Our Country, Our Stories: In New Memoirs, Syrians Describe Life — and Death — in Wartime

The war in Syria, now in its eighth year, has been punctuated by a series of grisly massacres — so many that it has become nearly impossible to keep track. But the massacre of August 21, 2013, the day that Bashar al-Assad’s regime unleashed sarin gas on the suburbs of Damascus, is one that will not easily be forgotten. For those following the geopolitics, it is the day that the Syrian dictator crossed President Barack Obama’s infamous “red line.” For the families of the upward of 1,000 people who died a bloodless but painful death, it was a day of darkness and mourning. For Kassem Eid, it was the day he died and was born anew.

In his new book, “My Country: A Syrian Memoir,” Eid, a Palestinian-Syrian activist from the Damascus suburb of Moadamiya, describes waking up that August morning. “My eyes were burning, my head was throbbing, and my throat was rasping for air. I was suffocating,” he writes, painting a scene of an experience that is too often debated in the abstract. “Suddenly my windpipe opened again. The air ripped through my throat and pierced my lungs. Invisible needles stabbed my eyes. A searing pain clawed at my stomach.”

Venezuelan President Calls For U.N. To Impose Restrictions On War

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro urged world leaders Tuesday to create new rules governing the use of force in the wake of a series of violent conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa that have sparked a refugee crisis, as hundreds of thousands of people flee to Europe looking for safety.

Speaking for the annual gathering of heads of state at the United Nations General Assembly, Maduro said he supported a plan by proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to create an international coalition to coordinate foreign military action in Syria.

Kimberly Rivera, Iraq War Resister, Deportation Hearing Today

TORONTO - An American soldier who has been living in Canada with her family for the past five years will learn today if she will be deported to the U.S.

Kimberly Rivera, the first female U.S. war resister, fled to Canada in 2008 to avoid further military service.

She had initially arrived while on leave but then applied for refugee status.

The War Resisters Support Campaign says Rivera will face harsh penalties if she is ordered to return to the United States.

The group says two other Iraq war resisters who were deported, Robin Long and Clifford Cornell, faced year-long jail sentences upon their return.

Rivera lives in Toronto with her husband and four children.

Original Article
Source: huffington post
Author: The Canadian Press

Memorial Day Special: U.S. Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan Return War Medals at NATO Summit

Democracy Now! returns to Chicago, site of the largest NATO summit in the organization’s six-decade history, where nearly 50 veterans discarded their war medals by hurling them down the street in the direction of the NATO summit. We hear the soldiers’ voices as they return their medals one by one from the stage. "I’m here to return my Global War on Terror Service Medal in solidarity with the people of Iraq and the people of Afghanistan," said Jason Hurd, a former combat medic who spent 10 years in the U.S. Army. "I am deeply sorry for the destruction that we have caused in those countries and around the globe." Scott Kimball, an Iraq war veteran, adds: “For all the servicemembers and veterans who are against these wars, you are not alone!” Click here to see the other parts of the 2012 Memorial Day Special: 2, 3, 4, 5.

Video
Source: Democracy Now!
Author: ---

Father of soldier speaks out against Afghan pledge

The father of a Nova Scotia soldier killed in the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan is speaking out against the prime minister's decision to reaffirm the commitment to leave the country in 2014.

Jim Davis of Bridgewater told CBC News he's conflicted over Canada's withdrawal but said he believes entering the Afghan mission was the right decision.

"I believe we did the right thing by going, I know we did," Davis said, "The problem is that we didn't see the mission through."

Davis's son, Cpl. Paul Davis, was the ninth Canadian soldier to die in the Afghanistan mission after the vehicle he was riding in rolled over in March 2006.

"It hurts," Davis said, "My goodness, it's been six years. It's been a long time.

"It's been a long time, but the pain doesn't change."

On Monday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Canada would pledge $110 million annually to help fund the embattled Afghan National Army after the withdrawal of Canadian soldiers in March 2014.

It is estimated that it will cost $4.1 billion a year for Afghanistan to run its security forces once the NATO-led coalition pulls out in 2014.

Canada had been asked to consider leaving some soldiers in Afghanistan post-2014 to continue to help with training, but Harper said the deadline is firm. He said it is not an abandonment of Afghanistan but a transfer of responsibility to the Afghans.

Since 2010, the coalition has been planning to finish the military mission at the end of 2014, even as moves by nations such as France to pull combat troops out early has tested their strength.

Original Article
Source: CBC
Author: cbc

Protests launch campaign to stop war on Iran

A series of anti-war demonstrations took place across Canada last week that marked the beginning of a co-ordinated campaign to oppose sanctions and war on Iran. A total of seven actions were organized in Toronto, Ottawa, London and Vancouver, including rallies, marches, information pickets and a "die-in," with support from the Canadian Peace Alliance (CPA). The protests coincided with a three-day visit to Canada by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who arrived in Ottawa on March 2 to drum up support for an Israeli attack on Iran. Netanyahu's stopover in Canada was followed by his meeting in Washington with Barack Obama to press the case for war.

The first action was on February 23, when the Ottawa Peace Assembly (OPA) held a march and die-in to challenge the annual meeting of the Conference of Defence Associations (CDA), a gathering of war profiteers, Harper government cabinet ministers, and military commanders (from Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.) that is co-sponsored by NATO. The CDA, little known outside Ottawa, is an influential umbrella lobby group for the arms industry that is lobbying for war on Iran, just as it supported Canadian military participation in Afghanistan.

On March 2, OPA picketed a media conference of Netanyahu and Stephen Harper on Parliament Hill. In Vancouver, StopWar.ca hosted a solidarity picket during the Ottawa action, distributing information leaflets and displaying anti-war banners outside the Vancouver Art Gallery. StopWar.ca is mobilizing for a city-wide rally on March 17.