Clark: U.S. needs new plan on terror war: Former Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark accused the Bush administration Saturday of taking the nation on a "path to nowhere" with misguided moves on national security.

Official: Iraq war led to July bombings : The first official recognition that the Iraq war motivated the four London suicide bombers has been made by the government in a major report into the 7 July attacks.

Iraq terror backlash in UK 'for years': SPY chiefs have warned Tony Blair that the war in Iraq has made Britain the target of a terror campaign by Al-Qaeda that will last “for many years to come.”

Love and hate in Baghdad: This is the extraordinary blog of ‘Riverbend’, a young Iraqi woman who lays bare her life in occupied Iraq. It has been long-listed for the Samuel Johnson literary prize

Taleban Insurgent Kills 9 Afghan Policemen : Taleban insurgents on motorcycles have attacked a police checkpoint, killing five officers and wounding three. In neighboring Helmand province, a Taleban militant, posing as a traveler looking for a place to spend the night, killed four policemen after eating dinner with them.

Taliban kill Turkish engineer: TALIBAN gunmen shot dead a Turkish engineer in Afghanistan overnight in the second attack in a week on foreigners working on a road project in the west of the country, a provincial governor said.

MP assassinated in Afghan capital : Unknown armed men assassinated a member of Wolesi Jirga or National Assembly of Afghanistan in the capital city Saturday, an official at the house said

Iran still insisting on Persian Gulf oil bourse: Iran is still insisting on opening a Persian Gulf oil bourse with the southern Iranian island Kish as its base, state-television reported Saturday.

Iran says UN council risks worsening dispute: Iran warned the U.N. Security Council on Sunday that it risked worsening a dispute over the country's nuclear development by pressuring it to halt uranium enrichment work.

Head of UN Agency Urges Calm in Iran Debate: United Nations atomic energy chief Mohamed ElBaradei has urged the United States and its allies to steer away from threats of sanctions against Iran, saying the country's nuclear program was not "an imminent threat" and that the time had come to "lower the pitch" of debate.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Warns of Impending Invasion of Iran: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has warned that the United States intends to invade Iran in its insatiable quest for oil and energy resources, saying that the world must avoid that aggression at all costs.

Jimmy Carter: A Dangerous Deal With India: Last year former defense secretary Robert McNamara summed up his concerns in Foreign Policy magazine: "I would characterize current U.S. nuclear weapons policy as immoral, illegal, militarily unnecessary, and dreadfully dangerous."

India's training of Iranian troops could affect nuke deal: Senator Lantos: A senior US lawmaker has warned India that its alleged training of Iranian troops could undermine Congressional support for the landmark Indo-US civilian nuclear deal.

Army, navy pound Gaza launch sites in massive assault : The Israel Defense Force has been pounding the northern Gaza Strip with a massive artillery, air and naval attack for the past 48 hours

Suicide attacker was one of the prisoners freed by Israeli forces in Jericho jail raid : A Palestinian, who was one of several dozen prisoners set free by Israeli forces during their raid on Jericho prison in March, was responsible for a 'suicide attack' that killed four illegal Israeli settlers and himself late Thursday night

Robert Fisk: Another brick in the wall: We have been conned again. The Israeli elections, we are told, mean that the dream of "Greater Israel" has finally been abandoned. West Bank settlements will be closed down, just as the Jewish colonies were uprooted in Gaza last year.

Israelis can no longer ignore the incidental killing of civilians: Who remembers the name Rachel Corrie? In Israel, hardly anyone. But to many a pro-Palestinian American or Briton - and to many of their pro-Israeli antagonists - the mere mention of the name is enough to make the blood boil.

Editor hits back over Israel row : London Review of Books stands its ground after being accused of anti-Semitism in an article attacking pro-Israeli influence on US policy

Agent Orange: the legacy of a weapon of mass destruction : Thirty-five years after the US sprayed the jungles of Vietnam with toxic defoliant, thousands of babies are still being born with horrific defects. But unlike the American veterans, no one in the war-ravaged country has received any compensation. Jeremy Laurance reports from Ho Chi Minh City

Ralph Nader: The Corporate Superpower of Superpowers: You have to be feeling pretty good about your new position heading the world's largest oil and gas company. You stand astride the globe where, with few exceptions, the Congress is like putty in your hands, the White House is your House and the consuming public is powerless.

Former PM says Russia is turning into dictatorship: A FORMER Russian prime minister has warned that his country is slipping into a dictatorship similar to the harsh regime in neighbouring Belarus.

Farms of fear: It’s not the Somme, it’s South Africa — and a memorial to nearly 2,000 white farmers murdered in the last 10 years. The motive? Not theft, nor land grab, as in Zimbabwe — but revenge, fuelled by racism and envy. And as the killing goes on, the police do nothing. Brian Moynahan reports

Gwynne Dyer: Moussaoui-Lying for jihad: "You're allowed to lie for jihad. You're allowed any technique to defeat your enemy," Zacarias Moussaoui told the Virginia courtroom on Monday, trying to explain why he had changed his story about not being directly involved in the 9/11 plot.

Cuba Airline Bomber Posada Threatens US National Security: he United States is maintaining terrorist Luis Posada Carriles in a detention facility because releasing him would pose “a danger to both the community and the national security," according to an official US document.

America's war on the web: IMAGINE a world where wars are fought over the internet; where TV broadcasts and newspaper reports are designed by the military to confuse the population; and where a foreign armed power can shut down your computer, phone, radio or TV at will.

Nightmare journey to reach the American dream: ALL along the route through Central America to the US are hostels run by the Catholic Church that provide food and shelter for those travelling illegally with only one goal in mind: making it to the land of their dreams.

US wages indiscriminate visa war: In a tale of our terrorised times, the Hallé Orchestra has regretfully had to cancel its planned American mini-tour next year because it can't afford the visas. It was going to play two concerts in 2007, one of them in New York at the Lincoln Centre, but the fees aren't worth the visa expenses.

Atrocious Entertainment : The movie theater has become our Colosseum, the actor our gladiator. Blood is our artistic medium of choice, the human body our canvas. God's command to meditate on what is right, pure, and lovely has been perverted by society to an implicit command to meditate on whatever is evil, whatever is polluted, and whatever is hideous.

04/01/06

More Than 25 Killed in Latest Violence: Police reported the discovery of at least eight bodies, mostly young men who were shot in the head or strangled in Baghdad.

U.S. Marine Among 13 Killed: Four militants and an Iraqi army sergeant-major were killed in fighting when an army patrol stopped several men trying to steal a truck south of Baquba 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad,

American deaths fall, Iraqis' rise: March was the least deadly month in more than two years for American forces in Iraq, but a surge in slayings of Iraqi troops and civilians suggests that the overall death rate in the conflict is growing, according to military data.

Shias call on al-Jaafari to quit: Senior members of Iraq's ruling Shia Alliance bloc have for the first time openly called on Ibrahim al-Jaafari to step down as prime minister to break months of deadlock over the formation of a national unity government.

Leading contenders for Iraq PM post: Ibrahim al-Jaafari's chances of remaining Iraq's prime minister suffered a serious setback on Saturday when leading officials within his own bloc called on him to step aside to end deadlock on forming a unity government.

Iranian militiamen were brought in by Britain: MILITIAMEN from an Iranian-backed force were deliberately recruited by Britain to join the new Iraqi security services after Saddam Hussein was overthrown, the Government has admitted.

Maliki: "US Will Destroy Iraq" : Jawad al-Maliki, a member of parliament and the number two man in the Dawa Party led by Ibrahim Jaafari, launched a campaign against American policies in Iraq, blaming the US for the deterioration of the security situation and saying that it had "demolished democracy and the elections in Iraq." He warned that the US "will destroy Iraq."

Iran to stage massive Gulf military exercise: Thousands of Iranian troops will start a week-long military maneouvre in the Gulf tomorrow to ready armed forces for warding off ?threats, a senior commander announced on state television.

Russian official contradicts West on Tehran: Moments after the Western powers insisted to reporters that they were on the same page with Russia and China regarding the Iranian nuclear threat, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov contradicted them, saying he saw no evidence that Iran's program had a military component or that it posed a threat.

Stephen Lendman: The War Drums Are Sounding A Clear Message: Iran and Venezuela have so much of the "black gold" their countries are practically floating on it. But in a world where a predatory USA can't even breathe without it, that makes them public enemies one and two

A must read: Iran: Scenarios of an American strike: The risks are great if Washington's neo-cons choose military options to prevent Iran from blocking US imperial designs for the Middle East.

William Bowles : Beware the Ides of March: As far as Iran is concerned, just as with Venezuela the first line of attack is to try and foment an ‘indigenous’ revolt, it’s not only cheaper it’s also a safer option, although outcomes cannot necessarily be as easily controlled.

Leigh Brady : Don't Worry - It's Just Another Palestinian Child's Death : Her name was Akaber Adbelrahman Zaid and she was on her way to a doctor’s clinic to have stitches removed from her chin. Instead she received a barrage of bullets to the head, when an undercover Border Police unit opened fire on the car in which she was travelling with her uncle.

Old hat that calls out for open debate: Why do so few prominent people in the United States publicly criticize Israel or its American supporters? Because - modern history suggests - this is a sure, speedy route to political and professional oblivion, especially for politicians, academics, writers and others who work in the public realm.

The real winner in Israel: In a sense, the real winner of the elections was Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beiteinu, which pushed past Likud to become one of Israel's major political parties -- turning Lieberman into a potential kingmaker. This is a remarkable development because Lieberman's party stands for one thing: an Israel finally cleansed of the remainder of the indigenous Palestinian population.

Fighters defy Hamas plea for calm: Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister, vowed on Saturday in Gaza City to end the security chaos "using law and order" and by "withdrawing armed civilians from the street to end this dangerous situation".

MI5 Archives Reveal Link Between Israeli PM and Soviet Inteligence: British MI5 counter-espionage archives reveal a link between Soviet intelligence and the sixth prime Minister of Israel Menahem Begin, the Axis Information and Analysis agency reported Friday.

Afghan Provincial Lawmaker Shot Dead: Sayed Sadeq, the speaker of the Takhar provincial governing assembly, died in hospital after receiving multiple gunshot wounds to his body.

Profits surge to 40-year high: U.S. corporate profits have increased 21.3% in the past year and now account for the largest share of national income in 40 years, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Group looks at Nigeria's effect on oil: Wallowing in poverty, with oil profits benefiting the elite, country provides 3 percent of the world's annual oil production

26 Saudis to be released from Guantanamo, news reports: Twenty-six Saudi detainees are to be released from Guantanamo Bay and transferred to Saudi Arabia in the coming weeks, the Saudi daily Al Watan reported on Saturday.

Judge says enemy combatants get due process: What the United States is doing "is probably more than other countries afford them," he said. "But you have to balance ... due process with national security and it's a fine line. Our courts can't interfere with the executive branch fighting a war."

Nolan K. Anderson : Mass Surveillance for Dummies : The information being gathered is all-inclusive. It is the record of the way we live our lives - the way we buy toothbrushes, the schools we attend, the amount and type of food we purchase, where and how much gasoline we buy. In the eyes of our freshly minted totalitarian system, this is the "beauty" of the system.

NY releases 9/11 emergency calls : The words of the operators - but not the callers - were released following a lawsuit filed by the New York Times and a group of victims' relatives.

Your Huddled Masses are now my Wretched Refuse:  The United States’ increasing trajectory toward a more brutal form of Capitalism with fewer restrictions on corporations (and hence less protection for workers and consumers) coupled with a rapid acceleration of the American Empire’s quest for global hegemony will spark an influx of illegal immigrants.

Immigrant bill: vile, racist, barbaric, meanness: This is a bill founded entirely in flagrant racism and baseness by a group of racist, evil-hearted, right-wing-activist plutocratic ideologues.

Charley Reese: The Second Revolution: The war, which the North started (we Southerners refer to it as the War of Northern Aggression), was a conflict between nationalism and federalism. Regardless of which side you agree with, the events are so important to understanding America today that you owe it to yourself to get up to speed on what really happened, as opposed to the Hollywood version.

9/11 Revisited : Were explosives used?

DeLay Former Aide Rudy Pleads Guilty in Abramoff Case: Tony Rudy, former deputy chief of staff to Representative Tom DeLay, pleaded guilty in a case stemming from the corruption probe of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, bringing the scandal closer to the door of his one-time boss.

03/31/06

Casey Austin Sheehan May 29, 1979 - April 4, 2004

By Cindy Sheehan

I would beg Casey not to go to Iraq before he left because we both knew it was wrong. He would say: "I wish I didn't have to, Mom, but the sooner I get there the sooner I will be home." Little did Casey know that not even four weeks after the First Cavalry left Ft. Hood, he would be coming home in a cardboard box in the freight area of a United Airlines 747. Continued

Four Words that Spoke Volumes
 
 Just as Germans were complicit in the crimes of their government not that very long ago, so too are we American citizens complicit in the crimes of our own government.
 
 By Mike Ferner
 
"Sentenced to time served," were the welcome words pronounced by Senior Judge Stephen Milliken, of the District of Columbia's Superior Court, on March 28. Continued 

 We're Sorry

Former US soldiers on the personal cost of war in Iraq.

We have a powerful film this evening. We follow a group of former US soldiers who have returned from Iraq deeply affected by the experience.

