Thursday 31 December 2009

News For December 31, 2009

Afghan Civilians Handcuffed And Killed By US Occupation Forces: Report

Western troops accused of executing 10 Afghan civilians, including children

By Jerome Starkey In Kabul

American-led troops were accused yesterday of dragging innocent children from their beds and shooting them during a night raid that left ten people dead. Continue


Threats to Yemen Prove America Hasn't Learned the Lesson of History

By Patrick Coburn

There is ominous use by American politicians and commentators of the phrase "failed state" in relation to Yemen, as if this some how legitimised foreign intervention. It is extraordinary that the US political elite has never taken on board that its greatest defeats have been in just such "failed states" Continue


The Fear Decade

Since 9/11, We've Embraced Our Inner Coward

By Ted Rall

Home of the free and the brave. Live free or die. Shoot first; ask questions later. Kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out. These were the mottos of a brash, impetuous, audacious-to-a-fault nation. That nation is dead. Continue


Viva Palestina Update
Back On The Move Towards Gaza

Press TV Video

Update on the Viva Palestina 3 Convoy that was stuck in Jordan due to Egyptian issues. Now back on the move and onwards to Gaza. Continue


US Congressmen Fighting for Gaza

By Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera's Todd Baer caught up with two US Democratic congressmen whose efforts to lift the Israeli blockade on Gaza are being met with stiff resistance. Continue


Lining Up for the Wall Street Gravy Train

By Mike Whitney

The banks are not only taking depositors money and using it in high-risk derivatives transactions and currency "carry trades", they're also propping up the long daisy-chain of insolvent creditors whose default could domino Lehman-like through the entire financial system. Funny how the media skips little tidbits like this when they give their rosy evening roundup. Continue


Humanity’s Right to Life

The failure of the Copenhagen Summit

By: Fidel Castro

I want to insist on how unfair and outrageous were the remarks of the Prime Minister of the UK and the Yankee attempt to impose as the Summit Accord a document that was at no time discussed with the attending countries. Continue


Iraq attacks leave 30 dead: Blasts in central and western Iraq killed 30 people and wounded the Anbar provincial governor on Wednesday, the latest in a series of attacks against government targets in recent months.

8 U.S. CIA agents killed in Afghan suicide blast: U.S. officials said the dead Americans — killed in a suicide bombing on a military base in southeastern Khost province on Wednesday — were CIA agents. It was one of the highest foreign non-military death tolls in the eight-year war against the Islamist Taliban.

Taliban claims responsibility for suicide bombing that killed 8 CIA agents: Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the attacker at the CIA base in Khost Province was a "well-dressed" officer in the Afghan army.

Four Canadian occupation force soldiers, one journalist killed in Kandahar: Five Canadians – four soldiers and a journalist – were killed Tuesday in Afghanistan by a bomb that exploded as their armoured vehicle passed by, a Canadian general announced on Wednesday.

NATO airstrikes kill eight Afghan civilians: At least eight civilians have been killed in the latest airstrikes by NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, witnesses say. The attacks took place in Nadali district of Helmand province on Wednesday, Afghan witnesses told Press TV on Thursday.

Another 7 civilians killed in S. Afghanistan: "NATO-led troops carried out air strike outside Helmand's provincial capital Lashkargah on Wednesday, killing seven civilians and wounding two others," spokesman for provincial administration Daud Ahmadi told Xinhua.

Karzai calls for US troops in Afghan custody: Afghanistan has demanded that foreign troops responsible for the killing of 10 civilians be handed over to the custody of the government.

Afghan civilian death prompts anti-US rallies: The protestors chanted "death to Obama" and "death to foreign forces." The demonstrators also torched a US flag and an effigy of US President Barack Obama.

Taliban beheads six Afghan 'spies': police: Taliban militants beheaded six Afghans they accused of spying for the government of President Hamid Karzai, police said Thursday, confirming the men had "cooperated with the authorities".

Pakistan: 10 militants killed in Mohmand: According to a spokesman, security forces also destroyed a hideout of the militants. Action against militants in the area has been continuing for the last two days. Chamar Kand was an important hideout of the militants.

5 killed in raid at Pakistan hospital: The eight hours of fighting took place at Hafiz Medical Center in the South Waziristan town of Wana, beginning at 11 p.m. Wednesday. A Sudanese man, three men from unidentified Arab countries and a woman of unknown nationality were killed, the officials said.

Two killed as militants attack Nato tankers in Kalat: Militants opened fire on the tankers going through the Chaman Pass to supply fuel to Nato forces in Afghanistan.

US sharply steps up military, economic aid to Yemen: The Pentagon, through the 1206 funds, has been helping Yemen since 2006 to train and equip its forces, including providing them with radios, helicopter spare parts, trucks and patrol boats, according to Bryan Whitman, a spokesman.

U.S. Arms Feed Yemen's Gun Culture: The Obama administration "is essentially initiating a low-level war in Yemen with little or no public discussion about its potential consequences".

Yemen: Visa Of Bomb Suspect Expired: Officials Say Passport Control Should Have Prevented Suspect From Leaving

French Gaza Freedom March activist killed in Cairo: Organizers of the "Gaza Freedom March" report the death of a French citizen from injuries sustained at the hands of security forces during a demonstration in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

US commander 'certain' hostage was held in Iran: But the Foreign Office played down the reports today and said there was no evidence the British hostages were held in Iran following their abduction.

'No evidence' hostage held in Iran: The Foreign Office has insisted it has seen "no evidence" to back up claims that Iran was directly involved in the kidnap of five Britons and the murder of four of them.

EU Mission to Tehran Draws U.S. Ire: An 11-person European Parliament delegation is scheduled to visit Tehran next week, drawing a rebuke from U.S. lawmakers concerned the visit could legitimize Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government.

