.Headlines

New Developments in Case of U.S. Spying on U.N. Security Council: Former British Cabinet Minister Decries Prosecution

How to kill Saddam: All the U.S. wants is for the former Iraqi president to be hauled into some kangaroo court and, after a brisk procedure in which Saddam will not doubt be denied opportunities to interrogate old pals from happier days like Donald Rumsfeld, be dropped through a trap door with a rope tied around his neck, maybe with an Iraqi, or at least a son of the Prophet pulling the lever.

Francis Boyle Discusses Saddam's Capture: "His Mistreatment is Pretty Much What The Roman Emperors Used To Do To Defeated Barbarian Kings"

CIA Report: No Comprehensive Peace Arrangement Beforel 2020: The Middle East section of the NIC’s global assessment warns about the possibility of a war between Israel and Syria, or some other Arab state

12/17 Poll: Almost half of Americans see Israel as threat : About 37 percent of Americans said the United States itself was the greatest threat.

Robert Fisk: Saddam's Cold Comfort's: There was a kind of satisfaction, lying inside Saddam's last hole in the earth. Seven months ago, I sat on his red velvet presidential throne in the greatest of all his marble palaces.

Who Will Testify At Saddam’s Trial?:

In case you missed it: US supplied anthrax to Iraq: Biological materials were exported to Iraq under licence from the US Department of Commerce. These included botulinum toxin and anthrax, later identified as major components in the Iraqi biological warfare programme.

In case you missed it: Constant Conflict: A look behind the philosophy and practice of Americas push for domination of the worlds economy and culture. First published From Parameters, Summer 1997, pp. 4-14: US Army War College. "The de facto role of the US armed forces will be to keep the world safe for our economy and open to our cultural assault. To those ends, we will do a fair amount of killing."

Terror alerts manufactured?: FBI agents say White House scripting 'hysterics' for political effect

Sharon, In Iraq? Israel denies Qatari report saying Sharon secretly met Saddam in Baghdad following arrest

Bomb Kills 17 in Iraq, Justice for Saddam Debated : A fuel truck bomb killed 17 people in a huge fireball that incinerated cars on a Baghdad street on Wednesday as violence and instability gripped Iraq in the wake of Saddam Hussein's capture.

Blair signals retreat on Iraq WMD : Tony Blair yesterday signalled a retreat from his previous confident assertions that weapons of mass destruction would be found in Iraq - the principal rationale used by the British government for the conflict.

Bush: Iraq intelligence was sound: US President George W. Bush on Tuesday dismissed any distinction between whether former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein actually had weapons of mass destruction or planned to acquire them.

In case you missed it: The Incredible Lying BushCo : Lies Made To Order. Audio and text

Still no mass weapons, no ties to 9/11, no truth: THE INVASION was still a lie. The capture of Saddam Hussein changes nothing about that. There were too many forked tongues in the road to his lair. The way we removed the dictator, we became a global dictatorship.

Chemical, Nuclear Arms Still 'Major Threat,' Cheney Says : Vice President Cheney warned this week that "the major threat" facing the nation is the possibility that terrorists could detonate a biological or nuclear weapon in a U.S. city.

Robert Fisk: Insurgents or protesters? 18 are killed in clashes with US troops : Dramatic videotape from the city of Ramadi 75 miles west of Baghdad showed unarmed supporters of Saddam Hussein being gunned down in semi-darkness as they fled from Americans troops.

US accused of double standards after granting Saddam prisoner-of-war status: The US administration was accused of gross hypocrisy yesterday after granting Saddam Hussein the legal rights that for more than two years it has denied the 660 detainees held in Guantanamo Bay.

Tortured Explanations: Any Instruments We Sell May Be Used Against You: At this point just about everyone knows that while the U.S. itself doesn't officially sanction torture, it is more than ready to ship suspects out to other countries whose governments do engage in the practice.

Is America sick? : Examining America's self-image: the "cradle of democracy", the "land of plenty", the "beacon of justice", the "best way of life", the "land of the free".

12/16 Senators were told Iraqi weapons could hit U.S. : U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said Monday the Bush administration last year told him and other senators that Iraq not only had weapons of mass destruction, but they had the means to deliver them to East Coast cities.

"This is not America" : In Miami, police unleashed unprecedented fury on demonstrators -- most of them seniors and union members. Is this how Bush's war on terror will be fought at home?

Cardinal Says U.S. Treated Saddam 'Like a Cow' : A top Vatican official said Tuesday he felt pity and compassion for Saddam Hussein and criticized the U.S. military for showing video footage of him being treated "like a cow."

The Right to Life: Is it acceptable to sacrifice thousands of innocent lives in Afghanistan and Iraq for a great and noble cause – cracking down on terrorists and eradicating terrorism? If this is the logic behind the US’s wars, isn’t this also the same logic behind “terrorist” attacks?

Blix sceptical on Iraqi WMD claim: Speaking to the BBC's World Service, Mr Blix said he was more certain than ever that there was no WMD in Iraq.

In case you missed it: "Good Genocide"(Practiced by the US,UK) VS "Bad Genocide" : US trained butchers of Timor :Exclusive: Washington trained death squads in secret while Britain has spent £1m helping Indonesian army

A Saddam Chronology : It is a matter of principle in Washington that Americans not be held to the same international standards as others.

Solider Dies In Husband's Arms In Iraq: According to Fahnestock, his daughter was critically injured in Fallujah when she approached a bomb on a telephone pole and it exploded before she could diffuse it.

Iraqi gunman killed in Falluja riot: An Iraqi gunman has been killed and a U.S. soldier wounded in an exchange of fire during riots in a restive town west of Baghdad, U.S. military sources say. Witnesses said hundreds of residents protesting the arrest of Saddam Hussein rioted in the town of Falluja on Monday night, overrunning the office of the U.S.-appointed mayor.

Pope Peace Message Takes Swipe at U.S. Over Iraq : Pope John Paul took a swipe at the United States and its allies Tuesday for invading Iraq without U.N. approval, suggesting they had succumbed to the temptation to use the law of force instead of the force of law.

The war we never should have fought: Most embarrassing for the present government of Israel, details of how Rumsfeld carried on his 1983 visit a letter from the then Israeli prime minister Itzak Shamir offering to sell arms to a man whose capture Israel now regards as great news "for the democratic world and for the fight for freedom and justice".

Bin Laden proves more elusive: More than two years and $20 billion after U.S. forces set out to find the mastermind of the Sept. 11 hijacking attacks, bin Laden remains as elusive as ever, officials said. "If they catch him, it will be by accident," said Gen. Hilaluddin Hilal, deputy interior minister in charge of security in Afghanistan.

Sky News fined for faking Iraq war report: The Independent Television Commission found that the report breached guidelines on accuracy and misled viewers.

