Home Truths You’ll Never Read in the Press
Date: 4 August 2008
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq “1,245,538"
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
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Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America’sWar On Iraq 4,130
icasualties.org/oif/
The War And Occupation Of Iraq Costs
$542,558,543,746
See the cost in your community
nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182
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The Ticking Iraqi Clock
By John Bruhns
It’s crucial for us all understand the Iraqi insurgency has been disguised by the Bush Administration as AQI — Al Qaeda in Iraq . Catchy name isn’t it — and oh what a convenient excuse to keep the war going. Let’s justify the last 5+ years of death and destruction by lumping the violent reaction of the Iraqi people to an occupation of their land into the same category as those who orchestrated and carried out 9/11.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20428.htm
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Home Truths You’ll Never Read in the Press
Who’s Really Running Iraq?
By PATRICK COCKBURN
The success of ‘the Surge’ is becoming almost received wisdom in the US. This is strange since, if the US strategy did win such an important victory, why do America generals need more soldiers, currently 147,000 of them, in Iraq than they did before ‘the Surge’ started?
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20423.htm
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Did McCain’s Foreign-policy Advisor Profit From the Iraq War?
By Mark Benjamin
In a confidential memo, a company tells investors consultant Randy Scheunemann can help it win Iraqi oil contracts — because he was a “key player” in getting the U.S. to invade.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20432.htm
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Syrian Leader Gets Top Billing in Middle East by Doing Nothing
By Robert Fisk
Mr Assad’s latest trip to Tehran – just three weeks after he helped to toast the overthrow of the King of France beside President Nicolas Sarkozy – seals his place in history. Without a shot being fired, Mr Assad has ensured anyone who wants anything in the Middle East has got to talk to Syria. He’s done nothing – and he’s won.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20424.htm
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Mullen Warns Against USS Liberty Redux
By Press TV
The top American military officer has warned Israel against orchestrating ‘USS Liberty Part II’ to provoke a US-led war against Iran.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20427.htm
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‘Tell Us Who the Terrorists are if you Want the Doctor’
By Donald Macintyre in Gaza City
Seriously ill Palestinian patients are being pressured to collaborate with Israeli intelligence by informing on militant and other activities in return for being allowed out of Gaza for medical treatment a report says today.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20425.htm
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Ragtag Taliban Show Tenacity in Afghanistan
Moises Saman for The New York Times
Six years after being driven from power, the Taliban are demonstrating a resilience and a ferocity that are raising alarm here, in Washington and in other NATO capitals, and engendering a fresh round of soul-searching over how a relatively ragtag insurgency has managed to keep the world’s most powerful armies at bay.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20430.htm
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Bush Warns Pakistan of ‘Serious Action’
The News
President George W Bush confronted Yusuf Raza Gilani in Washington last week with evidence of involvement by the ISI in a deadly attack on the Afghan capital and warned of retaliation if it continues.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20421.htm
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Pakistani Spy Unit Sustains Militants
By Saeed Shah, Foreign Correspondent
To the Pakistan military, the US-led war against the Taliban appeared to be working against Pakistan’s strategic interests. The government of Hamid Karzai is viewed as dangerously close to India, creating a nightmare scenario for Pakistan’s army – should the Taliban be defeated, Islamabad would be encircled by Indian interests.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20422.htm
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FBI Was Told To Blame Anthrax Scare On Al Qaeda By White House
BY JAMES GORDON MEEK
“They really wanted to blame somebody in the Middle East,” the retired senior FBI official told The News.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20419.htm
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Journalists, Their Lying Sources, and the Anthrax Investigation
By Glenn Greenwald
The death of government scientist Bruce Ivins has generated far more questions about the anthrax attacks than it has answered. I want to return to the role the establishment media played in obfuscating the anthrax investigation for so long and, at times, aiding in what was clearly the deliberate deceit on the part of Government sources.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20420.htm
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Latin America and US influence
Video – Inside USA – Al Jazeera English
This week Inside USA heads south for a Latin American take on the influence of the US in the region. We travel to Venzuela, Colombia and Argentina to look at the power dynamics, which have changed dramatically over the last decade. Today, in most Latin American countries – pledging allegiance to Washington DC and its institutions would be political suicide.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20431.htm
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China, 16 killed as border police officers attacked:
Around 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning, 16 policemen were killed and as many injured in the city of Kashgar when assailants attacked them with grenades and knives, according to official news agency Xinhua.