This is a must watch

A Man’s Word

By Monica Benderman

My husband, Sgt. Kevin Benderman, chose to no longer participate in war. He followed the Army regulations, filed a Conscientious Objector application, and acted honorably every step of the way. His unit commanders chose to punish him for not allowing them to control him with their threats, and my husband went to jail simply because his commanders had no integrity, no honor and no respect for the very constitution they had given a sworn oath to uphold. Continued

Ignorance by Content and Omission

By Charles Sullivan

Little by little the minds of the people have been poisoned by propaganda and it is called nourishment. As a result the more noble traits of our culture are incrementally dying. Through the judicious use of lies and distortions the people are deceived into supporting the atrocities of war and conquest that are committed in their name. Continued

Vision Quest

By Chris Floyd

The war aims of the Babylonian Conquest have always been obvious to anyone who concentrates on the operational reality of the action, ignoring the ludicrous cornball about democracy and security that Bush dishes out to gull the rubes back home. Continued

Noam Chomsky on Failed States

The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy

Professor Chomsky thinks that the United States is beginning to resemble a failed state that cannot protect its citizens from violence and has a government that regards itself as beyond the reach of domestic or international law. Audio and transcript

 Five civilians killed: At least five civilians were killed when gunmen fired on their car near Baquba, about 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad

Baghdad police say 3 dead from mortar: Earlier in the day, soldiers discovered the bullet-riddled bodies of six men, aged between 25 and 30 and wearing handcuffs, in western Baghdad, police said

Iraqi girl tells of US attack : Ten-year-old Iman Walid lost seven members of her family in an attack by American marines last November. If her story is true - and it has been disputed by the US military - human rights workers say it is the worst massacre of civilians by US troops in the country.

DAVE LINDORFF: The Mustafa Mosque Massacre was No Accident or Error: Events in Iraq are giving the lie to administration claims that all it wants to do is create a stable, democratic Iraq, and then leave

Britain's casualties of Iraq war total 6,700, MoD says: Almost 6,700 Britons have needed hospital treatment in Iraq since the invasion three years ago - almost as many as the total number of British troops still stationed there. About 4,000 were sufficiently injured or ill to be sent home to Britain.

Sergeant faces surgery: Michael, who serves with the National Guard, faces surgery the end of May to replace the part of his skull that had been removed.

Three Years Of Death and Suffering: Animated Flash Presentation Of Iraq War "Coalition" Casualties

Video Interview: Iraq: One-on-One with Rescued Hostage : Harmeet Sooden relives his four month hostage ordeal and the terrifying moment he was captured.

Mosul slips out of control : : "We are not leaving the base in daytime because we know other bombers are waiting for us," said a soldier at a base near Mosul's city centre.

Shiite Ayatollah Ignores Letter From Bush : A letter from President Bush to Iraq's supreme Shiite spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, was hand-delivered earlier this week but sits unread and untranslated in the top religious figure's office, a key al-Sistani aide told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Iraq Shi'ite ayatollah demands U.S. fire envoy: A leading Iraqi Shi'ite cleric demanded on Friday that the United States sack its ambassador, accusing Zalmay Khalilzad of siding with his fellow Sunni Muslims in the sectarian conflict gripping the country.

U.S. raid on Shiite shrine served as a warning: The U.S. military was trying to send a "little reality jab" to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr when American and Iraqi troops raided a Shiite community center and shrine over the weekend, says a top U.S. military official.

Former US presidential advisor Brzezinski presents plan to quit Iraq: The plan would allow Washington to disengage gradually in Iraq, ”without victory, but also without defeat,”

Insulating Bush : Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser, cautioned other White House aides in the summer of 2003 that Bush's 2004 re-election prospects would be severely damaged if it was publicly disclosed that he had been personally warned that a key rationale for going to war had been challenged within the administration

K Gajendra Singh: Hyper power hubris: Here are men in USA with terrible means of destruction in their hands , with their narrow corporate experience and vision ,with little overall holistic understanding , hurtling along a mad course to a war , opposed by majority of the world and its population .

Noam Chomsky on Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy: Professor Chomsky thinks that the United States is beginning to resemble a failed state that cannot protect its citizens from violence and has a government that regards itself as beyond the reach of domestic or international law.

Four Including "Top" Palestinian militant killed in Gaza A car explosion near a Gaza mosque killed a top Palestinian militant on Friday, triggering gun battles in which three others died after fighters accused Palestinian security chiefs of collaborating with Israel.

Four Israelis killed by suicide bomber: Police and Israeli settlers pieced together the story: The Israelis picked up a hitchhiker, who was dressed like an Orthodox Jew. He was the bomber and the blast killed everyone in the vehicle.

Israel bombs Gaza after suicide attack: Israeli aircraft destroyed several sites in northern Gaza and artillery gunners fired shells at open areas in the territory.

A just peace or no peace : Ismail Haniyeh is the new Palestinian prime minister and a Hamas leader

Hamas offered Israel 30-year truce in 1997: Islamist group Hamas offered Israel a 30-year truce in 1997 but it was overtaken by a botched assassination attempt against its now leader, Khaled Meshaal, a former spy chief is reportedly to reveal in upcoming memoirs.

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Palestinian Official Criticizes U.S.: Newly installed Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar said the United States is biased toward Israel, guilty of crimes against Muslims and Arabs and is widening the rift with the Middle East.

West is ‘racist’ towards Palestinians: Haniya: New Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said Palestinians were “sick and tired of the West’s racist approach” to the Middle East conflict in an article published in a British newspaper on Friday.

An interview with Hanan Ashrawi : Would Hamas accept a two-state solution? Would it recognize a signed agreement with Israel? They said they will honor agreements provided they are consistent with the national interest. Well, how can you define national interest?

US professors accused of being liars and bigots over essay on pro-Israeli lobby: The pro-Israel lobby and its sway over American policy has always been a controversial issue, but the professors' bluntly worded polemic created a firestorm, drawing condemnation from left and right of the political spectrum.

Holocaust Analogies: Repaying the Mortgage: As a self-styled 'national' movement, Zionism claims to represent all Jews, irrespective of their wishes and wherever they live. Support for the Palestinian national struggle and opposition to Zionism, and its concept of a 'Jewish people', is interpreted as hatred of Jews as Jews, i.e. anti-Semitism.

Iran says it has successfully test-fired a missile able to avoid radar: - Iran successfully test-fired on Friday a missile with the ability to avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously, the airforce chief of the elite Revolutionary Guards said.

Iran: Scenarios of an American strike: The risks are great if Washington's neo-cons choose military options to prevent Iran from blocking US imperial designs for the Middle East

Nuking innocence: Iran is being set up for “an unprovoked nuclear attack”

Head of Arab League Calls on Arab States to Enter Nuclear Club: According to a report in the Associated Press, Arab League head Amr Moussa called on Arab states to pursue the development of atomic energy.

Iran's plan to weaken the dollar will fail: Surely Tehran lost touch with reality when it developed its plan to use a new, euro-based oil exchange, on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf, to dethrone the greenback from its position as the world's reigning reserve currency.

Taleban ‘Control’ 3 Villages After Clashes Kill Six: Taleban insurgents took control of three villages in southern Afghanistan after security forces retreated following a battle in which six militants were killed, an official said.

Afghan boy killed in car bombing: The four-year-old was playing on a street when the suicide attack occurred.

James Petras : Record Profits and Rising Authoritarianism : The ascendancy of finance capital and its influence over US economic policy has had major, largely negative, consequences for the US economy, especially our living standards, external accounts and budget.

The US-China trade imbalance: The world's interlinked economies no longer trade to capture a comparative advantage; they compete in exports to capture dollars needed to service dollar-denominated foreign debts and to accumulate dollar reserves to sustain the exchange value of their domestic currencies.

Blackburn mosque cancels Rice invitation: Muslim leaders yesterday withdrew an invitation to the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, to visit a mosque in the Blackburn constituency of the home secretary, Jack Straw.

Forgotten Victims : A Plea to U.S.: Activists and Vietnam War veterans wrapped up a global conference on Agent Orange Wednesday with a plea to the U.S. government and chemical companies to take responsibility for health problems linked to the wartime defoliant.

911 - What really happened? : A collection of academics have recently posed an alternative theory to what caused the ultimate destruction of the steel reinforced WTC.

911 Loose Change 2nd Edition with extra footage

The new face of apartheid: J. Kenneth Hackwell: The most unprincipled and opportunistic man in the history of Ohio, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, stands poised to claim the Republican primary for governor. Blackwell and his far-right theocratic “rapture-ready” Christian dominionists will doom the Buckeye State to further despair.

Antarctic air is warming faster than rest of world: New finding could have implications for sea level rises

Pentagon block on move for safer water: The Pentagon stalled efforts to clean water supplies contaminated by a carcinogenic chemical despite evidence that it posed a significant health risk to millions of people, it was reported yesterday.

No Bravery

A nation blind to their disgrace

A 4 Minute Video

03/30/06

Will The U.S. Nuke Iran?

Professor of Physics Highlights The Dangers

New US policy  to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear countries has been officially formulated in two US government documents Nuclear Posture Review delivered to Congress in December 2001 and  Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations dated March 15, 2005.
 Continued

Making the World Safe for Christianity
 
 By Congressman Ron Paul

The Muslim world is not fooled by our talk about spreading democracy and values. The evidence is too overwhelming that we do not hesitate to support dictators and install puppet governments when it serves our interests. When democratic elections result in the elevation of a leader or party not to our liking, we do not hesitate for a minute to undermine that government.  Continue Video and transcript

Leaked memo details US, UK war talks

Reporter: Stephen McDonell

TONY JONES: New evidence has emerged which appears to show that the United States and the British governments were set to invade Iraq, regardless of whether a second UN resolution was carried and even if international arms inspections failed. Click here to view - Click here to download

 Bush, Blair had ‘no evidence’ of Iraq WMDs

It's extremely rare,  to get this kind of an insight of an extremely private, we should say secret meeting between two leaders preparing for a coming war. Tell us what you think are the main insights to be gained from the so-called White House memo? Click here to view - Click here to download Real Media Click here to download Windows Media

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|

 "Democracy" For Sale

Mr Abramoff Goes to Washington

Abramoff's testimony threatens not only the most senior politicians in the country but it is also exposing the corrosive influence of lobbyists' money on American democracy. Video and Transcript

Click below to read or post comments on this report

Iraq: 16 killed in continuing violence: Eight Iraqi employees working in the Baiji electric power facilities were killed by gunmen

U.S. Soldier Killed In Action: A Soldier assigned to 9th Naval Construction Regiment died from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province

U.S.Airman Killed In Action: One Airman assigned to the 447th Air Expeditionary Group was killed and one Airman was injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) while conducting safing operations in the vicinity of Baghdad, Iraq, today

Puppet finds own voice: Iraq leader warns U.S. to stop interfering : In the face of growing pressure from the Bush administration for him to step down, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari of Iraq on Wednesday vigorously asserted his right to stay in office and warned the Americans against undue interference in Iraq's political process.

Iraq unrest displaces 30 thousand: The figures from an Iraqi government ministry are echoed in findings by a UN-affiliated body, the International Organisation for Migration.

Dahr Jamail: An "Alliance" of Violence : A disturbing trend noticeable in Iraq for quite some time now is that each aggressive Israeli military operation in the occupied territories results in a corresponding increase in the number of attacks on US forces in Iraq.

Jill Carroll Released Unharmed: Journalist Says Captors In Iraq Treated Her Well

Evelyn Pringle: Which Soldier Will Be The Last To Die For Bush's Mistake? : Lets quit pussy-footing around and call it like it is. The war in Iraq is a grand profiteering scheme gone awry and Americans need to take off their blinders and face the truth.

Repairing Rumsfeld's Damage: Anyone else might be embarrassed when not one but two detailed studies of the way he's doing business conclude that his plans and assumptions are totally wrong, but not Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Manufacturing consent for war: UN Security Council calls on Iran to suspend enrichment-related activities: Expressing serious concern that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is unable to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran, the United Nations Security Council today called upon that country to re-establish full and sustained suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities,

UN demands Iran stop uranium enrichment work: Iran remained defiant, saying that it was not seeking an atomic bomb and regardless of assurances, the United States and others would find new reasons to fault Tehran.

Iran rejects call to halt enrichment: Iran refused Thursday to comply with a UN Security Council demand to freeze uranium enrichment, defying a call by major world powers to curb its nuclear program or face isolation.

World powers discuss next steps in Iran crisis: Six world powers were gathering in Berlin on Thursday to discuss the next steps in dealing with Iran's nuclear programme, with Russia and China looking for assurances that there are no plans to use force against Tehran.

Russian warning over Iran crisis : Russia has warned it will not support any attempts to use force to resolve the stand-off over Iran's controversial nuclear programme.

Iran to hold large-scale naval war games: Today, Iran is calling for its rightful demands with strength and national unity and these exercises will show an increase of strength and preparedness?, the navy commander added.

Iran's plan to weaken the dollar will fail: Surely Tehran lost touch with reality when it developed its plan to use a new, euro-based oil exchange, on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf, to dethrone the greenback from its position as the world's reigning reserve currency.

Weinberger, Bushes & Iran-Contra: In the early-to-mid 1980s, Ronald Reagan had sought to avoid a head-on clash with Congress by taking his foreign policy underground, using cutouts like Israel to ship missiles to Iran and White House aide Oliver North to funnel supplies to the contra rebels fighting in Nicaragua.

District chief, five others killed in Taliban attacks: Six people, including a district chief and five low-ranking officials, were killed by Taliban on Thursday in two separate attacks in southern Afghanistan.