Pro-Saddam rallies erupt, Iraqis killed: US forces have killed 16 Iraqis during separate incidents as demonstrations in support of Saddam Hussein erupted across the occupied country.

Anti-war MPs give Blair no respite over WMD hunt: While Saddam's arrest appeared to swing US public opinion behind the war, Mr Blair found that MPs who opposed the war were in no mood to tone down criticisms of his actions. Peter Kilfoyle, a former defence minister, said: "I don't think this makes a difference for us because the war was about WMD and the threat from them.

New powers, old habits in Iraq: They must have known it in Washington but, amazingly, by getting rid of Saddam, the Americans have seamlessly given birth to Islamic fundamentalists.

Pyhrric victory? : The "capture" of Saddam Hussein is being hailed as a great victory for President Bush. After all, who needs to worry about the missing weapons of mass destruction or the lack of ties between Hussein and the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks, now that we've caught the "Butcher of Baghdad"?

In case you missed it: How £1bn was lost when Thatcher propped up Saddam : For more than a decade, yellowing paper files in a government store have hidden the story of the way £1bn of Whitehall money was thrown away in propping up Saddam Hussein's regime and doing favours for arms firms.

In case you missed it: Crude Vision: EXPOSED: How Oil Interests Obscured US Government Focus On Chemical Weapons Use by Saddam Hussein. Our examination shines a new spotlight on the incredible revolving door between Bechtel and the Reagan administration that drove U.S.-Iraq interactions between 1983 and 1985. The men who courted Saddam while he gassed Iranians

An ignominious end to America's creation : America, which pulled no punches when condemning the Iraqi government for showing footage of American POWs, had no such hesitation at showing Saddam being inspected like a prize cow. In the same way, after it had warned Al Jazeera not to show American dead, the US filled our screens with the mutilated and bloated corpses of Saddam's two sons.

Iraq's moment of joy will soon pass: It has suited the US to blame Saddam for the resistance to the occupation and to use him as a pretext for the continued occupation. There are no fewer than 15 organisations involved in the resistance, which enjoys widespread support.

Meanwhile, in Iraq the slaughter goes on: Yesterday's attacks appear to undermine the views of those who said that Saddam and his so-called "Baathist hold-outs" have been behind the wave of attacks against US targets.

Bush is still in a real hole : The US president is facing a financial nightmare of his own making, and needs all the good news he can get. The Bush administration must take care not to spend High Value Target Number One all at once by letting a mob hang him this week.

Consumer report jolts markets : "Consumer confidence came out and took the steam out of everything," said Peter Dunay, chief market strategist at Wall Street Access, a New York-based brokerage firm. "It all boils down to concerns about unemployment."

Halliburton gets more work in Iraq: The US military has said Vice President Dick Cheney's former company Halliburton was allocated $222 million more last week for work in Iraq, at the same time as a Pentagon audit found the firm may have overbilled for some services there.

Paul Krugman: Patriots and Profits: The point is that we've had an environment in which officials inclined to do favors for their business friends, and contractors inclined to pad their bills or do shoddy work.

Ex-Pentagon Officials Sentenced in Fraud: Two former top Pentagon officials each were sentenced Friday to 24 1/3 years in prison for taking more than $1 million in bribes and accepting prostitutes from government contractors.

In case you missed it: The U.S. Power Complex: What’s New: U.S. wardlordism doesn’t tolerate rivals, validates first-strike warfare, and spurns conflict-prevention strategies and negotiating frameworks. The new warlordism keeps counsel not with diplomats but with arms merchants.

Regime Change in Iran? One Man's Secret Plan: Iran's Chalabi? Manucher Ghorbanifar says he talked secretly with Pentagon officials about plans for regime change in Iran

U.S. Seeks Bases In Morocco, Tunisia: "The command is also looking at establishing basing arrangements in countries like Tunisia and Morocco so that U.S. forces can deploy to the continent more effectively if American troops are required,"

U.S. Hegemony: Continuing Decline, Enduring Danger : In 1950 the United States supplied half the world’s gross product, against 21 percent at present. Sixty percent of the world’s manufacturing production in 1950 came from the United States, 25 percent in 1999.

The Incredible Shrinking Dollar : As the dollar drops, almost everything you and I buy from the rest of the world costs us more. In recent days even the OPEC oil cartel has said it might raise oil prices to compensate for the falling dollar. You may remember that’s exactly what OPEC did in 1973, in response to a falling dollar.

Israel Planned Hit on Saddam : The Israeli military planned a daring assassination attempt against Saddam Hussein in 1992 - a plot that would have involved landing commandos in Iraq and firing sophisticated missiles at him during a funeral, an Israeli newspaper reported Tuesday.

Pat Buchanan: Stand Up to Sharon: Israel is a “thunderously failed reality” that “rests on a scaffolding of corruption, and on foundations of oppression and injustice.”

Pat Robertson: Eliminate Arafat: US Christian leader Pat Robertson called Monday for the "elimination" of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat as a follow-up to the US capture of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Perpetual War, Perpetual Terror: We are told our nation is in imminent danger, that we are a mushroom cloud waiting to happen. And so we fear, transforming our mass uneasiness into nationalistic and patriotic fervor, wrapping ourselves up in the flag and the Military Industrial Complex. We have fallen into the mouse trap, becoming the subservient slaves of an engine run by greed.

'Musharraf faked bid on life': It was their suspicion that Musharraf may have used the 'bid on his life' to convince the United States that he was still their best hope in Pakistan and in the South Asian region for cooperation as far as tackling the menace of global terrorism is concerned.

Declassified Documents Show U.S. Support For Hussein: The National Security Archive at George Washington University has published a series of declassified U.S. documents detailing the U.S. embrace of Saddam Hussein in the early 1980’s. The collection of documents, include briefing materials, diplomatic reports of two Rumsfeld trips to Baghdad, reports on Iraqi chemical weapons use during the Reagan administration and presidential directives that ensure U.S. access to the region's oil and military expansion.

Iraqi Shi'ites hail "bright dawn" of Saddam capture : Iraqi Shi'ite Muslims on Monday hailed the arrest of Saddam Hussein but expressed their continuing deep resentment of his captor -- the United States.

Iraqi Missile Scientist Says He's Been Working With British Military and Had Not Fled to Iran: Modher Sadeq-Saba al-Tamimi said in an interview with The Associated Press that he tried several times to reach the American teams searching for weapons of mass destruction. Once, in July, he asked a friend who had already met with American missile experts to set up a meeting for him but the Americans never showed up.

Saddam a POW, Red Cross says: The international Red Cross said today it considers Saddam Hussein a prisoner of war and wants U.S. authorities to allow it to visit the ousted Iraqi leader to check the conditions in which he is being held.

Ex-U.S. Attorney General Ready To Defend Saddam: Clarke averred that neither the U.S.-installed Interim Governing Council (IGC) nor the occupation forces is eligible to try the overthrown president. "The IGC does not represent Iraq. It is Bush's council," said the former U.S. attorney general.

