News For February 22, 2010

NATO Kills 27 Civilians in Afghanistan

By Associated Press

Reports indicated that NATO planes fired at a convoy of three vehicles, killing at least 27 people, including four women and a child, and injuring 12 others. Continue

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Fears of Humanitarian Crisis in Marjah

2 Minute Video Report

More than a week into the Nato-Afghan military offensive against the Taliban in the southern Helmand province town of Marjah, warnings of a humanitarian crisis are growing. Continue

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Pentagon Quietly Explores De-Citizenship of US Citizen Terrorists

By Steve Clemons

At the highest levels of the US military, a quiet discussion is going on about putting in place a legal framework that would permit the US government to strip American citizenship from "terrorists". Continue

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New Grist for Hype on Iran

By Ray McGovern

Here we go again.  A report issued Thursday by the new Director General of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano, has injected new adrenalin into those arguing that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon. Continue

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The Flailing Falsehoods of America's War Criminals

By Glenn Greenwald

I didn't think it was possible, but former Bush officials -- desperately fighting what they know will be their legacy as war criminals -- have become even more dishonest propagandists out of office than they were in office. Continue

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Mossad’s Murderous Reach:

By James Petras

The Mossad’s acquisition and alteration of official British, French, German and Irish passports of dual Israeli citizen’s underscores the cynical and sinister nature of Israel’s exploitation of its dual citizens in the pursuit of its own bloody foreign policy goals. Continue

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Cut The "Ambiguity", Ambassador, Or Pack Your Bags

Challenging UK support for Israeli criminals

By Stuart Littlewood

Let me tell you something. If I were the British foreign secretary there would be no more "friendly chats". Continue

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Israel's Smiling PR Drive

By Seth Freedman

Israeli citizens are being recruited to boost the country's image abroad – but the campaign amounts to papering over cracks. Continue

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Armageddon

By Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D.

If you thought Wall Street’s debt crisis was traumatic, wait till you the see the consequences of Washington’s debt crisis! Never before in history has a world power like the U.S. been so utterly buried in debt! And never before has that debt been financed so massively by foreign investors! Continue

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This Is Liberalism?

By David Michael Green

You gotta hand it to the agents of the regressive right for playing the weakest imaginable hand so well. I’m talking about the Lee Atwaters and Frank Luntzs of the world, who both understand human psychology (read fear) and are absolutely pitiless about employing it for purposes of assisting the rich and powerful in raping the rest of us. Continue

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Venezuela’s Revolution Faces Crucial Battles

By Federico Fuentes, Caracas

The campaign for the September 26 National Assembly elections will be a crucial battle between the supporters of socialist President Hugo Chavez and the US-backed right-wing opposition. But these battles, part of the class struggle between the poor majority and the capitalist elite, will be fought more in the streets than at the ballot box. Continue

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Boycott FedEx

By Chris Hedges

Workers in our corporate state earn little when they work—Henderson made $18 an hour—and they are abandoned when they can no longer contribute to corporate profits. It is the ethic of the free market. It is the cost of unfettered capitalism. And it is plunging tens of millions of discarded workers into a collective misery and rage that is beginning to manifest itself in a dangerous right-wing backlash. Continue

