Ye Mengyuan, Wang Linjia, identified as SFO plane crash victims

BEIJING--the two people who died in a plane crash of Asiana Airlines at San Francisco International Airport were Chinese schoolgirls, Chinese State media said Sunday.

Mengyuan ye and Wang Linjia, the middle school students of Jiangshan in East China, died in the accident, State broadcaster China Central Television said, quoting a fax of the airline to the Government of the city of Jiangshan.

The South Korean airline said in a statement that ye and Wang were both 16.

A group of 29 students and five teachers had set off from the highly competitive school in an affluent coastal province of Zhejiang. A woman from the Department of education of Zhejiang had said earlier that they had lost contact with two students. The woman gave only her surname, Tang.

Of the 291 passengers aboard, 141 were Chinese. At least 70 students Chinese and teachers were on the plane heading to summer camps, according to the authorities of education in China.

The flight crashed into the runway upon landing at the airport on Saturday and caught fire, forcing many to escape by sliding down inflatable slides of emergencies when flames tore through the plane. Officials said that 182 people were taken to area hospitals.

Fort Hood shooting victims want designated as terrorism attack

-The Commander Nidal Malik Hasan army admits taking a gun, shouting "Allahu akbar" (God is great) and open fire on unarmed people, killing 13 of them. All, says, in an effort to stop Afghanistan and killing fellow Muslims.

Concluding that it was on the "wrong side" in America's war, he told jurors at his Council of war who switched sides.

Then, what victims and others are demanding, it is the attack of November 2009 in Fort Hood, being treated as a case of violence at work and not as an act of terror?

Scott L. Silliman expert military law says the answer is simple. Because the uniform code of military justice does not have a punitive article by "terrorism".

"Don't really have a choice," said Silliman, director emeritus of the center of Duke University in law, ethics and national security at Durham, North Carolina "was an official asset. The crime occurred in a military installation. ... It was obvious that he was going to face a court-martial".

The victims of the shooting rampage filed a lawsuit last year by the Administration's decision to treat the incident as workplace violence. They say that the designation has stolen benefits and made them ineligible to receive the purple heart, given to service members wounded in battle.

On Monday, the staff of the National Review magazine launched a petition drive directed the Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, arguing that the army psychiatrist should be tried as an enemy combatant by what they regard as "an act of Terror".

"By not designating this event as such an Act, does not respect the lives of the 13 who lost their lives that day and dozens more wounded," reads the petition. "This is outrageous and I call to change the official designation now" before continuing proceedings against Hasan.

While Silliman understands the indignation, says that it was not possible to transfer the case to civilian courts - where you could attach a load of terror-.

"It would have been totally unprecedented to have such things occur," said Silliman, who has served as a senior lawyer in two large military installations and three major air force commands. "Now, if the crime had occurred outside the post, then could be what we call a concurrent jurisdiction between civilian authorities and military authorities."

Why cannot the administration calls this an act of terror without charge Hasan as a terrorist? According to a position paper of the widely cited Pentagon opposition purple hearts to the victims that would allow the defense to argue that Hasan "can get a trial just because a branch of the Government has indirectly stated that major Hasan is a terrorist - who is criminally guilty."

Reed Rubinstein, one of the attorneys representing a number of the victims of the shooting and their families, calls this "false" argument.

The National Counterterrorism Center and the State Department told the incident between the attacks of terror that year, says. The White House and the Defense Department have been frustrated, argues, for many people doesn't pay attention to the warning signs that Hasan was becoming increasingly radical that preceded their deployment in Afghanistan.

"The truth of the matter is, that it is policy," said Washington lawyer. "It boils to conceal the political correctness which was the immediate cause of this attack in the first instance". Rubinstein is not asking for an accusation of terrorism but argued that the Government could govern administratively that this was an act of terror so that their customers can qualify for benefits more and the purple heart, which comes with its own set of privileges and awards.