Two Afghans killed in Taliban attack: A police director and his brother were shot dead as they were travelling to work Thursday in the province's Musa Qala district, said deputy provincial governor Amir Akhund.

Suicide attack kills 1, wounds 7 in S. Afghanistan : A suicide bomb attack that shocked Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province Thursday morning left the bomber dead and injured seven others including a woman and two children

In case you missed it: John Pilger: Breaking The Silence: A hard hitting special report into the "war on terror"

Hamas says Israel's has declared war on Palestinians: : ISami Abu Zohri, a Hamas spokesman, said: “The initial results show that the Israelis voted for Olmert’s plan, which is a declaration of war on the Palestinians and the liquidation of Palestinian rights.

US's Rice: US Might Back Israeli Border Plans -BBC : The U.S. may be open to backing Israel's Kadima party in plans to draw the country's borders without Palestinian input, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as saying on its Web site Thursday.

Hamas leader: Israel must withdraw completely from Palestinian territories : Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal said the price for peace was Israel's total withdrawal from the Palestinian Territories, in a newspaper interview published here on Wednesday.

Following Israel's lead, Canada cuts aid to Palestinian's: Canada has become the first country after Israel to cut off aid and diplomatic ties with the Palestinian Authority since Hamas, a group that Ottawa considers a terrorist organization, won the legislative election in January.

Palestinian Cabinet ministers face financial crisis on first day in office : The Hamas-led government faced a financial crisis on its first day in office Thursday, as Western nations threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority if the militant group does not soften its stance on Israel.

George Galloway : Surfing in the sewer: "Our press, which you appear to regard as being free ... is the most enslaved and the vilest thing." William Cobbett, Political Register, 1830.

Exxon Mobil not welcome in Venezuela anymore: Venezuela's oil minister said today that Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's second-largest integrated oil company, was no longer welcome in this oil-producing nation.

Send in the marines: U.S. Strike Group Will Head South For "Training": Some defense analysts suggested that the unusual two-month-long deployment, set to begin in early April, could be interpreted as a show of force by "anti-American governments in Venezuela and Cuba".

Venezuela postpones ban on US airlines : The decision to postpone the ban was made after talks with US officials and Venezuela's INAC aviation authority said on Wednesday (30 March) that it would suspend the ban until 25 April.

S.America pipeline said to exceed estimate: The cost of building a natural gas pipeline spanning South America would exceed the most recent estimate of US$25 billion (euro20.7 billion), the chief executive of Brazil's state-owned petroleum company said in an interview published Thursday.

Fear and Loathing in Asia: The Pentagon’s annual report to Congress confirmed the rapid growth in Chinese military capabilities.[3] The report pointed out that the weapons that Beijing has amassed to intimidate Taiwan--700 short-range missiles, a modernizing fleet of diesel and nuclear submarines, fourth-generation aircraft procured from Russia, increased operational tempo and sophistication of military exercises--also can be used against other regional powers.

Ex-Prosecutor Accused of Concealing Evidence in Terror Case : A grand jury charged today that a former federal prosecutor in Detroit who led one of the Justice Department's biggest terrorism investigations concealed critical evidence in the case in an effort to bolster the government's theory that a group of local Muslim men were plotting an attack.

Long Live The 9/11 Conspiracy! : Anyone still care about the heap of disturbing, unsolved questions surrounding Our Great Tragedy?

The Ground Zero Grassy Knoll: You probably already know that much of what exactly happened on Sept. 11 remains deeply unsettling and largely unsolved -- or to put another way, if you don't know all of this and if you fully and blithely accept the official Sept. 11 story, well, you haven't been paying close enough attention.

Explosive Testimony: Revelations about the Twin Towers in the 9/11 Oral Histories: Aan interview with Professor David Ray Griffin

Sheila Samples : 9/11 -- Eliminating The Impossible.: I said I'd never do it -- say what I think about that terrible morning of September 11, 2001. I've seen what happens to those who question the elaborate, tangled explanations the Bush administration offers about what happened, how it happened, who did it

In case you missed it: Rare Video Footage From Inside The World Trade Center On 9/11

80 Eyes on 2,400 People : If terrorists come to tiny Dillingham, Alaska, security cameras will be ready. But privacy concerns have residents up in arms

Jailing of doctor in India, highlights scandal of aborted girl foetuses : An Indian doctor has been sentenced to two years in prison for revealing the sex of a foetus and agreeing to abort it, in a landmark ruling that campaigners say will boost efforts to end the practice which causes the loss of 500,000 female babies a year

03/29/06

We're Sorry

Former US soldiers on the personal cost of war in Iraq.

We have a powerful film this evening. We follow a group of former US soldiers who have returned from Iraq deeply affected by the experience.

This is a must watch - Newsnight - BBC - Broadcast O3/29/06 Click here to watch - Click here to download

'If you start looking at them as humans, then how are you gonna kill them?'

By Inigo Gilmore and Teresa Smith joined them

He claims that US soldiers such as him were told little about Iraq, Iraqis or Islam before serving there; other than a book of Arabic phrases, "the message was always: 'Islam is evil' and 'They hate us.' Most of the guys I was with believed it." Continued

Finding no fault
 
 By Molly Ivins
 
The Pentagon has once again investigated itself! And -- have a seat, get the smelling salts, hold all hats -- the Pentagon has once again concluded the Pentagon did absolutely nothing wrong and will continue to do so. Continued

Channel 4 - Paints Chavez As Dictator

By John Pilger

This was a disgrace from beginning to end. Worse, it joined the kind of hysteria in the US that is following the Bush administration’s agenda of “positioning” Venezuela as a “rogue state” and a threat to US interests: in other words, softening it up for attack. Continued

Interview With America's Auditor -in-Chief, David Walker

Is America facing an economic disaster?

The richest, most powerful nation on earth faces a fiscal "tsunami" which threatens to overwhelm Government and citizens alike. Who says so? America's auditor in chief, David Walker, whose job it is to oversee all Federal spending. He's pleading with US politicians and taxpayers to face up to the harsh economic realities that come with an ageing population and spiralling budget deficits. But is economic disaster really so close at hand?

Click here to view: Click here to download

Click below to read or post comments on this report

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Iraq: 2 U.S. Soldier Among 18 Killed In Continuing Violence: Gunmen wearing the uniform worn by Iraqi police commandos killed at least nine people and wounded several more in a raid on an electronics store in the city's west.

Soldiers Discover 13 Bodies: Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces Soldiers discovered the bodies of 13 Iraqi nationals alongside a major thoroughfare in western Baghdad March 28.

30-40 bodies are found in Baghdad streets daily: Around 30-40 bodies, many shot in the head and showing signs of torture, are being found on the streets of the capital every day, morgue officials say.

Iraqi gunmen kill eight employees of Baghdad electronics trading company : Also Wednesday, gunmen killed three staffers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in a drive-by shooting in west Baghdad, Abdul-Razzaq said.

Australia demands Iraq shooting probe: University of Baghdad Professor Kays Juma, 72, was killed by security guards who opened fire when the professor's vehicle got too close to a convoy of 4WDs ferrying private contractors, The Herald Sun reported today.

Thousands of Iraqis flee to avoid violence: Sectarian violence has displaced more than 25,000 Iraqis since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine, a U.N.-affiliated agency said Tuesday, and shelters and tent cities are springing up across central and southern Iraq to house homeless Sunni and Shiite families.

Bush's call for removal of Iraqi PM threatens rift with Shias : President George W Bush has made it clear that he does not want Ibrahim al-Jaafari to remain prime minister of Iraq in a move likely to increase hostility between the US and the Shia community.

U.S. appeals to Iraq's top cleric to help end political impasse: U.S. officials sent a message this week to Iraq's senior religious cleric asking that he help end the impasse over forming a new Iraqi government and strongly implying that the prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jafaari, should withdraw his candidacy for re-election, according to American officials.

Charley Reese : Time To Leave: We, the United States, cannot fix Iraq now or ever. We can pay bribes and cajole and threaten, but in the end, the fate of Iraq is now in the hands of the Iraqis, and there is nothing we can do about it.

A madness for war: We took out a madman with madness. At a minimum, there should be hearings, with Bush under oath. With any more details like this, the next step is impeachment.

Bombing civilians is not only immoral, it's ineffective : The US marine air wings operating in Iraq announced in a press release in November 2005 that since the invasion began it had dropped more than half a million tons of explosives on Iraq.

The Iraqi Civil War in Context : Those seeking to discover some of the key precipitating factors behind Iraq's furious plunge into chaos and disintegration might find one of them in the records of an obscure Congressional committee meeting on August 10, 2004.

War without end : For double amputee Sgt. Brent Bretz, the medical complications of his injuries are only part of the challenge of becoming whole again There is also the difficulty of rediscovering humor and play, self-reliance and manhood

Halliburton overcharged for Iraq oil work: : Halliburton Co., the world's second largest oil services company, repeatedly overcharged taxpayers and provided substandard cost reports under a $1.2 billion contract to restore Iraq's southern oil fields, according to a new report by U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman

MI5 enabled UK pair's 'rendition' : "They could hear screams from other prisoners "

U.S-led forces kill another Afghan 20 "insurgents": U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan killed another 20 insurgents on Wednesday in fighting that began with a bloody Taliban attack on a military base.

Canadian, U.S. Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan : An American and a Canadian soldier were killed today in fighting in southern Afghanistan.

26 killed in clashes near Afghan border : Gunmen loyal to rival pro-Taleban clerics fought street battles in Pakistan’s tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, leaving at least 26 people dead, officials said yesterday.

One Killed AS shuts Peshawar mission after threat : A bomb killed a policeman and injured 16 civilians in Peshawar yesterday, officials said, hours after the US consulate in the northwestern Pakistani city closed due to a security threat.

N-bomb: 'Saudi secretly working with Pak experts': Saudi Arabia is working secretly on a nuclear programme, with help from Pakistani experts, the German magazine Cicero reports in its latest edition, citing western security sources

Neo-con cabal blocked 2003 nuclear talks : The George W Bush administration failed to enter into negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program in May 2003 because neo-conservatives who advocated destabilization and regime change were able to block any serious diplomatic engagement with Tehran, according to former administration officials.

Kadima building coalition after victory : Kadima was set to win 28 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Like every other ruling party in Israeli history, Kadima will have to form a coalition government with other movements.

US cuts diplomatic ties with Palestinian government : The US today banned its diplomats from having any contact with the Hamas-led cabinet as it was sworn in by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.

Result could spell end of US role in pushing for peace: THIRTY years of intense US-led diplomacy, "aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict", could draw to an end in the wake of yesterday’s Israeli elections and the confirmation of a new militant Palestinian government.

Charles Taylor delivered to war crimes court : Charles Taylor, the former Liberian leader wanted for war crimes, is being flown to his home country following his arrest in Nigeria.

BBC Report: Darfur Two Hundred Thousand People Dead, and Two Million Displaced.: The crisis could have been avoided. Click here to View - Click here to download

Fitzgerald Will Seek New White House Indictments : Insiders say he'll soon be seeking a Grand Jury indictment against Karl Rove or National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley.

Abramoff gets 5 years, 10 months in fraud case : Assuring the judge he is working to become “a new man,” disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced Wednesday to nearly six years in prison for committing fraud in the purchase of a fleet of gambling boats.

GOP congressional candidate faked photo of Baghdad : He posted on the official Web site for his campaign a picture taken in “downtown Baghdad,” he said, during his visit to the city, which supposedly indicated that the media was wrong about the level of violence in the city.

GM Begins Firing Salaried Workers at About 30 U.S. Locations : General Motors Corp., struggling with $10.6 billion in losses last year, started firing hundreds of its U.S. salaried employees at about 30 U.S. locations, part of a North American restructuring plan.

Thom Hartmann : Illegal Workers: the Cons' Secret Weapon : None will tell Americans the truth about why we have eleven million illegal aliens in this nation now (when it was fewer than 2 million when Reagan came into office), why they're staying, or why they keep coming.

Jesse Jackson : Wage War on Poverty, Not Immigrants : We can spend billions trying to lock immigrants out and hold those that come in down. Or we can devote energy and resources now wasted on a civil war in Iraq to help lift our neighbors up, gain real trading partners and significantly reduce the misery that drives people from their homes.

Brazil's Lula Lashes Out At Rich Nations: Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva Monday castigated the wealthy and technologically advanced countries of the world for failing to live up to their responsibility in tackling poverty and environmental degradation on the planet.

Argentina & Uruguay Abandon School Of Americas: Critical victory for human rights organizations across the Americas

Watchdog contends budget bill broke law: President Bush signed into law a bill that never passed the House. Bill – in this case, a major budget-cutting measure that will affect millions of Americans – became a law because it was “certified” by the leaders of the House and Senate.

U.S. bonds dive after decision on rates : Prices on U.S. Treasury notes plunged on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the 15th straight time and signaled that further increases lay ahead.

