News For March 20, 2010

Stumbling About In the Graveyard of Empires

By David Michael Green

Where is the public which, in a democracy, can control their government?  Where are the fine American citizens, with their "Support the Troops" bumper-stickers cracked and fading on the back of their SUVs?  Where are the great advocates of Christian morality, reading about cheek-turning in their bibles at night, and pouring out of churches on Sunday mornings?  Where are they, indeed?  Continue

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Iraq War Triumphalism Ignores a Key Matter: Dead Civilians

By David Corn

It's rather easy to be a freedom fighter with somebody else's blood. Continue

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Stranager Than Fiction
US Lawmakers Stand Up Against Obama for Israel

By Hana Levi Julian

U.S. Congressional lawmakers have flooded the White House and the media with letters and news releases complaining about the Obama administration’s unprecedented scolding of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Continue

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How Criminals Profit From War
Blair's Fight to Keep his Oil Cash Secret:

By Jason Groves

Former PM's deals are revealed as his earnings since 2007 reach £20million. Continue

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Two Right-Wing Billionaire Brothers Are Remaking America for Their Own Benefit

By Jim Hightower

It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you--and they are! "They" are the corporate powers that collect our consumer dollars and then, as hush-hush as possible, use that money to finance their interlocked array of right-wing foundations, think tanks, "scholars," media sparklies, political personalities, and other fronts. Continue

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A New Deal For Our Times

By Alan Nasser

Social care investment generates more than twice the number of jobs as infrastructure spending and 1.5 times the number of jobs as green energy spending. And social care investment is more effective than each of the other types in providing work to those with the least education, low-income households and women. Continue

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32 killed in clashes in north-west Pakistan: At least 32 people, most of them Islamist insurgents, were killed Saturday in clashes with pro-government tribesmen and airstrikes by Pakistani military in the restive north-western region, security officials said.

Gunmen kill seven in SW Pakistan: police : At least three Shiite Muslims were killed on Saturday when two men riding a motorbike opened fire on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of oil and gas rich Baluchistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.

Robert Fisk: Into the terrifying world of Pakistan's 'disappeared': Robert Fisk meets the wife of one of 8,000 citizens who have gone 'missing' at the hands of the state

Pak to US: Terror bill worth $35 billion, nuke deal: Pakistan is coming up with a bill of $ 35 billion for its efforts in the war on terror and a wish-list that includes a nuclear deal similar to the US-India agreement as it prepares to engage Washington this coming week

Allawi back in Iraq vote-count lead: The latest results from Iraq's parliamentary election show the Iraqiya coalition, led by Iyad Allawi, the former prime minister, regaining a narrow lead.

On Anniversary of US Invasion, Iraq Is No Different Under Obama than Bush: We go to Baghdad to speak with Yanar Mohammed, president of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq. “Privatization, no security for the working class, much investment for multinational companies,”

In 8 years of war, ranks of amputees have risen steadily: : After the blast, something didn't feel right, so 1st Lt. Joe Guyton looked down. Through the swirling dust, he glimpsed the white of his left shinbone. His right leg was gone, instantly vaporized, his uniform abruptly ending at the knee.

Medicating the US military: At least one in six US service members is on some form of psychiatric drug.

Thousands in U.S. protest against war; seek troop withdrawal: On the seventh anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, thousands of people from across the United States today converged on Lafayette Square, opposite the White House in Washington DC. The rally then marched through downtown DC, halting en route at the premises of military contractor Halliburton, the Mortgage Bankers Association and The Washington Post offices.

Israeli occupation forces kill Palestinian teen: A doctor at Nablus hospital says 16-year-old Mohammad Qadus died Saturday after being shot in the chest by Israeli security forces.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon demands Israel settlements halt: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said Israeli settlement building anywhere in occupied territory is illegal and must stop.

In case you missed it: US Vice President Joseph Biden Lays Wreath at Tomb of Theodor Herzl; Merom gave Biden a copy of Herzl's book, Altneuland, a novel devoted to Zionism. In response Biden said: "You don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist. I also see myself as a Zionist."

Israel's Troubling Tilt Toward Apartheid: Today a virulent form of Zionism is turning Israel in the direction of an intolerant apartheid state.

