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By Vijay Prashad

As the ICC finally issues arrest warrants for Israeli leaders Netanyahu and Gallant, the US confirms it has no regard for international law or a genuine rules-based order.

28 Nov 2024 – Finally, before history ends, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The indictment stated that there ‘are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity’. The court found sufficient reasons to believe that the two men ‘bear criminal responsibility’ for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts, and the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population. Almost immediately, US President Joe Biden condemned the court’s actions, stating that the ‘ICC issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous’. The United States, Biden said, ‘will always stand with Israel’.

A short walk from Biden’s White House sits Freedom House, an institution set up in 1941 and predominantly funded by the US State Department. Each year, Freedom House releases its Freedom in the World index, which uses various data points to adjudge whether a country is ‘free’, ‘partly free’, or ‘not free’. Adversaries of the United States – such as China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Russia – are consistently found to be ‘not free’, even if they have electoral processes and legislative bodies of various kinds (in Iran’s 2024 legislative elections, for example, 15,200 candidates ran for 290 seats in the Consultative Assembly; while last year in Cuba, the 470 seats in the National Assembly of People’s Power were elected by 75.87% of eligible voters). Meanwhile, the 2024 index accords Israel with a ‘global freedom score’ of 74/100 and proclaims it to be the only ‘free’ state in the region, despite the authors noting that in Israel ‘the political leadership and many in society have discriminated against Arab and other ethnic or religious minority populations, resulting in systemic disparities in areas including infrastructure, criminal justice, education, and economic opportunity’. According to the measurements of this US State Department-funded index, which is routinely used to disparage countries around the world that it deems unfree, an apartheid system built on occupation and now genocide is considered an exemplary democracy.

Indices, such as the one from Freedom House, are not as innocent as they may appear. The design of the index – built on the subjective assessments of analysts and advisors selected from the world of Western establishment think tanks – produces outcomes that are often prescribed. While Freedom House claims to draw from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), it ignores the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966). The latter would necessitate understanding democracy in a far more capacious way than the mere holding of elections and existence of multiple political parties. Article 11 of the second covenant, alone, would expand the idea of democracy to include the right to housing and the right to be free from hunger. As Article 4 notes, the purpose of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is to promote ‘the general welfare in a democratic society’. Democracy here is used with the broadest understanding, extending far beyond simple electoralism. And even with regard to electoralism, there is scant concern in the Freedom House index for the high rates of abstention across liberal democracies and for the collapse of a vibrant media culture to hold political parties and leaders to account.

But then, what do those behind such indices care? They think themselves masters of the universe. The reactions to the ICC indictment from the United States and Germany – the two countries with the largest arms transfers to Israel during this genocide – have been expected, but nonetheless shocking. Biden’s cavalier reaction confirms that the United States either does not understand or does not care about the gravity of its callousness and that the United States fails to grasp that its rejection of the ICC warrants is the final nail in the coffin of the US’s ‘rules-based international order’. On the issue of callousness: ahead of the 2024 US presidential election the Biden administration said that Israel had to allow aid into Gaza within thirty days or it would face a weapons’ freeze, but this deadline came and went without much concern. The ‘rules-based international order’ was always a bit of a farce. In 2002, during the US-driven War on Terror, the US Congress debated the possibility that a US soldier or CIA agent could be charged with a war crime. To immunise that soldier or agent, the US Congress passed the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act, which has been widely called the ‘Hague Invasion Act’. Although the act does not say that the US can invade the Netherlands to free its personnel from the ICC, it does say that the US president ‘is authorised to use all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any person… who is being detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court’. Around the time of the passage of this act, the United States formally withdrew from the Rome Statute (1998) that set up the ICC.

Both US Senators Tom Cotton and Lindsey Graham have invoked the Hague Invasion Act in response to the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, with Graham going so far as to say that the US Senate should place sanctions, even on allies such as Canada, for having the temerity to suggest that they would uphold the warrants. If the US throws the ICC warrants to the winds, then it has told the world with finality that it does not believe in the rules, or that the rules are only made to discipline others and not itself. It is remarkable to see the list of international treaties that the United States either never signed or never ratified. A few examples are sufficient to make the case about its disregard for a genuine rules-based international order:

1. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1949, never signed).
2. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951, never signed).
3. Convention Against Discrimination in Education (1960, never signed).
4. Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration of Marriages (1962, signed but never ratified).
5. Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity (1968, never signed).
6. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982, never signed).
7. Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (1989, signed but never ratified).
8. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006, signed but never ratified).

Even more horrifying are the arms control conventions that the United States has either refused to sign or from which it has unilaterally withdrawn:

1. Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty (1972, withdrew in 2002).
2. Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty (1987, withdrew in 2019).
3. Mine Ban Treaty (1997, never signed).
4. Convention on Cluster Munitions (2008, never signed).
5. Arms Trade Treaty (2013, signed but withdrew in 2019).

It is because the US unilaterally left the ABM Treaty and the INF Treaty that the conflict over Ukraine has become so inflamed. Russia had made it clear on several occasions that the absence of any arms control regime regarding mid-range nuclear missiles would pose a threat to its major cities, were its neighbours to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). On 18 November, in a provocative and dangerous move, Biden allowed Ukraine to use intermediate-range missiles to strike Russian territory, which drew a powerful response from Russia against Ukraine. If Russia had decided to fire one of those missiles at a US base in Germany in retaliation, for instance, we might already be in midst of a nuclear winter. The US disregard for the arms control regime is only part of its absolute disregard for any international law, sealed in place by its raised middle finger to the ICC.

Too much blood has been spilled
Please my countrymen, can someone say a word of wisdom …
Ah, we’ve become familiar with horror
the heart of our country
when it makes its pulse
ticking time
wounds us
My countrymen, can someone who understands that it is now too late
who knows that exploitation and oppression are brains which being
insane only know violence
can someone teach us how to mount the wounds and fight.

It is time to revisit the ‘great wound’, as Frantz Fanon wrote in 1959, to ride the wound and fight.

Earlier this year, Serote wrote a poem for Palestine, part of which I reproduce for the International Day in Solidarity with Palestine (29 November); for this day, we at Tricontinental are organising an exhibition featuring the artwork of Palestinian artist Ibraheem Mohana and twenty children who he has been teaching art to in Gaza in the midst of Israel’s genocide.

We hear in our eyes the sounds of the siren and of the explosion
As it blasts our eye and hearing
and the red fire
flares its coming in the air with the power of a storm
The red-hot fire holds human flesh in its red-hot dance
It was preceded by a thick black smoke
Which bellows and rages
On
Oh
Human race

And then it ends…

Ah Palestine!
Be.

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter.

2 December 2024

Source: transcend.org

By The Cradle

The Israeli army is accused of allowing criminal gangs in Gaza to steal aid as Palestinians continue to starve.

27 Nov 2024 – Israel “outright denied” 82 out of 91 attempts since 26 October to deliver aid to besieged areas in northern Gaza, said Georgios Petropoulos, head of the UN humanitarian office in Gaza.

By Mesarvot

25 Nov 2024 – Soul Behar Tsalik and Iddo Elam, both 18-year-old, will refuse to enlist in the Israeli Army in protest over the war of destruction in Gaza and the ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands. The two will arrive this week at Tel-Hashomer enlistment camp and declare their refusal to become soldiers and their total objection to the Israeli policy of endless war, occupation, and death. They are expected to be sentenced to military prison.

On Wed 27 Nov 2024 at 10 a.m., a solidarity demonstration with the two will be held outside Tel Hashomer base, as they enter. They will be accompanied by activists from Mesarvot (refuser activist network) and BANKI (Communist Youth).

We Must End the War for the Israelis and the Palestinians – Soul Behar Tsalik’s Refusal Statement:

Hello, my name is Soul. I am 18 years old, and I refuse to enlist.

We must end the war and Israel’s presence in Gaza – for the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Human lives are equally valuable, no matter which side of an ethnic or political line we were born on. We all want and deserve to live in peace, quiet, and security. For over a year now, the IDF has increased its presence in Gaza and has conducted widespread military operations in the dense strip. For the sake of humanity and the safety of all, this must stop.

As a result of the increased military presence in Gaza, an unprecedented number of lives have been lost: soldiers, fathers, mothers, hostages, children, and civilians – both Israelis and Palestinians. The Israeli government continues to pour vast sums of money into an ongoing military presence that only sustains the cycle of violence and puts everyone at risk. We must shift from violent confrontation to a political solution. Only then can we begin to build a lasting peace. No more sirens, no more kidnappings, no more wars, and no more death. All of this is possible, but only if we leave Gaza.

There may be attempts to shift our attention to Lebanon or Iran, but the reality in Gaza does not change – we are controlling Gaza. We continue the violence there and continue to forsake the hostages.

Ending the Israeli presence in Gaza is not only the right thing to do for the Palestinians. It is also what must be done for the security and future of Israelis.

