News For September 02, 2010

Obama’s Iraq Speech
An Exercise in Cowardice and Deceit

By Bill Van Auken

The most chilling passage came at the end of the 19-minute speech, when Obama declared, “Our troops are the steel in our ship of state,” adding, “And though our nation may be traveling through rough waters, they give us confidence that our course is true.” Continue

---

The Audacity of Cynicism

By Elise Hendrick

Barack Obama’s Iraq speech - is an impressive entry in the annals of war propaganda. In it, he glosses over a criminal war as ‘a remarkable chapter’ in US history, and creates the false impression that the occupation of Iraq is over. He places the responsibility rebuilding a society out of the rubble we created on the shoulders of the Iraqi people. Continue

---

The True Cost of the War

By Paul Craig Roberts

Obama’s “end of Iraq war” speech must have shattered any remaining belief in him. Forced to appease both his supporters and the warmonger right-wing, who denounce him as a Muslim and a Marxist, Obama resorted to Orwellian DoubleSpeak. Continue

---

Flying the Flag, Faking the News

By John Pilger

Loud noises from Washington about a US pull-out from Iraq are a poor disguise for America’s determination to keep waging war. And the same sort of spin is at work here in Britain Continue

---

Vomiting Perfidy

By Layla Anwar

I have over the past 20 years or so, developed a high intolerance to perfidy and you throughout your history have excelled in perfecting what I am most allergic to... You literally make me sick. Continue

---

Appeals Court Ruling Allows Government to Use GPS to Track People’s Moves

By Democracy Now!

Earlier this month, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said law enforcement agents can sneak onto a person’s property, plant a GPS device on their vehicle, and track their every movements. Continue

---

The American Nightmare

By Hans Vogel

Nowhere in the world are there more people in jail than in the US. Nowhere in the world are so many people under some form of penal surveillance, such as the millions on parole. Continue