www.hindu.com/2008/08/05/stories/2008080551430100.htm
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11 killed by roadside bombs in Baghdad:
Roadside bombs killed at least nine Iraqis and two U.S. occupation forcesoldiers Monday in Baghdad and surrounding areas, officials said.
www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-08-04-roadside-bombs_N.htm
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At least six killed in another bloody day of US occupation:
Gunmen killed a woman just outside her house in central Mosul
www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/LRON-7H7BY4?OpenDocument
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Iraq lawmakers divide control of Kirkuk in election bill compromise:
Iraqi law makers Monday reached an agreement to temporarily divide control of Kirkuk among the city’s ethnic groups, as part of a compromise bill providing for provincial elections in the city
jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/08/iraq-lawmakers-divide-control-of-kirkuk.php
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Police, bomb-makers among two dozen killed in Afghanistan: –
Militants killed four policemen in an attack on a security post overnight while more than a dozen Taliban-linked rebels including two mullahs preparing a bomb in a mosque also died, authorities said Monday.
tinyurl.com/645fn5
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Iran, West agree to continue nuclear talks:
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and the representative of the five permanent UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1), EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, discussed the package in a Monday telephone conversation. A spokesman for Solana said the phone conversation ended inconclusively, adding that ‘fresh contacts’ are possible in the coming days.
www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=65621§ionid=351020104
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US: UN must increase sanctions on Iran:
The United States said on Sunday that Iran has left the U.N. Security Council no choice but to increase sanctions on the Islamic Republic for ignoring demands that it halt sensitive nuclear activities.
rawstory.com/news/2008/US_UN_must_increase_sanctions_on_0803.html
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Iran tests ‘new weapon’ for use at sea:
Iran announced Monday that it has tested a new weapon capable of sinking ships nearly 200 miles away, and reiterated threats to close a strategic waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf if attacked.
tinyurl.com/6kuy7q
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Friedman: Iran war may prompt $300 oil:
The United States and Israel have likely engaged in ‘psychological warfare’ rather than war preparations, commented Friedman, who also heads the US private intelligence corporation Stratfor.
www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=65597§ionid=351020101
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Bush running out of time on nuclear “threats”:
Iran’s non-answer highlights that Bush has run out of time to see through either deal and another with nuclear-armed India. That means the next U.S. president will have to pick up the pieces, and possibly change the terms of any deals.
tinyurl.com/5orqzm
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Knesset to hold special recess session on Assad’s visit to Tehran:
Likud faction chairman, Knesset Member Gideon Sa’ar, said that “Assad’s visit to Tehran and his statement on its right to nukes ridicule the delusional negotiations the government is conducting with Assad.”
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3577547,00.html
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Palestinian teen shot by Israel dies of wounds: Occupied West Bank:
A Palestinian teenager shot by Israeli troops last week during the funeral of another victim of Israeli fire died of his wounds on Monday, a Ramallah hospital official said.
www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=94774
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Israel Transfers Fleeing Fatah Activists To West Bank:
Israel on Monday transferred dozens of members of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party, who were earlier allowed into Israel after fleeing from “attacks” in the Hamas controlled Gaza strip, to the Fatah-controlled West Bank.
tinyurl.com/6f4fe4
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Fatah allies seek refuge in West Bank:
Scores of Fatah allies, members of a heavily armed Gaza clan allied with Fatah, began arriving in Jericho on Monday afternoon. They will be housed at the Palestinian National Security headquarters in Jericho, Palestinian officials said.