Film Review: Avatar, A Humanist Call from Mt. Hollywood by Gilad Atzmon: Avatar may well be the biggest anti War film of all time. It stands against everything the West is identified with. It is against greed and capitalism, it is against interventionalism, it is against colonialism and imperialism, it is against technological orientation, it is against America and Britain.

Wednesday 30 December 2009

News For December 30, 2009

Welcome to Orwell’s World 2010

By John Pilger

In Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell described a superstate called Oceania, whose language of war inverted lies that “passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past’, ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past’. Continue


Stranger Than Fiction: Underwear Bomb

EXCLUSIVE: Photos of the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 Bomb

By RICHARD ESPOSITO and BRIAN ROSS

A singed pair of underwear with a packet of powder sewn into the crotch, seen in government photos obtained exclusively by ABC News, is all that remains of al Qaeda's attempt to down an American passenger plane over Detroit. Continue


Detroit Airliner Terror Incident

A Convenience Theory

By Grant Lawrence


I am not one that sees conspiracies everywhere, but I do like a good Convenience Theory. Like the one that is coming together out of the botched terror attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up an airliner in Detroit just as it was arriving. Continue


New Year's Resolution: Don't Apologize for Democrats

By Jeff Cohen

For the new year, let's resolve: Don't defend Democrats when they don't deserve defending. And that certainly includes President Obama. Let's further resolve: Put principles above party and never lose our voice on human rights and social justice. Continue


Viva Palestina Update:

Egypt To Allow Convoy To Enter Gaza - Galloway Statement

1 Minute Video

George Galloway gives a statement explaining a deal that has been reached between the Turkish side of the Viva Palestina Convoy the Egyptian Government allowing the convoy to proceed to Gaza. Continue


23 Killed as deadly blasts hit western Iraq city: Another 57 people were injured in the blasts on Wednesday in Anbar province, including Qassim Mohammed Abid, the provincial governor.

10 militants killed, 15 arrested in Pak's northwest: Pakistani troops killed 10 militants in a clash in the Mohmand tribal region while 15 rebels were arrested during operations in the northwestern Swat valley, authorities said today.

Pakistani "Taliban" in attack claim: Pakistan's Taliban has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed up to 44 people in the commercial capital Karachi, and threatened more attacks.

8 Americans killed in Afghan attack: U.S. embassy: Eight Americans have been killed in an attack in eastern Afghanistan, an embassy official and NATO said on Wednesday.

Afghans condemn US for 10 'civilian deaths': "Obama! Obama! Take your soldiers out of Afghanistan!" the protesters chanted, wearing blue headbands with the words: "Stop killing us!"

U.S. intelligence: 'Time is running out' in Afghanistan: Intelligence officials are warning that the Taliban-led insurgency is expanding and that "time is running out" for the U.S.-led coalition to prove that its strategy can succeed.

Afghans turn to Taleban justice as insurgents set up shadow government: Corruption and incompetence in President Karzai’s Government — particularly at local level — have forced a growing number of people to seek the services of the Taleban.

Seventy killed in clashes in northern Nigeria: According to a foreign news agency 42 bodies were on the floor of the morgue in the city of Bauchi, all with bullet or machete wounds. Another 25 bodies, mostly young people including minors, had been placed in cold storage rooms.

U.S. Seeks to Boost Yemen For Expanded Al Qaeda Fight: - The United States is looking at ways to expand military and intelligence cooperation with the government of Yemen to step up a crackdown on al Qaeda militants believed to be behind a failed plot to blow up a U.S. passenger jet, American officials said on Wednesday.

US, Yemen gear up for flight 253 "retaliatory" strike: Washington and Sana'a are reviewing targets for a possible retaliation strike on Yemeni soil in the wake of a failed Christmas Day attack on a Detroit-bound airliner, which al-Qaeda in Yemen claims to have organized.

Kazakhstan, Iran Refute Uranium Deal Reports: -The governments of Kazakhstan and Iran Wednesday refuted media reports that Iran is close to securing a deal to secretly import 1,350 metric tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan.

US Senator McCain calls for sanctions against Iran: US Senator John McCain on Wednesday called for “immediate sanctions” against Iran in the wake of a violent crackdown on protests, which left at least eight people dead.

Ahmadinejad: U.S can't influence Iran: The United States and others trying to interfere with Iran's domestic politics have no influence, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday.

Iran opposition leaders told to repent or else: Hundreds of thousands of government supporters took to Iran's streets on Wednesday in a show of force against the opposition, with a senior cleric telling their leaders to repent or face death.

Robert Fisk: The silent cleric who holds the key to Iran's future: We like to believe – and newspapers and television like us to believe – that the battle for Iran is being fought on the streets of Tehran, of Isfahan, of Najafabad. Untrue.

China mulls overseas naval base: Chinese naval vessels have been operating in the Gulf of Aden off the Horn of Africa for a year, escorting both Chinese and foreign ships through the waters where Somali pirates operate.

Egypt's Gaza wall months from completion - Israel: Cairo has played down the scope of the dig on the 14-km (8-mile)-long frontier but Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers condemn it as a "wall of death" that could seal an Israeli-led blockade by smothering smuggler tunnels from the Egyptian Sinai.

'Israel is the persecutor,' says Holocaust survivor on hunger strike for Gaza: “There comes a time in one’s life when one has to step up and risk one’s own body,” she told The Daily Star. “We’re in a desperate situation here, but not as desperate as the people in Gaza.”

The Global War on Stealth Underwear: There is no "war" against terrorism. What George W. Bush launched and Barack Obama insists on perpetuating does not qualify.

Obama: Air security system failed: He said errors had emerged in the process of collecting and sharing intelligence and in the homeland security system which could have prevented the attack.

Dutch to use full-body scanners: The Dutch government has said that it will commence using full-body scanners on flights to the US from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport within three weeks, after a failed Christmas Day airliner bomb attack.