Annan Rejects Death Penalty for Saddam: The top U.N. diplomat said Monday he could not support bringing captured Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein before a tribunal that might sentence him to death.

In case you missed it: Saddam Key in Early CIA Plot : While many have thought that Saddam first became involved with U.S. intelligence agencies at the start of the September 1980 Iran-Iraq war, his first contacts with U.S. officials date back to 1959, when he was part of a CIA-authorized six-man squad tasked with assassinating then Iraqi Prime Minister Gen. Abd al-Karim Qasim.

Saddam's Sister Says U.S. Forces Drugged Him : He must have been drugged or injected with illegal chemicals. What happened is an insult to all Arabs and Muslims," the paper quoted her as saying as she wept

Senator Robert C. Byrd: Chellenging 'Pre-emption': "As each day passes and as more American soldiers are killed and wounded in Iraq, I become ever more convinced that the war in Iraq was the wrong war at the wrong time in the wrong place for the wrong reasons. "

12/15 Robert Fisk, Report From Tikrit: Chief Middle East correspondent for the London Independent reports from the site where Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces in the village of Dawr near Tikrit. Audio

Tehran to file complaint against Saddam : An international court "should determine who equipped this dictator to disrupt our region and impose three big crises on our region," Government spokesman Abd Allah Ramazanzadeh said on Monday

Britain Opposes Death Penalty for Saddam : Washington's closest Iraq war ally Britain said Monday it would play "no part" in any trial of Saddam Hussein that might lead to his execution.

Watchdogs afraid of war crimes show trial: Saddam Hussein will face war crimes charges in a special Iraqi court, despite international concerns that it will be a show trial leading to a death sentence.

Israel Shamir: Saddam Bound: - Turn on the TV, - my wife, alerted by a phone call, yelled from the kitchen. On the screen was George W. Bush's mug photo with a caption reading 'Bush - the former dictator is arrested'. I can't deny it was a moment of great elation. Indeed, Mr Bush deserved to be arrested and tried 

The Enemy Within: The NeoCon Hijacking of America: Deep in the halls of Washington a putrid wind of sweeping ideology festers.

Bush signs bill extending FBI powers: The bill expands the number of businesses from which the FBI and other US authorities conducting intelligence work can demand financial records without seeking court approval.

Eight killed in Baghdad suicide bombing : A suicide bomber today killed eight Iraqi police officers in an attack on a police station in Baghdad's northern outskirts.

Saddam's capture may bolster anti-US resistance forces: The people, who do not accept occupation, will be free to fight without being considered supporters of Saddam,"

We Never Had WMD, Former President Tells Interrogators: Saddam Hussein told his American interrogators that Iraq never had weapons of mass destruction, claiming that they were an invention of the US government to justify an invasion, it was reported last night.

Ace of Spades merely a Joker: Even his teenage grandson, a mere boy, slain with Saddam's two repugnant sons during a military raid months ago, showed more courage in his final moments, never crying out for mercy, never surrendering. Saddam has not an ounce of that child's nerve.

In case you missed it: One rule for them : Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, "it is against the Geneva convention to show photographs of prisoners of war in a manner that is humiliating for them".

Iraq's guerrilla war is far from over experts say: Saddam Hussein's capture made one thing clear: The deposed dictator, found dirty, disheveled and disoriented, likely was not masterminding Iraq's guerrilla war.

Wolfowitz Beggars Belief And Country: It's not often someone writes a snotty five-page memo that ends up indirectly costing his nation upwards of $8.3 billion, but Paul Wolfowitz likely now has that distinction.

Iraq's Illegal Weapons Are Clear, Bush Says : The White House said in a year-end report released yesterday that the invasion of Iraq had produced "clear evidence of Saddam's illegal weapons program" and new intelligence about his ties to terrorist organizations.

Saddam could be offered deal : Deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could be offered a deal in which he would give his captors information on if and how he hid weapons of mass destruction and if he smuggled some of them into Syria.

Michael Moore: We Finally Got Our Frankenstein... and He Was In a Spider Hole!: Thank God Saddam is finally back in American hands! He must have really missed us. Man, he sure looked bad! But, at least he got a free dental exam today. That's something most Americans can't get.

In case you missed it: U.S. support for Iraq in the 1980s : The U.S. provided financial aid, military intelligence, and actual military planning to Iraq at a time when the Reagan administration was well aware that Iraq was using chemical weapons against Iran.

In case you missed it: Gonzalez's Iraq Expose: Hill Chairman Details U.S. Prewar Courtship

A tale of two tyrants : "So who pocketed the US$25 million?" : In the 1980s Saddam himself was a great ally of civilization as he was needed to keep revolutionary Iran bogged down in an incredibly messy, bloody, costly war. When Saddam gassed the Kurds, the Pentagon dismissed it as "Iranian propaganda".

The Trial of Saddam Hussein: While I believe the charges may not stick, or the mass graves would have already been found, I think the exercise may produce an interesting and unwelcome result, especially if Saddam gets a fair trial, with judges not hand-picked by the occupying coalition.

Saddam's wife helped locate him: Well-informed Lebanese sources said today that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's second wife supplied the US with "some information" about where her husband was hiding in Iraq.

Iraqi cheer fades into ire at U.S: Joy at the capture of Saddam Hussein has given way to resentment towards Washington as Iraqis confront afresh the bloodshed, shortages and soaring prices of life under U.S. occupation.

Notice to Iraq: Let us protect you, or be shot: "With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for projects, I think we can convince these people we are here to help them," said Lt. Col. Nathan Sassman, commander of a battalion keeping an eye on the village of Abu Hishma that's surrounded by barbed wire.

Umm Qasr -- From National Pride to War Booty: Umm Qasr, under the US military occupation of Iraq, has become war booty. It was the first Iraqi enterprise to be turned over, not just to a private owner, but to a foreign one.

Challenging the Justification of Killing: One who exults in the killing of men will never have his way in the empire. -- Lao Tzu

Welcome to America: Nine tales of a society scared into stupidity

Guantanamo UK : We damn the Americans for Guantanamo, yet we are doing exactly the same thing in south-east London

Karzai accused of attempting a dictatorship: President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan stood accused yesterday of weaving a "dangerous" path between democracy and tyranny as he sought a powerful new presidency unchecked by parliament.

Israelis kill unarmed Palestinians : Israeli soldiers have shot and killed two unarmed Palestinians, and were searching for a third in southern Israel.

Israel: Ghosts of a Dream: My parents rise up from the grave, demanding to know: How has it come to this? How did a great and persecuted people become the persecutors?

Robert Fisk: "The Tyrant Is Now A Prisoner" : Saddam has bequeathed to his country and to its would-be "liberators" something uniquely terrible: continued war. And there was one conclusion upon which every Iraqi I spoke to yesterday agreed.

