blessed britons

We have to confront the Amara incident in May 2004... It appears that 22 Iraqis were taken into detention alive, only to be returned in body bags 20 hours later.
But worse still, the evidence suggests a catalogue of abuse: first, that soldiers had earlier executed Iraqis in front of a number of witnesses; second, some of them were executed by shooting at close range or strangulation; third, many of the bodies show clear evidence of torture; fourth, bodies had been mutilated with eyes gouged out, and multiple stab wounds and body parts severed (including a penis); and fifth, trained Iraqi medical operatives attest that many of the wounds were fresh and that deaths had occurred just before the bodies were returned. A survivor's statement gives shocking evidence of hearing the screams of Iraqis being tortured, and hearing one of my client's relatives executed by shooting.

— Phil Shiner

A catalogue of abuse. Oct. 2007

mad world

In Cambodia, donors spent between $50m and $70m on 700 international consultants in 2002 - equivalent to the wage bill for 160,000 Cambodian civil servants. In other words, donor-financed consultants working in the Cambodian government are paid upwards of 200 times what their Cambodian counterparts receive.

— Action Aid

From Real Aid

clinton

a useful offensive

Submitted by antarchi on March 22, 2008 - 18:17.

On August 4, 1995, a hundred thousand Croat soldiers, a hundred and fifty tanks, two hundred troop transports, more than three hundred pieces of artillery, and forty missile launchers attacked the Serb population of the Krajina. More than 150,000 Serbs were forced to leave this region which they had inhabited for centuries. The worst atrocities of the war were committed: the Croat forces killed the elderly who could not flee, and burned 85% of the abandoned houses.

Clinton called the offensive 'useful'. His Secretary of State said: "The retaking of the Krajina could lead to a new strategic situation which might be favorable for us."

Bill's wars

Submitted by antarchi on August 9, 2007 - 16:51.

In 1993, [Bill Clinton] pursued George H W Bush’s invasion of Somalia. He invaded Haiti in 1994. He bombed Bosnia in 1995 and Serbia in 1999. In 1998, he bombed Afghanistan; and, at the height of his Monica Lewinsky troubles, he momentarily diverted the headline writers to a major “terrorist target” in Sudan that he ordered destroyed with an onslaught of missiles. It turned out to be sub-Saharan Africa’s largest pharmaceutical plant, the only source of chloroquine, the treatment for malaria, and other drugs that were lifelines to hundreds of thousands...

breakfast with Bill

Submitted by antarchi on August 9, 2007 - 16:45.

On 14 August, you are invited to "an audience" with Bill Clinton in London. You have a choice. You can attend the "breakfast and speech" or the "brunch buffet and speech". These will take place in the white elephantine Millennium Dome, where a place in the "Kings' Row" will cost you £799. Last year, Clinton made more than £5m granting "audiences".

they need some bombing

Submitted by antarchi on July 3, 2007 - 01:03.

A senior US administration official told the media at Rambouillet that 'we intentionally set the bar too high for the Serbs to comply. They need some bombing and that's what they are going to get'. The [UK] Foreign Affairs Committee concludes that:

One interpretation of the oral evidence given us by FCO officials is that they never really believed that Milosevic would sign at Rambouillet, but that...'we had to go through a process', presumably with the aim of promoting unity amoung the international community in favour of military action by showing that Milosevic was unwilling to negotiate...