Tuesday 29 December 2009

News For December 29, 2009

Obama Takes 'War on Terror' to Yemen

By Simon Tisdall

Barack Obama's steely vow to hunt down all those responsible for the attempted bombing of an American airliner on Christmas Day has left a crucial question unanswered: whether it was his personal order to US military forces to attack two suspected al-Qaida bases in Yemen with cruise missiles on 17 December that triggered a "revenge" terrorist operation against the Northwest Airlines plane one week later. Continue


Attack Yemen?

By Congressman Ron Paul

“It’s time the American people woke up and started realizing that there’s a bit of propaganda going on and quite possibly this incident will not only undermine our personal liberties but will also accelerate our intervention and the violence occurring in the Middle East,” Continue


Cause and Effect in the 'Terror War'

By Glenn Greenwald

If you count our occupation of Iraq, our twice-escalated war in Afghanistan, our rapidly escalating bombing campaigns in Pakistan and Yemen, and various forms of covert war involvement in Somalia, one could reasonably say that we're fighting five different wars in Muslim countries. Continue


Ben Stein Accuses Ron Paul of Anti-Semitism on Larry King

Video

Click to view


Arab States Take 4 of Top 5 Spots in Purchase of U.S. Weapons and Services

By Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

Most of the leading buyers of American military hardware in 2008 had two characteristics in common: they speak Arabic and their governments are opposed to democracy and basic freedoms. Continue


Iran Nuke Document Was Forged: U.S. Intelligence

By Gareth Porter

U.S. intelligence has concluded that the document published recently by the Times of London, which purportedly describes an Iranian plan to do experiments on what the newspaper described as a "neutron initiator" for an atomic weapon, is a fabrication, according to a former Central Intelligence Agency official. Continue


Israel Rules

By Paul Craig Roberts

On Christmas eve when Christians were celebrating the Prince of Peace, the New York Times delivered forth a call for war. “There’s only one way to stop Iran,” declared Alan J. Kuperman, and that is “military air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities.” Continue


Inside Iran

What Do We Really Know About The Islamic Republic of Iran?

Video Report By Rageh Omaar

Rageh Omaar embarks on a unique journey inside what he describes as one of the most misunderstood countries in the world, looking at the country through the eyes of people rarely heard - ordinary Iranians. It took a year of wrangling to get permission to film inside Iran but the result is an amazing portrayal of an energetic and vibrant country that is completely different to the usual images seen in the media. Continue


Aid Convoy Struggles to Reach Gaza

Viva Palestina Report on Al Jazeera English

Sohail Rahman reports and discusses Egypt's decision to block the Viva Palestina Convoy from entering Egypt at Nuweiba. Includes commentary from Institute of Palestinian Studies' Mouin Rabbanu and a live(ly!) phone interview with George Galloway at the Jordan/Syria Jaber border crossing. Continue


Are Presidents Afraid of the CIA?

By Ray McGovern

In the past, I have alluded to Panetta and the Seven Dwarfs. The reference is to CIA Director Leon Panetta and seven of his moral-dwarf predecessors — the ones who sent President Barack Obama a letter on Sept. 18 asking him to “reverse Attorney General Holder’s Aug. 24 decision to re-open the criminal investigation of CIA interrogations.” Continue


67 killed in Muharram strikes, army ops in Pakistan: The Army killed 21 in an "anti-terror drive" in the tribal areas. Two security officials and nine others were also killed.

US attack kills 13 in Pakistan: According to details, a missile fired by US unmanned aircraft had initially killed four militants in the border village of Saidgai in North Waziristan Agency Saturday.

Manufacturing Consent For Military Rule In Pakistan? U.S. fears civilian leaders soon may fall in Pakistan: The Obama administration also is worried that upheaval is imminent, and that the collapse of Zardari's government could force the U.S. to choose between defending democracy or opting for whatever stability that military rule could offer, senior officials said.

Blackwater 'hired' Pak's intelligence, army officers: Controversial US private security firm Blackwater, accused of carrying out secret operations in Pakistan, has hired services of army officers and former employees of intelligence agencies of Pakistan for "handsome" salaries, a retired ISI official claimed.

8 killed : UN says shocked at killing of staff member in Afghanistan : The 24-year-old WFP employee was among the eight people killed when a suicide bomber detonated explosives hidden in a horse-drawn cart in central Kandahar.

Afghan soldier shoots US, Italian occupation troops: NATO: An American occupation force soldier was killed when an Afghan soldier opened fire on foreign troops in western Afghanistan on Tuesday, also wounding two Italians, NATO said.

Karzai, NATO clash over reports of 10 civilian deaths: Afghan government and foreign military officials sparred Tuesday over reports that 10 civilians died during a military operation - claims that further inflamed public sentiment against the international military presence

Saudi army 'kills' 50 civilians in Yemen: Houthi fighters in Yemen said Tuesday a dozen airstrikes carried out by Saudi warplanes have left more 50 civilians dead in the northern villages.

Gunmen kill 5, including 1 by beheading, in central Iraqi village: A police official and a leader of the Sons of Iraq, a Sunni security force, said they saw the bodies — one of which was decapitated.

Iraqi policeman killed in Mosul bomb explosion: An Iraqi policeman was killed and two others injured in a bomb blast that targeted their patrol in a neighborhood east of Mosul, security officials said Tuesday.

4 Killed as Tehran witness describes police firing on protesters: Eyewitnesses in Tehran say Iranian police have fired on protesters during the Shia festival of Ashura. At least four people are reported to have been killed during Sunday's clashes in the capital.

Ahmadinejad says protests, 'US, Israeli scenario': Describing the deadly events on Ashura as a "nauseating play," President Ahmadinejad said "Americans and Zionists are the sole audience of a play they have commissioned and sold out."

