News For April 19, 2010

Secret Prison Revealed in Baghdad

By Ned Parker

Hundreds of Sunni men disappeared for months into a secret Baghdad prison under the jurisdiction of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's military office, where many were routinely tortured until the country's Human Rights Ministry gained access to the facility, Iraqi officials say. Continue

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The Pentagon's Fantasy Numbers on Afghan Civilian Deaths

By Marc W. Herold

The Politics of Counting Dead Afghan Civilians: Responses by the Libertarian Right and Obama Liberals to McChrystal’s Numbers. Continue

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Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran
Israeli President: Iran Threatens Whole World

By MARK LAVIE

Iran is a danger to the whole civilized world, not just Israel, President Shimon Peres warned Sunday, setting an especially somber tone for his nation's annual memorial day for soldiers and civilians killed in wars and terror attacks. Continue

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Nukes And Temples

By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

Evidently, American presidents wish to continue to guard Israel's nuclear "secret". If the motivation is a simple case of double standard, surely one must be deplored by the submissiveness of the general community. On the other hand, the more inquisitive mind would surely want to prod deeper and question the drive behind the guarding of this "secret"? Continue

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Noam Chomsky Has ‘Never Seen Anything Like This’

By Chris Hedges

If the polls are accurate it is not the Republicans but the right-wing Republicans, the crazed Republicans, who will sweep the next election.” Continue

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The Populism of the Privileged

By E.J. Dionne

And this must be the first “populist” movement ever driven by a television network: 63 percent of the tea party folks say they most watch Fox News “for information about politics and current events,” compared with 23 percent of the country as a whole. Continue

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The Return of Christian Terrorism

By Mark Jurgensmeyer

The hostile right-wing political climate in this country has created the groundwork for a demonic new form of violence and terrorism. Continue

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Goldman's Travails:
Don't Get Your Hopes Up  

By Mike Whitney

Screwing people is a "growth industry". And a big organization like Goldman has a reservoir full of snakeoil, so it doesn't have to worry about running-low on reserves. Just stitch-together a bunch of junk securities, dress them up in sequins and gold-lame', dump them off on investors, and rake in big profits when the ship sinks. Continue

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Goldman Sachs: Too Big To Obey The Law

By Simon Johnson

These huge banks will behave better only when and if their executives face credible criminal penalties.  This simply cannot happen while these banks are anywhere near their current size. Continue

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The Financial Terrorists Who Destroyed Our Economy Will Pay Zero in Taxes -- and Get $33 Billion in Refunds

By David DeGraw

You and I are working our asses off, paying 30% of our limited income in taxes. Not the banks that triggered the financial crisis. Continue

