5 February 2013 — Information Clearing House
Israel Plans Attack To Create And Occupy 10 Mile “Buffer Zone” Inside Syria
Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv
The plan envisages two Israeli infantry brigades and a tank battalion being based at outposts in Syrian territory. The current border, which is not internationally recognised, was redrawn after the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33827.htm
In Case You Missed It
Israel’s Post-American Future
By Leon T. Hadar
We cannot exist alone.” President Shimon Peres said during an address in Jerusalem “For our existence we need the friendship of the United States of America,”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33838.htm
NYC Officials Threaten Funding of Brooklyn College Over Israel Event
By Glenn Greenwald
The threat to academic freedom posed by this growing lynch mob is obvious: if universities are permitted to hold only those events which do not offend state officials and “pro-Israel” fanatics such as Alan Dershowitz, then “academic freedom” is illusory.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33831.htm
Justice Department Memo Reveals Legal Case for Killing Americans
By Michael Isikoff
The U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” — even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33839.htm
Neither Justice Nor Morality: Just Impunity From Crimes Against Humanity
By William A. Cook
The world is not ruled by justice or morality, it is ruled by power. Israel knows this. They have taken control of the greatest military machine the world has ever known, the United States .
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33836.htm
The People v. Tony Blair:
How Mass Murderers Get Away With War Crimes and How to Stop Them
By Chris Nineham
We need to remind ourselves of the sheer criminality of George W Bush and Tony Blair, to try and explain what was behind it and how they got away with it.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33832.htm
Rogue Elements Within US Military: Defense Nominee Hagel Had Warned Obama
By Steve Watson
Bob Woodward writes in the Post that on a visit to the White House in 2009, Hagel warned Obama that he should look out for rogue elements within the Pentagon that were leading a ‘new world order’:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33835.htm
U.S. To Become a Second-rate Power
By Mike Ferner
That is exactly what Outgoing Secretary of War Panetta said in a Feb. 1 exit interview with USA Today, when asked what effects looming cuts will have on the War Department.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33837.htm
The Trickery of the US Military Budget
By Paul R. Pillar
A key federal budget trick is using words to confuse citizens, such as labeling U.S. military spending as “defense” though much is for “offense” and sliding costs for wounded soldiers under “veterans affairs” and nuclear bombs under “energy,”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33833.htm
The Paranoia of the Superrich and Superpowerful
By Noam Chomsky
Is America over? It’s a kind of paranoia, but it’s the paranoia of the superrich and the superpowerful. If you don’t have everything, it’s a disaster.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33828.htm
Breaking the Chains of Debt Peonage
By Chris Hedges
Workers who are unable to meet their debts, who are victimized by constantly rising interest rates that can climb to as high as 30 percent on credit cards, are far more likely to remain submissive and compliant.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33830.htm
Obamacare: A Deception
Introduction by Paul Craig Roberts
How Obamacare works for the insurance companies but not for you.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33829.htm
White House zeros in on Medicare
By Patrick Martin
Both President Obama and a top economic adviser have confirmed that Medicare, the federal program that underwrites the cost of health care for more than 50 million elderly and disabled people in the United States, is a prime target in the budget-cutting negotiations now going on behind the scenes in Washington.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33834.htm
Twenty-two killed in suicide bomb near Baghdad:
A suicide bomber blew himself up near a group of anti-Al-Qaeda fighters as they were receiving salaries north of Baghdad on Monday, killing 22 people, the second bloody attack to hit Iraq in as many days.
Suicide bomber kills four Iraq anti-Qaeda fighters:
A suicide bomber on Monday blew himself up near a group of anti-Qaeda militiamen as they were receiving their salaries in the town of Taji, killing four of them, an interior ministry official said.
Gunmen storm police’ headquarters, 30 killed:
A suicide car bombing, followed by an assault by grenade-throwing gunmen on a police headquarters in a disputed city in north Iraq, killed at least 30 people Sunday.
Fact or fiction?
Six children killed in air raid near Damascus: activists:
Syrian warplanes launched a deadly raid Monday on the outskirts of the rebel-held town of Douma northeast of Damascus, killing seven civilians, among them six children, a monitoring group said.