Obama denies US involvement in Iran protests: President Barack Obama on Monday expressed support for the protesters in Iran and denied that the United States or other foreign countries had anything to do with the unrest.

Iran ready to swap enriched uranium: Iran is ready to swap abroad its low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel, the foreign ministry's spokesman said on Tuesday, insisting that the exchange should happen in several stages.

US spies: Israel or UK forged nukes report on Iran: US intelligence sources have confirmed Iran's assertions that a document published by a British daily about Tehran's nuclear program is a fabrication.

Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran If Iran obtains nuclear weapon, Arab countries will follow suit - Israel Min.: Meridor said in a statement quoted by Israel's radio that Saudi Arabia and Egypt will obtain nuclear weapons if Iran obtained it.

Here we go again!: Report: Iran seeking deal to smuggle purified uranium: Iran is close to clinching a deal to clandestinely import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan, according to an intelligence report obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday. Diplomats said the assessment was heightening international concern about Tehran's nuclear activities.

A patient dies in the Gaza Strip; death toll due to the siege reaches 367: A Palestinian patient was reported dead on Tuesday after he was unable to leave the besieged Gaza Strip for medical care.

Video: Talk to Al Jazeera - Richard Falk: Professor Richard Falk describes himself as an American Jew, but it is his support of Palestinian rights that has earned him the profile and abuse that is threatening to overshadow five decades of achievements as a lawyer, an academic and an author.

Putin warns US over missile defence: Russia must develop new offensive weapons to counter US missile defences and prevent policymakers in Washington from feeling they can "do whatever they want," Vladimir Putin, the country's prime minister, has said

National Irish Bank moves to cashless banking: National Irish Bank has written to thousands of its customers this month informing them of a “new style of banking” in which branches will not handle over-the-counter cash transactions.

Trucking company shutdown leaves drivers stranded around U.S.: With the nationwide company collapse, Arrow truckers have found themselves with gas cards that no longer work and no way home for the holidays.

Monday 28 December 2009

News For December 28, 2009

One Day We’ll All Be Terrorists

By Chris Hedges

This corruption of our legal system, if history is any guide, will not be reserved by the state for suspected terrorists, or even Muslim Americans. In the coming turmoil and economic collapse, it will be used to silence all who are branded as disruptive or subversive. Continue


“Genocide in Slow Motion.”

By Alan Hart

It’s not enough to say that the governments of the Western powers (and others) are complicit in Israel’s on-going collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians, 53% of whom are children. Continue


Fighting for the Family of Man

By Peter Chamberlin

American foreign policy is a pathological assault upon the rest of the human race. Anyone with an unsuppressed conscience, a true love of his or her country, or an ounce of human decency has to be disturbed to the point of exploding over what is being done by American hands. Continue


The Economic Crisis Ends; the Political Crisis Begins

By Shamus Cooke

First Iceland, then Ireland, now Greece. Much of Europe is mired in inescapable debt and bankrupt nations, the result of crashing banks, bank bailouts, and soaring unemployment. The U.S. and U.K. watch from a distance, knowing their turn is next. Continue


Pakistan: Suicide bomber kills 25 people in Karachi: At least 25 people were killed and 60 others injured in this Pakistani port city today when a suicide bomber, defying a major security clampdown targeted the main Muslim Shia religious Ashura procession, marking the tenth day of the holy month of Muharram.

11 militants, 2 policemen killed in NW. Afghanistan: Locals say that air strikes against Taliban hideouts in Balamirghab district claimed the lives of three civilians and injured four others. But Sami declined to make comment.

Occupation forces kill ten Afghan civilians in airstrike: " Elders of the village have told us that 10 people have been killed in this airstrike, eight of them school children," Kunar governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahedi told Reuters.

Ten Afghan civilians killed: Karzai: "President Karzai strongly condemns the operation which caused civilian deaths and has appointed a delegation to investigate the incident," it said.

Taliban fighters, police killed in Afghan violence: Taliban-linked militants stormed a police post in northwestern Afghanistan, sparking a gunfight that killed two police and left three others missing, an official said Monday.

15 protesters killed as Iran rises against the regime: AT least 15 anti-government protesters, including a nephew of Iran opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, have been shot dead by security forces in Tehran as the smouldering confrontation between the regime and the so-called Green Movement finally erupted.

Iran protests: BBC Video Report

Deadly clashes rock Iran: Video: Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports.

Iran arrests pro-reform opposition figures: Iran arrested at least 10 leading opposition figures on Monday, a day after eight people were killed in anti-government protests that erupted during a Shi'ite Muslim religious festival, an opposition website said.

Commander Warns about Enemies' Soft War against Iran: "Today enemies are striving to coerce Iran into surrender through launching a vast and massive soft war," Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said while addressing a group of commanders from Division 23.

Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran: Israel Says Iran Can Build Nuclear Bomb by 2011: Iran will possess the technology to build a nuclear bomb by early 2010 and be able to produce one the following year, Israeli media quoted Israel's defense minister as saying Monday.

Iran nuclear plant 'immune to conventional strike': "The new site near Qom is meant for enrichment. What was revealed by the Iranians had been built over years and is located in bunkers that cannot be destroyed through a conventional attack," Barak told parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee.

In case you missed it: Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran: ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons.

Israel to issue gas masks to population: The gas mask distribution has, however, raised questions as to Israel's potential plans to launch an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Gaza aid convoy stuck in Jordan declares hunger strike: More than 400 members of an international aid convoy to Gaza declared a hunger strike on Sunday to protest Egypt's refusal to allow them entry into the Hamas-ruled territory via the Red Sea.

Holocaust survivor stages hunger strike for Gaza: An 85-year-old Holocaust survivor was among a group of grandmothers who began a hunger strike in Cairo on Monday to protest against Egypt's refusal to allow a Gaza solidarity march to proceed.