---

US-led attacks kill 16 Afghan civilians: US-led forces in Afghanistan have killed at least 16 civilians over the past 24 hours, amid growing public rage over such attacks.
NATO kills ten Afghan civilians: Afghan officials, including the presidential palace, said 10 civilians were killed Thursday in a NATO airstrike on vehicles in northern Afghanistan, but the alliance said those killed were insurgents.
2 U.S. occupation force troops killed; : Two American occupation troops died in fighting in Afghanistan on Thursday, while NATO and local officials said coalition and Afghan forces had killed at least 37 insurgents in a series of ground and air engagements.
Gates Says U.S. Forces in Afghanistan for 'Years' to Come: Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, described the U.S. mission there as "a long-term proposition."
Karzai's brother calls for U.S. to shore up Kabul Bank as withdrawals accelerate: As depositors thronged branches of Afghanistan's biggest bank, Mahmoud Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a major shareholder in beleaguered Kabul Bank called on Thursday for intervention by the United States to head off a financial meltdown.
35 killed in triple bombing in Lahore: The explosions on Wednesday evening appeared to be the latest in a string of attacks by Sunni extremists against the minority Shias.
Four killed in Iraq attacks: Four people were killed and one injured in Iraq Thursday by unknown gunmen and a roadside bomb, while an army base came under rocket attack overnight.
Iraqi ministry official killed by gunmen: A senior finance official at the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education was killed by unknown gunmen in Baghdad on Thursday, and a soldier died in the south of the country defusing a bomb, DPA reported.
US forces still in fight at end of combat mission: Even as President Barack Obama was announcing the end of combat in Iraq, American soldiers were sealing off a northern village early Wednesday as their Iraqi partners raided houses and arrested dozens of suspected insurgents.
Palestinian shot as Israeli forces enter north Gaza: Taha Shedeh Taha, 18, was admitted to Kamal Edwan Hospital with gun shot wounds to his leg, medics said. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that soldiers shot a Palestinian close to the border fence.
Hamas says will continue attacks on Israelis: "Operations of resistance will continue and the measures by the occupation and Fatah will not block them," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.
PNA, Hamas trade accusations over arrests: Palestinian National Authority ( PNA) and Islamic Hamas movement on Thursday traded accusations over intensive arrests in the West Bank after Hamas claimed responsibility for two attacks on Israelis.
Why most Palestinians don't support Israeli-Palestinian talks – or another intifada: While Washington might be abuzz with the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks today after a nearly two-year hiatus, only 1 in 3 Palestinians support the negotiations according to a late August poll by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion.
Settlers defy "peace" talks with new construction across West Bank: Yesha council says settlers will start building in at least 80 settlements, breaking a government freeze that ends on September 26.
Why Israelis Don't Care About Peace with Palestinians: Asked in a March poll to name the "most urgent problem" facing Israel, just 8% of Israeli Jews cited the conflict with Palestinians, putting it fifth behind education, crime, national security and poverty. Israeli Arabs placed peace first, but among Jews here, the issue that President Obama calls "critical for the world" just doesn't seem - critical
Report: U.S. threatens to shun military drill with Turkey if it bans Israel: Turkish daily Hürriyet reports that the U.S. relayed its position to Ankara after invitations for a joint drill were sent out to several countries, but not to Israel.
EC halts proposed data deal with Israel: The European Commission has halted a proposal to allow Israel access to potentially sensitive data on European Union citizens following concerns expressed by the Irish Government.
Local brother: Man arrested in 'terror plot' simply carrying goods, cash back to family in Yemen: Dutch prosecutors announced Wednesday they released al Soofi and fellow Yemen native Hezam al-Murisi without charge days after authorities arrested the pair at at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.
US must apologize for Yemenis' arrest in Amsterdam, says Yemen ambassador: Two Yemenis, who the ambassador confirmed were Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi and Hezam al Murisi, were freed by Dutch authorities late Wednesday following their arrest Monday in Amsterdam "on suspicion of possible involvement in the planning of a terrorist act," according to prosecutors.
Stephen Hawking says universe not created by God: In the new work, The Grand Design, Professor Stephen Hawking argues that the Big Bang, rather than occurring following the intervention of a divine being, was inevitable due to the law of gravity.
God, Hawking and the Universe: . He writes: "According to M-theory, ours is not the only universe. Instead, M-theory predicts that a great many universes were created out of nothing. Their creation does not require the intervention of some supernatural being or god. Rather, these multiple universes arise naturally from physical law."
The Number One Religion in the U.S. May Be Egonovism, Not Christianity : The term “Egonovism” comes from the latin “ego,” meaning self, and “novo” to make new, rewrite, or invent. And it fits perfectly. The individual develops their own personal religions system and borrows ideas from established religions that they’re familiar with. Many Egonovists include the Christ figure in their religion, and hence they self-identify as Christians.
Welcome to USA: Full-Body Scanners Installed at Lindbergh Field: The scanners, which are being placed in 11 airports across the country by the end of the year, are funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Democrats unlikely to repeal tax cuts for the rich: Democrats in Congress are poised to play a leading role this month in thwarting their party's effort to raise income tax rates on the wealthy.
Lehman boss blames US for bank's collapse: The former head of collapsed US banking giant Lehman Brothers lashed out at the US government Wednesday, claiming it could have prevented the firm's collapse but failed to act.
Bernanke: Shut down banks if they threaten system: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday told a panel investigating the financial crisis that regulators must be ready to shut down the largest companies if they threaten to bring down the financial system.
Construction Spending in U.S. Fell Twice as Much as Forecast: The 1 percent drop brought spending to $805.2 billion, the lowest level in a decade, after a revised 0.8 percent drop in June that wiped out a previously estimated gain, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Spending on federal government projects fell by the most in a year.
July unemployment up in about half of US cities: The economy is barely growing and economists worry it won't expand fast enough to bring down the 9.5 percent national unemployment rate. On Friday, the government is expected to say that private employers added only 41,000 jobs in August, down from 71,000 the previous month.
Unemployment Affects Three Out Of Four Americans: More than half of Americans say they believe the downturn reflects a "lasting economic change" (56%) rather than a "temporary economic downturn" (43%). Large majorities believe that the economy will remain in recession or worse a year from now.
The 10 Highest-Paid CEOs Who Laid Off The Most Workers: : The CEOs who laid off the most employees during the recession are also the CEOs who took home the biggest pay checks, according to a study released last week.
One million US public school students homeless: The number of students identified as homeless by public school districts rose by more than 40 percent between the 2006-2007 school year and 2008-2009, to 956,914. The figure has almost assuredly passed one million in the current school year.