Hasan is representing himself during the court martial. Because he faces the death penalty, military law had prevented him from entering a plea of guilty. But he admitted in his statement of opening Tuesday, as he has done before, did the shooting.

Military prosecutors could have added a civil charge of terrorism, said Geoffrey Corn, a Lieutenant Colonel retired and former military lawyer. But argues that it would have added a layer of unnecessary complexity with little, if any, benefit.

"Never been in a military court soon," says corn, a professor at the South Texas College of Law. "Was it motivated by a terrorist agenda? Without a doubt. It will present the evidence? Without a doubt. But the crimes he committed were premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder".

Corn says it would be difficult in the case of Hasan as a combatant enemy. While Hasan may have been inspired al - Qaida and even had contact with known terrorist suspects, it does not appear that he received orders from the group, says the corn.

Rubinstein negative terms of the Government called the shooting a terrorist attack for the purposes of the granting of benefits "a kick in the teeth to the victims."

"They have to hear about workplace violence," he says. "They tell them that what happened was not. Do not pay attention to the fact that he was a jihadist. They knew that we knew and the FBI. But his career, because of their race and religion, was more important to us than their lives. You forget all of that."

Government lawyers have asked a federal judge to delay the civil case, to reclassify the incident as well as make combat-related pay and other benefits available to victims, until after the court martial and processing subsequent have been completed. That could take up to nine months.

Victim Shawn Manning estimated that it lost $2,000 a month in wages and benefits due to the decision to classify injuries resulting from violence at work rather than combat or terrorism-related. They had their wounds have been classified in this way, the army would have paid the difference between their pay of civilian and reserve, offered better medical benefits and awarded higher payments for disability.

"And Hasan is still collecting their higher pay," growls Manning, who now works as a specialist in civil mental health at Fort Lewis, Washington

"That is not correct," accepts the former Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, who was shot seven times and still has a bullet in the back. Manning and he spoke with The Associated Press before the order of a military judge this week not to discuss the case.

Silliman said that, it is also the way in which the military system operates.

"Remember, he is innocent until found otherwise," he says. "It will be drawing full pay as a United States Army major... until a judgment is awarded in the case and the sentence is approved by the authority of call".

___

Breed reported from Raleigh, North Carolina and Plushnick Masti-from Houston.

You can follow on Twitter at race. Follow Plushnick Masti https://twitter.com/RamitMastiAP https://twitter.com/AllenGBreed

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Fort Hood Victims: Stories Of The 13 Killed In Texas Shooting

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Thirteen people were killed in the Nov. 5, 2009, shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. Here are their stories:

_ Michael Grant Cahill, 62, of Cameron, Texas. Cahill was a physician assistant and civilian employee who had returned to work the previous week after suffering a heart attack two weeks earlier. Born in Spokane, Wash., he helped treat soldiers returning from tours of duty or preparing for deployment. He and his wife had been married 37 years.

_Maj. Libardo Eduardo Caraveo, 52, of Woodbridge, Va. Originally from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, he had a doctorate in psychology from the University of Arizona and worked with bilingual special-needs students at Tucson-area schools before entering private practice. He had just arrived at Fort Hood and was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. He was a father of three.

_Staff Sgt. Justin M. DeCrow, 32, from Evans, Ga. He was helping train soldiers on how to help new veterans with paperwork. He had arrived at Fort Hood in September 2009 after being stationed for a year in Korea. Married and father of a teenage daughter, he was first stationed at Fort Gordon, Ga., where his wife had hoped he would return when a posting there became open.

_Capt. John Gaffaney, 56, from San Diego County, Calif. Gaffaney was a psychiatric nurse for more than 20 years and had arrived at Fort Hood the day before the shooting to prepare for a deployment to Iraq. A native of Williston, N.D., he had served in the Navy and later the California National Guard. Married and father to a son, he supervised a team of six social workers at San Diego County's Adult Protective Services Department.