03/28/06

Veteran: War Based On Greed

Delta Force founder finds Bush deaf to Iraq criticism

By Diane Wagner

It is the duty of every American citizen to stand up and say it when something is wrong,” he said. “This administration has wrapped itself in the troops. They’ve learned from Vietnam to say, ‘If you don’t support me, you don’t support the troops,’ but they’re hiding behind those kids.” Continued 

Pillaging the Treasury and the Constitution

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

President Bush passes himself off as a conservative Republican and a born-again Christian. These are disguises behind which Bush hides. Would a Christian invade another country on false pretenses, kill tens of thousands of innocent civilians, and show no remorse or inclination to cease the aggression? Continued

US living on borrowed time - and money

By Julian Delasantellis

Buried deep in the arcanum of some recently released economic statistics are indications that the world is tiring of its role as America's charge card. Continued

The Cowards Path

An open letter to Ralph Nader

By Linda H Riegler

Sir, I owe you an apology… Continued

No Bravery

A nation blind to their disgrace

A 4 Minute Video Flash presentation

The Future of Food :

Video

"The Future Of Food" offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade. Watch it here

As Many as 90 Killed : Some Shiites, according to al-Hayat, are saying that the US is deliberately attempting to provoke a civil war in Iraq. Among their concerns was the US military's announcement that the attack on the Mustafa Husayniyah in Ur was the work of an Iraqi military unit.

14 bodies found in western Baghdad : "Our patrols found 14 bodies under the highway bridge in the Adel district," the source said on condition of anonymity. The bodies were blindfolded, bound and shot in the head, he said.

Iraq: 12 killed in continuing violence: The spate of attacks on Tuesday came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside an Iraqi army recruitment center in northwestern Iraq, killing 40 people.

Curfew imposed in Iraqi city of Beiji: No vehicles except ambulances and those used by joint U.S.-Iraqi troops were allowed in the streets

Rival Shia groups unite against US after mosque raid : Exactly what happened on Sunday night is in dispute, but in a political sense it no longer matters. Tension between the Americans and Shia leaders had been rising for weeks, since Washington started pushing for Mr Jabr's replacement as police minister and went on to oppose Mr Jaafari remaining as prime minister.

U.S. troops say Iraqis faked "massacre": "After the fact, someone went in and made the scene look different from what it was. There's been huge misinformation," Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, the second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq, said.

Fury Over Mosque Massacre: Shias May Now Turn on US Forces: The killing of what the Americans say were 16 "insurgents", and what Shias claim were 37 unarmed worshippers in the Mustafa mosque, may turn out to be a turning point in the three-year-old Iraq crisis.

In case you missed it: Looking for an Iraq precedent? Try Honduras : The report last week that Iraq's recently installed prime minister, Iyad Allawi, was setting up a new security service, the General Security Directorate, to "annihilate" terrorists, rang a bell.

U.S. envoy reportedly seeks new Iraq PM: The U.S. ambassador to Iraq has asked one of Iraq's most prominent Shiite politicians to seek the withdrawal of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's contentious nomination for a second term, two aides said Monday.

One Morning in Haditha: U.S. Marines killed 15 Iraqi civilians in their homes last November. Was it self-defense, an accident or cold-blooded revenge?

Soldiers flee to Canada to avoid Iraq duty : Hundreds of deserters from the US armed forces have crossed into Canada and are now seeking political refugee status there, arguing that violations of the rules of war in Iraq by the US entitle them to asylum.

Halliburton’s Performance Worsen: Halliburton “tried to inflate cost estimate by $26M.” In a third example, Halliburton claimed costs for laying concrete pads and footings that the Iraqi Oil Ministry had “already put in place.”

Eric Margolis: Neocon ambitions and the spectacular disaster of Iraq : In reality, the Bush Administration went to war to attain two objectives: 1. Seizing Iraq’s vast oil reserves, and turning Iraq into a base to dominate the Middle East; 2. Destroying one of Israel’s two main enemies( Iran being the other).

Imperial overreach is accelerating the global decline of America : The disastrous foreign policies of the US have left it more isolated than ever, and China is standing by to take over

Iraqi Documents Are Put on Web, and Search Is On : American intelligence agencies and presidential commissions long ago concluded that Saddam Hussein had no unconventional weapons and no substantive ties to Al Qaeda before the 2003 invasion.

U.S. top court to weigh Guantanamo tribunals: The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge Tuesday from Osama bin Laden's former chauffeur on President George Bush's power to set up war crimes tribunals at Guantanamo Bay.

Britain 'complicit' in human rights abuses at Camp Delta : Britain has been complicit in the human rights abuses committed by US authorities at Guantanamo Bay prison camp, according to a report released today.  Drawing on exhaustive interviews with detainees and evidence from security services, the dossier gives the complete picture of the British government's co- operation with the US over a camp it now says should be closed.

Fabricating Terrorism - Executive Summary : ‘Our promotion of human rights and democracy is in keeping with America's most cherished principles and it helps to lay the foundation for lasting peace in the world … The duty to defend human rights and to help spread democracies' blessings is especially great for the United States and other free nations …" Condoleezza Rice

Report: Full Text: Fabricating Terrorism: British Complicity in Renditions and Torture

An end to hypocrisy on the issue of human rights : Signatures backing the demand rise to 4,566

Afghanistan : 12 Killed in continuing violence: A roadside bomb killed six Afghan soldiers Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan army general said, and four private security workers were killed elsewhere in attacks blamed on Taliban rebels.

3 Afghans, 2 Foreigners Killed in Southern Afghanistan Roadside Blast : Officials say the victims worked for an American security company (USPI) and were killed on the road linking Kandahar with Herat.

Explosion kills two in Israel: Two Israelis have been killed in an explosion near the border with the Gaza Strip in what Palestinian militant movement Islamic Jihad said was an attack designed to disrupt the country's election.

Palestinian Killed and Others Wounded in Jenin and Jerusalem,: Israeli occupation forces (IOF) killed a citizen early this morning in the province of Jenin, while another was wounded near Jerusalem, while eight were arrested a complete lockdown was imposed on the occupied Palestinian territories

Arabs renew peace offer to Israel, call for talks: Arab leaders meeting in Sudan on Tuesday promoted a land-for-peace offer to Israel, even as Israelis voted in polls that could give their next government a mandate to impose permanent borders with the Palestinians.

All Israeli parties commit crimes against Palestinians: Hamas : A senior leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said on Tuesday that there was no difference between the Israeli parties since "all committed crimes against the Palestinian people."

Haniyeh slams U.S. for ignoring Hamas offer for talks with West: Palestinian prime minister designate Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday criticized the United States for its cool response to Hamas' call for dialogue with the West.

Saeb Erekat: The end of the Palestinian Authority: Saeb Erikat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, recently warned that Mahmoud Abbas, the president, might "embark on dismantling" the Palestinian Authority (PA) if Israel continued to carry out "acts of piracy" inside areas officially run but only nominally controlled by the PA.

Noam Chomsky: The Israel Lobby: I've received many requests to comment on the article by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt (henceforth M-W), published in the London Review of Books, which has been circulating extensively on the internet and has elicited a storm of controversy. A few thoughts on the matter follow.

Gwynne Dyer : After the election: What next for Israel?: At the moment, Israel holds all the cards in the Middle East. Its army and its economy are incomparably stronger than those of its Arab neighbors. It has hundreds of nuclear weapons and they have none. And it has 110 percent support from the United States, the world's only superpower.

Delays turn to stalemate over Iran's nuclear ambitions: With both Russia and China balking at any council statement that might open the door to sanctions against Iran further down the road, agreement on a diplomatic rebuff could still be a week or more away

Christian clerics are fostering hate: I think the leaders of our country and all people of conscience should repudiate these remarks that translate into acts of bias, discrimination and even violence against Muslims.

Protests in Puerto Rico mount against FBI over tactics: The FBI is under attack in Puerto Rico for operations that critics say unfairly target pro-independence activists.

U.S. Willing to Deploy Combat Troops to Colombia: Given that the U.S. government’s intervention in Colombia already involves everything but the deployment of U.S. combat troops, it is clear that Patterson’s comments were intended to illustrate the Bush administration’s willingness to deploy U.S. troops to Colombia to combat FARC guerrillas.

'Asia must prepare for dollar collapse': East Asian economies need to prepare for a possible collapse of the US dollar, the Asian Development Bank says.

East Asian economies must prepare for possible sharp US dollar slide : With the US trade deficit at a record high and global interest rates rising, East Asian economies need to be prepared for a possible sharp slump in the value of the dollar, the Asian Development Bank warned here.

Core contradictions: The US trade deficit with China ballooned in 2005 to US$202 billion, more than one-quarter of the total deficit

Ron Paul: The Perils of Economic Ignorance: Last week in this column I wrote of a perfect economic storm facing America, caused by a federal government that spends, borrows, and prints so much money that our dollars are eroding in value at an alarming rate.

American Theocracy: Kevin Phillips Interviewed by Grover Norquist: Kevin Phillips, a former Republican strategist explains his problems with America's majority political party. His new book is titled "American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century."

Big Oil's Big Windfall : A public already groaning under huge deficits does not need more red ink. An oil industry already rolling in record profits does not need more tax breaks. But both are sure to happen unless some way can be found to claw back from a decade's worth of Congressional and administrative blunders, aggressive lobbying and industry greed.

We can afford bombs while : 'Policy' denies nutrients to 1,000 Florida children: More than a thousand severely disabled or chronically ill children who relied on state dollars for life-sustaining nutritional supplements have been cut off from Florida's Medicaid program, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings to the agency, state officials acknowledged Thursday.

Peak oil and failing mass media: How can we solve a problem that we do not know exists? Who will speak out?

Citizenship bill heads to Senate floor : A Senate panel Monday approved a bill that would allow millions of undocumented immigrants to obtain legal status and eventual citizenship without first leaving the United States. It also would allow hundreds of thousands of foreigners to come work here every year.

Paul Krugman: North of the Border : I'm instinctively, emotionally pro-immigration. But a review of serious, nonpartisan research reveals some uncomfortable facts about the economics of modern immigration, and immigration from Mexico in particular.

Video: The Future of Food : THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.

03/27/06

Iraq minister says US, Iraqi troops killed 37

By Reuters

"They were all unarmed. Nobody fired a single shot at them (the troops). They went in, tied up the people and shot them all. They did not leave any wounded behind," he told Reuters. Continued

Sending mentally ill soldiers back to Iraq

By Stephen Soldz 

These soldiers are armed with lethal weapons and are often in a position to make split-second life-or-death decisions. Continued

Exposed: How American Contractors With The Help Of U.S. Government Raped Iraq

Iraq's Missing Billions

Dispatches/GuardianFilms

A shocking story of fraud, incompetence and corruption, unscrupulous foreign contractors who made millions from dodgy contracts, and literally billions of dollars which cannot be properly accounted for. Watch it here - Download File

Suicide bomber kills 40 in blast in Iraq's Mosul: Iraq's Defense Ministry said on Monday that a blast in the northern city of Mosul was carried out by a suicide bomber who killed 40 people in an attack on army recruits.

Troops accused of mosque massacre: A senior aide to Sadr, accused US troops of shooting dead more than 20 unarmed worshippers at the Mustapha mosque after tying them up. The mosque's faithful follow Sadr but the aide denied they were Mehdi Army gunmen.

Iraqi interior minister calls joint US-Iraqi raid 'unjustified' : "It was an unjustified aggression against the faithful at prayer in a mosque," he told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite channel about the special forces raid that took place late Sunday.

BBC Report: Many dead in Baghdad mosque raid : The US military says its soldiers were helping Iraqi forces carry out an operation to arrest a fugitive.

Iraqi PM concerned over killings : We saw unarmed worshippers and we didn't find any Iraqi weapons.

Baghdad governor says suspends cooperation with US: Baghdad provincial governor Hussein al-Tahan said on Monday he would suspend all cooperation with U.S. forces until an independent investigation is launched into the killing of 20 Shi'ites in a mosque.

Iraq parties demand U.S. cede control: Iraq's ruling parties demanded U.S. forces cede control of security on Monday as the government launched an inquiry into a raid on a Shi'ite mosque that ministers said saw "cold blooded" killings by U.S.-led troops.

Juan Cole: 69 Killed in Separate Outbreaks of Violence: It seems possible that the US committed two major military blunders that will worsen its relationship with Iraqi political forces.

Secret Memo: Bush Was Set on Path to War,: During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, he made clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he was determined to invade Iraq without a second resolution.

Bush-Blair Iraq war memo revealed : The memo indicates both leaders acknowledged it was possible no unconventional weapons would be found in Iraq before the invasion, the New York Times says.

Charley Reese: Told You So : What we are witnessing is the beginning of the end of Euro-American domination of the planet. When the emperors start being idiots, the empire is on the way to the ash heap of history. If you have any grandchildren, you might suggest that they study Chinese.

Purported Saddam aide sends message: A taped message purported to be from Saddam Hussein's former deputy calls on Arab leaders to support the Iraqi "resistance" and boycott the government.

US troops arrest Iraq forces: US troops today arrested at least 40 Iraqi Interior Ministry forces who were holding 17 foreigners in a secret bunker complex, political sources said.

Corrupt police and Iraqi crime gangs are the new 'enemy' for British troops: The British estimate that some 10 per cent of the police are actively working against them and the first loyalty of the majority is to a Shia Muslim militia or to their tribe.

Remembering Jesús: The loss of a child is a supremely painful event. Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Iraqi parents attest to that pain, as do the parents of 2,320 fallen US soldiers. People like Fernando Suárez. People like you and me.

BBC Hardtalk - Iraq: Debating a new government : Three years after the US led invasion of Iraq President Bush looks at Iraq and sees, a 'free and secure people getting back on their feet'. Former interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi sees a country already descended into civil war.

Signs of a long US stay ahead: The concrete goes on forever, vanishing into the noonday glare, 2 million cubic feet of it, a mile-long slab that's now the home of as many as 120 US helicopters, a ''heli-park" as good as any back in the States.

