14 December 2012 — Information Clearing House
US-Backed Syrian Opposition Demands Support for Al Qaeda
By Tony Cartalucci
US-handpicked opposition leader, Moaz al-Khatib wants US to reconsider terror listing for Al Qaeda’s al-Nusra front.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33315.htm
Australian Pseudo-left Backs Imperialist Intervention in Syria
By Patrick O’Connor and Nick Beams
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has lined up behind Washington’s preparations for a military confrontation with China in East Asia and the Pacific, while at the same time providing unstinting support for its operations in the Middle East.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33317.htm
Iranian Bomb Graph Appears Adapted from One on Internet
By Gareth Porter
The IAEA should have been able to make the connection between the set of graphs alleged to have been used by Iran – and the very similar graph available on the internet.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33319.htm
The Impact of Sanctions on Iranian Society
By Mehrnaz Shahabi
Iran is headed for a humanitarian catastrophe unless steps are taken to avert it.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33321.htm
The Hagel Haters
By Eli Lake
Why Israel‘s supporters can’t stand the man who might be the next secretary of defense.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33320.htm
From The Archives
Dispatches: Inside Britain’s Israel Lobby
Video – UK’s Channel 4
How the lobby operates from within parliament and the tactics it employs behind the scenes when engaging with print and broadcast media.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23997.htm
This is the best liberalism can do, folks?
The Liberal Presidency
By Charles Davis
Their doctrinaire commitment to incrementalism and the Democratic Party has led us to today, a world where the rich get richer and the poor get bombed.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33322.htm
Hacking the Human Brain: The Next Domain of Warfare
By Chloe Diggins and Clint Arizmendi
This new battlespace is not just about influencing hearts and minds. It’s about involuntarily penetrating and coercing the mind.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33323.htm
Police State USA
U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizens
By JULIA ANGWIN
The rules now allow the little-known National Counterterrorism Center to examine the government files of U.S. citizens for possible criminal behavior, even if there is no reason to suspect them.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33318.htm
The Great Social Security Robbery
By James Petras
In every sense this is “the mother of all class struggles”. The outcome will determine whether the capitalist class will continue to rob social security and its working class contributors.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33316.htm
Grappling with Phantoms
By Phil Rockstroh
The Financial Cliff, The War On Christmas, And Other Dim Tidings Of Political Disconnect.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33314.htm
We Should Value The Lives Of All Children As We Do Those Of The US
Elementary School Massacre: 27 Killed, including 20 Children, in Connecticut
By Pete Williams, Miguel Llanos and Tracy Connor
Some young survivors — all under age 10 — described the terror of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33324.htm
Report:159 people killed in Syria: At least 159 people were killed in clashes between the Free Syrian Army and government forces over the past 24 hours in the country’s different cities, “Al Jazeera” TV channel reported on Friday.
Syrian protesters slam U.S. blacklisting of jihadist group: Thousands of Syrians took to the streets on Friday, criticising Washington for blacklisting a rebel jihadist group and saying that it was President Bashar al-Assad who was a “terrorist.”
Sunni Syrian rebels burn Shiite mosque: video: A video posted on the Internet shows Sunni Muslim rebels burning a Shiite mosque in north Syria – a sign that the country’s civil war is spiralling into a sectarian conflict.
Nato backs US troop deployment: Syrian President Bashar Al Assad was likely to fall and Nato must plan in advance to protect against the threat of his chemical arsenal falling into the wrong hands, a senior official of the Western military alliance said on Friday.
Russia backs Syria as US, Germany send Patriots: Russia insisted on Friday its stand on the conflict in key ally Syria was unchanged, while Washington and Berlin prepared to deploy Patriot missiles and troops near Turkey’s border with the country.
Airstrikes in Yemen kill 6: Yemeni security officials say six al-Qaida suspects have been killed and 12 others wounded in army attacks on militant positions around the country.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_22192824
2 killed, 20 injured as bomb attack targets Iranian bus in Iraq: Two Iranian pilgrims were killed in a bomb attack on an Iranian bus near the holy Iraqi City of Samarra, Fars news agency reported citing Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization.
Iraq’s president says Baghdad, Kurds agree to eventually withdraw forces from disputed areas: Iraq‘s central government and Kurdish leaders have reached a deal aimed at easing a military standoff that began last month, the country’s president announced Thursday.