Russia opposes humanitarian corridor in Syria, citing int’l air intervention fears:
“Russia does not support the idea of a humanitarian corridor in Syria. Any use of military power is unacceptable, and not just because we still remember what it lead to in Libya,”
White House rebuffed Clinton-Petraeus plan to arm Syrian rebels: report:
A plan developed last summer by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then-CIA Director David Petraeus to arm and train Syrian rebels was rebuffed by the White House, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
Fact or fiction?
Assad ‘Deploys’ Scud Missiles Targeting Tel Aviv:
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has deployed scud-type missiles targeted at Tel Aviv following the Israeli airstrike on a research centre on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus.
Israeli regime will regret attacking Syria: Iran’s Jalili:
“As the Zionist regime [of Israel] regretted its aggression and hostility during its 33-day, 22-day and 8-day wars, it will also regret this attack [on Syria],” Jalili said during a press conference in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Monday.
Iran optimistic on future nuclear talks:
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says he sees positive signs the United States is rethinking its approach to Tehran in the protracted dispute over the Islamic republic’s nuclear drive. “I feel this new (US) administration is really this time seeking to at least divert from its previous and traditional approach vis-a-vis my country.”
Iranian FM says Tehran to resume talks after nuclear equipment upsets Israel, US:
Iran has installed new centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear plant – and Israel isn’t happy about it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the new equipment will complicate plans to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
http://rt.com/news/iran-nuclear-talks–israel-357/
McCain refers to Iran’s president as a ‘monkey’; GOP rep calls jab ‘racist’;
Republican Sen. John McCain on Monday called Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a “monkey.” The blunt-speaking Arizona lawmaker leveled the jab-swiftly condemned as “racist” by a Republican representative-via Twitter:
Yadlin: Israel’s threat to strike Iran ‘unhelpful’:
Israeli threats to strike Iran’s nuclear program and send shock waves throughout the world are “unhelpful,” and Jerusalem should lower its profile on the issue, director of the Institute for National Security Studies, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin, said Monday.
Problems with Israeli cellular networks prompt suspicions of cyber-attack:
Cellular phone users throughout the country report problems sending and receiving calls and text messages, mostly on the Pelephone network; security officials checking whether problems due to technical malfunction or malicious attack;
Israel arrests 22 Hamas members ahead of Fatah-Hamas talks:
Israel has a history of arresting Palestinian politicians and legislators, mainly targeting members of the pro-Hamas Change and Reform bloc since 2006, when Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament.
Hamas: Israel sabotaging reconciliation efforts:
Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip said that the arrest of the movement’s political representatives in the West Bank by the IDF was designed to sabotage efforts to achieve reconciliation with Fatah.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=302094
Iran awaiting government to provide evidence for arms shipment claims:
Iranian officials in Sana’a said they are awaiting the Yemeni government to provide evidence for their claims that Iran sent arms to the port of Aden.The arms shipment included a number of surface to air missiles.
http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10022408.html
22 killed in clash of Filipino extremists, rebels:
A Muslim rebel group said Monday it attacked Abu Sayyaf gunmen after the al-Qaida-linked militants refused to free hostages, sparking fierce jungle clashes that left up to 22 combatants dead in the southern Philippines.
Witness describes Mali forces ‘executing’ students:
An eyewitness told BBC Newsnight he saw three Islamic students shot dead in a public place because they failed to show identity papers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21283829
Benghazi, Libya, deteriorating into security nightmare:
Security in Benghazi has decayed to the point where Westerners are fleeing, assassinations and kidnappings are rife and residents worry that U.S. drone strikes on jihadist targets are imminent.
Egyptian dies of wounds as toll from protests rises to 57:
An Egyptian man shot during protests in Cairo died of his wounds on Sunday, medics said, increasing to 57 the death toll in the bloodiest week of President Mohamed Mursi’s seven months in power.
