8 May 2013 — Information Clearing House
The West and its Allies Cynically Bleed Syria to Weaken Iran
By Seumas Milne
If western politicians were really interested in saving lives, they would use their leverage to negotiate a settlement.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34872.htm
By Syria Report
The US is buying time while it considers further arms to militant groups in Syria.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34867.htm
Syrian “Rebel” Leader Admits Difficulty In Unifying Fighters
By David Enders
The defected Syrian general whom the United States has tapped as its conduit for aid to the “rebels” has acknowledged that his movement lacks the military skill needed to topple the government of President Bashar Assad.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34868.htm
Syrian Opposition Rallies Behind Menendez Bill to Arm Rebels
By John Hudson
The bill includes $250 million to the opposition for “basic services, “arms, military training and non-lethal supplies” to vetted elements of Syria’s armed opposition.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34868.htm
Will the U.S. Violate Its Own Laws by Arming Rebels in Syria?
By Chris Ernesto
The administration appears to be gambling that people won’t recognize the double standard of the U.S. being on the same side as al-Qaeda in the struggle to overthrow Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34870.htm
Syria, US Wars of Aggression, and the Wrong ‘Red Lines’
By Richard Falk
What is missing from the debate on Syria, – namely, the prohibition of the use of international force by states other than in cases of self-defence against a prior armed attack.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34878.htm
Obama Uses Syria To Extend State Of Emergency
The President took these actions to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States constituted by the actions of the Government of Syria in supporting terrorism.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34874.htm
The New McCarthyism
National Security and the Inversion of Governmental Promise
By Norman Pollack
Obama‘s steady erosion if not outright abrogation of individual personal freedom, nominally in the name of the National Security State.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34876.htm
Human Rights Groups to Obama:
Don’t Let John Brennan Cover Up the Torture He Condoned
By Emptywheel
“Your administration has a responsibility to ensure that the Executive Branch response to the study is not driven by individuals who might be implicated in the CIA‘s use of torture.”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34871.htm
Washington’s Presumption
Congress has taxpayers paying the FBI to frame up innocents and send them to prison.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34875.htm
Naked Citizens
A Look Into Your Future
Welcome to London The Worlds Capital of Surveillance.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34873.htm
Nigeria: Attack kills at least 20 Nigeria police officers in central region:
An ethnic militia killed at least 20 police officers who launched a raid to try and arrest them in central Nigeria, a police commissioner said Wednesday.
S.Sudan rebels seize army base, many killed:
Peter Konyi Kubrin, an SSDA spokesman, said rebels found more than 50 dead bodies in the town after the army fled. The figure could not be independently verified.
Algerian army says 7 militants killed :
Algeria‘s military reports it has killed seven armed militants in two separate operations in a mountainous region east of the capital.
Pakistani peacekeeper killed in eastern Congo – U.N.:
Unidentified gunmen have killed a Pakistani peacekeeper in an ambush on a United Nations convoy in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a spokesman for the U.N. mission said on Wednesday.
Pakistan polls: Survey says Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan are neck-and-neck:
The PML-N and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) appear to be neck-and-neck in the race for power in Pakistan as they enjoy almost the same voter approval ratings in a new survey released on Wednesday.
Interview with Noam Chomsky on Pakistan elections:
The US deeply cares about Pakistan’s relationship with Iran. The US very much wants Pakistan to cut relations with Iran which they [Pakistan] are not doing. They are following a somewhat independent course in this regard, as are India
Afghan Police Kill 8 At Protest :
Villagers in the town of Maiwand said Afghan police opened fire on hundreds of demonstrators who were protesting raids that Afghan and NATO forces conducted in their village of Loye Karez two days earlier.
Out Of Afghanistan: By Rep. Walter Jones :
When you hear about the CIA sending cash money for 10 years, millions and millions and millions of dollars to Karzai so that he can take care of the warlords over in Afghanistan and give a little bit of money to the Taliban so they can buy weapons to kill Americans. – Where is the outrage in Congress?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34877.htm
Putin says Russia needs stronger defense against Afghan threats:
“There is every reason to believe that in the near future we may face a worsening of the situation. International terrorist and radical groups do not hide their plans to export instability,” Putin said.