www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/04/mideast/gaza.php
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Producing Christian ambassadors for Israel:
For the fifth consecutive year, New York-based evangelical Christian ministry Eagles’ Wings brought a group of high-achieving Christian students to Israel this week for a three-week-long trip aimed at forging deeper bonds between participants and the State of Israel
tinyurl.com/5b796k
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Rumours Surround Syria ‘Hit’:
Although suspicion for the killing will fall on the Israel, Sky News has been told that despite the Israeli’s shedding no tears over his death, they were not responsible.
tinyurl.com/6exwrb
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Lebanese Cabinet allows Hizbullah to keep its weapons:
The Lebanese Cabinet approved on Monday a bill approving Hizbullah’s right to use any means necessary in order to regain territories conquered by Israel
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3577832,00.html
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Police, bomb-makers among two dozen killed in Afghanistan: –
Militants killed four policemen in an attack on a security post overnight while more than a dozen Taliban-linked rebels including two mullahs preparing a bomb in a mosque also died, authorities said Monday.
tinyurl.com/645fn5
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Afghan president reaches India to strengthen ties:
Afghanistan, India and the U.S have accused Pakistan’s spy agency of being involved in the July bombing that killed at least 58 people, including two Indian diplomats. Islamabad denies any involvement.
article.wn.com/view/2008/08/04/Afghan_president_reaches_India/
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India pledges $450m aid package to Afghanistan:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday announced a $450-million new aid package to Afghanistan. Dr Singh asserted that New Delhi’s initiative in the reconstruction and development of the war-torn country was part of a larger effort to help the Afghan people in forging a pluralistic and democratic society.
tinyurl.com/5uema9
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Afghanistan situation worsens:
There’s military slang that seemingly applies to the situation on the ground in Afghanistan today. The operative acronym is FUBAR – Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition. That first letter doesn’t really stand for “Fouled,” and the R sometimes stands for Repair.
www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view.bg?articleid=1110849
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Afghanistan agrees to resume talks with Pakistan:
Afghanistan accepted Pakistan’s offer on Sunday to resume talks which the Kabul government had boycotted after accusing its neighbour of being behind a series of attacks.
in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-34807220080803
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Bush warns Pakistan of ‘serious action’:
President George W Bush confronted Yusuf Raza Gilani in Washington last week with evidence of involvement by the ISI in a deadly attack on the Afghan capital and warned of retaliation if it continues.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20421.htm
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Rice hints at US action in Fata:
Underscoring the need for immediate military action in Fata and areas adjacent to the Pak-Afghan border, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has indicated that use of some US power along with the full Pakistani power may be on the cards to eliminate the terrorists groups there.
www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=16409
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Seoul probes civilian `massacres’ by US :
In clear weather from low altitude, “U.S. forces napalmed numerous small buildings, (and) strafed children, women and old people in the open area,” the commission said.
tinyurl.com/6jarj9
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Defence admits to nuclear exposure:
BRITISH Defence chiefs have admitted servicemen were exposed to dangerous radiation levels during nuclear tests in Australia and the South Pacific in the 1950s.
www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24121377-5005961,00.html
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Downstairs from her glittering Chilean salon, there was a torture chamber:
As the literati danced and debated upstairs, Chilean intelligence officers were downstairs torturing dissidents and manufacturing the toxic nerve agent sarin in a secret laboratory.
www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/46070.html
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Russia, Cuba deny defense talks:
Russia looks set to re-establish ties with Cuba following a visit to Havana by Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Igor Sechin.
www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=65626§ionid=351020602
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John McCain considers Jewish running mate:
A young Jewish congressman from the battleground state of Virginia has joined the shortlist to be John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate.
tinyurl.com/698ura
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A second, far larger wave of U.S. mortgage defaults is building:
The first wave of Americans to default on their home mortgages appears to be cresting, but a second, far larger one is building with alarming speed.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20426.htm
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Soviet dissident writer Solzhenitsyn dies at 89:
Solzhenitsyn served with the Red Army in World War Two but became one of the most prominent dissidents of the Soviet era, enduring labor camps, cancer and persecution by Soviet officialdom.
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080803/wl_nm/russia_solzhenitsyn_dc