Cairo forces Viva Palestina to take detour: Thanks to Cairo's obstruction, Viva Palestina humanitarian convoy en rout to the Gaza Strip will take a detour and head to Syria Latakia, in a bid to enter Egypt through El-Arish.

Israel plans illegal settlement expansion: Israel housing ministry has approved plans to build almost 700 new apartments in three illegal Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem.

Five Shiite pilgrims killed in Iraq blast: A bomb killed five Shiite pilgrims in a procession in northeast Iraq today and blasts in Baghdad killed two more pilgrims as millions of people marched to commemorate the most important Shiite religious observance.

U.S. Widens Terror War to Yemen: In the midst of two unfinished major wars, the United States has quietly opened a third, largely covert front against Al Qaeda in Yemen.

CIA present in Yemen since 2008: Report: Mohamed al-Anisi had told the Saudi Arabian newspaper Okaz that the Yemeni forces were cooperating with the US military on attacks against al-Qaeda camps.

Senator Lieberman calls for ‘preemptive’ attack on Yemen: "Iraq was yesterday’s war," Lieberman explained. "Afghanistan is today’s war. If we don’t act preemptively, Yemen will be tomorrow’s war. That’s the danger we face."

The NEXT War?: Warmongers, like Lieberman — clearly believe that merely dropping bombs on people is effective.

Fact or fiction? 9/11 hijackers spiritual leader ordered bombing of US airliner: Al Qaeda commander and spiritual leader of the 9/11 hijackers and Fort Hood gunman Major Nidal Hasan is said to be behind the failed plot to blow up an US airliner on Friday.

Jet bomb 'not part of larger plot': Investigators have found no evidence that the man arrested for allegedly trying to blow up a US airliner on Friday was part of a larger plot, a senior US official has said.

Justin Raimondo: The Lap Bomber Mystery: Why, when Umar’s own father – a prominent banker – contacted the US embassy, and met with the CIA as well as the Nigerian intelligence agency, and warned them his son might pose a danger, was Umar allowed on a plane entering the US?

Saturday 26 December 2009

News For December 27, 2009

Viva Palestina Convoy Blocked from Entering Egypt

By Press TV

The Viva Palestina aid convoy to Gaza which left London on December 6th has been blocked from entering Egypt, they are held at the Jordanian port of Aqaba. Continue


Lift The Siege On Gaza!

International Campaign in Support of the Gaza Freedom March:

By Code Pink

A massive mobilization between December 27, 2009 and January 1, 2010 with candlelight vigils, concerts, marches, demonstrations, art installations and movie screenings will assemble all over the world to send a clear message to world leaders: end the siege on Gaza. Continue


The Middle East's Master Pimp

By Yvonne Ridley

Using the pretext of escalating tensions on the Gaza-Egypt border, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that the Rafah border will be closed over the coming weeks. Our message to the politicians is crystal clear: "Let us enter Gaza and let the Gaza Freedom March proceed." Continue


Hooked on the War Economy
Woodstock's Dirty Secret

By LAURIE KIRBY


Today, Made-In-Woodstock components fly F-15s and F-16s and Apache attack helicopters over Iraq, rumble through Afghanistan in Bradley tanks, fire warheads from rocket launchers, and prowl the oceans in nuclear submarines. Continue


Something's Not Right Here

By Bill Moyers - Mat Taibbi - Robert Kuttner

Truth is, our capitol's being looted, republicans are acting like the town rowdies, the sheriff is firing blanks, and powerful Democrats in Congress are in cahoots with the gang that's pulling the heist. This is not capitalism at work. It's capital. Raw money, mounds of it, buying politicians and policy as if they were futures on the hog market. Continue


Taliban Video of US POW Bowe Bergdahl on Christmas Day

Video Updated Dec. 27, 2009

The man in the film, identifying himself as Private Bowe Robert Bergdahl, criticises the US over the Afghan war and relations with Muslims. Continue


Pakistan: 10 civilians killed in Orakzai air raids: Ten persons, including women and children, were killed when fighter jets while bombing the militants’ hideouts in Orakzai Agency on Friday hit the houses of five tribesmen in the Ferozkhel Mela area.

Extrajudicial executions: US kills five people in NW Pakistan: officials: At least five people were killed Saturday when missiles from an unmanned US aircraft hit a suspected militant compound in Pakistan's northwest tribal belt, security officials said.

US kills civilians in Pakistan home: Local security officials told Al Jazeera that those killed in the attack were all civilians.

5 killed as militant groups clash in Pakistan's tribal region: - At least five people were killed and two others were wounded Saturday in a gun battle between two rival militant groups in a Pakistani tribal region, locals said.

Shiite pilgrims among 7 killed in Baghdad attacks: Seven people were killed, including two Shiite pilgrims, in attacks in and around Baghdad on Saturday ahead of the climax of Ashura commemoration ceremonies, officials said.

8 "Taliban militants" killed in N Afghanistan: Eight militants have been killed in clash with security forces in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province, a private television channel Tolo reported on Saturday.

US occupation force soldier killed in Afghan bomb attack: An American soldier has been killed by a roadside bomb while serving with Nato forces in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said yesterday. Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the soldier died on Friday, but gave no details of where the incident took place.

Six Palestinians killed: Israeli troops yesterday shot dead six Palestinians in two separate incidents, as evidence emerged that an increasingly fragile ceasefire between armed groups loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement and Israel appeared to be in danger of breaking down.

Wife, brothers describe Israeli assassinations: Family members of three slain Fatah members gave testimony of the last moments of their loved ones' lives on Saturday, hours after the men were assassinated by Israeli forces in their own homes in Nablus.

Gaza-bound convoy stranded in Jordan after Egypt rejects Red Sea Port entry: Viva Palestina humanitarian convoy, led by British MP George Galloway, was still stranded in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba on Saturday for a second day, following a dispute with Egypt over the caravan's point of entry.