14 Killed, 68 Injured In Attacks In Iraq: —
Fourteen people were killed and 68 others wounded in shootings and bombings, including suicide bombings against Kurdish security forces, in Iraq on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported the police and medics as saying.
Yemen – Al-Qaeda suspects kill 3 colonels:
“Gunmen shot dead three pilots with the rank of colonel north of Huta’s provincial capital as they were heading towards Al-Anad air base,” said the official, adding that the killers were “suspected of belonging to Al-Qaeda.”
Assad’s forces liberates strategic town in southern Syria:
The Syrian army captured a strategic southern town from rebel fighters on Wednesday after a ferocious two-month bombardment, in an advance likely to result in President Bashar al-Assad’s forces regaining control of an international transit route, opposition sources said
Report: Al-Nusra Front leader reported injured in Syria:
The leader of Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate the al-Nusra Front was injured in Syrian government shelling near Damascus on Wednesday, an opposition monitoring group said, dpa reported.
U.S. Is Warned Russia Plans Syria Arms Sale:
Israel has warned the U.S. that a Russian deal is imminent to sell advanced ground-to-air missile systems to Syria, weapons that would significantly boost the regime’s ability to stave off intervention in its civil war.
US shrugs off Syrian rebels chemical weapons use, presses for war: Op-Ed:
US officials continued to press for war against Syria yesterday, dismissing United Nations investigator Carla del Ponte’s statement that Western-backed opposition forces, not the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, had used chemical weapons.
History Repeats? ‘NYT‘ Boosts Claims of Syria’s Use of Chemicals:
Once again we’ve seen overheated front-page news stories, based on slim evidence, and columns by Thomas Friedman, Bill Keller and others. And, again as in 2003, the newspaper’s editorials express caution
U.S. and Russia to Organize Syria Conference:
The U.S. and Russia have agreed to try to arrange an international conference to end the two-year civil war in the Middle Eastern country. The new conference would bring together representatives of the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and this opponents.
Chemical wepons ruse fails –
Obama: U.S. has security interest and moral obligation on Syria:
He said to that end his administration has exerted pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad to leave power, provided humanitarian aid to Syrian civilians, helped the rebel opposition and mobilized the international community to isolate Syria. “That’s why we are now providing non-lethal assistance to the opposition
Envoy Brahimi hails US-Russia accord:
He said it was “the first hopeful news” on Syria for a long time, but cautioned that it was “only a first step”. On Tuesday, the US and Russia agreed to convene an international conference to find a political solution on Syria.
Syrian rebels react coolly to Russian-US proposal for peace conference:
“Before making any decisions we need to know what Assad’s role would be,” warned the NOC’s Samir Nashar. “No official position has been decided but I believe the opposition would find it impossible to hold talks over a government that still had Assad at its head.”
UK still pushing the WMD ruse:
Britain lays out plan for arming Syrian rebels:
Britain has proposed “fully exempting” Syria’s National Coalition from a European Union arms embargo allowing rebels to be armed in order to protect Syrian civilians from a “likely” chemical weapons attack.
Cameron to visit Russia for talks on Syria:
“There’s an urgent need to start a proper negotiation to force a political transition and to bring this conflict to an end, and I will be flying to Sochi on Friday to meet with President Putin to discuss this issue further,” Cameron told the House of Commons as quoted by AFP.
Obama to host Cameron on Monday: White House:
US President Barack Obama will meet British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House on Monday to discuss Syria and the G8 summit next month in Northern Ireland, officials said.
Abducted bishops held by rebels, in good health:
Acting President of the Syrian National Coalition George Sabra said Wednesday that the two Greek Orthodox archbishops kidnapped in Syria were being held in a small village northwest of Aleppo by a rebel group.
