In a week when another Canadian, three British and ten US troops are returning from war in coffins and uncountable numbers of Afghanis continue to be slaughtered and incarcerated daily by the occupying forces in their gulags (e.g. Bagram Air base which is renowned for using torture and forced confessions), it is crucial that us - the citizens of the occupying nations- asses and moreover question the effectiveness and legitimacy of this blood soaked imbroglio in which Canada is so deeply ensnarled. Indeed any sentient citizen of a nation waging an aggressive war against a people who never raised a finger against them (remember there were no Afghanis on the planes in the 9/11 massacre) must constantly revaluate the rational and justifications adduced by their leaders for sending their sons and daughters into a blood bath to kill and be killed.

          The prevailing orthodoxies elusively dichotomize between “the Afghanis” and “The Taliban”, nefariously portraying every resister to foreign occupation as a supporter of Talibanism (ie- the mindset of the Taliban and its fundamentalist version of Islam) and every collaborator with the NATO occupation as secular, democratic, and without blood on their hands. This is simply untrue. To brandish each and every Afghani who refuses to ally themselves with the foreign occupation forces as being a woman stoning, fundamentalist zealot who despises the west, is at best a chimera and at worst sardonic crime which does injustice to those brave Afghanis who are resisting the leviathan forces of imperialism. As one erstwhile British MP asserted “how do we know they are the Taliban when we kill them? Do they have a membership card?”

            Indeed the non-corporate journalism extracted under the noses of the occupation tells a different tale: one of rapacious imperialism, mindless killing, despoliation and disgusting opulence, contrasted against unfathomable squalor and increasing suffering. This is all, of course, a direct consequence of the west’s savage bombardment of the country. An equally misrepresented truism is that the puppet regime which was incubated and installed by the invaders, commands neither power nor respect from the majority of Afghanis. Accounts from the ground suggest that were the occupation forces who buttress this Armani-clad, former warlord, virtual government- to leave these Bushite popinjays would hang from the lampposts as many collaborating traitors have done throughout history.   

          Imperialism and conquest best describes this frontier of the oxymoronically termed War on Terror. The Caspian oil fields, the Third vastest resource enclave in the world, can only be looted either via Afghanistan or Russia. The imperialist nations do not want to be reliant on Russia and so Afghanistan is the vital rout to profit. Indeed as revealed by the award winning and peerless journalist John Pilger who visited Afghanistan recently, the mission in Afghanistan is not a War on Terror- in fact it is a War of Terror visited by the wealthiest nations upon the poorest nation on the globe in search strategic and economic dominance. It is a war in which the British defence secretary famously adduced “a shot would not be fired in”. But as the military expert and sage on Afghanistan James Ferguson reveals in his book “A Million Bullets”, the opposite was true illuminating yet another example of western myopia and incompetence.

             Our governments and our media connive and conspire to conceal from public discourse both the history of the region and the contemporary injustices which have been committed by both Britain, the US and Canada against the Afghan people. The recent blunders in which traditionally peaceful Canada is irreversibly complicit were not committed in the name of democracy and liberation, but in the search for profits and domination. Both the Canadian and Afghan people have been conned by the plutocratic forces of imperialism in Washington and London.

            This conflict is just the recent wave in the long history of Western jingoism, meddling and interference which the Afghanis have resisted with heroic and relentless gusto since the 1840s. The Canadian government should have exchanged their neoliberal economics books for history books before recklessly committing other peoples, sons, daughters, husbands, wives and friends of the Canadian military into the mountainous wastes of the Tora Bora many of whom have lost their lives and limbs for the vanity of these western leaders. If they had educated themselves on the region they would have learnt that three British armies have left their bones in Afghanistan; the Soviet Union lost 50 000 troops and even Alexander the Great could not successfully occupy the Afghan peoples. And as we all know neither Mr Harper, Mr Bush and Mr Brown remotely compare to Alexander the Great despite the emperor style malevolence which they represent.