Explosion leaves 3 dead in Beirut on Ashura eve: Those killed in the blast were the members of the security services. They were reportedly trying to defuse an explosive device planted in a car belonging to a high-ranking Hamas official based in Lebanon.

Iran willing to swap nuclear material in Turkey: Iran would be willing to swap nuclear material with the West in Turkey, the foreign minister said in the country's latest counteroffer to a U.N.-drafted deal aimed at thwarting Tehran's ability to produce atomic weapons.

Iran proposes latest counter-offer to UN nuclear deal: Iran would be willing to swap nuclear material with the West in Turkey, the foreign minister said on Thursday in the country's latest counteroffer to an UN-drafted deal aimed at thwarting Tehran's ability to produce atomic weapon.

Public execution in Sirjan-Iran and reaction of the people: Video

Saudi bombers attack Yemen border: Yemen's Shia fighters on Saturday said Saudi aircraft fired more than 700 missiles overnight on the northern villages along the border with Saudi Arabia.

Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Yemen: Officials: Terror suspect may have ties to al-Qaeda network in Yemen: Federal officials have strongly suggested to lawmakers that the Nigerian man who attempted to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight has connections to the al Qaeda terrorist network in Yemen, according to a senior member of Congress in the House.

Condom Bomb? : Explosive PETN Used in Attack: Highly Explosive Compound Carried on Board Northwest Flight 253 in Plastic Container, Possibly a Condom

Airline bomber was barred from Britain: For the past two years Abdulmutallab has been on a United States watchlist for people known to have extremist links, but he was not prevented from flying to America. UK officials indicated that he had passed across MI5’s radar but was not deemed sufficiently threatening to warrant surveillance

Flight 253 passenger: Sharp-dressed man aided terror suspect: A Michigan man who was aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 says he witnessed Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab trying to board the plane in Amsterdam without a passport.

New Restrictions Are Imposed on Air Passengers: In the wake of the terrorism attempt Friday on a Northwest Airlines flight, federal officials on Saturday imposed new restrictions on travelers that could lengthen lines at airports and limit the ability of international passengers to move about an airplane.

Friday 25 December 2009

News For December 25, 2009

Taliban Video of US POW Bowe Bergdahl on Christmas Day

Video Original uncut

The man in the film, identifying himself as Private Bowe Robert Bergdahl, criticises the US over the Afghan war and relations with Muslims. Continue


Yemen air strikes kill 30 al "Qaeda suspects": Yemen's military hit suspected al Qaeda hideouts Thursday and targeted a gathering of top militant leaders, possibly killing a radical cleric linked to the U.S. Army major accused of the Fort Hood mass shooting, in strikes carried out with U.S. intelligence help, officials said.

Extrajudicial Killing US reiterates support for Yemen forces after Qaeda raid: The White House on Thursday reiterated its support for Yemeni authorities after "Yemeni aircraft" killed 34 suspected Al-Qaeda members.

Relatives: US-born Yemeni cleric alive and well: Friends and relatives of a U.S.-born Yemeni radical cleric say he is alive and well following reports he may have been killed in a Yemeni airstrike against suspected al-Qaida hideouts.

18 killed in Iraq violence: Eighteen people including six Shiite worshippers died in attacks across Iraq on Friday, despite intensified security for Christmas Day and Shiite Ashura rituals.

At least 27 killed in Iraq blasts: Thursday: Fears raised ahead of Shi’ite holiday: Bombs hit Shi’ite pilgrims in Baghdad and a central Iraqi city, killing at least 27 people and wounding scores more, in the latest attack in the lead-up to Ashoura, the sect’s most solemn annual rite.

Twelve militants killed in NW Pakistan: Gunship helicopters and warplanes bombed the hideouts of the militants in Ferozkhel Mela region of Orakzai tribal agency, as a result eight militants were killed and 10 others injured, the private channel ARY News reported.

8 killed after man detonates bomb, Afghan police say: A man driving a horse-drawn cart laden with explosives detonated the cache Thursday outside a guesthouse frequented by foreigners in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing at least eight people including a child, police said.

Canadian, Afghanistan Soldiers Killed By Roadside Bomb: Lieutenant Andrew Nuttall, along with an Afghan soldier, died when an improvised explosive device detonated in the town of Nakhoney, the military said early Thursday - Christmas Eve.

'No proof Iran nuclear program is military': Moscow is not convinced that Iran plans to weaponize its nuclear program, and has not been shown evidence convincing it otherwise, deputy Russian foreign minister Alexander Saltanov told The Jerusalem Post this week.

Senior US senator promises vote on new Iran sanctions: US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pledged Thursday to move forward to a vote legislation allowing President Barack Obama to sanction companies that export gasoline to Iran.

Egypt blamed for Gaza convoy delay: British politician George Galloway has criticised Egypt for denying a humanitarian aid convoy permission to enter the Gaza Strip.

Thursday 24 December 2009

News For December 24, 2009

Mr. 10%: Our Man in Islamabad

By Eric Margolis

Now, in a delicious irony, Washington is finally getting the democracy it has been calling for in Pakistan - and it's the Mother of all Backfires. Continue


Welcome to Pashtunistan
The Aim of America’s Secret War?

By Shaukat Qadir

Pakistan’s conspiracy theorists have long held that the real object of Xe, acting on behalf of the CIA, is to destabilise Pakistan so as to have an excuse to take over or destroy its nuclear assets, because Israel and the US remain uncomfortable with a nuclear Pakistan. I have long disputed this theory, but am finding it increasingly difficult to continue doing so. Continue


Christians United for War

By Philip Giraldi

As today is Christmas Eve, it might be useful for those of us who call ourselves Christians to recall the teachings of Jesus Christ regarding humility, charity, tolerance, and peacemaking. Continue


America is not a Democracy

By Noam Chomsky

America is not a democracy, nor was it intended to be.
Continue


Superpower

Superpower presents a view of US foreign policy, which lies in stark contrast to that depicted by corporate media, popular pundits, and US heads of state.

