1.  And we say it is so awful when ‘the bad guys’ uses humans as shields in war-time.  From the Russian newspaper Pravda (which we all grew up thinking was full of such evil propaganda):

“Divers made a sensational discovery during the examination of the Lusitania ocean liner which sank in 1915. They confirmed the version, according to which Britain and the USA used civil passenger vessels to smuggle arms, jeopardizing the lives of thousands of civilians. The passengers of the liner were virtually used as the human shield in the event the liner was going to be attacked by the German navy.

The divers found war supplies on board the Lusitania liner, which sank on May 7, 1915 off the coast of Ireland. Most of the passengers – 1,198 people, including 139 American citizens – were killed in the tragedy. The event, which the media described as the largest military crime in history, sparked numerous protests in the world and had the USA involved in WWI.

…

The German media immediately wrote that there were explosive substances and military hardware on board the liner. Britain and the United States rejected the affirmation.“

http://www.911blogger.com/node/18924

2.  “As George W. Bush and Dick Cheney make their case for some positive legacy from the past eight years, two arguments are playing key roles: the notion that torturing terror suspects saved American lives and the belief that Bush’s Iraq troop “surge” transformed a disaster into something close to “victory.”

Not only will these twin arguments be important in defining the public’s future impression of where Bush should rank on the presidential list, but they could constrain how far President Barack Obama can go in reversing these policies. In other words, the perception of the past can affect the future.

Though most current thinking holds that George W. Bush might want to trademark the slogan “Worst President Ever,” America’s powerful right-wing media (and its many allies in the mainstream press) will surely seek to rehabilitate Bush’s reputation as much as possible.

Even elevating Bush to the status of a presidential mediocrity might open the door for a revival of the Bush Dynasty with brother Jeb already eyeing one of Florida’s U.S. Senate seats and possibly harboring grander ambitions.

And even if another Bush in the White House is not realistic, a kinder-gentler judgment on George W. Bush at least could help the Republican Party rebound in 2010 and 2012. So evaluating the Bush-Cheney torture policies and how successful the “surge” are not just academic exercises.

…

In other words, even Rumsfeld would agree that the simplistic conventional wisdom of Washington – that Bush’s “surge” turned everything around and that everyone, including Barack Obama, must accept that “fact” – doesn’t square with the more complex reality.

Still, as Americans should have learned over the past three decades of image-managing – from Ronald Reagan to Karl Rove – perceptions can be a powerful thing. Perception may not be the same as reality but it can become a very dangerous substitute both in defining the present and charting the future.“

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/122608.html

3.  Unfortunately, America has turned its back on the human beings in Gaza:

“The baby is crying again. You wake up. Cold. There is no electricity in the house; it went off during the night. For the last week – weeks, months – it has been on only sporadically. You throw on a coat and go to check on the baby. It seems listless. There is no milk in the house, and very little food. The UN shipments have stopped again, and you are not sure when they will resume.

In the other room, you hear your husband coughing. He has been sick for weeks and lately he has been spitting up blood. He has tried to get permission to get to a hospital in Israel, but every time he has been denied permission to leave.

You go outside to see if a neighbor can give you any milk. The first thing that hits you is the stench. The garbage has not been collected for weeks, and the sewage problem, because of the recent rains, has become even worse. No wonder so many people are sick. You are living in a cesspool. And you, and everyone else, is trapped inside this prison because the borders are sealed. This has been going on now for a year and half, and there is no telling when it will be over. And with the end of the truce, such as it was, there is a renewed threat of violence from the Israelis. Even now, you see an Israeli drone overhead and know that a missile could be launched from it at any time.

This is ordinary life these days in Gaza, the thin strip of land along the southern Mediterranean coast, 25 miles long and 6 miles wide at its maximum into which about one and half million inhabitants, most of them originally refugees, are packed. Gaza has one of the highest population densities in the world, and most of its population, about 56%, is 16 or younger. Many are malnourished – some estimates put the figure as high as 75%. According to a recent study cited by the noted author, Chris Hedges, 46% of Gazan children are afflicted with acute anemia, and 30% suffer from stunted growth as a result of chronic malnutrition. About a tenth of these children have permanent brain damage. Eighty-two percent are afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder; the great majority of them have witnessed death first-hand. Eighty percent of the population as a whole is dependent on food aid. Unemployment is rampant – upwards of 60%. Most Gazans subsist on less than $2 a day.

