The New Dark Age

6 August, 2010 — Information Clearing House

Tariq Aziz: ‘Britain and the US Killed Iraq. I Wish I was Martyred’
By Martin Chulov in Baghdad
“Bush and Blair lied intentionally. They were both pro-Zionist. They wanted to destroy Iraq for the sake of Israel, not for the sake of the US and Britain.”
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26097.htm

Arab Majority Backs Nuclear Iran
By Benjamin Birnbaum
The 2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll found that 57 percent of respondents not only believe that Iran’s nuclear program aims to build a bomb but also view that goal positively — nearly double the 29 percent who thought so in 2009.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26100.htm

Nothing Short of Nukes Will Work
By Gwynne Dyer
The problem is that there’s nothing the US can do to Iran, short of nuking the place, that would really force Tehran to kneel and beg for mercy.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26099.htm

Report: Obama Launches New Program to Help Corporations
“Take Advantage of Low Labor Costs” Abroad
By David Sirota
Now look, I’m all for a robust foreign aid budget – we don’t do nearly enough to help the developing world. However, using foreign aid money to specifically help private corporations “take advantage of low labor costs” in the developing world – that’s not “aid,” that’s rank taxpayer subsidization of for-profit exploitation.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26102.htm

And Now for Some Good News
By Johann Hari
We’ll never know the names of all the people who paid with their limbs, their lungs, or their lives for the goodies in my home and yours.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26103.htm

Faber: Dow May Plunge to 1,000
By Dan Weil
The implications of Dow 1,000 will be positive for one industry – printing, Faber says. “Does anyone really think that the money printing presses won’t run 24 hours a day?”
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26101.htm

What Collapsing Empire Looks Like
By Glenn Greenwald
Does anyone doubt that once a society ceases to be able to afford schools, public transit, paved roads, libraries and street lights — or once it chooses not to be able to afford those things in pursuit of imperial priorities and the maintenance of a vast Surveillance and National Security State — that a very serious problem has arisen.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26098.htm

In Case You Missed It
The Lies Of Hiroshima Are The Lies Of Today
By John Pilger
On the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, John Pilger describes the ‘progression of lies’ from the dust of that detonated city, to the wars of today – and the threatened attack on Iran.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20444.htm

Google-Verizon Deal: The End of The Internet as We Know It
By Josh Silver
Since its beginnings, the Net was a level playing field that allowed all content to move at the same speed, whether it’s ABC News or your uncle’s video blog. That’s all about to change, and the result couldn’t be more bleak for the future of the Internet, for television, radio and independent voices.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26104.htm

Afghans Say NATO Strikes Killed Civilians:
NATO officials acknowledged preliminary reports that four to a dozen or more civilians were killed in a coalition airstrike Thursday in Nangarhar Province. Afghan accounts put the civilian deaths as high as 32.
www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/world/asia/06afghan.html

U.S. troops kill Afghan civilians :
As many as “a dozen or more” Afghan civilians died during a nighttime raid by U.S. troops hunting for Taliban commanders in eastern Afghanistan, military officials acknowledged Thursday.
www.kansascity.com/2010/08/05/2132144/afghan-civilians-killed-in-nighttime.html

NATO helicopter goes down in southern Afghanistan:
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed the insurgent group shot the craft down with a rocket. Johnson said the cause of the incident is being investigated and hostile fire has not been ruled out.
www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9HD9L900.htm

Iraq: 3 policemen killed in drive-by shooting:
A drive-by shooting and a bomb hidden in a motorcycle killed three traffic policemen in Baghdad on Friday, taking to eight the number from the city’s force killed this week, police and hospital officials said.
www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=183895

Obama’s desperate letter to the Iraqi ayatollah:
Although the full contents of the letter is not known, what is certain is that it does not contain any specific reference or guidance as to how or in what manner Sistani should intervene
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/06/obama-letter-ayatollah-sistani

China is a barometer on whether Israel will attack nuclear plants in Iran:
China’s defiance irks the US to the point that Americans officials are now openly critical of Beijing. Perhaps the US knows something about Israel’s intentions toward striking Iran that China doesn’t
bit.ly/aku1rN

U.S. Funding for Israeli Missile Defense Programs Reaches New High:
The Jerusalem Post reported that under President Barack Obama’s leadership, and with the help of Congressional Democrats and other members of Congress, funding for Israeli missile defense programs is set to reach its highest level ever.
bit.ly/bWC3yL

American VIP humiliated at airport: Prof.
Donna Shalala, who served as the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, was held for two-and-a-half hours at Ben Gurion Airport during which she underwent a humiliating security debriefing because of her Arab last name – all this despite the fact that her hosts notified the airport ahead of time that she is a VIP.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3931210,00.html

AP Exclusive: CIA whisked detainees from Gitmo:
Four of the nation’s most highly valued terrorist prisoners were secretly moved to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2003, years earlier than has been disclosed, then were whisked back into overseas prisons before the Supreme Court could give them access to lawyers,
bit.ly/aCY1a7