_Spc. Frederick Greene, 29, of Mountain City, Tenn. Known as "Freddie," he was a combat engineer based at Fort Hood and preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. He was married with two daughters. His family said he exemplified the Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage.

_Spc. Jason Dean Hunt, 22, of Frederick, Okla. Known as J.D., he'd been married for two months. He served 3 1/2 years in the Army including a stint in Iraq. He had re-enlisted in the Army for six years after serving his initial two-year assignment and previously was stationed at Fort Stewart, Ga.

_Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wis. She joined the Army after the 2001 terrorist attacks, had arrived at Fort Hood two days before the shootings and was set for deployment to Afghanistan in December 2009. Her mother said she had vowed to take on Osama bin Laden. Her family described her as highly competitive in sports and with a smile that would light up any room.

_Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka, 19, of West Jordan, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. He joined the Army instead of going on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to an uncle. He was the youngest of four children in his family and was to be deployed to Afghanistan in January 2010.

_Pfc. Michael Pearson, 22, Bolingbrook, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. He quit what he believed was a dead-end furniture company job to join the military about a year earlier. His mother said she spoke with him two days before the shooting and they talked about how he would be home for Christmas the following month. She hadn't seen him for a year while he was in training.

_Capt. Russell Seager, 51, of Racine, Wis. Seager joined the Army a few years earlier to help veterans returning to civilian life. He'd worked with soldiers at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Milwaukee who were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and also taught classes at Bryant & Stratton College in Milwaukee. Married and with a son, he was at Fort Hood for training in advance of a December deployment to Afghanistan.

_Pvt. Francheska Velez, 21, of Chicago. Known to her friends as "Cheka," she was pregnant and preparing to return home after deployment to Iraq. She had been back in the U.S. for three days. Velez was planning a lifelong career in the Army, family members said. One of her high school teachers said she hoped to become a psychologist.

_Lt. Col. Juanita Warman, 55, of Havre De Grace, Md. Warman was a military physician assistant with two daughters and six grandchildren. She had volunteered with Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, a reintegration program for Maryland National Guard soldiers returning from deployment overseas, providing mental health counseling and helping develop a program about the myths and realities of post-traumatic stress disorder. She was preparing for deployment to Iraq.

_Pfc. Kham Xiong, 23, of St. Paul, Minn. Xiong was married and father of three young children. His family has a history of military service and his father, from Laos, fought the Viet Cong with the CIA in 1972. He was among 11 siblings who came to the U.S. as a toddler, grew up in California and then moved to Minnesota. He was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.

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Ilias Sourdis: UK Compensates Kenyan Torture Victims, Boosts Greece's Hope For WWII German Reparations

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¿Alemania hará que el paso valiente similar para poner fin a la Odisea por la justicia a las víctimas griegas y cerrar estos capítulos oscuros de la historia?

Entre las redes de los grandes medios de comunicación, me ha encantado leer el otro día también en el sitio web de DW (Deutsche Welle):

"El gobierno británico acordó compensar a los 5.200 kenianos torturados durante el levantamiento contra el dominio colonial en la década de 1950 de Mau Mau. El establecimiento llegó después de un fallo del Tribunal superior a favor de tres ancianos keniatas.

Secretario de relaciones exteriores William Hague dijo la cámara de los comunes que el gobierno pagaría un total de 19,9 millones de libras (23,5 millones de euros, $30,8 millones) a 5.228 clientes representadas por una firma de abogados británico."

Irónicamente, esta pieza de buena noticia llegó en el momento que Grecia se prepara para conmemorar el 69 aniversario de la masacre de Distomo donde en 10 de junio de 1944 los ocupantes alemanes brutalmente ejecutaron a 218 aldeanos inocentes y quemaron las casas de la ciudad entera. Distomo es sólo uno de la larga lista de atrocidades cometidas por los alemanes en Grecia que, a pesar de los esfuerzos de non-stop de Grecia por la justicia, lamentablemente hasta el momento ninguno de los casos fueron colocado y las víctimas nunca fueron indemnizadas.

