of American States issues its findings on electoral fraud in the first ballot. Most observers now believe the earliest a deciding vote could take place is February, when current President René Préval's current term officially expires. [...] An independent recount of more than 11,000 tally sheets from Haiti's Nov. 28th election by the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research reveals: - Nearly 12 per cent of the tally sheets were never received by Haiti's Electoral Council or were quarantined by the CEP due to irregularities. These tally sheets account for more than 15 per cent of the total votes counted. - 5 per cent of tally sheets had numbers that were obvious clerical errors. - Turnout was extremely low: an estimated 22.3 per cent of the electorate cast a vote, compared with 59.3 per cent in the 2006 presidential election. 4) WikiLeaks: Israeli Guards Sought Bribes for Gaza Key Crossing Point for Goods into Gaza was Rife with Corrupt Israeli Guards, Latest Diplomatic Cable Claims AP, January 6, 2011 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/06/world/main7218893.shtml<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=6LbUsuT5GxR1hqOi7xWd7b1w8x9zZsDY> Jerusalem - A U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks on Thursday quoted American officials as saying a key Israeli cargo crossing for goods entering the Gaza Strip was rife with corruption. The June 14, 2006, cable, published Thursday by Norway's Aftenposten daily, says major American companies told U.S. diplomats they were forced to pay hefty bribes to get goods into Gaza. It was unclear whether the practice still continues. [...] The document quoted a local Coca-Cola distributor as saying he was asked to pay more than $3,000 to get a truckload of merchandise through the Karni crossing. The executive claimed an unidentified "high-level official" at the crossing headed the corruption ring. "Corruption extends to Karni management and involves logistics companies working as middlemen for military and civilian officials at the terminal," the document says. The executive was identified as Joerg Hartmann, with Coca-Cola's distributor in the West Bank. The company did not immediately return a call seeking comment. The cable says other companies, including Proctor & Gamble, Caterpillar, Philip Morris, Westinghouse, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Aramex and Dell, had complained of corruption at the crossing. It was not clear which companies had actually paid the bribes, though the document said Caterpillar executives refused to pay. The alleged corruption occurred a year before Hamas overran Gaza and Israel imposed an economic blockade. At that time, however, Israeli-Palestinian violence frequently closed the border crossings. Hartmann told U.S. diplomats that the cost of the bribes would rise after extended closures of the border. The document was identified as a "joint cable" by the U.S. ambassador to Israel in Tel Aviv and the American consul-general in Jerusalem, who works closely with the Palestinians. [...] 5) Haiti one year on: suffering, lost opportunities and political paralysis 1 million people still live in makeshift accommodation and only 5% of rubble left by earthquake cleared, Oxfam report says Rory Carroll, The Guardian, Thursday 6 January 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/06/haiti-earthquake-one-year-on<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=1UrxhhQmJ5fx4%2BDwvsgKAL1w8x9zZsDY> Government dithering and lack of coordination between aid agencies and donors have crippled rebuilding efforts in Haiti, leaving the country in ruins almost a year after the earthquake, a report says today. Nearly 1 million people remain under tents or tarpaulins and rubble still clogs Port-au-Prince, reflecting a "year of indecision" which has put recovery on hold, according to Oxfam. [...] The destruction of the capital and death of an estimated 230,000 people, including civil servants and technicians crushed in collapsed ministries, prompted a huge international relief effort, with $2.1bn pledged. Thousands of aid agencies and missionary groups poured into the Caribbean nation. According to the UN's special envoy for Haiti, only 42% of that was spent. Roland van Hauwermeiren, the country's Oxfam's director, said near paralysis in Haiti's government had been compounded by mistakes in the international response. "Too many donors from rich countries have pursued their own aid priorities and have not effectively coordinated amongst themselves or worked with the Haitian government," he said. The agency accused the interim Haiti recovery commission, led by the former US president Bill Clinton and Haiti's prime minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, of being "lacklustre" in managing funds and improving Haiti's technical capacity to spend them. An emblematic failure is the fact that only 5% of rubble has been cleared. Privately, aid agencies have said it is easier to raise funds for shelters and medical treatment than to clear debris which, one said, is "less emotional, less sexy". [...] 6) The coming hunger: Record food prices put world 'in danger', says UN Perfect storm of climate and oil puts world into 'danger territory' Sean O'Grady, The Independent, Thursday, 6 January 2011 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/the-coming-hunger-record-food-prices-put-world-in-danger-says-un-2177220.html<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=N%2BrFKJ0a2demphbkhBqDkL1w8x9zZsDY> Food riots, geopolitical tensions, global inflation and increasing hunger among the planet's poorest people are the likely effects of a new surge in world food prices, which have hit an all-time high according to the United Nations. The UN's index of food prices - an international basket comprising wheat, corn, dairy produce, meat and sugar - stands at its highest since the index started in 1990, surpassing even the peaks seen during the 2008 food crisis, which prompted civil disturbances from Mexico to Indonesia. "We are entering danger territory," said the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's chief economist, Abdolreza Abbassian. [...] The latest surge in crude oil prices adds to the risk of turmoil. Many experts say oil prices show few signs of abating, and the price of a barrel is set to breach the $100 barrier again soon. Opec officials yesterday said they were happy with such a level. Oil peaked at just under $150 a barrel in 2008; any sign of renewed tension in Iran would see the price exceed that. Higher oil prices add to food price inflation by increasing transportation costs. [...] David Cameron has disclosed that the Treasury was considering introducing a "fuel stabiliser". Under the move, tax paid by motorists would be cut when the cost of oil surged worldwide and rise when it dropped. He said: "We are looking at it. It's not simple but I would like to try and find some way of sharing the risk of higher fuel prices with the consumer." 