#Russia private military contractors have joined the party of mercenary wars! Alongside decades of US contractors eg #Blackwater (now #Academi) and @G4S and the entire outsourced #UAE military ... russianpmcs.csis.org
Decades of hand-wringing in Congress about failed regulation of private military contractors, " permitting abuses and crimes committed by certain contractors against local nationals" said a CRS report:
US think-tanks and policy-makers should consider using their research and analysis to curb excessive use of military contractors -- unregulated proxies for dirty work, really -- by our own govt == more likely to have impact there!
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For everyone just “outraged, outraged” by the execution of an American citizen by a bunch of terrorist thugs, I remind you of the execution of American-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu-Aqleh, assassinated in cold blood, broad daylight, by the @IDF in 2022.
The @idf lied and lied about it until multiple investigations confirmed it was their bullets, with a trigger pulled by a sniper who shot her exposed neck in the narrow area exactly between her helmet and flak jacket.
@IDF The Biden administration hid its own investigation into the murder, literally hid it, and still hasn’t made it public:
NEW: “The @StateDept should immediately invoke Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act & suspend all military assistance to Israel in light of extensive evidence, inc a leaked State Dept memo, documenting Israel’s blocking of U.S aid to Gaza”
“3 recent reports, inc the leaked internal State Department memorandum, an internal assessment by USAID & report of the Independent Task Force on National Security Memorandum-20 to Israel, conclusively confirm that Israel's conduct impeding & blocking humanitarian aid has triggered the legal requirement to halt military aid.”
“The @StateDept leaked confirmation that Israel has restricted transport & delivery of US humanitarian assistance leaves no doubt: U.S. law requires the suspension of military aid to Israel.
For too long, the Biden administration has breached or ignored U.S. laws that require suspension of aid to an abusive regime like Israel, fueling Israeli belligerence & rewarding its atrocities. It's time for real consequences."
Pentagon has now confirmed that Iran has commenced an attack on Israel responding to Israel's attack on Iran's embassy compound in Damascus; the Biden admin should exercise utmost restraint and avoid entangling us in this conflict -- which of course has been Israel's goal all along... nytimes.com/live/2024/04/1…
Jordan and Iraq have now both closed their airspaces
We’re shocked, shocked we tell you, that Israel is openly talking about resettling Palestinians outside of Gaza. Sure, they’ve said it in their plans, destroyed all the housing, shoved all Gazans to the border, but still we are shocked! state.gov/rejection-of-i…
We’re about to enter the Grand Middle East Bazaar, as governments start the horse-trading to see what they can get (from the US of course, not Israel) to acquiesce to the resettlement plan.
Egypt will want what it always wants - money, lots of money, more from the IMF - but also silence about military aid human rights “conditions”, silence about their corruption of our senators, even a little hand-kissing praise for their “diplomacy”.
NAMES: "These 40 IDF commanders who have been responsible for planning, ordering, & executing Israel's indiscriminate bombardment, wanton destruction, & mass killing of civilians in Gaza should be prime suspects in any ICC investigation” dawnmena.org/international-…
"Israeli criminal law does not establish any type of 'command responsibility' for war crimes, which means Israeli courts never hold senior officers accountable — while it almost always absolves their subordinates of committing serious war crimes,"
"As a U.S.-based organization, we have a responsibility to seek accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out by U.S.-backed, U.S.-protected military forces, and that's why our focus is on crimes committed by Israeli soldiers with U.S. weapons in Gaza
Subterfuge: Forcing resignation of university president for failing to condemn non-existent “calls for genocide” of Jews - all while an actual US-supported genocide of Palestinians underway - is ALL about silencing criticism of Israel, and we ALL know it. nydailynews.com/2023/12/09/upe…
We have seen an unprecedented wave of student protest in support of Palestinian rights, matched only by previous campaigns against apartheid South Africa, and THIS is what really has pro Israel donors in an absolute panic. They want to force admins to shut up students or face sanction themselves.
One can only hope that university boards will understand the costs of accepting donations in exchange for control by billionaire donors over academic freedom, hiring & firing of professors, silencing student activism. One can pray they find a way to break these chains & regain independence.