Syria's Assad Denies Ordering Deadly Crackdown

Video - Assad Interview

Speaking to ABC's Barbara Walters in a rare interview that aired Wednesday, President Bashar Assad maintained he did not give any commands "to kill or be brutal." Continue

A Dirty Deal
A Revolution Against Resistance?

By Ibrahim al-Amin

On Friday, the Syrian National Council’s chief spokesman, Burhan Ghalioun, was forced (and there is no other explanation for it) to come clean about the nature of the payback required of the Syrian opposition by its US, Turkish, Gulf, and European supporters. Continue

And now for something completely predictable
War with Iran

By Terry Jones

The US government spent a staggering $US687 billion on ''defence'' last year. Think what could be done with that money if it were put into hospitals, schools or to pay off foreclosed mortgage. Continue

Leon Panetta is Full of Sh*t

By Barry Eisler

Panetta doesn't want you to know these numbers. If you did, you might laugh at him when he describes military cuts as meaning "doomsday" for America. Continue

Did FDR Provoke Pearl Harbor?

By Patrick J. Buchanan

70 years after Pearl Harbor, a remarkable secret history, written from 1943 to 1963, has come to light. Continue

Marching Off the Cliff

By: Noam Chomsky

To gain perspective on what’s happening in the world, it’s sometimes useful to adopt the stance of intelligent extraterrestrial observers viewing the strange doings on Earth. Continue

Israel Lawmaker Wants to Force Palestinians to Swear "Zionist" Oath

By Ali Abunimah

A member of the Israeli parliament, is proposing that all Israeli citizens – especially the 1.4 million Palestinian citizens of Israel – should be forced to declare an oath of loyalty to the political ideology of Zionism as a condition for obtaining an ID card. Continue

An Ambassador Smeared

By Justin Elliott

Obama's man in Belgium faces calls for his firing after factual remarks on Israel and anti-Semitism. Continue

"By Imbeciles Who Really Mean It":
Lost Verities and Dirty Hippies

By Phil Rockstroh

Free market capitalism has always been a government subsidized, bubble-inflating, swindlers' game, in which, psychopathic personalities (not “job creators” but con job perpetrators) thrive. Continue

Tennessee Family Home Burns While Firefighters Watch

By Eric Pfeiffer

A Tennessee couple helplessly watched their home burn to the ground, along with all of their possessions, because they did not pay a $75 annual fee to the local fire department. Continue

88 Year Old Lady Violated At Kennedy Airport

By AP

With age come such things as catheters, colostomy bags and adult diapers. Now add another indignity to getting old -- having to drop your pants and show these things to a complete stranger. Continue

Somalia: Kenya claims 40 Al Shabaab killed in air strikes: Air strikes by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) have destroyed two Al Shabaab camps in Afmadow inside Somalia, killing scores of militants and destroying their military equipment.

19 civilians killed, 5 injured Afghanistan as roadside bomb struck vehicle: - Over a dozen of Afghan civilians were killed and five others were injured as a roadside bomb struck a vehicle in Helmand province 555 km south of capital city Kabul on Wednesday, an official said.

Pakistani group claims responsibility for Afghan attack: - A Pakistan-based insurgent group said they were responsible for the twin attacks at shrines belonging to Afghanistan's minority Shiite Muslims on Tuesday in which 63 pilgrims attending a religious festival were killed.

'Silent coup' rumors swirl as Zardari leaves Pakistan: Parts of the U.S. government were also informed that Zardari had a "minor heart attack" on Monday night and might resign on account of "ill health" amid the uproar over the memo scandal, the source said.

America's Shadow State in Pakistan: U.S.-Pakistani relations may be on the rocks, but the CIA’s secret friends in the country fight on in units, prisons, and bases the United States has been building up since 9/11 to counter the pro-Taliban side of Pakistan’s military and intelligence services. Eli Lake reports exclusively.

Series of attacks in Iraq targeting security forces kills 5: The officials say a roadside bomb killed three policemen Wednesday in the predominantly Sunni suburb of Abu Ghraib, west of the capital.

Birth defects, rubble still scar Iraq's Falluja: As U.S. forces pull out of Iraq, residents and officials in Falluja say they leave behind bullet-riddled homes, destroyed infrastructure and a worrying increase in birth defects and maladies in a city polluted by weapons and war chemicals.

Syria: Assad says 'only a crazy person' would order mass killings: "Who said that the United Nations is a credible institution?", Assad said in the interview. "Most of the people that have been killed are supporters of the government, not the vice versa," he said. The dead includes 1,100 soldiers and police, he said.

LIVE BLOG: U.S. presidential candidates speak at the Republican Jewish Coalition: Haaretz' Natasha Mozgovaya brings you minute-by-minute updates as Republican presidential hopefuls talk about Israel, American Jews, the economy and the "Iranian threat".

This Is Israel!!! - Video Shows Israeli Soldiers Beating Palestinian Man - Video - Barbarism, inhumanity, war crimes...

After drone was "lost", CIA lied: Hours after Iranian news outlets reported that the country had recovered a sophisticated American surveillance plane, U.S. officials responded with an apparently deliberate media misdirect.

U.S. Made Covert Plan to Retrieve Iran Drone: U.S. officials considered conducting a covert mission inside Iran to retrieve or destroy a stealth drone that "crashed" late last week, but ultimately concluded such a secret operation wasn't worth the risk of provoking a more explosive clash with Tehran, a U.S. official said.

Fake news: A speed bump for Pentagon’s information ops: The Senate Armed Services Committee has asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to assess the effectiveness of a series of news and information Web sites that have been initiated by U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) in recent years

Libya rejects US anti-Iran claim: Libya has denied allegations by the US officials that Iran had supplied the toppled regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi with weapons.
Libya govt gives militias 2 weeks to quit Tripoli: "It is anticipated that the demonstration will escalate each day until December 20. On that day, if the militias have not left the city, the public of Tripoli and the Libyan government will close the whole city to traffic."
Mexico: Qaddafi Son Tried to Enter Country: Mexico said Wednesday it has broken up a plot to smuggle a son of late Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, al-Saadi Qaddafi, and his family into Mexico under false names and with false documents.
Egypt military wants to oversee constitution draft: Liberals and the military are now concerned that religious extremists will exert too much influence over the process
USA repeatedly shipped arms to Egyptian security forces despite abuses: Data obtained by Amnesty International shows that the USA has repeatedly transferred ammunition to Egypt despite security forces' violent crackdown on protesters.
Assange On Mass Surveillance: 'You are all screwed!' - Video - Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaking to journalists and students at a press conference at City University London in central London on December 1, 2011
War criminal: Tony Blair's new 'bank' for super-rich: TONY Blair has formed his own finance boutique in London to offer investment services to global funds and the super-rich.
UK veto threat clouds euro rescue efforts: The leaders of France and Germany will not leave the negotiating table until a "powerful deal" to bolster the eurozone is agreed, France's finance minister said as the threat of a British veto of proposed changes to the European Union treaty clouded preparations for this week's crucial summit in Brussels.
Hundreds 'occupy' Washington offices demanding stronger social security: Hundreds of people from across the US demonstrated in Washington Tuesday for jobs and stronger social security by converging on the offices of US lawmakers in Congress.
Occupy protesters target foreclosed homes: Rallies staged in more than 25 US cities on behalf of homeowners facing evictions in move seen as a tactical shift.