Monday, 26 April 2010

News For April 26, 2010

U.S. Nuclear Option on Iran Linked to Israeli Attack Threat

By Gareth Porter
The Barack Obama administration's declaration in its Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) that it is reserving the right to use nuclear weapons against Iran represents a new element in a strategy of persuading Tehran that an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites is a serious possibility if Iran does not bow to the demand that it cease uranium enrichment. Continue

Egypt A Ticking Time Bomb

By Eric Margolis

After three decades under Mubarak, Egypt has become a political and cultural backwater. In a telling incident, Mubarak recently flew to Germany for gall bladder and colon surgery. After billions in U.S. aid, Mubarak could not even trust a local hospital in the Arab world’s leading nation. Continue

Gaza's Calm Determination

Norman Finkelstein

A young hijab-clad guide sitting next to me on a bus one night casually mentioned that her fiance had been killed on the last day of the invasion, and then punctuated her statement by staring, dry-eyed, into my pupils. It was neither an accusation nor an appeal for pity. It was as if Israel's periodic depredations were now experienced as a natural disaster to which people had grown accustomed. Continue

Can The U.S. Beat Israel At Their Game?

By Jeff Gates

For a skilled agent provocateur, an anticipated reaction can become a powerful weapon in the arsenal of the provocateur. In response to a mass murder on American soil, even a moderately competent game theorist could foresee that the U.S. would dispatch its military to avenge that attack. Continue

Is the CIA behind Mexico's Bloody Drug War?   
  
By Mike Whitney

The militarization of the war on drugs has been a colossal disaster which has accelerated the pace of social disintegration. Mexico is quickly becoming a failed state, and Washington's deeply-flawed Merida Initiative, which provides $1.4 billion in aid to the Calderon administration to intensify military operations, is largely to blame. Continue

Behind the Arizona Immigration Law:
GOP Game to Swipe the November Election

By Greg Palast

Don't be fooled. The way the media plays the story, it was a wave of racist, anti-immigrant hysteria that moved Arizona Republicans to pass a sick little law, signed last week, requiring every person in the state to carry papers proving they are US citizens. Continue

The New Secessionists

By Chris Hedges

“The U.S. government has lost its moral authority,” he went on. “It is corrupt to the core. It is owned, operated and controlled by Wall Street and corporate America. Its foreign policy is controlled by the Israeli lobby. It is unsustainable economically, socially, morally, militarily and environmentally. It is ungovernable and therefore unfixable." Continue

Hell Yes, Secesh!
Don’t Let The Door Hit You On The Way Out


By David Michael Green

It is a measure of the sheer poverty of our national politics that the notion of secession is in the air again. Hey, just like those happy days of slavery and civil war again! Continue

Will Goldman Sachs Prove Greed is God?

By Matt Taibbi

The investment bank's cult of self-interest is on trial against the whole idea of civilization – the collective decision by all of us not to screw each other over even if we can. Continue

What Really Triggered the Financial Crisis?
The Shadow Banking System Blew Up

By Mike Whitney

Do you understand the root-cause of the financial crisis? Not many people do, which is why congress' attempt to regulate the system will probably fail and there will be another crisis in couple of years. Continue

Studies Reveal Americans’ Declining Living Standards and Increasing Anger

By Hiram Lee

The restructuring of society taking place, in the direct interests of the corporate-financial elite and at the expense of the working population, is not occurring unnoticed. Continue