US Convoys Attacked in Kuwait, 4 Soldiers Hurt: "There were two attacks by small arms fire," a spokesman for the U.S. army in Kuwait told Reuters by telephone, adding the soldiers were wounded in one of the attacks.

We Caught The Wrong Guy: It is no small irony that Hussein, the Butcher of Baghdad, the monster under your bed lo these last twelve years, was paid probably ten thousand times more during his time as an American employee than the soldiers who caught him on Saturday night.

Will Saddam's capture prove to be a trap for Bush? : This capture comes timely for the incumbent, and the immediate propaganda value will be enormous. But has Bush walked into a trap? Pretty likely, and the next few weeks or months are going to be crucial.

Robert Fisk: Saddam's Capture Will Not Stop The Relentless Killings From Insurgents

Pakistani president escapes bomb by seconds: President Pervaiz Musharraf of Pakistan escaped an apparent assassination attempt by seconds when a bomb detonated after his car crossed a bridge near the city of Rawalpindi.

Saddam an Important Symbol in the Arab World: Saddam Hussein may be under lock and key, but experts warn that the anger at the United States that he came to symbolize in the Arab world and Iran is far from contained. It still seethes in every capital from Rabat to Tehran, in the streets if not always in government.

Greg Palast: Jessica Lynch Captures Saddam: Ex-dictator Demands Back Pay from Baker : Ex-President Hussein himself told US military interrogators that he had surfaced after hearing of the appointment of his long-time associate James Baker III to settle Iraq's debts. "Hey, my homeboy Jim owes me big time," Mr. Hussein stated. He asserted that Baker and the prior Bush regime, "owe me my back pay. After all I did for these guys you'd think they'd have the decency to pay up."

The Joys Of Empire: On the capture of Saddam Hussein: It was not Hussein's crimes against his own people, the danger he posed to his neighbors, or the non-existent potential he had to destroy the United States that motivated the US war on Iraq. Nor was it his interest in developing weapons of mass destruction

Who's really in charge at the White House? : The exclusion of some of America's oldest friends from Iraq underlines the point that the U.S. invasion was really motivated by big oil and big business, rather than the faux war on terrorism or Baghdad's non-existent unconventional weapons.

Robert Fisk: US Eyes Up Saddam's Baghdad Palace As Site For Embassy: when the so-called Coalition Provisional Authority dissolves itself next July to be replaced by an Iraqi government - and such promises must be fulfilled here before they can be believed - everyone in Baghdad will come to the conclusion that America intends to remain the true power in Iraq.

12/14 Saddam Hussein is captured by US forces: American forces captured a bearded Saddam Hussein hiding in a hole in a farmhouse cellar in northern Iraq, the US military announced this afternoon.

Iraq's Aziz Helped Identify Saddam, Official Says : Iraq's former Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, in U.S. custody for seven months, helped to confirm the identity of Saddam Hussein after his capture, an official with the U.S.-led administration said Sunday.

Saddam's Capture Celebrated Around World : Celebratory gunfire erupted in Baghdad today and world leaders – including the war’s most prominent opponents – hailed the capture of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Arabs express mixed emotions over detention: Some fear Saddam's capture will boost President George Bush, who many Arabs believe has waged a campaign against them and other Muslims after the 11 September 2001 attacks.

Saddam's new look: Image of captured former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein displayed at a news conference in Baghdad.

In case you missed it: When Donald Met Saddam : Video Clip: "Shaking Hands with the enemy," Iraqi President Saddam Hussein greets Donald Rumsfeld, then special envoy of President Ronald Reagan, in Baghdad on December 20, 1983.

Remind Us: Why Did The U.S. Invade Iraq? : Flash Presentation

U.N. leader says most data in U.S. report was known: The United Nations' top weapons inspector says most of the weapons-related equipment and research that has been publicly documented by the U.S.-led inspection team in Iraq was known to the United Nations before the U.S. invasion.

What's next for the troops?: Any student of history knows all too well that the U.S. involvement into Iraq will not be temporary or that the boys won’t be coming home anytime soon.

America's credibility gap: U.S. image, ideals take a hit : The recent conduct of U.S. foreign policy, by distorting the threats facing America, has isolated the United States and undermined its credibility

Lethal car bombing in Iraq: At least 18 people have been killed and 29 others wounded in a car bomb explosion at an Iraqi police station in a town west of Baghdad.

Army facing medical crisis: Troops' rotation straining system: The planned rotation of roughly a quarter-million soldiers into and out of Iraq and Afghanistan next year is threatening to overwhelm the Army's medical system, according to military and political leaders.

Army shells pose cancer risk in Iraq : Depleted uranium shells used by British forces in southern Iraqi battlefields are putting civilians at risk from 'alarmingly high' levels of radioactivity.

We Americans talk of 'peace on earth,' but our actions speak louder than words: Some have said that you can determine your priorities by looking at your checkbook ledger. So let's look at a few of the stubs in our nation's 2002 checkbook courtesy of the Office of Management and Budget.

The booming defense business: President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld have created an ethically challenged environment at the Pentagon that is an open invitation for contractors like Boeing to engage in waste, fraud and abuse.

Keeping Secrets: The Bush administration is doing the public's business out of the public eye. Here's how--and why

Revealed: shocking truth of Britain's 'Camp Delta' : Disturbing new details have emerged about the treatment of 14 foreign terrorist suspects held without trial in British high-security jails.

Chechnya's secret slaughter : Troops in Chechnya are believed to have standing orders to 'leave no trace' of action, even if that means killing witnesses.

Bush's alleged Afghan war crimes face 'tribunal': The indictment charges Bush with aggression, attacks against civilians and nonmilitary facilities, and torturing and executing prisoners.

Iraqi Turkey Shoot?: A wounded soldier who doesn't seem to present any obvious threat being shot in the back as he tries to crawl away.

In Afghanistan, Mercy and mayhem : Aid workers and civilians are targets in a chaotic, forgotten war

Pentagon warned Halliburton-KBR on "dirty" food service: report: The Pentagon repeatedly warned contractor Halliburton-KBR that the food it served to US troops in Iraq was "dirty," as were as the kitchens it was served in.

A Repressive Embarrassment: Anyone who thinks the administration and its law enforcement chief, Attorney General John Ashcroft, aren’t out to impede a free press need only hear how the federal government is treating foreign journalists coming to this country on assignment.

Friendly Dictators: We should cease to talk about vague and...unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization... we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts.

Beware of Ariel Sharon's latest trick: He is at it again, and again it is working. He is launching colourful balloons, and the whole world is looking on with rapture and wonderment.

Slavery is not just the shameful stuff of history books - not in Florida: The Palm Beach Post presents a three-part examination of slavery, its costs and its effects - on the migrant workers, and on you.