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Afghanistan slams US-led forces as 27 civilian's killed: The Afghan cabinet condemned the killing of 27 civilians by US-led NATO forces in the south of Afghanistan, describing it as an "unjustifiable" act.
Afghan police: 15 killed in suicide bombing: In eastern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber killed 15 people on Monday, including a tribal leader who played a key role in a failed attempt to capture al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora in 2001, police said.
Bomb explosion kills two more NATO soldiers: A bomb explosion has killed two NATO soldiers in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said Monday without releasing the nationality of the troopers.
4 more NATO occupation force soldiers killed in Afghanistan: Four NATO soldiers, two of them part of the anti-Taliban offensive known as Operation Mushtarak, were killed in Afghanistan over the weekend, the alliance said.
US general: Marjah just the start: "This is just the initial operation of what will be a 12 to 18-month campaign" - "People who are ill cannot get to hospitals and others cannot bring them medicines," Ajmal Samadi, the head of the Afghan Rights Monitor group, said. "They cannot get food or even go outside to look after their farms."
Dutch government collapses over military deployment in Afghanistan: The collapse of the Dutch government represents a serious blow to the US administration’s military strategy in Afghanistan.
Pakistan: 11 killed, 32 injured in Swat suicide attack: A suicide bomber attacked a military convoy in Pakistan’s north-western Swat region on Monday, killing 11 people and injuring 32 others. The dead included four women and three security personnel.
19 Iraqis slaughtered in Baghdad: -- Unknown militants Monday slaughtered 19 Iraqi civilians in two separate incidents in the Iraqi capital, the police said.
Shiite family of 8 killed in Iraq, some beheaded: Eight members of one Shiite family were killed south of Baghdad on Monday in the worst incident of a bloody day across Iraq that left at least 23 dead. The spate of attacks - and the fact that some of the family were beheaded - raised fears that insurgents are trying to re-ignite sectarian warfare at a time when the country is preparing for critical March elections.
Police: 3 killed in western Iraq after car bomb explodes outside police building: Police officials say a suicide bomber exploded the car outside the Internal Affairs office in the provincial capital, Ramadi.
Uni. prof. assassinated in Baghdad: A university professor has been gunned down in eastern Baghdad, a local police source said on Monday.
War game shows how attacking Iran could backfire: Israel launches a pre-emptive strike against Tehran's nuclear complex. The strike is successful, wiping out six of Iran's key sites and setting back its suspected quest for a bomb by years. But what happens next isn't pretty.
‘S-300 delivery a serious development’: Should Teheran acquire the system, a potential military strike on Iranian nuclear sites could become far more difficult, but it remains far from clear when and if Moscow intends to transfer the military hardware to Iran.
Clinton avoided Israeli nuke question : A SAUDI student blasted US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for skirting her question on Israel's nuclear arsenal during a "town hall'' meeting at a Jeddah college.
Clashes over Israel heritage sites in occupied West Bank: : The unrest on Monday followed a decision by the Israeli prime minister to include a shrine in the city, and another in Bethlehem, on a list of Israeli heritage sites.
UN: Israel 'heritage sites' are on Palestinian land: The United Nations is concerned over Israel' recent decision to include two West Bank holy sites in a planned "heritage trail, Robert Serry, the UN's special coordinator for the Middle East said on Monday.
Israel's immigrant children fight deportation: The girls' parents come from the Philippines, Thailand and Sudan but they sing, shout and chat together in Hebrew.
Israel is Americans' fifth favorite place: According to a new Gallup poll released over the weekend, Israel ranks fifth among the countries viewed most favorably by Americans, behind Canada, Great Britain, Germany and Japan.
China circled by chain of US anti-missile systems: Military experts have noted that Washington's latest proposed weapon deal with Taiwan is the key part of a US strategic encirclement of China in the East Asian region, and that the missiles could soon have a footprint that extends from Japan to the Republic of Korea and Taiwan.
Haiti quake toll may reach 300,000: Haiti's president has warned that the number of people killed in last month's devastating earthquake could jump to 300,000 as rubble is cleared and more bodies are uncovered.
President Obama releases health reform proposal: One notable absence in Obama’s plan – a public health insurance option, a favorite of liberals, but a provision that became the most controversial part of the congressional debate on reform. Obama has long said he would sign a bill without it, and his own legislation confirms that.
California Death Spiral: Here’s the story: About 800,000 people in California who buy insurance on the individual market — as opposed to getting it through their employers — are covered by Anthem Blue Cross, a WellPoint subsidiary. These are the people who were recently told to expect dramatic rate increases, in some cases as high as 39 percent.
Poll: Less than 3 in every 20 Americans have faith in govt.: A recent poll suggests that only 14 percent of Americans have complete faith in the United States government and the way it functions.
Citigroup Warns Customers It May Refuse To Allow Withdrawals: The image of banks locking their doors to keep customers from making withdrawals during a bank run is what immediately came to mind when we heard that Citigroup was telling customers it has the right to prevent any withdrawals from checking accounts for seven days.
Doomsday Predictions Tax Illinois: The state’s red ink has already caused a backlog of unpaid bills to public universities and schools, transit systems and social service