The New Dark Age

17 August, 2010 — Information Clearing House

Living with the Taliban on the Afghan Frontline
Video Report and Text
Channel 4 News has obtained rare film of Taliban fighters on the Afghanistan frontline, including footage of their attacks on US forces. Channel 4 News Chief Correspondent Alex Thomson looks at what the film tells us about the insurgents and their tactics.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26171.htm

Why Petraeus Can’t Make The Sale
By Dan Froomkin
As Gen. David Petraeus kicks off an extended media blitz intended to make Americans feel better about the war in Afghanistan — or at least give him some more time to fight it — he faces a foe more implacable than al Qaeda, or even the Taliban: Reality.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26162.htm

In Case You Missed It
Why Is The US Fighting a War In Afghanistan?
Video Interview
Zbigniew Brzezinski on Afghanistan and the American strategy for Eurasia and the world.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26163.htm

Bin Laden is Dead; Long Live “Bin Laden”
Who’s keeping the terror myth alive?
By Maidhc Ó Cathail
If bin Laden is as dead as Elvis, who’s been faking all those scary threats in his name?
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26164.htm

The Ecstasy of Empire
How Close Is America’s Demise?
By Paul Craig Roberts
If the wars are not immediately stopped and the jobs brought back to America, the US is relegated to the trash bin of history.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26166.htm

Israel’s Useful Idiots
Christian Students to Defend Israel Abroad
By Tzvika Brot
The Knesset for Christian Allies Caucus lobby, began locating and training Christian students in every prestigious university and collage in North America and Europe, with the aim of establishing a non-Jewish support group that will represent the Israeli side in each campus.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26161.htm

Formalizing Israel’s Land Grab
By Chris Hedges
Time is running out for Israel. And the Israeli government knows it.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26169.htm

In Praise of … Mordechai Vanunu
Editorial
He survived his vindictive spell in isolation, and pariah status, with head unbowed – now Israel must allow him to go.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26170.htm

25,000 Jews live in Iran
By Mike Whitney
“Iranian civility toward Jews tells us more about Iran – its sophistication and culture – than all the inflammatory rhetoric. That may be because I’m a Jew and have seldom been treated with such consistent warmth as in Iran.”
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26173.htm

What If We Google “Democracy” And Get “Oligarchy”?
By John Nichols
Wealthy and powerful interests are determined to replace the civic and democratic values that have underpinned the digital revolution up to this point with the commercial and entertainment values that have made old media a “vast wasteland.” They will use every tool at their disposal — lobbying, campaign contributions, spin and media manipulation included — to prevail.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26165.htm

US Unemployment:
Don’t Let the Elite Pass the Buck
By Paul Krugman
Growth is slowing and the odds are that unemployment will rise, not fall, in the months ahead. That’s bad. But what’s worse is the growing evidence that our governing elite just doesn’t care – that a once-unthinkable level of economic distress is becoming the norm.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26168.htm

How the US economy is being ‘Japanised’
By Chris Payne
The US is already in bad shape: imagine what 20 years of economic sclerosis will do! Worse still, unlike Japan, the US has a growing population, which means that little or no growth is going to make the average American poorer.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26167.htm

Eyewitness account of the killing of 10 aid workers in Afghanistan :
For the first time, the lone survivor of the killing of 10 members of the International Assistance Mission (IAM) – which included the British doctor Karen Woo – has described the horror of their last moments.
bit.ly/a9cDHw

Alledged Al Qaeda cell leader killed in Afghan north – NATO :
An “al Qaeda cell leader” who may have been training suicide bombers was among two “insurgents” killed in an air strike in northern Afghanistan at the weekend, NATO-led forces said on Monday.
uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100816/tpl-uk-afghanistan-qaeda-81f3b62.html

The Death Toll Does Not Lie — Afghanistan Is Obama’s War:
575. That’s how many U.S. soldiers have lost their lives in the Afghanistan war since Barack Obama became President . 575 is also the number of U.S. soldiers who lost their lives in the Afghanistan war during the Presidency of George W. Bush.
www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/by-us-deaths-as-of-today_b_683441.html

Robert Gates dismisses Gen Petraeus suggestion that withdrawal from Afghanistan can be postponed:
Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, has put himself at odds with the country’s top commander in Afghanistan by ruling out any delay in the start of troop withdrawals next year.
bit.ly/bWZLTG

Karzai bans private security firms:
The Afghan president, has given private security firms working in Afghanistan four months to end their operations.
english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/2010816104813959499.html

Taliban call for joint inquiry into civilian Afghan deaths considered:
Nato and the United Nations are cautiously considering a Taliban proposal to set up a joint commission to investigate allegations of civilians being killed and wounded in the conflict in Afghanistan, diplomats in Kabul have told the Guardian.
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/16/taliban-afghan-civilian-deaths-nato-un

