death ship arrives

Information on this photo found here
The delivery of munitions from the U.S. to Israel that Chomsky references in this post have arrived in Israel. Amnesty International has the report here. Below are some paragraphs from the report. My emphasis.

Amnesty International said that the delivery should have been stopped and that failure to do so throws into question whether President Obama will act to prevent US weapons from fuelling conflicts and contributing to attacks against civilians that may amount to war crimes, as were perpetrated in Gaza.

Information on this photo found here
"Legally and morally, this US arms shipment should have been halted by the Obama administration given the extent of the evidence showing how military equipment and munitions of this kind were recently used by the Israeli forces to commit war crimes," said Brian Wood. "Arms supplies in these circumstances are contrary to provisions in US law.

"There is a great risk that the new munitions may be used by the Israeli military to commit further violations of international law, like the ones committed during the war in Gaza. We are urging all governments to impose an immediate and comprehensive suspension of arms to Israel, and to all Palestinian armed groups until there is no longer a substantial risk of serious human rights violations."

The US was by far the largest supplier of weapons to Israel between 2004 and 2008. The US government is also due to provide $30 billion in military aid to Israel.

According to one US official, President Obama has no plans to cut the billions of dollars in military aid promised to Israel under a new 10-year contract agreed in 2007 by the Bush administration. This new contract is a 25 per cent increase compared to the last contract agreed by the previous US administration.

I sometimes think there is too much money tied up in the development and supply of weapons for peace to ever prevail. This information about the U.K.'s supply of arms.
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In keeping with the above, Gush-Shalom, the Israeli peace group which Uri Avnery is part of, ran this advert in the April 3rd Ha'aretz:

Surprise! Surprise!

The army has
Investigated itself
And found
(Surprise! Surprise!)
That it is the
Most moral army
In the world.

That legitimizes
All the atrocities
Of Gaza War II
Into which
Netanyahu, Barak and Liberman
Are dragging us.

Ad published in Haaretz, April 3, 2009