Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq  “1,236,604"
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
 
===
 
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America’sWar On Iraq 4,124
icasualties.org/oif/
 
The War And Occupation Of Iraq Costs
$540,588,183,130
 
See the cost in your community
nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182
 
===
 
Thar She Blows
 
The Last Hurrah for the Banking System
 
By Mike Whitney
 
So, while your bank still has money and can process your checks, it may be time to pay down debts, pay quarterly taxes and mortgage payments in advance, and think of having money outside of banks (gold, foreign currencies), etc., before your money is inaccessible or even evaporates!
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20373.htm
 
===
 
The Military-Industrial Complex
 
It’s Much Later Than You Think
 
By Chalmers Johnson
 
Successive administrations and Congresses have made no effort to alter the CIA’s role as the president’s private army, even as we have increased its incompetence by turning over many of its functions to the private sector. We have thereby heightened the risks of war by accident, or by presidential whim.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20370.htm
 
===
 
Pull the Plug on the War State
 
By Charley Reese
 
We really have neither a republic nor a democracy. We have a war state and an empire. We should pull the plug on both.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20367.htm
 
===
 
Your Tax Dollars at Work
 
By Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
 
The State wants us to all go on with our lives, believing it, loving it, and seeing only the pictures it wants us to see.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20371.htm
 
===
 
Bush Forced al-Maliki to Back Down on Pullout in 2006
 
Analysis by Gareth Porter
 
It appears that Bush is making the usual dominant power mistake in relations to al-Maliki. He may have been a pushover in mid-2006, but the circumstances have changed, in Iraq, in the U.S.-Iraq-Iran relations and in the United States.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20372.htm
 
===
 
International Criminal Court and al-Bashir: Ocampo’s Justice
 
By Ramzy Baroud
 
The crimes committed against innocent people in Darfur represent a shameful episode in the history of Sudan and its neighbours, including Chad, which has played a dubious role in sustaining the seething conflict. Equally disgraceful is the politicising of the bloody conflict in ways that will ensure its continuation.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20369.htm
 
===
 
Bush Will Issue a Mass Pardon
 
By Brent Budowsky
 
Before leaving office George W. Bush will issue a mass pardon, the largest collection of presidential pardons in American history. Bush will pardon himself, Vice President Cheney, and a long list of officials involved in torture, eavesdropping, destruction of evidence, the CIA leak case and a range of potential crimes.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20368.htm
 
===
 
Up to 70 “rebels” killed in occupied Afghanistan:
 
About 100 “insurgents” had tried to capture the Spera district centre, 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the border with Pakistan, opening fire on police at about 2:00 am with guns and rocket-propelled grenades, the NATO occupation force said.
tinyurl.com/6m32av
 
===
 
NATO Occupation Forces kill 4 civilians in Afghanistan:
 
NATO occupation forces on Saturday fired on a vehicle that wouldn’t stop at a checkpoint in Afghanistan’s volatile south, killing four civilians and wounding three others, the alliance said.
wiredispatch.com/news/?id=268808
 
===
 
NATO Occupation troops kill two more children:
 
NATO-led occupation force soldiers killed two children after opening fire on a car that failed to slow down near a military patrol in southern Afghanistan, the alliance’s force said today.
tinyurl.com/65bgqa
 
===
 
The Taliban’s Baghdad Strategy:
 
The insurgents are closing in on Kabul, not in order to overrun the capital but to terrorize its residents and drive away investors. It’s working.
www.newsweek.com/id/148985
 
===
 
U.S. missile strike kills six in Pakistan:
 
The attack, one of many in recent months, was launched hours before Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was due to meet President George W. Bush in Washington for talks that will focus on the conduct of the war against terrorism
tinyurl.com/583h9w
 
===
 
Stating the obvious:
 
Pakistan has right to retaliate if allied forces attacked:
 
President Pervez Musharraf Saturday said he is concerned over the Nato forces attack in Pakistani tribal areas and warned a U-S think-tank that no such attacks will be tolerated in future, and Pakistan reserves the right to retaliate.
www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/July08/26/02.htm
 
===
 
Failed coup against ISI was to appease US:
 
When Prime Minister Gilani lands in Washington, he will not only have to worry about what he will face in meetings with the US leaders but will also have to prepare some convincing explanations for his own party leader, who is believed to have already reprimanded the PM for not being able to comprehend the seriousness and sensitivity of the decision that he took and caused a huge backfire.
www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=16258
 