U.S. to provide $100 million in new aid to Syrian refugees:
The new funds will help support 1.4 million Syrian refugees, including many in U.S. ally Jordan, and hundreds of thousands of other civilians still trapped by the violence inside Syria’s border. Total U.S. humanitarian assistance in the two-year war will climb to $510 million.
US seeking to block Iran’s access to foreign exchange reserve:
A group of US senators have introduced legislation that aims to block Iran’s access to billions of dollars’ worth of foreign currency reserves
Zionist Settlers, MKs Strom Al-Aqsa Mosque:
Palestinian sources said some 40 Zionist settlers, including the Israeli figures, broke iZionist settlersnto the holy mosque to mark the 46th anniversary of the so called “the reunification of al-Quds” (Jerusalem)
Clashes at Aqsa mosque:
Young Palestinian men clashed Wednesday with Israeli officers and settlers at several gates of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound as Israeli forces and police officers denied worshipers under 50 entry to the holy site.
Israel releases grand mufti of Jerusalem:
An Israeli police spokesman told AFP that the mufti was being questioned on suspicion of involvement in a “disturbance” at the al-Aqsa compound on Tuesday.
Jordan‘s Parliament agrees to expel Israel’s ambassador:
Parliament unanimously voted that the Jordanian government demand that Israel’s ambassador in Amman leave the Kingdom in retaliation for Israeli measures against Al-Aqsa Mosque, Petra said.
Prominent British scientist boycotts top Israeli conference:
British cosmologist Stephen Hawking has pulled out of an Israeli conference, joining an academic boycott of Israel to protest against its occupation of Palestinian lands, Cambridge University said on Wednesday.
Force-feeding Continues At Gitmo Gulag: :
Emaciated and frail, more than 100 men lie on concrete floors of freezing, solitary cells in Guantánamo, silently starving themselves to death
CIA selects new head of clandestine service, passing over female officer:
She had run a secret prison in Thailand where two detainees were subjected to waterboarding and other harsh techniques. She later helped order the destruction of videotapes of those interrogation sessions.
CIA requested Zero Dark Thirty rewrites, memo reveals:
A newly declassified CIA document suggests members of the US agency did help to shape the narrative of Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow‘s recent film about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
FBI Documents Suggest Feds Read Emails Without a Warrant:
Last month, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the ACLU received IRS documents indicating that the agency’s criminal investigative arm doesn’t always get a warrant to read Americans’ emails.
Pentagon Study Finds 26,000 Military Sexual Assaults Last Year:
A shocking new report by the Pentagon has found that 70 sexual assaults may be taking place within the U.S. military every day.
Mississippi Supreme Court Issues Stay of Execution of Willie Jerome Manning:
The case attracted national attention after the FBI admitted that its original analysis of the evidence in Manning’s case contained errors. Just last week, the Mississippi Supreme Court refused to allow new DNA testing that could prove Manning’s innocence.
Protest group plans July 4 march on Washington with loaded rifles:
An Iraq war veteran and Internet talk show host is trying to gather thousands of protesters to march into the District on Independence Day with loaded rifles on their backs.
Patent filing claims solar energy ‘breakthrough’;
In a U.S. patent application, a little-known Maryland inventor claims a stunning solar energy breakthrough that promises to end the planet’s reliance on fossil fuels at a fraction of the current cost – a transformation that also could blunt global warming.
$37 Billion : Navy Ship Can’t Meet Mission, Internal U.S. Report Finds:
U.S. Navy leaders were warned last year that a $37 billion program to build Littoral Combat Ships can’t meet its promised mission because the vessels are too lightly manned and armed, according to a confidential report.
29 Shocking Facts That Prove That College Education In America Is A Giant Money Making Scam:
Our young people are seduced by the idea of college being a five year party that will provide an automatic ticket into the middle class, but the reality is that the only guarantee is that it is a ticket to serfdom unless you have wealthy parents that are willing to foot the bill for you.
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 : 3,305
Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
Total Cost of Wars Since 2001
$1,437,567,161,000
The New Dark Age 