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Pakistani politician Imran Kahn, a vocal critic of U.S. drone strikes, was briefly delayed and questioned by U.S. immigration officials in Toronto before being allowed to board a flight to New York, prompting his party to demand an apology from Washington.
Khan told his followers on Twitter that he was detained and interrogated Friday about his views on drones.
READ ON: U.S. officials pull Pakistani politician off plane -
Sure, we as a nation have always killed people. A lot of people. But no president has ever waged war by killing enemies one by one, targeting them individually for execution, wherever they are. The Obama administration has taken pains to tell us, over and over again, that they are careful, scrupulous of our laws, and determined to avoid the loss of collateral, innocent lives. They’re careful because when it comes to waging war on individuals, the distinction between war and murder becomes a fine one. Especially when, on occasion, the individuals we target are Americans and when, in one instance, the collateral damage was an American boy.
Tom Junod, The lethal presidency of Barack Obama -
What does the future of war look like? I spoke to former deputy secretary of state James Steinberg to find out.
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Al-Jazeera’s The Stream takes a closer look at the drone program currently being run by the United States
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No one asked their names.
In the days following the rogue US soldier’s shooting spree in Kandahar, most of the media, us included, focused on the “backlash” and how it might further strain the relations with the US.
Many mainstream media outlets channelled a significant amount of energy into uncovering the slightest detail about the accused soldier – now identified as Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. We even know where his wife wanted to go for vacation, or what she said on her personal blog.
But the victims became a footnote, an anonymous footnote. Just the number 16. No one bothered to ask their ages, their hobbies, their aspirations. Worst of all, no one bothered to ask their names.
In honoring their memory, I write their names below, and the little we know about them: that nine of them were children, three were women.
The dead:
Mohamed Dawood son of Abdullah
Khudaydad son of Mohamed Juma
Nazar Mohamed
Payendo
Robeena
Shatarina daughter of Sultan Mohamed
Zahra daughter of Abdul Hamid
Nazia daughter of Dost Mohamed
Masooma daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Farida daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Palwasha daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Nabia daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Esmatullah daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Faizullah son of Mohamed Wazir
Essa Mohamed son of Mohamed Hussain
Akhtar Mohamed son of Murrad Ali
The wounded:
Haji Mohamed Naim son of Haji Sakhawat
Mohamed Sediq son of Mohamed Naim
Parween
Rafiullah
Zardana
ZulhejaA prayer for all sixteen martyrs. May their souls rest in peace and may justice be served one day, some day. Amin.
I’d like to see less stories about the shooter and more about the people whose lives he took.
(Source: aljazeera.com)
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Obama admin to outline how U.S. laws empower them to kill Americans overseas whom they accuse of terrorism against U.S
Civil liberties groups have been pressuring the administration to offer justification for what has been described as a top-secret “targeted kill” program in which Americans who have joined al Qaeda or other militants are deemed legitimate targets to be killed overseas.
Attorney General Eric Holder plans to address the issue and the underpinning legal principles for using lethal force during remarks at Northwestern University School of Law on Monday afternoon in Chicago, the source said Sunday on condition of anonymity.
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@RickSantorum Well then I look forward to being reimbursed for any of my tax dollars that funded the Iraq War.
— Gina Marie (@ginambakkun) February 17, 2012
(via kellydeal)
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Of course Obama should apologize for the Carter-era and especially Reagan-era atrocities in Central America sponsored by the US. And perhaps that great humanitarian, Jimmy Carter, who launched our warmongering in the region and who held office when Romero was killed, should apologize too.
(Natalie Merchant has apologized.)
Do you want to see how important the past is for some people?
That’s Mauricio Funes, the president of El Salvador, standing in front of an image of Monseñor Óscar Romero. The next time you make the claim that certain people in power, chiefly Barack Obama, shouldn’t apologize for the actions of previous administrations you may be right. However the gesture could go a long way and makes well intentioned moments like this less infuriating. Roberto Lovato, for the Pulitzer Center, documents this better than I could,
In this sense, Lazo’s painting is symbolic of the questions asked by millions of Salvadorans: Will Obama acknowledge – and apologize for – his country’s role in training, funding and politically backing the Salvadoran governments responsible for the death of Romero and more than 80,000 other, lesser-known Salvadorans? Will he follow the steps of Salvadoran President Funes, who mentioned Romero while initiating a process of formal forgiveness after being elected, like Obama, two years ago?
On the 31st anniversary of the assassination of Romero by U.S.-trained paramilitary death squad operatives, Salvadorans want to know if Obama will do his part to end the spirit of impunity that many here feel is at the heart of the generalized brutality that makes their country one of the most violent countries in the world.
“Monseñor Romero is the maximum symbol of impunity in El Salvador,” said Ricardo Vaquerano, editor in chief of the popular El Faro online newspaper. “Obama’s visit (to Romero’s tomb) is an important symbol because it creates spaces and perhaps sends the message that the United States believes that justice is possible in El Salvador,” he said, adding, “but symbols are not enough.”
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