Russia may back 'smart' Iran sanctions: Vladimir Putin told US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday that Russia may accede to a sanctions resolution on Iran, RIA state news agency reported, adding Putin went on to caution Clinton that sanctions "do not always help to resolve such an issue and that sometimes they can have a counterproductive impact"

Russian prime minister lectures Clinton in front of TV cameras: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin greeted Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday with a volley of complaints about trade, while another top Russian official voiced caution about the Obama administration's campaign for tough sanctions on Iran.

Iran allows bin Laden daughter to leave: Saudi paper: A teenaged daughter of Osama bin Laden has been allowed to fly out of Tehran where she had taken refuge in Saudi Arabia's embassy, a Saudi-financed newspaper reported on Friday.

Dismantling of Saudi-CIA Web site illustrates need for clearer cyberwar policies: Elite U.S. military computer specialists, over the objections of the CIA, mounted a cyberattack that dismantled the online forum. Although some Saudi officials had been informed in advance about the Pentagon's plan, several key princes were "absolutely furious" at the loss of an intelligence-gathering tool, according to another former U.S. official.
Synagogue Bomb Suspects: The Feds Put Us Up to It!: : Defense attorneys say an alleged plot to bomb New York synagogues was hatched and directed by a federal informant.
Demonizing Venezuela: Pentagon says Venezuela a 'destabilizing force': The chief of the U.S. military's Southern Command said on Thursday that Venezuela's socialist government is a "destabilizing force" in Latin America and continues to back leftist guerrillas in Colombia.
Bolivian who captured 'Che' wanted for questioning: The retired general who captured legendary revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara was summoned Friday by Bolivian authorities investigating an alleged plot against President Evo Morales.
Drones may be sent soon to help with border security, Napolitano says: The federal government may soon send unmanned aircraft to scour West Texas and the state's coastal waters in an effort to boost border security, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a letter to the governor sent Friday.
Kissinger’s 1974 Plan for Food Control Genocide: The study falsely claimed that population growth in the so-called Lesser Developed Countries (LDCs) was a grave threat to U.S. national security. Adopted as official policy in November 1975 by President Gerald Ford, NSSM 200 outlined a covert plan to reduce population growth in those countries through birth control, and also, implicitly, war and famine.
National Security Study Memorandum 200: Full text of NSSM 200 (governmental source) Pdf file
Jesuit teachers at top German school admit sexually abusing : A Jesuit teacher confessed yesterday to sexually abusing boys at a top German school, further engulfing the country’s Roman Catholic Church in a scandal over the mistreatment of dozens of pupils in its care.
Pope Benedict XVI's almighty battle in the Catholic Church: After a week of disastrous publicity for the Roman Catholic Church, it's a fair bet that if you conducted a word-association test in the average British high street, the results would be as follows: Catholic priest? "Paedophile." Pope? "Nazi."
An inquiry is vital, but the Catholic church's moral authority is lost for ever: The suppression of truth at the heart of the abuse scandal will bewilder the Catholic faithful. And it could spell wider tragedy
Russians protest against government: Many participants in the rallies, dubbed the Day of Anger by a disparate group of organisers - including the Communist Party, the opposition Soldiarity Movement and the Federation of Motorists - blame Putin for the county's worst economic slump in a decade.
Markets spooked as Greek rescue plan crumbles: Europe’s rescue plan for Greece appears to be crumbling after the country threatened to call in the International Monetary Fund unless Brussels comes up with real money on acceptable terms within a week.
Latvia government collapses amid economic crisis: Latvia's coalition government has collapsed after failing to tackle a crippling economic crisis.
Banker Bob's £63m jackpot: Anger and disgust as scale of City fat-cat culture hits new record: One of Britain's richest bankers has landed a record pay package of £63.3million. The extraordinary deal for Barclays president Bob Diamond sparked a major new row over payouts to banking fat cats.
Cigna Gives $110.9 Million Compensation Package To Ex-CEO: The insurance giant Cigna last year gave compensation packages worth more than $120 million to two executives who left the company, according to a filing with the SEC on Friday
Bankrupt banks: Regulators seize seven more banks: Seven banks closed in Georgia, Utah, Ohio, Minnesota and Alabama brought the number of U.S. bank bankruptcies to 37 so far this year, regulators said.
Unemployment soars in U.S. metropolitan areas: Unemployment rates in 363 U.S. metropolitan areas rose in January, and 346 areas reported year-on-year declines in their number of jobs, the Labor Department said
The homeless pay the price: Homeless and mental health services in the US are being cut back as cities, counties and states run out of cash