The New Dark Age

14 February, 2011 — Information Clearing House

Is The Army Tightening Its Grip On Egypt?
By Robert Fisk
There is a growing concern among those who overthrew Mubarak that the fruits of their victory may be gobbled up by an army largely composed of generals who achieved their power and privilege under Mubarak himself. www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27470.htm

WikiLeaks Cables: Egyptian Military Head is ‘Old and Resistant to Change’
By Julian Borger and James Ball
Nothing Egypt’s military council has done in its past suggests it has the capacity or inclination to introduce speedy and radical change. Guaranteed its $1.3bn (£812m) annual grant from the US – it has gained the reputation as a hidebound institution with little appetite for reform. www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27471.htm

What Happens Now?
By Danny Schechter
So far, we have seen a takeover, but not yet the makings of a transformation. When millions of people were in the streets, they had power. When they are not, power reverts to institutions and a bureaucracy considered the most stifling in the world.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27472.htm

Statement from Afghan Resistance Regarding
The Victory of the Popular Uprising in Egypt
By Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
The atrocities that you commit against the Afghan people today will soon usher in a revolution and the vessel of your arrogance will drown surely following inception of a popular uprising, if God willing. www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27469.htm

Compelling New Evidence
Aafia Siddiqui’s Detention by the ISI, and Her Rigged Trial in the US
By Andy Worthington
New evidence of the kidnapping of Dr Siddiqui prises open part of one of the most shocking of the myriad individual stories of injustice in the “War on Terror.”
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27474.htm

Tracking, Intimidating WikiLeaks’ Donors
By Andy Greenberg
WikiLeaks and its inner circle of supporters may not have been the only targets of a group of security firms that offered to take on the secret-spilling site on behalf of Bank of America. www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27473.htm

Shock Confession of Customs Officer
‘Weapon of Mass Destruction Found in U.S.’
By 10 News
A port official has admitted that a ‘weapon of mass effect’ has been found by ‘partner agencies’ in the U.S., raising major questions over a possible government cover-up. www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27467.htm

Fight for a World Without Coal
By Chris Hedges
“To accept that there is nothing to do is to despair,” Berry said. “It is to become in some fundamental way less than human.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27468.htm

Two guards killed in Kabul mall blast:
An explosion at the entrance of the Afghan capital Kabul’s city center has left at least two guards dead, an interior ministry spokesperson says.
www.presstv.ir/detail/165167.html

Jihadi who helped train 7/7 bomber freed by US after just five years: Exclusive:
Release prompts claim Islamist was US informant while assisting London terrorist
www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/feb/13/jihadi-train-7-7-bomber-freed

Egypt: Protesters vow to keep pressure on military:
Protest organizers are now calling for a million-man march on Friday to remind the new military rulers who’s really in charge in Egypt’s revolution.
bit.ly/gRxign

Thousands flood Cairo square as army struggles to halt rallies:
Egypt police march on Tahrir in unusual show of solidarity: We and the people are one; prior to this, military ordered final few dozen protesters to evacuate or face arrest.
bit.ly/gVTEvi

Egypt presidential hopeful: Peace treaty with Israel is over:
A leader of Egypt’s secular opposition declared Sunday that the country’s 30-year peace treaty with Israel was “over”, despite assurances by the new military rulers that it would honor the accord in the wake of President Hosni Mubarak’s designation.
bit.ly/ia3QtE

Palestinian cabinet quits in bid to stave off unrest gripping Arab world:
The Palestinian Authority has taken steps to ensure domestic stability, and President Mahmoud Abbas has announced long overdue elections by next September.
bit.ly/h7trRn

Report: Thousands protest in Iran:
Despite a heavy police presence, approximately 4,000 people massed in Tehran’s Azadi Square and more were streaming in, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
bit.ly/g7AYmr

Tehran protests hit by tear gas:
Iranian police fire tear gas and clash with protesters attending a banned opposition rally in Tehran, witnesses say.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12447225

US sends Twitter messages to Iranians:
The Twitter feeds began Sunday as US officials accused Iran of hypocrisy by supporting the anti-government revolt in Egypt but seeking to prevent anti-government demonstrations in Iran.
news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110214/pl_afp/iranpoliticsoppositionusinternet

