Posted on February 25th, 2012 by Marian Houk
Who or What is Ahvaaz [Avaaz]? And, why do veteran combat journalsts working for major news organizations trust Avaaz with their lives in getting into, and when inside, the Baba Amr quarter of Homs, Syria, which has been beseiged by the Syrian army on a mission to exterminate “Islamist terrorism”? Ahvaaz [Avaaz]: The name of [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Human Rights, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Journalism and Journalists, Syria, Turkey, USA
Posted on October 22nd, 2010 by Marian Houk
Asked by the U.S. government to refrain from publishing the anticipated WikiLeaks documents on Iraq, the American and international media is doing exactly the opposite. The media coverage is extensive, and impressive work has already gone into analyzing the data – described as being mainly “secret field reports”. An Al-Jazeera feature, about 7 minutes long, [...]
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Filed under: Iraq, Journalism and Journalists, USA
Posted on February 20th, 2010 by Marian Houk
In today’s news: Karzai says NATO still causes too many civilian deaths: “Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that NATO’s efforts to prevent civilian deaths during its operations are not enough because innocent people keep dying, as the military alliance continued its offensive in a key Taliban stronghold … Karzai said that NATO has made [...]
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Filed under: Afghanistan, International Humanitarian Law, Iraq, USA
Posted on May 1st, 2009 by Marian Houk
The Washington Post reports that the recent release of Justice Department [Office of Legal Affairs] memos [addressed to the CIA] authorizing the use of “harsh interrogation techniques” has given Army Pvt. Charles A. Graner Jr and other soldiers [including Lynndie R. England] “new reason to argue that they were made scapegoats for policies approved at [...]
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Filed under: Guantanamo, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, Iraq, Torture
Posted on April 27th, 2009 by Marian Houk
A NYTimes oped piece today suggests that “Perhaps some new facts may yet emerge if Dick Cheney succeeds in his unexpected and welcome crusade to declassify documents that he says will exonerate administration interrogation policies [on harsh interrogation techniques -- meaning torture] . Meanwhile, we do have evidence for an alternative explanation of what motivated [...]
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Filed under: International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Iraq, Torture, USA
Posted on April 22nd, 2009 by Marian Houk
Released yesterday, a U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Report states that “The abuse of detainees in U.S. custody cannot simply be attributed to the actions of ‘a few bad apples’ acting on their own. The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the [...]
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Filed under: Afghanistan, Guantanamo, International Humanitarian Law, Iraq, Torture, USA
Posted on April 20th, 2009 by Marian Houk
Abu Zubaydah “suffered an injury during capture” — he “sustained a wound during capture which is being treated”, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), Jay Bybee, wrote in a memo dated 1 August 2002, yet authorization was given to torture him anyway. One torture contemplated — but apparently not used — was placing [...]
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Filed under: Humanitarian Aid, International Court of Justice - ICJ, Iraq, UN History
Posted on December 14th, 2008 by Marian Houk
Bush himself says he is now trying to think of shoe jokes, but I am concerned that journalists all over the world will henceforth be made to remove their shoes before attending press conferences… I also wonder how many will “defend until death” this journalist’s right to express his opinion about outgoing U.S. President George [...]
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Filed under: Iraq, Journalism and Journalists
Posted on May 30th, 2008 by Marian Houk
Here are some excerpts from an apparently rare interview with Gore Vidal in last Sunday’s (25 May) issue of The Independent. The interview was done by Robert Chalmers: “You would consider yourself to be living under a dishonourable regime?” “Absolutely.” “With a corrupt president?” “Yes.” “Who cheated his way to power?” “Oh, yes.” “Is this [...]
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Filed under: Iraq, Journalism and Journalists, USA
Posted on April 11th, 2008 by Marian Houk
The AP reported today that “U.S. authorities have said a U.N. Security Council mandate allows them to retain custody of a detainee they believe is a security risk even if an Iraqi judicial body has ordered that prisoner freed. The U.N. mandate is due to expire this year” … This report concerned Bilal Hussein, who [...]
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Filed under: Iraq, Journalism and Journalists, UN Security Council
