News for 08-29-07

08-29-07 - Iran protests U.S. detentions in Iraq Iran on Wednesday summoned the Swiss diplomat representing American interests here to protest the U.S. forces' detention in Baghdad of eight Iranians, including two diplomats, the Foreign Ministry said.


08-29-07 - US admits Iranian arrests mistake


08-29-07 - Iran again denies US accusations on Iraq Iran has rejected accusations by US President George W Bush that Tehran is fomenting instability in Iraq, and has called on Washington to change its policies in the region.


08-29-07 - US says seizure of Iranians in Iraq 'regrettable' US forces on Wednesday freed a group of Iranians, including two diplomats, whom they seized at a Baghdad hotel in what the military said was a "regrettable incident."


08-29-07 - US officer cleared of Iraq abuse A US Army officer has been cleared of charges relating to abuse at Abu Ghraib prison but found guilty of disobeying an order not to discuss the inquiry


08-29-07 - Who's Killing American Soldiers in Iraq? by Philip Giraldi ** The Post's assertion that Iran is already at war with the U.S. has a familiar ring to it. It has already been used by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and was originally coined by the Israel lobby


08-29-07 - Bush Threatens to Confront Iran Over Alleged Support for Iraqi insurgents **


08-29-07 - Poll: 71% of Israelis want U.S. to strike Iran if talks fail **


08-29-07 - Has Bush Boxed Himself In? by Patrick J. Buchanan ** Who is pushing for attacks on Iran? Israel and its lobby. Vice President Cheney. Sen. Joe Lieberman, who has been calling for air strikes on al-Quds camps for months. And a War Party facing lasting disgrace for having lied the country into an unnecessary war, and for having assured the American people it would be a "cakewalk."




08-29-07 - Israeli Says Hamas Is Training Hundreds Abroad Hamas has sent hundreds of its fighters abroad for military training, most of them to Iran, the Israeli Army?s deputy chief of staff says Making the case for war.


08-29-07 - War With Iran **


08-29-07 - Jolie Calls More Aid to Refugees on Iraq Visit


08-29-07 - Israeli dies of Lebanon war wounds Mohammed "Don" Salum, an Israeli Arab who was critically wounded in a Hezbollah rocket barrage that hit Haifa on August 6, 2006, succumbed Wednesday in hospital. He was 40.


08-29-07 - Hezbollah planning to sue Israel Hezbollah is planning a host of lawsuits against Israel over the damages caused during last summer's Lebanon war.


08-29-07 - All quiet on the Golan Israel signaled a drop-off in military tensions with Syria over the Golan Heights


08-29-07 - Israel Warned US Not to Invade Iraq after 9/11 Wilkerson notes that the main point of their communications was not that the United States should immediately attack Iran, but that ?it should not be distracted by Iraq and Saddam Hussein? from a focus on the threat from Iran.


08-29-07 - J'lem worried by Iranian owned anti-ship missile The recent delivery of an advanced Russian-made anti-ship missile to Iran has defense officials concerned it will be transferred to Syria and Hizbullah and used against the Israel Navy in a future conflict.


08-29-07 - Obama Wants Divestment Issue For His Own Capitol Hill insiders say Obama genuinely believes in the necessity of curbing Iran?s nuclear ambitions ? but also that his championing of the Iran divestment measure is part of a concerted effort to reassure Jewish voters that began with his March speech to a Chicago gathering of AIPAC.


08-29-07 - Lebanese army receives 130 US Humvees


08-29-07 - Investigate the Neocons The so-called experts, in case you haven?t noticed, are invariably little more than Likud fellow travelers and agents of AIPAC. In this respect, it has been a revolving door at the White House, under both Clinton and Bush, and every office holder on Capitol Hill as well as every Washington reporter knows it. Why on God?s good earth would Zionist zealots like Elliott Abrams and David Wurmser be placed in charge of U.S. policy vis-a-vis Israel and the Arabs? It is insane.


08-29-07 - No proof Israeli soldiers in Lebanon are alive: U.N. U.N. member nations should insist that Lebanon's Hezbollah group produce evidence that the two Israeli soldiers it abducted a year ago are still alive, a senior U.N. envoy said on Wednesday.


08-29-07 - Hezbollah rejects war criticism The Lebanese government and Hezbollah have condemned a watchdog report which criticises Hezbollah's conduct in the conflict against Israel last year.

News for 08-28-07

08-28-07 - Iran dismisses threat of US attack **


08-28-07 - Iran says to respond if U.S. labels Guards "terrorist" Iran would respond if the United States were to label the Islamic state's Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist" force, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday.


08-28-07 - Iran has not slowed atomic work, president says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday denied reports that Iran had slowed down its atomic work, which the West fears is aimed at making nuclear bombs.


08-28-07 - Iran's transparency deal with IAEA seen as flawed


08-28-07 - Iranians arrested by US forces in Iraq The Iranian Embassy in Baghdad says seven Iranians working in Iraq have been arrested by United States forces.