===
 
16 Bombs Kill 45 in Indian City of Ahmadabad:  Video 
 
Amateur video captures the moments after 16 explosions rocked the Indian city of Ahmadabad. Government officials say 45 people died. More than 160 people were wounded. The bombs were set off in two locations—first near a market, then near a hospital
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20366.htm
 
===
 
Women suicide bombers kill 32 in Baghdad:
 
Three female suicide bombers blew their explosive vests in the middle of pilgrims in Baghdad, moments after a roadside bomb attack, killing at least 32 people and wounding 102
tinyurl.com/6rwohw
 
===
 
Suicide attacks kill 25 in Kirkuk:
 
In the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk, 25 people were killed and 185 wounded when a blast tore through a crowd of Kurds protesting a draft provincial elections law, officials said.
www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20080728-0601-iraq.html
 
===
 
Gunmen in Iraq kill 7 Shiites en route to shrine:
 
The young men were ambushed when the attackers opened fire in Madain, about 14 miles southeast of Baghdad, as they were on their way to the shrine in the Baghdad neighborhood of Kazimiyah, a police officer said.
wiredispatch.com/news/?id=268861
 
===
 
US occupation force admits soldiers killed ‘law abiding’ civilians:
 
The statement — which called the man and two women killed “law abiding citizens of Iraq” — reversed earlier military claims that they were suspected militants who shot at a parked American convoy.
www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/27/africa/ME-Iraq-Civilians-Killed.php
 
===
 
Over $4 Billion Wasted In Iraq Reconstruction:
 
Government Inspector Estimates: Bowen estimated up to 20 percent “waste” _ or more than $4 billion _ from the $21 billion spent so far in the U.S.-bankrolled Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund.
tinyurl.com/5wws36
 
===
 
U.S.-Iraq memo opens door to future turmoil:
 
The United States is moving into legal no-man’s land because the president refuses to ask the U.N. Security Council to renew the annual resolution that provides the legal foundation for the presence of our troops in Iraq. If this resolution is allowed to expire Dec. 31, it would create a legal vacuum — a vacuum that can’t be filled by a presidential memo.
tinyurl.com/6ans9u
 
===
 
Ahmadinejad cites `common ground’ with West:
 
Iran’s president said in an interview broadcast Monday that he sees “common ground” with the West over his country’s disputed nuclear program, and “new behavior” from the United States that could merit a positive response.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080728/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear
 
===
 
Officials: US talks to Iran to legitimize attack:
 
Recent talks the United States held with Iran are aimed at creating legitimacy for a potential attack against Iranian nuclear facilities, defense officials speculated on Sunday as Defense Minister Ehud Barak headed to Washington for talks with senior administration officials.
tinyurl.com/5d5e5w
 
===
 
Paul: US would back Israeli strike on Iran:
 
“No matter what they do, it is our money, it is our weapons, and they are not going to do it without us approving it,” said the 72-year-old Republican.
www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=65029&sectionid=351020104
 
===
 
Brzezinski: McCain would start WWIV :
 
Former US President Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski criticized US officials in Senator McCain’s camp for pushing the presumptive Republican nominee toward a radical foreign policy on issues such as Iran.
www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=64855&ionid=3510203
 
===
 
Hamas says militant killed in West Bank:
 
Israeli occupation troops killed a Hamas militant in the West Bank town of Hebron early Sunday, according to a statement from the Islamic group and Palestinian officials.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080727/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians_raid
 
===
 
Rights groups say torture widespread in Palestinian jails:
 
Two human rights groups on Monday decried widespread torture of political opponents by bitter Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah. Interviews with three victims and a doctor backed the reports of abuse.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1006332.html
 
===
 
Abbas: Israel rejects proposal for J’lem to be united capital of 2 states:
 
Israel has rejected a proposal made by the Palestinian Authority for Jerusalem to be a united capital of both Israel and Palestine, PA President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday
tinyurl.com/5jylbh
 
===
 
Palestinian family loses home in Jerusalem after 52 years:
 
“I was married here, I had my five children here and I want to die here,” says a defiant Fawzia Al Kurd, determined that Jewish settlers will not drive her family from their home in occupied east Jerusalem.
tinyurl.com/58lqgu
 
===
 
Hamas arrests in West Bank follow round-up of Gaza rivals:
 
Palestinian security forces arrested more than 50 Hamas members in the West Bank on Monday in an apparent tit-for-tat action after the Islamist movement rounded up hundreds of its rivals in the Gaza Strip.
tinyurl.com/5kp5ul
 