Mientras estamos felicitando tanto las víctimas de Kenya por su gran victoria y el gobierno británico por su valentía para reconocer errores, pedir disculpas por sus acciones y compensar a las víctimas, deseamos que este caso sirva como precedente fuerte y hacerse la luz en el túnel de la larga y oscura por la WWII griego sin resolver casos de reparaciones pendientes.

Sin duda, esta victoria de los kenianos, que sus tiempos también se pueden denominar como un "regalo para el aniversario próximo Distomo víctimas", aumentará enormemente las esperanzas para lograr la justicia suave y rápida para todos los casos de las víctimas griegos así. Dado el fracaso total del sistema legal para hacer a justicia a las víctimas griegas de crímenes brutales, este precedente debe servir como una negación a excusas convenientes de Alemania como; Alemania es inmune al pago de reparación de WWII o el tiempo transcurrido por lo tanto, las reclamaciones no pueden seguir siendo buscados y otros superficiales tácticas dilatorias para evadir el establecimiento.

Grecia ha comenzado la lucha legal por la justicia más de seis décadas atrás y adquiridos de primera mano experiencia calificando a afirmar que obtener justicia del ordenamiento jurídico vigente es una cuesta muy empinada y casi imposibles de alcanzar a pesar de la presencia de pruebas contundentes y la incapacidad de Alemania para probar la inocencia.

Griegos, así como otras víctimas de la injusticia, tendrá una buena razón para celebrar hoy y gracias a las víctimas kenianas que, con su persistente lucha por la justicia han recordado todos nosotros que "justicia retardada es justicia denegada". El ganador en este caso es también el estado de derecho que debe ser respetado por todos y bastante aplicado a todos los miembros de nuestra sociedad, sin importar su raza, tamaño, estado financiero, o que sean las Naciones fuertes o débiles.

También esperamos que Alemania, una nación respetada de la comunidad mundial, para dar el paso audaz y resolver con finalidad de todas sus obligaciones a las víctimas de la griegas. Los críticos, quienes sugieren que Grecia debe renunciar a la lucha por la justicia que buscan a sus víctimas, deben entender que tal sugerencia es inmoral, absurdo e ilegal. Descuidar los derechos del griego víctimas es también una obligación negociable para el gobierno griego. En cambio la crítica a las pretensiones griegas, incluyendo Alemania, será de inmensa ayuda si apoyan la rápida resolución de los casos como tal un movimiento servirá como un elemento disuasivo para los futuros aspirantes invasores, ocupantes y perpetradores de atrocidades que se le avise que el crimen no paga y tarde o temprano la ley alcanzarán con ellos.

Durante la invasión alemana WWII y ocupación, Grecia sufrió el peor tipo de atrocidades cuando el país fue atacadas por Italia y después de feroces luchas que dio lugar a un gran número de víctimas de guerra masiva, las fuerzas armadas griegas derrotado y rechazado las fuerzas invasoras italianas en la parte noroeste de Grecia. Por desgracia que la victoria era corto vivió porque algunos meses más tarde durante la primavera de 1941 Alemania atacaron e invadieron Grecia causando crímenes masivos contra la población y toda la infraestructura del país se ha reducido a escombros. Casi cada ciudad griega está decorado con monumentos en que se graban largas listas de los nombres de las víctimas.

Estos crímenes masivos cometidos a menos de 10 años antes que los cometidos en Kenia y por lo tanto es imprescindible ahora para que el sistema jurídico internacional a utilizar su imparcialidad e invita a Alemania a pedir disculpas por las atrocidades cometidas, truncó el retraso de la liquidación de sus obligaciones a Grecia y junto con las reparaciones de guerra pendiente, enterrar en las páginas oscuras de su historia este capítulo glorioso de la brutal guerra atrocidades y crímenes de lesa humanidad.