        The Afghanis’ unwillingness to be occupied was illustrated by the imperial propagandist Rudyard Kipling in his depiction of the “Wiley Pathan” who allegedly resisted British occupation covertly and with extraordinary success. It is imperative that those who champion this imperialist occupation and advocate sending other peoples sons and daughters to their deaths, fully understand the role the west played in fostering resentment in the region. When the recent history of western intervention is related just briefly, the grotesque hypocrisy of this occupation is explicitly illuminated.

           In short, the Afghanis had a revolution in 1978 which led to the most progressive government the besieged and demoralized country had ever seen. Under the auspices of the PDPA, a revolutionary socialist government set about dragging the country out of the Stone Age conditions which the west had left the country in after plundering it previously. The PDPA whilst of course not perfect and not prescribing to the Westminster model of democracy, did build schools and universities for girls and set about unifying the country redistributing feudal lands to the poor which lead to considerable advances in health and literacy unseen previously. For most Afghanis this was the comparative golden era. The US under Carter realizing the ideological affiliations between the PDPA in Kabul and the Soviet Union sought to ignite a counter-revolution so as to drag their cold war nemesis into Afghanistan to bleed them dry. All US policy was conspired and connived irrespective of Afghani lives or sovereignty. The Carter administration was followed more aggressively by the B-line actor and murderous war criminal Ronald Reagan who created a group called the “Arab Afghanis” who were to link up with the anti-government Islamists in Afghanistan. This group “the Arab Afghanis”, a product of the west, would later become Al Qaeda. The counter-revolution was a success for the imperialist west and devastating for the beleaguered Afghanis of whom one million lost their lives. The PDPA were overthrown and Afghanistan descended into chaos, the west abruptly abandoned them. Out of this chaos a popularist student movement arose known as the Taliban (in Afghani the word for student is Talib). Their infamous brutality and devastating success against warring factions offered a hope of stability which it achieved. They ruled with an iron fist resulting in some successes in the levels of women raped (which was vastly reduced), safety of passage and levels of hunger. They were subsequently commended by the United Nations for greatly reducing the growth of heroine in the country which had world wide implications. Meanwhile the so called “Arab Afghanis” then sidelined and redundant metamorphosed into Al Qaeda and began to conduct operations against Western economic and political interests culminating in the 9/11 massacre. Then in 2001 the US, Britain and Canada decided to bomb Afghanistan back into the stone-age to punish them for having Al Qaeda on their land, a group which was a product of the west and was sent by the west to Afghanistan all funded by US tax payers. The barbaric and indiscriminate assault by the west on the Afghan people, who had done nothing to hurt any Canadian or Brit or American, massacred the Afghanis in their tens of thousands. Meanwhile the heroine production has drastically increased by 800%, much of which ends up coursing through the veins of young men and women in cities like Vancouver, London and San Francisco.      

         These intertwined events elucidate the perverse and pernicious western imperial policy of “my enemies, enemy is my friend” which has backfired on innumerable occasions but yet is still championed by the forces of imperialism . Afghanistan was only one of many victims of this divide and rule tactic employed by western governments throughout history to subjugate and weaken coveted polities.  Sadam Hussein as a prelude to the US orchestrated conflict with Iran was armed with gas and guns by Donald Rumsfeld and given surveillance maps the better to target those guns. The Muslim Brotherhood was empowered covertly to subvert the legendary Arab Nationalist regime of Gamel Abdel Nasser in Egypt. Hamas, (who now despite being democratically elected are hypocritically held up as a justification for starving the Palestinians via sanctions), were empowered by the west to reduce Yasser Arafat’s immense popularity and unity amongst victims of Zionist pogrom. Even today in Somalia the Ethiopian government are currently massacring countless Somalians for no other reason than because the Somalis are Muslims and the imbecilic, chimpanzee George W Bush perceives any Islamic community as a threat to US imperialism.  This perpetual incompetence championed by supine, lickspittles like Steven Harper and Gordon Brown (who take orders from their “emperor” Bush) cannot and must not be underestimated. This failed policy is a conscious attempt to whip up civil conflict so as to create vacuums which forces of imperialism can exploit in order to usurp the wealth of these poverty stricken nations. This is why we must all oppose these imperial wars which get wrapped up and marketed in rhetoric of liberation and freedom. How the west can lecture the Arab and Muslim world about democracy and human rights when throughout the Arab and Muslim world, from Marrakesh to Bahrain, almost without exception every leader is either a corrupt king or puppet president who could not sustain their autocracy without western backing. We claim to be for democracy in Afghanistan when for decades just across the boarder in Pakistan the west has propped up a myriad of repressive dictators. We tell Iran they must not have nuclear power, whilst Israel and Pakistan illegally possess hundreds of nuclear weapons.