Video: Anti-US sentiment madness: Blair: Real Video - Windows Media

File this under hypocrisy: Blair issues plea for 'global alliance' : Tony Blair today made an impassioned plea while speaking to Australian politicians for an international alliance to protect "global values" of fairness, justice and freedom.

Torture and Task Force 121 : The CIA Paramilitary are not considered as ‘part of the armed forces,’ are therefore exempt from the Geneva conventions,” i.e. not governed by the laws of war. “The Special Activities Staff (SAS) is one of the least known covert units operating on behalf of the US Government.”

Bush Signs Statements to Bypass Torture Ban,: When President Bush signed a law banning torture he quietly signed a statement saying he could bypass it. Earlier this month, Bush signed the USA Patriot Act but signed a statement that said he did not consider oversight rules binding.

Guantanamo Bay Briton was MI5 spy, court is told: Bisher al-Rawi, 37, who has lived in Britain for more than 20 years, says that he was working for British Intelligence when he was picked up by the CIA during a trip to Africa.

No Legal Rights for Enemy Combatants, Scalia Says: He also told the audience at the University of Freiburg in Switzerland that he was "astounded" by the "hypocritical" reaction in Europe to the prison'

Should Scalia Recuse Himself From Gitmo Case? : Supreme Court: Detainees' Rights—Scalia Speaks His Mind

Justice Scalia flips the finger in church: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia startled reporters in Boston just minutes after attending a mass, by flipping a middle finger to his critics.

Parliament vigil man is arrested : Anti-war protester Brian Haw, who won a court battle to maintain his Parliament Square vigil which began in 2001, has been arrested.

Towns, Cities Pass Resolutions Urging Impeachment: Brattleboro, Vermont, has joined nine other towns and cities, five state Democratic parties, and 19 local Democratic committees in passing resolutions urging the impeachment of President Bush and -- in most cases -- Vice President Cheney.

7 Taliban, 3 locals killed in Kabul carnage: Afghan soldiers have killed seven Taliban militants during a six-hour battle in southern Afghanistan while a roadside bomb left three villagers dead, officials said on Monday.

MI5 'helped IRA buy bomb parts in US': A FORMER British Army mole in the IRA has claimed that MI5 arranged a weapons-buying trip to America in which he obtained detonators, later used by terrorists to murder soldiers and police officers.

Gaza Strip: Three Palestinians killed by Israeli fire : Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli occupation forces on Monday in the northern Gaza Strip. The men were reportedly killed during a firefight with the Israeli soldiers after they approached the Gaza "border" with Israel.

Gideon Levy: 'Are we finished having our children killed?' : This is the way undercover soldiers from the Border Police killed Akaber Zaid, an eight-and-a-half year-old, who was on her way to the doctor, according to her uncle, who was with her and was also wounded.

Separation Before Peace : Israelis to vote for Sharon legacy : Kadima heads for victory by pressing on with ailing founder's plan to put separation before peace

Israel's anti-Arab parties: Several parties who maintain anti-Arab platforms are running for seats in the upcoming Israeli general elections, with at least one having previously called for "relentless terror" against Palestinians

Maze of checkpoints separates sisters: The rare meeting between the sisters is one example among many of the social repercussions of travel restrictions imposed by the Israel Defense Forces on Palestinians in the West Bank.

Award Winning Palestinian human rights advocate blocked from visiting Washington: Robert F. Kennedy Memorial calls on members of the media and human rights community to ask State Department officials how this could happen

In case you missed it: Christian Zionism: The new heresy that sways America : Christian Zionism is a theology that supports a political regime based on apartheid and discrimination - yet millions of people in the US express their support for it. How dangerous is it given the US role in the Middle East? 

An Empire Built of Paper: The president moves about like Caesar Augustus, with a vast, graded court of civil and military aides, doctors, secretaries, valets, hairdressers, makeup artists, bodyguards, drivers, baggage handlers, cooks, food tasters, Praetorian guards, snipers, centurions, bulletproof limos, a portable hospital, and an armored rostrum. And that’s when he travels in the U.S.

Moussaoui Says He and Reid Planned to Attack the White House : ``Yes, I was supposed to pilot a plane to hit the White House,'' Moussaoui said. He also said, ``I knew the towers would be hit,'' referring to the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.

Video: The Great Conspiracy: The 9/11 News Special You Did Not See

Between 500,000 to 2 Million Demonstrate Against Anti-Immigrant Bill: Stretching for 26 blocks, the crowd of over half a million people marched peacefully in what was possibly the largest gathering in the city's history. Some estimates put the crowd total at around two million.

Norma Sherry : Corpses for Capitalism: You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Buys You

Earth Is At ... The Tipping Point

Polar Ice Caps Are Melting Faster Than Ever... More And More Land Is Being Devastated By Drought... Rising Waters Are Drowning Low-Lying Communities... By Any Measure, Earth Is At ... The Tipping Point.

No one can say exactly what it looks like when a planet takes ill, but it probably looks a lot like Earth. Never mind what you've heard about global warming as a slow-motion emergency that would take decades to play out. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the crisis is upon us. Continued

03/26/06

Iraqi police say 30 bodies, most beheaded, found north of Baghdad: Iraqi forces found 30 bodies, most beheaded, near a village north of Baghdad on Sunday, in one of the bloodiest episodes in a cycle of apparent sectarian killings.

US forces kill 18 Iraqis in Baghdad, medics say: Police said the clashes erupted after the Mehdi Army militia loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr tried to stop U.S. troops from entering a mosque.

Did American Marines murder 23 Iraqi civilians? : The US military deny accusations of massive over-reaction when attacked. But video evidence from one incident has led the official story to unravel.

Iraqis killed by US troops ‘on rampage’: Khalaf ran from his own house and hid in a nearby grove of trees. He saw the soldiers enter his brother’s home and then heard the sound of women and children screaming.

Gunmen killed two policemen in Wajihiya: A woman was killed and three others wounded by a bomb planted in front of her house in central Baghdad, police said.

Iraqi police major held for death squad role: Bawi, whose brother is the chief of police in Diyala, was accused of operating in death squads in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad.

Questions over Iraq's reconstruction cash: Following the Iraq war, billions of dollars of Iraq's money was directed to American companies to rebuild the country. But much of it remains unaccounted for, and Peter Marshall has been investigating startling allegations of post war profiteering.

Video: Robert Fisk: The five biggest lies about the War on Terror : Phil Vine lists the five biggest lies the public have been fed about the War on Terror in Iraq. And we get Robert Fisk to elaborate.

US planning bases across Middle East, Central Asia: The United States is planning to build at least six bases across the Middle East and Central Asia in the next 10 years for “deep storage” of munitions and equipment to prepare for regional war contingencies.

xclusive Interview With Robert Fisk : Robert Fisk explains how and why terrorism is spreading

God, greed and gushers: What motivates George W. Bush's America: God or greed? Both, according to U.S. political writer Kevin Phillips, in a distinctly unholy alliance that threatens not only U.S. prosperity and geopolitical supremacy, but American democracy itself.

In case you missed it: John Pilger: The great charade The 'war on terror' is a smokescreen created by the ultimate terrorist ... America itself

Video. Why We Fight : What are the forces that shape and propel American militarism? : This award-winning film provides an inside look at the anatomy of the American war machine.

Secrets and Lies: A former Australian Intelligence Officer Goes Public.

7 Taliban, 1 U.S. soldier killed in Afghan battle: U.S. and Afghan government troops attacked a group of Taliban on Saturday and seven of the insurgents and one American were killed, an Afghan commander said.

Robert Fisk: Lessons from the ghosts of Gallipoli: Ataturk's words were the most compassionate ever uttered by a Muslim leader

Israeli Troops kill Palestinian youth in the Gaza Strip : A Palestinian security source reported that a 16-year old Palestinian was shot and killed in the early morning hours on Sunday by Israeli military fire in the Juhr Al Deek area, in the central Gaza Strip.

Hawks plan to drive out Hamas militants: THE Israeli defence ministry has drawn up plans for a massive military operation in the main Palestinian-controlled towns of the West Bank after Tuesday’s elections to break the increasingly powerful grip of militant groups there.

Gideon Levy : Israel: One racist nation : The elections this week are important, because they will expose the true face of Israeli society and its hidden ambitions. More than 100 elected candidates will be sent to the Knesset on the basis of one ticket - the racism ticket

Israeli Squatterssuspected of attacking sleeping Palestinian family : A group of settlers allegedly attacked a Palestinian family in an encampment south of Mount Hebron late Saturday and wounded two men, who are in light to moderate condition.

Gitmo case challenges presidential powers: Supreme Court to consider military tribunals’ legitimacy

Bush's nuclear agreement with India on shaky legs : Growing resistance to President Bush's proposed nuclear cooperation deal with India is threatening to slow, and possibly kill, an agreement that the president has described as vital to improved relations with the budding South Asian power.

DOJ: NSA Could've Monitored Lawyers' Calls: The National Security Agency could have legally monitored ordinarily confidential communications between doctors and patients or attorneys and their clients, the Justice Department said Friday of its controversial warrantless surveillance program.

Librarian fights USA Patriot Act: In libraries, the law gave federal authorities access to business records of any type. It meant law enforcement officers -- through the authorization of a secret court or a National Security Letter signed by an FBI agent -- could demand access to anything from books and reference materials to computer servers if they believed it could aid an ongoing terrorist investigation.

Lawyers who gave to GOP got state work: $170M in legal fees went to contributors

03/25/06

Impeachment or Resignation: Pick Your Poison
 
 By Ralph Nader
 
Attention please, good people! Adjust your routines and come to the aid of your country, and your children with your thoughtful patriotism. Don't just hope for impeachment, demand the resignation now of the mad hatters in the White House--George W. Bush and Richard Cheney. Continued

Iraq Redux

“When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.”  ~ George Bernard Shaw

By Dom Stasi

Today, only slaves to their personal biases cling to the myth of might is right, Go W, These Colors Don’t Run, Power Of Pride, and God Bless America. Which god might that be? Which America would he deign to bless? Continue

War Making 101 - A Users Manual

By Stephen Lendman

Here's one definition of a dictator or at least one practicing to become one. It's a head of state able to decide alone with unchallengeable authority whether or not to take a nation to war for any reason. Here's an add-on to that definition. If a leader does it for any reason other than to respond to an attack by another nation or clear evidence an attack is coming, that leader is also a war criminal. Continue

Some Thoughts about Jesus, The Church, My Country, and The War

By Doug Soderstrom

There can be no misunderstanding that Jesus’ mandate to love is uncompromisingly opposed to the mass slaughter that defines the character of war. However, because so many have successfully distorted the teachings of Jesus, our country has been allowed to launch a decades-long campaign of death and destruction formulated to destroy all who refuse to play “the game” according to our rules. Continued

Children of Abraham - Death in the Desert

This is a must watch flash presentation

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The Road To Guantánamo

How three young men from the UK, ended up in the world's most notorious prison.

Every American Should Be Required To Watch This Video

This docudrama shows the sadism and stupidity of the US and British soldiers. The guards behave with the same cruelty you expect to see from SS officers in lurid second world war movies. It takes a moment or two to realize that these events reflect the reality of those held in Americas notorious gulag.

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Iraq 40 people were killed: 40 people were killed or wounded in a big gunbattle near Mahmoudiya, police said. Police said gunmen of the Shiite Mahdi Army militia were fighting insurgent forces, which are primarily Sunni Muslim.

25 More Bodies Recovered In Baghdad: Baghdad police said they discovered 25 more bodies, blindfolded, shot and dumped throughout the capital.

Iraq: At least 21 Killed In Continuing Violence: Police found ten bodies in different parts of Baghdad, police said. The corpses showed signs of torture and some had been garroted, police said.

U.S. soldiers kill two civilians at check point at Al-Ratba: Ahmed al-Kobaisy, a doctor at al-Ratba hospital said the three victims were shot at when their car approached the site of a US army base on the road. They were admitted to the hospital after which two of them died of their wounds.

2 US occupation soldiers killed: The US military announced that two US soldiers were killed in quote enemy action in Iraq's restive western province of Al-Anbar. Another US soldier was killed Saturday and another was wounded in a fierce clash with about 20 fighters in restive southern Afghanistan.

Battle for Baghdad 'has already started' : The battle between Sunni and Shia Muslims for control of Baghdad has already started, say Iraqi political leaders who predict fierce street fighting will break out as each community takes over districts in which it is strongest.

Bound, Blindfolded and Dead: The Face of Atrocity in Baghdad : In the last month, hundreds of men have been kidnapped, tortured and executed in Baghdad. As Iraqi and American leaders struggle to avert a civil war, the bodies keep piling up.

Militias Kill More Iraqis Than "Terrorists": US Envoy: US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said on Saturday, March 25, that militias, many with strong ties to powerful Shiite leaders and well entrenched in security and police forces, are killing more Iraqis than "terrorists," urging Iraqi leaders to rein them in.

Soldier who killed Iraqi girl in 2004 discharged; no criminal charges filed : he Army has discharged without criminal charges a Schofield Barracks soldier who was involved in the 2004 killing of a 13-year-old girl and wounding of her sister and mother in Iraq.

Rescue in Iraq surprises Canadians: While Canadians rejoiced at the news that two of their citizens were rescued from captivity in Iraq, some were surprised to learn Canadian special forces were involved in the mission and curious as to how many troops are on the ground.

