3 December 2011 — Information Clearing House

The Western Plan to Dismantle Syria
By RT
Redesigning the region and rewriting its map – that is the Western agenda in the Middle East, insists Galtung, specifying that “above all of that – protection of expansionist Israel.” http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29877.htm

West’s Policy on Syria Could Ignite WWIII’
By RT
The situation in Syria is just a warm-up before a real confrontation, which will draw Russia and China into action. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29878.htm

China Not Obliged To Besiege Iran
Editorial : China’s Global Times
China, as well as its mammoth neighbor Russia, should keep on high alert and adopt countermeasures if necessary. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29879.htm

USrael and Iran
By William Blum
There’s no letup, is there? The preparation of the American mind, the world mind, for the next gala performance of D&D – Death and Destruction. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29880.htm

Dateline: Tahrir Square
By Eric Margolis
Contrary to misleading views promoted in the West, the Brotherhood is a very conservative, even timid, movement that advocates Islamic social justice, not violent revolution. Young Egyptians dismiss it as “your grandfather’s party. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29886.htm

Africa Lies Naked to Euro-American Military Offensive
By Glen Ford
The momentum of the Euro-American offensive flows southward, and will soon set much of the continent afire. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29882.htm

A Disturbing Truth
The Deception of Media
By Madison Ruppert
The December 5th, 2011 cover of Time Magazine represents a disturbing truth: the American corporate-controlled establishment media presents a picture of the world that is meant to placate and pacify the people of the United States in favor of presenting reality as it is. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29881.htm

Arundhati Roy: ‘The people who created the crisis will not be the ones that come up with a solution’
By Arun Gupta
Democracy no longer means what it was meant to. It has been taken back into the workshop. Each of its institutions has been hollowed out, and it has been returned to us as a vehicle for the free market, of the corporations. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29884.htm

85-year-old Woman Strip Searched at JFK Airport
By Nicholas Hirshon
“I walk with a walker – I really look like a terrorist,” she said sarcastically. “I’m tiny. I weigh 110 pounds, 107 without clothes, and I was strip-searched.” http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29887.htm

The Rebirth of Social Darwinism
By Robert Reich
What kind of society, exactly, do modern Republicans want? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29885.htm

Satire
A Farewell from Herman Cain – My Final Thoughts
By Andy Borowitz
You’re kicking me to the curb because I was messing around, and instead you’re going with… Newt Gingrich? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29883.htm

25 killed in Syria, most in battle between army deserters and Syrian forces: The pre-dawn clashes between regime forces and defectors killed seven soldiers and policemen, as well as five defectors and three civilians, according to a British-based group of Syrian activists called the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights http://wapo.st/uYeMy3

Engineering Consent For Attack On Syria:
Why There Will Be a No-Fly Zone in Syria Erdogan, in his push for a no-fly zone, needed an Arab State to join him. He found it in Jordan, scared of a dragged-out crisis on its doorstep. France takes the lead for Europe, after the boost of its victory in Libya, and a president who wants to show his population that he is willing to fight for freedom in the Middle East. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-miller/why-there-will-be-a-nofly_b_1124904.html

Done deal: Russia supplies cruise missiles to Syria: The missile system will “enable Syria to protect its entire coast from a possible seaborne attack.” http://rt.com/politics/russia-syria-missiles-contract-crisis-865/

Arab League gives Syria deadline on observers: The Qatari prime minister, announced the new deadline for Syria to avoid sanctions after a meeting in Doha to discuss the measures decided against Damascus over its crackdown on eight months of protests. http://bit.ly/v7JJmw

Preparing the Battlefield:
France withdraws embassy staff from Iran: France is repatriating a number of diplomats and their families from Iran following an attack on the British embassy in Tehran.French officials said the move was a temporary security measure. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16018000

Three NATO occupation force soldiers killed in Afghanistan bombing: A roadside bombing killed three NATO service members Saturday in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led coalition said. http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20111203/API/1112030970

Pakistani soldiers cleared to retaliate without orders: The Army hardened its stance by permitting the rank and file to respond to any attack without awaiting directions from the command. http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2681711.ece