===
 
Syria envoy to U.S.: Israel has chance for peace with all Arabs:
 
Syria is interested in securing a peace agreement with Israel that would see a normalization of ties and end to the longstanding state of war between the two countries, Damascus’ envoy to the U.S. has said.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1006229.html
 
===
 
Who speaks for American Jews?:
 
A new survey of American-Jewish opinion reveals surprising views on US policy toward the Middle East
tinyurl.com/5nlx9g
 
===
 
Charley Reese: Pull the Plug on the War State:
 
We really have neither a republic nor a democracy. We have a war state and an empire. We should pull the plug on both.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20367.htm
 
===
 
STRATCOM Cancels Controversial Preemption Strike Plan:
 
The controversial preemption strike plan CONPLAN 8022 (designed to strike adversaries promptly – even preemptively – with conventional and nuclear weapons.) has been canceled and the mission instead merged with the main U.S. strategic war plan.
www.fas.org/blog/ssp/2008/07/globalstrike.php
 
===
 
Turkish official blames Kurds for deadly bombings:
 
Bomb blasts that killed 17 people and injured 150 others in a crowded neighborhood square appeared to be linked to a Kurdish rebel group, Istanbul’s governor said Monday, though the rebels immediately denied involvement.
www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5910951.html
 
===
 
PKK rebel killed, two injured in clash in eastern Turkey:
 
One militant of the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) was killed and two others were injured as they were trying to stage an attack in eastern Turkey late Sunday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Monday.
english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/6460998.html
 
===
 
Suicide hot line got calls from 22,000 veterans:
 
More than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hot line in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, the government says.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080728/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/veteran_suicide
 
===
 
Dissident Northern Ireland republican threat ‘higher than from Islamic extremists’:
 
Dissident republicans from Northern Ireland are engaged in suspicious activity more than any other radical group in the UK including Islamic extremists, according to security sources.
tinyurl.com/6kt5a4
 
===
 
How the British security forces are helping a killer spy to rebuild his life:
 
MI5 HAS rebuilt the life of a “killer spy” who was the British Army’s highest- ranking double agent at the heart of the IRA, and a man implicated in dozens of murders.
tinyurl.com/5ggaxr
 
===
 
Top Secret Government Database Used in Bush Spy Program:
 
The database is known as “Main Core.” It reportedly collects and stores vast amounts of personal and financial data about millions of Americans
tinyurl.com/5g22wh
 
===
 
Dollar Falls Against Euro, Yen on Widening Bank-Loss Concern:
 
The currency dropped a second day against the euro after Gary Stern, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, was cited by the Financial Times as saying the U.S. credit crunch will worsen.
tinyurl.com/6r4w6v
 
===
 
Speculators Trying to Buy Control of Food Supply:
 
Hedge funds and other investors are buying up farms, farmland, fertilizer, grain elevators, shipping equipment and other necessities for producing food.
tinyurl.com/55z7cr
 
===
 
Tyson Falls as Profit Slumps 92% on Higher Grain-Feed Costs:
 
Tyson Foods Inc., the second-largest U.S. chicken producer, fell the most in five weeks after fiscal third-quarter profit slumped 92 percent because of rising feed costs.
tinyurl.com/5quwyc
 
===
 
Corn, soybeans rise as dollar edges lower:
 
Corn futures rose for a third day on Monday, as the dollar edged lower and as investors bought up futures on speculation that the commodity might have been oversold.
tinyurl.com/6lzqy2
 
===
 
U.S. biofuel plants go bankrupt on feedstock costs:
 
Soaring corn and soy prices on top of rising construction costs and tight credit markets have pushed about a dozen U.S. biofuel plants to file for bankruptcy protection, experts said.
www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN2437227120080627
 
===
 
US regulators seize two more banks:
 
US regulators took over two banks on Friday and sold them to Mutual of Omaha Bank, the sixth and seventh bank failures this year as financial institutions struggle with a housing bust and credit crunch.
tinyurl.com/5mkox3
 
===
 
First National Bank of Arizona closes down:
 
The notice on their web site says that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a government agency, ordered the closure. The site also claims that there is no notice given to customers for a financial institution’s closing.
tinyurl.com/5u7ayl
 
===
 
List Of Bank Failures So Far:
 
Forthcoming failures(?):
news.aspects.cc/economy/bank-failures-so-far
 
===
 
U.S. deficit to hit record US$490-billion next year:
 
The U.S. budget deficit will widen to a record of about US$490-billion next year, an administration official said, leaving a deep budget hole for the next president.
www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=685851