[Peace-discuss] Obama, doing nothing...

[C. G. Estabrook]

[From today's Democracy Now:]

Obama’s Intel Chief Pick Backed Indonesian Occupation of East Timor
Obama has also reportedly chosen Admiral Dennis Blair for the nation’s top
intelligence job. As Director of National Intelligence, Blair would oversee the
US government’s sixteen intelligence agencies. Blair’s selection has come under
controversy mainly over his role in backing the Indonesian occupation of East
Timor during the 1990s. Blair provided key support to the Indonesian military
while commanding US military forces in the Pacific. In a letter, the East Timor
and Indonesian Action Network said, “Blair sought the quickest possible
restoration of military assistance, despite Indonesia’s highly destructive exit
and the failure, which continues to this day, to prosecute the senior officials
who oversaw the violence. This lack of concern for human rights shows that he is
unlikely to be a champion of reform.”

Professor: Don’t Expect Change in Mideast Policy Under Obama
A Palestinian American professor who became the focus of anti-Obama attacks
during the presidential campaign is warning against expecting major changes from
Obama’s White House. Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi’s personal
ties to Obama were cited by the McCain campaign in a widely ridiculed campaign
ploy. Speaking in Egypt, Khalidi said he doesn’t think Obama will reverse US
policy in the Middle East.
     Rashid Khalidi: “The lethal combination of the fear of appearing soft on
terrorism, which has sort of replaced the fear of being soft on communism in
American public discourse, together with the unparalleled clout of the American
military-industrial complex may unfortunately help to prolong the agony brought
on by the current heavy American footprint in the Middle East, whatever
intentions President Obama may have.”
Khalidi and Obama knew each other while teaching at the University of Chicago in
the 1990s.

[And Obama plans for more of the following:]

US Accused of New Civilian Killings in Afghanistan
The US military is being accused of another deadly attack on innocent civilians
in Afghanistan. Afghan officials say three family members were killed and
another two wounded when US troops raided their home in the village of Kundi,
near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan. The soldiers fatally shot the family’s
father and mother and a male relative. A four-year-old boy was bitten by a US
military attack dog.

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