|
Information Clearing House News Links Archive
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date: 27-31 March 2006 |
|
|
|
|
|
31 March 2006 === RSS FEED www.informationclearinghouse.info/rssfeed.xml News Syndication You can include the headlines from this newsletter on your own website free of charge === Number Of Iraqi Civilians Slaughtered In America’s War? As Many As 250,000 Number of U.S. Military Personnel Slaughtered (Officially acknowledged) In Bush’s War 2326 The War in Iraq Costs === 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. === 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. == ‘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 === 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. === 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. === 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. === 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 === 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 === 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. === 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 === 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. === Michael, who serves with the National Guard, faces surgery the end of May to replace the part of his skull that had been removed. === Animated Flash Presentation Of Iraq War “Coalition” Casualties === Harmeet Sooden relives his four month hostage ordeal and the terrifying moment he was captured. === “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. === 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. === 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. === 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. === The plan would allow Washington to disengage gradually in Iraq, “without victory, but also without defeat,” === 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 === 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 . === 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. === 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. === Israeli aircraft destroyed several sites in northern Gaza and artillery gunners fired shells at open areas in the territory. === Ismail Haniyeh is the new Palestinian prime minister and a Hamas leader === 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. === 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. === 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. === Confrontation in Hebron === 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? === 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. === 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 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. === The risks are great if Washington’s neo-cons choose military options to prevent Iran from blocking US imperial designs for the Middle East === Iran is being set up for “an unprovoked nuclear attack” === According to a report in the Associated Press, Arab League head Amr Moussa called on Arab states to pursue the development of atomic energy. === 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 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. === The four-year-old was playing on a street when the suicide attack occurred. === 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 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. === 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. === 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. === A collection of academics have recently posed an alternative theory to what caused the ultimate destruction of the steel reinforced WTC. === === 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. === New finding could have implications for sea level rises === 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. === I need your help to offset the costs associated with site hosting and bandwidth usage. If you find this site informative please help by clicking here ===
Date: 30 March 2006 === RSS FEED www.informationclearinghouse.info/rssfeed.xml News Syndication You can include the headlines from this newsletter on your own website free of charge === Number Of Iraqi Civilians Slaughtered In America’s War? As Many As 250,000 Number of U.S. Military Personnel Slaughtered (Officially acknowledged) In Bush’s War 2327 The War in Iraq Costs === 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. === 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. === Reporter: Stephen McDonell New evidence has emerged which appears to show that the United States and the British governments were set to invade Iraq, regardless o === 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? === “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 === Eight Iraqi employees working in the Baiji electric power facilities were killed by gunmen === A Soldier assigned to 9th Naval Construction Regiment died from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province === 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 === 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. === The figures from an Iraqi government ministry are echoed in findings by a UN-affiliated body, the International Organisation for Migration. === 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. === Journalist Says Captors In Iraq Treated Her Well === 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. === 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. === 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, === 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 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. === 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. === Russia has warned it will not support any attempts to use force to resolve the stand-off over Iran’s controversial nuclear programme. === 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. === 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. === 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. === Six people, including a district chief and five low-ranking officials, were killed by Taliban on Thursday in two separate attacks in southern Afghanistan. === 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. === 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 === John Pilger: Breaking The Silence: A Must Watch: A hard hitting special report into the “war on terror” === 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. === 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 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. === 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. === 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. === “Our press, which you appear to regard as being free … is the most enslaved and the vilest thing.” William Cobbett, Political Register, 1830. === 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. === 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”. === 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. === 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. === 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. === 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. === Anyone still care about the heap of disturbing, unsolved questions surrounding Our Great Tragedy? === 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. === An interview with Professor David Ray Griffin === 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 === Rare Video Footage From Inside The World Trade Center On 9/11 === If terrorists come to tiny Dillingham, Alaska, security cameras will be ready. But privacy concerns have residents up in arms === 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 === I need your help to offset the costs associated with site hosting and bandwidth usage. If you find this site informative please help by clicking here www.informationclearinghouse.info/support.htm === Date: 29 March 2006 === RSS FEED www.informationclearinghouse.info/rssfeed.xml