Friday 16 October 2009

Information Clearing House - News For October 16, 2009

War Is Peace. Ignorance Is Strength

By John Pilger

Barack Obama, winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, is planning another war to add to his impressive record. In Afghanistan, his agents routinely extinguish wedding parties, farmers and construction workers with weapons such as the innovative Hellfire missile, which sucks the air out of your lungs. Continue


With Friends Like the US, Pakistan Doesn't Need Enemies

By Simon Tisdall

As the Obama administration dithers over what to do for the best in Afghanistan, neighbouring Pakistan is paying an increasingly heavy price. Like a spate of previous Taliban attacks in recent days, today's mayhem in Lahore underscored fears that the principal consequence of Washington's Afghan paralysis, albeit unintended, is the further destabilisation of the Pakistani state. Continue


"Defiant" UN Backs Israel War Crimes Report

By Gavin Cordon, Press Association

Britain and France today failed in an attempt to delay a crunch Middle East vote at the UN, amid warnings by Israel that it could derail the peace process. Continue


Deception, Spin and Lies

By Gilad Atzmon

Less than a week after Ankara cancelled an air exercise with Israel, Turkey’s state-sponsored channel TRT1 broadcast "Ayrilik" * ("Farewell"), a new prime-time TV show that depicts the true image of Israel’s genocidal military operation in Gaza last January. Continue


"Is This How The United States Supports Israel?

Video Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen

Click to view


The Rich Have Stolen The Economy

By Paul Craig Roberts

The political system is unresponsive to the American people. It is monopolized by a few powerful interest groups that control campaign contributions. Interest groups have exercised their power to monopolize the economy for the benefit of themselves, the American people be damned.
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Barney Frank and the Planet of the Banks

By Ralph Nader

What planet is Congressman Barney Frank on, anyway? It is the planet of the banks and other financial firms that keep his campaign coffers humming, as their chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.
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Oligarchic Senate Still ‘Treasonous’ After All These Years

By Robert S. Becker

In the 19th Century, aristocratic deToqueville warned against the “tyranny of the majority.” Dream on. Today, we face permanent tyranny by operatives speaking for tiny populations.
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Congo army "killed 50 civilians in U.N.-backed ops": Congolese government soldiers killed at least 50 Rwandan civilian refugees during United Nations-backed

Iraq: 16 Killed in another bloody day of US occupation: - A suicide car bomber killed an Iraqi soldier at an army checkpoint on a road west of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

Iraq sends back UK asylum flight: Iraqi asylum seekers sent back to Baghdad by the UK government have been refused re-entry to their homeland, and flown back to Britain.

Iraqis Miss Target Date on Election: Iraq's parliament missed a deadline Thursday to pass a law needed to hold parliamentary elections slated for January, raising the chance the polls could be delayed.

Video: Iraq orders university shut: Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, has ordered the country's second largest university shut for a week in an effort to bring student politics under control.

Terror hits Pak again: Suicide attack kills 14 in Peshawar: Taliban militants on Friday kept up an unrelenting wave of terror campaign in Pakistan with a suicide car bomber striking a police station in Peshawar killing 14 people and wounding 16 other

39 killed in attacks by insurgents in Pakistan: TEAMS of gunmen attacked three law enforcement facilities across the eastern city of Lahore yesterday, paralysing Pakistan’s cultural capital, while car bombs in two cities near the Afghan border killed 39 people in an escalating wave of terror.

Four U.S. occupation force members killed in Afghanistan blast: Four American service members were killed Thursday by a bomb that exploded in southern Afghanistan, according to officials with NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

Afghan woman, child killed in US attack: The NATO-led force said the woman and a school-aged girl were killed by foreign occupation forces and Afghan troops in an attack on suspected militants in the southeastern Ghazni province.

US Bans Pictures of Dead Soldier : The U.S. military in eastern Afghanistan has changed its media embed rules to ban pictures of troops killed in action.

Veteran Army Officer Urges Afghan Troop Drawdown: A veteran Army officer who has served in both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars warns in an analysis now circulating in Washington that the counterinsurgency strategy urged by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal is likely to strengthen the Afghan insurgency, and calls for withdrawal of the bulk of U.S. combat forces from the country over 18 months.

No more French troops for Afghanistan - Sarkozy : France will not send any more troops to Afghanistan and wants instead to see an enlarged Afghan army, President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a newspaper interview released Thursday.

Canada denies paying Afghan Talibans for peace : Canadian officials on Friday denied media reports that Canadian military troops in Afghanistan ever paid off Taliban in exchange for not being attacked.

Italy denies bribing Taliban in Afghanistan: Italy and NATO have denied a newspaper report that Italian intelligence secretly paid the Taliban thousands of dollars to keep the peace in an Afghan area under Italian control.

In case you missed it: Taleban tax: allied supply convoys pay their enemies for safe passage: The West is indirectly funding the insurgency in Afghanistan thanks to a system of payoffs to Taleban commanders who charge protection money to allow convoys of military supplies to reach Nato bases in the south of the country.

US pays $400 per gallon for gas in Afghanistan: Last year, the price of gasoline in the United States topped the $4 per gallon mark. This year in Afghanistan, the price has topped $400.

