1000 Days
As Chase Madar points out in 'The Passion of Bradley Manning' millions of people watched in abject horror 'Collateral Murder' the video released by Wikileaks as provided by Manning. And yet not one of the major human rights groups - Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First - has come out with a statement condemning the atrocity. Because as atrocities go, this one was legally defensible according to the laws of war.
pfc Bradly Manning has been incarcerated for 1000 days come Saturday, February 23rd. His crime? Facilitating public access to a video in which US soldiers murder civilians.
Here is an excerpt from the Just Foreign Policy website: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/
Iran
Western leaders appear lackadaisical about striking a deal with Iran, writes Yousaf Butt in the National Interest. As the New York Times recently reported, "Obama's aides seem content with stalemate." If Iran's nuclear program is truly the concern that has been claimed, then the West should be willing to put real sanctions relief on the table in order to get a deal.
8) At an event at the Wilson Center, Siamak Namazi presented findings of a study on the role of sanctions in creating shortages of life-saving medical supplies and drugs in Iran, the Wilson Center reports. The study found that, despite existing provisions meant to facilitate humanitarian trade, unilateral sanctions by the US and Europe are causing disruptions in the supply of medicine and medical equipment in Iran. Namazi said sanctions are affecting the supply of the most advanced medicines, providing relief in the most dire cases of illness, including cancer, multiple sclerosis, and hemophilia. Most of the US, European, and Iranian pharmaceutical representatives he interviewed found that Western sanctions were the greatest obstacles to humanitarian trade with Iran.
Namazi gave three recommendations to alleviate the medical shortages in the country. First, he argued that existing contradictions in the legal structure must be removed to permit humanitarian trade. Second, the financial institutions must be reassured that there will be no punitive actions taken against them if they trade with Iran. Lastly, Namazi argued, Iran must be given a narrow ability to receive hard currency solely for the purchase of Western medicine and medical treatment.
- KBOO