To draw attention to this situation and to remain true to my humanist values, I choose to refuse to enlist in the IDF. I hope my refusal will resonate with others and encourage people to seek alternatives to the cycle of bloodshed and to work toward peace.

Leave Gaza.

Thank you for your time

***********

A Child is a child – Iddo Elam’s Refusal Declaration:

My name is Iddo Elam. I’m 18 years old and I love living here. That’s why I’m refusing.

I love this land. I love our culture and my Israeli and Palestinian friends. I want to believe that in 10 years I will still be here. I want to believe that the future of my country looks different, that the future generations will live in a future of Jewish and Arab partnership, of peace and of equality.

Unfortunately, in the direction my country is heading, I am having a hard time seeing this future. I am refusing because I want to live in security and I want the next generation to not face another 7.10. I want no child, no matter on which side of the wall they were born, be afraid of rockets or being kidnapped from their beds. A child is a child. A child isn’t born with a weapon in their hand or with the feeling of revenge. I want the next generation to only know our horrible reality, including the appalling war crimes we are committing in Gaza, as a lesson from history not to be repeated. We have to do everything in our power to make sure that the children of the future live in security.

At 18, I haven’t voted in an election yet. I finished high school just a moment ago. But I have already lived through 7 Gaza wars before this terrible year. I refuse because I want to be part of the change. I refuse because there’s no justice in sending young men to die on the battlefield, when there is no political horizon and when our government is eliminating any democracy we had while hiding its true intentions from the public.

The future is in our hands. Change has to come from us. As long as we continue to enlist, follow orders and enact our government’s rotten goals, we will live in a reality of war, annexation and hate. This is the moment to refuse, to work against them and enlist for peace. Many have said this before me. The road to peace won’t be easy, but in comparison to the reality of war that we live in, no matter how hard and painful the road will be, we have to take it.

No matter what background you come from, what you believe in or what you think a future peace should look like, one thing is true – this war will end. The only question is, what have we done to ensure it was the last one, and what would we have done to make it end as quickly as possible?

The war will end. The leaders will shake hands. And we will be left, those who have paid the price.

Mesarvot is a network of Israeli conscientious objectors.

2 December 2024

Source: transcend.org

By Caitlin Johnstone

And we were told this war was all about protecting democracy.

28 Nov 2024 – The IDF dramatically increased its bombing campaign in Lebanon on Tuesday in the hours preceding an expected ceasefire with Hezbollah.

Israel always does this, and it’s so gross. Normal people get a ceasefire agreement and think “Good, this means we can finally stop fighting.” Israel gets a ceasefire agreement and goes, “This means we have to hurry up and kill as many people as possible before it takes effect.”

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The Biden administration is now pushing Ukraine to lower its minimum draft age from 25 to 18 in order to provide more cannon fodder for the war against Russia.

Polls say that both Ukrainians and Americans want this US proxy war to end, but instead of ending it Washington is pressuring Kyiv to throw teenagers into the threshing machine of an unwinnable conflict.

And we were told this war was all about protecting democracy.

[https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1861517095621861542]

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Russia keeps getting hit by Ukraine with US-supplied long-range missiles and is now saying that “retaliatory actions are being prepared.” This happens as Trump appoints virulent Russia hawk Keith Kellogg as his envoy to the conflict, adding further weight to my concerns that these soaring tensions may continue to escalate after Trump gets into office.

I’ll say right now that if all this insane brinkmanship results in Russia hitting Ukraine with a tactical nuke or something I’ll be a lot more enraged at the western power structure I live under for giving rise to that horror than I’ll be at Vladimir Putin.

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Don’t side with the powerful. Don’t side with Israel against the Palestinians. Don’t side with the US empire against any nation it targets. Don’t side with cops against their victims. Don’t side with billionaires and politicians against the people. Don’t side with the powerful.

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Every four years Americans get to choose between the Republican Party and the party that consistently leaves them so disgusted that they then vote for the Republican Party.

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The way American liberals spent months trying to whip up support and enthusiasm for an administration that was committing an active genocide exposed the disdain western liberals have for non-western lives in ways that will be remembered for generations.

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Leftist indie media figures tend to drift to the right, either by shilling for liberal establishment politics or by promoting the faux populism of the Trump faction. This happens because when your business model is largely driven by clicks and views, you have an incentive to go where the mainstream numbers are. They don’t start off thinking “I can’t wait to sell out and covertly promote the interests of the power structures I claim to oppose,” they just see their virality go up when they talk one way compared to another and start putting out the kind of content that generates more.

Independent media does not exist in a vacuum, it exists in an information environment that’s saturated in empire propaganda which is designed to herd the public into two power-serving mainstream political factions. By changing their output to align with the mainstream liberal faction or the mainstream right wing faction, indie media creators are effectively surfing on the tide of these propaganda streams to carry them into fame and fortune.

This effect is further exacerbated by the fact that people tend to become more right wing the wealthier and more well-connected they become. The idea of fighting a class war against the ruling class is suddenly a lot less appealing when you’re a millionaire with a lot of rich celebrity friends and high-level political connections, so you’ll naturally find yourself pushing vapid culture war bullshit instead and restricting your criticisms of status quo politics to a much smaller zone. This happens to align perfectly with what the empire propagandists are doing, so you’ll still get plenty of clicks and views.

This doesn’t happen to you if you actually stand for something and get into indie media for principled reasons, but if you just got into it to have a cool job or whatever then you’re just going to do the job thing with it and do what makes you money. It’s pretty easy to see who lands where on this dynamic.

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If you’re interested in awakening and enlightenment, check out the work of Angelo DiLullo. Nobody in the English-speaking world is talking about the how-to of liberation so lucidly and skillfully and sharing helpful information so freely. He’s got an excellent YouTube channel with his videos categorized into playlists for whatever stage people are at on their awakening journey.

Caitlin Johnstone is a rogue journalist, poet, and utopia prepper.

2 December 2024

Source: transcend.org

By Middle East Eye

29 Nov 2024

Tanya Haj Hassan, a pediatric intensive care MD, addressed the UNGA on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on Tue 26 Nov, sharing the harrowing realities faced by Palestinians trapped in Gaza.

Doctor who volunteered in Gaza tells UN: ‘Palestinians don’t need our pity’

2 December 2024

Source: transcend.org

By Fatima Hussein

30 Nov 2024 – President-elect Donald Trump today threatened 100% tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the U.S. dollar.

His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining.

While the U.S. dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed up with America’s dominance of the global financial system.

The dollar represents roughly 58% of the world’s foreign exchange reserves, according to the IMF and major commodities like oil are still primarily bought and sold using dollars. The dollar’s dominance is threatened, however, with BRICS’ growing share of GDP and the alliance’s intent to trade in non-dollar currencies — a process known as de-dollarization.

Trump, in a Truth Social post, said: “We require a commitment from these Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy.”

At a summit of BRICS nations in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. of “weaponizing” the dollar and described it as a “big mistake.”

“It’s not us who refuse to use the dollar,” Putin said at the time. “But if they don’t let us work, what can we do? We are forced to search for alternatives.”

Russia has specifically pushed for the creation of a new payment system that would offer an alternative to the global bank messaging network, SWIFT, and allow Moscow to dodge Western sanctions and trade with partners.

Trump said there is “no chance” BRICS will replace the U.S. dollar in global trade and any country that tries to make that happen “should wave goodbye to America.”

Research shows that the U.S. dollar’s role as the primary global reserve currency is not threatened in the near future.

An Atlantic Council model that assesses the dollar’s place as the primary global reserve currency states the dollar is “secure in the near and medium term” and continues to dominate other currencies.

Trump’s latest tariff threat comes after he threatened to slap 25% tariffs on everything imported from Mexico and Canada, and an additional 10% tax on goods from China, as a way to force the countries to do more to halt the flow of illegal immigration and drugs into the U.S.

He has since held a call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who said Thursday she is confident that a tariff war with the United States can be averted. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned home Saturday after meeting Trump, without assurances the president-elect will back away from threatened tariffs on Canada.

2 December 2024

Source: transcend.org

By Lyse Doucet

28 Nov 2024 – Mahmoud is a cheeky teenager who beams the biggest of smiles even though he lost his front teeth in the rough and tumble of kids’ play.

By Vijay Prashad

Instead of solving the problems of the majority, the ‘far right of a special type’ – a right that is intimately tied to liberalism – cultivates a politics of anger.

14 Nov 2024 – When Dante Alighieri and his guide reach the fifth circle of hell in Inferno’s Canto VII, they come across the River Styx, where people who could not contain their anger in life now wallow and fight each other on the surface of the turbulent, muddy water, and below them lie those who had been sullen in life, their frustrations coming to the surface as bubbles:

And I, who stood intent upon beholding,
Saw people mud-besprent in that lagoon.
All of them naked and with angry look.

They smote each other not alone with hands,
But with the head and with the breast and feet,
Tearing each other piecemeal with their teeth.