Thousands of Yemenis demand president quit:
Thousands of students and lawyers demanding Yemen’s president step down clashed yesterday with baton-wielding riot police and security forces who threw up razor wire to force them out of the centre of the capital Sanaa.
bit.ly/gAJ7gf

Is Yemen Next?:
The world media is consumed by the events in Egypt and there is little coverage of the protests in Yemen. Inspired by the uprising in Egypt and the stepping down of Hosni Mubarak, Yemeni people continue with their anti-government demonstrations. 
blog.amnestyusa.org/middle-east/is-yemen-next/

Police clash with Bahraini protesters:
Witnesses say police in Bahrain have violently clashed with pro-democracy protesters during the “Day of Rage” rallies across the country. 
www.presstv.ir/detail/165199.html

Tunisia refugees flood Italian island:
Arrival of more than 4,000 people sparks humanitarian crisis and Italian calls for EU aid. 
english.aljazeera.net/video/africa/2011/02/201121463028172925.html

Algeria ‘to lift emergency laws’ :
Foreign minister says 19-year-old emergency will end “within days” amid calls for more protests against government. 
english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/20112148175219570.html

WikiLeaks: NATO unimpressed by Russia’s military:
Russia’s armed forces would be able to respond only to a small-to-mid-sized local conflict in the country’s western regions, according to a cable from the U.S. mission to NATO released Monday on the WikiLeaks secret-spilling site 
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/14/AR2011021401166.html

Wikileaks: ‘From Assange to NATO, Sweden a voluntary vassal state of US’ : Video:
Dr Brian Palmer, a social anthropologist from Uppsala University, believes that Julian Assange is safer in the UK than in Sweden. RT has asked him about why Sweden wants the WikiLeaks founder so badly and his fate if he were to be extradited. 
www.youtube.com/watch?v=085JbHikPyk&feature=youtu.be

Must Watch:
“The Forgotten Man” Video – ABC Australia:
Julian Assange – hero to untold millions, public enemy number one to the most powerful government in the world. Program Transcript: Read the transcript of Quentin McDermott’s report The Forgotten Man, first broadcast Monday 14 February 2011. 
www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20110214/leaks/default.htm

Bishop calls for inquiry into Habib torture claims:
OPPOSITION foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop has called on the federal government to investigate allegations that Australian officials watched the torture in Egypt of former Guantanamo Bay inmate Mamdouh Habib. bit.ly/fOOWYR

Government ‘helping US track down WikiLeaks Aussies’:
Mr Assange is calling on Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Attorney-General Robert McClelland to reveal all the help that has been provided to foreign governments. 
www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/14/3137972.htm

France wants new global finance system:
Lagarde, speaking ahead of a G20 finance ministers meeting in Paris on Friday and Saturday, said the world had to move on from the ‘non-monetary system’ it now has to one ‘based on several international currencies’. 
www.rte.ie/news/2011/0214/g20-business.html

Nouriel Roubini: Our G-Zero World:
The US “empire” is in relative decline and fiscally over-stretched. Moreover, the rising power, China, which is not a liberal democracy, is pursuing a model of state capitalism, and is free-riding on the current global system – on trade, exchange rates, climate change – rather than sharing in the provision of global public goods. www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/roubini35/English

China Surges in Americans’ Views of Top World Economy:
By 52% to 32%, Americans are more likely to name China than the United States as the leading economic power in the world today, with Japan a distant third at 7% 
www.gallup.com/poll/146099/China-Surges-Americans-Views-Top-World-Economy.aspx

China and Colombia announce ‘alternative Panama Canal’:
Colombia has announced it is negotiating with China to build an alternative to the Panama Canal. 
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12448580

Mexico goes back to the land:
A steady dismantling of support for peasant farmers left Mexico importing half its grain supply. Now they are fighting back. 
bit.ly/ghPF0r

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: 4,754 icasualties.org/oif/
Number Of International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 2,325

Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
$1,152,195,224,303 www.costofwar.com/