7) Detained American Says He Was Beaten in Kuwait Mark Mazzetti, New York Times, January 5, 2011 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/world/middleeast/06detain.html<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=s%2BFhmXtLcZBbVwfAC01lkb1w8x9zZsDY> Washington - An American teenager detained in Kuwait two weeks ago and placed on an American no-fly list claims that he was severely beaten by his Kuwaiti captors during a weeklong interrogation about possible contacts with terrorism suspects in Yemen. The teenager, Gulet Mohamed, a Somali-American who turned 19 during his captivity, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday from a Kuwaiti detention cell that he was beaten with sticks, forced to stand for hours, threatened with electric shocks and warned that his mother would be imprisoned if he did not give truthful answers about his travels in Yemen and Somalia in 2009. American officials have offered few details about the case, except to confirm that Mr. Mohamed is on a no-fly list and, for now at least, cannot return to the United States. Mr. Mohamed, from Alexandria, Va., remains in a Kuwaiti detention center even after Kuwait's government, according to his brother, determined that he should be released. Mr. Mohamed said that Kuwaiti interrogators repeatedly asked whether he had ever met Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric now hiding in Yemen who is suspected in terrorist plots by Al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate. He said that the Kuwaitis also asked detailed questions about his family in the United States and his family's clan in Somalia - information he said he assumed that American officials provided to the Kuwaitis. Mr. Mohamed denies ever meeting with militants. "I am a good Muslim, I despise terrorism," he said in the interview. The Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment about the episode, and State Department officials would not answer questions about whether American officials helped engineer Mr. Mohamed's arrest. A message left at the Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington was not returned. Mr. Mohamed's case is the latest in a string of episodes over the past year in which Americans have been detained overseas and questioned about their travels to Yemen, where a number of attempted terrorist attacks against the United States have originated. The Obama administration has expanded terrorist watch lists to prevent people who have traveled to Yemen to travel to the United States without additional screening - or detention and questioning. During the 90-minute telephone interview, Mr. Mohamed was agitated as he recounted his captivity, tripping over his words and breaking into tears. He said he left the United States in March 2009 to "see the world and learn my religion," and had planned to return to the United States for college. He said he had traveled to Yemen to study Arabic, but stayed less than a month because his mother worried about his safety. He said that he spent five months later that year living with an aunt and uncle in northern Somalia, before moving to Kuwait in August 2009 to live with an uncle and continue his Arabic studies. He said that after being taken into custody, he had been visited once by an American Embassy official in Kuwait, and that F.B.I. agents visited a week later to tell him that he could not return to the United States until he gave truthful answers about his travels. On Tuesday, his lawyer wrote a letter to the Justice Department demanding an investigation into the episode. "The manner of his detention and the questions asked of Mr. Mohamed indicate to him that he was taken into custody at the behest of the United States," wrote Gadeir Abbas, a lawyer appointed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. [...] Mr. Mohamed said he rarely slept during a week or so at the prison and was able to mark time only by the daily cycle of Islamic prayers. He said that his interrogators told him they would have American officials detain his mother in Virginia and that "he would never see her again" if he did not tell the truth about his connections to terrorists. During the interrogation sessions, he said, the Kuwaitis also tried to intimidate him by repeatedly barking orders to "bring the electricity." Mr. Mohamed said he was eventually transferred to the deportation center in Kuwait, where he is currently detained. He said that the American Embassy officer told him that his travels had raised "red flags." The officer, he said, told him that the embassy had been unaware of his whereabouts and had been searching hospitals and local jails since his disappearance - an assertion he said he did not believe. It is unclear how long Mr. Mohamed will remain in limbo. His older brother, Mohed, has traveled to Kuwait, and he said in an interview on Wednesday that the Kuwaitis told him they were pushing for his release, but that the American Embassy had not yet filled out paperwork that would allow Mr. Mohamed to be freed. Mohed Mohamed said that his family, which fled Somalia in 1995, has always been pro-American and grateful to the United States for its intervention in Somalia's civil war in the 1990s. [...]