Every culture depicts some variation of this characterisation of hell, in which those who have violated rules that are intended to produce a harmonious society suffer an afterlife of punishment. For instance, in the Indian Gangetic plain, centuries before Dante, the unknown authors of the Garuda Purana described the twenty-eight different narakas (hells). The similarities between Dante’s Inferno and the Garuda Purana can be explained by the common horrors and fears that human beings share: being devoured alive, drowned, and mutilated. It is as if the justice available to most people on Earth is insufficient, and so there is hope that a divine justice will eventually deliver a deferred punishment.

In January 2025, Donald Trump – who has cultivated a politics of anger that is not uncommon in our world – will be inaugurated for his second term as the president of the United States. Such a politics of anger is present in many countries, including across Europe – which otherwise sees itself as somehow above the brutal emotions and as a continent of reason. There is a temptation amongst liberals to characterise this politics of anger as fascism, but this is not accurate. Trump and his political confraternity across the world (from Giorgia Meloni in Italy to Javier Milei in Argentina) do not advertise themselves as fascists, nor do they wear the same emblems or use the same rhetoric. Though some of their followers brandish swastikas and other fascist symbols, most of them are more careful. They do not wear military uniforms, nor do they call the military out of the barracks to lend them a hand. Their politics is couched in a modern rhetoric of development and trade alongside the promise of jobs and social welfare for nationals. They point their fingers at the neoliberal pact of the old parties of liberalism and conservatism and mock them for their elitism. They elevate individuals from outside the ranks of the elites as saviours, men and women who they say will finally speak for the discarded precarious workers and the declined middle classes. They speak angrily to differentiate themselves from the old parties of liberalism and conservatism, who speak without emotion about the ghastly social and economic landscape that now exists in much of the world.

This begs the question: are the leaders of this ‘far right of a special type’ – a new kind of right wing that is intimately tied to liberalism – doing anything especially unique? A close look shows that they are merely building upon the foundation laid by the colourless leadership of the old parties of liberalism and conservativism. For example, the old parties already:

1. decimated the social fabric through privatisation and deregulation, weakened trade unions through policies of uberisation, and created insecurity and atomisation in society.
2. enforced policies that have increased inflation and deflated wages while increasing the wealth of the few through lax tax policies and rising stock markets.
3. strengthened the repressive apparatus of the state and tried to stifle dissent, including by targeting those who want to rebuild working-class movements.
4. encouraged war and devastation, such as by preventing a peace deal in Ukraine and encouraging the US-Israeli genocide of Palestinians.

Such a politics of anger is already in motion in society, though none of it was created by the far right of a special type. A world of anger is the product of the neoliberal pact of the old parties of liberalism and conservatism. It is neither the Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD), nor France’s National Rally (Rassemblement national) or Trump in his first term that have produced this world, however repellent their politics may be. When these groups win state power, they become beneficiaries of a society of anger produced by the neoliberal pact.

The language of Trump and his political family is nonetheless alarming. They speak with casual anger, and they turn that anger against the vulnerable (especially migrants and dissidents). Trump, for example, speaks of refugees as if they are vermin that need to be exterminated. Older, decadent language can be heard in the rhetoric of the far right of a special type, the language of death and disorder. But this is their tone, not their policies. The old parties of the neoliberal pact have already sent their militaries to the border, invaded the slums, cut social relief and welfare out of the budgets of their countries, and increased spending for repression at home and abroad. The old politicians of the neoliberal pact will say that the ‘economy’ is flourishing, by which they mean that the stock market is bathed in champagne; they say that they will protect the right of women to control their health but pass no legislation to do so; they say that they are for ceasefires while they authorise weapons transfers to continue war and genocide. The neoliberal pact has already dislocated society. The parties of the far right simply push away the hypocrisy. They are not the antithesis of the neoliberal pact but its more accurate mirror image.

Yet irrational anger is not the mood of the people who vote for the parties of the far right of a special type, a cliché woven by unimaginative neoliberal politicians. It is the tone of the far right of a special type’s leading politicians that would earn them a place in the fifth circle of Dante’s hell. They are the angry ones. Their elite opponents, the politicians of the old parties of liberalism and conservatism, are the sullen ones, under the mud, their emotions muffled.

In 2017, Brazil’s Perseu Abramo Foundation published a study about the political perceptions and values of the residents of São Paulo’s favelas, which found that they are in favour of more social policies of relief and welfare. They know that their hard work does not result in sufficient means, and so they hope that government policies will provide additional support. These opinions should theoretically lead to the growth of class politics. Yet the researchers found that this was not the case: instead, neoliberal ideas had flooded the favelas, leading its residents to see the primary conflict not as one between the rich and the poor, but one between the state and individuals, setting aside the role of capital. The findings of this study are replicated in many other similar investigations. It is not that the sections of the working class that turn to the far right of a special type are irrationally angry or deluded. They are clear about their experience, but they blame the degradation of their lives on the state. Can you blame them? Their relationship to the state is not shaped by social workers or welfare offices, but by the viciousness of the special police that are authorised to deny their civil and human rights. And so, they come to associate the state with the neoliberal pact and to hate it. Rising from these muddy waters, the politicians of the far right appear as potential saviours. Never mind that they have no agenda to reverse the carnage that the neoliberal policies of the old parties inflict on society: at least they purport to hate it, too.

Yet the agenda of the far right of a special type is not to solve the problems of the majority: it is to deepen them by inflicting an acerbic form of nationalism on society, one that is not rooted in love of one’s fellow human beings but in hatred of the vulnerable. This hatred then masquerades as patriotism; the size of the national flag grows, and enthusiasm for the national anthem increases by decibels. Patriotism begins to smell of anger and bitterness, of violence and frustration, of the mud of hell. It is one thing to be patriotic about flags and anthems, but it is another to be patriotic against starvation and hopelessness.

Human beings ache to be decent, but that ache has been smothered in the mud by desperation and resentment. Dante and his guide eventually make their way through the circles of hell, crossing streams and chasms to arrive at a small hole in the firmament from which they can see the stars and have their first glimpse of paradise. We ache to see the stars.

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter.

2 December 2024

Source: transcend.org

By Prof Souad N. Al-Azzawi

The following text was presented to the Kuala Lumpur International Conference to Criminalise War, Putra World Trade Centre, 28-31 October 2009.

For more than three decades [since 1991], the United States of America and the United Kingdom have been waging continuous wars on Iraq to occupy this oil rich country.

The armed forces of those two countries attacked civilians with different kinds of conventional, non-conventional, and banned weapons such as cluster bombs ammunitions, napalm bombs, white phosphorous weapons and depleted Uranium weapons.

Depleted Uranium (DU) is a radioactive and chemically toxic heavy metal. If ingested, inhaled, or it enters the human body through wounds or skin, it remains there for decades.

Within the human body the (DU) particles would be a continuous source for emitting alpha particles. With its toxic effects, published research & epidemiological studies have proved that it causes serious health damages to the human body. Some of the damage to the human body is to lymph tissue, kidneys, developing fetuses, neurological system, the bones, lung fibrosis, and an increase in the risk of many types of cancer and malignancies.

Hundreds of tons of (DU) expenditure have been fired & exploded on Iraqi highly populated areas like Basrah, Baghdad, Nasriya, Dewania, Samawa, and other cities.

Exploration programs and site measurements by Iraqi and non-Iraqi researchers all proved the existence of (DU) related contamination over most Iraqi territories.

Iraq’s Minister of Environment admitted in July 23, 2007 in Cairo that “at least 350 sites in Iraq are contaminated with (DU)”. She added that the nation is facing a tremendous number of cancer cases and called for the international community to help Iraq cope with this problem.

A few years after exposure to (DU) contamination, multifold increase of malignancies, congenital malformations, miscarriages, children leukemia, and sterility cases have been registered in suburb areas of Basrah and other surrounding areas. Similar problems appeared in Falluja, where illegal weapons were also used intensively in the 2004 attack of occupation forces on the city. More than two million of the Iraqi population died since 1991 because of the synergic multiple impact of using (DU) weapons, economical sanctions, and the destruction of the health care systems.

The economical sanction that were also imposed by USA and UK administrations deprived the children and people of Iraq their rights in food,  potable water, health care, sanitation and other life supporting necessities.

The USA and UK administrations have subjected the whole nation of Iraq for two decades to torture and slow death through the intentional use of radioactive weapons and the sanctions. The continuous and intentional use of radioactive weapons is a crime against humanity due to its undifferentiating harmful health effects on civilians in contaminated areas tens of years to come after the military engagements. The existence of (DU) radioactive contamination in the surrounding environment is a continuous source of exposure to low level radiation. This exposure can be considered as a systematic attack on Iraqi civilians in an armed conflict, according to Article 4 of the official regulations and Article 7 of the ICC.

This paper is submitted to present the facts and scientific evidence regarding the intentional use by the USA and UK of depleted uranium weapons against the people and environment of Iraq, in addition to the health consequences that have been result from them.