             The numerous examples of double standards and hypocrisies perpetuated by the so called liberators are known by every Afghani and this is why they resist the occupation forces who have descended like a pack of wolves onto their land, not for democracy but for imperial domination. 

         Of course, we must all support the Canadian troops, they are lions led by donkeys. Hypocrites like Stephen Harper who would never put on a tin hat and fight themselves force young men and women into unnecessary conflicts, spending millions of dollars which could be spent more wisely. This recent wave of colonialism which as ever was concocted by rich men and fought by poor men and women must cease. Canada has not had any trains blown up or buildings flown into yet, but if the Canadian policy is going to be one of smashing up other peoples countries, then this status quo will not be everlasting.

            Many Canadians profess support for our troops, often placing a sticker on their car or a poster in their window. But if these people did care for the troops, they would advocate bringing them home out of harms way rather than sending them to their deaths.  Even the military leaders, who initially salivated over the prospect of an invasion, now concede that western forces occupying Muslim lands only exasperates the alienation and disillusionment which in fact acts as a recruiting sergeant for the savage, obscurantist forces of Bin Ladenism.

         In conclusion, I ask the advocates of unprovoked war to contemplate how they would feel if somebody didn’t like their government, replaced it at the point of a gun killing a million of their compatriots, then fell out with the successor and launched another assault killing tens of thousands more of their compatriots, and then brandished that person a terrorist or a crazed fundamentalist for resisting the subsequent occupation of their country. Or how they would feel if their son or daughter was killed fighting in a needless and counter-productive occupation? The notion espoused by the likes of Harper and Bush that killing more Muslims is going to reduce the amount of people who hate us is a fanatical delusion. This myth has been exposed as fallacious by voluminous evidence to the contrary. Bring the troops home and perhaps Canada will return to its previously venerated status in the world as a peace loving, friend of the planet.  Canada has historically been loved for what it’s not - neither their imperial neighbour to the south nor their former colonial master across the pond. Canada undeniably needs good relations with the US and the UK. But not the kind of relationship Miss Lewinski had with Mr Clinton; dog like, obedient and with one partner always on their knees. Canada must return to its good standing before even more young Canadian men and women return home in coffins and more young Muslims are forced by us onto the rocks of separatism and radicalism.  We cannot and must not forget that terrorism is merely the warfare of the poor and powerless and warfare is the terrorism of the rich and powerful. The latest conflagration in Afghanistan is state terrorism and it is our state doing the terrorizing. Thus it is undoubtedly our responsibility to pressure our government to end this blood drenched occupation.    

“We have to make sure of our place in society as indigenous Indians that we have won. In Mexico, there are movements, there are revolutions and change, but for the indigenous nothing changes.”

