A London think-tank argues that international law requires “those who use or authorise the use of drone strikes to record and announce who has been killed and injured in each attack." Drones — known in military jargon as ‘unmanned aerial vehicles’ or UAVs — are miniature aircraft with no human crew on board. They are […]
A spokesman for US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, has been forced to resign after criticising the way US serviceman Bradley Manning (pictured right) is being treated while in pre-trial detention. Describing Manning's conditions as "mistreatment," then-assistant secretary of state for public affairs, Philip 'P.J.' Crowley, said: "What is being done to Bradley Manning […]
Two NATO helicopter gunships killed nine unarmed boys in Afghanistan on 1 March. The boys, aged between 9 and 15, were collecting firewood near their home in the north-eastern province of Kunar. Some of them were dismembered in the attack. The sole survivor, an 11-year-old boy named Hemad, was injured by shrapnel. He told the […]
On 29 January 2003, Mary Kelly, a 50 year-old Irish nurse, climbed a fence in broad daylight at Shannon airport in the west of the Republic of Ireland and 'disarmed' a US Navy warplane with an axe. "Fully aware of the consequences" — up to 10 years' imprisonment — the mother-of-four 'smashed' the plane's nose-cone […]
Shannonwatch is a non-governmental organisation established to monitor the use of an Irish civilian airport by foreign military. These plane-spotting peace and human rights activists conduct "continuous monitoring of all military flights and rendition-linked flights in and out of Shannon [Airport] and through Irish airspace," many of them occurring in the dead of night. Shannonwatch […]
In his "powerful, personal statement on radical confrontation with contemporary society," US Jesuit priest Daniel Berrigan wrote in 1971: “We have assumed the name of peacemakers, but we have been, by and large, unwilling to pay any significant price. And because we want the peace with half a heart and half a life and will, […]
US psychologists concerned about the treatment of alleged Wikileaker 23 year-old Bradley Manning have written an open letter to the US Secretary of Defense. They describe the conditions in which he has been held since July 2010: "in solitary confinement … in his cell for approximately 23 hours a day, a cell approximately 6 feet […]
Five peace activists were convicted this week of trespass and property damage by a US federal court jury. All aged over 60, the defendants now face prison sentences of up to 10 years. They are: Sacred Heart Sister Anne Montgomery (83), Jesuit priests Bill Bischel (81) and Steve Kelly (60), Jonah House community member Susan […]
Open letter from Afghan Youth to our World Leaders Dear Mr Obama, Mrs Clinton, Mr Petraeus, Mr Rasmussen and all our world leaders, We are Afghans and we ask the world to listen. Like you, we couldn't live without the love of our family and friends. We were hurt by your criticism of Mr Karzai […]
As one of the most loyal members of the 'Coalition of the Willing,' Australia has been involved in the present war in Afghanistan for nearly a decade. Under the Australian Constitution, the Prime Minister can declare war without the endorsement of parliament. Bush's 'deputy sheriff' in the Antipodes, Prime Minister John Howard, committed Australia to […]
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