Afghan couple stoned to death:
The Taliban in Afghanistan has publicly stoned to death a man and a woman over an alleged love affair, government officials said.
english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/08/2010816171115397111.html

‘Osama probably buried in Pak mountains’:
A top US General has said Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is probably hiding in the remote mountainous regions of Pakistan” General David Petraeus Commander of US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan told NBC television’s “Meet the Press” when asked about the Al Qaeda leader’s whereabouts.
bit.ly/bInH1j

US occupation force soldier, among six killed in Iraq: :
Separately, a car bomb explosion east of Baquba, the capital of Diyala, killed four Iranian travelers and an Iraqi policeman. At least nine others were wounded in the attack.
bit.ly/9T0ZGK

Gates: Iraq occupation could go on, if we’re asked to stay:
Robert Gates told reporters on Wednesday that by the end of the month, approximately 50,000 U.S. soldiers will remain in Iraq. Those forces, he said, would be fully withdrawn by the end of 2011. Unless, that is, they’re asked to stay.
rawstory.com/rs/2010/0816/gates-occupation-iraq-continue-asked/

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange describes possibility of casualties as ‘acceptable risk’ :
ANY US and allied casualties that result from the publication of classified Afghan war documents would be an acceptable risk, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said today,, saying “such information is also likely to save a great many lives.”
bit.ly/d84BPW

Iraq plunges into darkness and fuel queues make comeback:
Iraqi provinces, apart from the three Kurdish provinces in the north, have plunged into darkness. The reason, according to the Electricity Ministry, is excessive use of electricity.
www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news2010-08-14kurd.htm

Israelis kill Palestinian man in Gaza:
Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian in the southern Gaza Strip, claiming they were heading off an attempted bomb attack near the border with Israel.
www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=139011&sectionid=351020202

Bushehr fuel to be loaded Sep 16:
A senior Iranian lawmaker says nuclear fuel will be loaded into the long-delayed Bushehr power plant on September 16 to make the nuclear reactor operational.
www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=138864&sectionid=351020104

Iran warns US of military retaliation:
A senior Iranian commander warns the US of retaliation in case of an attack on Iran, saying if Washington begins the war, it would not be able to put an end to it.
presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=138943&sectionid=351020101

Obama warns Turkish PM over stance on Israel, Iran: report:
President Barack Obama has warned the Turkish prime minister that Ankara’s position on Israel and Iran could lessen its chances of obtaining US weapons, a report said Monday.
bit.ly/axNMbr

Dr Kelly: Just one in five believes it was suicide:
The survey also reveals that eight out of ten people want a full inquest. With senior MPs making the same demand, the Coalition is under strong pressure to act.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303356/Dr-David-Kelly-Just-believes-suicide.html

Disease risk for Pakistani children:
Millions of children in Pakistan are at high risk from deadly water-borne diseases in the wake of the country’s worst flooding in living memory, the UN has warned.
english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/08/2010816112835740506.html

Donate to Pakistan’s flood victims:
Over 1600 people have already been killed in the Pakistan floods and there seems to be no sign that weather conditions are improving.
www.apheda.org.au/news/1281331224_14992.html

France’s debt of dishonour to Haiti:
After Haiti won independence, France extorted compensation for its slave-owning colonists. Now Nicolas Sarkozy must repay it
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/aug/16/haiti-france

How Greed Begets Hunger:
The heatwave, forest fires and drought in Russia and central Asia may be unprecedented in recent times. But there is something familiar about the ensuing food crisis, as the price of wheat remains 50% higher than just six weeks ago.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26168.htm

US ‘Virtually Certain’ to Fall Into A New Recession: Rosenberg:
The US economy is almost certainly headed back into a double dip recession, and economists aren’t seeing it because they’re using “the old rules of thumb” that don’t apply this time, well-known economist David Rosenberg told CNBC
www.cnbc.com/id/38691272

Economic Growth Prospects Dim in U.S. After Retail Sales, Trade Reports:
Prospects for U.S. economic growth took a hit this week after reports showed the trade deficit swelled and consumers reined in spending.
bit.ly/92jOxu

Banks to benefit most from White House program to help fight foreclosures:
Nevada, Arizona and Florida posted the worst foreclosure rates in July, with Nevada reporting the nation’s highest foreclosure rate for the 43rd straight month.
bit.ly/aja0z3

Pension check may not be in the mail:
Illinois public employees who think the state constitution guarantees that they’ll get all their pension benefits may have another think coming.
bit.ly/ae0iZT

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 : 2,001

Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
$1,066,442,760,005
www.costofwar.com/

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