Subcomandante Marcos

Emiliano Zapata

“We were very poor and my father couldn’t afford to pay the school fees in Caracas. So I finished high school and entered the academy, planning to stay for just a year then leave to play baseball. I learned what had happened to the indigenous people by studying history, by reading. After reading Frei Bartolome de las Casas and other history books, I saw what had really happened. They slaughtered us. This knowledge often brought me into conflict with the life I was leading. When we were cadets they used to make us march past a statue of Columbus in front of the hospital. I used to ask my “why on earth should we pay tribute to the man who launched the invasion?” It was really too much. It had taken 30 years to bring us and our people, to power to begin this new phase and put things in their proper place. The statue? We didn’t pull Christopher Columbus down, he’s still standing there, but we don’t pay tribute to him any more. Now we honour Guaicaipuru, leader of the indigenous resistance. Just before the Spanish killed him, after killing his wife and children, Guaicaipuru shouted a challenge to the Spanish saying “Come Spaniards! and see how an Indian, a free man of this land can die!”. . . I am Indian, mixed with African, with a touch of white thrown in.”

Hugo Chavez

Their reason for killing and destroying such an infinite number of souls is that the Christians have an ultimate aim, which is to acquire gold, and to swell themselves with riches in a very brief time and thus rise to a high estate disproportionate to their merits. . . We can estimate very surely and truthfully that in the forty years that have passed, with the infernal actions of the Christians, there have been unjustly slain more than twelve million men, women, and children. In truth, I believe without trying to deceive myself that the number of the slain is more like fifteen million.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

“When Scholars deny genocide, in the face of decisive evidence that it has occurred, they contribute to a false consciousness that can have the most dire reverberations. Their message is: (genocide) requires no confrontation, no reflection, but should be ignored, glossed over. In this way scholars lend their considerable authority to the acceptance of this ultimate human crime. More than that, they encourage-indeed invite-a repetition of that crime from virtually any source in the immediate or distant future. By closing their minds to the truth, that is, scholars contribute to the deadly psychohitorical dynamtic in which unopposed genocide begets new genocide”

-         Roger W. Smith, Eric Markusen and Robert Lifton

“Professional Ethics and Denial of the Armenian Genocide”

Article 26 of the UN declaration on the rights of indigenous people states: “Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.”

We should like to see this Assembly (UN) shake itself out of complacency and move forward. We should like to see the committees begin their work and not stop at the first confrontation. Imperialism wishes to convert this meeting into a pointless oratorical tournament, instead of solving the grave problems of the world. We must prevent their doing so. . . As long as imperialism exists, it will, by definition, exert its domination over other countries. Today that domination is called neocolonialism.

Commandante Ernesto “Che” Guevara

“When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.”

Bishop Desmond Tutu

“Philosophers have only interpreted the world the idea is to change it”

Karl Marx- The Communist Manifesto

“Whoever stands by a just cause cannot possibly be called a terrorist” . . .This is my homeland no one can kick me out.”- Yasser Arafat

Mérida, March 17, 2008 (venezuelanalysis.com)— Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez inaugurated a new social program known as “mission” on Saturday, which focuses exclusively on the health of Venezuelans who have disabilities. The main goal of the Dr. José Gregorio Hernández Mission, which is inspired by the community health efforts of the legendary “People’s Doctor” of a century ago, is to carry out a door-to-door, nation-wide census to find out how many people have disabilities or genetic diseases and to diagnose their specific needs.

Chávez announced a budget of 592 million bolivars ($275.4 million) for the unprecedented census, which has already been carried out in five of Venezuela’s 23 states since last July, President Chávez explained.

So far, over 66,000 people with disabilities have been registered in the states of Miranda, Zulia, Delta Amacuro, Vargas, and Zulia. Another 83,324 have been registered in the capital municipality, Libertador, since the mission began there on February 21st of this year, according to a news program on the government television station VTV.

Chávez declared that the project should “incorporate more than the diagnosis… It is necessary to apply preventative programs and cover the immediate fundamental necessities.” He suggested that people with disabilities be “included in art groups, choir, work training programs…we hope that none of them remain out there, excluded and marginalized any more.”  

The José Gregorio Hernández Mission is an extension of the Barrio Adentro Mission, which has brought health care to marginalized communities across Venezuela with the help of Cuban doctors as part of the bilateral cooperation accords between Cuba and Venezuela.