12/13 US and British occupation of Iraq will end by July, says Blair's envoy: While the dissolution of the CPA will technically end the foreign occupation of Iraq, Sir Jeremy stressed that dissolution did not mean the end of the US and British security commitment, and that would probably change little through the second half of 2004.

Partitioning Iraq might slow bloodshed as U.S. is ousted : As distasteful as it is, it seems clear that America is going to be driven out of Iraq, perhaps within four months, perhaps eight.

British Army now too weak to fight war : BRITAIN is no longer capable of launching a major military action against another nation state without the help of the United States, the government conceded yesterday.

The same old racket in Iraq : To the victors, the spoils: Bush's colonialism will only deepen resistance.

Bush Drops the Mask: They Died for Halliburton: The naked admission of the war's profit motive is but the most recent example of a new trend in Washington: officials coming right out and admitting the obvious. Recently Pentagon advisor Richard Perle, for example, confessed openly that the entire invasion of Iraq was probably illegal.

King George's retribution : The best allies the United States had in the months prior to the invasion of Iraq were not those countries that grudgingly went along with George W. Bush's rush to war. The best allies were Canada, France and Germany.

Congress pushes for larger military : Members of Congress from both parties are pushing for the first significant increase in the size of the active-duty military in 16 years, despite resistance from the Pentagon.

Advance Praise for ‘An End to Evil’: Why are we occupying Iraq, bombing the living hell out of Afghanistan, pestering Iran and Syria, genuflecting to Sharon, failing to deal with real threats to our nation while piddling away our resources building an empire nobody wants?

U.S. Congressman Sherrod Brown: Democracy crumbles under cover of darkness. Never before has the House of Representatives operated in such secrecy: At 2:54 a.m. on a Friday in March, the House cut veterans benefits by three votes. At 2:39 a.m. on a Friday in April, the House slashed education and health care by five votes. At 1:56 a.m. on a Friday in May, the House passed the Leave No Millionaire Behind tax-cut bill by a handful of votes.

Investigative Report: The untold story of the Bush administration's penchant for secrecy. How the public's business gets done out of the public eye.

Veil of Secrecy: In "Veil of Secrecy," a NOW with Bill Moyers investigation with U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, David Brancaccio examines the government’s actions to cut access to information about issues from toxic pollutants to airline and auto safety — leaving them hidden from public scrutiny.

Officer pleads guilty to beating Iraqi : An American lieutenant colonel pleaded guilty to beating an Iraqi detainee and threatening to kill him during an interrogation, but will be fined and allowed to retire rather than face a court-martial, the military said Saturday.

Soldier from Peru killed by bomb explosion in Iraq

Bush criticised for duping air traffic control: President Bush's secret Thanksgiving Day trip to Baghdad has been criticised by the British air traffic controllers' union for threatening the safety of other travellers and exposing a weakness in the system that could be exploited by terrorists.

Syria says Israel's friends in Congress behind US sanctions: "These partisans of Israel want more than anything for Syria to end its support for the resistance of the Palestinian people," the statement added.

Terror in the Mirror: Denial, Projection, and the Israeli–Arab War : Following 9/11, we heard that Americans finally knew what terror meant to places like Israel. It was not acceptable to suggest that we finally knew what terror meant to places like Guatemala, or Iran, or Vietnam, or Chile, or Palestine, or dozens of other places where civilians have been terrorized by our military.

US Senators demand Guantanamo resolution: Three US Senators have written to Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld demanding that he formally charge the detainees as war criminals or return them to their own countries to face justice.

McCain criticizes delays at Guantanamo Bay : The bureaucratic process has been unnecessarily slow," said McCain, who was a prisoner of war for nearly six years in Vietnam. "These cases have to be disposed of one way or another. After keeping someone two years, a decision should be made."

US 'anti-terror' claims fall flat : "Certainly I believe that the administration is very good at press conferences and messages with respect to homeland security," Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a California Democrat on the US House of Representatives Select Committee on Homeland Security, said. "Much of it has been fluff, in my opinion."

Guerrilla chiefs to undercut Karzai: A coalition of powerful guerrilla commanders is poised to wrest control of the proceedings and redraft the new Afghan constitution according to their own wishes.

Video reveals Taleban regrouping: "Two years after the world was told the Taleban were a spent force, the reality looks different "

Afghans protest for release of military commander, 4 killed in gunbattle: Thousands of people demonstrated Friday, demanding the release of a military commander whose arrest apparently led to a gunfight with U.S. forces in which at least four Afghans were killed, U.S. and Afghan officials said.

Hardliners' sabotage of reconciliation is no accident: This week's diplomatic debacle reflects an internal power struggle, with hawks using the contracts issue as a way to prevent Republican grown-ups regaining control of US foreign policy. Initial signs are the ploy is working - the hawks have again tapped into Bush's fondness for moralistic, good-versus-evil formulations.

US soldier killed in Iraq ambush: A US soldier was killed and two others injured in a blast near the flashpoint Iraqi town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

Iraqi Protesters Oust U.S. Appointed Governor : The local representative of the U.S. occupation authority appointed a former Iraqi air force officer as acting governor. To the protesters, that was unacceptable. The new governor, they insisted, should be chosen not by an American but by Iraqis -- through an election.

Bonfire of faith as mosques go to war: Muslim on Muslim violence is confirming the worst fears about the new Iraq.

GI pleads guilty to injuring self to get out of Iraq : Plagued with anxiety, driven by addiction to painkillers and yearning to see his newborn son, Spc. Marcus Lee couldn’t stand to spend another day in Iraq.

Army's prosecution of Muslim chaplain falls apart: The case that "began with a bang" may "end with a whimper."

Deadly U.S. Raid Leaves Some Afghans Bewildered : Villagers Say Target Was Not a Terrorist

A Baghdad Thanksgiving's Lingering Aftertaste : Stars and Stripes is blowing the whistle on President Bush's Thanksgiving visit to Baghdad, saying the cheering soldiers who met him were pre-screened and others showing up for a turkey dinner were turned away.

Some troops not happy with historic visit : The soldiers who dined while the president visited were selected by their chain of command, and were notified a short time before the visit, said Olinger and Capt. David Gercken, a 1st AD spokesman.

12/12 U.N. May Have to Abandon Afghan Effort : The United Nations may be forced to abandon its two-year effort to stabilize Afghanistan because of rising violence blamed on the resurgent Taliban, its top official here warned Friday.

Iraqi Shias want UN decision on elections: Grand Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's highest-ranking Shia cleric, wants the United Nations to rule if early elections can take place in the country, in a new embarrassment to the US occupation authorities.

Mortars Pound U.S. Headquarters in Baghdad : Iraqi insurgents bombarded the fortified headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition in Baghdad early Friday.

