July 13, 2011 — Information Clearing House

It’s Raining Trillions
Why The US Won’t Leave Afghanistan
By Pepe Escobar
The notion that the US government would spend $10 billion a month just to chase a few “al-Qaeda types” in the Hindu Kush is nonsense.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28565.htm

Obama’s Secret Wars
How Our Shady Counter-Terrorism Policies Are More Dangerous Than Terrorism
By Fred Branfman
Obama should be held accountable for vastly expanding the military establishment’s worldwide license to kill.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28560.htm

Foreign Policy, Africa and Hypocrisy
By Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
The BBC is asking the British public to make donations for the Horn of Africa, where ten million people are starving to death, exactly when their Prime Minister, Cameron, is spending millions of pounds every single day on his bombing campaign in Libya.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28564.htm

Rights Group Exposes Libyan Rebel Abuses
By Our Foreign Desk
Western-backed insurgents in Libya have looted shops, homes and medical facilities in towns that they have seized in the oil-rich country’s western mountains, a US-based rights group warned today.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28563.htm

Why Did Democracy Fail in Bahrain?
By Saeed Rahnema
Between sectarian tensions and the U.S.’s imperial interests, Bahraini democracy never stood a chance.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28562.htm

Putin Slams US
By Pak Alert
Putin branded the United States current monetary policy as “hooliganism”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28558.htm

They Only Way To Financially Survive
The Current Economic Crisis
By Dale Pivarunas
What has been elaborated here is drastically different from what President Obama and his economic advisors have been saying.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28569.htm

Rupert Murdoch: Anthony Blair’s Bagman
Britain’s politicians find courage?
By Christopher King
Will the unravelling of Rupert Murdoch’s power in the UK will serve as a wake up call to British politicians whom for years he has targeted on behalf of the US and Israel.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28561.htm

Murdoch Shaped British Politics for 40 Years
By The Real News
Leo Panitch: Murdoch used sex scandal journalism to attack left-wing of the Labor Party and later helped create Tony Blair.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28568.htm

This Media is Corrupt
The Danger Corporate Power Presents to Democracy
By George Monbiot
Our job is to hold power to account. Instead, most of the profession simply ventriloquises the concerns of the elite.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28559.htm

Tell Big Biz To Stop Undermining Our Democracy
By Center for Media and Democracy
Why are Fortune 500 companies like Wal-Mart, Bayer, Coca-Cola, Kraft, Johnson & Johnson, State Farm and AT&T cozying up behind closed doors with Koch Industries and Big Tobacco to rewrite state laws throughout the country?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28567.htm

I Refused To Pledge Allegiance To The Flag
Zeitgeist: Moving Forward
Must Watch – Video
Jacque Fresco – “This Shi*’s Got To Go”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28566.htm

US Kills 58 People In Pakistan:
At least eight people were killed in a 3rd U.S. drone strike launched on Tuesday in Pakistan’ s northwest tribal area bordering Afghanistan, bringing to 58 the total number of people killed in four strikes launched in the last 24 hours
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7438111.html

Pakistan jails man who helped CIA:
Pakistani authorities have jailed a doctor who helped the CIA by creating an elaborate plot to get DNA samples of Osama bin Laden’s family before the al-Qaida leader was killed in a special forces raid here.
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/jul/13/pakistan-jails-cia-helper/

Altaf accuses govt of conspiring against armed forces, ISI:
Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has accused the PPP-led government of conspiring against the armed forces, ISI and other security institutions in league with the United States.
http://bit.ly/qb3ZmA

Five French occupation force soldiers killed in Afghanistan:
Five French soldiers were killed after a suicide attack in Afghanistan on Wednesday, and four others were seriously wounded, French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office said in a statement.
http://reut.rs/qWOJYN

4 Afghan civilians killed by US airstrike:
A US airstrike has killed at least four civilians in Kunar province in northeast Afghanistan, where another US-led aerial attack in March left nine young children dead.
http://www.abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&id=253158

22 Afghan soldiers killed in past week: official:
According to Azimi, the casualties on army were counted from July 6 to July 12. The spokesman of Defense Ministry also said as many as 55 army personnel were wounded over the same period of time.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7439042.html

Violence surrounds Wali Karzai’s funeral:
Karzai, kneeling at the graveside, wept and kissed the face of his brother as his body was lowered into the ground.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/07/20117134384513388.html

Attacks show Taliban are not as weak as the US claims:
The killing of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the most powerful Afghan in the south of the country, will reinforce the feeling among Afghans that the Taliban can strike anywhere at any time and are not weakening as American military commanders have claimed.
http://ind.pn/rkuY5A

11 Killed As Libyan Forces Breach Misrata Front Line:
Libyan forces attacked the city of Misrata, breaching the opposition’s front line to the west and killing 11 rebel fighters, military officials in the rebel-held enclave said.
http://bloom.bg/qTcC21

Libyan forces retake village south of Tripoli: –
Libyan forces retook on Wednesday the village of Al-Qawalish, south of the capital, which was captured by rebels a week ago, rebel fighters said.
http://bit.ly/oUYZr2

