JANUARY 2013
WELCOME TO 2013, THE
YEAR OF THE DRONE AND UNENDING WAR!
It’s a new year, a new month, and a new war! Mali
is the lucky ducky this month, although it does look like this war will spread
throughout northern Africa. And our President (at
his inauguration) said that “a decade of war is now ending” and he totally
forgot to mention that another decade of war is now beginning (and he was
bombing Yemen
at the same day).
At the end of the month, France says that “combat operations
are over” on NPR – no wait, I got that wrong – they said “fighting is over”. I
guess it is no longer okay to call these “humanitarian” operations “combat”.
See below for how that is turning out. The month ends with Israel’s attack on Syria
and the US installing
Patriot missiles in Turkey
(and the locals are protesting) and installing drones in Niger. Here is
some of the news from the past month.
NO JUSTICE, NO
PEACE: CIA agent (who blew the
whistle on torture) sent to jail for 30 months for leaking a covert officer’s
name to the media. No punishment for those who actually tortured. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21203233
Wikileaks – The best of 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWW2wcl6w9I&feature=youtu.be
Pakistan
– Seven charity workers shot dead in northwest Pakistan. January 1, 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20880948
Pakistan
– Drone strike kills 15, including a Taliban leader. [Other sources say that
some of the people killed were rescuers, and that the Taliban leader was part
of the “good” Taliban, per Pakistan
officials. January 3, 2013] http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/03/world/asia/pakistan-drone-strikes/index.html
Pakistan
– US
drone attack kills eight suspected militants. [Other reports put the number at
12. January 6, 2013] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20925193
Pakistan
– A suspected U.S. drone
strike killed 17 people and wounded three Sunday in Pakistan's volatile tribal region,
Pakistani intelligence officials said. [January 6, 2013] http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/06/world/asia/pakistan-drone-strike/index.html
Pakistan
– Another drone strike kills eight. [January 7, 2013] http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/08/us-pakistan-drone-idUSBRE90705320130108
Pakistan
– Six drone strikes in 8 days and 35 dead.
The US drone war on Pakistan is
back. [I think the estimate of the number of dead is way too low. January 9,
2013] http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/01/09/news/foreign/6-strikes-in-8-days-35-dead-the-us-drone-war-on-pakistan-is-back/
Pakistan
– Three bombings results in scores of dead and hundreds of wounded. Shia Muslims were targeted. [January 11,
2013] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20982061
Pakistan
– Death toll from bombing rises to 120. Pakistani Shiites protest after
bombings kill 120. [Large protests in Lahore, Islamabad, and
across Pakistan
on January 13, 2013.] http://www.centredaily.com/2013/01/10/3460303/bomb-drone-attack-kill-17-people.html
Pakistan – Pakistani protesters rallied for a third day on
Wednesday in the largest political demonstration seen for years in the capital,
calling on the government to quit after the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of
the prime minister. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-cleric-propels-protest-into-third-day/articleshow/18043713.cms
Afghanistan
– Pakistan fires missiles
into Afghanistan
and kills or injures four civilians. http://www.khaama.com/pakistan-fire-12-missiles-in-kunar-4-killed-or-injured-1187
Afghanistan
– How Afghan soldier turns into an enemy of the US military [Surprise! People don’t
like being occupied! Who could have guessed?] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/world/asia/afghan-soldiers-journey-from-friend-to-killer-of-americans.html
Afghanistan
– About 73% of people in Afghanistan
do not have access to clean drinking water.
As a result, diarrheal diseases are responsible for the death of 48,545
children every year in the country. http://www.khaama.com/133-children-die-a-day-in-afghanistan
Afghanistan
– Pictures of the people of Afghanistan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/life-and-war-in-afghanistan-jan-2013/2013/01/04/46a447ce-56ba-11e2-a613-ec8d394535c6_gallery.html
Afghanistan
– Blast kills seven civilians after raid. An explosion Sunday killed seven
Afghan villagers as they tried to pull bodies from the rubble of a village
mosque after a night raid by NATO and Afghan troops, officials said. Four
insurgents and an Afghan soldier were also reported killed in the operation.