Egyptian activist dies ‘after torture from police’:
AN EGYPTIAN activist, who slipped into a coma following days in police custody, has died, setting off a storm over police brutality in the new Egypt. A preliminary medical report showed that he suffered beating with hard objects, broken ribs and electric shocks, activists said.
Gang rape in Tahrir square -Video –
Girl alledgedly raped by mob in Tahrir Square
‘US, France agree over UN Mali force’:
Biden praised France’s “decisiveness” in intervening in Mali and the “competence and capability” of French military forces.
Saudi preacher gets fine and short jail term for raping and killing daughter:
Public anger has gripped Saudi Arabia after a prominent preacher who raped and beat to death his 5-year-old daughter was sentenced to a few months in jail and a $50,000 fine – known as ‘blood money’ – to compensate the victim’s relatives.
http://rt.com/news/saudi-preacher-fine-rape-333/
Urgent preparations in South Korea over North’s third nuclear test fears:
South Korean leader Lee Myung-Bak has urged the country’s officials to ‘stand well prepared’ for a third nuclear test by North Korea, according to Yonhap news agency. The test is believed to take place before Lunar New Year starts on February 10.
http://rt.com/news/nuclear-test-prepare-urgent-350/
Pentagon Expects U.S. to Retain Presence in Afghanistan:
The Pentagon’s top civilian and military officials on Sunday expressed an expectation, even a desire, that American troops would remain in Afghanistan after the NATO mission ends in December 2014, although they emphasized that no decision had been made.
Afghanistan security better before British troops arrival: Karzai:
Karzai also expressed doubts regarding foreign troops fight in the right part of the country for the past 10 years and questionned whether western forces were pulling out because they had realised the mission was a mistake, or if they believed they had successfully broken up the country’s terrorist groups.
CIA chief admits use of torture in hunt for Bin Landen:
The outgoing US defence secretary has admitted that intelligence obtained using enhanced interrogation techniques or torture was used to “put together the puzzle” that led the American military to Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.
Greek finance minister gets bullet in the mail:
Greece’s finance minister was sent a bullet and a death threat from a group protesting home foreclosures, police officials said on Monday, in the latest incident to raise fears of growing political violence.
Berlin eyes jail time for reckless bankers – source:
The German government will discuss a new law to imprison bank executives for up to five years if they are found guilty of reckless behaviour that put a bank at risk.
Osborne backs break-up of banks that fail to reform:
The UK’s big banks will be broken up if they fail to follow new rules to ring-fence risky investment operations from High Street outlets, Chancellor George Osborne has announced. He has said taxpayers are angry at banks’ behaviour and will never again be expected to bail them out.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21315562
Venezuela officials: Hugo Chavez’s health ‘improving’:
National Assembly Speaker Diosdado Cabello said he had visited Mr Chavez in hospital, and that the president’s health was “clearly improving”.
The Venezuelan leader has not been seen or heard in public since he had surgery almost eight weeks ago.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21316673
Eighth Annual US, Citgo-Venezuela Heating Oil Program Launched:
The program, which began as a single donation in 2005 in response to the high prices of heating oil resulting from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, has grown well beyond its original scope. Today, it has become a humanitarian symbol of unity between the people of Venezuela and those in need in the United States.
http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/7670
Fidel Castro votes in Cuba election:
State TV showed the 86-year-old voting at a polling station where he is said to have spent up to an hour talking to other voters and the media.
U.S. military expanding its war on drugs – :
In the most expensive initiative in Latin America since the Cold War, the U.S. has militarized the battle against the traffickers, spending more than $20 billion in the past decade. U.S. Army troops, Air Force pilots and Navy ships outfitted with Coast Guard counternarcotics teams are routinely deployed to chase, track and capture drug smugglers.
Big Media Discovers US Special Ops are Targeting Mexican Crime Organizations:
The US has had special-forces boots on the ground inside Mexico for some time now.
UK: Police spies stole identities of dead children:
Britain’s largest police force stole the identities of an estimated 80 dead children and issued fake passports in their names for use by undercover police officers.
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 : 3,257
Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
Total Cost of Wars Since 2001
$1,420,139,913,692
The New Dark Age 