News for 01-16-07

01-16-07 - UN marks soaring Iraq death toll More than 34,000 civilians were killed in violence in Iraq during 2006, a UN human rights official has said.


01-16-07 - Allies 'go after' Iran as beefed-up naval force sails for Gulf ** Britain?s contribution is two minehunters HMS Blyth and HMS Ramsey, which will remain in the Gulf for an unusually-long two-year mission to keep shipping routes open in the event that Iran attempts to block oil exports.


01-16-07 - Terror: 'We're Going to Get Hit' Agitprop via MSNBC. Must get sheep lined up for new boom boom in Middle East.


01-16-07 - Escalation Against Iran ** This has to be called escalation. We have to remind ourselves, just as Iran is supporting groups inside Iraq, the United States is supporting groups inside Iran. Just as Iran has special operations troops operating inside Iraq, we?ve read the United States has special operations troops operating inside Iran. Good point.


01-16-07 - Iraq edges closer to Iran, with or without the U.S. "We, as Iraqis, have our own interest," Zebari said in an interview with The Times. "We are bound by geographic destiny to live with" Iran, adding that the Iraqi government wanted "to engage them constructively."


01-16-07 - Judge rules agent can sue CIA The lawsuit said Doe's CIA superiors either refused to disseminate the intelligence or demanded he falsify his report to indicate several countries were developing the weapons.


01-16-07 - AP: Iran gets army gear in Pentagon sale Fighter jet parts and other sensitive U.S. military gear seized from front companies for Iran and brokers for China have been traced in criminal cases to a surprising source: the Pentagon.


01-16-07 - Russia completes delivery of missiles to Iran ** Russia has completed delivery of TOR-M1 surface-to-air missile defence systems to Iran, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov has said


01-16-07 - Mr. Bush, Meet Walter Jones by Patrick J. Buchanan ** The day after Bush's threat to Iran, Jones introduced a Joint Resolution, "Concerning the Use of Military Force by the United States Against Iran." Under HJR 14, "Absent a national emergency created by attack by Iran, or a demonstrably imminent attack by Iran, upon the United States, its territories, possessions, or its armed forces, the president shall consult with Congress, and receive specific authorization pursuant to law from Congress, prior to initiating any use of force on Iran."


01-16-07 - Iran president sends note to Saudi king Iran's overture to Saudi Arabia appeared to be an attempt to counter American efforts to rally its allies in the region and isolate Tehran.


01-16-07 - Spain seeks US soldiers' arrest


01-16-07 - U.S. push to strip Iran of aid resisted


01-16-07 - Rice could testify in Libby trial Cheney has already said he expected to testify. Others on the list include White House political advisor Karl Rove, former CIA director George Tenet and former Pentagon secretary Paul Wolfowitz.


01-16-07 - Arab states watch Iraq with dread Washington's main Arab allies, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, have watched the recent rise of Iranian power and influence in the Middle East with mounting trepidation. But they are reluctant to be drawn into an anti-Iranian regional alliance led by an unpopular United States, especially if such an alliance tacitly included Israel.



01-16-07 - Iraqis will never accept this sellout to the oil corporations The US, the IMF and their allies are using fear to pursue their agenda of privatising and selling off Iraq's oil resources


01-16-07 - US, Arab allies call on Iran not to meddle in Iraq US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and eight Arab counterparts called on Iran not to meddle in Iraq's affairs after discussing Washington's plan to quell sectarian violence in the country, Kuwait's foreign minister said.


01-16-07 - Palestinian Killed By Unexploded Israeli Ordnance In South Lebanon A Palestinian man was killed in southern Lebanon Tuesday when he tried to defuse an unexploded Israeli bomb, police said


01-16-07 - Growing pressure on Ahmadinejad A group of reformist and moderate members of parliament have now started collecting signatures to summon him to answer questions about his policies.


01-16-07 - Critics See 'Slippery Slope' in Reintroduced Federal 'Hate Crimes' Law Opponents of the bill believe it threatens free speech by opening the door for legislation aimed at curbing offensive speech.


01-16-07 - Chirac wants envoy to Iran Officials said the purpose of a visit would be to discuss regional stability, including the situation in Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories and not to hold a separate discussion of the nuclear dossier.


01-16-07 - Turkey plans to extend gas, oil and water pipelines to Israel The oil shipments to Israel would be delivered through an extension of either an existing Iraqi oil pipeline to Ceyhan or one that Turkey is planning to build from Samsun to Ceyhan to export Caspian oil, the ministry said.




01-16-07 - Israel's military chief resigns The head of Israel's armed forces, Lt Gen Dan Halutz, has resigned amid inquiries into last summer's conflict with Hezbollah, the military has said.


01-16-07 - Gulf Arabs, Jordan back US plan on Iraq Moderate Arab states told the United States they supported President George W Bush's plan for a military buildup in Iraq, hoping it would halt a slide to civil war. Hmm..related to Israel's latest 'peace moves' today?


01-16-07 - Saudi Arabian court upholds ban on head crucifixes A court on Monday upheld a ban on Christian teachers wearing crucifixes in the schools of Saudi Arabia under a law that says teachers' attire must be in line with "Islamic" values. play on words there.


01-16-07 - U.S. officials: Cheney was kept abreast of Israel-Syria talks These meetings, which took place in Beirut, were also attended by two former senior Central Intelligence Agency officials. Haaretz reported at the time that Cheney also know about the existence of these meetings, and received regular reports from the American participants.


01-16-07 - Russian Jewish banker charged in murder


01-16-07 - Secret talks led to Israeli-Syrian peace roadmap, paper claims


01-16-07 - Hezbollah Inside America: FOX News Tells All in Documentary** This is pure propaganda - a la Fox News - to get you to believe that (another) one of Israel's enemies is our own (to justify an upcoming attack on Iran-who purportedly sponsors Hezb).


01-16-07 - Jordanians becoming increasingly disenchanted with U.S. policies