Chávez explained Saturday that the new mission will be carried out partially by students in the Venezuelan-Cuban School for Communitarian Integral Medicine. These students do their residency and internships in small clinics in poor communities, systematically recording medical histories in communities with no previous access to health care. Last week, Chávez met directly with communitarian integral medicine students and announced the doubling of their monthly grant for living expenses to 500 bolivars ($233).

In a first stage of the mission, the students will collaborate with “quartets” made up of a genetic disease specialist, a doctor from the local Barrio Adentro Mission, psychology students, and youth social workers from the Francisco de Miranda Front. With support from members of the local community councils, these teams will gather questionnaires regarding physical, visual, mental, and auditory disabilities.

In a second stage, the specific needs of each community will be assessed based on census results, and appropriate treatment will be applied using new medical equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, hearing aids, and special mattresses.

The Cuban Vice Minister of Public Health, Marcia Cobas, who accompanied Chávez Saturday, commented, “The study of disability can only be done in a social manner. One must have sensitivity and be profoundly human. True socialist revolutions necessarily occupy themselves with the most vulnerable parts of society, such as children, the elderly, and those with disabilities.”

Cobas confirmed that during her multi-state tour of Venezuela recently, “everyone expresses that this is the first time a Venezuelan president has paid attention to those with disabilities.”

In addition to its main goals, the mission will also promote the training of doctors, physiatrists, language and physical therapists in the causes, prevention, treatment, and social aspects of disabilities, with a special focus on infants and pregnancy, through the federal Health Ministry.

Minister Erika Farías of the Social Participation and Protection Ministry, which provides administrative support to the mission, emphasized Saturday that “after the mission passes through every community there should be follow-up so that each one of these friends can count on the efforts of Barrio Adentro and the Revolution.”

Various participants in Saturday’s event suggested that a book be published for each state about the specific causes, consequences, and diverse risk factors related to the disabilities of local residents, with a copy of each book available in local Barrio Adentro clinics to guarantee optimum community access to health education.

Ludyt Ramírez, the President of the National Disabled Persons Council, praised the mission, but advocated that public transportation systems also be adapted for use by those with disabilities. Ramírez also pointed out that many public spaces have barriers that limit disabled access.

In response, Chávez called for public transport workers to cultivate sensitivity to the needs of disabled people, and for society to develop a “socialist conscience, the human morale, the human spirit that is essential for achieving a new society…of love, equality, and solidarity.”

Venezuelan Vice President Ramón Carrizalez pointed out that his country is one of the first in the world to offer door-to-door service to the disabled, and Health Minister Jesús Mantilla called the cooperation with Cuba a step forward for “Latin American goodness and integration.”

The Mission Dr. José Gregorio Hernández fulfills the health requirements of the Law for Persons with Disabilities, which was passed by the Venezuelan National Assembly on November 16, 2006. This law also requires that disabled people hold at least 5% of jobs in Venezuelan companies within three years, a step forward from past laws which required a 2% quota only on businesses with more than 50 employees.

This law is based on Article 81 of Venezuela’s constitution, which was passed by popular vote in 1999. The article states: “Every person with a disability or special necessity has the right to the full and autonomous exercise of his or her capacities, and family and community integration.” This right will be guaranteed by “the state, with the supportive participation of the family and society,” in accordance with the articl

Spain’s socialist prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, won a convincing general election victory last night after a campaign thrown into turmoil at the last minute by the killing of a politician, blamed on Basque separatists Eta.

Speaking to ecstatic supporters at the socialist party’s headq uarters in central Madrid last night, Zapatero first paid tribute to Isaias Carrasco, the former socialist town councillor who was shot dead two days before the elections. He went on to thank the “voters who have given a clear victory to the Socialist party”, after a polling day that saw a turnout of over 75%.

“The Spanish people have spoken clearly and decided to start a new era,” he said, adding that he had received a phone call from his defeated opponent, Mariano Rajoy, congratulating him on his victory.