This Is A Must Watch Movie

The heart of Superpower lies in the analysis produced from a re-examination of history through a series of interviews with historians, documentarians, and academians such as Bill Blum, Chalmers Johnson, Michael Chossudovsky, and Noam Chomsky, and others with expertise in this subject such as the Executive Producer of The Unit, Command Sergeant (Ret.) Eric Haney; former Chief Economist for the US Department of Labor, Morgan Reynolds; three-time Noble Peace Prize nominee, Kathy Kelly; and Lt. Col. (Ret) Karen Kwiatkowski. Continue


Viva Palestina Update
Plea to Egypt to Open Rafah

By Press TV

George Galloway makes a plea to Mubarak of Egypt to open the Rafah Crossing and let the convoy through. Continued


A Patient’s View of the Senate Christmas Healthcare Gift

By Donna Smith

So, all the great fanfare and all the king's horses. The great and almighty U.S. Senate has spoken. I will have to buy private health insurance -- forever, amen. The defective product that has left me wanting for real healthcare for all of my adult life is now a step closer to being the law of the land. Continue


Extrajudicial Killing: Yemeni air strike kills 30, targets home of US cleric: "If the American government helped in attacking one of [its own] citizens, this is illegal," said Aulaqi, his voice cracking. "Nidal Hassan killed 13 people and he's going to get a trial. My son has killed nobody. He should face trial if he's done something wrong."

Iraq bomb explosions leave 23 people dead: A series of bomb attacks has killed at least 23 people in Iraq. The latest attacks, which appeared to target Shia Muslims, saw eight people killed in predominately Shia areas of the capital Baghdad.

Paskistan: 5 Killed in Peshawar Suicide Attack: A suicide bomber has killed at least five people and injured many more in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, after detonating explosives near an army and police checkpoint, police say.

US ground attacks reported in Pakistan: Amid a deepening political crisis in Pakistan and growing popular unrest over US missile strikes and mercenaries, it has been revealed that over the past five years US special operations troops have conducted a number of clandestine cross-border raids into the country’s tribal areas.

Mumbai terror suspect David Headley was ‘rogue US secret agent: A key terror suspect who allegedly helped to plan last year’s attacks in Mumbai and plotted to strike Europe was an American secret agent who went rogue, Indian officials believe.

Afghan police say at least 3 people killed in explosion: Afghan police say at least 3 people killed in explosion near hotel in southern Kandahar city.

Afghan militia commander survives bombing; two guards killed: An anti-Taliban militia commander survived a roadside bombing Thursday in northern Afghanistan but two of his bodyguards were killed in the blast, officials said.

Canadian occupation force soldier killed in Afghanistan: A Canadian soldier serving under NATO has been killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, the alliance said Thursday.

British occupation force soldier killed in Afghan explosion: A British soldier has been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran Iraq military lacks resources for Iran frontier: US soldiers: Iraq's border forces lack the resources to properly police the country's long frontier with Iran and keep out insurgents and smugglers, US soldiers engaged in training them say.

Israeli killed in West Bank shooting attack: An Israeli man was killed Thursday afternoon in a shooting attack near the illegal West Bank settlement of Shavei Shomron. Militants opened fire at an Israeli vehicle on the road between Shavei Shomron and another illegal settlement, and hit the man, apparently a resident of the settlement.

UN expert slams 'tragic' international failure in Gaza : Special Rapporteur for Occupied Palestinian Territories urges Israel's European, North American allies to threaten it with economic sanctions if blockade not lifted; calls for swift implementation of Goldstone Report conclusions.

Demonizing the Goldstone report: PM: Israel faces the 'Goldstone threat': "Goldstone is a codeword for an attempt to delegitimize Israel's right to self defense," Netanyahu told the lawmakers.

Russia will develop new nuclear missiles: The development comes as on December 19, the US and Russia failed to reach a new agreement to cut their nuclear arms despite the termination of an earlier Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) signed in 1991.

Under the radar, Obama pushes for Patriot Act renewal: With key sections of the U.S. Patriot Act set to expire Dec. 31, the Obama administration - essentially tiptoeing through the corridors of Congress and using the raucous health care debate as cover - has quietly maneuvered for renewal of the controversial provisions, which he opposed as a senator.

Flaherty Says Russia, China May Buy Canada Dollars: Canada’s Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said China, with the world’s largest currency reserves of $2.3 trillion, may be poised to buy Canadian dollars as it seeks to shield its reserves against the U.S. dollar’s decline.

Wednesday 23 December 2009

News For December 23, 2009

USA Spends Trillion Dollars to Make Terrorist War Last Forever

By Sergey Balmasov

“They spent a trillion dollars to add more fuel to the fire of the terrorist war. The Americans crushed Iraq and Afghanistan . There are too many people in these two countries who lost their homes, jobs and loved ones because of the USA, and those people are ready to do anything to harm the Americans. " Continue


The Troops Protect Our Freedom, and Other Lies I Learned in School

By Kevin Carson

The United States’ military does not “defend our freedom.” There hasn’t been a war in my lifetime that involved a genuine foreign military threat to our freedom, and the United States government has been actively involved in suppressing freedom around the world for decades. Continue


Interviewing Ahmadinejad in Shiraz

By Jon Snow

I have been applying for a period of months for an interview with President Ahmadinejad had twice been refused and was settling down for the Christmas break, or the prospect of it, when I was contacted from Tehran and told I would have an interview yesterday. Continue


Obama's Role in the Militarization of Mexico

By Mike Whitney

It is presented as a petition of the Mexican president Felipe Calderon for US help in the war on drugs but in reality it was designed in Washington as a way to "push out the borders" of the US security perimeter, that is, that Mexico would take on US security priorities including policing its southern border and allowing US companies and agents into Mexico's intelligence and security operations. Continue


Obama Double-Crossed Progressives on Health Care

By Matthew Rothschild

If you're a good progressive, and you wanted single-payer health care for all, or, second best, Medicare for All Who Want It, or third best, a robust public option, or fourth best, a paltry public option, now you've got nothing, nada, zippo. Continue


Bomb Blasts Kill 5 Afghan Civilians : At least five civilians were killed and eight others wounded Wednesday in two separate explosions in southern Afghanistan, officials say

Afghan senator killed in ‘police ambush’: An Afghan senator was killed when he drove through a police ambush set for Taliban militants in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials said.

