Stranded with dead in Gaza

Ahmed, a 16-year-old boy, only became animated when he talked about his dead pets. Even then the mask that his face has become shifted only slightly.

He pointed towards a pile of rubble: “That was my house. We were living there and we were very happy. The Israelis destroyed my house and the other houses before they pulled out.”

‘I had two goats and a donkey and they killed them. And they killed 10 pigeons, and our chickens and a cockerel and two ducks. The pigeons and the goats were mine. The rest belonged to the family.

“I loved seeing my pets grow. I wanted to see their babies. It makes me very sad that they killed the animals, the donkey, the goats, the pigeons and the ducks.

Filed under: Voice, Gaza, Gaza strip, Hamas, IAF, IDF, International, Israel, Israel Air Force, Middle East, MidEast, Operation Cast Lead, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Terror, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, World

The propaganda war against Israel

They are estimating that as many as 1,000 Gazans (unverified) may have been killed and many more wounded by Israel’s counterattack against Hamas’ missiles that have rained down on southern Israel’s schools, homes, and businesses for several years. Many of those killed by the Israel Defense Forces were Hamas operatives. (Israel turns out to have excellent intelligence about their locations, and in several instances the IDF phoned its target before attacking, giving him an opportunity to save his family by leaving the house.) But many were not terrorists because Hamas has perfected a kind of camera-ready human sacrifice — placing its launchers in playgrounds, hospitals, and neighborhoods crowded with mothers and children.

Filed under: Analysis, Barack Obama, Egypt, Foreign affairs, Foreign policy, France, Gaza, Gaza raids, Gaza strip, Hamas, Holocaust, IAF, IDF, International, Israel, Israel Air Force, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, MidEast, Operation Cast Lead, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Propaganda, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, U.S.A, UK, West Bank, World

Obama, Iran and Nixon

Here is a piece of advice for Barack Obama for dealing with Iran, one of the countries that will loom large in his presidency. Forget the way five of your predecessors dealt with the place. Take your cue from Richard Nixon and his 1972 breakthrough with China.

Just as Nixon and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, realized that a quarter of a century of isolating and weakening China had not served America’s interests, so Obama should acknowledge that 30 years of U.S. policy since the 1979 Iranian revolution has failed and that what is needed is a grand bargain, a shift as fundamental as the one Nixon achieved with China.

Filed under: Think Tank, Barack Obama, Egypt, Foreign affairs, Foreign policy, France, Gaza, Gaza raids, Gaza strip, Hamas, Holocaust, IAF, IDF, International, Israel, Israel Air Force, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, MidEast, Operation Cast Lead, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, U.S.A, UK, West Bank, World

Congo warlord stands trial in child soldier case

A Congolese militia leader accused of using child soldiers to kill members of an ethnic minority goes on trial Monday at the first ever warcrimes trial at the International Criminal Court.

Thomas Lubanga, founder and leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) in Congo’s eastern Ituri district, denies he enlisted and conscripted children under 15 to kill ethnic Lendus in a 1998-2003 war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

ICC prosecutors allege that child soldiers recruited by the UPC were involved in hostilities between October 2002 and June 2003 and that some of them were forced to kill and that others lost their lives in combat. Lubanga is also alleged to have used child soldiers as bodyguards.

Filed under: Africa, Aid, Civil war, Congo, Foreign affairs, Genocide, Guerrilla Group, Guerrilla war, International, International Criminal Court, Israel, Justice, Rwanda, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, United Nations, War, War Crimes, World

Bomb kills five in Pakistan

A bomb planted on a bicycle exploded near a women’s hostel in the northwestern Pakistani town of Dera Ismail Khan on Monday, killing five people and wounding several, police said.

Pakistan is struggling to stem growing insurgency by al Qaeda and Taliban militants, particularly in the northwest near the Afghan border.

“It was a cycle bomb. Five people died on the spot while the wounded were shifted to hospitals,” police officer Bashir Khan said by telephone from the scene.

Filed under: Asia, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Islamabad, Islamic law, Kabul, Militants, Pakistan, Taleban, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, War

Tale of a Hamas fighter

Abu Mohammed picked up his rifle, said farewell to his wife and six children and went out to face the Israeli tanks, helicopter gunships and missile-firing airborne drones.

“Being unable to defeat Israel is no reason to surrender,” the Hamas fighter said with a smile as he headed t More..o the Gaza Strip’s front line last Saturday, ignoring pleas from his family to stay.

“My children and wife are very dear to me,” he said. “But reward in Heaven and the homeland are dearer.”

Filed under: Voice, Egypt, Foreign affairs, Foreign policy, France, Gaza, Gaza raids, Gaza strip, Hamas, IAF, IDF, International, Israel, Israel Air Force, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, MidEast, Operation Cast Lead, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, U.S.A, UK, West Bank, World

Congo’s long road to justice…

In tall grass where boys play football, stand destroyed brick houses.

These are the relics of Congo’s five-year civil war that saw some 60,000 people lose their lives.

We are in the outskirts of Bunia – provincial capital of Ituri province and the hunting ground of former warlord Thomas Lubanga, the first person to stand trial at the International Criminal Court in the Hague (ICC).

Filed under: Analysis, Aid, Civil war, Congo, Foreign affairs, Genocide, Guerrilla Group, Guerrilla war, International, Israel, Justice, Rwanda, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, United Nations, War, War Crimes, World

LTTE leader virtually cornered

Amid suspense about the whereabouts of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, an anti-LTTE Sri Lankan Tamil Minister said on Sunday that the guerrilla leader has virtually been “cornered” and cannot escape from the island nation.

“Prabhakaran has already tried shifting from one bunker to another or from one hiding place to the next in Wanni. But he cannot escape from the country,” Douglas Devananda, the Leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Front, said.

“He (Prabhakaran) doesn’t have many choices to hide and has been virtually cornered,” he said.

Filed under: Asia, Colombo, Elephant Pass, Guerrilla Group, Guerrilla war, LTTE, Mahindra Rajapaksa, Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka, Tamil, Terror, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, Velupillai Prabhakaran, War

Iraq car bomb blast kills 13

Thirteen people have been killed in a car bomb attack targeting a police patrol near the western Iraqi city of Falluja, police have said.

A spokesman said the police patrol was returning to its base in the town of al-Karmah when the attack happened.

The area is a former stronghold of Sunni insurgents, and the attack comes a week before provincial elections.

Filed under: MidEast, Baghdad, Falluja, Iraq, Mosul, Suicide bomber, Terror, Terrorism, The Terror Journal