Afghanistan
– At least three Afghan civilians working for NATO troops died following the
collapse of the roof of a building they were working in at Bagram. http://www.khaama.com/afghans-contracted-by-nato-die-in-bagram-airfield-2233
Afghanistan
– UN report says almost a third of all detainees transferred to Afghan control
are tortured and some are kept at secret sites. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/20/us-afghanistan-un-torture-idUSBRE90J0FP20130120
Afghanistan
– US
drone strike reportedly kills two Taliban. http://www.bakhtarnews.com.af/eng/security/item/5967-2-taliban-commanders-killed-in-drone-attack-in-kunar.html
Afghanistan
– ISAF planes kill 15 people at a mosque in Wardak province. [January 13, 2013]
http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_01_13/Air-attacks-kill-15-in-Afghanistan/
Afghanistan
– The US government seeking
a non-violent solution in Afghanistan,
by offering office space in Qatar
to the Taliban for talks. http://world.time.com/2013/01/22/the-lure-of-office-space-and-other-ways-to-talk-to-the-taliban/
Afghanistan
– Mutilated body of an Afghan man found in south Waziristan tribal district,
which borders Afghanistan.
He was left with a note that accused him of spying and collaborating with US
drone strikes that killed a prominent warload in Pakistan. http://gulftoday.ae/portal/855654a1-685b-4678-8d8b-1c8ec3778667.aspx
Afghanistan
– Women killed and two kids hurt in ISAF raid. http://paktribune.com/news/Woman-killed-2-kids-hurt-in-raid-256840.html
USA
– White House wins fight to keep drone killings secret. http://rt.com/usa/news/drone-kill-mcmahon-obama-245/
USA
– Compare US health statistics to other developed countries. We are #1 in violent deaths, war deaths, and
car accident deaths. http://sites.nationalacademies.org/DBASSE/CPOP/DBASSE_080393#deaths-from-all-causes
USA – The
NYT erases the occupation of Palestine.
http://mondoweiss.net/2013/01/literally-occupation-coverage.html
USA
– The President promotes two drone bombing enthusiasts to cabinet
positions. Watch Obama nodding at his
choices at this sickening press conference.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jan/08/chuck-hagel-john-brennan-video
USA –
Terrorism suspects from Europe were secretly
held in NYC under false names for over five weeks! http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2013/01/11/european-terrorism-suspects-secretly-held-in-new-york-under-false-names/
USA
– How HSBC bank got away with money laundering for drug cartels. [This is a
travesty.] http://www.alternet.org/how-hsbc-bank-got-away-money-laundering-drug-cartels
USA- Aside from the initial
bombing of Afghanistan in 2001 and the "shock and awe" bombing of
Iraq in March and April 2003, the Obama administration has conducted more air
strikes day-in day-out than the Bush administration. Bush's roughly 24,000 air
strikes in seven years from 2002 to 2008 amounted to an air strike about every
3 hours, while Obama's 20,130 in four years add up to one every 1-3/4 hours.
[Bombs have been dropped in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen,
Somalia and Libya by Obama.
And likely also the Philippines.]
http://www.alternet.org/world/bomber-chief-20000-airstrikes-presidents-first-term-cause-death-and-destruction-iraq-somalia
USA – Obama says in inauguration speech that a “decade of
war is now ending” and then bombs Yemen several times.
USA
– Antiwar rapper was thrown off stage at pre-inauguration event. He was
criticizing Obama, of course.
USA – The
myth of America’s
shadow wars.
Syria –
Unrest in Syria
has resulted in 60,000 deaths. [Rather interesting that a few short years ago,
the corporate media could not tell us how many Iraqis were killed – and they
still cannot! Yet there was a US
presence inside Iraq (not so
in Syria) and eight times as
many Iraqi refugees in foreign countries as there are currently from Syria. The
estimate of Iraqi deaths is 120,000 – which is nonsense. That conflict was MUCH
worse and went on for nine years – Syrian conflict is not yet two years old. I
do not know if 60,000 dead is a good estimate in Syria or not, but I am finding that
the coverage of Syrian refugees and deaths is way more extensive than the
coverage of Iraqi refugees and deaths.] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20893697
Syria
– A jihadist group with links to al Qaeda has become
the most effective of the different factions fighting the Syrian regime,
according to a new analysis, and now has some 5,000 fighters. http://www.iowastatedaily.com/news/world/article_33bdff22-5923-11e2-af78-001a4bcf887a.html
Syria – The FSA fighters, lead by jihadist groups al-Nusra Front,
Ahrar al-Sham and the Islamic Vanguard, have overrun a key Syrian airbase that
had been used to attack rebel-held areas. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20984142
Syria –
Bombing at Aleppo
University kills 87 and
wounds over 100 more. Current government and rebels blame each other. http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/world/39528-campus-blasts-kill-87-in-syria-s-aleppo
Syria –
Over 100 people killed in massacre in Haswiya, near Homs. Some were shot, some were stabbed, some
were burned. Rebels blame the Assad government forces; they say the rebels did
it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21073447
Syria – Fierce clashes raged late on Thursday in the
majority Kurdish northern Syrian city of Ras al-Ain, on the Turkish border,
pitting jihadists against Kurdish fighters, residents and an activist said. The
fighting comes six months after troops loyal to President Bashar Assad withdrew
from majority Kurdish areas, leaving residents to fend for themselves.
