Overture to Taliban Jolts Afghan Minorities

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/world/asia/27afghan.html?scp=1&sq=jolts%20afghan%20minorities&st=cse

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 8:59 AM
Subject: re: Overture to Taliban Jolts Afghan Minorities
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

   All Afghans are members of minority communities. At forty percent of the population, the Pashtuns are the biggest group, but that just makes them the largest minority community among many in the country.  The threat is not that minority groups will be oppressed by a majority. Rather, it is that the Taliban would again impose their particular Pashtun mores and culture on the nation.  After forty years of war, if we are to speak of a majority in Afghanistan, we should be looking at her women.

Russia Turns a Deaf Ear as Killing Cries for Justice

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/world/europe/04impunity.html?scp=1&sq=justice,%20and%20Russia%20turns&st=cse

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 11:05 AM
Subject: re: Russia Turns a Deaf Ear as Killing Cries for Justice
To: letters@nytimes.com


While Americans may enjoy a moment of smug satisfaction in comparing Russian prosecutors to those of Stalin's USSR, we should spare a moment to consider the role of politics in our own DoJ.  Who is prosecuting torturers? Who is prosecuting wiretappers? Who is questioning the legality of extrajudicial executions? As long as Eric Holder's DoJ is subordinate to president Obama's political agenda, the Rule of Law is guaranteed only to the powerful.

Barry Levine

U.N. Report Highly Critical of U.S. Drone Attacks

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/world/03drones.html?scp=1&sq=American%20drone%20attacks&st=cse

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Thu, Jun 3, 2010 at 11:01 AM
Subject: re: U.N. Report Highly Critical of U.S. Drone Attacks
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

    The contentious issue of who is a military target must not obscure the simpler question of who may use lethal force.  The C.I.A. agents and contractors who are firing missiles from our drones are not members of our uniformed military, and don't answer to our Joint Chiefs of Staff. According to our own laws, if they're not soldiers or sailors or marines or airmen, they're subject to civilian law. The question is whether to charge them with murder or assassination or terrorism.

Barry Levine