Hundreds of Iraqis 'killed by cluster bombs' : Cluster bombs used in Iraq by US and British forces caused "hundreds of preventable civilian deaths", many of them in cities, despite pledges to avoid such indiscriminate weapons in populated areas

Businessmen use Bush link to win deals: Two businessmen instrumental in setting up New Bridge Strategies, a well-connected Washington firm designed to help clients win contracts in Iraq, have previously used an association with the younger brother of President George W. Bush to seek business in the Middle East.

Some die, others profit: $2.64 a gallon for gasoline for Iraq? Pay to Haliburton is outrageous.

Paul Krugman: A Deliberate Debacle: Yes, Halliburton is profiteering in Iraq — will apologists finally concede the point, now that a Pentagon audit finds overcharging? And reports suggest a scandal in Bechtel's vaunted school-repair program.

The Candidate from Brown and Root : Brown & Root, arguably the most famous construction company in Texas, is once again near the center of a presidential race. And the company’s political connections are once again paying big dividends.

Bullet Points: The brutal essence of the Bushist Era was laid bare last week in the unlikely venue of the Army Times. the paper -- inadvertently, we assume -- stripped away the patriotic tinfoil wrapped around the arms industry and revealed that "patriotism" for what it really is: extortion, crude and thuggish, a raw greed driven by threats.

In case you missed it: Exposed: The Carlyle Group A Must Watch Documentary

Dearly Deported: Just months after Zeferino Colunga Sr. lost his GI son in Iraq, the government arrested him and sent him back to Mexico. Now family members wonder if the deportation of Zeferino Colunga Sr. was connected to their public demand for an independent investigation into the young soldier's death.

Soldiers in Iraq 'did not have WMD protection': British forces went into battle in the Iraq war without protective equipment against weapons of mass destruction -- the very "threat" used by Tony Blair to justify joining the American-led invasion.

Needed: Iraqi boss with mo': US strategists in Iraq are contemplating what they have always denied, the search for a "strong man with a moustache" to stop the present rot. If the result is not democracy, so be it.

Phoenix Rising : Tucked away in the recent Iraqi appropriation was $3 billlion for a new paramilitary unit. Part of a secret $3 billion in new funds— that Congress approved in early November—will go toward the creation of a paramilitary unit manned by militiamen associated with former Iraqi exile groups. Experts say it could lead to a wave of extrajudicial killings.

The bad news that just won't go away : The US will be unable to shape Iraq into a modern democracy or free market economy. The US will have to leave long before the political, economic and energy issues in Iraq play out, and Iraq will then face years, if not a decade, of instability.

Iraq Imposes Rationing on Gasoline : Iraq imposed gasoline rationing yesterday as it stepped up efforts to cope with a shortage of fuel in this country with the world’s second-largest oil reserves, the Oil Ministry said.

Iraqing Their Brains: How can the Democratic candidates escape the trap they set for themselves?

Efforts to Fight Terror Financing Reported to Lag: The federal authorities do not have a clear understanding of how terrorists move their financial assets and are still struggling to prevent the flow of money to terror groups, according to a new Congressional report.

Rival former exile groups clash over security in Iraq: The growing number of Iraqi-financed private military companies had already sparked concern that secular leaders may be developing militias to match the paramilitary forces under the command of religious and Kurdish political groups.

They hate us liberals for our freedom : As informed citizens, instead of docile corporate news consumers, liberals knew that America had been shooting up the Middle East for decades—at first by proxy, more recently with our own military.

Making enemies: The high price of hunting the Taliban

Afghan rebel boasts of evading US: "The US helicopters virtually flew over my head and we could hit them with a Kalashnikov rifle. But the Americans were unable to locate my hideout."

U.S. Denied Permanent Military Base Use: Uzbekistan will allow the United States to keep troops at a southern base there only as long as they are needed for the war on terror in Afghanistan, and would not allow a permanent deployment, the president said Thursday.

New Documents Reveal Origins of Current U.S Policy on Taiwan: No Support for Taiwan Independence, Nixon Assured China in 1972

Iraq Spy Service Planned by U.S. To Stem Attacks : CIA Said to Be Enlisting Hussein Agents

"My Son Stepped on an American Cluster Bomb" – Father of U.S. Soldier Killed in Iraq Speaks Out

Iraq Body Count Visual Aid: Many conservatives and supporters of the Iraq War --the mass of Americans who shrug off civilian deaths when they are not American civilian deaths--obviously have a pronounced problem with visualizing numbers and applying moral standards. Or they just don't care.

U.S. Arrests Iraqi Union Leaders: Iraqi workers fear privatization will bring massive layoffs. "I'll have to fire 1,500 (of the refinery's 3,000) workers," says Dathar Al-Kashab, manager of the Al Daura oil refinery. "In America, when a company lays people off, there's unemployment insurance and they won't die from hunger. If I dismiss employees now, I'm killing them and their families."

The War According to Newt Gingrich: Growing the Dictatorship in Iraq

US, Spain caught in Libya missile mixup: The US government needs to explain why the missile shipment on a vessel intercepted a year ago on the high seas by the Spanish navy ended up in Libya, a spokesman from Spain's Defense Ministry said this week. The Madrid daily El Mundo claimed 15 complete Scud missiles, a set of conventional warheads and 85 containers of chemical products - some 20 holding nitric acid - were ultimately delivered to Libya under a Washington decision.

12/11 GI Killed, 14 Wounded in Bombing at US Base Near Baghdad

U.S. Says Deal Reached with EU on Air Passengers : Washington has requested non-U.S. airlines to hand over up to 39 pieces of data for each passenger, including credit card details, home address and phone number.

Bush Backtracks: Canada not excluded from Iraq contracts: Canada not excluded from Iraq contracts: U.S. President George W. Bush is grateful for help in the war on terrorism and is ''working'' to include Canada in hefty contracts to help rebuild Iraq, he said in a farewell phone call to retiring Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Payback for shut-out: It was a mistake for the Pentagon to bar some of the world's most influential countries from bidding for $US10.6billion ($14.39 billion) of contracts in Iraq. There are at least three reasons why it will regret it within six months, and many more in the years beyond.

The Case of the Misunderstood Memo: The Feith "annex" highlights the Bush administration's misuse of intelligence material.

In case you missed it: Stormin' Norman: "Sucked Into A Tar Pit"

Three dead in Tel Aviv blast: Three people die and up to 18 are injured in an explosion at a money-changer's shop in a crowded Tel Aviv business district. Police said it was unclear who had carried out the attack, but they believed it was criminally motivated rather than a terrorist attack.

Rafah incursion toll climbs: Six Palestinians are now known to have been killed and 18 others wounded during an Israeli army incursion into Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian hospital sources have said

Suicide blast rocks U.S. base, no report of U.S. deaths : A U.S. Army base 60 miles west of Baghdad was attacked by a suicide bomber Thursday, but no American soldiers died, the military said.

Car explodes near Italian synagogue: A car exploded near a synagogue in the northern Italian city of Modena, police said, adding that the driver, believed to be a Jordanian, was killed.