Introduction

The administrations of the United States of America and the United Kingdom have been continuously waging wars against Iraq since 1991.

The armed forces of these two administrations have been using different kinds and new generations of conventional, nonconventional, and illegal weapons like Napalm, cluster bombs, white phosphorous, microwave, and Depleted Uranium weapons [1][2][3][4] against the human population and the environment of Iraq. Invasion and occupation of Iraq proved to the world that oil flow is the main reason behind these criminal attacks.

As a result of using these weapons, with the economical sanctions that were also imposed on Iraq by the same administration more than two million Iraqi people died and the count continues.

In this paper, we present the consequences and damage resulting from the use of Depleted Uranium weaponry against Iraq, backed by scientific fact and research.

What is Depleted Uranium?

Depleted Uranium (DU) is a man-made, radioactive, heavy metal extracted from Uranium ore. Since (DU) is a byproduct of the Uranium enrichment process to produce spent fuel for nuclear reactors. Natural Uranium has an isotopic content of 99.274% of U-238 by weight, 0.072% of U-235, & 0.0057% of U-234 [5].

Due to its highly pyrophoric and spontaneously ignitable properties, the DU penetrator ignites on impact generating extremely high temperatures. As the projectile pierces, it leaves its jacket behind dispersing DU dust into the environment during the impact. The quantity of the aerosol production is proportional to DU mass within the projectile and the hardness of the impact.

It is estimated that up to 70%of DU in the projectiles to be aerosolized when on the impact DU catches fire [6]. The explosion generates high temperatures of (3000-6000) °C. The aerosols particles are smaller than 5µm in size [6]. These nano-particles act more like a gas than a particle. The DU aerosols remain windborne for an extended time and this is the most dangerous pathway on civilian population around the battlefield areas.

Depleted Uranium within the human body

There is empirical documentation that suggests that DU aerosols can travel up to 26 miles [5], others suggest even further distances. The full radiation effect of DU occurs six months after production [6]. One milligram of U-238 can give of 1, 07, 000 alpha particles in one day. Each alpha particle releases over 4 MeV (million-electron-volts) of energy. If swallowed or inhaled, this much energy will hit up to 6 nearby cells away in the organ [6]. Just 6-10ev (electron volt) is needed to cleave the nuclear DNA strand in the cell.

Dr. Rosalie Bertell, an epidemiologist with 30-years experience in the field of low level radiation explains DU potential harm to the human body [6]:

After inhalation (DU) nano-particle aerosols cross the lung-blood barrier and gain entrance to the cells. They create free radicals. As a heavy metal, DU toxicity attacks the proteins in the cell which normally fight the free radicals, and creates extra free radicals. This amount of free radicals creates total oxidative stress in the human body. This stress causes failure to protective enzymes, leaving cells vulnerable to viruses and mycoplasmas, damage to cellular communication system and the mitochondria.

As a heavy metal, DU replaces the magnesium in the organ’s molecules that normally function as antioxidants, and causes the destruction of the body’s repair mechanisms. Consequences of this destruction are chronic diseases and tumors. Free radicals can also totally disrupt the folding process and manufacturing of the molecule proteins which is sequenced by DNA and manufactured by the RNA. Some of the diseases resulted from misrouted proteins include cystic fibrosis, diabetes insipidus and cancer. [6]

Amassing and accumulation of misfolded proteins leads to neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson’s Diseases and early onset Alzheimer’s disease. In these diseases, amyloids are formed from protein fragments and dysfunctional proteins and that “Misfolded proteins” are the central pathogenic mechanism.

Gulf War veterans have manifested many of the symptoms of these neurodegenerative diseases.[6]

Other health effects of DU within the human body are:

–           Lou Gehrig’s disease is twice as commonly diagnosed in Gulf War veterans as expected.

–           Immune and Hormonal system damage

–           Disturbance of thyroid function

–           Mycoplasmas invasion into human cells.

–           Initiation or promotion of cancer

–           Tetratogenic toxicity which causes mental retardation, congenital malformations.

–           GW veterans were twice-three times as likely to report children with birth defects as their counter partner who did not serve in the first Gulf War.

–           Miscarriages

Dr. Hari Sharma, formerly of the University of Waterloo, tested the urine of some US, UK and Canadian veterans as well as Iraqi civilians from Basra and Baghdad.

Using 24hr urine samples, his isotopic analysis revealed a range of DU in the sample of (81-1,340) nanogram. Results showed that two of the three Iraqis from Al Basra had 147 – 426 nanograms respectively in their urine. Also it showed that 2 out of 5 Iraqis from Baghdad have DU in their urine

Other Important Scientific Evidence:

•           Dr Alexandra C. Miller and her team at the Armed Forces Radiological Research Institute, Bethesda, MD and the University of Paris, France used human cell models (the human Osteoblast cell HOS) to evaluate the carcinogenic potential of DU in vitro through assessing morphological transformation, genotoxicity [7] (chromosomal aberration), mutagenic (HRRT Ioci) and genomic instability.

Published data of the results have demonstrated that DU exposure in vitro to immortalized HOS cells is neoplatically transforming, mutagenic, genotoxic, and induces genomic instability. Other results showed:

–           Exposure to embedded DU pellets could induce leukemia in mice.

–           Internalized DU resulted in significant increases in the mutagenic frequency in the Lac gene in the tests of the exposed mice.

–           Internalized DU resulted in the development of bladder carcinoma in 75% of all animal exposed within 90 days of initial DU exposure.

As we can see all these results suggest that long-term exposure to internalized DU could be critical to the development of neoplastic disease in humans.

•           Pub. Radiation Protection Dosimetry Schroder, Heike 2003. A molecular biologist conducted research about the chromosomal aberration on white blood cells of 16 British Gulf War veterans of 1991. The veterans have suffered from symptoms ranging from headache, to chronic fatigue, depression, muscle and joint pains, impaired short-term memory and other cognitive defects. [8]

The results showed that the mean frequency of their blood cells chromosomal aberrations is 5-fold elevation higher than the control blood samples. This strongly indicated previous exposure to ionizing radiations.

The intercellular distribution of the Dicentric and  Centric ring chromosomes indicates significant over dispersion on the group level for the veterans who served in the Gulf War. Dic and CR are a known consequence of non uniform irradiation on the human body. [8]

•           Dr. Huda Ammash, Professor of Molecular Biology in Baghdad University and her team [9] conducted and published the results of genetic hematological analysis for a group of individuals living in DU contaminated areas in southern Iraq. Blood tests for the (47) individuals who lived in Basrah contaminated areas and another 30 as a control group. The control group individuals lived in Baghdad.

A Hazardous Decision: Supplying Ukraine with Depleted Uranium Shells

–           Blood tests showed that 21% of the studied individuals in Basrah group suffered a reduction in hemoglobin concentration of (9-13) g/d.

–           The blood packed cell volume (PCV) test results showed that 25.5% of Basrah studied group showed abnormal (PCV) rates of (30-39)% less than the normal rate.

–           Total white Blood Cells count (WBC) results showed that 8% of the individuals in the Basrah study group with (WBC) less than normal which is (4000)c/ml or higher than normal rate (1100)c/ml.

–           Compound chromosomal changes in the lymphocytes of periphal blood of the individuals of Basrah studied group had been found at a ratio of (0.1118)% which is significantly higher than that of the control group.

–           The ratio of dicentric and ring centric chromosomal abnormality fraction was found to be (0.04479) which is higher than ordinary ratio chromosomal damages where mostly in male veteran individuals. One case was for a 13 year old young boy at the time of the exposure in Al-Zubair contaminated area.

•           Rita Hindin, et al [5] published a paper “Teratogenicity of Depleted Uranium aerosols: A review from an epidemiological perspective” in which they stated that animal studies firmly support the possibility that DU is a teratogen. They also concluded that the human epidemiological evidence is consistent with the increased risk of birth defects in offspring of persons exposed to DU.

•           For further scientific evidences by Iraqi researchers, check: ”Depleted Uranium Contamination: Iraq: An overview” (Global Research)

Contaminating Iraq with Depleted Uranium

The USA and UK armed forces used Depleted Uranium ammunition for the first time in the history of their wars during the Gulf War of 1991. About one million bullets, projectiles, and missiles were fired along the highway from Kuwait to Basrah then up to Nasriya and other Iraqi cities. About 60-65% of this ammunition and expenditure were fired within Iraqi territories, Figure 1 shows areas where DU expenditure have been used in the Gulf War of 1991 [11].

Figure 1 areas where DU expenditure have been used in Gulf War 1991.

Figure 2 represents a photo of the Iraqi army artilleries and vehicles destroyed on that highway by (DU) weaponry [12].

