news For September 27, 2010

Killing For Sport
US Soldier Describes Thrill Kill of Innocent Afghans

Confession Video:

Corporal, 22, Tells How His 'Crazy' Sergeant Allegedly Murdered For Kicks, Collected Body Parts. Continue

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How U.S. Jews Strangle Peace Talks

By Peter Beinart

What would it take to make American Jewish groups admit that an Israeli prime minister is not serious about peace? Continue

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The Truth Will Set U.S. Free
Breaking Israel’s Stranglehold over American Foreign Policy

By Maidhc Ó Cathail

“The American people must learn that Israel is and always has been a strategic liability that has done immense damage to the United States and its worldwide interests,” concludes the former CIA officer. Continue

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The President and I
An Interview With President Ahmadinejad'

By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

‘Some great men make history, and history makes some men great’, in an age dominated by the media-- internet, television, radio, and newspapers, the portrayal of Ahmadinejad is an artificial construct of the mainstream media. Continue

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Prisoners of War
Bob Woodward and All the President’s Men (2010 Edition)

By Andrew J. Bacevich

Once a serious journalist, the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward now makes a very fine living as chief gossip-monger of the governing class. Continue

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How Corporations Own Congress

By Shamus Cooke

The corporate money flows from party to party, so that the same goals are achieved: higher profits for corporations. Continue

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Retribution for a World Lost in Screens

By Chris Hedges

Mass entertainment plays to the basest and crudest instincts of the crowd. It conditions us to have the same aspirations and desires. It forces us to speak in the same dead clichés and slogans. It homogenizes human experience. It wallows in a cloying nostalgia and sentimentalism that foster historical amnesia. Continue

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Report: US Would Make Internet Wiretaps Easier

By Associated Press

Broad new regulations being drafted by the Obama administration would make it easier for law enforcement and national security officials to eavesdrop on Internet and e-mail communications like social networking Web sites and BlackBerries. Continue

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US Attack On Pakistan Kills 50 People: Coalition helicopters intrude across border : According to the eyewitness and news sources from the tribal area, the US troops on two helicopters conducted raid in Pakistan territory and killed at least 34 people in the region near Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Pakistani minister resigns after he claims army killed Benazir Bhutto: Pakistan's minister for defence production has resigned after being summoned by the prime minister to explain comments he made criticising the army and accusing it of killing prominent politicians.

7 "Taliban" killed in fresh clash in S. Afghanistan: "Troops with Afghan National Army (ANA) and police backed by NATO-led forces conducted a cleanup operation in Alo Khil village of Deyak district this morning as a result seven insurgents have been killed," Zarawar Zahid told Xinhua.

Polish occupation force soldier killed in Afghanistan: A Polish soldier died Monday in Afghanistan from injuries sustained in a roadside bomb attack, the Defence Ministry in Warsaw said.

US soldier faces murder charges : Army Specialist Jeremy Morlock, 22, from Wasilla, Alaska, will face charges on Monday of premeditated murder in the deaths of three Afghan civilians, assaulting a fellow soldier and "wrongfully photographing and possessing visual images of human casualties".

Confession Video: US Soldier Describes Thrill Kill of Innocent Afghans: Corporal, 22, Tells How His 'Crazy' Sergeant Allegedly Murdered For Kicks, Collected Body Parts

Army censors photos of Afghan corpses in ‘kill-for-sport’ trial: Evidently worried about a repeat of the anger aimed at US forces over photos of torture at Abu Ghraib prison, the US military is restricting access to photos of Afghan corpses in the "kill-for-sport" trial of five US soldiers.

3 Australian soldiers face serious charges after 5 children killed in Afghanistan operation: The special forces soldiers, who were not identified, face multiple charges including manslaughter, dangerous conduct, failing to comply with a lawful general order and prejudicial conduct, Brigadier Lyn McDade, the director of military prosecutions, said in a statement.

US drone crashes in Afghanistan: They say the drone crashed due to a technical glitch but the Taliban militants claim they shot down the NATO aircraft.

Taliban: Swap U.K. Aid Worker for U.S. Prisoner: Militant Commander says He'll Exchange British Woman Nabbed in Afghanistan for U.S. Suspect Aafia Siddiqui

Afghan poll body orders vote recounts in 7 provinces: Afghanistan's election body has ordered a partial recount of votes from seven of the country's 34 provinces on suspicion of fraud, potentially delaying the results of a parliamentary poll further, an official said on Monday.