Iraq contracts 'won by Bush donors': The report covers 70 companies and individuals who between them have won reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq worth up to $8bn

U.S. Envoy Baker Leaves Monday for Iraq Debt Tour : A day after angering European allies over Iraq contracts, the White House said on Thursday presidential envoy James Baker will travel to Europe next week to seek their help in relieving Iraq's crushing $125 billion debt.

Annan, Schroeder attack U.S. stance on Iraq contracts : U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the United States on Thursday to reverse a controversial decision to exclude Iraq war opponents from bidding on contracts to rebuild Iraq.

The Booming Defense Business: The mounting scandal, which centers on whether Boeing improperly offered Pentagon procurement official Darleen Druyun a job while she was negotiating the terms of a $20-billion deal to lease 747s from the company, goes well beyond a few misguided executives at one corporation.

Cluster bombs kill in Iraq, even after shooting ends: The deaths occurred because the world's most modern military, one determined to minimize civilian casualties, went to war with stockpiles of weapons known to endanger civilians and its own soldiers.

U.S. Says Biggest Afghan Push Fails to Find Rebels : Nearly a week into a sweeping drive across Afghanistan's tribal badlands, thousands of U.S. soldiers have so far failed to engage any Taliban or allied militants, the army said on Thursday.

Next Stop, Iran?: Hawks in the Bush administration are undaunted. They have waited for years to execute their strategy to "secure the realm" and reshape the Middle East. For them Iraq is just the first act.

U.S. Should Stop Sanctioning Allies Over ICC: The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is penalizing more than 20 friendly nations for supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC), Human Rights Watch said today.

Corporate Media Ignores US Hypocrisy on War Crimes : Corporate media likes to give the impression that the US government is working diligently to root out evil doers around the world and to build democracy and freedom. This theme is part of a core ideological message in support of our recent wars on Panama, Serbia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

New Activist Network Slams Growing Abuses Under Bush : More than 50 groups, ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to the New York-based Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), said they had agreed to join forces to address what they said was ”the alarming rate of human rights violations in the U.S.”, particularly as it pursues its ”war on terrorism”.

Helicopter in Iraq May Have Been Shot Down : An Apache helicopter that crash-landed near the northern city of Mosul might have been hit by ground fire while making a low pass over the area, U.S. soldiers said Thursday.

Family members, veterans, return from Iraq visit with grim report : "I was just incredibly shocked at how bad it is for the average person and how much their faith in America is deteriorating," said Mike Lopercio, a Tempe, Ariz., businessman who visited his son serving with the 82nd Airborne Division in Fallujah.

The soldiers Bush didn't visit on Thanksgiving: "It's too bad Mr. Bush didn't add us to his holiday agenda. The men said the same, but you'll never read that in the paper. Mr. President would rather lift fake turkeys for photo ops, it seems. Maybe because my patients wouldn't make very pleasant photos . . . most don't look all that great, and the ones with facial wounds and external fixation devices look downright scary.

Father of dead soldier claims Army coverup : The father of a soldier who died of pneumonia this spring said Thursday the Army has excluded her death from its investigation of deadly pneumonia because it wants to cover up vaccine side effects.

U.S. Opens Firearms Charge Against Iraq-U.S. Contact: A Lebanese-American businessman who acted as an intermediary between Baghdad and Washington before the war in Iraq has been charged with violating a firearms regulation. His lawyer contends that the case represents retribution by the Bush administration.

Iraqis strongly oppose deployment of NATO troops: The idea of deploying NATO troops was unveiled by US Secretary of State Collin Powell at an NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels last week.

Neo-cons cry 'appeasement' over Taiwan: The statement by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was released just a few hours after Bush publicly chastised Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian for planning a referendum on whether to ask Beijing to renounce the use of force against the island and remove the almost 500 missiles pointed at it.

Diebold e-mail discusses price gouging Maryland: An e-mail found in a collection of files stolen from Diebold Elections Systems' internal database recommends charging Maryland "out the yin-yang," if the state requires Diebold to add paper printouts to the $73 million voting system it purchased.

The court case that could reshape US democracy: The case's implications are nationwide. At stake is not only control of the House of Representatives in Washington, but the very health of democracy.

NSA can summarily reject requests for information: The National Security Agency has won the authority to automatically turn down requests by citizens for records on how the spy agency eavesdrops on foreign countries.

U.S. Military Told To Stay Off Reserves Recruiting: Pentagon tells recruiters they can no longer look for troops among natives in Canada

In case you missed it: War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal : International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal.

The bad news that just won't go away : A draft report by highly respected analyst Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies on the asymmetric conflict being waged between United States forces and former regime loyalists and various Islamists finds that "neither side can achieve their original grand strategic objectives.

Court releases Moroccan 9/11 suspect: A German court has unexpectedly ordered the release of a Moroccan man on trial for abetting the September 11 plotters after the judge says that new evidence clearly exonerated the suspect.

Firebomb Hits Local Arab-American News Building: Employees Believe Attack May Be Hate Crime

Meet the 'Terror Tourists': Throughout the five-day course, Lisa Reed and her fellow Terror Tourists will fire machine-guns, learn hand-to-hand combat and take part in mock attacks by Israeli commandos pretending to be Arab terrorists.

12/10 Pentagon: Many of New Iraq Soldiers Quit : Plans to deploy the first battalion of Iraq (news - web sites)'s new army are in doubt because a third of the soldiers trained by the U.S.-led occupation authority have quit, defense officials said Wednesday.

UK: Storm As Algerian Al-Qaeda Suspects Cleared: NINE Algerians arrested in Scotland on suspicion of being al-Qaeda members will not face any court proceedings, it was announced yesterday.After the decision, lawyer Aamer Anwar, who acted for one of the men, demanded an inquiry into the Crown's handling of the case.

'The stupefaction of a nation': The powerful few now control the nation's media and its ideas, and soon our free will and freedom to think as well. Democracy is disappearing, the Leviathan is swallowing us whole little by little, assuring itself of allegiance from a people who once questioned, were once curious and who once had control of this great nation.

Feeding Fear: The New Security Culture: Disaster, apparently, is everywhere these days. The Bush administration recently urged schools to conduct safety assessments of their buildings and to rehearse emergency evacuation routines.

US tells Russia of plans for eastward military expansion: A top US official told Moscow on Wednesday that Washington planned to expand its military bases into eastern Europe and ex-Soviet territories and hoped that Russia would not take it as an aggressive act.

US oil giant put on trial over Burma pipeline: Unocal has become the first US firm to stand trial in the United States for alleged human rights abuses abroad, in a case centred on the construction of a gas pipeline in Burma.

Well, it's official: I am now deathly afraid of 60% of Americans: The results of the latest USAToday/ Gallup poll were released today, and 60% of Americans now think that the war in Iraq was a good idea - and the main reason given for this rise in their approval for the war was Bush's 2-hour layover in Baghdad on Thanksgiving!