Pakistan: Countrywide protests continue against Nato attack: Khateebs in Friday sermons condemned the blatant Nato aggression while leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami and other religious parties addressed protest rallies and called for a resolute stand against the aggressor. http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=10730&Cat=13

More deaths in Yemen violence: At least two killed in shelling in the city of Taiz following protests, taking the death toll in violence there to 17. http://bit.ly/sXb4Nz

One Killed as rival militias wage turf war near Tripoli: One local official was killed and a militia base reduced to ruins in a clash between rival armed groups near the Libyan capital, the latest flare-up of tension between militias that is destabilising the new Libya. http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=212863

Libyan fighters ordered away from Tunisia border:
Libyan fighters who led the uprising that toppled Moamer Kadhafi were ordered on Saturday to steer clear of the border with Tunisia after complaints that Tunisians had come under attack. http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-fighters-ordered-away-tunisia-border-161513857.html

Former Tripoli Brigade leader Mahdi al-Harati outed as US asset: al-Harati, who has been a Dublin resident employed as an Arabic teacher for 20 years, claimed, when contacted by police, that the stolen cash was “given to him by an American intelligence agency.” http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/dec2011/liby-d03.shtml

Iraqi PM says bombing was an assassination attempt against him: Iraq’s prime minister said Saturday that a bombing earlier this week inside Baghdad’s Green Zone was an assassination attempt against him, but he defended the nation’s armed forces and said the breach did not signal a deterioration in security. http://bit.ly/u9daNU

In lead, Egypt Islamists tell rivals to accept vote: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood called on its rivals to accept the will of the people on Saturday after a first-round vote set its party on course to take the most seats in the country’s first freely elected parliament in six decades. http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111203/wl_nm/us_egypt_election

Egyptian election results ‘disturbing’ says Israel’s defence minster: Early successes for Muslim Brotherhood prompt Ehud Barak to voice fears that international treaties will not be respected http://bit.ly/vSJV1I

Panetta: Israel must ‘get to the damn table’: US defence secretary urges Israel to resume negotiations with Palestinians and mend ties with regional powers. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/12/20111231539907422.html

Fact or fiction?
Iranian TV station ‘faked’ 1,370 Somali deaths by US drones: The Pentagon does not comment on drone strikes, so there are no official figures for the numbers of civilian deaths. For years, the US has been carrying out other covert missions in Somalia, but started using armed drones in Somalia in June. However the number of strikes reported by Press TV are questionable. http://bit.ly/sKOpIS

Russia to send observers to Kosovo to protect Serbs:
The First Deputy Speaker of the Russian Federation Council (the parliament’s upper house) Alexander Torshin says that Russia must closely watch the situation in Kosovo and help ethnic Serbs who are being persecuted by the Kosovo authorities. http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/12/02/61409376.html

Election Day: Russians vote for new Duma: For the first time in Russia’s modern history lawmakers will be elected for a term of five rather than four years. http://rt.com/politics/state-duma-parliament-elections-851/

Latin American leaders gather in Venezuela for historic summit: – Leaders from 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean gathered in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Friday to participate in the historic founding summit of a new regional bloc. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-12/03/c_131286132.htm

Border Pact: U.S. Cops go to Canadian cities:
Border deal fuels concerns in Canada: Armed U.S. police officers will for the first time be allowed to operate in Canada along with the RCMP as part of far-reaching changes in Canadian-American border operations to be unveiled next week by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama. http://bit.ly/vSvuM0

Exclusive: MF Global mixed funds, transferred abroad: The source also told Reuters that MF Global had been using customer funds for “several days if not weeks” rather than just a few days before the firm collapsed. Regulators had previously thought the firm was using customer funds on the Thursday and Friday before it filed for bankruptcy on October 31. http://reut.rs/vLxqem

In a world gone crazy:
13-year-old handcuffed and arrested for burping in class: A 13-year-old was handcuffed and hauled off to a juvenile detention for burping in class, according to a civil rights lawsuit filed against an Albuquerque public school principal, a teacher and a city police officer. The suit was filed on Wednesday, the same day the district in New Mexico was also sued by the family of a seven-year-old autistic boy who was handcuffed to a chair. http://bit.ly/ug2ukp