Daily Archives: January 6, 2014

Ron Paul On Iraq Part 2: "The ‘Liberation’ Neocons Would Rather Forget"

Posted: January 6, 2014 at 8:45 pm

From Ron Paul

Iraq: The Liberation Neocons Would Rather Forget

Remember Fallujah? Shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the US military fired on unarmed protestors, killing as many as 20 and wounding dozens. In retaliation, local Iraqis attacked a convoy of US military contractors, killing four. The US then launched a full attack on Fallujah to regain control, which left perhaps 700 Iraqis dead and the city virtually destroyed.

According to press reports last weekend, Fallujah is now under the control of al-Qaeda affiliates. The Anbar province, where Fallujah is located, is under siege by al-Qaeda. During the 2007 surge, more than 1,000 US troops were killed pacifying the Anbar province. Although al-Qaeda was not in Iraq before the US invasion, it is now conducting its own surge in Anbar. For Iraq, the US liberation is proving far worse than the authoritarianism of Saddam Hussein, and it keeps getting worse. Last year was Iraqs deadliest in five years. In 2013, fighting and bomb blasts claimed the lives of 7,818 civilians and 1,050 members of the security forces. In December alone nearly a thousand people were killed. I remember sitting through many hearings in the House International Relations Committee praising the surge, which we were told secured a US victory in Iraq. They also praised the so-called Awakening, which was really an agreement by insurgents to stop fighting in exchange for US dollars. I always wondered what would happen when those dollars stopped coming. Where are the surge and awakening cheerleaders now? One of them, Richard Perle, was interviewed last year on NPR and asked whether the Iraq invasion that he pushed was worth it. He replied:

I've got to say I think that is not a reasonable question. What we did at the time was done in the belief that it was necessary to protect this nation. You can't a decade later go back and say, well, we shouldn't have done that.

Many of us were saying all along that we shouldnt have done that before we did it. Unfortunately the Bush Administration took the advice of the neocons pushing for war and promising it would be a cakewalk. We continue to see the results of that terrible mistake, and it is only getting worse. Last month the US shipped nearly a hundred air-to-ground missiles to the Iraqi air force to help combat the surging al-Qaeda. Ironically, the same al-Qaeda groups the US is helping the Iraqis combat are benefiting from the US covert and overt war to overthrow Assad next door in Syria. Why cant the US government learn from its mistakes? The neocons may be on the run from their earlier positions on Iraq, but that does not mean they have given up. They were the ones pushing for an attack on Syria this summer. Thankfully they were not successful. They are now making every effort to derail President Obamas efforts to negotiate with the Iranians. Just last week William Kristol urged Israel to attack Iran with the hope we would then get involved. Neoconservative Senators from both parties recently introduced the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013, which would also bring us back on war-footing with Iran. Next time the neocons tell us we must attack, just think Iraq.

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Ron Paul On Iraq Part 2: "The ‘Liberation’ Neocons Would Rather Forget"

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Gerson: How the tea party undermines conservatism

Posted: at 8:45 pm

One of the main problems with an unremittingly hostile view of government held by many associated with the tea party, libertarianism and constitutionalism is that it obscures and undermines the social contributions of a truly conservative vision of government.

Politics requires a guiding principle of public action. For popular liberalism, it is often the rule of good intentions: If it sounds good, do it. Social problems can be solved by compassionate, efficient regulation and bureaucratic management which is seldom efficient and invites unintended consequences in complex, unmanageable systems (say, the one-sixth of the U.S. economy devoted to health care). The signal light for government intervention is stuck on green.

Michael Gerson

Gerson writes about politics, religion, foreign policy and global health and development in a twice-a-week column and on the PostPartisan blog.

Ganguly quits Bengal human rights panel

Posted: at 8:43 pm

Kolkata, Jan 6:

Former Supreme Court judge, Justice (Retd) A.K. Ganguly has stepped down from his post as West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC), sources said.

Ganguly reportedly tendered his resignation during a meeting with West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan on Monday evening at the Raj Bhavan.