Israeli offer a myth : Throughout history, mankind has believed in erroneous and fanciful myths such as: the world is flat, handling toads will give you warts, and now the idea that Israel's former prime minister Barak made a "generous offer" for the establishment of a Palestinian state in 2000. Let's look at this offer.

In case you missed it: Saddam 'is months away from a nuclear bomb': President Bush, speaking during his summit with Tony Blair, said that Saddam was just six months away from going nuclear.

Another Six Children Killed By U.S. Troops In Afghanistan: Another six children were killed during an assault by US forces on a compound in eastern Afghanistan, an American military spokesman said.

This is real Terrorism not Liberation: What difference does it make to the parents of those murdered children in Afghanistan, whether it was caused by an accident or the result of bad intelligence? - Why is the killing of any Westerner or an Israeli is automatically classified as “terrorism” but not the murder of civilians in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan?

When Christians Kill: We have a very, very Christian President, which means that everything he orders his military to do, and everything his military orders our troops to do, is of course consistent with Christian principles.

Take No Prisoners: U.S. Marines execute an Iraqi to the cheers of fellow marines -:WARNING:- This video should only be viewed by a mature audience

Iraq to Stop Counting Civilian Dead: Iraq's Health Ministry has ordered a halt to a count of civilians killed during the war and told its statistics department not to release figures compiled so far, the official who oversaw the count told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Least we forget: Images Of War Real people, real suffering.

Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Attacks: Two U.S. Soldiers Killed and Four Wounded in Attacks in Northern Iraqi City of Mosul

U.S.: Plane Probably Hit, Lands in Iraq: Guerrillas hit a U.S. Air Force transport plane with a surface-to-air missile, causing the engine to explode, a senior Pentagon source said Wednesday. The plane landed safely.

Helicopter engulfed by fire:: A US attack helicopter was engulfed by fire after it made a "controlled landing" near the city of Mosul in northern Iraq today, a military spokesman said.

High Payments to Halliburton for Fuel in Iraq: The United States government is paying the Halliburton Company an average of $2.64 a gallon to import gasoline and other fuel to Iraq from Kuwait, more than twice what others are paying to truck in Kuwaiti fuel, government documents show.

The new tragedy in Afghanistan : The concentration on the "war on terror" and the attempt to defeat terrorist violence by military means have been a major cause of the current crisis and, paradoxically, helped create the conditions for the Taliban to rebuild support.

U.S. Bars Iraq Contracts for Nations That Opposed War: The Pentagon has barred French, German and Russian companies from competing for $18.6 billion in contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, saying it was acting to protect "the essential security interests of the United States."

Pentagon ban on Iraq contracts angers Canada: "Unacceptable." That's how Deputy Prime Minister John Manley describes a new directive from the Pentagon barring Canada and countries opposed to the Iraq war from bidding on reconstruction contracts in Iraq worth almost $19 billion

Iraqis Denied Worker Rights Under U.S. Occupation: Labor journalist David Bacon exposes how the Bush administration is systematically busting unions in Iraq to facilitate privatization and how none of the $87 billion appropriated by Congress for reconstruction will go to Iraqi workers or the unemployed.

The privatisation of war : Private corporations have penetrated western warfare so deeply that they are now the second biggest contributor to coalition forces in Iraq after the Pentagon.

Iraqi Shia protest US tank killing: Hundreds of angry Muslims protested in the Iraqi capital over the death of a Shia cleric crushed under a US tank.

Iraqis grow cynical of U.S. pledge of democracy: After listening to all the promises about democracy and lectures on civil rights, Iraqis increasingly are telling their American occupiers that it's time to put up or shut up.

Winning Over Arabs Using Israeli Tactics: The Bush administration’s escalation of the violence, in an attempt to quell the Iraqi insurgency before next year’s election, comes as no surprise. But such escalation will kill, wound or anger even more Iraqi civilians and thus make long-term stability in Iraq even more unlikely.

Manhunt in Iraq: Israel Trains U.S. Assassination Squads: Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh reveals how a new Special Forces group assembled to “neutralize” Iraqi resistance is working with Israeli commandoes to train in assassination and other tactics – comparable to the Phoenix Program in Vietnam. One of the key planners is Lt Gen. William Boykin who declared that Bush was not elected but appointed by God. Audio.

Israelis give a course in urban warfare: NEW TRICKS: Israeli counter-insurgency specialists have been sent to Fort Bragg to teach US special forces how to keep an unruly Iraqi population under control.

An occupier tells all - the story of Israeli brutality towards Palestinians: "I ran toward them and punched the Arab right in the face, never before did I do such a thing, he collapsed on the road…I dragged him over behind the jeep, I grabbed him by the hair and twisted his head to the side. He cried out loud… One of the soldiers approached him and punched him in the stomach. The Arab suffered from pain and grunted, we all giggled, it was funny…I kicked him real hard in the bottom and he whirled inside, just as I planned. They shouted that I am crazy and laughed – and I felt great".

In case you missed it: Israel True to Values, Ashcroft Says : Attorney General John D. Ashcroft yesterday told a conference of evangelical Christians and Jews who are united in support of Israel that in the face of almost daily terrorist threats, Israel has remained "steadfastly true" to "the values our two nations share."

Is a new Iraqi civil war around the corner? : Shiite and kurdish fighters plan battalion against sunnis. Iraqi militiamen will be recruited in two weeks to create a new counter-insurgency battalion to tackle a wave of Sunni-driven violence that American officials predict will heighten as the country moves toward autonomy.

Iraq and Vietnam: Battles of will: The strength of the US military means little when faced with an increasingly skeptical US public who have the potential to force Washington to pull its troops out of Iraq. In addition, while Washington cannot be overwhelmed by sheer force, there is no evidence that the guerrilla fighters in Iraq can be defeated that way either.

The Bodies Come Home: The president is grieved by U.S. casualties. He also worries they'll cost him votes. The president is right to worry that his re-election could be impeded by a steady drumbeat of casualty stories. He and his aides have tried to muffle them, accusing the media of looking only for the bad news in Iraq.

A warning from deep inside the Pentagon: If you look at the weapons that we're buying, they're not for the war on terrorism. The best you can say about them is that they are not designed for the threats that we face. Some of them may not work at all.

US to expand its military empire: The world's only superpower, which already maintains a military presence in 140 countries, said it was expanding its empire because of "increased threats" in the post September 11 world.

Here we go again: Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba : "Our government will establish a Commission for the Assistance to a Free Cuba, to plan for the happy day when Castro's regime is no more and democracy comes to the island." President George W. Bush, October 10, 2003

Australia: Journalists face jail under laws: JOURNALISTS face up to five years' jail if they report detailed circumstances surrounding the detention and questioning of terrorism suspects, under new ASIO laws passed in Parliament late