But the mass media usually refer to Iran’s program as aimed at creating a nuclear weapon.  So it was reported on a Yahoo! News blurb the other day.

Last I read, Iran was a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.  (Israel is not.)  They are within their rights to develop nuclear power so they are not burning up precious unrenewable oil to fuel their energy needs.

Israel has 200+ nuclear bombs and the means to deliver them.  Iran has none and even the Mossad estimated in a Reuters account today that Iran would not have bomb-making capability until 2014, nevertheless Netanyahu is rattling the sabres, saying that Iran must comply with UN sanctions by the end of this year.

It is true that Israel can and will do what they want.  Biden said that the U.S. would not stand in the way of whatever action Israel sees fit to take.

The world is watching all this.  They see Israel continuing to build settlements on Palestinian land, breaking their treaty agreements — and our country does nothing.

Now, Biden is saying Israel can do what it wants to Iran and we will do nothing, just keep paying $3 billion a year or so for the privilege of being dragged into an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East .

Will someone tell me again how Obama/Biden are better than Bush/Cheney?  This is insanity — morally and militarily — if we, who are funding Israel, do nothing to rein in this pit bull of a nation.

If nothing else, we should have cut off our funding to Israel long ago and distanced our country from the self-righteous rogue nation, Israel.

Show us some guts, President Obama.  No more pre-emptive wars on the U.S. account, please.

AI researchers continue investigating attacks against southern Israel and are currently documenting the true scale of devastation wrought on civilians in Gaza. The stories they report are harrowing.

In the early afternoon of January 4th, three young paramedics walked through a field on a rescue mission to save a group of wounded men in a nearby orchard. A 12-year-old boy, standing by his house, assisted the operation by pointing to where the men could be found. An Israeli air strike on the area killed all four.

The bodies of the four victims could not be retrieved for two days. Ambulance crews who tried to approach the site came under fire from Israeli forces.

Our researchers later traveled to the scene of the strike with the two ambulance drivers who witnessed the attack. They met with the boy’s distraught mother and found the remains of the missile. The label of the missile read, “guided missile, surface attack” and cited the United States as the country of origin.

This is just one of many similar stories.

Under the Geneva Conventions, medical personnel searching, collecting, transporting or treating the wounded must be protected and respected in all circumstances. Clearly, this was not the case on Jan. 4th.

Since we last wrote, more than 87,000 of you have written Congress and former administration officials. These emails, along with the massive outpouring of letters from around the world from other Amnesty sections, are making an impact. Just this week:

• the United Nations pledged $613 million in aid for Gaza
• 60 members of Congress signed a letter to Secretary of State Hillary of Clinton calling for humanitarian support for Gaza
• And yesterday ago, the US pledged $20 million in aid

We have a small window of opportunity to build on this momentum: urge Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Susan Rice to push for a full-fledged independent investigation.

This investigation is critical for many reasons, not the least of which is the clear evidence of the use of white phosphorous, as well as the mounting evidence of the misuse of US arms. As you read this, Amnesty researchers continue documenting the use of arms, and we expect an action specifically calling on Congress to investigate the misuse of US weapons in this conflict in the coming weeks.

Everyone is responsible for the protection of international law. The US government must not turn a blind eye to possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. It should support an independent international inquiry by the United Nations into allegations of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law – by all groups participating in the conflict.

The story of the paramedics and the young boy is not an anomaly. Write Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice today and urge accountability for abuses in Gaza and southern Israel now.