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25 killed as bomb blast hits Pakistan protest: At least 25 people, including a number of police officers, have been killed after a bomb blast during a protest in northwest Pakistan.
13 Taliban killed in Orakzai, commander killed in Swat: A clash between the security forces and the Taliban early on Sunday in Sangra area of Orakzai Agency resulted in the killing of 13 terrorists, while a Frontier Corps personnel was also killed in the clash, a private TV channel reported.
13 militants killed in S. Afghanistan: Clash in Ghazni province, south of Afghanistan, left 13 insurgents dead on Monday, provincial police chief Khayalbaz Shirzai said.
Donkey bomb kills 3 children in Afghanistan's Kandahar: The bomb struck close to a police post guarding the residence of a tribal chief and ally of President Hamid Karzai in an area of the city where several government buildings are located.
Kabul Army Base Blast Kills Afghan Soldier : An explosion inside an army base close to Kabul's airport on Monday killed one soldier and wounded two others, an official said
120 Afghans die in a week of carnage: On Sunday, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said dozens of civilians were killed in another week of carnage. He also confirmed that 20 policemen and scores of militants lost their lives in the past seven days.
Taliban takes over Afghan valley: The Taliban is claiming victory in eastern Afghanistan's Korengal Valley following the withdrawal of US forces from the remote outpost.
No talks with US, say Taliban: Afghan Taliban on Sunday rejected media reports that their leader Mulla Omar had shown willingness to hold direct talks with US and given pledge to stay away from mainstream politics if foreign forces left Afghanistan.
Britain 'hands over prisoners in Afghanistan to face torture': British troops are handing over Taliban suspects to the Afghan security service to face "horrible abuse" and torture, the High Court has been told.
Three Killed As Forces Clash in Mogadishu: At least 3 people, two of them soldiers have been killed and over 5 others injured in gunfire exchange between two Somali government troops in the restive capital Mogadishu, witnesses and officials said.
Somalia's al-Shabab militia 'improving security': Somali al-Shabab Islamists have brought greater stability to parts of Somalia, but at a huge cost to the local population, Human Rights Watch says.
Top two Al-Qaeda chiefs in Iraq killed: Al-Qaeda's top two leaders in Iraq have been killed in a joint US-Iraqi military raid north of Baghdad, dealing Osama bin Laden's global terror network a major blow, American forces said on Monday.
Sunnis said tortured in secret Iraq prison: Sunni Muslims, many of them arrested with no warrant, were tortured in a secret Iraqi prison that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has shut down, officials said.
Iraq orders Baghdad vote recount: An electoral review panel has ordered a recount of ballots cast in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, during the March 7 general election, an official has said.
Millions stolen from Iraq rebuilding: The guilty have been found to have smuggled cash home in their boots and mailed it home in boxes; they sold truckloads of stolen fuel in downtown Baghdad and took payola in the form of watches, cars and plane tickets.
Defense Spending Is Much Greater than You Think: When all of these other parts of the budget are added to the budget for the Pentagon itself, they increase the fiscal 2009 total by nearly half again, to $901.5 billion.
Ahmadinejad approves new atomic enrichment plant,: In February, Iran announced it had begun enriching low-level uranium for a research reactor in Tehran and intended to break ground on at least two new enrichment plants by March 2011.
US top military official says strike against Iran would halt nuclear programme: America's top military officer has said that a United States strike against Iran would go "a long way" to delaying Tehran's nuclear programme.
Iran reveals air defense system: Annual army parade showcases Islamic Republic's surface-to-surface Ghadr, Sajjil and Shahab-3 missiles, as well as air defense system similar to Russian-made S-300.
Netanyahu urges 'crippling sanctions' against Iran: Netanyahu said he worries that the international community isn't acting aggressively enough to thwart Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Iran to set up bank for energy sector: A private bank in Iran will be established to help fund domestic developments in the energy sector, the Iranian oil minister said. Western pressure on Tehran for its controversial nuclear program has persuaded several major oil and gas companies to stop doing business with Iran.
Iran wins regional support for its nuclear programme : Syria, Lebanon and Iraq backed Iran's atomic programme on Saturday, which they said has "peaceful" aims, and insisted that Israel be stripped off its nuclear arsenal.
Barak urges end to occupation: Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, has said that his country must recognise that the world will not put up with decades more of Israeli rule over the Palestinian people.
Has Israel Reneged on the Unity of West Bank and Gaza?: While public deportation which are contrary to the Geneva Conventions had stopped in 1992, a much more sinister plan appears to have been implemented.
ISRAELI MILITARY ORDERS “IN BREACH OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW,” WARNS UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR: The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Richard Falk, warned Monday that two Israeli Defense Forces Military Orders* may be in breach of the fourth Geneva Convention and violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Israeli Leftist Groups May be Violating US Law: Two of Israel's largest extreme-left organizations, B'Tselem and Peace Now, have been accused of potentially violating United States law by acting illegally as foreign agents. The U.S. Department of Justice has been informed of the accusations, and is looking into the matter.
Deadly clashes erupt in Kyrgyzstan: At least one person killed and 11 injured as tension mounts on outskirts of Bishkek.
Troops return to Bangkok streets: Hundreds of Thai troops armed with assault rifles have blocked off Bangkok's financial district, a day after vowing to "punish" anti-government protesters if they march there.
Nick Clegg's rise could lock Murdoch and the media elite out of UK politics: Make no mistake, if the Liberal Democrats actually won the election – or held the balance of power – it would be the first time in decades that Murdoch was locked out of British politics. In so many ways, a vote for the Lib Dems is a vote against Murdoch and the media elite.
UK: Police : Let Us Sedate Suspects: POLICE want the power to order dangerous suspects to be injected with a sedative.
Arizona Bill Forcing Officers to Determine Immigration Status Marks “All-Out Assault” on Latino Communities: Arizona lawmakers have approved what’s being described as the harshest anti-immigrant measure in the country, forcing police officers to determine the immigration status of someone they suspect of being an undocumented immigrant.
Numerian: The Goldman Sachs Credo - So What if We Lie? It's Nothing Personal, It's Just Business: Reading the SEC allegations against Goldman Sachs and Co., you get the impression the agency would prefer a simple world where you could charge a company with lying and be done with it.
Bank Failure Tally for 2010 Hits 50: Eight more banks failed last week, bringing the 2010 total to 50. Three of the failures were in Florida, and two were in California. Massachusetts, Michigan and Washington had one bank failure each.
Goldman Sachs: the bank that thought it ruled the world: 'Long-term greedy” was the phrase that Sidney Weinberg, Goldman Sachs’s legendary managing partner from the 1930s to the 1960s, used to describe the American investment bank’s overarching strategy.
Foreclosure Rates Surge, Biggest Jump In 5 Year: A record number of U.S. homes were lost to foreclosure in the first three months of this year, a sign banks are starting to wade through the backlog of troubled home loans at a faster pace, according to a new report
Illinois bank-owned foreclosures double in first quarter: Almost 15,000 Illinois homeowners lost their homes to foreclosure in the year's first three months, twice as many as the number that went back to lenders during 2009's first three months, new figures show.
Foreclosure Scams "Spreading like Wildfire": : Scam artists preying on families about to lose their homes. And the number of vulnerable homeowners keeps rising.