55 killed in Darfur border clashes: At least 55 people were killed and 85 wounded in fighting between the south Sudan forces and Arab nomads from the western region of Darfur, a tribal chief said on Sunday
Pakistan: 29 killed in attacks: A suicide car bomber attacked a prison van while gunmen torched six NATO oil tankers in separate strikes Saturday that killed four Pakistani police officers and wounded 10 others, authorities said.
US Kills 7 In Pakistan: Suspected US predators have fired three missiles in Markikhel area of North Waziristan Agency, killing seven people and injuring as many, a report said on Saturday.
3 police officers killed in Pakistan: Three police officers were killed and a fourth was wounded in an attack on a convoy of NATO oil tankers near Talagang, Pakistan, authorities said.
Militants attack police check post in Nasirabad, three killed: According to official sources militants equipped with modern weapons opened indiscriminate fire on the Rabee police check post which left three policemen dead. The militants managed to escape unhurt from the spot.
20 militants killed in Afghan raids: : Afghan security forces backed by NATO troops and air power killed around 20 Taliban insurgents in a region of northern Afghanistan that is becoming increasingly restive, officials said.
Two killed as triple blast hits Kandahar: A series of explosions killed two people in Kandahar on Monday, the latest in a series of attacks launched ahead of a major US operation to secure Afghanistan's second-biggest city.
Taliban shadow governor, advisors killed in Afghanistan: A senior Taliban commander who was also the shadow governor for the northern province of Kunduz was killed along with at least two advisors by a NATO airstrike on Monday, officials said.
Three deaths fuel protesters' anger in Afghanistan: Protesters angered by killings during an early morning military operation set fire to NATO supply vehicles in Logar province on Sunday, amid differing claims about whether the men killed were civilians or insurgents.
Army Ranger from Farmingville killed in Afghanistan: Sgt. Jason A. Santora was one of two U.S. Army soldiers killed in an overnight gun battle in the volatile Logar province south of the capital, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
NATO helicopter 'shot down': Taliban militants say they have shot down a NATO helicopter in the troubled western Afghanistan amid rising causalities. The incident took place in Farah Province on Saturday. The Taliban say at least 13 foreign soldiers were killed in the incident.
Kandahar push depends on politics: Afghan official: Afghanistan will not allow foreign troops to move against the Taliban in Kandahar unless they guarantee that civilians will be protected and governance pushed into target areas, an official said Sunday.
Afghan spy chief: 'I told MI5 that prisoners were being tortured': UK forces are accused of handing over Taliban detainees to Kandahar interrogators despite claims of ill-treatment
Iraq: Five factory workers killed, eight injured in Irbil blast: Five metal factory workers were killed and eight others injured in an explosion west of Irbil, in northern Iraq.
52 Iraqi candidates have votes invalidated: An Iraqi review panel has invalidated the votes of 52 candidates of last month's election, possibly wiping out the slim lead of a Sunni-backed alliance.
Iraq Official: 2 Winning Candidates Disqualified: Includes Member of Coalition Led by Opponent of Prime Minister al-Maliki; Further Mars March 7 Election
Widow of Iraqi killed by US troops in video ‘accepts apology’ after letter: The widow of an Iraqi killed in a notorious US helicopter attack yesterday accepted an apology from two of the soldiers involved. The two wrote an open letter after footage of the 2007 incident was leaked on the internet.
18 veterans commit suicide each day: Seven percent of the attempts are successful, and 11 percent of those who don’t succeed on the first attempt try again within nine months.
Feeling Warehoused in Army Trauma Care Units: Last August, Specialist Crawford attempted suicide with a bottle of whiskey and an overdose of painkillers. By the end of last year, he was begging to get out of the unit.
Flags, Crosses & Circuses... And Apathy!!: Visit any church parking lot in my town, during Sunday services, and count the flags, yellow ribbons and bumper stickers that in reality support the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Would Jesus condone what our country is doing?
Iran 'remains open' to nuclear swap: Iran's foreign minister has said that Tehran is still interested in a UN-drafted nuclear fuel swap swap, despite little apparent progress on the proposal at a meeting with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Israel Has Promised Not to Attack Iran in 2010: The promise was made after a request by the Obama admnistration that Israel give sanctions against Iran "time to work".
Chernobyl Radiation Killed Nearly One Million People: New Book: "For the past 23 years, it has been clear that there is a danger greater than nuclear weapons concealed within nuclear power.
Palestinian Authority approves July elections in West Bank: The Palestinians last held local elections in 2005, shortly before a legislative election in which Hamas defeated Fatah.
Ritual terrorism: Hating Obama as a new form of religion: When I was young, I was taught that the purpose of religion was to foster compassion through lovingkindness, to seek peace by example, to perform with human hands the work of angels. Then I moved to the Holy Land.
Ghadafi to Arab MKs: I'm against Zionism, not Jews: During the meeting, Gadhafi stressed the importance with which he viewed the delegation's visit, and said: "We are not against Jews, but against Zionism.
UK diplomat escapes Yemen attack: A suspected suicide bomber has blown himself up near the convoy of the British ambassador in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, police said.
Judge Rules Yemeni’s Detention at Guantánamo Based Solely on Torture: As a demonstration of how to produce false confessions to incriminate insignificant prisoners at Guantánamo, it would be hard to find a document that more perfectly expresses the brutal pointlessness of the “War on Terror” than this opinion.
Launch of secret US space ship masks even more secret launch of new weapon: Somewhere above earth is America’s latest spaceship, a 30ft craft so classified that the Pentagon will not divulge its mission nor how much it cost to build.
US moving towards 'high-altitude' weaponry era with Falcon, X-37B launches: One part of the program aims to develop a reusable, rapid-strike Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle (HCV), and the other is for the development of a launch system capable of accelerating a HCV to cruise speeds, as well as launching small satellites into Earth orbit.
Hypersonic Cruise Missile: America's New Global Strike Weapon: The mission: Attack anywhere in the world in less than an hour. But is the Pentagon's bold program a critical new weapon for hitting elusive targets, or a good way to set off a nuclear war?
90,000 Protest U.S. Base on Okinawa: More than 90,000 Okinawans rallied Sunday to oppose the relocation of an American air base on their island, adding to the pressure on Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to resolve an issue that has divided Tokyo and Washington.
China's $20 Bln Loan To Venezuela To Be Paid With Oil: - Venezuela will send resource-hungry China 100,000 barrels a day of crude oil for the next 10 years to pay for a $20 billion loan agreed to over the weekend, Venezuela Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Thursday.
The ash cloud that never was: How volcanic plume over UK was only a twentieth of safe-flying limit and blunders led to ban
People Walk By Hero Bleeding To Death: Tale-Yax had reportedly protected a woman from an attack, and was stabbed several time in the chest. Dozens walked by the dying man on the sidewalk. One ever stopped to snap a picture of the man on his cameraphone.
Police beating of Maryland student caught on video: McKenna, 21, sustained head injuries resulting in a concussion. He required eight stitches and was badly bruised all over his body
U.S. Shuts 7 Banks; Year’s Failures Rise to 57: Regulators shut down seven banks in Illinois on Friday, putting the number of bank bankruptcies this year at 57.
Districts Warn of Deeper Teacher Cuts: Districts in California have given pink slips to 22,000 teachers. Illinois authorities are predicting 17,000 job cuts in the public schools. And New York has warned nearly 15,000 teachers that their jobs could disappear in Jun

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