“I will govern for all, but thinking, before anyone else, of those who don’t have it all,” he said, before signing off with his much-mocked campaign slogan, “Good night, and good luck”, taken from the George Clooney film of the same name.

Rajoy, who admitted defeat with around 91% of the vote counted, has been beaten by Zapatero in two successive elections, and will face calls to stand down.

After a bitter and divisive campaign dominated by fears over a stumbling economy and rising immigration, Zapatero fell short of the absolute majority that he had been hoping for. Socialist party officials will now be forced to negotiate with smaller regional parties in order to form a government.

But Zapatero now has the chance to throw off the “accidental” prime minister tag that dogged his first term. He won in 2004 thanks in part to a protest vote against the People’s party (PP), whose leaders had tried to manipulate the aftermath of the Madrid train bombings, in which 191 people were killed and 1,800 injured.

Last night’s victory was an endorsement of Zapatero’s record in his first term, which saw the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, the introduction of social reforms, including the legalisation of gay marriage, and the cession of more power to Spain’s semi-autonomous regions.

In the next four years, Zapatero plans to extend his social reforms, pledging to create 2m jobs, to increase the minimum wage and maternity leave and to spend heavily on a high-speed train network. The socialists want to introduce stronger anti-discrimination legislation, and promise a string of green laws, including spending €9bn on renovating houses to reduce their emissions.

The biggest challenge facing Zapatero is the downturn that has hit a once-booming economy. The wheels have started to come off after 10 years of spectacular growth that saw the creation of new wealth and 600,000 jobs a year.

Zapatero has to overcome rising unemployment, inflation at double the EU average, and a crisis in the construction industry, which has been hit by the global credit squeeze. Having seen the economy grow at a rate of 4% in recent years, analysts say it could drop to 2.5% this year.

Others argue that the Spanish economy is more flexible and better prepared than ever to deal with a global slowdown. “The main scenario we are looking at is not of a recession but a downturn, which will be less damaging but perhaps more protracted, and with a slower recovery,” says Santiago Fernández de Lis, a partner at financial analysts AFI. Like many, De Lis argues that Spain needs long-term structural reform, with more investment in research and development and education.

Spain’s growth was built partly on the backs of the five million immigrants who have come to the country in the last 10 years, and now make up 10% of the population. But immigrants have been among the first to be hit by rising unemployment. During the campaign, Rajoy seized on fears of unemployed immigrants soaking up the country’s welfare payments, telling Zapatero in live televised debates - the first to be held in Spain in 15 years - that he had caused an “avalanche” of migrants.

Though Rajoy’s populist campaign alienated many centrist voters, immigration remains a serious concern in a society that has yet to come to terms with the dramatic demographic changes it has recently witnessed.

The murder of Carrasco highlighted the fact that conflict in the Basque country is never far from the top of the political agenda. Zapatero was criticised for failed negotiations with Eta; it remains to be seen whether peace talks will be resumed.

Poll numbers

With 96% of results in, the Spanish Socialist Worker’s party had won 43.7% of the vote, giving it 169 seats in the lower house, an increase of five on 2004, but short of the 176 needed for an absolute majority. The People’s party won 40.1%, which translates to 154 seats, up six on 2004. After one of the most rancorous campaigns in the post-Franco era, the undoubted losers were the smaller parties, confirming the two-party nature of Spanish politics. The pro-Catalan independence ERC lost five seats, leaving it with only three, and the leftwing Izquierda-Unida lost two seats, winning only three.

Monday, March 03, 2008 (venezuelanalysis.com) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez labeled Colombia the “Israel of Latin America” on his Sunday talk show Aló Presidente yesterday. Responding to events on Saturday in which the Colombian military made an illegal attack across the border in Ecuadorian territory, the Venezuelan leader called Colombia a “terrorist state,” and gave orders to mobilize troops on the Venezuelan-Colombian border.