News Syndication You can include the headlines from this newsletter on your own website free of charge === Number Of Iraqi Civilians Slaughtered In America’s War? As Many As 250,000 Number of U.S. Military Personnel Slaughtered (Officially acknowledged) In Bush’s War 2325 The War in Iraq Costs === 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 === 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.” === 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. === 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. === 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? === 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. === Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces Soldiers discovered the bodies of 13 Iraqi nationals alongside a major thoroughfare in western Baghdad March 28. === 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. === Also Wednesday, gunmen killed three staffers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in a drive-by shooting in west Baghdad, Abdul-Razzaq said. === 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. === 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. === 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. 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. === 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. === At a minimum, there should be hearings, with Bush under oath. With any more details like this, the next step is impeachment. === 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. === 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. === 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. === 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 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 === “They could hear screams from other prisoners “ === 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. === An American and a Canadian soldier were killed today in fighting in southern Afghanistan. === 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. === 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. === 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 === 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 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. === 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. === 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, the former Liberian leader wanted for war crimes, is being flown to his home country following his arrest in Nigeria. === The crisis could have been avoided. === Insiders say he’ll soon be seeking a Grand Jury indictment against Karl Rove or National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. === 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. === 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. === 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. === 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. === 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. === 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. === Critical victory for human rights organizations across the Americas === 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. === 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. === I need your help to offset the costs associated with site hosting and bandwidth usage. If you find this site informative please help by clicking here www.informationclearinghouse.info/support.htm === Date: 28 March 2006 === RSS FEED www.informationclearinghouse.info/rssfeed.xml News Syndication You can include the headlines from this newsletter on your own website free of charge === Number Of Iraqi Civilians Slaughtered In America’s War? As Many As 250,000 Number of U.S. Military Personnel Slaughtered (Officially acknowledged) In Bush’s War 2323 The War in Iraq Costs === 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.” === 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? === 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. === An open letter to Ralph Nader By Linda H Riegler Sir, I owe you an apology… === A nation blind to their disgrace A Must Watch 4 Minute Video Flash presentation === 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. === “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. === 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. === No vehicles except ambulances and those used by joint U.S.-Iraqi troops were allowed in the streets === 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. === “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. === 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. === www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/03/28/100wir_a3iraq002.cfm === 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. === 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. === U.S. Marines killed 15 Iraqi civilians in their homes last November. Was it self-defense, an accident or cold-blooded revenge? === 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 “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.” === 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). === The disastrous foreign policies of the US have left it more isolated than ever, and China is standing by to take over === 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. === 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 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. === ‘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 === British Complicity in Renditions and Torture === Signatures backing the demand rise to 4,566 === If you’re looking for a reason why Zacarias Moussaoui suddenly testified today to a version of the 9/11 plotline that sounds more like the Official story than even the official Whitewash Commission report, this video may have the answer. === 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. === Officials say the victims worked for an American security company (USPI) and were killed on the road linking Kandahar with Herat. === 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. === 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 === 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. === 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.” === 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 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. === 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. === 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. === 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 === 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. === The FBI is under attack in Puerto Rico for operations that critics say unfairly target pro-independence activists. === 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. === East Asian economies need to prepare for a possible collapse of the US dollar, the Asian Development Bank says. === 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. === The US trade deficit with China ballooned in 2005 to US$202 billion, more than one-quarter of the total deficit === 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. === 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.” Watch it here Download it here. === 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. === 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. === How can we solve a problem that we do not know exists? Who will speak out? === 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. === 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. === 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. === I need your help to offset the costs associated with site hosting and bandwidth usage. If you find this site informative please help by clicking here www.informationclearinghouse.info/support.htm === Date: 28 March 2006 === RSS FEED www.informationclearinghouse.info/rssfeed.xml News Syndication You can include the headlines from this newsletter on your own website free of charge === Number Of Iraqi Civilians Slaughtered In America’s War? As Many As 250,000 Number of U.S. Military Personnel Slaughtered (Officially acknowledged) In Bush’s War 2323 The War in Iraq Costs === 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.” === 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? === 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. === An open letter to Ralph Nader By Linda H Riegler Sir, I owe you an apology… === A nation blind to their disgrace A Must Watch 4 Minute Video Flash presentation === 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. === “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. === 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. === No vehicles except ambulances and those used by joint U.S.