Afghan 'vote-rigging videos' emerge: Amateur footage appears to show fake votes being filled in as border police tasked with stopping poll fraud look on.

Iran crosses into Iraq to kill 30 bombing suspects: - Iranian forces crossed into neighboring Iraq and killed 30 fighters from a group it says was involved in last week's bombing of a military parade, state TV reported Sunday.
Iran says it killed 30 militants behind bomb attack: Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday they had killed about 30 people who were the "main elements" behind a bomb attack in northwest Iran.
Iran defense chief: Russia unreliable: The Iranian defense minister says Russia's "reneging" on an agreement to supply Tehran with the S-300 missile defense system indicates the Kremlin is untrustworthy, Press TV reported.
Israel Suspected in Worm Sabotage of Iran's First Nuclear Plant: The worm has spread to over 10,000 computers in Indonesia. Computers in the U.S. have also been infected.
Three killed, 10 injured in northern Iraq attacks: At least three people were killed and 10 injured on Monday in a series of attacks in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police sources said.
After Iraq: the soldiers stories: With 20 per cent of US soldiers who served in Iraq suffering from combat stress disorder, Channel 4 News correspondent Kylie Morris meets America's wounded warriors at the US Military base Fort Hood.
Yemen: Two al-Qaeda, police officer killed in ambush in Sana’a: An officer and two al-Qaeda suspects were killed when the officer tried to defuse a grenade that was in the hands of one of al-Qaeda suspects during an ambush launched by the security forces on a house believed to be a hide out of an al-Qaeda cell in Mathbah area in the northwest of Sana’a on Monday.
US accused of Yemen proxy detention: Lawyers for US citizen held in Yemen say that American agents arranged his arrest and interrogated him for weeks.
Airstrike just misses gathering of Somali militants: An unidentified military helicopter blasted rockets at a house where Somali militants were meeting yesterday in an apparent strike against the militant Islamic group al-Shabab, said residents and insurgent leaders.
Mystery over 'helicopter attack on Somalia's al-Shabab': BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says if this was a failed attack on senior al-Shabab officials, perhaps it is not surprising that no-one is claiming to have carried out the mission.
Bulldozers roll out across West Bank as settlement freeze ends: Building work at the West Bank settlement of Ariel restarted Monday morning after a 10-month construction ban expired at midnight on Sunday.
Abbas delays decision on talks: Palestinian president holds back from quitting talks with Israel as Netanyahu allows construction freeze to end.
Fatah official: Israeli settlements could kill two-state solution: Expanding Israel's illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory have reached a point of no return and could kill an internationally backed, two-state solution, a top Fatah official said on Monday.
Settlement Activities Did Not Stop During Settlement Freeze, Research Center Says: The Center said that Israel continued the work in more than 120 settlements and annexed large areas of Palestinian lands in the West Bank.
Hamas says Palestinian reconciliation on the way: The Syria-based Palestinian militant Hamas leader says only minor issues remain for a full reconciliation with the rival Fatah group.
UK's Ed Miliband: Time to bury Tony Blair era: The 40-year-old Ed Miliband, his party's youngest postwar leader, has vowed to radically overhaul Blair's pro-business and Washington-friendly platform, but dismissed critics who call him "Red Ed," and have warned he will shift the centrist party toward the political left-wing.
Chavez party wins majority in Congress: With the vast majority of votes counted, Chavez's party won at least 90 of the 165 seats, while the opposition coalition won nearly 60 seats, National Electoral Council president Tibisay Lucena said early Monday, AP reported.
The former guerrilla set to be the world's most powerful woman: The world's most powerful woman will start coming into her own next weekend. Stocky and forceful at 63, this former leader of the resistance to a Western-backed military dictatorship (which tortured her) is preparing to take her place as President of Brazil.
Anti-war activists targeted by FBI speak out: Two anti-war activists said Saturday that a 12-hour search of their Chicago home by the FBI was an attempt to intimidate them and silence the peace movement.
In a world gone crazy: U.S. should be able to shut Internet, former CIA chief says: Cyberterrorism is such a threat that the U.S. president should have the authority to shut down the Internet in the event of an attack, Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said.
U.S. Tries to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet: Federal law enforcement and national security officials are preparing to seek sweeping new regulations for the Internet, arguing that their ability to wiretap criminal and terrorism suspects is “going dark” as people increasingly communicate online instead of by telephone.
Money transfers could face anti-terrorism scrutiny: The Obama administration wants to require U.S. banks to report all electronic money transfers into and out of the country, a dramatic expansion in efforts to counter terrorist financing and money laundering.