“The Colombian government has turned into the Israel of Latin America,” said Chavez during his show on Sunday.

“Colombia is a terrorist state that is subject to the great terrorist, the government of the United States and their apparatus,” he explained.

The Venezuelan president spoke in response to an attack and killing on the part of the Colombian military of several FARC guerrillas, including top leader Raul Reyes, on Saturday morning. Chavez called the killing a “cowardly murder” and condemned the attack for having illegally crossed the Colombian border into Ecuador.

“They bombed from the north and the south of the border,” he said. “In other words, they attacked inside Ecuadorian territory.”

President Chavez spoke on the telephone with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa about the attack and the violation of Ecuador’s sovereignty. According to Correa, who ordered an investigation of the events, the Colombian military attacked the guerrillas using precision bombs while they were sleeping inside Ecuadorian territory, killing at least 15 men and women, and leaving two female guerrillas injured. The Ecuadorian military said the bodies were still in their pajamas when they found them.

“This was not a battle. It was a cowardly murder,” said Chavez. “This was all coldly calculated, and the truth is starting to come out.”

Chavez offered any necessary support to his Ecuadorian counterpart and informed his audience that the government of Ecuador would be withdrawing their ambassador from Bogota, and mobilizing troops to the Colombian border. Chavez gave orders during the show for his government to do the same.

“Move ten battalions to the border with Colombian immediately,” he said to his defense minister. “We don’t want war, but we are not going to allow the North American empire, which is their master, and their puppy-dog President Uribe and the Colombian oligarchy to come divide us, to weaken us. We are not going to allow it.”

The Venezuelan president then gave orders to his foreign minister to close the Venezuelan embassy in Bogota and withdraw all the officials that work there, bringing relations between the countries to their lowest point in recent history.

Chavez sharply criticized Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, accusing him of leading a “criminal” government, and warned the Colombian leader that any kind of incursion into Venezuelan territory on the part of the Colombian military would be a cause for war between the two countries.

“This is very serious. If this were to happen in Venezuela it would be a cause for war,” said Chavez. “Don’t even think about it or I’ll launch an air attack.”

Chavez compared the actions of the Colombian government to those of Israel in the Middle East who he accused of “invading,” “bombing,” and “killing” the Palestinian people with the intention of “preventing the union of the Arabic world.”

“It is the fist of the empire,” he said. “And we’re not going to let them plant another Israel here in Latin America.”

Washington, who supports the Colombian war against the FARC and provides the Colombian government with more military aid than any other country outside the Middle East, said it was monitoring events in the region.

 GAZA, (PIC)– Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told the Israeli Army Radio on Friday: “The more Qassam fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, [the Palestinians] will bring upon themselves a bigger holocaust because we will use all our might to defend ourselves.”, according to Haaretz.

This is the first indirect admission by an Israeli official that what Israel is conducting against the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is a holocaust, albeit a slow motion one.

In the past 48 hours, the IOF killed 34 Palestinians including 9 children in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, mostly in airstrikes, and the Israeli occupation government is threatening a major ground offensive of the Gaza Strip and say that the army was ready to carry out such an invasion.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Health of the care taker government of Ismail Haneyya said, in a statement to PIC on Thursday, that more than 70% of those killed and wounded in the latest Israeli occupation onslaught are women and children.

Meanwhile, Ismail Haneyya, in his Friday sermon said that the threat of a ground invasion does not frighten the people of Gaza: “haven’t they [the Israelis] occupied the Gaza Strip for 38 years, what have they achieved? They could not break the determination of the Palestinians to struggle for freedom.”

Haneyya also criticised those who claim that the resistance rockets were the reason for the Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip, saying that resistance factions have effectively stopped firing missiles in the past week, but Israel responded by targeting, on Wednesday, five resistance fighters prompting resistance factions to respond.

“The rockets are just a pretext, the aim of the Israeli onslaught is to make Palestinians submit and stop demanding their rights.”