-Iraqi troops were allowed in the streets === 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. === “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. === 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. === www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/03/28/100wir_a3iraq002.cfm === 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. === 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. === U.S. Marines killed 15 Iraqi civilians in their homes last November. Was it self-defense, an accident or cold-blooded revenge? === 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 “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.” === 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). === The disastrous foreign policies of the US have left it more isolated than ever, and China is standing by to take over === 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. === 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 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. === ‘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 === British Complicity in Renditions and Torture === Signatures backing the demand rise to 4,566 === If you’re looking for a reason why Zacarias Moussaoui suddenly testified today to a version of the 9/11 plotline that sounds more like the Official story than even the official Whitewash Commission report, this video may have the answer. === 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. === Officials say the victims worked for an American security company (USPI) and were killed on the road linking Kandahar with Herat. === 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. === 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 === 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. === 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.” === 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 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. === 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. === 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. === 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 === 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. === The FBI is under attack in Puerto Rico for operations that critics say unfairly target pro-independence activists. === 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. === East Asian economies need to prepare for a possible collapse of the US dollar, the Asian Development Bank says. === 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. === The US trade deficit with China ballooned in 2005 to US$202 billion, more than one-quarter of the total deficit === 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. === 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.” Watch it here Download it here. === 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. === 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. === How can we solve a problem that we do not know exists? Who will speak out? === 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. === 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. === 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. === I need your help to offset the costs associated with site hosting and bandwidth usage. If you find this site informative please help by clicking here www.informationclearinghouse.info/support.htm === Date: 27 March 2006 === RSS FEED www.informationclearinghouse.info/rssfeed.xml News Syndication You can include the headlines from this newsletter on your own website free of charge === Number Of Iraqi Civilians Slaughtered In America’s War? As Many As 250,000 Number of U.S. Military Personnel Slaughtered (Officially acknowledged) In Bush’s War 2323 The War in Iraq Costs === 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. === By Stephen Soldz These soldiers are armed with lethal weapons and are often in a position to make split-second life-or-death decisions. === 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 === This is a must watch flash presentation Click here to view === 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. === 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. === “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. === The US military says its soldiers were helping Iraqi forces carry out an operation to arrest a fugitive. === We saw unarmed worshippers and we didn’t find any Iraqi weapons. === 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’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. === It seems possible that the US committed two major military blunders that will worsen its relationship with Iraqi political forces. === 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. === 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. === 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. === 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 today arrested at least 40 Iraqi Interior Ministry forces who were holding 17 foreigners in a secret bunker complex, political sources said. === 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. === 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. === 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. === 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. === Real Video Windows Media === 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. === 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.” === 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. === 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. === 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’ === Supreme Court: Detainees’ Rights—Scalia Speaks His Mind === 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. === Anti-war protester Brian Haw, who won a court battle to maintain his Parliament Square vigil which began in 2001, has been arrested. === 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. === 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. === 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. === 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. === 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. === Israelis to vote for Sharon legacy : Kadima heads for victory by pressing on with ailing founder’s plan to put separation before peace === 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 === 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. === Robert F. Kennedy Memorial calls on members of the media and human rights community to ask State Department officials how this could happen === 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? === 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. === ``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. === The 9/11 News Special You Did Not See Download video === 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. === You’re Nobody ‘Till Somebody Buys You === === I need your help to offset the costs associated with site hosting and bandwidth usage. If you find this site informative please help by clicking here www.informationclearinghouse.info/support.htm === |
|
|
|