Jihadists have since staged several assaults on the strategic city, and most of
its residents have fled. http://www.news24.com/World/News/Syria-Clashes-pit-Kurds-against-jihadists-20130118
Syria
– Rebels unable to form a transitional government. http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-opposition-leaders-fail-form-government-162632697.html
Syria –
Suicide bomber in a car targets pro-government forces and has killed dozens in Hama province. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21122618
Syria – Syrian Kurds urged the opposition to halt a siege against them by Islamist rebels, as the UN condemned the killing of dozens of children across the country over the past week. The Kurdish National Council, a pro-opposition umbrella group of Syrian Kurdish parties, condemned what it said was an ongoing assault "against unarmed civilians" by jihadist insurgents on the northern town of Ras al-Ain. [January 19, 2013] http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jlFOYpvN4e5AYB0HpWBEWl9auf1A
Syria – More young Syrians disillusioned by the revolution. http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/20/world/la-fg-syria-mood-20130121
Syria – A week of interviews with rebel groups in north Syria has revealed a schism developing between the jihadists and residents. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/17/syria-crisis-alqaida-fighters-true-colours
Syria – A senior member of Saudi Arabia's monarchy called on Friday for Syrian rebels to be given anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to "level the playing field" in their battle against President Bashar al-Assad. [He obviously does not care who lives or dies.] http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/25/syria-crisis-saudi-idUSL6N0AUAL720130125
Syria – At least 71 bodies, with hands tied and gunshot to the head, pulled from a river. Rebels blame the government, and the government blames rebels. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21255536
Syria – Syria confirms Israeli airstrikes against military targets. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/2013130165625330449.html
Syria – US effort to undercut Islamist rebels appears to have failed. [January 28, 2013] www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/01/28/181279/us-effort-to-undercut-islamist.html
Syria – Battle scenes. http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/01/intense-battle-scenes-from-damascus/100450/
Turkey – Turkish police arrest dozens of anti-Patriot NATO missiles protestors. [Patriot missiles now in Turkey are located at the border with Syria.] http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=80506&frid=22&seccatid=55&cid=22&fromval=1
Yemen
– US drone bombing kills three al Qaeda suspects. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jan-03/200787-drone-kills-3-al-qaeda-suspects-in-yemen.ashx
Yemen
– US drone bombing kills four al Qaeda suspects. This is the third such bombing
in three days, with six suspects reported killed in the other two bombings.
Armed tribesman, angry at what they said was a drone attack on an area
inhabited by civilians, blocked the main road linking Maarib with Sanaa.
[January 21, 2013] http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/21/us-yemen-violence-usa-idUSBRE90K0AB20130121
Yemen
– US drone bombing kills four al Qaeda suspects. This is the fourth such
bombing in recent days. [January 22, 2013] http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/22/us-yemen-qaeda-idUSBRE90L0VJ20130122
Yemen
– US drone bombing kills seven al Qaeda suspects. [January 23, 2013] http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-drone-strike-in-yemen-reportedly-kills-seven/
Yemen - Yemen’s army
launched an offensive against al Qaida-linked militants in central Bayda
province on Monday after negotiations failed to win the militants’ peaceful
surrender and the release of three Western hostages. Sources in the province
claim public anger over the [drone] strikes has led many local tribesmen to
refuse to cooperate with the military’s offensive. [January 28, 2013] www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/01/28/181284/yemen-moves-against-al-qaida-linked.html
Iraq
– Car bomb kills 27 Shia Muslim pilgrims. [January 4, 2013] http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/201313151824519508.html
Iraq – At
least 23 people killed and 87 wounded in attacks across Iraq. [January
14, 2013] http://uk.news.yahoo.com/explosions-across-iraq-kill-least-10-wound-46-083522352.html
Iraq
– Wave of attacks kills 42 people as hundreds attended the funeral of a Sunni
MP who died in a suicide attack a day earlier.