India: 10 Killed as Mumbai Hit by Terrorist Attack:
Reports said explosions set off around 7 p.m. in India, one at the Opera House in South Mumbai, one in a meter box in the jewelry market Zaveri Bazaar, and another near a temple in the Dadar neighborhood.
http://wapo.st/riR3FI

Car bombing kills 3 Sunni paramilitary members west of Baghdad:
A car bomb struck members of the Awakening Council group in west outskirt of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing three group members and wounding six other people, a local police source told Xinhua.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/7438547.html

Khalilzad: US Troops Likely To Stay:
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US ambassador to Iraq, believes that US troops will likely stay beyond December 2011 and that the country is unlikely to dissolve into civil war.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurds/3820.html

3 killed as violence in northeast Nigeria sparks fears:
Suspected members of a hardline Muslim sect have killed three people in a van blast near a military checkpoint in northeast Nigeria, an official said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/07/201171220462297893.html

Somalia: malnutrition brings children to the brink of death:
Levels of malnutrition have reached a new peak and are currently the highest in the world, said the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today
http://bit.ly/ocwDcp

Report: Two killed in clashes in Yemen’s southern city of Taiz: –
Two people were killed and another injured in clashes between troops loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and opponents to his rule in the southern city of Taiz, television broadcaster Al-Jazeera reported Wednesday.
http://bit.ly/nZs15J

Yemen’s Mysterious Militants: Are They Really Al-Qaeda?:
Have militants from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) taken control of territory in southern Yemen?
http://yhoo.it/ogTVEp

IMF sees Yemen inflation at up to 30% this year:
“The situation is serious. Economic activity has ground to a halt,” Hassan al-Atrash, the IMF’s head of mission to Yemen, told Reuters
http://bit.ly/qufDlX

Food Prices Cause Yemeni Families to Take Desperate Measures:
Families are trying to cope by liquidating their assets, skipping meals and diverting funds from health care and education.
http://bit.ly/qKucm3

France slams Russia, China block on UN Syria vote:
France on Wednesday slammed as “indecent” Russia and China’s “blocking” of a proposed United Nations resolution condemning Syria’s deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests
http://bit.ly/pu9mRg

Egyptian protesters call for end to army rule:
Demonstrators continue to occupy Cairo’s Tahrir Square, calling for military council leader Tantawi to hand over power.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/07/20117130743909823.html

Bahrainis rally to support jailed medics:
Protest rallies in support of dozens of doctors and nurses imprisoned for providing medical treatment to the injured anti-government protesters were held in several villages, including Daih and Sanabis, on Wednesday.
http://www.presstv.com/detail/188912.html

Abbas vows to continue UN statehood bid:
Palestinian president proceeds with September plan, as Middle East diplomatic Quartet meeting produces no statement.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/07/201171302020819197.html

Palestinians hold US responsible for Israel policy:
The Palestinian leadership, in unusually harsh criticism of Washington, on Tuesday held the United States responsible for “racist” Israeli policies it said had sabotaged the peace process
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/palestinians-hold-us-responsible-for-israel-policy/

Israeli peace group launches boycott, defying ban:
An Israeli peace group launched a boycott of products from Jewish settlements Tuesday – in the wake of a controversial Israeli law banning such actions.
http://bit.ly/rdDK14

Venezuela’s Chavez expects chemo or radiation:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that he expects to undergo chemotherapy or radiation treatment once he recovers from cancer surgery that removed a tumor the size of a baseball.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7651607.html

Fitch ratings agency downgrades Greek sovereign debt :
Greece suffered another sovereign downgrade on Wednesday, when the Fitch agency slashed its credit worthiness by three notches further into junk status and only one grade above default
http://wapo.st/mWUQWo

Advisers to bailed-out Irish bank get millions in fees:
Consultancies are the big winners in Ireland’s continuing financial crisis, picking up millions in fees to help the bailed-out Bank of Ireland head off the almost inevitable state control
http://bit.ly/nRjgsO

The Beginning of the End of Europe: :
This is the start of the eurozone endgame. It is now only a matter of time before the eurozone breaks apart. Therefore, get back in your seats, buckle up, and brace yourselves good-’cause it’s gonna be a bumpy ride
http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/2011/07/beginning-of-end-of-europe.html

Republicans offer Obama new debt limit power:
Republican proposal allows Obama to raise debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion while demanding even larger spending cuts.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/07/2011711161143295406.html

The faces of those Obama is betraying:
“Let us be clear, Social Security has not contributed one nickel to our deficit or our national debt … I am especially disturbed that President Obama is considering cuts in Social Security after he campaigned against cuts in 2008.”
http://bangordailynews.com/2011/07/12/opinion/the-faces-of-those-obama-is-betraying/

ACLU Sues CIA for Documents on Iraq War Critic Juan Cole:
Materials Could Reveal Illegal Domestic Spying Activity by CIA and Bush Administration Officials
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/07/13-0

A real American hero: :
Police charge mother in Nashville airport altercation: Woman refused to let officers screen daughter
http://bit.ly/qiWiUv

Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq “1,455,590”

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America’s War On Iraq: 4,790
http://www.icasualties.org/oif/

Number Of International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 2,588

Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
Total Cost of Wars Since 2001
$1,220,210,115,832
http://www.costofwar.com/