Sabemos que ninguna cantidad de compensaciones puede curar los males y no podemos devolver la vida de las víctimas inocentes, pero es importante que castigamos a los perpetradores de crímenes para asegurar que ellos no pueden eludir el estado de derecho.

El pueblo británico debe estar orgulloso y honrado por sus dirigentes para tener la valentía de admitir errores en el pasado y hacer a justicia a las víctimas. Las sociedades legales globales también deben aplaudir esta decisión histórica que puede utilizar como un hito referente en muchos otros similares casos pendientes.

Con este precedente ya en registros legales del mundo oficial, los casos griegos puede perder sólo si se aplican doble rasero de la justicia en su resolución. Contamos con la comunidad mundial para impedir que eso suceda.

Más sobre el griego casos pendientes incluyendo bibliografía puede encontrarse aquí: http://www.greece.org/blogs/wwii

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Margaret McLean: Bulger Victim's Wife: "This Is Why I Stay and Fight"

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Co-authored by Jon Leiberman and Margaret McLean - authors of the upcoming book "The Gavel Strikes" on the trial of James "Whitey Bulger"

"This is why I stay and fight--I want to show that my husband Michael was an innocent person and that he wasn't involved with anything having to do with Whitey."

Those poignant words came during our wide-ranging conversation with Patricia Donahue several days ago. People may not know Patricia's name - yet. But - they are about to.

On the eve of jury selection in the James "Whitey" Bulger trial - Patricia has a message. She will not let her husband die in vain.

Patricia has been waiting to be heard in a court of law since 1982. That was the year when James "Whitey" Bulger along with members of his criminal enterprise allegedly gunned down Michael when he gave an acquaintance a ride home from a popular Boston restaurant. Unbeknownst to Michael, the acquaintance happened to be an FBI informant against Bulger in another murder investigation. The FBI leaked the information and the informant instantly became a target. Thus, it was simply Michael Donahue's bad luck that he drove to the South Boston waterfront that day to buy bait and supplies for a fishing trip he had planned for his eight year old son, Tommy. It was bad luck that Michael stopped by the restaurant on his way home, and decided to be a good Samaritan offering to give someone he knew a ride. A tragic example of being in the right place at the wrong time. Michael is one of 19 victims listed in the sweeping criminal complaint against Whitey Bulger. Patricia says she will do everything she can to make sure her husband doesn't just become a number - but rather a loud of voice for justice.

So much time has elapsed since Michael's death, yet Patricia still remembers the day. "What kind of system do we have that my husband was killed at 6:00 o'clock. I saw a bulletin flash across my television screen that there was a gangland slaying. When I watched the news, I saw my father-in-law's car, and knew Michael was driving it. No one would give me any information. I knew one man had died and the other was in the hospital. I called the police and every hospital in the Boston area, and no one would give me information. What kind of system do we have?"

Indeed- it is a system that took close to 3 decades to arrest the man police say stole the love of Patricia's life. Now, she and her sons, Tommy, Michael and Shawn, will enter a Boston courtroom and look Mr. Bulger right in the eyes as he finally stands trial. It will be a moment they have longed for and will never forget.

Patricia: "I don't think you know how big this case is really going to be until you step in that courtroom on June 10th. I'm looking forward to hearing a lot of the testimony because it's going to fill in a lot of the empty blanks for me...I have mixed emotions because I've never been involved in any type of trial like this. I'm worried about how my children are going to handle all this."

The Donahue family has attended every pretrial hearing since Bulger's arraignment on federal murder and racketeering charges in July of 2011.

Please join us for all of our thoughts on the victims, their families, and jury selection in a special Wild About Trial Spreecast at 9pm Eastern on Tuesday night. You can also submit your questions.

Follow Margaret McLean on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MargaretMclean_

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