"A Model Democracy Is not Emerging in Iraq": Francis Fukuyama was a life-long neo-conservative prior to the election of the Bush Administration. The Iraq war led him to change his mind. SPIEGEL ONLINE spoke to Fukuyama about the US handling of Iraq, the moral superiority of America and Europe's dangerous addiction to anti-Americanism.

Senate hearing set on move to censure Bush : The Republican-led U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Friday it would hold a hearing next week on a call by a Democratic lawmaker to censure President George W. Bush for his domestic spy program.

Jason Miller: Democratizing the World: One Torture Victim at a Time : Psychological torture, sleep deprivation, brutality, severe sexual humiliation, and murder summon visions of a dank dungeon in a remote region of pre-invasion Iraq, Iran, or North Korea, replete with evil inquisitors and hooded executioners. However, those manifestations of horror did not spring forth from the Axis of Evil. They are actually drawn from official post-9/11 US policy.

7 Taliban, 1 U.S. soldie killed in Afghan battle: U.S. and Afghan government troops attacked a group of Taliban on Saturday and seven of the insurgents and one American were killed, an Afghan commander said.

A New Ethics Needed to Save Life on Earth: Affect, care, cooperation and responsibility are the four central principles of a new ethics that humanity urgently needs to adopt, in order to avoid becoming extinct as "a victim of itself," Leonardo Boff, one of the founders of liberation theology, said Thursday.

Molly Ivins : Panic in the Newspaper Biz : I don’t so much mind that newspapers are dying—it’s watching them commit suicide that pisses me off.

Milosvic: First Victim Of U.S. Franchised Street Revolutions "Dies" In Custody: Western media describes Milosevic as the Butcher of the Balkans , but what about the well established butchers of Falluja , Baghdad , verily , Iraq ( and Afghanistan) under the so called 'Operation Iraqi Freedom ',inspired by God .

Gordon Prather: Bush's unilateral agenda: The stances of Moscow and Beijing on Iran are laid down in the joint declaration signed by the two countries' leaders last week in Beijing, whereby Russia and China "oppose attempts to use the situation around the Iranian nuclear program to solve certain political issues on someone's unilateral agenda."

Hamas gov't to be ratified on Wednesday : Earlier Saturday, a senior aide to Abbas hinted that the PA chairman was prepared to bring down Hamas' incoming government if its militant policies harm Palestinian interests.

Abbas tells Hamas it must cooperate with Israel or fail: President Mahmoud Abbas is to approve the appointment of a new Hamas-led government today but warns that the administration has no future - and will be acting against the interests of the people - unless it agrees to deal with Israel.

Why Jews Must Speak Out on Palestine : As a Jew who lived in Israel for seven years and whose family still lives there and has deep roots going back more than 80 years, it breaks my heart that there is a refusal to grapple with an almost untouchable topic in our country: why does the United States have such a one-sided policy in the Israel-Palestine conflict?

A Harvard School Distances Itself from Dean's Paper On Israels Influnce On American Foreign Policy: The changes appear to be a sign that the university is distancing itself from the document in the face of a furor from faculty members, Jewish leaders, and a congressman who say it fails to meet academic standards and promotes anti-Semitic myths.

Professor Says American Publisher Turned Him Down: John Mearsheimer says that the pro-Israel lobby is so powerful that he and co-author Stephen Walt would never have been able to place their report in a American-based scientific publication.

So pro-Israel that it hurts : The new John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt study of "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" should serve as a wake-up call, on both sides of the ocean. The most obvious and eye-catching reflection is the fact that it is authored by two respected academics and carries the imprimatur of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

Israeli Spy Affair: Judge: Charges against AIPAC officials may be unconstitutional: A federal judge on Friday questioned the constitutionality of a law under which two former lobbyists with a pro-Israel group have been charged with receiving and disclosing national defense information.

UN accused of ignoring 500,000 Chernobyl deaths: United Nations nuclear and health watchdogs have ignored evidence of deaths, cancers, mutations and other conditions after the Chernobyl accident, leading scientists and doctors have claimed in the run-up to the nuclear disaster's 20th anniversary next month.

The pollution gap: Report reveals how the world's poorer countries are forced to pay for the CO2 emissions of the developed nations

How to Be a Lobbyist Without Trying : A personal journey into Washington's culture of greed

U.S. Hiring Hong Kong Co. to Scan Nukes: ''Li Ka-Shing is pretty close to a lot of senior leaders of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party''

Second Dubai firm confirms U.S. review: Dubai International Capital LLC said it plans to buy a British precision-engineering company with two U.S. plants that make precision parts used in engines for military aircraft and tanks.

Government cracks down on dissent in name of 'anti-terrorism': Two releases of local law enforcement files in recent days have shed new light on just how far the Bush administration, federal, and local law enforcement are going to suppress political dissent in the aftermath of 9-11.

IRS Audited Greenpeace At Request of ExxonMobil-Funded Group: The Wall Street Journal revealed this week a little-known watchdog group was responsible for getting the IRS to audit the environmental organization Greenpeace.

Audit: Millions Wasted on Katrina Response: The government wasted millions of dollars in its award of post-Katrina contracts for disaster relief, including at least $3 million for 4,000 beds that were never used, federal auditors said Thursday.

04/24/06

Iraq on its own to rebuild, U.S. says

By Thomas Frank

The head of the U.S.-led program to rebuild Iraq said Thursday that the Iraqi government can no longer count on U.S. funds and must rely on its own revenues and other foreign aid, particularly from Persian Gulf nations. Continued

Children Continue To Be Main Victims Of U.S. Occupation

By Dr. César Chelala

In the 1980s, Iraq had one of the best health care systems in the region. Following the 2003 invasion by the coalition forces, an ongoing cycle of insurgent violence and occupation forces’ counter-attacks have significantly damaged the basic health infrastructure in the country. As a result, Iraq’s health system cannot respond to the most basic health needs of the population. Continued 

Iraq: 30 Killed in Latest Violence: Four members of a Shi'ite family, including a child, were killed and the mother was critically wounded when gunmen shot them in their house in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad

Danish soldier killed by blast in Iraq: A Danish soldier has been killed in southern Iraq after his patrol vehicle hit a bomb by the side of the road near the city of Basra, the Danish central army command said.

Bush's Requests for Iraqi Base Funding Make Some Wary of Extended Stay: "It's the kind of thing that incites terrorism," Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said of long-term or permanent U.S. bases in countries such as Iraq.

Iraqi residents say bodies in video from US raid : A video of civilians who may have been killed by U.S. Marines in an Iraqi town in November showed residents describing a rampage by U.S. soldiers that left a trail of bullet-riddled bodies and destruction.

Mike Whitney : 60 Minutes joins the propaganda war : The fact that 60 Minutes would stake its reputation on such a pathetic example of state propaganda illustrates the desperation that’s spreading like wildfire through the political establishment to their colleagues in the corporate media.

My heart is Iraqi: It is because the Iraqis refuse to surrender their sovereignty to multinational corporations that Iraq is being destroyed so blatantly.

Iraqi Woman Tours U.S. to Tell True Story of Iraq War : Al-Araji does not mince words. She says the chaos in her country is no accident. “It’s to [the occupation’s] benefit to create conflict to stay forever in Iraq, so that the Iraqis will be confused about who is the real enemy. But the real enemy is the occupation.”

File this under propaganda: ABC News says Saddam OK'd bin Laden contact : The document is handwritten and has no official seal

File this under pathetic: Did Russian Ambassador Give Saddam the U.S. War Plan?: Iraq Archive Document Alleges Russian Official Described Locations, Troops, Tanks and Other Forces Before Operation Iraqi Freedom Began

Report: Russia Had Sources in U.S. Command : The Russian government collected intelligence from sources inside the American military command as the U.S. mounted the invasion of Iraq, and the Russians fed information to Saddam Hussein on troop movements and plans, according to Iraqi documents cited in a Pentagon report released Friday.

Pakistan demands Afghans punish killers of 14: Pakistan summoned the Afghan ambassador yesterday to protest the alleged killing of at least 14 Pakistanis by Afghan soldiers and demanded punishment for those responsible.

Five Taliban killed in Uruzgan : According to the report of Radio Kabul, Gen Rehmatullah Yousafi said that the ANA carried out an attack on a hideout of the Taliban in Rahton area of the Uruzgan province that resulted in killing four of them.

2 killed, 60 wounded in Afghan arms dump blast: Two civilians were killed and 60 people, including 18 soldiers, were wounded in a huge blast at a store of confiscated weapons in northern Afghanistan, according to officials.

Afghanistan: UK soldier dies : An MoD spokesman said that initial inquiries did not indicate the death was caused by hostile action, but declined to comment further while investigations are under way.

Losing faith in Afghanistan: - Even as the Bush administration steps up pressure on Afghanistan over the plight of a Christian convert, thousands of youths are descending on Kabul to demand that he be hanged for renouncing Islam.

Afghan convert 'may be released' : An Afghan man facing execution for converting to Christianity "could be released soon", a senior Afghan government official has said.

Israeli restrictions create isolated enclaves in West Bank : The regime of restriction on movement imposed by Israel on the Palestinians has crumbled the West Bank into dozens of closed or partially closed enclaves isolated from each other despite their geographical proximity.

41% of Israel's Jews favour segregation : · Poll reveals widespread anti-Arab sentiment

After the rhapsody, the bitter legacy of Israel and the left : Liberals were once happy to overlook the country's crimes, seeing only a model democratic state

Hamas Rightly Demands Palestinian Rights : Check out Israel's laws. Their blueprint for racism, apartheid and dehumanizing others abounds. From the beginning the West accepted Israel's Absentee Property and Planning Laws though the United Nations cried foul and demanded change.

BBC Video: UK's Role In Bringing Nukes To The Middle East: Top secret documents reveal that Britain secretly supplied Israel with plutonium during Harold Wilson's government. The revelations come as Britain is expressing total opposition to Iran's nuclear programme. Michael Crick reports.

Give Iran The Bomb: The United States gives India, already a nuclear power, greater nuclear capability, but threatens war, death, the destruction of Iran's oil supply, and a world wide financial catastrophe if Iran dares to want the same thing.

MEPs look into two more cases of extraordinary rendition : “I am not a terrorist. I am not a member of al Qaeda” he told MEPs, as the committee investigating alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal detention of prisoners discussed

FBI, police spying is rising, groups allege: The ACLU has filed Freedom of Information requests for more than 150 groups and individuals.

Bush shuns Patriot Act requirement: When President Bush signed the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act this month, he included an addendum saying that he did not feel obliged to obey requirements that he inform Congress about how the FBI was using the act's expanded police powers.

John W Dean: An Update on President Bush's NSA Program: The Historical Context: According to U.S. News & World Report, the President may also have authorized warrantless break-ins and other physical surveillance, such as opening regular mail, in violation of the Fourth Amendment

Death raises concern at police tactics : The recent killing of an unarmed Virginia doctor has raised concerns about what some say is an explosion in the use of military-style police Swat teams in the United States.

Katrina Donation Earmarked for Bush Firm : Former first lady Barbara Bush gave relief money to a hurricane relief fund on the condition that it be spent to buy educational software from her son Neil's company.

Workers On The Slag Heap Of History: Today, in America, the richest country on earth, the gates of many towns welcome visitors with abandoned factories. And the communities these factories flank tell you more about what's really destroying America than any Wall Street analyst or Washington policy wonk ever could.

Video: Professor David Ray Griffin: Author of The New Pearl Harbor &The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions Professor Griffin addresses how the White House managedthe 9/11 Comission's investigation.

03/23/06

The War Lovers

By John Pilger

For me, one of the more odious characteristics of Blair, and Bush, and Clinton, and their eager or gulled journalistic court, is the enthusiasm of sedentary, effete men (and women) for bloodshed they never see, bits of body they never have to retch over, stacked morgues they will never have to visit, searching for a loved one. Their role is to enforce parallel worlds of unspoken truth and public lies. That Milosevic was a minnow compared with industrial-scale killers such as Bush and Blair belongs to the former. Continued

It's Criminal

By Scott Ritter

The rallying cry of the Democratic Party must become impeachment. Given the magnitude of the crimes committed by the United States in Iraq under the direction and leadership of President Bush and his administration, there is simply no other recourse that can bring a halt to the madness in Iraq, and the insanity being planned in Iran and elsewhere. Continue

Peace elusive in Iraqi city of Samarra

By Tom Lasseter
Knight Ridder Newspapers

Staff Sgt. Cortez Powell looked at the shredded jaw of a dead man whom he'd shot in the face when insurgents ambushed an American patrol in a blind of reeds. Powell's M4 assault rifle had jammed, so he'd grabbed the pump-action shotgun that he kept slung over his shoulders and pulled the trigger. Continue

The “Noble Cause” that killed Casey Sheehan

By Mike Whitney

America has completely surrendered to denial; abandoning any claim to reason or clear-sighted analysis. The vast majority of people are perfectly content to ignore the tell-tale signs of looming disaster choosing instead to keep their heads firmly tucked in the sand. Continue

Depleted Uranium For Dummies

 Everything you need to know about depleted uranium.

By Irving Wesley Hall
 
Every day our troops remain in Iraq increases the chances that they will come home sick, produce children with birth defects, and die prematurely. Continued 

 At Least 56 Iraqis Dead in New Violence : While fourteen more bodies were found in the continuing string of shadowy sectarian killings: six in the capital and eight brought in by U.S. forces to a hospital in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, police said.