* Israel/Palestine* 8) Israeli rights groups: Inquiry is war on dissent Mark Lavie, Associated Press, Wednesday, January 5, 2011; 3:25 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/05/AR2011010503587.html<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Elh1LhoBcmxsutBJuZkQi71w8x9zZsDY> Jerusalem - Human rights groups expressed outrage Wednesday after Israel's parliament moved toward approving a formal inquiry into their sources of funding, describing it as a step to stifle dissent and limit democracy. The vote was one of a series needed to establish a parliamentary commission of inquiry into human rights groups that work toward prosecution of Israeli soldiers and officials abroad for alleged war crimes. It passed by a wide margin, 41-15. The sponsor of the inquiry legislation, like similar steps before, was Yisrael Beitenu, the hard-line party headed by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and dominated by immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Activities of groups like Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem, which expose alleged Israeli human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza, have long infuriated Lieberman and his allies. The idea of a formal inquiry into rights groups follows earlier initiatives from Israel's right, like requiring an oath of loyalty from non-Jews who apply for Israeli citizenship and banning state funding for groups that mark the annual Palestinian day of mourning over Israel's creation. Hagai Elad, director of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel, one of the country's oldest human rights advocacy groups, complained that the hard-liners who dominate the current parliament "have shown that instead of dealing with the content of the criticism voiced, they prefer to silence and vilify" the groups. Another group, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, called the legislation "authoritarian, immoral and illegitimate," adding that it "mourns the slow but sure death of democratic values in Israel." Critics of the groups charge that European governments and organizations channel huge amounts of money to the groups without accountability, supporting what the critics call "lawfare," legal action aimed at delegitimizing Israel. David Kriss, spokesman for the European Union delegation in Israel, said that the EU does not hide its donations. "All of the EU's funding is done according to accepted criteria, and donations are all listed on the EU website," he said. The EU mission does not speak for its member nations. [...] In response, 14 rights groups issued a joint statement rejecting the reasoning, adding, "Similar attempts to silence criticism have failed in the past, (and) this attempt will fail, too." *Afghanistan* 9) U.S. and NATO allies plan to spend $11.6 billion this year for Afghan security Joshua Partlow, Washington Post, Wednesday, January 5, 2011; 7:53 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/05/AR2011010503337.html<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=0h3d8KVLYbH6HJa0exyOmL1w8x9zZsDY> Kabul - The United States and its NATO allies plan to spend $11.6 billion this year building Afghanistan's security forces, the largest yearly sum to date, as pressure mounts to shift responsibility for fighting the Taliban from the U.S.-led force toward local troops. The new funding pushes the total for 2010 and 2011 to nearly $20 billion, as much as in the seven previous years combined, said Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, the commander of NATO's training mission in Afghanistan. Funds already spent have purchased, among other things, 24,000 Ford Rangers, 108,000 9mm pistols, 74,000 handheld radios, 44 helicopters and four bomb-sniffing robots. [...] *Haiti* 10) In squalid Haiti camps, rape stalks women: Amnesty Karin Zeitvogel, AFP, Thu Jan 6, 2:29 am ET http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110106/wl_afp/haitiquake1yearwomenrape_20110106072929<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=7DpfMLhqclhrFN5DTHb8I71w8x9zZsDY> Washington - An Amnesty report laid bare horrific accounts of rape in Haiti's squalid refugee camps a year after a devastating quake left many struggling to rebuild their shattered lives. They are women like Guerline, who two months after losing her husband when their home crumbled to the ground in the devastating quake, had to watch as her teenage daughter was raped in a makeshift tarpaulin camp in Port-au-Prince. "Four men raped her. She is 13 years old," Guerline told Amnesty International researchers, who compiled the report, published Wednesday, after interviewing more than 50 women and girls in Haiti's post-quake camps. [...] Amnesty said little is being done to help her and other victims of rape and sexual violence, old woes for Haiti that worsened after the earthquake killed over 230,000 people, injured 300,000 others and flattened large tracts of the capital. The destruction and death meant many women and girls lost the family and community networks that used to shield them from the threats they now face. Precarious living conditions in the camps further worsened their already dire situation. "The lack of security in and around the camps is one of the main factors contributing to sexual and other forms of gender-based violence," the report said. But the government, which was also crippled by the quake that brought down the presidential palace and scores of other official buildings, has made little progress in resettling Haitians or ensuring they are not in danger in the camps. A year after the quake, some 1.05 million Haitians still live in 1,200 such camps. Most of those displaced by the quake are women. "There is no security for women and girls in the camps," said Gerardo Ducos, Amnesty International's lead Haiti researcher. "Armed gangs attack at will, safe in the knowledge that there is little prospect that they will be brought to justice." [...] - Just Foreign Policy<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=dS4AOwpBrihhW9NL%2FWYr8L1w8x9zZsDY>is a membership organization devoted to reforming US foreign policy so it reflects the values and interests of the majority of Americans. The archive of the Just Foreign Policy News is here<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=J47ywbvzJYLgV9wCnZOUcb1w8x9zZsDY> . ------------ Click here to unsubscribe<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=OZQxJrzGWR%2BruskayffHb71w8x9zZsDY> [image: empowered by Salsa] <http://www.salsalabs.com/?email> _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
