The New Dark Age

Heinonen Pushed Dubious Iran Nuclear Weapons Intel
By Gareth Porter
Olli Heinonen, the Finnish nuclear engineer who resigned Thursday after five years as deputy director for safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was the driving force in turning that agency into a mechanism to support U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25860.htm

When Does Conciliatory Become Obsequious?
Abbas Meets The Pro-Israel Lobby
By Ira Glunts
How many words have been written and spoken in the last 10 years which make the case that these same people in attendance at the Abbas meeting are the lobbyists who are the engine driving a self-defeating U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East?
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25856.htm

Money ‘But No Future’ In West Bank
By Carol Malouf
An ‘opening soon’ sign hangs on top of a newly finished building in the centre of Ramallah. It belongs to an international hotel chain owned by Saudi Prince Walid bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25866.htm

This May be Britain’s Abu Ghraib
By Phil Shiner and Tessa Gregory
The Guardian article this week, which reported that many more civilians died in army custody than previously thought, should shock the conscience of the nation.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25859.htm

Why West Lost Afghan War
By Michael Scheuer
The bottom line is that the United States and NATO stand defeated in Afghanistan. Under McChrystal, Petraeus, or Obama himself the counterinsurgency strategy now being flogged has been intellectually bankrupt from its inception.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25858.htm

Terrorism: Why They Want to Kill Us
By Doug Bandow
The central fact is that overwhelmingly suicide-terrorist attacks are not driven by religion as much as they are by a clear strategic objective: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25857.htm

Stranger Than Fiction: TX Rep. Louis Gohmert Warns of Terrorist Babies:
Video and text
Citing a “retired F.B.I. agent” as his source, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, said on the floor of Congress last week that terror cells are plotting to breed future terrorists inside the United States.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25861.htm

Put Away the Flags
By Howard Zinn
On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25862.htm

Declare Your Independence!
By Kevin Zeese
Looking back at this history would you have voted for either one of the slave parties?  Or, would you have voted to end slavery even though your candidate had no chance of winning?  
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25865.htm

Move the Money, Starve the Empire
By Christine Ahn
We can’t address the economic crisis blighting neighborhoods throughout the United States without moving money away from war. That’s the only part of the national budget not being cut.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25864.htm

In Ireland, a Picture of the High Cost of Austerity
By LIZ ALDERMAN
Despite its strenuous efforts, Ireland has been thrust into the same ignominious category as Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain. It now pays a hefty three percentage points more than Germany on its benchmark bonds, in part because investors fear that the austerity program, by retarding growth and so far failing to reduce borrowing, will make it harder for Dublin to pay its bills rather than easier.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25863.htm

11 killed as Taliban send Petraeus suicide warning in Kunduz [Video]:
Six Taliban fighters in suicide vests attacked contractors working at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) compound in Kunduz on Friday killing at least five – including three foreign aid workers, a security guard and an Afghan police officer, while wounding two dozen other Afghan security officers and civilians
tinyurl.com/35svxts

Taliban Kills Five Afghan Civilians :
Taliban militants killed five civilians and one other was wounded in the southern Khost province on Friday night
quqnoos.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4550&Itemid=48

US-led forces kill three Afghan civilians:
The civilians, including a woman, were killed in a NATO operation in the volatile southern province of Kandahar
www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=133194&sectionid=351020403

House OKs occupation funding bill to increase troops in Afghanistan:
Despite pessimism that the war in Afghanistan is a quagmire, Democrats controlling the House muscled through a plan Thursday to finance President Obama’s troop increase, but only after sweetening the measure with provisions to salvage their faltering jobs agenda.
tinyurl.com/3xs8xlx

The Occupation Supplemental: A Rundown:
Let’s walk through just what happened last night in the House of Representatives on the war supplemental, and its multiple implications
news.firedoglake.com/2010/07/02/the-war-supplemental-a-rundown/

Karzai Approves Plan for Taliban Reintegration:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has approved a plan intended to win over Taliban foot soldiers and low-level commanders, according to NATO officials and an aide to the Afghan official overseeing the effort at Taliban reintegration.
www.nytimes.com/2010/07/02/world/asia/02afghan.html?_r=2