Three Iraq Hostages Freed : British Officials say one British and two Canadian peace activists have been freed in rescue operation by multinational forces

Another Civilian Massacre? : The investigation into the killings comes hot on the heels of a US Navy criminal probe into reports that marines intentionally shot 15 civilians dead near the western town of Haditha last November.

William Blum : The Anti- Empire Report: US foreign policy does not "mean well". It's not that American leaders have miscalculated, or blundered, causing great suffering, as in Iraq, while having noble intentions. Rather, while pursuing their imperial goals they simply do not care about the welfare of the foreign peoples who are on the receiving end of the bombing and the torture

Another Abu Ghraib trial leaves top brass unscathed : Smith, who was sentenced on Wednesday to about six months in prison for abusing detainees in Iraq with his black Belgian shepherd, had said he was merely following interrogation procedures approved by the chief intelligence officer at Abu Ghraib, Col. Thomas Pappas.

The Joy of Being Blameless : On the day that a court-martial imposed justice on a 24-year-old Army sergeant for tormenting detainees at Abu Ghraib with his dog, President Bush said once again that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was doing a "fine job" and should stay at his post.

New York Times details secret US military torture operation: A New York Times report on March 19 details the operations of Task Force 6-26, a highly secret US Special Operations Unit whose members have reportedly engaged in torture and assassination in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ex-UN chief: America has 'lost its moral compass': The United States has lost its moral compass and fallen out of step with the rest of the world in the wake of September 11, the former United Nations human rights commissioner warned tonight.

Video Russ Feingold on The Daily Show: How many times are we going to let George Bush and Dick Cheney say you guys don't support the troops, you're not patriotic and let them push us around?

Chalmers Johnson: What Ever Happened to Congress?: Is it just that they're corrupt? That's certainly part of it

Pentagon feels fuel price pain; aims to cut consumption: For 2006, DESC estimates the military will need 130.6 million barrels and pay more than US$10 billion for it, at a price of more than US$77 per barrel.

The rancid relationship : Britain's close alliance with the United States has become nothing but one-way traffic

Depleted uranium: Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets: Since 1991, the U.S. has staged four nuclear wars using depleted uranium weaponry, which, like Agent Orange, meets the U.S. government definition of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Vast regions in the Middle East and Central Asia have been permanently contaminated with radiation.

The Accepted System of Dissent: We believe in an illusion. That illusion is an accepted system of dissent that ensures our resistance doesn’t go beyond boundaries established by the government and the corporate media.

An Unnecessary Crisis: The Iranian Nuclear Showdown : Former CIA analyst: Military action is madness; unilateral economic sanctions are basically cutting of the American nose to spite the American face.

Iran denies reports it will open euro oil exchange : "We have no information on opening an oil exchange in the free economic zone on Kish Island [southern Iran]," a spokesman for the Iranian Oil Ministry told RIA Novosti.

Linda S. Heard : Palestinians Caught in War of Attrition: As if it isn't enough that the courageous residents of the West Bank and Gaza have had to struggle throughout their lives under occupation, they are now being isolated and starved while Western governments collude with Israel's assault on their lives and dignity.

ISRAEL Hundreds of detainees: The Israeli government is seeking to rush a new law through parliament before the forthcoming elections on 28 March, which would empower the General Security Service (GSS) to detain anyone classified as a non-resident of Israel without access to legal counsel for up to 50 days after arrest.

Idol of hard-right tipped as Israeli kingmaker: Mr Lieberman, a far-right settler born in Moldova, could be the surprise of the Israeli election on Tuesday. Polls show he could be a coalition kingmaker with around 10 seats in the Knesset.

Israel Lobby Dictates U.S. Policy, Study Charges: The pro-Israel lobby in the United States has manipulated Washington's policies in the Middle East to the point where it is the U.S. that does most of the fighting, dying and rebuilding while Israel reaps most of the security benefits, argues a new study by two U.S. scholars.

New York State Assembly won't help Hamas-led Palestinian government: We support and stand by Israel, in declaring the closest friendship,” legislatures said.

US Media Bias: Covering Israel/Palestine: 14 year old Ragheb al-Masri sat in the back of a taxi with his parents at the Abo Holi checkpoint. An Israeli bullet penetrated his back and cracked open his chest. His mother screamed as his body lay lifeless. Have you heard his name?

Sidney Blumentha: Apocalyptic president : Even some Republicans are now horrified by the influence Bush has given to the evangelical right

Dead Pakistanis 'were innocent' : Pakistan says 16 of its nationals travelling in Afghanistan were arrested and then killed by Afghan security forces.

Afghan convert 'won't face death': AN Afghan man prosecuted for converting from Islam to Christianity will not face the death penalty, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper said today after speaking with Afghanistan's president.

General Rejection of Bolivia Bombing: Two people were killed in the bombings of two small hotels in La Paz late Tuesday and early Wednesday. A US citizen was one of two people arrested in connection with the terrorist actions, according to reports.

The Return of Black Bag Searches? Oregon Attorney on Why He Feels Federal Agents Broke into His Home and Office to Conduct Clandestine Searches

Pulled over in Kansas? Get ready to show your license, registration — and fingerprints

N.Y.C.'s crime fight to get more eyes : The NYPD is installing 505 surveillance cameras around the city - and pushing to safeguard lower Manhattan with a "ring of steel" that could track hundreds of thousands of people and cars a day, authorities revealed yesterday.

A Global Infrastructure for Mass Surveillance: Surveillance for the Common Man: The total spy and surveillance capability of the United States and its allies is truly beyond comprehension - and apparently beyond control

FBI lists Indymedia, on 'terrorist watch' list: FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent G. Charles Rasner listed Indymedia, Food Not Bombs and the Communist Party of Texas as "terrorist watch" cause groups in Austin.

Roberts Dissent Reveals Strain Beneath Court's Placid Surface : The Supreme Court's 5-3 decision in a police-search case shows how bitterly the Roberts court can disagree.

Contract Casino: How a Remote Alaskan Indian Tribe Got One of the Most Lucrative Post-911 Security Contracts, But Not a Single Job

03/22/06

The Aftermath Of A Massacre

Have American troops been killing unarmed civilians in Iraq?

Must watch BBC Reports

This is the account of a nine year old survivor. "I watched them shoot my grandfather, first in the chest then in the head, then they killed my granny." Click here to view

What’s Become of Americans?

By Paul Craig Roberts

If this story is true, under Donald Rumsfeld and George Bush’s leadership, proud and honorable U.S. Marines have degenerated into the Waffen SS. Those of us raised on John Wayne war movies find this very hard to take. Continued

Death Squad Democracy

By Mike Whitney

In a larger sense, the "alleged" sectarian violence is consistent with what we have seen in previous CIA-run operations in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Negroponte are alumna of those conflicts (which, according to Cheney, succeeded quite admirably) so it's probable that they would apply what they have learned about counterinsurgency to the ongoing war in Iraq. The El Salvador-experiment proved that the masses can eventually be terrorized into compliance. Continued

Gunmen Kill 20 in Breakout at Iraqi Jail: About 100 masked gunmen stormed a prison near the Iranian border Tuesday, cutting phone wires, freeing all the inmates and leaving behind a scene of devastation and carnage 20 dead policemen, burned-out cars and a smoldering jailhouse.

Iraq: 17 Killed in Continuing Violence: Two policemen were killed and one wounded when gunmen ambushed their patrol as they headed to the scene of one of the pilgrim attacks

Iraqi Shi'ite pilgrims ambushed; more bodies found: Gunmen wounded dozens of Shi'ite pilgrims and killed two in Baghdad on Wednesday. Police also reported the discovery of six more bodies on the streets of Baghdad

Aid agencies unable to enter Samarra: "Our convoys sent on Sunday and Monday have been prevented from entering the city by US troops and our information from inside is that families are without food, power and potable water, particularly because they cannot leave their homes," noted Abdel Hameed, a spokesperson for the Iraqi Red Crescent Society

Saddam's foreign minister was CIA source:: In the period before the Iraq war, Saddam Hussein's foreign minister Naji Sabri, was a secret paid source of the CIA, "NBC Nightly News" reported on Monday.

Troop pullout to be decided by future presidents, Bush says: Bush said withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq "of course, is an objective, and that'll be decided by future presidents and the future governments of Iraq."

Zbigniew Brzezinski: Iraqi Insurgency Is Wining: "87% of the Iraqi people want us to leave."

Chomsky Calls for Iraqi Reparations: Noam Chomsky criticized the Iraq War a yesterday, calling the occupation a bungled version of Nazi Germany in Vichy France.

Sen. Feinstein calls for Rumsfeld's removal, Iraq troop reduction: Dianne Feinstein called on President Bush to fire Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over his handling of the Iraq war and reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq from the current 130,000 to 50,000 by year's end.

Helen Thomas Asks President Bush Why He Went to War: Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas asked President Bush what some analysts called the most direct questioning he’s ever received on his reasons for invading Iraq.

Bush makes false claim about Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda : Olbermann: "Who does the President think he's F'n kidding?"

Blair : Iraq Fight Is For Civilization: TONY Blair yesterday made an extraordinary defence of invading Iraq, saying he was involved in a fight for civilisation.

Mike Whitney : Tal Afar; war crimes in Bush’s dystopia : Bush’s March 20 speech to the City Club of Cleveland was the most derisory string of lies in modern-day oratory. Aside from the dreary repetition of terror-related slogans that appear with mind-numbing frequency, Bush droned on for a good ten minutes about America’s great success in Tal Afar.

Cost of Iraq War Rises for Taxpayers : The administration submitted another $72.4 billion request for war-related funding to Congress. NPP analyzes the request and what it means to taxpayers in your state.

Quiet force behind Bush policies: "Torture memo," spying, Guantanamo can all be traced to Cheney's top aide.

UK residents seek Guantanamo release at High Court: Lawyers for three long-term British residents held at Guantanamo Bay will return to the High Court today to demand the intervention of the Foreign Secretary in securing their release.

Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian: Israeli troops raided a West Bank refugee camp Wednesday, killing a wanted Palestinian militant and forcing two others to surrender, the army said.

Hamas call parliament session to approve cabinet: The militant Islamic Hamas today moved a step closer to taking control of the Palestinian government, calling a special session of parliament to approve its new Cabinet, sweeping aside objections from the Palestinian president over its refusal to recognise Israel.

Kill a Palestinian child and get a reward: IDF officer cleared in death of Gaza girl to receive compensation from state

Study alleges US sets aside own security interest for Israel's: A research paper by two leading American political scientists alleges that the US relationship with Israel is not good for US security, and that the Israeli lobby in the US, particularly the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, has helped exaggerate to the US media and public the importance of making the protection of Israel a key part of US foreign policy.

Read the report in full: US relationship with Israel is not good for US security

20 Killed In Afghan Violence : Afghanistan has seen a surge in bomb and other attacks by Taliban insurgents and their militant allies in recent months. The Taliban have vowed to launch a spring offensive against foreign forces and the country's Western-backed government.

Authorities investigate killings by Afghan troops near Pakistan border : Authorities launched an investigation Wednesday into the killings by Afghan security forces of at least 15 people who an Afghan army commander alleged were Taliban rebels but locals said were tribesmen wanting to attend a religious festival.

Please don't come home, UN begs Afghan refugees: IN ONE of the most blunt assessments of post-Taliban life in Afghanistan, a high-ranking United Nations representative has warned refugees not to return home because security is so dire.

Bush deeply troubled over Afghan being charged for converting to Christianity: Abdul Rahman, 41, faces a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago. He has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under this country's Islamic laws

Taliban control Waziristan: The military deployed 70,000 troops to Waziristan two years ago to rein in the militants. But the campaign is faltering.

North Korea Touts First-Strike Capability : North Korea suggested Tuesday it had the ability to launch a pre-emptive attack on the United States, according to the North's official news agency. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the North had built atomic weapons to counter the U.S. nuclear threat.

N.Korea upgrades mobile missile arsenal -report: North Korea is upgrading its mobile missiles, making it easier to launch a surprise attack on neighbours, but it does not have a missile that could hit the continental United States, a report said on Wednesday.

The Next Time He's Wrong: Will the President Push The Button?: Federation of American Scientists Warns of Shift Toward Nuclear Preemption

Don't sign up to this upside down Hobbesian contract : The government insists it can only protect us if we surrender freedoms. But such a grim pact has no place in a democracy

Moussaoui's Guilt: Less Profound Than the FBI's Own Negligence?: FBI Special Agent Harry Samit's testimony yesterday at the Zacarias Moussaoui trial adds just one more piece of evidence to a growing list of incidents showing what Samit himself labeled "criminal negligence."

Bear Stearns warns against airline stocks due to 'imminent' bird flu: Investment bank Bear Stearns has advised investors to start dumping airline and retail stocks in favour of blue-chip utilities as a hedge against bird flu, warning that a full human pandemic of the H5N1 virus could set off the worst global stock market crash since the 1930s.

03/21/06

Deranged, Disconnected, and Dangerous

By Paul Craig Roberts

Not since Abraham Lincoln have American civil liberties been so threatened as by the Bush regime. America even has an Attorney General, a Vice President, and a Secretary of Defense who believe in torture. How do they differ from officials in the Third Reich or Stalin’s KGB? Anyone who believes in torture is not an American. Continued

Must Watch Interview

Colonel Larry Wilkerson Condemns US ‘Ineptitude’

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Within 24 months, we're going to have to withdraw from Iraq, whether the situation there, politically, economically and so forth, is adequate or not because we've stretched our ground forces to the point of breaking. We have officers who are leaving the Army and the Marine Corps now because they don't want to do a third and possibly a fourth tour in Afghanistan or Iraq. Continued

Former GOP Strategist Kevin Phillips on American Theocracy

The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century

The Bush electorate is probably 50 to 55% people who believe in Armageddon and probably more or less the same numbers who believe that the Antichrist is already on earth. Watch it here.

