The New Dark Age

15 December, 2010 — Information Clearing House

The Inhumane Conditions of Bradley Manning’s Detention
By Glenn Greenwald
Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U.S. Army Private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, has been detained at the U.S. Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia for five months — and for two months before that in a military jail in Kuwait — under conditions that constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and, by the standards of many nations, even torture.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27071.htm

John Pilger: Global Support for WikiLeaks is “Rebellion” Against U.S. Militarism, Secrecy
Democracy Now!
Pilger’s latest film, The War You Don’t See, includes interviews with Assange. Pilger says that WikiLeaks is revolutionizing journalism and galvanizing public opinion to stand up to global elites.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27072.htm

Michael Moore On Countdown: “We Owe A Debt” To Julian Assange
By Countdown MSNBC
Michael Moore explains to Countdown’s Keith Olbermann why he contributed bail money for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27073.htm

WikiLeaks as This Century’s Upton Sinclair
By David A. Love
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said that “sunlight is the best disinfectant.” Well, today we find ourselves in a foul, germ-ridden place, where official misconduct is allowed to breed, infect the body politic and fester. Things are done in the name of the American people that would outrage them if they really knew the truth.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27074.htm

Italian court ups sentences for 23 CIA agents
By Ella Ide (AFP)
An Italian court on Wednesday upped the sentences for 23 CIA agents convicted in absentia of abducting an Egyptian imam in one of the biggest cases against the US “extraordinary rendition” programme.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27076.htm

Terrorama
The Next Congress Will See Terror in Everything
By Stephan Salisbury
Most people are probably blissfully unaware of a burgeoning conspiracy in which Cuba and Venezuela are reputedly assisting African and Middle Eastern extremists as they slip into the United States and fan out across the country.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27075.htm

Obama’s Last Card – Will He Play It?
By Alan Hart
Now that he doesn’t have to honour any of the promises Secretary of State Clinton is said to have made to Prime Minister Netanyahu in a desperate (and predictably doomed) effort to persuade him to deliver a 90-day settlement freeze, Obama does have one last card that he could play.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27070.htm

Iran terror attack claims 33 lives:
Chabahar governor Ali Bateni said at least 33 people, including women and children, have been killed and many more wounded in the attack which occurred at the Imam Hussein mosque in Chabahar on Wednesday
presstv.ir/detail/155541.html

Jundollah claim Iran suicide blasts:
Jundollah meanwhile said the attack was in retaliation for the execution of its leader Abdolmalek Rigi.
uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20101215/tpl-uk-iran-blast-81f3b62.html

Governor: 30 suspected Taliban killed in northern Afghanistan:
NATO bombed the “insurgents”, who were entrenched in outer areas of the village, he said, adding that ‘at least 30 Taliban fighters were killed in ground fighting and an airstrike.’A rocket fired by NATO aircraft destroyed a school, but there were no immediate claims of civilian casualties, the governor said.
bit.ly/hKp3BJ

NATO Kills Afghan Civilian, children hurt in NATO strike:
NATO aircraft accidentally killed an Afghan civilian and wounded two children, the coalition said on Wednesday,
reut.rs/fJWyHF

Red Cross says Afghan conditions worst in 30 years: –
Spreading violence in Afghanistan is preventing aid organisations from providing help, with access to those in need at its worst level in three decades, the Red Cross said on Wednesday.
uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6BE2K020101215

US intelligence pessimistic on Afghan war: reports:
Two intelligence reports, one on Afghanistan and one on Pakistan, offer a more pessimistic view of the war than top US officials and military leaders, who have touted progress in the fight against Taliban insurgents.
news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101215/pl_afp/afghanistanunrestpakistanusmilitaryintelligence

Oil or Terrorism: Which Motivates U.S. Policy More?:
One cable by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December 2009 notes that “donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.” Despite this, “Riyadh has taken only limited action to disrupt fundraising for the UN 1267-listed Taliban and LeT [Lashkar e-Tayyiba] groups that are also aligned with al-Qaeda.”
www.fpif.org/articles/oil_or_terrorism_which_motivates_us_policy_more

U.N. approves civilian nuclear program for Iraq:
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday gave Iraq the green light to develop a civilian nuclear program, ending 19-year-old restrictions aimed at preventing the country from developing atomic weapons.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40683342/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

Arab FMs oppose Mideast talks without U.S. stance on borders: Qatari FM:
Arabs skeptical that U.S. can pressure Israel on core issues after failure to get Israel to renew settlement freeze.
bit.ly/ezw7S6

Israel Seeks 20 Additional F-35s After Failure of U.S. Swap for Peace Plan:
Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, said his country is still seeking 20 additional F- 35 fighter jets even after the refusal of a U.S. offer to provide the planes in exchange for a freeze on Israeli settlement construction.
bit.ly/fU9HZ9

