The Cost of War
War is the patent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes. And armies, and debts, and taxes, are the known instruments for bringing the many
under the dominion of the few - James Madison
Iraq War 20 March 2003 - 15 December 2011
The United States’ war on Iraq remains the deadliest act of aggressive warfare in our century, and a strong candidate for the worst crime committed in the last 30 years. It was, as George W. Bush said in an unintentional slip of the tongue, “wholly unjustified and brutal.” At least 500,000 Iraqis died as a result of the U.S. war. At least 200,000 of those were violent deaths—people who were blown to pieces by coalition airstrikes, or shot at checkpoints, or killed by suicide bombers from the insurgency unleashed by the U.S. invasion and occupation. Others died as a result of the collapse of the medical system—doctors fled the country in droves, since their colleagues were being killed or abducted. Childhood mortality and infant mortality in the country rose, and so did malnutrition and starvation. Millions of people were displaced, and a “generation of orphans” was created, hundreds of thousands of children having lost parents with many being left to wander the streets homeless. The country’s infrastructure collapsed, its libraries and museums were looted, and its university system was decimated, with professors being assassinated. (Noam Chomsky)
Gaza War 8 Oct 2023 - ongoing - very little has changed
The United States’ backed war on Gaza is wholly unjustified and brutal. At least 42,354 (one third children) have lost their lives with estimates of possible lives lost as high as 186,000 - after one year. All were violent deaths—people who were blown to pieces by coalition airstrikes, or shot while out trying to source food and water. Others died as a result of the collapse of the medical system—doctors murdered in droves, their colleagues abducted. Childhood mortality and infant mortality in the country rose, and so did malnutrition and starvation - by design. Millions of people were displaced, and a generation of orphans was created, hundreds of thousands of children having lost parents with many being left to wander the streets homeless. The country’s infrastructure collapsed, its libraries, museums, churches and Mosques were bombed and its university system destroyed - professors, journalists and charity workers assassinated. Unlike Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine, there was no escape for the people of the blockaded enclave when their water, food and fuel supplies were cut off.
The left graph shows the rise in Lockheed Martin's shares following the Russia-Ukraine War and below illustrates the rise in share prices for Raytheon et al following Israel's invasion of Gaza. Former US Sec of State for Defense Lloyd Austin sits on the board of Raytheon.
Profits from the Russia-Ukraine war Profits from the Israel-Palestine war
Shortly after Oct. 7, the U.S. government started transferring massive amounts of weapons to Israel. By Dec. 25, Israel received more than 10,000 tons of weapons in 244 cargo planes and 20 ships from the U.S. These transfers included more than 15,000 bombs and 50,000 artillery shells within just the first month and a half. These transfers have been deliberately shrouded in secrecy to avoid public scrutiny and prevent Congress from exercising any meaningful oversight. Between October and the beginning of March, the U.S. approved more than 100 military sales to Israel, but publicly disclosed only two sales. A list of known U.S. arms transfers is maintained by the Forum on the Arms Trade.
Much of these weapons were purchased using U.S. taxpayers’ money through the Foreign Military Sales program, while some were direct commercial sales purchased through Israel’s own budget. An undisclosed amount of weapons was also transferred from U.S. military stockpiles already stored in Israel, known as War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel (WRSA-I). The use of WRSA-I to provide Israel with weapons serves to further obfuscate the full picture of U.S. arms transfers, as there is no public record of these stockpiles' inventory.
The scale of destruction and war crimes in Gaza would not be possible without this continued flow of weapons from the U.S. Despite massive public protests, the Biden administration has been working to give Israel over $14 billion to buy more weapons. This is on top of the $3.8 billion the U.S. already gives to the Israeli military annually. Israel is required to use this money to buy U.S.-made weapons. This is a form of corporate welfare not only for the largest weapons manufacturers, like Lockheed Martin, RTX, Boeing, and General Dynamics, which have seen their stock prices skyrocket, but also for companies that are not typically seen as part of the weapons industry, such as Caterpillar, Ford, and Toyota.
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GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights office says in a report published Friday that the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem amount to a war crime.
The report covers the one-year period from Nov. 1, 2022, to Oct. 31, 2023, when it says roughly 24,300 housing units in existing settlements in the West Bank were “advanced” — the highest number in a year since monitoring began in 2017. It deplored an increase in the building of new settlement homes in recent months.
“The West Bank is already in crisis. Yet, settler violence and settlement-related violations have reached shocking new levels, and risk eliminating any practical possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state,” U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said. He presented the report to the Human Rights Council on Friday.
Reports this week that Israel plans to build nearly 3,500 settler homes in three areas “fly in the face of international law,” he said.
Settlements amount to a war crime
Mark Smith resigns over UK's arms sales to Israel
A British Foreign Office official has resigned in protest at the continued arms sales to Israel by the UK.
Mark Smith, a counterterrorism official based in the British embassy in Dublin, said he can no longer “in good conscience continue to work with a government which is complicit in war crimes”. In the statement, issued through media organisation Neon, Mr Smith said: “To export arms to any nation, the UK must be satisfied that the recipient nation has in place robust procedures to avoid civilian casualties and to minimise harm to civilian life. It is impossible to argue that Israel is doing that.” He added: “Since Israel’s invasion of Gaza in October 2023, I have had grave concerns about the conduct of the war and the UK’s compliance not only with international law but with the UK’s own domestic arms sales legislation. I am also opposed to the UK’s tacit support of Israel’s occupation of Palestine".
Genocide action filed against Israel at the International Court of Justice
Blinne Ni Ghralaigh puts forward a powerful and compelling argument as to why Israel
should be found guilty of genocide for their actions in the Gaza Strip.
On 29 December, South Africa filed a lawsuit before the ICJ, accusing Israel of committing crimes amounting to genocide in the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to a fierce war for more than three months. The filing inclided the decades-long occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people in both the West Bank and Gaza. Indonesia also filed against Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted, “Nobody will stop us...we will continue the war in the Gaza Strip until we achieve all our objectives. The Hague and the axis of evil will not stop us."
Tayab Ali Talks to MEE About Bringing MPs to Justice for War Crimes
Tayab Ali talks to Middle East Eye about holding the UK's political class to justice for their actions in Gaza.
A Solicitor and director of the International Centre of justice for Palestinians, Tayab has warned UK government officials they may be individually liable for crimes against humanity and war crimes by aiding and abetting Israel's murderous activities in Gaza.
GAZA (ONGOING)
YEMEN (ONGOING)
UKRAINE (ONGOING)
Following the commencement of Russia's Special Military Operation/invasion in Ukraine, a peace deal was brokered. Boris Johnson and the UK/US/EU regime weren't after peace and persuaded Zelensky not to go ahead with the deal.
A year and a half later, Russia has now incorporated four regions into the Russian Federation, roughly 20% of Ukraine and 500,000 (some estimates are as high as 1.5M) Ukrainian soldiers are dead, including over 10,000 civilians. The cost of destruction is estimated to be $143BN and there are now 6.3 million Ukrainian refugees. The UK has committed £4.6 billion in military assistance to Ukraine so far including
Length of war in Yemen: 8 years.
Direct and indirect deaths: 377,000 (UN).
Since the War on Yemen began, the UK has provided £23 billion pounds worth of fighter jets, bombs and missiles to the Saudi-led coalition for use in Yemen.
Arms sales in these circumstances are prohibited by UK rules, which say they should not be allowed where there is a “clear risk” that a weapon “might” be used in a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law.