By Kevin Young

There are no innocent civilians. It is their government and you are fighting a people, you are not trying to fight an armed force anymore. So it doesn't bother me so much to be killing the so-called innocent bystanders.

— Gen. Curtis E. LeMay [1]

On August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States government dropped atomic bombs on two densely-populated Japanese cities, killing between 200,000 and 300,000 civilians. Commemorations of the atomic bombings often focus on the need to destroy nuclear weapons. But the anniversary raises another issue that is no less important, for the bombings had specifically targeted Japanese civilians. The military tactic of targeting civilian populations in times of war was nothing new, with deep historical roots extending back to Biblical times when armies would lay siege to entire cities. More recently, US military manuals of the 1920s and 1930s had promoted such tactics not just for the potential scale of destruction but also for the psychological effects on civilians. Air Corps doctrine, for example, praised air raids as "a method of imposing will by terrorizing the whole population," and before World War II advocated "attacks to intimidate civil populations" [2]. Secretary of War Henry Stimson later made a similar point, boasting that "the atomic bomb was more than a weapon of terrible destruction; it was a psychological weapon" [3].

BEIJING – Three Tibet supporters staged a symbolic protest near the entrance to the Olympic park and the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing today, one hour before the Olympic opening ceremony began. The three displayed Tibetan national flags. Chinese security tackled them 40 seconds after the protest began. Jonathan Stribling-Uss, 27, and Kalaya’an Mendoza, 29, Americans, and Cesar Pablo Maxit, 32, an Argentine-American, were immediately and forcibly detained.

Dr. Erica Frank, President of the Nobel Peace Prize winning organization Physicians for Social responsibility was the guest of the Dallas Peace Center August 6th as part of our Summer Dinner Lecture Series.  While in town she was interviewed for KERA's THINK! program, hosted by Krys Boyd.  You can now download that interview HERE.

You can find more information about THINK! at KERA.org/radio/think

Reprinted from WDEF.com: 

We know more now about the man who opened fire during a church service in Knoxville Sunday.

Two people died at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.

Monday mourners left flowers and other tokens at the site.

Police say 58 year old Jim Adkisson expected to keep firing until officers killed him.

Instead church members tackled him and held him for police.

Police also say they know from a four page letter he left... That Adkisson picked the church for it's social causes.. Like women's and gay rights.

Dallas, TX - The Darfur Renaissance Association in the US - DFW Chapter and other Darfur activist organizations across the metropolitan area will rally to show strong support for the recent indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of Omar Bashir, Sudan’s president, for war crimes he masterminded in Darfur where an estimated 200,000 people have died in the past five years.

Darfur Activists will rally and then hold a press conference to provide a “beyond the headlines”  discussion about the impact of the ICC’S decision on peace-making prospects for Darfur. The Darfur Renaissance Association in the US - DFW Chapter, comprised of Darfur refugees, emphasizes that the pursuit of justice for the victims of crimes is a critical element in ending the genocidal war in Darfur. It sends a firm message to the government of Sudan that violence waged against innocent people in Darfur will not be tolerated and that those responsible will be held accountable.

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- With whistles, banners, and megaphones, in kayaks and canoes, CODEPINK Women for Peace activists formed a symbolic peace blockade around Rep. Gary's Ackerman's houseboat at 7 a.m. today inside the Capital Yacht Club marina. They demanded an end to Ackerman's recently introduced resolution that would create more sanctions on the Iranian people and a potential blockade of Iranian ports.

Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Queens/L.I), who was sleeping inside the boat, emerged around 8 a.m. to the dock. With a glance down at the activists in their boats on the water, called the action "the most creative protest I've ever seen" and engaged the group in a lively discussion for 30 minutes.

Dallasite Rev. Diane Baker and other members of the 19th US/Cuba Friendshipment Caravan returned to the US July 14 after challenging the US blockade on travel to Cuba and delivering nearly 100 tons of humanitarian aid to that island nation. When they crossed through Mexico and reached the US border at Hidalgo, TX today, the members of the caravan were processed through US Immigration and Customs.

Responding to constant pressure from communities all across the US, US officials then returned to the caravan the 32 computers that had been seized on July 3 when they crossed the border on their way to Cuba.

It's unconstitutional, un-American -- and it might hurt, rather than help, the FBI's effort to stop real acts of terror.

By Juan Cole

July 10, 2008 | The U.S. Justice Department is considering a change in the grounds on which the FBI can investigate citizens and legal residents of the United States. Till now, DOJ guidelines have required the FBI to have some evidence of wrongdoing before it opens an investigation. The impending new rules, which would be implemented later this summer, allow bureau agents to establish a terrorist profile or pattern of behavior and attributes and, on the basis of that profile, start investigating an individual or group. Agents would be permitted to ask "open-ended questions" concerning the activities of Muslim Americans and Arab-Americans. A person's travel and occupation, as well as race or ethnicity, could be grounds for opening a national security investigation.