Truthout roundup 7/29

Marjorie Cohn examines the illegality of both major fronts of the "war on terror"; life expectancy in the US is closely tied to income; Pakistan's prime minister tells Bush not to strike his country unilaterally; Monday ranks as one of the year's bloodiest days in Iraq; Homeland Security declares "Period of Heightened Alert" in run-up to conventions; and more ... Browse our continually updating front page at http://www.truthout.org

t r u t h o u t 07.29

Marjorie Cohn End the Occupation of Iraq - and Afghanistan
http://www.truthout.org/article/end-occupation-iraq-and-afghanistan
Truthout contributor Marjorie Cohn writes: "In light of stepped-up violence in Afghanistan and for political reasons - following Obama's lead - Bush will be moving troops from Iraq to Afghanistan. Although the US invasion of Afghanistan was as illegal as the invasion of Iraq, many Americans see it as a justifiable response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the casualties in that war have been lower than those in Iraq - so far. Practically no one in the United States is currently questioning the legality or propriety of US military involvement in Afghanistan. The cover of Time magazine calls it 'The Right War....' The invasion of Afghanistan was not legitimate self-defense under article 51 of the Charter because the attacks on 9/11 were criminal attacks, not 'armed attacks' by another country. Afghanistan did not attack the United States.... Those who conspired to hijack airplanes and kill thousands of people on 9/11 are guilty of crimes against humanity. They must be identified and brought to justice in accordance with the law. But retaliation by invading Afghanistan is not the answer and will only lead to the deaths of more of our troops and Afghans."

Unequal America
http://www.truthout.org/article/unequal-america
Elizabeth Gudrais reports for Harvard Magazine: "When Majid Ezzati thinks about declining life expectancy, he says, 'I think of an epidemic like HIV, or I think of the collapse of a social system, like in the former Soviet Union.' But such a decline is happening right now in some parts of the United States. Between 1983 and 1999, men's life expectancy decreased in more than 50 U.S. counties, according to a recent study by Ezzati, associate professor of international health at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), and colleagues.... The United States no longer boasts anywhere near the world's longest life expectancy. It doesn't even make the top 40. In this and many other ways, the richest nation on earth is not the healthiest. Ezzati's finding is unsettling on its face, but scholars find further cause for concern in the pattern of health disparities. Poor health is not distributed evenly across the population, but concentrated among the disadvantaged."

Pakistani PM Warns Bush Against "Unilateral" Action
http://www.truthout.org/article/pakistani-pm-warns-bush-against-unilateral-action
According to Agence France-Presse: "Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani held talks with US President George W. Bush here Monday and called on the United States not to act 'unilaterally' against Islamic militants in Pakistan. Gilani, whose new government has been facing intense US pressure to crack down on Pakistan-based militants, told reporters after his meeting with Bush at the White House that Pakistan was committed to fighting extremists. 'We are committed to fight against those extremists and terrorists who are destroying and making the world not safe,' he said. 'This is a war which is against Pakistan, and we'll fight for our own cause.'"

Bombers and Ethnic Clashes Kill 61 in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/article/bombers-and-ethnic-clashes-kill-61-iraq
For The New York Times, Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Sabrina Tavernise report: "Three women wrapped in explosives killed dozens in Iraq on Monday, shaking the country as chaos and ethnic violence erupted in the volatile northern city of Kirkuk, where tensions had already run high between majority Kurds and ethnic Turkmens. All told, at least 61 people were killed and 238 wounded, nearly all of them Kurdish political protesters in Kirkuk and Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad.... Concerns about stability ran so high that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki ordered a battalion of Iraqi troops to reinforce Kirkuk and put other unspecified 'emergency reserve' troops on alert in case the violence spread, state-run television reported late Monday."

US Headed for "Heightened Alert" Stage
http://www.truthout.org/article/us-headed-heightened-alert-stage
Pierre Thomas reports for ABC News: "Government officials have been quietly stepping up counterterror efforts out of a growing concern that al Qaeda or similar organizations might try to capitalize on the spate of extremely high-profile events in the coming months, sources tell ABC News. Security experts point to next month's Olympics as evidence that high-profile events attract threats of terrorism, like the one issued this past weekend by a Chinese Muslim minority group that warned of its intent to attack the Games. Anti-terror officials in the U.S. cite this summer and fall's lineup of two major political parties' conventions, November's general election and months of transition into a new presidential administration as cause for heightened awareness and action. This is what the Department of Homeland Security is quietly declaring a Period of Heightened Alert, or POHA, a time frame when terrorists may have more incentive to attack."