Afghanistan is “War of Obama’s Choosing”:
Republican National Committee Chairman: He can be heard suggesting that President Obama failed to understand that waging war in Afghanistan has been shown throughout history to be a losing proposition,
www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20009569-503544.html

Steele’s Afghanistan criticism highlights Democrats’ mixed message on war:
“The American people will be interested to hear that the leader of the Republican Party thinks recent events related to the war are ‘comical’ and that he is betting against our troops and rooting for failure in Afghanistan,” the DNC communications director, Brad Woodhouse, said in a statement
tinyurl.com/2882w3l

13 killed in Pakistan clashes:
Ten Taliban militants and three soldiers were killed Saturday in a roadside bombing and clashes in Pakistan’s tribal region along the Afghan border, security officials said.
story.irishsun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/2411cd3571b4f088/id/655068/cs/1/

Pakistanis blame US after shrine attack kills 42:
A twin suicide attack that killed 42 at Pakistan’s most popular Sufi shrine has angered and frustrated Pakistanis, with some saying Friday that the solution to the country’s terror threat is a U.S. exit from Afghanistan.
tinyurl.com/345sy7c

Drone attacks have increased terror acts::
The chief justice of the Lahore High Court ON Wednesday remarked that drone attacks are against the integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan, and if these are not being carried out with the government consent, it should take measures to stop them.
www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=29771

Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran:
Pakistan and Iran ‘backing Afghan attacks on British troops’:
Bomb attacks that are killing British troops in Afghanistan are being funded and supplied from Iran and Pakistan, a senior officer has said.
tinyurl.com/2d45vun

Obama says new U.S. sanctions on Iran toughest ever:
U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law on Thursday far-reaching new sanctions on Iran that aim to squeeze the Islamic Republic’s fuel imports and deepen its international isolation.
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100701/pl_nm/us_obama_iran

Total CEO calls Iran oil embargo’an ‘error’:
The CEO of French energy giant Total on Friday criticised sanctions against Iran, saying an embargo on petrol products was an “error” that would harm ordinary people.
www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j9Eq8NcJPlT6IBH1oDcMn3qBi2Wg

Russia may lose billions for breaching missile contract with Iran:
Russia’s refusal to deliver S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran means Tehran could turn to China as its main arms supplier, depriving Moscow of a serious source of revenue, a Russian daily suggested on Wednesday.
www.en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20100630/159641465.html

Iran remembers victims of airliner shot down by US:
Iranian helicopters scattered flowers into the Persian Gulf waters on Saturday as family members and relatives remembered the 290 passengers killed when a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian airliner 22 years ago.
www.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20100703/ML.Iran.Plane.Crash.Anniversary/

At least 2,405 people killed in 2010 in Iraq, says rights group:
An Iraqi rights group said that 2,405 people were killed in Iraq in the past six months, as violence spiked amid political post-election tensions, the Yaqen website reported Saturday.
tinyurl.com/32eczqh

Turkey bombs Kurd targets in Iraq:
Turkish warplanes have bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq, a day after 17 people were killed in clashes in Turkey’s southeast, the army said.
english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/07/20107295817588507.html

Names emerging for Iraq’s prime minister?:
The secular Iraqiya slate is determined to nominate its leader Iyad Allawi as the next prime minister of Iraq, a leading member of the bloc said in Baghdad.
tinyurl.com/33xfh7f

Report: Abbas agrees to Israeli control over Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem:
Abbas is said to have proposed the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, but with a land swap encompassing 2.3 percent, which would leave larger settlement blocs such as Gush Etzion, Pisgat Ze’ev and Modi’in Ilit in Israel’s hands, along with a swathe of land overlooking Ben-Gurion International Airport
tinyurl.com/38nhbn7

Netanyahu: No apology, no compensation to Turkey over Gaza flotilla:
“Israel cannot apologize for our soldiers being forced to defend themselves against the mob that almost slaughtered them,” Netanyahu said during an interview with Israel’s Channel 1.
tinyurl.com/26gjgpo