Rudd failed to consult Israel over call for nuclear inspection, Opposition claims:
“If the reports are correct and Israeli officials were taken by surprise, it reveals Kevin Rudd has not learnt any lessons from his past mistakes,” said the opposition’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Julie Bishop.
bit.ly/efV6UZ

John Pilgers: ‘The War You Don’t See’ Available to view in it’s entirety on the ITVPlayer:
(For those living in the UK or with a UK, IP address) John Pilger investigates the media’s role in war. He traces the history of ’embedded’ and independent reporting from the carnage of WWI to the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=198443

US: Don’t Prosecute WikiLeaks Founder: Human Rights Watch :
“Prosecuting WikiLeaks for publishing leaked documents would set a terrible precedent that will be eagerly grasped by other governments, particularly those with a record of trying to muzzle legitimate political reporting.”
www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/12/15/us-don-t-prosecute-wikileaks-founder

Naomi Wolf: Sweden’s Serial Negligence in Prosecuting Rape Highlights the Politics Behind Julian Assange’s Arrest:
Sweden has HIGHER rates of rape than other comparable countries — including higher than the US and Britain, higher than Denmark and Finland — and the same Swedish authorities going after Assange do a worse job prosecuting reported rapes than do police and the judiciary in any comparable country
www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/post_1435_b_797188.html

Wikileaks : US air force blocks staff from websites carrying US cables:
Action that blocks employees from Guardian and New York Times sites taken in line with ‘inappropriate materials’ policy
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/15/wikileaks-cables-us-air-force

WikiLeaks: US Cables: Swedish government ‘hid’ anti-terror operations with America from Parliament:
The Swedish government asked American officials to keep intelligence-gathering “informal” to help avoid Parliamentary scrutiny, American diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks show.
bit.ly/gN1d4Q

NZ spied on Fiji military, WikiLeaks cables show:
New Zealand has been using the Waihopai communications base to spy on Fiji’s military, passing the intelligence to the United States Government, US cables reveal.
www.stuff.co.nz/national/4463398/NZ-spied-on-Fiji-military-WikiLeaks-cables-show

YouTube Gives Users Ability To Flag Content That Promotes Terrorism:”
In response to concerns it’s become a means of radical promotion, YouTube has now added an option for flagging content that is terrorist in nature.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/13/youtube-terrorism-flag_n_796128.html

Kosovo PM is head of human organ and arms ring, Council of Europe reports:
Two-year inquiry accuses Albanian ‘mafia-like’ crime network of killing Serb prisoners for their kidneys
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/14/kosovo-prime-minister-llike-mafia-boss

US cables: UK’s anti-drugs fight in Ghana ‘beset by corruption’:
A British operation to stem the flow of cocaine through Ghana has been beset by corruption, with local drug police sabotaging expensive scanning equipment and tipping off smugglers to avoid detection, leaked US embassy cables reveal.
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/14/wikileaks-corrupt-ghana-police-drugs

WikiLeaks: US Cables: China Profits Off Cheap Venezuelan Oil:
According to a February 2010 U.S. Embassy cable from Caracas, an unnamed official of the state-owned oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, told visiting U.S. economic officers that China was paying as little as $5 per barrel for its oil and then selling it elsewhere at a “sizable” profit.
on.wsj.com/hgK8uu

Chávez to make laws on various economic aspects:
An enabling law that Venezuela’s Congress is about to pass on Wednesday authorizes President Hugo Chávez to legislate on various aspects of the economy such as banking, housing construction, taxes and distribution of wealth.
english.eluniversal.com/2010/12/15/en_eco_esp_chavez-to-make-laws_15A4858371.shtml

Revealed: How the CIA protected Nazi murderers:
US shielded war-time collaborators to try to destabilise Soviet Union
ind.pn/hUbNV3

Violent clashes erupt in Italy after Berlusconi survives no-confidence vote :
Video report
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ0wgefcAOg

US cables: Ireland ‘a bit optimistic’ on banks before bailout:
US economic adviser doubted Ireland’s grip on banking crisis after Dublin meeting with regulators in late 2008, cable shows
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/13/wikileaks-ireland-banks-optimistic

Clashes erupt amid Greek protest:
Police fire teargas on petrol bomb-throwing activists as strikes paralyse public services and transport in Athens.
english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/12/20101215121056119538.html

Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq “1,421,933″
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America’s War On Iraq:  4,745
icasualties.org/oif/

Number Of  International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 2,264

Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
$1,121,814,647,520
www.costofwar.com/

Wikileaks Mirrors
Wikileaks is currently mirrored on 2194 web sites
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27007.htm