According to a recent report by Andrea Becker in an article entitled “The Slow Death of Gaza,” the effects of the siege, which has been imposed on Gaza by Israel, ever since Hamas took control of this territory in June, 2007, have been devastating, and the situation is, if anything, only growing worse. Many on-the-spot observers and prominent international spokesmen have not hesitated to call Israel’s actions genocidal both in intent and effect. The U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Territories, Richard Falk, for example, has condemned the Israeli siege of Gaza as “a crime against humanity” and “a prelude to genocide.” It’s easy to understand why when you read such reports as Becker’s where she recounts the various forms of misery and deprivation from which Gazans suffer daily:

“In practice, Israel’s blockade means the denial of a broad range of items – food, industrial, educational, medical – deemed ‘non-essential’ for a population largely unable to be self-sufficient at the end of decades of occupation. It means that industrial, cooking and diesel fuel, normally scarce, are virtually absent now. There are no queues at petrol stations; they are simply shut. The lack of fuel in turn means that sewage and treatment stations cannot function properly, resulting in decreased potable water and tens of millions of litres of untreated or partly treated sewage being dumped into the sea every day. Electricity cuts – previously around eight hours a day, now up to 16 hours a day in many areas – affect all homes and hospitals. Those lucky enough to have generators struggle to find the fuel to make them work, or spare parts to repair them when they break from overuse. Even candles are running out.”

Articles such as Becker’s are easily found on the Internet and even occasionally in the American press; there is no dearth of damning statistics that can be cited to illustrate the immensity of the problems Gazans face in coping with the challenges of this siege, seemingly without end.

…

Again, like the statistics I cited at the beginning of this article, these despairing Gazan voices could be multiplied ad infinitum, but redundancy would not strengthen my case that the people of Gaza have been suffering, and continue to suffer, grievously from this terrible siege that has been imposed on them collectively because of the actions of a few. Of this, you are probably already convinced, whatever you may think of the justifications – or lack of it – for Israel’s actions. The point is that more than a million people are experiencing a calamitous humanitarian crisis, which has been made even worse by so many American voices remaining silent in the face of this ongoing and, in the view of many, obscene strangulation of Gaza.

Of course, you could say, “well, there are many people who are suffering throughout the world – look at Darfur, the Congo, Kenya, India, etc., etc.” True enough, but Americans must remember this: It is our unremitting financial support of Israel, amounting to about 3 billion dollars every year*, making it the recipient of more of our foreign aid that any other country, that makes this siege possible. We are paying for all those planes and missiles, for all those bulldozers that demolish the houses of Gazans (and other Palestinians), and for the salaries for all those guards who are keeping the Gazan people locked up in their fetid open-air prison. Yes, these are your tax dollars at work. Do you really want to continue to see them spent in this way?“

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/kring.php?articleid=13955

4.  ““There was no immediate comment on the Israeli air strikes on Gaza from Obama, who is vacationing with his family in Hawaii, or his staff.”

This is how our incoming President has reacted to the worst attack on the Palestinian people in 20 years – by not reacting at all.

The Bush White House, of course, has responded as we all know they would: Israel-has-the-right-to-defend itself, let the killing begin, etc., ad nauseum.

And don’t expect much better from the Obama camp. Remember how he scolded the UN for daring to even discuss the Gaza situation?:

“We have to understand why Israel is forced to do this… Israel has the right to respond while seeking to minimize any impact on civilians. The Security Council should clearly and unequivocally condemn the rocket attacks… If it cannot bring itself to make these common sense points, I urge you to ensure that it does not speak at all.”

With his silence – or, at least, his very delayed reaction – it seems clear that Obama is taking his own advice. Even as Israel takes the possibility of a new page in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict off the agenda, and sabotages all his brave talk about a renewed US diplomatic effort, the great “liberal” hope is apparently tongue-tied. And when he finally speaks, “progressives” should prepare for the worst: after all, this is someone who endorsed the Israeli re-invasion of Lebanon.

The Israeli-Palestinian “peace process”? The Israelis, for their part, are having none of it – and neither is our future President.“

http://news.antiwar.com/2008/12/27/obama-on-gaza-no-comment/

5.  On why change will come very slowly under Obama, if at all:

“President-elect Obama’s first appointments to the Justice, State and Defense Departments mark no radical change. Rather, they return to a centrist consensus familiar from the Clinton years. But pragmatic incrementalism and studied bipartisanship will do little to undo the centerpiece of the Bush/Cheney era’s legacy. At its heart, that regime was intent on forcing the Constitution into a new mold of executive dominance.

