Tuesday 22 December 2009

News For December 22, 2009

US Forces Mounted Secret Pakistan Raids in Hunt for al-Qaida

By Declan Walsh in Islamabad

US special forces have conducted multiple clandestine raids into Pakistan's tribal areas as part of a secret war in the border region where Washington is pressing to expand its drone assassination programme.
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US Army Depends on Afghan Security Firm for Protection

By Jeremy Scahill

The Army's arrangement with Burhan and other companies like it across Afghanistan demonstrates the extent to which the most powerful military on earth depends on protection from local Afghans. This phenomenon will only expand as the number of contractors in Afghanistan grows.
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Obama's Af-Pak War is Illegal

By Marjorie Cohn

The use of these drones in Pakistan violates both the UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit willful killing. Targeted or political assassinations—sometimes called extrajudicial executions—are carried out by order of, or with the acquiescence of, a government, outside any judicial framework. Continue


Americans Are Hell-Bent on Tyranny

Paul Craig Roberts

Here in Great Moral America we only hold accountable celebrities and politicians for their sexual indiscretions. Tiger Woods is paying a bigger price for his girlfriends than Bush or Cheney will ever pay for the deaths and ruined lives of millions of people. Continue


Racism and War:
The Dehumanization of the Enemy

By Mike Prysner

Our real enemy is not the ones living in a distant land whose names or policies we don't understand; The real enemy is a system that wages war when it's profitable, the CEOs who lay us off our jobs when it's profitable, the Insurance Companies who deny us Health care when it's profitable, the Banks who take away our homes when it's profitable. Our enemies are not several hundred thousands away. They are right here in front of us. Continue


Ahmadinejad Denies Iran Nuclear Bomb Trigger Tests

By BBC

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed as a US forgery a document allegedly showing plans by Tehran to test a nuclear bomb trigger.
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Iran Sanctions Are a Precursor to War

By Ron Paul

If Iran was attempting to violate the non-proliferation treaty, they could hardly be blamed, since US foreign policy gives them every incentive to do so. Continue


Fact Or Fiction?
Al Qaeda in Yemen Says it is Fighting the US

By Al Jazeera

Men claiming to be leaders of al Qaeda have made a rare public appearance in Yemen, telling an anti-government rally the fight is against the US, not the country's army. The statement was made at an al Qaeda training camp in southern Yemen - the same one that was attacked by the Americans leaving more than 30 dead. Al Jazeera's Tarek Bazley has this exclusive report. Continue


World Has Betrayed Gaza Civilians: Rights Groups

By AFP

The world has "betrayed" civilians in the Gaza Strip by failing to end a blockade of the Hamas-run enclave, 16 rights groups, including Amnesty International and Oxfam, said Tuesday. Continue


A Christmas Remembrance

By William A. Cook

Having witnessed American warships firing their guns at naked islanders in the Marquesas, Tahiti, and Hawaii and watched “rapacious hordes of enlightened individuals” seizing the “depopulated land” from the natives, reducing them to starving “interlopers” in their own country, he realized that the superior white Christian civilization epitomized absolute savagery and that cannibals treated others with more humanity than these self-identified enlightened me. Continue


Top Ten Worst Things about the Bush Decade;

Or, the Rise of the New Oligarchs

By Juan Cole

It isn't about which party is in power; parties can always be bought. It is about how broadly shared resources are in a society. Continue


Brace Yourself For a Hard Landing

By Mike Whitney

Ben Bernanke has been a bigger disaster than Hurricane Katrina. But the senate is about to re-up him for another four-year term. What are they thinking? Continue


Pakistan: Four suspected militants 'killed' in northwest: - Four suspected militants were killed in the troubled northwestern Swat district's Karakar area, security sources said on Tuesday. Two soldiers were also injured in the clashes, according to the security sources.

Pakistan: three killed in press club bombing: Three people have been killed and several others injured after a suicide bomber attacked a club for journalists in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar and a dozen more injured according to police

CIA, ISI intensify joint operations in Pakistan: A senior Pakistani official told us today that ISI and CIA have conducted over fifty joint operations recently.