Figure 2: Iraqi army artilleries that have destroyed using DU on Highway

As stated previously, as soon as DU projectiles hit the target, it will ignite with a huge explosion that generates Depleted Uranium oxide aerosols. Mixing height of the aerosols in the atmosphere gets to 250m [13]. Area of Basrah War Zone and highway warzone [10] [14] were calculated to be around 2400km2. This area was the major continuous source of DU aerosols and contaminants to surrounding areas years to come.

Types of Depleted Uranium contaminants in the studied areas were:

1.         Destroyed tanks and artilleries.

2.         DU projectiles shells (exploded and unexploded)

3.         DU shrapnel’s (different sizes)

4.         Deposited DU particles

5.         Deposited DU oxide aerosols

Modeling mechanisms of spreading of DU pollutants from the source to surrounding populated areas were done by the Environmental Engineering department of Baghdad University [10] [14] [15]. The results of modeling spreading of pollutants through different environmental pathways to human population suggested that total calculated annual body dose received from DU aerosols inhalation pathway for the period from 1991-1996 in Basrah warzone was between 0.1768 Sv and 0.2309 Sv [10] (for a person both in normal or active duty respectively). Compared to normal background annual effective dose people should receive of 2.4 mSv only. In the highway warzone, these values came up to 0.4425 Sv and 0.577 Sv [14] respectively.

DU Contaminated Dust Storms In Iraq

Spreading and dispersion of DU contamination to surrounding areas also occurs through wind storms, dust storms, sandstorms, and rainstorms. Mechanisms of surface migration of DU radionuclide’s in soil include [16]:

–           Siltation, creeping, and suspension from contaminated soil to atmosphere.

–           Suspension and re-suspension of deposited DU aerosols are the most dangerous and critical pathway of transfer and spreading from source to the human population.

DU nano-particles through this mechanism stay suspended in the atmosphere for tens of days. With each dust storm a new DU attack on the civilians within populated cities occurs. Published data indicate a significant increase in the frequency of annual dust storms in both Iraq and Kuwait areas [17]. The first 8 months of 2009 witnessed 20 dust storms, as declared by the Iraqi Minister of Health [18]. Figures (3) and (4) show sites of these dust storms.

DU contaminated dust storms can be considered as new systematic attacks by USA armed forces, on civilians, since it adds an extra harmful radioactive dose received by the people internally and externally.

The USA and UK administrations should be held responsible for exposing a whole nation to the risk of continually receiving high radioactive and toxic persistent contaminants such as DU.

Cumulative effects of these additional doses add additional risk to residents of these areas. Intentional denial and cover up of the types, locations and amounts of DU ammunitions by the US and UK armed forces prevent Iraq from taking any precautionary measures to reduce exposure to additional radioactive doses.

To understand how persistent these pollutants are; Soil and dust samples from areas near NL Industries site in Colonie, NY, USA proved containing DU after more than 20 years of the closure of these DU manufacturing industries [19].

A total of 5 to 10 metric tons of DU dust and aerosols settled from air on soil, rooftops, and other surfaces near the plant during its operation. The plant was closed in 1984 and contaminated soil was removed. In 2006, twenty-two years later, dust samples that had been collected from residents in the area proved the existence of DU significantly above the clean up standard. People working near NL Industries also tested positive for DU in their bodies. Results of these tests are being published in the international journal “Science of the Total Environment” [20].

If we compare this case study with Basra DU contamination where (320 tons of DU * 0.65 in Iraqi territories * 0.6 aerosolized) we end up with about 114.80 metric tons of DU aerosols spreading through winds to huge inside Iraq and the Gulf countries’ areas, then pre-suspension of these contaminants to larger areas with each dust and sand storm that hits the area.

In 2003, it is estimated the US & UK armed forces used about (700-800) tons of DU [21]. The aerosolized portion of this amount is about 420 metric tons, a quantity large enough to cover the soil of the whole country after the dispersion of plumes with the previously mentioned mechanisms.

DU Contamination Casualties in Iraq:

Epidemiological studies in contaminated areas indicated a drastic rise in the incidences rate of malignancies amongst children to be far more noticeable from 1995 onward, namely a four times increase than prior to 1991, the distribution of this increase specifically in contaminated areas west of Basra City [22].

Moreover, the shift in Leukemia to younger children supports the criteria of biological plausibility specificity and is consistent with findings of correlating such incidents to exposure to ionized radiations [23].

Also a six fold increase in congenital malformations among births in Basra City since 1995 onward, have been registered [24]. Congenital heart diseases and chromosomal aberrations have been also reported.

Another crime of the occupation forces is the destruction of the evidence targeting the Iraqi research centers related to this issue.

Two decades of suffering, pain, and human life losses, the Minister of Environment in Iraq finally announced in 2007 the disaster of DU contamination in Iraq. She pointed out that more than 300 sites have been contaminated with these radioactive weapons [25]. She also called for the Japanese authorities and the international community to help Iraq with coping with the drastic increase of cancer incident rates [26].

To prove our case: Kuwait DU waste & wreckage from Gulf wars are shipped back to be dumped in USA.

After 18 years, Kuwait required US dept. of defense to remove the DU contaminated wreckage from their land [21]. Over 6,700 tons of contaminated soil, sand and other residues were collected and shipped back to the USA for burial by American Ecology at Bios, Idaho.

The US administration and pentagon officials still insist that DU has no significant health hazards, if so, why would they have to ship back their dirty radioactive wreckage back home from Kuwait?

Stand of the International Community on DU Weaponry

The Hague and Geneva conventions and its protocols and subsequent treaties clearly declare that weapons which cannot discriminate between civilians and military or combatants are prohibited from not only use but also from manufacture and sale [27].

The Nuremberg principles were incorporated into the Charter of the UN, a treaty which is supposed to be “Supreme Law” in the USA. When the American Administration ratified it, the 7th principle declares that “Complicity with a crime against Humanity is a war crime”.

UN resolutions since 1996 called DU weaponry “incompatible” (i.e. illegal) under existing humanitarian law and human rights [UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1997/27 and additions; E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/38 and E/CN.4/Sub.2/2003/35] [28].

Uranium radiation hazards are covered up and misrepresented through the obsolete models of risk and derived standards of allowable exposure set by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).

This model was derived from invalid assumptions due to secrecy and cover up about the health effects of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs then, around the cold war developments of nuclear power and weapons [28].

The ICRP risk model was built from studies of the atomic bomb survivors, which overlooked the effects from the internal radiation source and ignored cancer that in some cases takes decades to appear.

It was certainly developed before the DNA and the human genome knowledge existed the way it does to date.

Cover-ups and deception are expected from American and UK administrations the perpetrators of all radiological wars and illegal weapons, which should face liability for war crimes, military and civilian casualties, as well as contamination of the environment.

The US has refused to disclose information about DU during the invasion military operations of Iraq in 2003, and did not let UNEP team study DU contamination Iraq [29].

With the great efforts of anti-nuclear weapons groups, NGO, peace organizations and international figures, the call of these organizations to ban the all Uranium weapons, including DU, have earned very good momentum especially among the NATO countries.

–           On March 23rd, 2007, the Belgian Chamber Commission on National Defense voted unanimously in favor of banning the use of DU ammunitions and armor plates [30].

–           On November 1, 2008, a UN committee passed a resolution with an overwhelming majority, highlighting concerns over the military use of Uranium. The resolution entitled “Effects of the use of armaments and ammunitions containing Depleted Uranium 1” urges the UN member states to re-examine the health hazards posted by the use of Uranium weapons [31].

–           Another historic sentence was pronounced on January 13, 2009 by a court in Florence, Italy asking the Italian Ministry of Defense to compensate Gianbattista Marica with Euro 545,061, a parachutist who was deployed in Somalia for eight months in 1993. The sentence is very important because it states “the casual link between the presence of depleted uranium and the illness (cancer) of the Soldier” [32]. The courts statement includes the report of technical consultant who maintains that there is a causal link between the Hodgkin Lymphoma developed by the soldier and the exposure to DU.

–           In September 2009, a British jury at Smethwick Council House ruled that DU was likely cause of death of Gulf War veteran Stuart Dysan in June 2008. Dyson had been a Lance Corporal with the Royal Pioneer Corps and had cleaned tanks after the 1991 Gulf War. He developed colon cancer that killed him last year [33].

The European Parliament on 22nd of May 2008 passed its fourth resolution against the use Uranium weapons. MEP’s have called for EU and NATO-wide moratorium and global ban [29].

Concluding Remarks:

1. The US and UK administrations have been using Depleted Uranium weapons against the civilian population and the environment of Iraq since 1991.

2. Laboratory studies and scientific evidence prove the link and causal relationship between exposure to Depleted Uranium and the increased risk of inducing neurodegenerative diseases, immune and hormonal system damage, initiation or promotion of cancer, Tetratogenic Toxicity which causes mental retardation and congenital malformations, miscarriages, and sterility.

3. Intentional denial and refusal of the US and UK administrations to release any information about the types, locations, and amounts of DU weapons that have been used against Iraq have caused additional radioactive doses, and health damages to the people in contaminated areas. Both administrations should be held responsible for this crime.