Obama enters the White House in a slipstream of forces that will hinder attempts to abandon this constitutional vision. He may be a careful constitutional scholar, but we can’t rely on Obama alone to reorient the constitutional order. It will be up to progressives to insist on fundamental repudiation of the Bush/Cheney era.
…

Internal pressure for changing the White House position on executive power will thus wane as the new administration settles in. And pressure from the other two branches is unlikely to swell. The Obama White House will at first face a friendly Congress eager to show results on the economy and healthcare. Unlike the recently oppositional Congress, legislators in the majority have little incentive to make constitutional waves (expect some stalwarts, such as Senator Russ Feingold, to buck this trend). Matters are not helped by the turn from the feckless to the competent. Legislators and the public care most about the constitutional restraints on executive power when the occupant of the White House raises concerns about abuses of power. A more capable leader’s entrance saps immediate pressure for reform, even when openings for such limits can be glimpsed.

Nor will the judiciary, listing rightward with President Bush’s 324 appointments, provide much constraint. In his appointments to the Supreme Court and the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals (which hears many key constitutional cases), Bush seems to have selected executive-power mavens, including Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito and Judge Janice Rogers Brown. Their opinions already evince strong deference to executive claims of secrecy and expediency. Paradoxically, then, one of Bush’s key legacies will be a judiciary that instinctually hews to an executive controlled by a Democratic president.

I am thus not optimistic that the Obama administration will of its own volition restore the constitutional balance, even if it gives up some of Bush/Cheney’s most extravagant and offensive policies. With formidable forces arrayed against them, advocates for the Constitution’s original equilibrium of powers must choose their battles carefully.“

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090112/huq

6.  “No one objects to efforts to avert disruptions that threaten violence or keep the president from speaking. But White House staffers show control-freak tendencies that go beyond assuring security. The manual says that if someone merely displays a sign, “action needs to be taken immediately to minimize the demonstrator’s effect.”

What effect would that be? Showing that someone disagrees with George W. Bush—an effect that can’t be tolerated. That’s why Bush critics have to be removed even if they are quiet and non-disruptive.

It’s not enough to keep opponents out of his audiences. The manual also calls for keeping all external protests out of sight. It advises advance workers to get “the local police department to designate a protest area where demonstrators can be placed, preferably not in view of the event site or the motorcade route.” What kind of country would we be if we made the president endure the spectacle of citizens questioning his infallibility?”

http://www.reason.com/news/show/130741.html

7.  Some folks have said that, in times of war, the President can suspend habeas corpus.  Well, they’re wrong:

“The Constitution does not distinguish between citizens and noncitizens when it talks about “privileges.” To be sure, the Constitution permits Congress to suspend the writ of habeas corpus “when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”

http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0809b.asp

8.  God, this is all we need:

“Former US President Bill Clinton may be Secretary of State-designate Hillary’s special envoy for India and Pakistan even as she is

believed to be forming a “hit squad” of diplomats for the world’s troublespots. “

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3891701.cms

9.  We sure don’t need this, either:

“The research arm of the US Department of Justice is working on two portable non-lethal weapons that inflict pain from a distance using beams of laser light or microwaves, with the intention of putting them into the hands of police to subdue suspects.

The two devices under development by the civilian National Institute of Justice both build on knowledge gained from the Pentagon’s controversial Active Denial System (ADS) – first demonstrated in public last year, which uses a 2-metre beam of short microwaves to heat up the outer layer of a person’s skin and cause pain.

...

Human rights groups say that equipping police with such weapons would add to the problems posed by existing “non-lethals” such as Tasers. Security expert Steve Wright at Leeds Metropolitan University describes the new weapons as “torture at the touch of a button”.

“We have grave concerns about the deployment and use of any such devices, which have the potential to be used for torture or other ill treatment,” says Amnesty International’s arms control researcher Helen Hughes, adding that all research into their effects should be made public.“

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16339-us-police-could-get-pain-beam-weapons.html

10.  So not only has the US government already violated Posse Comitatus by stationing active-duty military (Northcom) inside the US, we now face the possibility of Canadian military troops being used to do police work inside the US:

“Canada, U.S. agree to use each other’s troops in civil emergencies

Canada and the U.S. have signed an agreement that paves the way for the militaries from either nation to send troops across each other’s borders during an emergency, but some are questioning why the Harper government has kept silent on the deal.

