Tuesday 24 November 2009

News For November 24, 2009

US in Back-channel Talks with Afghan Taliban

By Azaz Syed


After fighting a bloody war in Afghanistan for more than eight years, the United States appears to have undertaken a re-think of its policy and has started engaging the Taliban in negotiations through Saudi and Pakistani intelligence agencies, highly-placed sources told Dawn here on Monday. Continue


Civil War Spreads Across North West Pakistan

By James Cogan

The escalating violence, taking place on the dictates of Washington, can only have the most explosive political consequences. Barely 14 months after taking over the presidency, Zardari has plunged the country into a worsening civil war that has devastated the north west and is costing as much as $10 billion a year. Continue


Blackwater's Secret War in Pakistan

By Jeremy Scahill

At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, "snatch and grabs" of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by The Nation has found. Continue


Why They Hate Us : On Military Occupation

By Stephen M. Walt

The bottom line is that you don't need to be a sociologist, political scientist, or a student of colonialism or foreign cultures to understand why military occupation is such a poisonous activity and why it usually fails. If you're an American, you just need to read a bit about Reconstruction and reflect on how its effects -- along with the effects of slavery itself -- have persisted across generations. Continue


Manfacturing Consent For An Attack On Iran

Obama's Nuclear Spring

By Benny Morris

The talk in Israel, explicit and open – including in the country's leading daily, Haaretz, last week – is about a war in the coming spring or summer. Continue


"Who The F*** Does Netanyahu Think he Is?"

By Alan Hart

Netanyahu knows who he is – another Israeli prime minister who, with the assistance of the Zionist lobby and its stooges in Congress, has got another American president by the testicles. At least for the time being. Continue


The US Congressman who sold his soul to the Israel lobby

How Tom Perriello became a slave of Israel

By Adam Shapiro

Adam Shapiro tells the story of a hitherto principled friend and campaigner for justice and human rights, Tom Perriello, who ran for Congress and, once elected, betrayed all of his principles and became a mere tool of the pro-apartheid American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC. Continue


Have Israeli Spies Infiltrated International Airports?

South Africa deports airline official after investigation

By Jonathan Cook in Nazareth

South Africa deported an Israeli airline official last week following allegations that Israel’s secret police, the Shin Bet, had infiltrated Johannesburg international airport in an effort to gather information on South African citizens, particularly black and Muslim travellers. Continue


The Memory Scrub About Why Ft. Hood Happened Is Almost Complete ...

If It Weren't for Archives

By Mark Ames

That Maj. Hasan tried to get a military discharge before the massacre is largely being erased -- we're supposed to keep focusing on the Muslim part. Continue


We Are All War Criminals

By Dahlia Wasfi

If we ask the people who are living the horrors, then maybe what happened at Ft. Hood isn’t so shocking at all. What is surprising is that we haven’t seen more of the same. Continue


A Trial That Will Convict Us All

By Paul Craig Roberts

Republicans and American conservatives regard civil liberties as coddling devices for criminals and terrorists. They assume that police and prosecutors are morally pure and, in addition, never make mistakes. Continue


The Resistance Of The Oppressed

By Paul Balles

If I die while killing 20 of my enemies, doesn't that serve my people in their war against oppression? Hasn't this been the justification for all soldiers dying in all wars? Continue


Towards Resolving Thanksgiving Contradictions

By Emily Spence

I will not discuss fatuous repugnant myths concerning Indians and Pilgrims when I sit down to my next Thanksgiving dinner with relatives who lives so many states away from mine. I will, instead, remember the suffering that transpired after the "New World" became seen as a land of opportunity. Continue


Social Security: The Hidden Problem

By Allen W. Smith

The trust fund holds no real assets. This was made clear by David Walker, Comptroller General of the GAO, in a speech given January 21, 2005. Walker said, “There are no stocks or bonds or real estate in the trust fund. It has nothing of real value to draw down.” Continue


American Casino:

By Mike Whitney

The truth behind the headlines, shining a light on the negligent regulators, the colluding Fed, the unscrupulous ratings agencies, the mercenary banks, the venal mortgage lenders, and the long daisy-chain of opportunists and fraudsters who gorged themselves on the spoils from the biggest swindle in history. This is this generation's big story. Continue


The Cost of Dying

By CBS 60 Minutes

Many Americans spend their last days in an intensive care unit, subjected to uncomfortable machines or surgeries to prolong their lives at enormous cost. Steve Kroft reports. Continue


Our Maniacal Optimism Is Ruining the World

By Anis Shivani

If you want to have a compliant populace, what could be better than to say that everyone has to think positively and accept that anything that goes wrong in their lives is their own fault because they haven’t had a positive enough attitude? Continue


Global Warming Rigged?

