Archive - Dec 4, 2009

• US House votes to make estate tax permanent
• UK inquiry into Iraq War yields revelations in lead up to invasion
• Groups demand return of Native American remains at UC Berkeley campus
• Officials outline new human rights violations in Darfur
• White House expands CIA drone attack program in Pakistan
• Aid agency in Gaza Strip faces financial collapse

• Nato pledges to send 7000 additional troops to Afghanistan
• Uncertain future in Guinea as President shot by staff member
• Human slavery operation broken up in Mexico City
• SCOTUS denies appeal – Bobby Wayne Woods executed in Texas
• Jobless rate begins to inch down

Perhaps no issue gets to the heart of class privilege quite like the estate tax. Republicans call it a “death tax.” But progressives say it makes sense to tax large inheritances in order to keep wealthy families from passing their wealth along to generation after generation. The House voted Thursday to make the tax permanent. But, as FSRN’s Tanya Snyder reports, no one seems happy with the result.

The British government continues its inquiry into its role in the Iraq War. The inquiry, which began last week, showed that senior diplomats had doubts about the legality of the war. This week, Tony Blair's former foreign policy adviser Sir David Manning testified. Panel members asked about the controversial Crawford Ranch meeting, during which some speculate former US President George W. Bush convinced Blair to support an invasion of Iraq regardless of whether weapons of mass destruction were discovered. FSRN'S George Lavender reports.

And now we go to California, where a nun has been holding a fast on the campus of UC Berkeley for the return of Native American remains. The university has the remains of around 12,000 Native Americans stored underneath the school’s pool, in the gymnasium.  Federal law requires the return of such remains to tribes that request them, but as Africa Jones reports, there are loopholes.

Human rights officials are raising concerns about continued attacks on civilians in Darfur, Sudan. Since 2003, some 2 million have been displaced and hundreds of thousands killed. Many say the conflict was directly supported by the government in Khartoum and the massacre of civilians has been called a genocide, including by the US government. Luis Moreno Ocampo is prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. He says they have evidence of new human rights violations.

"Crimes are continuing. There are still indiscriminate bombings of civilians causing casualties and forced displacement; continued imposition of conditions of life to exterminate displaced persons including hindering of humanitarian aid and expelling of assistance providers with the consequence of reducing access to food, water and services; rapes and sexual violence constituting mental and bodily harm; and use of child soldiers. As recently as last week, on 25 November, there were reports of Militia/Janjaweed attacks against Al Harra and Jabel Issa, two villages in North Darfur, in which civlians were captured, villagers beaten and properties looted."

While attention this week has focused on President Obama’s plan to increase troops in Afghanistan, another military operation that the government says is key to success in the region continues. That's the controversial use of drone attacks in Pakistan.

The New York Times reports that the White House has authorized an expansion of the Central Intelligence Agency’s drone program in Pakistan. The program started during the Bush administration and has continued after Obama took over the presidency. It uses unmanned aircrafts, often controlled by pilots stationed in the US, to locate and kill targets.  The Times quotes an anonymous government official who says that about 80 missile attacks from drones in less than two years have killed more than 400 militants. But human rights groups have criticized the practice. According to the BBC, hundreds of civilians have been killed in the attacks in the past few years. And the use of drones has been highly controversial within Pakistan.