4. The drastic increase of cancer incidences in Iraq since 1995 to date and the DU related diseases like congenital malformation, miscarriages, etc, are all attributed to the use of prohibited weapons including Depleted Uranium.

5. DU contaminated areas all over the country are continuous source of radioactive pollution. Without cleaning and other measures, resuspension of these contaminants with each dust and sand storm can be considered as systematic attacks by the US and UK armies on civilians in an armed conflict.

This is a crime against humanity to its undifferentiated harmful health impacts on civilians long times to come after the military operations (Article 4 of the official regulations and Article 7 of ICC).

Notes

1. Simon Helweg-Larsen, “Irregular Weapons Used against Iraq”. ZNET http://www.znet.org/welser.htm ,April 2003

2. Sarah Meyer. “What Kind of Incendiary Bomb Was Used Against People in Iraq” http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=1226  November 14, 2005.

3. Steven D. “US Army Admits Use of White Phosphorus as Weapon”. Daily KOS.

4. Scott Peterson Remains of Toxic Bullets Litter Iraq, May 18, 2003, Christian Science Monitor.

5. Rita Hindin, Doug Brugge, and Bindu Panikkar, “Teratogenicity of Depleted Uranium aerosols: A review from an epidemiological perspective ” Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source 2005. http://www.ehjournal.net/info/instructions/

6. Rosali Bertell “Depleted Uranium: All the questions about DU and Gulf War Syndrome are not yet answered”. International Journal of Health Service 36(3), 503-520, 2006

7. Alexandra C. Miller, Mike Stewart, Rafael Rivas, Robert Marlot, and Paul Lison, “Depleted Uranium” internal contamination: Carcinogenisis and Leukeinogenisis in Vivo. Proc. Am Assoc Cancer Res. Volume 46, 2005.

8. Chroder, H. et al. “Chromosome aberration analysis in peripheral lymphocytes of Gulf War and Balkans War veterans”. Radiation Prot. Dosimetry. Vol. 103(3) 2003 (PP. 211-219).

9. Ammash, H., Alwan, L., and Maarouf, B.,”Genetic hematological study for a selected population from DU contaminated areas in Basra.” Proceeding of the conference on the effects of the use of DU weapons on human and environment in Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq 2002.

10. Al-Azzawi, S. N. and Al-Naemi, A. “Assessment of radiological doses and risks resulted from DU contamination in Basrah war zone.” Proceeding of the conference on the effects of the use of DU

11. Gulf War Resource Center “Primary Areas of DU Expenditure”, USA, 1999.

12. Turnley, P.; News Week Magazine; (January-20), 1992.

13. Neboysha, L. “Environmental Impact on Humans During the Gulf War”, Communications between Professor Neboysha and Professor Sharma, 1999.

14. Al-Azzawi, S., and Al Naemi, A., 2002, “Assessment of radiological doses and risks resulted from DU contamination in the highway war zone in Al-Basra governorate”, proceedings of the conference on the effects of the use of DU weaponry on human and environment in Iraq, March 26-27 2002, Baghdad, Iraq.

15. Al-Azzawi, S. et al, “ Environmental Pollution Resulting from the Use of Depleted Uranium Weaponry Against Iraq During 1991, World International Conference on DU, Hamburg, Germany, 2003 http://www.grassrootspeace.org/wuwc_reader2_science.pdf  – p.41

16. Al-Heli, W.M. “Effects of DU Weapons on Air and Soil Pollution in Southern Iraq”, M.Sc. Thesis in Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Baghdad, Iraq. 1998.

17. Draxler R. R., et al, “Estimating PM10 Air concentrations from Dust storms in Iraq, Kuwait and Kingdom Saudi Arabia. Atmospheric Environment” vol35:4115-4330.

18. Middle East Online, “Draught steals Iraqi’s nutrition”, September 1st 2009

19. ICBUW, “Robert shows New Yorkers Contaminated with DU over 20 years after exposure” http://www.banddepleteduranium.org/

20. William, D. “Hazards of Uranium Weapons in the Proposed War on Iraq” full report.. The Eos life resources center. Oct, 2002.

21. ICBUW, “Statement by the DU positive testees” http://www.banddepleteduranium.org/

22. Yaqoub, A., et.al., 1999, “Depleted Uranium and health of people in Basrah: an epidemiological evidence; 1-The incidence and pattern of malignant diseases among children in Basrah with specific reference to leukemia during the period of 1990-1998”, the medical journal of Basrah University (MJBU), vol.17, no.1&2, 1999, Basrah, Iraq.

23. Yaqoub, A., Ajeel, N., and Al-Wiswasy, M., 1998, “Incidence and pattern of malignant diseases (excluding leukemia) during 1990-1997”, Proceeding of the conference on health and environmental consequences of DU used by U.S. and British forces in the 1991 Gulf War, Dec. 2-3, 1998, Baghdad, Iraq. http://www.irak.be/ned/archief/Depleted%20Uranium_bestanden/DEPLETED%20URANIUM-3-%20INCIDENCE.htm

24. Al-Sadoon, I., Hassan, J., and Yaqoub, A., 1998, “Incidence and pattern of congenital anomalies among birth in Basrah during the period 1990-1998”, Proceeding of the conference on health and environmental consequences of DU used by U.S. and British forces in the 1991 Gulf War, Dec. 2-3, 1998. http://www.irak.be/ned/archief/Depleted%20Uranium_bestanden/DEPLETED%20URANIUM-1-%20INCIDENCE.htm

25.  RIA Novoski “Iraqis blame US depleted Uranium for surge in cancer”

26.  Tokyo Newspapers “Iraqi Minister of Environment Appeals to Japanese Government for Assistance in Dealing with DU contmination”. September 10th 2008 http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp

27. Proceeding of World Uranium weapons conference 2003, Hamburg, Germany. Page 192

28. Protr Bein “Uranium Weapons cover-ups in our midst”. Proceedings of world Uranium Weapons conference, 2003, Hamburg, Germany.

29. David Goliath “The Adversary’s Tactics and Effectiveness”. Proceedings of world conference, 2003 Hamburg, Germany, Page 204.

30. William Van Den Panhuysen. “Belgium Bans Uranium Weapons and Armor”. ISBUW, March 24, 2007.

31. ICBUW, “UN First Committee Passes DU Resolution in Landslide Vote” Nov. , 2007 http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/

32. Stefania Divertito “Historic sentence in Florence, Italian court recognizes the link between cancer and Depleted Uranium”. 13th Jan. 2009 http://www.peaclink.it

33. ICBUW, DU was a likely cause of dead Gulf Veteran’s cancer”. Sept. 11, 2009 http://www.bandepleteduranium.org

34. ICBUW “European Parliament passes far reaching DU resolution in landslide vote”, May 22, 2008. http://www.bandepleteduranium.org

1 December 2024

Source: globalresearch.ca

By Timothy Alexander Guzman

President-elect Donald J. Trump will hit the ground running on January 21^st, 2025.  Trump has made his choices for the top spots at the Department of State, the Pentagon and the CIA.  Let’s keep in mind that Trump can replace or fire any of his cabinet picks down the road if of course, they are confirmed by the senate.  So far, it seems that Trump has flushed his peace proposals down the toilet with his latest picks.

First and formost, for the state of Israel, it really did not matter who would have won the US Presidential elections, whether it was Donald J. Trump (which they preferred) or Kamala Harris who was just as Pro-Israel as most US politicians who are bought and paid by the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC). The majority of politicians, whether Democrat or Republican believe that Israel has a right to exist on what was once called Palestine, so the reality is that Israel won the election. The one person who is extremely happy that Trump won the election is no other than Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu who recently said that

“In the last few days, I spoke three times with President-Elect Donald Trump. These were very good and important conversations. Talks designed to further tighten the strong alliance between Israel and the USA. We see eye to eye on the Iranian threat, on all its components, and the danger posed by it.”

Trump claims that he wants peace, but his cabinet choices says that he is planning a war against Iran.  So, with Trump resuming office in January, the world is heading into uncertain times.  Iran is about to retaliate for Israel’s latest attack and government officials in Tel Aviv are very concerned. It is certain that Israel will prepare to retaliate once Trump is in office, but what will that look like?  We don’t know, but it is not just about Iran being in Washington’s hit list, because Russia, Belarus, China, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and the new BRICS alliance will most likely on that same list as well.

Peace is not on the agenda with Trump’s new cabinet picks because they want the US to be ultimate hegemon, the power that rules the world with an iron fist but the times have changed. Trump’s team will push for wars, regime change and economic sanctions, so in other words, nothing will change since his cabinet has been filled with neocons, warhawks and Pro-Israel extremists.

Meet Trump’s New Cabinet, Same as the Old Cabinet

Trump has selected several people for important cabinet positions related to US foreign policy and it does not look good for any sort of peace deal, especially in the Middle East.

Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for Secretary of State is a senator from Florida and a neocon warmonger, Marco Rubio.  This pick suggests that Trump was looking for another Mike Pompeo and found him.  Rubio is a strong supporter of Israel, so much so that he has an Israeli flag next to the American flag outside of his office.  Rubio has supported Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank and other Palestinan territories.  Rubio has shamelessly defended Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and Lebanon.

In 2003, Rubio supported the US invasion of Iraq, and the US-NATO led war on Libya which was orchestrated by the Obama regime.  Rubio supports harsh sanctions and regime change in Iran and in Syria.  He also supported Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. Rubio seeks regime change or wars against several Latin American countries including Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia and whoever else opposes US influence on the continent.

Rubio is also a China hawk, so he supports sending more US troops in the Asia-Pacific region to send China a “message.” 

Rubio also got involved in the internal affairs of China.  A report by DW.com, ‘Could Marco Rubio champion human rights in Southeast Asia?’ said that in 2018, Rubio co-sponsored legislation based on “the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, which seeks to deny entry into the United States to any Chinese officials who prohibit US citizens from entering Tibet, a territory claimed by China.”  Rubio also “introduced legislation sanctioning China for its repression of the minority Uyghur population and the crackdown on protests in Hong Kong. The Chinese government responded by blacklisting Rubio.”

The bottom line is that Senator Marco Rubio is a neocon warmonger that would advise Trump on going to war rather than seeking a constructive peace deal.  Rubio is a horrible choice that will likely be confirmed by his many friends from both sides of the aisle in the senate.

Elise Stefanik, another pro-Zionist neocon who was nominated by Trump to become US Ambassador to the United Nations. She is a clone of the last US ambassador, Nikki Haley. Stefanik once worked with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), a pro-Israel neocon think tank.

To understand Stefanik’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, all you need to do is read her statement she posted on her website on September 23^rd, 2024 based on Israel’s “right to defend itself”:

“Last week, the United Nations overwhelmingly passed a disgraceful antisemitic resolution to demand that Israel surrender to barbaric terrorists who seek the destruction of both Israel and America. Once again, the UN’s antisemitic rot is on full display as it punishes Israel for defending itself and rewards Iranian-backed terrorists.

Instead of deplorably targeting the legitimacy of the state of Israel, the UN should be demanding that Hamas release every hostage and start enforcing UN Security Council Resolution 1701 to stop Hezbollah’s endless Iranian-backed terrorist attacks. As the UN’s General Assembly occurs this week in New York, the Biden-Harris Administration must call out the UN’s extreme antisemitism and moral depravity and unequivocally support Israel’s right to defend itself against both brutal terrorists and biased international organizations”

We know where all of this is going.  Stefanik visited the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem in May and here is just part of what she said:

Today, I stand before you not just as a leader in the United States Congress, but as a lifelong admirer, supporter, and true friend of Israel and the Jewish people.  You see I am lucky enough to have had the privilege of traveling here many times before, but I must confess that this time feels different.

The stakes are higher. Our sense of moral, patriotic duty feels heightened, renewed.

226 days ago, we witnessed the most vicious, brutal attack on Israel and the Jewish people since the Holocaust, a barbaric terrorist attack that claimed more than 1,200 innocent lives. Civilian women, children, and the elderly were ripped from their homes and massacred. Raped — Beheaded — Jewish families were bound together and burned. Babies burned alive. Atrocities of humanity.  We must never forget, and we must never relent

Stefanik repeated Israeli talking points about how the elderly and children were massacred, raped and beheaded which all turned out to be lies. Stefanik is another Nikki Haley, there is no doubt about that, and she will be most likely confirmed by the senate.

Mike Huckabee is Trump’s pick for U.S. Ambassador to Israel is a non-Jewish candidate for the position, but that does not matter because Huckabee, a former Arkansas Governor is an evangelical Christian supporter of Israel and that’s all that matters.

This guy should be in an insane asylum.  The things that came out of this man’s mouth is a sign that the Palestinians will be a major target of the Trump regime.

The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) “In 2008, Huckabee said:

“There’s really no such thing as a Palestinian. You have Arabs and Persians. And there’s such complexity in that. But there’s really no such thing. That’s been a political tool to try and force land away from Israel.”

Mike Huckabee sounded like what Golda Meir, the former Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974 who was interviewed by the London Sunday Times on June 15^th, 1969, and she said that

“There was no such thing as Palestinians. When was there an independent Palestinian people with a Palestinian state? It was either Southern Syria, before the First World War, and then it was a Palestine, including Jordan. It was not as though there was a Palestinian people in Palestine considering itself as a Palestinian people and we came and threw them out and took their country from them. They did not exist.”

Al Jazeera reported on what Trump said about Huckabee who has similar beliefs as his former US ambassador from Trump’s first term, David Friedman:

After his appointment, Trump released a statement in which he said Huckabee “loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!”

His appointment demonstrates a “very hawkish, very pro-right-wing Israel” approach by the Trump administration, Yossi Mekelberg, an expert on Israel at the Chatham House think tank, told Al Jazeera.  He said Huckabee’s appointment is similar to that of David Friedman, who served as US Ambassador to Israel between 2017 and 2021 and supports Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank

Huckabee will also be most likely confirmed for the ambassadorship with the pro-Israel senate.

Rep. Mike Waltz from Florida is a nominee for Trump’s National Security Advisor who served more than 26 years in the Army as a Special Forces officer with tours in Afghanistan, Africa and the Middle East.  Waltz was a defense policy director for secretaries of defense under Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates who both served under former US President and war criminal, George W. Bush.  Walz also served as Dick Cheney’s counterterrorism advisor.

For Trump’s peace plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, here is what Waltz said

“I think a second Trump term will be energy policy and the fact is that sanctions haven’t been enforced on Russia. They’re selling more oil and gas through China and India than they ever did even before the war, their war machine is flush with cash. President Trump is, I think going to get him to the table very quickly because if he enforces those sanctions, the old adage, Russia is a little more than a gas station with nukes, absolutely holds true.”

So Waltz is for increasing sanctions on Russia which is a form of economic warfare.

Waltz has called for a “new Monroe Doctrine” to counter the rise of China in Latin America.  He suggests an active role by US officials to counter China’s economic and military presence in Latin America, so Walz wants a US military build-up to confront Beijing’s influence.  Not only does he want to increase US military presence in certain regions to send a message to China, he wants to arm Taiwan to defend itself from China.

Waltz is also a full-fledged supporter of Israel.  In an interview on FOX News, Waltz spoke about a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, and he said that the Biden regime is “focused on the wrong place,”meaning they should be focused on Iran.  Waltz also said that Iran is “flush with cash.”  He also said that neither Hamas nor Iran want peace.

Waltz repeats what other Pro-Israel politicians in Washington have said in the past regarding Israel’s security,

“So, the administration, Biden and Harris, have sold themselves is that once we get to a cease-fire and the hostages are released, which we all want, that everything will be fine,” Waltz said on Fox News’s America Reports. “No. Iran will continue to stoke unrest because they want to destroy Israel, and look, making concession after concession to Iran is actually what is destabilizing the situation.”

Waltz has criticized the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant on charges of intentional starvation of the Palestinian people, crimes against humanity and other charges.  Waltz responded with

“The ICC has no credibility, and these allegations have been refuted by the US government” and that “Israel has lawfully defended its people [and] borders from genocidal terrorists. You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC [and] UN come January.”

Mike Waltz part of the George W. Bush regime that was filled with neocons and that alone should be a concern for those who desire peace on earth.  Waltz has similar ideas as Trump’s former National Security advisor, John Bolton.

Pete Hegseth is Trump’s pick for US Secretary of Defense.  Now this guy is a loose cannon. A FOX News television host, author, and a former Army National Guard officer.  Listen to Pete Hegseth’s speech at the 2018 Arutz Sheva conference in Jerusalem:

Trump’s next Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the 2018 Arutz Sheva conference in Jerusalem

What Hegseth said about Iran tells us that he is another Christian Zionist who supports Israel and that Iran is the evil regime that needs to be stopped:

The minister talked about the head of the octopus talked about Iran and the many tentacles that the Iranian regime has in the world today nefariously both for Israel and for the United States and just all you have to do is look at how the Obama Administration addressed the issue of Iran versus the Trump Administration and of course the Obama Administration did everything they could to strike a horrific deal that is creates an inevitable path to nuclear weapons, funding the tunes of billions of dollars the hateful terrorist is Iranian regime seeking death to America and death to Israel….

Pete Hegseth will push the Trump regime to go to war with Iran and its allies to protect Israel and its interests in the region, there is no other way to describe what he stands for.

Kristi Noem, the former Governor of South Dakota is Trump’s pick for the Secretary of Homeland Security.  As Governor, Kristi Noem presented a statement of support for Israel after the October 7^th attack on Israel by Hamas, and she did not disappoint her Israeli friends and lobbyists:

“Beloved people of Israel: your friends and allies in America stand with you. We support you in defending the homeland given to your people by God. These barbaric actions have shocked the conscience of the world. We share your anger at the viciousness of these attacks and the death, pain, and suffering it has caused, and we support your right to use all measures necessary to prevent future attacks.