Neither the Canadian government nor the Canadian Forces announced the new agreement, which was signed Feb. 14 in Texas.

The U.S. military’s Northern Command, however, publicized the agreement with a statement outlining how its top officer, Gen. Gene Renuart, and Canadian Lt.-Gen. Marc Dumais, head of Canada Command, signed the plan, which allows the military from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation during a civil emergency.

…

Trew said there is potential for the agreement to militarize civilian responses to emergency incidents. He noted that work is also underway for the two nations to put in place a joint plan to protect common infrastructure such as roadways and oil pipelines.

“Are we going to see (U.S.) troops on our soil for minor potential threats to a pipeline or a road?” he asked.

…

“Co-operative militaries on Home Soil!” notes one website. “The next time your town has a ‘national emergency,’ don’t be surprised if Canadian soldiers respond. And remember – Canadian military aren’t bound by posse comitatus.”

Posse comitatus is a U.S. law that prohibits the use of federal troops from conducting law enforcement duties on domestic soil unless approved by Congress.

…
Scanlon said the actual agreement hasn’t been released to the public as that requires approval from both nations.  [What a surprise.]

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11499

11.  ““I will play music and celebrate what the Israeli air force is doing.” Those were the words, spoken on Al Jazeera today by Ofer Shmerling, an Israeli civil defense official in the Sderot area adjacent to Gaza, as images of Israel’s latest massacres were broadcast around the world.

A short time earlier, US-supplied Israeli F-16 warplanes and Apache helicopters dropped over 100 bombs on dozens of locations in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip killing at least 195 persons and injuring hundreds more. Many of these locations were police stations located, like police stations the world over, in the middle of civilian areas. The US government was one of the first to offer its support for Israel’s attacks, and others will follow.

Reports said that many of the dead were Palestinian police officers. Among those Israel labels “terrorists” were more than a dozen traffic police officers undergoing training. An as yet unknown number of civilians were killed and injured; Al Jazeera showed images of several dead children, and the Israeli attacks came at the time thousands of Palestinian children were in the streets on their way home from school.

Shmerling’s joy has been echoed by Israelis and their supporters around the world; their violence is righteous violence. It is “self-defense” against “terrorists” and therefore justified. Israeli bombing — like American and NATO bombing in Iraq and Afghanistan — is bombing for freedom, peace and democracy.

The rationalization for Israel’s massacres, already being faithfully transmitted by the English-language media, is that Israel is acting in “retaliation” for Palestinian rockets fired with increasing intensity ever since the six-month truce expired on 19 December (until today, no Israeli had been killed or injured by these recent rocket attacks).

But today’s horrific attacks mark only a change in Israel’s method of killing Palestinians recently. In recent months they died mostly silent deaths, the elderly and sick especially, deprived of food and necessary medicine by the two year-old Israeli blockade calculated and intended to cause suffering and deprivation to 1.5 million Palestinians, the vast majority refugees and children, caged into the Gaza Strip. In Gaza, Palestinians died silently, for want of basic medications: insulin, cancer treatment, products for dialysis prohibited from reaching them by Israel.

What the media never question is Israel’s idea of a truce. It is very simple. Under an Israeli-style truce, Palestinians have the right to remain silent while Israel starves them, kills them and continues to violently colonize their land. Israel has not only banned food and medicine to sustain Palestinian bodies in Gaza but it is also intent on starving minds: due to the blockade, there is not even ink, paper and glue to print textbooks for schoolchildren.
…
Once again we are watching massacres in Gaza, as we did last March when 110 Palestinians, including dozens of children, were killed by Israel in just a few days. Once again people everywhere feel rage, anger and despair that this outlaw state carries out such crimes with impunity.

But all over the Arab media and internet today the rage being expressed is not directed solely at Israel. Notably, it is directed more sharply than ever at Arab states. The images that stick are of Israel’s foreign minister Tzipi Livni in Cairo on Christmas day. There she sat smiling with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Then there are the pictures of Livni and Egypt’s foreign minister smiling and slapping their palms together.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported today that last wednesday the Israeli “cabinet authorized the prime minister, the defense minister, and the foreign minister to determine the timing and the method” of Israel’s attacks on Gaza. Everywhere people ask, what did Livni tell the Egyptians and more importantly what did they tell her? Did Israel get a green light to turn Gaza’s streets red once again? Few are ready to give Egypt the benefit of the doubt after it has helped Israel besiege Gaza by keeping the Rafah border crossing closed for more than a year.”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21545.htm