British occupation force soldier killed on patrol in Afghanistan: Death is third this week in Helmand province for UK troops

Fighters 'sent to Afghan Taliban': A senior Pakistani Taliban commander has said he has sent thousands of fighters into neighbouring Afghanistan to counter the rising level of US troops.

Pakistan: Eighteen militants killed in Orakzai: Eighteen militants, including a local leader of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, were killed in security forces’ shelling and a clash with a tribal lashkar in lower and upper Orakzai agency on Tuesday.

Zardari breaks all records of keeping foreign gifts: President Asif Zardari has set a new record within a year by taking one-third of all the expensive gifts presented to all Pakistani presidents and prime ministers. Of the gifts totalling Rs160 million, Zardari has taken gifts worth Rs62 million during the first year of his presidency.

Pakistan probe into 'Bhutto mansion millions': A MULTI-MILLION pound estate in Brook, near Godalming, is once again at the centre of an international scandal, as officials in Pakistan prepare to re-open a probe into links with the country's current president.

5 killed, would-be suicide bomber captured in Baghdad: Four policemen and a civilian was killed and three people wounded in separate attacks, while Iraqi security forces arrested a would-be suicide bomber in Baghdad, Iraqi security forces said Wednesday.

Bomb Kills 2 people in occupied Iraq, Targets Historic Church in Mosul: A bomb killed two men and damaged a historic church in a northern Iraqi city on Wednesday, one day ahead of Christmas Eve services that will be heavily guarded for fear of more attacks on the country's Christian minority.

Iraqi general assassinated: A senior Iraqi army officer has been shot dead in front of his home west of Baghdad, an interior ministry official said on Wednesay.

Chilcot's lessons on Iraq: The preparations for the aftermath of the invasion were criminally inadequate, which led to appalling acts of abuse

Brown to Testify at Iraq Inquiry Post-Election: British leader Gordon Brown won't testify before his country's investigation of the Iraq war until after the next general election, the committee behind the inquiry said Wednesday.

Carter apologizes for 'stigmatizing Israel': Former US president offers US Jewish community heartfelt apology for any contribution he may have had to Jewish nation's negative image

Exclusive: Israel wargame sees U.S. sidelining Netanyahu on Iran: Israel will find itself diplomatically sidelined and militarily muzzled as the United States pursues a nuclear deal with Iran next year, according to a closed-door wargame at Israel's top strategic think-tank.

Iran police clash with mourners, 50 arrested: reports: Iranian police clashed with mourners at a memorial service Wednesday for dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, arresting more than 50 and beating women and children, reports said

Demonizing Iran: : Iran behaves increasingly like a 'police state': US: The United States on Wednesday accused Iran of increasingly behaving like a "police state" after Iranian security forces clashed anew with protesters.

Demonizing Iran: Denmark: Muslim leaders criticized for meeting Ahmadinejad: "They should have at least distanced themselves from a regime that imprisons its citizens and punishes students for being homosexuals," said Martin Henriksen, a spokesperson for the Danish People's Party

Propaganda? Report: Bin Laden wife, children under house arrest in Iran: Report: Bin Laden wife, children under house arrest in IranDUBAI — Six of Osama bin Laden's children and one of his wives, missing since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, are under house arrest in Iran, newspapers reported on Wednesday, quoting a family member.

Iran complains about US intercepting its ships in int''l, territorial waters:" For the second time in a week, Iran on Tuesday complained and warned that it would retaliate against the "unlawful" acts by the United States Navy which pursued an Iranian commercial ship on the high seas last October and caused another Iranian fishing boat to sink in Iranian territorial waters last September.

Kidnapped Colombia governor killed: The body of a Colombian state governor who had been abducted, allegedly by leftist fighters, has been found with his throat slit, according to the Colombian president.

Honduras' Manuel Zelaya Stuck In Embassy For Christmas: Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya will spend Christmas with his family stuck inside the soldier-ringed Brazilian Embassy where he has been holed up for months after being toppled in a June coup.

Venezuela, China Sign Oil Deals: Venezuela and China gave a new boost to their thriving economic ties Tuesday, signing a package of agreements that advances China strategy of locking in access to the South American country's vast oil reserves.

Report says 225,000 Haiti children work as slaves: Poverty has forced at least 225,000 children in Haiti's cities into slavery as unpaid household servants, far more than previously thought, a report said Tuesday

Plan to Move Guantánamo Detainees Faces New Delay: Rebuffed this month by skeptical lawmakers when it sought finances to buy a prison in rural Illinois, the Obama administration is struggling to come up with the money to replace the Guantánamo Bay prison.

Ray McGovern: Break the CIA in Two: Covert action and analysis do not belong together in the same agency — never have, never will.

Go Back to the Drawing Board: Without a public option, Senate bill is a sop to the insurance industr

Small-business bankruptcies rise 81% in California: With credit tight and consumers still pinching their pennies, many business owners find they can't go on.

US home foreclosures top one million mark: The number of US homes in foreclosure topped the one million mark for the first time ever, according to figures released this week by federal agencies.