26 militants, UK soldier killed in Afghan attacks: Police fought a three-hour-long gun battle in a provincial capital on Monday, killing two Taliban, who stormed a multi-storey market with dozens of civilians inside, an official said.

Taliban claim control of over 80pc of Afghanistan: He said the US and its allies had invaded their country, with a claim to make it prosperous and developed. “Instead, they turned Afghanistan into ruins. Thousands of Afghans were killed and their houses bombed in the name of the war on terror.

One civilian killed, four injured in Iraq bomb attack: One civilian was killed and four others were injured on Tuesday in a bomb attack on a minibus in the central Iraqi town of Iskandariyah, 60 kilometres south of Baghdad, police said.

73 Saudis killed in confrontation with Houthi rebels: report: Seventy-three Saudis have been killed and 26 others went missing in confrontation with the Yemeni Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, since fighting broke out in November on Saudi southern border with Yemen, the al-Arabiya reported Tuesday on its website.

Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran: US warns Iran year-end nuclear deadline is serious: The United States warned Iran on Tuesday that December is 'a very real deadline' after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed an international ultimatum over its nuclear program.

Next steps have begun on Iran nuclear issue: White House: The White House has begun to take steps in case Iran fails to accept an enrichment fuel deal aimed at calming concerns about its nuclear program, spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Tuesday.

Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran: ABC News: Exclusive Interview: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Video

Ahmadinejad: US bound to fail in ME: "The problem is that the US seeks to dominate the Middle East but the Iranian nation is an obstacle [to it]," President Ahmadinejad said, adding that issues such as Iran's nuclear program and human rights were nothing but mere "pretexts".

Iran to produce 20-percent fuel if West violates commitments: FM: "Iran will choose its final option to produce 20 percent-enriched fuel if the West does not live up to its legal commitments and refuses to accept the two choices discussed for Tehran research reactor fuel," he said a press conference in Lebanon.

Iran's president urges nuclear disarmament of U.S., Israel: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday called for the nuclear disarmament of the US and the Zionist regime, and stressed Tehran's resolve to pursue disarmament of all the arrogant states in possession of atomic weapons.

US ups funds for Israeli missile defense: US President Barack Obama has signed a defense spending bill that includes $202 million in funds for Israel's missile defense programs, the White House announced Monday.

Imprisoning people of Gaza: : Egypt defends Gaza wall: Egypt's foreign minister has said that a controversial wall being built along the country's border with the Gaza Strip will defend it "against threats to national security".

Galloway raps Arabs over forsaking Gaza: British Member of Parliament George Galloway has leveled strong criticism at Arabs over their inaction and failure to play a role in organizing aid convoys to the besieged Gaza Strip.

News From The Viva Palestina Humanitarian Aid Convoy: Video

Iranian crowd stops execution and frees convicts: The crowd overpowered security services and helped two men convicted of robbery to escape hanging in the province of Kerman, the Fars news agency reported.

Doctors and Torture, Iran Edition: Dr. Pourandarjani was an inconvenient witness to government-sponsored criminality.

Morales dismisses US warning on Iran ties: “Colonial attitudes have ended, at least while I am president. Hillary Clinton is making a mistake by warning me, threatening me, lifting a yellow card,” he added. “We are now going to continue to have ties with revolutionary and anti-imperialist nations, with more greater strength.”

Colombian state governor abducted: Authorities suspect Monday's attack in Florence, the capital of Caqueta state, was committed by the Teofilo Forero unit of the anti-government Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), although this is unconfirmed.

Modern Day Slavery in Mexico and the United States: Human trafficking is the fastest growing illegal industry in the world and, by 2010, it is predicted to surpass the illicit drug trade, which will make it the world’s largest criminal activity.

In Ireland's deep budget cuts, an omen for a heavily indebted United States?: Is this the ghost of America's future?

Tax increases abound in healthcare reform legislation: While it would take days to read the entire bill, my cursory review of the legislation identified at least 19 tax increases.

Unemployment funds going ‘absolutely broke’: 40 state programs to be emptied by the jobless tsunami within two years

More prime mortgages default in 3rd quarter: Also: Many homeowners with modified mortgages fall behind again. And the number of homes in foreclosure rises, though new foreclosures are steady, report shows.

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