Here's the Email I'd Need to See

By George Monbiot

It's no use pretending this isn't a major blow. The emails extracted by a hacker from the climatic research unit at the University of East Anglia could scarcely be more damaging. I am now convinced that they are genuine, and I'm dismayed and deeply shaken by them. Continue


46 killed as Arroyo vows justice over massacre: Local media reports on Tuesday said that at least 46 people were believed to have been killed in the attack, up from an initial death toll of 22.

Pakistani troops kill 18 "militants" near Peshawar: : Pakistani forces killed at least 18 militants in an offensive launched on Tuesday against the rebels believed to be behind a recent wave of suicide bombings in the north-western city of Peshawar, a security official said.

New Pakistan tribal offensive kills 18: paramilitary: The operation was launched on intelligence information about Lashkar hideouts in Gurguri village, 12 kilometres (seven miles) northwest of Bara, the main town of Khyber which sits on the main NATO supply route into Afghanistan.

Clashes in north-west Pakistan 'kill six civilians': At least six civilians have been killed in clashes between troops and militants in the Khyber tribal region of north-west Pakistan, officials say.

UK complicit in torture of detainees-rights group: A human rights group on Tuesday accused Britain of being complicit in the torture of terrorism detainees in Pakistan and said it should hold an inquiry into the conduct of British security services.

Officials say 10 Afghan civilians killed in separate attacks: Six civilians including four children were killed Tuesday by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan, and unknown gunmen also killed four people including two women, officials said.

6 militants killed in central Afghanistan: "Mullah Khairullah and five of his men were going from Gezab district to Charchino area when came under air attacks and killed yesterday (Monday) in Daikundi province," Tolo said in its news bulletin.

Four more US soldiers killed in Afghanistan: Four US soldiers died in three separate incidents in Afghanistan on Monday, as President Barack Obama’s “war council” is reportedly finalizing its plans to substantially increase the number of soldiers participating in the eight year old occupation.

Obama vows to 'finish the job' in Afghanistan: – President Barack Obama vowed Tuesday to "finish the job" in Afghanistan and promised to unveil a decision soon on sending tens of thousands more US troops to battle Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Holbrooke confirms talks with Taliban: The United States is not directly talking to the Afghan Taliban, US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said on Monday.

Top Democrat warns Afghanistan will bankrupt domestic programs: Threatens war surtax if Obama sends more troops

Six people killed in fresh Iraq violence: At least six people, including a popular preacher at a mosque in Falluja, were killed in fresh violence across Iraq on Tuesday

Iraq inquiry: Bush administration 'discussing regime change two years before invasion': Elements of the new US administration of President George Bush were already discussing ''regime change'' in Iraq two years before the invasion of 2003, the official inquiry into the war has been told.

Military chiefs to accuse Blair of Iraq 'sabotage': British military commanders are expected to tell an inquiry into the Iraq war, which opens today, that the invasion was ill-conceived and that preparations were sabotaged by Tony Blair's government's attempts to mislead the public.

Does this picture show British soldiers broke Geneva Conventions?: Public inquiry to be launched into allegations of abuse against Iraqi civilians at UK-run detention camp

Italian TV Exposes Reality of Iraq War - Warning - Video depicts the reality and horror of war.

Russia says sanctions on Iran still premature: "We are counting on a positive reply from Tehran soon. In this connection, the issue of sanctions is not on the agenda," spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.

Iran ends third day of military drill: "Advances in the defense capabilities of the air force and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps [IRGC] … has enabled the country to counter attacks by state of the art missiles," Brigadier General Ali Moqiseh told reporters hours after Iranian servicemen completed the third day of the drill.

Iran gained $5 billion on shift from US dollar : Since late 2007, the Islamic Republic has received 85 per cent of its oil income in currencies other than the US dollar, English-language Press TV reported on its website.

Lula backs Iran's nuclear programme: Speaking at a joint news conference in the capital Brasilia on Monday after holding talks with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his visiting Iranian counterpart, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva said Brazil backed Iran's quest for "peaceful nuclear energy in full respect of international accords"

Ousted Honduran president urges int'l community not to recognize elections: Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on Monday again appealed to the international community not to recognize the Nov. 29 elections to be held by the post-coup government in Honduras.

Saudi, Yemeni forces attack Houthi fighters: The attacks on Tuesday were taking place in the border districts of Malahiz and Shada provinces. In the incursion, the Saudi army had been using all kind of weapons; land, air, tanks, and artillery, they added.

Wave of Debt Payments Facing U.S. Government : The government faces a payment shock similar to those that sent legions of overstretched homeowners into default on their mortgages.

California Students Protest 32% Tuition Hike: Massive fiscal problems confront California once again. Let's start with a look at California students hit with 32% hike in tuition.

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