Neither Ganguly nor Raj Bhavan sources confirmed the development.

However, agency reports claimed that Ganguly stepped down as the WBHRC Chairman.

Accused of harassing a law intern, Ganguly has been in the eye of a storm with pressure mounting on him to step down from the post of a WBHRC Chairman.

The interns allegations created a media furore; with a section of lawyers, politicians and activists calling for the countrys top court to investigate the incident and for the accused judge to be named publicly.

Three days ago, Ganguly stepped down from the post of honorary professor of the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS). He quit the post after some members expressed their reservation over his continuation.

abhishek.l@thehindu.co.in

ayan.pramanik@thehindu.co.in

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Ganguly quits Bengal human rights panel

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Justice AK Ganguly contemplating resigning as Bengal rights panel chief: Soli Sorabjee

Posted: at 8:43 pm

Ashok Kumar Ganguly may finally resign from the post of chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission with the noose tightening around the former Supreme Court judge after being indicted by a Supreme Court panel following complaint of sexual harassment by a woman law intern.

In a letter to former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, Ganguly has expressed his desire to step down following mounting pressure from different quarters.

Justice Ganguly spoke to me over telephone and said that he is thinking of resigning (as WBHRC chief), former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee told news agencies on being asked about reports that the judge has written to him on the issue.

During the telephonic conversation, Justice Ganguly said so many things are being said about him and wanted his view.

Sorabjee said he had told Justice Ganguly that it will be a wise decision to resign.Ganguly, in fact, had on Friday resigned from the post of honorary professor of the National University of Juridical Sciences, the same university where the intern studied.

But Ganguly has so far vehemently refused to step down from the post of chairman of West Bengals Human Rights Commission even as the Centre has approved an unprecedented presidential reference for his removal from the post.

Following the Cabinet nod, the government will now send the proposal to president Pranab Mukherjee for consent.

Thereafter, it will be sent to the chief justice of the Supreme Court that is expected to conduct a judicial inquiry into the case by a three-judge bench.

However, if Ganguly resigns before the completion of the hearing, the reference would turn infructuous.

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Justice AK Ganguly contemplating resigning as Bengal rights panel chief: Soli Sorabjee

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Ganguly steps down as Bengal rights panel chief

Posted: at 8:43 pm

Kolkata, Jan 6 (IANS) Justice (retd) A.K. Ganguly, facing allegations of sexually assaulting a law intern, Monday stepped down from the post of chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission.

The former Supreme Court judge drove to the Raj Bhavan here and handed over his resignation letter to Governor M. K. Narayanan during a 45-minute meeting, sources in the know said on condition of anonymity.

The resignation came hours after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking to restrain the government from proceeding against Ganguly. Ganguly, however, claimed he had "nothing to do" with the Public Interest Litigation.

The union cabinet had already cleared the home ministry's proposal for a presidential reference to the Supreme Court for a probe into the allegations.

The proposal was being sent to President Pranab Mukherjee, for him to forward to the chief justice of India seeking a probe into the issue.

However, Ganguly's resignation from the human rights panel has rendered the rendered the reference infructuous, legal sources said.

The intern has alleged that Ganguly sexually harassed her at a five star hotel in Delhi in December 2012.

Ganguly has repeatedly denied the accusation and on Dec 23 wrote to the Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam, claiming there was a "concerted effort" to "tarnish his image" for giving judgements against "powerful quarters".

A three-member panel of apex court judges probing the allegations had earlier indicted Ganguly of "unwelcome behaviour".

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote twice to President Mukherjee for taking urgent necessary action, so as to remove Ganguly from the post of WBHRC chief at the earliest.

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Ganguly steps down as Bengal rights panel chief

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Freedom of Speech – Duck Dynasty – Video

Posted: at 12:46 pm

Freedom of Speech - Duck Dynasty
Duck Dynasty.

By: PastorDowell

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Freedom of Speech - Duck Dynasty - Video