‘Obama warns Erdogan international Gaza flotilla probe bad for Turkey’ :
Obama warned Erdogan that the international probe which Turkey has demanded could turn into a “double edged sword,” as it could lead to accusations against the passengers on board the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara ship, some of whom were members of the pro-Palestinian IHH organization.
tinyurl.com/38b9azy

Petraeus emails show general scheming with journalist to get out pro-Israel storyline:
Last March General David Petraeus, then head of Central Command, sought to undercut his own testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee that was critical of Israel by intriguing with a rightwing writer to put out a different story
tinyurl.com/2dvpb2o

21 Killed In Deadly Mexico Drug Violence:
At least 21 people have been killed in a gun battle between two of Mexico’s most powerful drug gangs, the Sinaloa and an offshoot known as the Beltran Layvaa.
english.aljazeera.net/video/americas/2010/07/20107302512968861.html

Drug violence clouds Mexican vote:
At least three candidates have been assassinated in the run-up to the regional polls, blamed on drug cartels seeking to cement their influence
english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/07/20107341917120935.html

Video Captures Another Border Killing:
It’s a muddy cell phone video, taken from a difficult angle, but the audio recorded on the modest device, is both revealing and chilling: the contents cast doubt on claims by the U.S. Border Patrol, regarding the death of a Mexican national who died in custody after being beaten and electric-shocked by federal agents on May 28.
consortiumnews.com/Print/2010/070210b.html

Prosecutors demand jail for Noriega:
The trial of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega has wrapped up in Paris with prosecutors demanding he receive the maximum sentence of 10 years in jail for laundering drug money through French banks.
english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/07/20107115352783104.html

Obama announces 2 billion dollars in funding for solar power:
President Barack Obama announced Saturday the awarding of nearly 2 billion U.S. dollars to two solar energy companies as an effort to boost employment and solar power in the United States.
news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-07/03/c_13382598.htm

Two spy suspects admit to being Russian citizens, prosecutors say:
In Friday’s court filing, prosecutors said Zottoli and Mills had $100,000 in cash and phony passports and other identity documents stashed in safe deposit boxes.
www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2010/07/two_spy_suspects_admit_to_bein.html

Mystery of the ‘sleeper cell’ that gave Russian espionage a bad name:
The prosecution have yet to produce any evidence of deep intelligence being passed by the “spy ring” to their Moscow handlers. In fact the Russian agents were not even successful enough to face espionage-related charges, being accused, instead, of failing to register with the US authorities as representatives of a foreign power.
tinyurl.com/2az5y7y

In Britain, accused Russian spy’s ex-husband speaks up:
Alex Chapman says he doesn’t know whether his ex-wife, Anna, might have been recruited while the couple lived together in London from 2002 to 2006. But he says her arrest did not surprise him.
articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/02/world/la-fg-britain-chapman-20100703

U.S. Homeland Security head announces Amtrak information-sharing security initiative:
Napolitano outlined a new nationwide intelligence-gathering scheme that will start with Amtrak Police.
www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/us_homeland_security_head_anno.html

Oil found in Gulf crabs raises new food chain fears:
University scientists have spotted the first indications oil is entering the Gulf seafood chain – in crab larvae – and one expert warns the effect on fisheries could last “years, probably not a matter of months” and affect many species.
www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/07/01/96909/oil-found-in-gulf-crabs-raising.html

Payrolls in U.S. Fall 125,000; Jobless Rate at 9.5%:
The pace of hiring signals it will take years for the world’s largest economy to recover the more than 8 million jobs lost during the recession that began in December 2007. The turmoil in financial markets brought on by the European debt crisis raises the risk that employment will slow.
www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-02/payrolls-in-u-s-fall-125-000-jobless-rate-at-9-5-update2-.html

Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq “1,366,350″
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America’s War On Iraq:  4,729
icasualties.org/oif/

Number Of  International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 1,895

Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
$1,012,793,350,414
www.costofwar.com/

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