The attacks also wounded another 245 people. [January 16, 2013] http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/15853682/wave-of-iraq-attacks-leave-33-dead/
Iraq – Protests
in Iraq
continue. Thousands of Sunnis take to the streets of Baghdad and other parts of the country to
decry alleged targeting of minorities and government corruption. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/201311204814911200.html
Iraq –
Turkish jets bomb over 50 Kurdish rebel targets in Iraq. [January 16, 2013] http://www.brecorder.com/world/middle-east/101377.html
Iraq –
Bombings in Iraq
kill another 22 people. [Other reports say the toll was 29 dead. January 17,
2013] http://uk.news.yahoo.com/iraq-car-bombs-kill-12-people-wound-64-090913134.html
Iraq –
Attacks in and around Baghdad
kill 26. [January 22, 2013] http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/spate-of-iraq-attacks-kill-26/story-e6freoo6-1226559671939
Iraq
– Suicide bomb at Shia mosque kills 42 and wounds another 75 people. [January
23, 2013] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/iraq-suicide-bomb-at-shia-mosque-kills-42/article7654173/
Iraq
– Iraqi army kills six anti-government protestors. [Other reports say eight
killed. January 25, 2012] http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/15957440/iraqi-troops-kill-four-protesters-in-fallujah/
Egypt –
Egyptian security sources said Friday that U.S.-made missiles were among
weaponry found in the Sinai Peninsula and thought to be en route to militants
in Gaza. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/01/04/US-made-weapons-found-in-Sinai-Peninsula/UPI-90461357314918/#ixzz2H4Wdnxb3
Egypt –
At least 30 people were killed in the Egyptian city of Port Said in clashes that erupted over the
sentencing of 21 people to death regarding last year's deadly soccer stadium
riot. The 21 convicted men were sentenced for their alleged involvement in the
deaths of 74 people in the chaos that erupted after a local soccer match on
February 1, 2012. http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/01/26
Turkey –
Patriot missiles on the way to Turkey.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20911919
Turkey
– Protestors carry signs saying “Yankee Go Home” and attack German NATO troops
after the Patriot missiles arrive. http://www.dw.de/why-were-german-soldiers-attacked-in-turkey/a-16547390
Libya –
Crackdown makes Benghazi
a ghost town as police fight gunman. [January 6, 2013] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-06/libya-crackdown-makes-benghazi-ghost-town-as-police-fight-gunmen.html
Libya –
Fears grow that Libya
is incubator of turmoil. [I told you so. Wish the hell you would listen, US politicians.]
http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_22457171/fears-grow-that-libya-is-incubator-turmoil
Bahrain
– The decision ends all appeals for the dissidents, who were sentenced to
between five years and life in prison for their leadership roles in the revolt
that began in February 2011, according to a colleague of one of the jailed
opposition members. [Jailed for being peaceful protesters for democracy.
Amazing how the US
government does not care about the freedom of the people of Bahrain.] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/08/world/middleeast/court-in-bahrain-confirms-jail-terms-for-13-dissidents.html
The Gaza
Report.
Everything we know so far about drone strikes.
Mali – AND THE WAR IS ON!!! War on Mali well underway. France claimed new successes in its campaign to oust Islamist extremists from northern Mali on Sunday [January 13, 2013], bombarding the major city of Gao with airstrikes targeting the airport and training camps used by the al-Qaida-linked rebel group controlling the city. France’s foreign minister also said the 3-day-old intervention is gaining international support, with communications and transport help from the United States and backing from Britain, Denmark and other European countries. [They will never count the dead from this war, just like they did not from the war on Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine or Libya. Yet they will claim that they CAN count the dead in Syria. They will never acknowledge that the war on Libya is what spawned this war!] http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/hundreds-of-french-troops-drive-back-al-qaida-linked-rebels-in-battle-to-retake-malis-north/2013/01/13/34b2a080-5d52-11e2-b8b2-0d18a64c8dfa_story.html
Mali – The bombing of the west African nation becomes the eighth country in the last four years alone where Muslims are killed by the west. [This does not include Syria – where the west has been promoting violence and unrest, but has not directly bombed the country, as far as I know.] The other seven countries bombed by the west are: Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and the Philippines.