During my time on the House Armed Services Committee, I saw what regular violence perpetrated by Hamas terrorists against Israel looks like. This goes so far beyond that – this was an act of war, an invasion of your sacred home.

We are praying for a swift resolution to this war; for safety and peace for the hostages taken by the Hamas terrorists; for comfort to the families who have lost loved ones or whose lives have otherwise been forever changed by this horrific day; for the first responders to act calmly and quickly in their work of healing and repair; for Prime Minister Netanyahu and his armed forces to strike swiftly, truly, and with justice; and for Hamas to be driven from the face of the Earth as a just consequence for their atrocities.  In the coming days, all Americans – and the whole world – must stand firm in our resolve to support the Israeli people. As Prime Minister Netanyahu said, ‘This war will take time. She will be hard. Challenging days are ahead. But… with the help of God… we will win.’ Godspeed to you, my friend Prime Minister Netanyahu, and to your people. You will win, and you have our support every step of the way.”

Kristi Noem has also banned campus free speech zones in her home state so as Secretary of Homeland Security, will she target anti-Israel protesters on college campuses?

John Ratcliffe is Trump’s choice as the new Director for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  This former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is another China Hawk and of course, a Pro-Israel supporter.

As DNI, Ratcliffe focused on China’s growing influence on a global scale. Ratcliffe’s commentary for the Wall Street Journal said it all, ‘China Is National Security Threat No. 1’:

“The intelligence is clear: Beijing intends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically. Many of China’s major public initiatives and prominent companies offer only a layer of camouflage to the activities of the Chinese Communist Party”

Ratcliffe is also a longtime supporter of Israel who helped establish the U.S.-Israel partnership in cyber defense through the US-Israel Advanced Research Partnership Act in 2016.

Ratcliffe who praised Israel’s strikes on Iran told Maria Bartiromo of Sunday Morning Futures on FOX News,

“What Israel has done is essentially employ ‘the Trump doctrine’: a maximum-pressure campaign, understanding the only way to deter terrorists like Iran and their proxies is to put your foot on their throat. Israel has done that; we should be assisting Israel in doing so.”

Ratcliffe is a Trump loyalist, a China hawk and a Pro-Israel supporter which means that he is a qualified candidate, so the US Senate should have no problem confirming John Ratcliffe as the new Director of the CIA.

Tulsi Gabbard is Trump’s choice for the Director of National Intelligence (DIA).  Now this pick is quite interesting, but she has a couple of serious problems.  I know there are people in the alternative media that say Gabbard is “Pro-Peace,” to an extent, is partially true.

So, let’s start with the idea that Tulsi Gabbard is a peace activist.   Tulsi Gabbard is a former Democrat representative from Hawaii who in January 2017 went on a “fact-finding mission” to Syria to investigate if President Bashar al-Assad’s had ordered his forces to use chemical weapons on civilians which turned out to be a false accusation by the West. She also found out that the Syrian opposition were made up of members from Al-Qaeda and ISIS.  Gabbard spoke out against US politicians who accused Russia of invading Ukraine for no apparent reason, only to expand its already vast territory. She is also opposed to US military support for Ukraine.

Gabbard had accused the US government and its NATO allies of being responsible for the war in the first place since one of the reasons was for the possibility of allowing Ukraine to join NATO which is a direct threat to Russia.  She also spoke out on the US government operating secret bioweapons labs in Ukraine.

Yes, Tulsi Gabbard has done great things in efforts to end current wars by investigating the facts of what really happened. She was after the truth which is commendable.

However, there is another side to Tulsi Gabbard when it comes to Israel. You can’t be for peace on one side of the world and then call for war on the other side, it’s hypocritical. Many people portray Gabbard as some sort of anti-war hero, but she has been vocally supportive of Israel’s wars on Gaza and Lebanon.

Gabbard is seen by Trump and his MAGA base as “anti-establishment” but her support for Israel is aligned with both sides of the political circus in Washington D.C.  Gabbard has even criticized pro-Palestine protesters in the US by calling them “puppets” of Hamas.

Gabbard also opposes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas just like Trump who called on Netanyahu to finish the job before he enters office in January. Gabbard also believes that Israel should continue the war on Gaza “as long as Hamas is in power, the people of Israel will not be secure and cannot live in peace.”

This video was produced by Breakthrough News which exposes Tulsi Gabbard’s position on Israel when it comes to Hamas and the Palestinians:

Gabbard co-opts antiwar rhetoric but her support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza exposes the truth

Tulsi Gabbard said all the right things for Israel and that’s why she was picked by Trump.  Will she get confirmed by the Senate?  It’s hard to say since many Democrats believe she works for Syria and Russia as some sort of agent, so we will see what happens during the confirmation hearings.

Pam Bondi is Trump’s pick for US Attorney General who happens to be another pro-Israel supporter after the US Representative from Florida, Matt Gaetz withdrew his nomination over past legal issues involving a minor had resurfaced.  Matt Gaetz also faced criticism because he invited a Holocaust denier to a State of the Union address which is something that can destroy your political career in United States:

In 2018, the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Anti-Defamation League both criticized Gaetz, then in his first term, for inviting a Holocaust denier as his guest at the State of the Union address. The guest, Charles Johnson, had publicly doubted that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust and suggested falsely that only 250,000 had died of illness

According to Jewish groups and the ADL, Gaetz is an Antisemite:

This past spring, Gaetz, alongside Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, opposed a bill that would codify an official definition of antisemitism because it classified the view that Jews killed Jesus — which Gaetz endorsed — as antisemitic.

“The Gospel itself would meet the definition of antisemitism under the terms of this bill!” Gaetz wrote on X, adding, “The Bible is clear. There is no myth or controversy on this”

It seemed obvious that Matt Gaetz was not going to be part of Trump’s team right from the start since most Democrats and Republicans are in the pockets of the Israeli lobby.  Pam Bondi is on a different level; she believes that university students who protest Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians and others in the Middle East are ignorant people who should be deported.

The Jerusalem Post headlined with ‘Trump’s new A-G nominee calls Palestine supporters “ignorant children.’  The article mentioned “In an interview this year with news host Chris Salcedo, Bondi addressed the pro-Palestinian protests on US college campuses, saying, “The students who protest against our Jewish friends and support Hamas – they should be deported from our country, they are ignorant children.”

The Jerusalem Post article also mentioned that in 2018, Bondi was interviewed by FOX News, and was asked about the Israel-Palestine conflict:

“Israel is one of our greatest allies in the world, if not the greatest,” Bondi said as part of an interview about concerns of escalation in the Middle East. “I visited Israel twice as Attorney-General, and Jerusalem is Israel’s capital”

So, Trump’s pick for Attorney General satisfies the Israeli lobby who wants to stifle free speech or in other words, end free speech when it comes to criticizing the state of Israel.  In fact, Trump did say that those who protest Israel and their genocidal policies should be deported.  The Telegraph headlined with a title that says it all, ‘Pam Bondi: Pick to replace Matt Gaetz wants to deport pro-Palestine protestors’:

The former prosecutor is a firm supporter of Israel and called for a crackdown on pro-Hamas demonstrations that erupted at college campuses last year.

“The thing that’s really the most troubling to me [are] these students in universities in our country, whether they’re here as Americans or if they’re here on student visas, and they’re out there saying ‘I support Hamas.’” she continued, “Frankly they need to be taken out of our country, or the FBI needs to be interviewing them right away”

Will Pam Bondi work with Noem Kristi to deport anti-Israel, anti-genocide Protesters on university campuses?

Trump also picked another far-right neocon, a NewsMax TV host of the The Gorka Reality Check, Sebastian Gorka for the positions of deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism. Gorka was part of the first Trump administration and was appointed Deputy Assistant to the President and a strategist in the White House team which was known as the Strategic Initiatives Group.

On an interview with Times Radio, Gorka claims what will Trump say to Putin “I’ll give one tip away that the president has mentioned, he will say to that murderous former KGB Colonel that thug who runs the Russian Federation, you will negotiate now or the aid that we have given to Ukraine thus far will look like peanuts.” So Trump’s claim that he will end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours is not a reality with people such as Sebastian Gorka in his cabinet.

There are other Trump nominees such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr who supports Israel, if confirmed, he will be the Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS) and there will be others with the same ideologies as mentioned above that will be in Trump’s future cabinet because as we all know, Trump can replace any of his picks on a whim.

What is certain in an uncertain world is that President-Elect, Donald Trump and his choices for his top positions is a recipe for a world war, not peace.  China, Iran, Russia and other countries who are on the US hit list will face a regime full of warmongering extremists and that is not a good start.  For the looks of it, it seems that war is on the agenda once again.