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| heaven forbid: Rights group Amnesty International says U.S. response to Gaza 'lopsided' | |||
| 2009-01-02 | |||
Human rights group Amnesty International on Friday accused the United States of having a "lopsided" response to the crisis
"Amnesty International USA is particularly dismayed at the lopsided response by the U.S. government to the recent violence and its lackadaisical efforts to ameliorate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza," the group told Rice in the letter, which was released to the media by Amnesty. Amnesty said it was also deeply concerned by weaponry and military equipment supplied to Israel by Washington that the group said had been used in recent strikes on densely populated residential areas in Gaza. "The United States must suspend the transfer of weapons to Israel immediately and conduct an investigation into whether U.S. weapons were used to commit human rights abuses," said Amnesty.
The United Nations estimates that Israel dropped a few million cluster bombs on Lebanon. Hundreds of thousands of those bomblets failed to explode and have continued to maim and kill after that war's end. Amnesty also urged the United States to put pressure on Israel to open border crossings into Gaza to human rights workers and journalists and to allow humanitarian aid through. A U.S. State Department official rejected claims that the U.S. response had been pro-Israeli or lopsided. Asked about claims Israel was using disproportionate force, he said: "The use of force is based on military objectives. Israel has never claimed that this is vengeance. They are looking to end Hamas' ability to attack Israel." | |||
| Posted by:3dc |
| #10 They're probably counting each sub-munition as a seperate "bomb". Fools. Surely the IDF can do better than that. |
| Posted by: Chris in Fort Worth 2009-01-02 22:25 |
| #9 United Nations estimates that Israel dropped a few million cluster bombs on Lebanon I just noticed this.... How many planes flying how long would it take to drop a few MILLION cluster bombs...? How many landmasses the size of Israel were used to store these FEW MILLION bombs before dropping them? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2009-01-02 21:48 |
| #8 Where's Jame Retief when we need him? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retief |
| Posted by: mom 2009-01-02 20:13 |
| #7 Amnesty said it was also deeply concerned Ima waitin' for the Sternly Worded Letter... |
| Posted by: Raj 2009-01-02 20:08 |
| #6 A Great White Shark attacking a baby seal isn't fair, so let them correct that wrong first. |
| Posted by: HammerHead 2009-01-02 19:27 |
| #5 If we won't supply Israel with modern weapons they can always go out to the international arms dealers and buy some old dumb iron bombs. That should help reduce loss of 'innocent' lives in Gaza, right? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-01-02 19:03 |
| #4 " They're right. We should be giving Israel MUCH more help. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-01-02 18:23 |
| #3 So would it be even-handed to investigate whether donations to Hamas are being used for weapons? I didn't think so. Amnesty lives on a one way street. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2009-01-02 17:54 |
| #2 Amnesty International can go ---- themselves. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2009-01-02 17:38 |
| #1 Amnesty International (which I at one time contributed to) has lost all credibility. The West is always wrong and the terrorists are always poor innocent victims. These people are the ultimate in "useful idiots". |
| Posted by: DMFD 2009-01-02 17:32 |