Study: CIA doctors ‘gave green light to torture’:
A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that physicians with the CIA’s Office of Medical Services (OMS) played an even greater role in facilitating the torture of detainees than was previously recognized.
rawstory.com/rs/2010/0805/study-cia-doctors-gave-green-light-torture/

Fact or fiction? :
New al-Qaeda leader lived in U.S. for years:
A suspected al-Qaeda operative who lived for more than 15 years in the U.S. has become chief of the terror network’s global operations, the FBI says, marking the first time a leader so intimately familiar with American society has been placed in charge of planning attack
www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-08-06-al-qaeda-leader_N.htm?POE=click-refer

Hiroshima And Nagasaki (PHOTOS):
Never Before Seen Images From LIFE.com
www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/06/hiroshima-and-nagasaki-ph_n_672473.html

Chinese missile could shift Pacific power balance:
U.S. naval planners are scrambling to deal with what analysts say is a game-changing weapon being developed by China – an unprecedented carrier-killing missile called the Dong Feng 21D
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100805/ap_on_re_as/as_china_us_carrier_killer

Russia’s defense spending to rise by 60% by 2013 – paper:
The construction of advanced submarines, including Yasen and Borei class subs, and Bulava ballistic missiles, as well as the construction of three new Talwar class frigates, three Improved Kilo class subs and other vessels for the Russian Black Sea Fleet are likely to require the largest part of the planned spending, Makiyenko said.
en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20100730/160003543.html

Morales: Drug Cartels Better Equipped Than Bolivian Army:
President Evo Morales confirmed Tuesday that drug traffickers have more technology and modern equipment than Bolivia’s police and armed forces, and he asked for help from the international community to address that deficiency.
www.globalexchange.org/countries/americas/bolivia/6924.html

Bolivia begins military training for civilians:
The program is reminiscent of one that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez launched in his country after a failed 2002 coup attempt that he blamed on the United States. Venezuela claims it has 120,000 participants.
bit.ly/cvpC1O

UN declares water and sanitation as human right:
The resolution on the right to water and sanitation has been accepted at the UN General Assembly recently. This resolution was presented by the Bolivian Prime Minister and 122 countries voted yes and 41 abstained with no countries voting against it.
www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=149700

Canada Backs Colombia’s Growing Embrace of US Military:
Peasants sent packing to pave way for oil, gas and mining investments.
thetyee.ca/News/2010/08/06/USMilitaryInColumbia/

Gulf oil spill: White House accused of spinning report:
Scientists say it is ‘just not true’ that the vast majority of oil from the BP spill has gone
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/05/oil-spill-white-house-accused-spin

BP Fires 10,000 Cleanup Workers:
New BP CEO Bob Dudley wasn’t kidding when he announced last week that it was time for the company to scale back oil-spill cleanup operations. In fact, by the time he’d said that, the responder force had been drawn down by about 25 percent.
motherjones.com/rights-stuff/2010/08/bp-cuts-more-10000-oil-spill-cleanup-workers

BP Scores Stimulus Cash:
How the oil spill bad guys are collecting millions in taxpayer bucks to build a new power plant in California.
bit.ly/9Ze54f

Fannie Mae Seeks $1.5 Billion From U.S. Treasury After 12th Straight Loss:
Including today’s request, Fannie Mae has drawn $86.1 billion in aid. The growing tally has helped spur the Obama administration to solicit proposals to fix the companies, and prompted some lawmakers to demand their closure.
bit.ly/c0Z0bj

Social Security in the red this year:
Social Security will pay out more this year than it gets in payroll taxes, marking the first time since the program will be in the red since it was overhauled in 1983, according to the annual authoritative report released Thursday by the program’s actuary.
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/5/social-security-red-first-time-ever/

No money for schools?
Governments Go to Extremes as the Downturn Wears On:
Plenty of businesses and governments furloughed workers this year, but Hawaii went further – it furloughed its schoolchildren. Public schools across the state closed on 17 Fridays during the past school year to save money, giving students the shortest academic year in the nation
www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/us/07cutbacksWEB.html?_r=1&hp

Exotic Deals Put Denver Schools Deeper in Debt:
In the spring of 2008, the Denver public school system needed to plug a $400 million hole in its pension fund. Bankers at JPMorgan Chase offered what seemed to be a perfect solution.
www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/business/06denver.html?_r=1&hp

Camden Closing Library System: –
New Jersey’s most impoverished city will close all three branches of its public library at year’s end unless a rescue can be pulled off.
bit.ly/caWts2

Senate leaves without funding black farmers suit:
A Republican senator blocked a measure on Thursday that would have compensated black farmers in one of the largest civil rights settlements in U.S. history, again delaying action on a decades-old bias lawsuit.
bit.ly/bNhPLB

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:  4,733
icasualties.org/oif/

Number Of  International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 1,984

Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
$1,061,617,262,443
www.costofwar.com/

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