Afghan Official Says Voter Fraud Probe Outcome Unclear: On Friday, a U.S. newspaper reported that the Electoral Complaints Commission had reduced President Karzai's portion of the vote to 47 percent, less than the 50 percent he needs to win outright.

Puppet master questions puppets loyalty: Karzai's Role a Growing Issue in U.S.-Afghan Relations, Senator Says: Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said Thursday that questions about the legitimacy of Afghan President Hamid Karzai are a major problem for the Obama administration as it debates a new Afghanistan strategy.

Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran: U.S. rethinks intelligence report on Iran nuclear program: U.S. spy agencies are considering whether to rewrite a controversial 2007 intelligence report that asserted Tehran halted its efforts to build nuclear weapons in 2003, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

UN body okays Goldstone Gaza report accusing Israel of war crimes: The United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday endorsed a report that accused both Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas of committing war crimes during their December-January conflict in Gaza.

Hamas: 'We hope UN vote leads to prosecution of Israeli occupation': : Hamas on Friday welcomed the United Nations Human Rights Council decision to endorse a Gaza report that accused Israel of committing war crimes, saying that the organization hoped the vote would lead to "the beginning of the prosecution of the leaders of the occupation."

Hamas calls for unity deal changes: "The Palestinian factions will not sign the accord ... unless the text includes the principles and the rights of Palestinians, especially that of resisting the Zionist occupation," Khaled Abdel Majid, a Damascus-based spokesman for Hamas, said.

Despite promises to Obama, construction continues in dozens of W. Bank settlements: Human rights activists monitoring the West Bank report that despite commitments Israel made to President Barack Obama's administration last month, widespread building activity commenced three weeks ago in at least 12 settlements.

Egypt boycott of Lieberman: Egypt is threatening to boycott the Union for the Mediterranean foreign ministers' conference scheduled to take place next month in Istanbul if Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, attends.

Demonizing Turkey: How Turkey was lost: Once the apotheosis of a pro-Western, dependable Muslim democracy, this week Turkey officially left the Western alliance and became a full member of the Iranian axis.

Turkey: We won't cancel TV show depicting Israelis as killers: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday that a controversial television drama which shows actors dressed as Israeli soldiers killing Palestinian children will not be taken off the air.

US to make Blackwater-style entry into Somalia: The grounds have reportedly been established for armed American presence on Somali soil with a US security firm winning a contract in the war-ravaged country.

Australia terror suspects convicted: An Australian court has found five men guilty of plotting to carry out a series of bombings in retaliation for Australia's involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Britain must publish US intelligence on torture, court rules: The British Government must publish US intelligence material about the torture allegedly suffered by Binyam Mohamed, a former Guantanamo Bay inmate, the High Court has ruled.

Torture Saved Lives: MI5 chief: The head of MI5 has issued a vigorous defence of the organisation's co-operation with intelligence agencies known to use torture, saying that it thwarted many terrorist attacks after 9/11 and saved British lives.

MI5 Can't Keep Turning a Blind Eye to Torture: Torturing people doesn't keep us safe. MI5 should stop making policy by anecdote and condemn those who abuse prisoners

US House backs Guantanamo transfers: The 307 to 114 vote on Thursday is a key step towards the stated aim of Barack Obama, the US president, to empty the prison camp by January.

Organizing The Biggest Day Of Action The World Has Ever Seen: Even two years ago, I was in complete despair about our chances of fighting climate change. But something's changed. It's not the science, which has gotten steadily worse. It's the first signs that the planet's immune system--conscious citizens ready to make a difference--is finally kicking in.

The people vs Wall Street: Amidst the economic wreckage, after 7 million job losses and approaching 2 million home foreclosures in the US alone, with businesses and consumers around the world still struggling to get finance after the long credit crunch, Wall Street is finally on trial. A little piece of Wall Street, at least.

Goldman Sachs posts massive profits: US bank Goldman Sachs has posted third-quarter profits that are more than three times the earnings it made at the same time last year.

Goldman Sachs: Your tax dollars, their big bonuses: Goldman Sachs is having a banner year, and is getting a big boost from government programs.

Bank of America reports losses: US bank announces third-quarter losses of $2.2bn on back of consumer credit defaults.

Recession Will Be 'Full-Blown Depression': Strategist: This global recession will turn into a "full-blown depression," Nicu Harajchi, CEO of N1 Asset Management, said Friday, adding that global stimulus hasn't come down to Main Street.

Dollar May Drop 20% More, Harvard’s Ferguson Says: The dollar will extend its drop versus the euro over the next two to five years, falling as much as 20 percent to an all-time low under a widening U.S. budget deficit, Harvard University’s Professor Niall Ferguson said.

Britain is in danger of going bust, warns EU: Britian's economy was consigned to a list of those at 'high risk' yesterday because of the spiralling national debt

The pocket spy: Will your smartphone rat you out?: Just how secure is the data we store on our phones? If we are starting to use them as combined diaries and wallets, what happens if we lose them or they are stolen? And what if we simply trade in our phones for recycling?

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