The Daily Blog Open Mic – Thursday 30th March 2017

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openmike

 

Announce protest actions, general chit chat or give your opinion on issues we haven’t covered for the day.

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4 COMMENTS

  1. http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/03/hit-run-map-of-operation-burnham-wrong-afghan-victims-lawyers.html

    Hit & Run: Map of Operation Burnham wrong – Afghan victims’ lawyers

    29/03/2017

    Lisa Owen

    Simon Wong

    A map relied on by the New Zealand Defence Force to criticise explosive claims in a new book about raids on Afghan villages is wrong, the villagers claim.

    Lawyers for the victims of the 2010 New Zealand SAS raid in which six civilians were killed and 15 injured have rebutted the Defence Force’s claim they never operated in the area.

    Lawyer makes hast exit after tense Duncan Garner interview

    Hit & Run vs the Defence Force: What you need to know

    Operation Burnham is the focus of Hit & Run by investigative journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson, with growing calls for an independent inquiry into what happened. The Government is still refusing to commission one.

    At a news conference on Monday, Defence Force chief Lieutenant-General Tim Keating produced a map of the area in which the book takes place.

    A map relied on by the New Zealand Defence Force to criticise explosive claims in a new book about raids on Afghan villages is wrong, the villagers claim.

    Lawyers for the victims of the 2010 New Zealand SAS raid in which six civilians were killed and 15 injured have rebutted the Defence Force’s claim they never operated in the area.

    Lawyer makes hast exit after tense Duncan Garner interview

    Hit & Run vs the Defence Force: What you need to know

    Operation Burnham is the focus of Hit & Run by investigative journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson, with growing calls for an independent inquiry into what happened. The Government is still refusing to commission one.

    At a news conference on Monday, Defence Force chief Lieutenant-General Tim Keating produced a map of the area in which the book takes place.

    He claimed the SAS never operated in the villages named in the book – Naik and Khak Khuday Dad – with Operation Burnham taking place two kilometres south of those settlements on August 22, 2010.

    Prime Minister Bill English is continuing to back the Defence Force, saying they’re the only ones with a “consistent story”.

    He isn’t budging on his decision not to hold an inquiry into the confusion.

    “You don’t have an inquiry just because someone’s decided to make allegations to sell a book. There needs to be some evidence war crims may have been committed and so far there’s been no such evidence.”

    For a time, the Defence Force’s new conference threw the books claims into doubt, but in a letter sent to Prime Minister Bill English and Attorney-General Chris Finlayson, lawyer Richard McLeod sought to correct the map having shown it to the villagers.

    The map labels the operation area as ‘Tirgiran Village’ in a red box, which the locals say does not exist. It is rather the Tirgiran Valley and Naik and Khak Khuday Dad are within that selected area.

    The areas on the map labelled as Naik and Khak Khuday Dad are the wrong villages, the letter says.

    “It is unclear to us whether the creation of this flawed document has been the result of misunderstanding, error or otherwise. However, it is plainly incorrect and unreliable. It must follow that so too are the conclusions which the NZDF seeks to draw from this map, namely that they have never operated in our clients’ villages.”

    The letter says the error it is akin to claiming the operation “took place in ‘Otago city’, ‘Waikato town’ or ‘Waitakere village’. It is plainly wrong to conflate an area into a village as the NZDF has done in this case”.

    “The flawed NZDF map and its derived conclusions therefore reinforce our view that it is untenable for the NZDF to assert that Operation Burnham was a separate operation on the night of August 22, 2010.”

    It says the revelation strengthens requests for an independent inquiry into the operation.

    Hager admits they also mistook where the villages were, but says it does not change their central claims.

    “It just appears that within this roadless, extremely isolated mountain area the place where we thought it was was slightly different to where it was,” he told Newshub.

    He wasn’t sure how Defence managed to also get it wrong considering they have “vastly more map resources that we have”.

    “Nothing in the Defence presentation makes sense. They hoped they could knock us over by saying there was blurriness about the location where it happened, but they haven’t answered any of the main allegations that have come out yet and for the people who are responsible for the troops that were there, it’s just not good enough.”

    The authors on Wednesday issued a point-by-point rebuttal of Lt-Gen Keating’s claims made during the news conference, calling each one incorrect except for their mistake on the villages’ locations.

    Newshub.

  2. These guys are seriously brave…in the second half

    Exposing the BIG PHARMA CARTELS…who pedal opioid painkillers which are killing people at rates higher than the cocaine epidemic of the 80s…( my question: is your doctor killing you?)

    Also ( in the first half) a critique of oligopolies and monopolies which Trump should be breaking up but isnt…( eg. health care , media ‘fake’ news, insurance, prisons)…

    Keiser Report – Episode 1049

    https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/382267-episode-max-keiser-1049/

    “In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max and Stacy discuss the trail of ‘American carnage’ and how it led to a Trump presidency.

    In the second half, Max and Stacy discuss the OxyCartel pushing millions of prescription pills on small towns across the USA.”

    ( my question: so why is medicinal cannabis banned again?)

  3. Can I ask what happend to the thread on the Chinese Premiers visit live on your site earlier today . I cant find it on your story log

  4. “Wrong way Kiwirail.” 30th March 2017.

    Kiwi rail’s sudden announcement that it has made a decision to give access to a rail bike venture today 30/317 shutting out Gisborne from any freight and passenger/tourism access requires scrutiny firstly, since it appears rushed without notifying other interest bids.

    Kiwirail makes a blunder by refusing to engage with all Maori, and the community groups ahead of the decision to decide to give our rail access to a “rail bike venture”.

    On reflection Kiwirail in 2013/14 treated the HBRC very badly when it refused to offer that large powerful Council more than three months over that Xmas to provide a solid business plan.

    HBRC has never recovered from that crushing treatment as they had an airtight backing for a complete rail services and funds to maintain the line also and their was an interest from HBRC to work with other parties to allow other uses as a bike trails and other ventures to enhance the whole region, without sacrificing anyone’s interest here.

    This seemed the best decision Kiwirail could have made then and made money for the taxpayer to..

    Now we find that after three years later Kiwirail held every other interested party in the compete dark, and refused any consultation with any of these parties except the Rail bike interested party any consideration we can draw a reasonable conclusion that this was kiwi rail’s plan all the time to not even consider any rail services at all and we need to have this lack of consideration for the community affected by their callous decision to ignore repeated requests from community groups and Maori for proper consultation given ahead of any decision.

    Kiwirail have breached their own State Owned Enterprise Act obligations to engage with the community in which they operate and consider what is in their best interest here, never mind not even considering consulting with the land owners who allowed the rail line access across their tribal land years ago!

    I am not a lawyer but Kiwirail have in my mind have blundered and made the wrong move right here.

    Much dissention will be generated by ignoring the will of the people over what appears an easier way out for Kiwirail to remove itself from being responsible for providing a urgently needed rail freight and passenger/tourism service to the most isolated regional city/community in the country when we just witnessed Kiwirail restore two south Island rail routs in a heartbeat.

    As the article in the Gisborne herald August 23, 2016 entitled “Labour-Greens united on rail” said ‘Wrong government in place’ to make rail a reality” we now see clear evidence of this so election time we need to rid the rail hating politics for our own good.

    In the coming weeks we will see a backlash to this blunder by Kiwirail under the direction of a rail hating government.

    It should be clear that none of the other bidders for the rail at this time were even given any discussion or consultation ahead of today’s decision, a bad act of good faith from Kiwirail to our community. Dark forces are emerging here.

    I never had a call or any communication at all from Kiwirail though my Company CER Ltd had offered to assist Kiwirail in Environmental monitoring issues for free.?

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