News For July 11, 2010

Saving Face in Unwinnable War

By Eric Margolis

Sinking in debt and no closer to victory, heads may roll as the U.S. and NATO wrap up their pointless Afghan adventure. Continue

---

'It's Fun to Shoot Some People'

By Ed O'Keefe & Al Jazeera

James Mattis, a lieutenant general, told a crowd in San Diego that it was "fun to shoot some people" and said that some Afghans deserved to die. Continue

---

We Who Advocate Peace

By Camillo Mac Bica

They wage preemptive war, occupy and bomb sovereign nations, utilize video-game technology and robotics to murder and then dehumanize hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children as collateral damage. We who advocate peace and justice say that such acts of war and occupation are illegal, immoral and a barbaric and paranoid response to contrived evil . Continue

---

Israel Prefers Real Estate to Peace
A Peace Crime

By Gideon Levy

What more can Assad say that he hasn't already? How long must he knock in vain on Israel's locked door? Continue

---

U.S. Congress United in its Support of Israel, says Republican Minority Whip

By Shlomo Shamir

U.S. Republicans and Democrats differ on nearly every issue in the U.S. Congress but are united in their support of Israel, Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) told a congregation of U.S. Jews on Saturday. Continue

---

Obama: 'I Have Met Israel and It Is "Us"'

By Robert Dreyfuss

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu set up another illegal Jewish settlement, this time on the White House lawn. And, it appears, President Obama has agreed to serve as its armed guard. Continue

---

32 militants among 38 killed in Pakistan: Militants attacked a check-post in Dwa Toi area on Saturday morning, injuring 18 security men. Security personnel, backed by helicopter gunships, returned the fire and killed 14 militants, Dawn News reported on Sunday.

Pakistan death toll soars above 100: The death toll from Friday's double suicide bombing in northwest Pakistan has risen to at least 102 people, making it the deadliest attack in the country this year.

US ‘realises it cannot win’ Afghan war: Some Pakistani officials are convinced that the United States’ ongoing military surge against the Taliban in Afghanistan is doomed, and that the diminishing western appetite for the war will position it as the key to a future political settlement, Pakistani analysts said.

11 policemen, district governor killed in Afghanistan: A district governor was killed by a roadside bomb in northern Afghanistan where two separate insurgent attacks killed at least 11 policemen, officials said on Sunday.

Unconfirmed report: Afghan Taliban kill 10 US soldiers: The Taliban militants say they have killed at least 10 American soldiers in southeastern Afghanistan, against the backdrop of rising attacks against foreign forces in the country.

6 American occupation force troops among 18 killed in Afghanistan: -Saturday: A wave of attacks killed six U.S. troops and at least a dozen civilians Saturday in Afghanistan's volatile south and east, as American reinforcements moving into Taliban-dominated areas face up to the fierce resistance they expected.

Australian soldier killed by blast in Afghanistan: Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, the head of the Australian Defense Force, announced Saturday the 23-year-old soldier was killed just before midnight Friday.

Civilian deaths rise in Afghanistan : Hundreds of Afghans took to the streets of Mazar-i-Sharif Saturday to protest against mounting civilian deaths. Protesters chanted slogans against foreign forces and Afghan President Hamid Karzai after U.S. troops killed two civilians in a pre-dawn raid Wednesday in the northern city's outskirts.

Gen. Petraeus runs into resistance from Karzai over village defense forces: The Afghan official said Karzai is wary of creating "a force that will be viewed as a private militia."

James Mattis: 'It's fun to shoot some people': President Obama's pick to lead military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and the Middle East is an experienced ground combat commander, but also earned a stern rebuke in 2005 for controversial comments about combat operations. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, then a lieutenant general, told a crowd in San Diego that it was "fun to shoot some people" and said that some Afghans deserved to die.

2 killed in northern Iraq clashes: Saturday: A policeman and a gunman were killed in clashes between Iraqi security forces and militants following wounding a senior police officer in a town in Nineveh province, a provincial police source said Saturday.

'Mystery' raid in northern Iraq unconfirmed by Turkish General Staff: An overnight raid by Turkish warplanes in northern Iraq reportedly injured one civilian and damaged several farms, though the late-Friday attack was shrouded in mystery due to a lack of confirmation from the Turkish General Staff.

Turkey asks US, Iraq to hand over Kurdish rebels: Turkey has asked Iraq, the United States and Iraq’s Kurdish administration to hand over nearly 250 Kurdish rebels operating from rear bases in Iraq, the Hurriyet daily reported yesterday.

Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran U.S. charges Iran of supporting militants rocketing Green Zone: U.S. military in Iraq have accused Iran Saturday of supporting the militant groups who fired Katyusha rockets at Baghdad's Green Zone during the recent visit made by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to Iraq.

Netanyahu: Iran is the ultimate terrorist threat today: Prime Minister tells U.S. television that 'irrational regimes' like Iran can't be given nuclear capability, says it is a mistake to think it can be contained.

Netanyahu: Only US military threats can stop Iran from making nukes: Diplomacy and sanctions won't stop Iran from building a nuclear warhead, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Envoys: Turkey, Brazil brokering Iran nuclear deal: Turkey and Brazil are trying to revive a stalled atomic fuel deal with Iran in an attempt to help the Islamic Republic avoid new UN sanctions over its nuclear program

Israel says won't let Libya aid ship reach Gaza: Israel will not allow an aid ship sent by a Libyan group to reach Gaza, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday, just over a month after Israeli commandos killed nine activists in a raid at sea.

Libyan aid ship bound for Gaza to be rerouted to Egypt, Israeli sources say : The developments follow intensive Israeli efforts in recent days. Nonetheless, Al Jazeera television reported last night that the ship, the Al-Amal, had not changed course and was expected to dock in the Gaza Strip within the next day or two. The ship's captain also denied any plan to proceed to El-Arish.

Presbyterians: End Israel aid over settlements: Presbyterian leaders strongly backed a proposal Friday that included a call to end U.S. aid to Israel unless the country stops settlement expansions in disputed Palestinian territories.

Ireland seeks to block Israel access to data on EU citizens: Ireland is seeking to stop a European Union initiative that would enable Israel to receive sensitive information about European citizens, due to concerns about the use that Israel would make of this information, the Irish minister for justice said over the weekend.

Octavia Nasr's firing and what The Liberal Media allows: CNN - ended the 20-year career of Octavia Nasr, its Atlanta-based Senior Middle East News Editor, because of a now-deleted tweet she wrote on Sunday upon learning of the death of one of the Shiite world's most beloved religious figures:

Canada fears BP spill impact on tuna fishery: Bluefin tuna spawns in the Gulf of Mexico before migrating to Canada, meaning the environmental disaster in the Gulf caused by the blow out of a BP oil well could affect stocks north of the U.S.-Canada border.