Mali - For years, the United States tried to stem the spread of Islamic militancy in the region by conducting its most ambitious counterterrorism program ever across these vast, turbulent stretches of the Sahara. But as insurgents swept through the desert last year, commanders of this nation’s elite army units, the fruit of years of careful American training, defected when they were needed most — taking troops, guns, trucks and their newfound skills to the enemy in the heat of battle, according to senior Malian military officials. Then an American-trained officer overthrew Mali’s elected government, setting the stage for more than half of the country to fall into the hands of Islamic extremists. [It was US actions in Libya that set the stage for the Islamists in Mali. As you sow, so shall you reap.] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/world/africa/french-jets-strike-deep-inside-islamist-held-mali.html
Mali – Making sense of Mali’s armed groups. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/01/20131139522812326.html
Mali - The French defense minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, announced on Thursday [January 17, 2013] that French forces in Mali now numbered 1,400 — 600 more than the figure given on Wednesday. “This morning there are 1,400 French soldiers on Malian soil,” he said. “There was combat yesterday, on the ground and from the air. There was more overnight and it is continuing at this moment.” He gave no details or locations for the exchanges and did not say who was involved in the fighting. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/18/world/africa/france-mali-intervention.html
Mali – Mali’s army suspected of abuses and civilian killings as war rages on. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/19/mali-army-suspected-abuses-killings
Mali – The US military “helps” out by airlifting French troops. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21153272
Mali – Ethnic tension erupt in the form of looting and attacks. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/29/ethnic-tensions-mali-troops-islamists
Mali – Islamist fighters hid as French troops go past, and then return. [January 30, 2012] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/30/mali-rebels-hide-french-troops
Algeria – Algeria’s military launched a bloody, brazen
“final assault” Saturday on kidnappers holding scores of foreigners and
Algerians at a natural gas complex in the country’s east, bringing to an end
four days of mayhem that left 23 hostages and 32 kidnappers dead. [This
kidnapping was retaliation for the attack on Mali. Final death toll was more
than 81 killed.] http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/01/19/180433/final-toll-of-algeria-gas-plant.html
Algeria - Many of the Islamist terrorists shot their way into the In Amenas compound on Thursday using the AK104 model of Kalashnikov, which was typically used by Libyan rebels in the war against Muammar Gaddafi. They brought F5 rockets that also surfaced in the Libyan war, said the security source. The Islamists wore the same type of outfits that Qatar provided to Libyan National Transitional Council rebels by Qatar – yellow flak jackets with brown patches, known as "chocolate chip" camouflage. The garments are copies of ones worn by Americans in the Gulf war. The terrorists also employed 60mm gun-mortars used by France and Libyan rebels. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/algeria/9814510/Algeria-hostage-crisis-Most-weapons-used-in-attack-came-from-Libya.html
North Africa – New intelligence on al-Qaeda’s affiliate in North Africa indicates that the militant group is seeking to carry out attacks on other Western targets in the region after its deadly assault on a natural gas complex in Algeria, senior U.S. intelligence officials said. [January 31, 2013] http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/al-qaeda-affiliate-sets-sights-on-additional-attacks-in-north-africa-intelligence-officials-say/2013/01/31/406c8638-6bd1-11e2-bd36-c0fe61a205f6_story.html
Niger – Niger has given permission for U.S. surveillance drones to be stationed on its territory to improve intelligence on al Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters in northern Mali and the wider Sahara, a senior government source said. [Pictures of protests against drones at the bottom of this article] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/us-drone-base-africa-niger-approved_n_2572432.html
Somalia – French soldiers failed early Saturday in a hostage rescue mission in southern Somalia. The hostage was killed by the Islamist captors, and two French soldiers were killed. [Other reports say that the French soldiers killed eight civilians.] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/world/africa/france-somalia-hostage-raid.html
Iran – Iran is unable to get life-saving medication due to international sanctions. [This is evil in my opinion.] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/13/iran-lifesaving-drugs-international-sanctions
DR Congo- UN plans to fight rebels by setting up an
intervention force. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21208401
Indonesia – Jakarta, a megacity of 10 million, is under water. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2013/0118/Jakarta-Indonesia-s-megacity-of-10-million-is-under-water-video
WEATHER – Extreme weather becoming the norm around the
planet.
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