US Congress seeks to increase US funding for Israel: Congress wants to at least double the Obama administration’s funding request for anti-missile cooperation with Israel.
The U.S. is providing Israel with at least $8.5 million each day* in military aid : Provides the Palestinians $0** in military aid during Fiscal Year 2012.
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/usaid.html
In case you missed it:
Israel’s nuclear weapons render it ineligible for US aid: The Israel lobby’s biggest and longest-running Washington boondoggles are the massive annual weapons and economic packages to Israel.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32563.htm
Canada’s tax dollars aid Israel’s divide and rule tactics: “It is an extraordinary arrangement: the security forces of a country under occupation are being subcontracted by third parties outside the region to prevent resistance to the occupying power, even as that power continues to grab more land,”
Israeli Defense Minister Lieberman resigns after criminal charge: Resignation may impact Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reelection chances.
Testing public opinion?
Sources: Hagel frontrunner for defense secretary: – Former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel has met with both President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, as the president considers tapping him to replace Leon Panetta as defense secretary, according to several knowledgeable sources.
Chuck Hagel’s ambiguous stance on dealing with Iran: While Obama has long been clear that he considers military strikes a viable last resort, Hagel’s statements on the matter have been far more ambiguous.
Setting up Iran?
IAEA is confident of N-deal with Iran: The UN nuclear agency expressed confidence yesterday that it will clinch a deal with Iran next month under which Tehran will at last answer “credible” evidence of atomic weapons research, but analysts and Western diplomats were skeptical.
http://arabnews.com/iaea-confident-n-deal-iran
IAEA says ‘progress’ in Iran nuclear talks: Talks in Tehran could mean a deal with Iran over its nuclear programme is struck during next round in January.
Heavy clashes in Egypt’s Alexandria over referendum, injuries and arrests reported (PHOTOS, VIDEO): Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city, was engulfed in violence after over 2,000 people rallied around a central mosque in support of the draft constitution.
http://rt.com/news/clashes-alexandria-egypt-referendum-069/
Pakistan army denies ‘abuses’ in tribal areas: Military says report by human rights group detailing widespread abuses amid conflict with Taliban is “a pack of lies”.
3 killed, 21 wounded in Afghanistan car bombing: Three people were killed and 21 others including three foreign troops, wounded in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan‘s southern Kandahar province on Thursday evening, an official said.
3 killed, many hurt in Somali capital car bomb attack: “The car exploded while the driver was moving in it…three people were killed,” said police officer Aden Mohammed, adding it was not clear if the driver had been targeted.
Russia’s Putin calls US trade bill ‘unfriendly’: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Thursday lambasted a U.S. bill imposing sanctions on Russian officials accused of human rights violations, saying that it hurts Russian-American relations.
Assange to run for Australian Senate, start Wikileaks party : Wikileaks founder Julian Assange says he intends to run for a seat in the Australian Senate in next year’s federal election and will announce the formation of a WikiLeaks party. He made the announcement from the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
CIA ‘tortured and sodomised’ terror suspect, human rights court rules: Landmark European court of human rights judgment says CIA tortured wrongly detained German citizen
Senate under pressure to release mammoth report on CIA interrogation: Republican senators could move to keep under wraps a 6,000-page report detailing CIA methods during ‘war on terror’
This ‘seven years’ war’ is a battle over Pentagon secrecy and torture information: The long fight for government documents has cast Marks, a 44-year-old associate professor of bioethics, humanities and law, into a wilderness only partially penetrated by the Freedom of Information Act. Others know similar terrain well. Federal information, it turns out, is not always free.
Somali woman gets 8 years in prison on ‘terrorism’ charge for her humanitarian work: Yusuf, a volunteer at the Humanitarian African Relief Organization was accused of sending a small sum of money – $1450 – to members of Somali resistance organization al-Shabab.
4 killed as Denver home set on fire: Police spokeswoman Raquel Lopez said two men knocked on the door of an apartment at about 7:30pm on Thursday and sprayed the woman who answered with a flammable liquid and tossed a match or lighter at her.
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/f1df5443-1725-4c45-9fa0-76bfe15970a4.aspx
Cost Of War
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: 4,883
Number Of International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 3,239
Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
Total Cost of Wars Since 2001
$1,402,937,515,563
The New Dark Age 