The Iraq War: Three Years On - The march of folly, that has led to a bloodbath

By Robert Fisk

Things have been far worse than we have been told. Our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows ... We are today not far from a disaster." This is the most concise and accurate account I have yet read of our present folly. Continue

29 Killed as Gunmen Raid Iraqi Police Station: Iraqi insurgents stormed a jail near dawn Tuesday in the Sunni Muslim heartland north of Baghdad, killing 19 police officers and a courthouse guard in a prison break that freed dozens of prisoners and left 10 attackers dead, authorities said

27 Killed In Continuing Violence: A Baghdad hospital received six bodies, including that of a woman, with gunshot wounds, a security guard said.

U.S. Soldier Killed In Baghdad: The soldier was killed by small-arms fire March 21 at 1:10 p.m. while patrolling in western Baghdad.

A roster of the Iraq Resistance: There is no consensus on the precise number of fighters, but estimates range from a few thousand to more than 50,000.

Iraqis Detail Deadly U.S. Marine Raid: Shortly after a roadside bomb killed a U.S. Marine in a western Iraqi town, American troops went into nearby houses and shot dead 15 members of two families, including a 3-year-old-girl, residents say.

US probes Iraqi civilian deaths : The US military has said it is conducting a criminal investigation into allegations that US marines shot and killed 15 Iraqi civilians.

Elaborate U.S. bases raise long-term questions: Are the Americans here to stay? Air Force mechanic Josh Remy is sure of it as he looks around Balad.

Using Our Might to Keep Oil Cheap : Conservatives have denounced the thriller Syriana, a film that explores the Machiavellian politics of Mideast oil. Pundit Charles Krauthammer, for example, says the movie exports "the most vicious and pernicious mendacities about America to a receptive world."

Abu Ghraib Dog Handler Found Guilty: A jury found an Army dog handler guilty Tuesday of abusing detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison by terrifying them with a military dog

'Northern Iraq Ruled by Force and Fear' : Time defended Kurdistan is a veritable police state, where the Asayeesh, the military security, has a house in each neighborhood, and where the Parastin "secret police" monitor phone conversations and keep tabs on who attends Friday prayers

Iraqi diplomat gave U.S. prewar WMD details: Saddam’s foreign minister told CIA the truth, so why didn’t agency listen?

A must read: Chalmers Johnson on Our Military Empire: Cold Warrior in a Strange Land

In case you missed it: : Chalmers Johnson: Militarism and the American Empire  : Distinguished social scientist and public intellectual Chalmers Johnson, joins host Harry Kreisler for a conversation on the nature of the American Empire and its costs and consequences for the future of American democracy and power in the world. Video

Bush: U.S. will protect Israel : President Bush said the United States would use “military might” to protect Israel.

Pro-Israel lobby in U.S. under attack.: Two of America's top scholars have published a searing attack on the role and power of Washington's pro-Israel lobby in a British journal, warning that its "decisive" role in fomenting the Iraq war is now being repeated with the threat of action against Iran. And they say that the Lobby is so strong that they doubt their article would be accepted in any U.S.-based publication.

Will Iran Help Bush Preserve His Republican Majority?: Could it be that 'Axis of Evil' Iran holds the electoral fortunes of the U.S. Republican Party and the fate of Iraq in the palm of its hands? According to this analysis from Lebanon's leading Arab-Language newspaper Annahar, Iran may be willing to help pull the White House's coals out of the Iraqi fire … for a price.

America's options for Iran: US support for an Iranian civilian nuclear capability could produce positive results for both the United States and Iran.

Anti-Israel rabbis vow Hamas support: A group of anti-Zionist rabbis has visited the Palestinian parliament to pledge their support for the prospective Hamas-led government.

Why Orthodox Jews are opposed to the Zionist "State": The People of Israel oppose the so-called "State of Israel" for four reasons:

Taliban eyed as 4 cops killed: Suspected Taliban rebels ambushed a police patrol in the mountains of southern Afghanistan yesterday and killed four officers, authorities said.

Pakistani Taliban take control of unruly tribal belt : A powerful new militia dubbed "the Pakistani Taliban" has effectively seized control of swaths of the country's northern tribal areas in recent months, triggering alarm in Islamabad and marking a big setback in America's "war on terror".

UAE, Saudi considering to move reserves out of dollar: A number of Middle Eastern central banks said on Tuesday they would seek to switch reserves from the US greenback to euros.

Dubai's $1.2 Bln Bid for U.S. Weapons Maker Delayed: Dubai, which agreed this month to sell its interest in U.S. ports, said its $1.2 billion takeover of a U.K. company with U.S. plants that make military equipment is delayed while the authorities investigate security concerns.

Chavez Lashes Out at Free-Trade Pacts : Venezuela agreed Monday to sell fuel under preferential terms to an El Salvador association created by a group of leftist mayors.

Venezuela Wants Terrorist out of US: Venezuelan ambassador to Washington Bernardo Alvarez stated that during a meeting with US Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon on February, he ratified in writing his country"s extradition request.

Gerry Adams detained in US 'terror watch': Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams was detained at a Washington airport yesterday after attending a meeting of Irish leaders with US President George Bush

Video: Some College professors are killers: Rev, Pat Robertson Spreading Peace, Love and Hatred:

FBI Agent Slams Bosses at Moussaoui Trial : The FBI agent who arrested Zacarias Moussaoui in August 2001 testified Monday he spent almost four weeks trying to warn U.S. officials about the radical Islamic student pilot but ``criminal negligence'' by superiors in Washington thwarted a chance to stop the 9/11 attacks.

McCain Takes on DeLay Accomplice: There have been a number of signs lately that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), eyeing 2008, is cozying up to the Republican establishment, but this just might be the surest one yet.

Speed voting: House flies through $91.9 billion spending bill : Seeking to consolidate time as House Members slogged through dozens of proposed amendments to the $91.9 billion emergency spending bill Thursday, Republican leaders resurrected a tactic that hadn’t been used in nearly 20 years: speed

Invisible Lives: When Hurricane Katrina blew across the Gulf Coast, it also blew the lid off America's dirty little secret. For years, the poor people in the United States have been virtually invisible. But now there is no denying the truth—37 million Americans live in poverty.

Japan's rich buy organs from executed Chinese prisoners : Hundreds of well-off Japanese and other nationals are turning to China's burgeoning human organ transplant industry, paying tens of thousands of pounds for livers and kidneys, which in some cases have been harvested from executed prisoners and sold to hospitals.

Bolivia: Water is a human right: Bolivia is refusing to sign an international declaration on the importance of clean water because it falls short of calling access to it a human right.

UN warns of worst mass extinctions for 65m years: Humans have provoked the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65m years ago, according to a UN report that calls for unprecedented worldwide efforts to address the slide.

Life in the Shadows of the Empire: As each of us individually struggle to make our way through this competitive world, it can be easy to lose sight, let alone recognize the fabric deterioration of our ostensibly "democratic" social compact.

03/20/06

U.S. Companies Profited As Iraqi Children Died

By Callum Macrae and Ali Fadhil

A financial scandal that in terms of sheer scale must rank as one of the greatest in history. Continue

The 50 Billion Dollar Robbery:

Where has the 50 billion dollars of reconstruction money gone?

By BBC

Following the Iraq war, billions of dollars of Iraq's money was directed to American companies to rebuild the country. But much of it remains unaccounted for, and Peter Marshall has been investigating startling allegations of post war profiteering. Real Video - 14 Minutes

Killing Children: The “My Lai phase” of the Iraq war

by Mike Whitney

What goes through George Bush’s mind when he sees the dead bodies of Iraqi women and children loaded on the back of a pickup truck like garbage? Is there ever a flicker of remorse; a split-second when he fully grasps the magnitude of the horror he has created? Continued

The bodies are piling up

By Cindy Sheehan

Today George said that the temptation to abandon "our" commitments is strong. Did he have a mouse in his pocket? I never made a commitment to preemptive war. I didn't authorize Congress to abrogate their responsibilities to declare war. I didn't give the orders to invade a country that was absolutely no threat to the USA. I also didn't give the orders to use depleted uranium and wmd in Iraq. I wasn't the one who devoted myself to torture and imprisoning people without due process.  Continued

Dark Pearl

By John S. Hatch

It’s quite normal for a son to want to follow in his Daddy’s career footsteps and to dream of exceeding the accomplishments of the old geezer. But what if you’re Genghis Jr., or Attila Jr., or George II? That can complicate matters a little. How to outdo Daddy’s deeds  when he was so devilishly good at what he did? How many people can a Vlad Jr. impale? You almost have to have a plan. In modern times you need a PNAC. Continued

Iraq: 26 Killed In Continuing Violence: Gunmen shot and wounded four pilgrims in Mahmudiya, just south of Baghdad, police said.

Did Marines Commit Crime in Iraq Civilian Deaths?: A bloody videotape shot by a local Iraqi journalism student has prompted the Pentagon to launch a criminal investigation into an incident that left at least 15 Iraqi civilians dead in the city of Haditha.

One Morning in Haditha": U.S. Marines killed 15 Iraqi civilians in their homes last November. Was it self-defense, an accident or cold-blooded revenge? A TIME exclusive

Iraqi police say U.S. troops executed 11, including baby: Iraqi police have accused U.S. troops of executing 11 people, including a 75-year-old woman and a 6-month-old infant, in the aftermath of a raid Wednesday on a house about 60 miles north of Baghdad.

10 bodies found in Baghdad, including 13-year-old girl: The 10 bodies were the latest gruesome discoveries tied to the underground sectarian war being conducted by Shiite and Sunni Muslims as they settle scores in the chaos that grips the Iraqi capital

Death squads on the prowl in a nation paralysed by fear :Unseen by the outside world, silent populations are on the move, frightened people fleeing neighbourhoods where their community is in a minority for safer districts.

Two Wounded Iraqi Children and Their Fathers Tell Their Stories: after being caught in crossfire and 3 year-old Alaa Khalid Hamdan was seriously injured when a U.S. tank opened fire on her family's home.

Howard Zinn: America’s Blinders: What is the idea of our moral superiority based on? Surely not on our behavior toward people in other parts of the world.

Mike Whitney : Baker’s Latest Assignment; tell Bush we lost: After years of struggle, Baker and company have finally created the one-party system of their dreams with a government that is unaccountable to the people, the law, or its political base. Unfortunately, he’s about to learn what others have known for some time; the nation is in the vice-like grip of homicidal maniacs who have no intention of relinquishing power or admitting defeat.

Greg Palast : Bush Didn't Bungle Iraq, You Fools: The Mission Was Indeed Accomplished

Paul Craig Roberts: A Collapsing Presidency: Neocons are Jacobins. They are a foreign import and do not share our American values. Neocons are a grave danger to the United States and to the world. Neocons have led America into two gratuitous on-going wars that cannot be won, and they are determined to lead us into more wars. It is our duty to defend our country and to oppose these evil people.

Decline and fall : Kevin Phillips, no lefty, says that America -- addicted to oil, strangled by debt and maniacally religious -- is headed for doom.

Why the war is a waste : Speaking truth to tyranny is the place to start. Otherwise, we will learn directly, not just from history books, that just as empires rise, they also fall, brought down by their own hubris.

U.S. War Spending to Rise 44% to $9.8 Bln a Month, Report Says: Spending will rise to $9.8 billion a month from the $6.8 billion a month the Pentagon said it spent last year, the research service said. The group's March 10 report cites ``substantial'' expenses to replace or repair damaged weapons, aircraft, vehicles, radios and spare parts.

Media Avoids Covering Vote on Permanent Bases: Something is happening in Iraq that most Americans have never heard about, but many Americans think the war is being fought for: the United States is building what look like permanent military bases.

Polls show public want Australian troops out of Iraq : A new opinion poll out today suggests that almost two thirds of people in this country want Australian troops to leave Iraq within the next couple months.

Seven die in Pakistan blast : Dera Ismali Khan is close to the Waziristan tribal region which has been the theatre of conflict between Pakistani forces and the suspected Al-Queda and Taliban militants for over three years.

Four Afghan policmen killed in motorbike ambush: Suspected Taliban gunmen on motorbikes shot and killed four Afghan policemen today in a lawless southern province where 3,300 British troops will soon be based, a provincial official said.

Iranian police kill 10 'bandits' near Afghan border: "On Saturday evening, some armed bandits and agents who were trying to enter the country and create insecurity were spotted by... border troops," a police commander, Eskandar Momeni, was quoted as saying in the report late Sunday.

War pimp alert: Iran set to step up enrichment: "Iran is on the verge of operating a 164-centrifuge cascade with UF6 (uranium hexafluoride gas)," a Western diplomat said, referring to machines arrayed in series, known as cascades, used to produce fuel for nuclear power reactors or material for the explosive core of an atom bomb.

Iran: Time To Leak: Where are the whistleblowers about Iran?

Who is the rogue state really?: Iran is not guilty of abdicating or reneging on its obligations as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). Under the terms of that treaty, Iran has an inalienable right to develop research, production, and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination.

Bush Repeats US Would Use Military To Protect Israel : "I made it clear, and I'll make it clear again, that we will use military might to protect our ally Israel," Bush said during a question and answer session after a speech in Cleveland.