08-28-07 - Bush Warns of Iran's Influence Over Iraq ** President Bush warned on Tuesday that Iran is plotting to extend its "murderous" influence over Iraq and is threatening to destabilize the Middle East under a "shadow of a nuclear holocaust." We are getting closer...


08-28-07 - US, Russia ?Must Unite to Fight Weapons of Mass Destruction?


08-28-07 - Bush warns Iran over insurgents Earlier, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that US authority in the region was rapidly collapsing, and Iran would help fill the void.


08-28-07 - US gives UN project 30 million dollars for Iraqi children Not a whole lot compared to what we just gave Israel.


08-28-07 - Durbin: Fitzgerald a long shot for Gonzales job Durbin called Fitzgerald a ''long shot'' for the job, but said ''if the choice is made to bring in somebody truly independent who will be quickly confirmed, Patrick Fitzgerald's one.''


08-28-07 - Antiwar backlash building ? in the US military The neocons were openly disdainful of the military's institutional interests and didn't care about the effectiveness of our forces: their obsession with the Middle East overrode everything else. Their ideological bias in favor of war ? as well as their tendency to put Israeli interests on a par with those of the U.S. ? militated against any such considerations.


08-28-07 - Lieberman to Iran: Change regime Israel's strategic affairs minister urged Iranians to choose a more moderate government.


08-28-07 - Expansion of surveillance powers has groups fearing U.S. scrutiny The recent congressional expansion of surveillance powers, aimed ostensibly at terrorists abroad, has Jewish groups at home worried that their dealings with Israel could invite U.S. government scrutiny......The expansion of government powers comes as some Jewish groups already are upset at the FBI's surveillance of AIPAC and the ongoing prosecution of two former employees of the pro-Israel lobby......While ostensibly supporting the legislation, it is significant that the ADL, in the first sentence of the release, called for the legislation to be "carefully crafted." Really now.


08-28-07 - Angelina Jolie visits refugees in Iraq, Syria


08-28-07 - Syria jails four Islamists A Syrian emergency court has handed down heavy jail terms against four members of the outlawed Islamist opposition, a human rights watchdog said on Tuesday.


08-28-07 - Bush lists 'vital' peace priorities 'Reforming' the entire Middle East (to suit Israel's interests) seems to be our interests.


08-28-07 - Why the US and Israel Should Lose Middle East Wars ** Let's say it bluntly. War with Iran is inevitable before January 2009 unless Bush and Cheney are both impeached first. New Israeli-U.S. hostilities in Lebanon are also likely. Either warfare or covert actions conducted by the U.S. and/or Israel to bring about regime change in Syria are also probable. Former CIA.


08-28-07 - Lebanese gunships raid Islamists in siege camp Lebanese army helicopters on Tuesday attacked positions held by Islamist militants entrenched in a refugee camp in northern Lebanon, an AFP correspondent said.

News for 08-27-07

08-27-07 - Sarkozy cautions against attack on Iran


08-27-07 - Bush to say Iraq is front line against Iran, Al-Qaeda "Al Qaeda in Iraq and Iranian armed and supported Shia militias continue to undermine the Iraqi struggle for security and stability and continue to kill Americans forces," the official said.


08-27-07 - Pat Buchanan: Democrats will fall in line with 'popular' war on Iran ** Buchanan pointed to recent claims by the US military that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (al-Quds) is the source of explosive devices that are killing American soldiers in Iraq, saying, "They're laying down a predicate for military strikes on the al-Quds camps inside Iran. ... And I think then they'd go for the nuclear sites. "


08-27-07 - Middle East turmoil could cause world war: U.S. envoy Upheaval in the Middle East and Islamic civilization could cause another world war, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations was quoted as saying in an Austrian newspaper interview published on Monday.


08-27-07 - Iran 'resolves' plutonium issue Iran has resolved questions posed by the UN's nuclear watchdog about its plutonium experiments, Tehran says.


08-27-07 - Saudis set up force to guard oil plants ** In anticipation to a response to their backing another US strike on another Muslim country, methinks.


08-27-07 - Teamsters' boss urges divesting from Iran


08-27-07 - What happens if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz? U.A.E. is weighing some projects ** Not a matter of if but when we attack Iran. The case is already being put forth to the American sheeple by the neocons and their many friends in the media.


08-27-07 - The Next War Draws Nearer ** Hardly a week passes in which I don?t get a message from someone within the great bureaucratic wasteland on the Potomac about the Bush Administration?s latest schemes relating to war against Iran. Now we?re going through another one of those periods in which the pace is quickening and the pitch is becoming more intense.


08-27-07 - Mediators try to evacuate wounded from Lebanon siege camp


08-27-07 - Meet Giuliani?s Advisors: AIPAC?s Dream Team


08-27-07 - Zealous for Zion The image of thousands of conservative Christians from the heartland waving the flags of a foreign nation would have astounded anyone 50 years ago?except maybe George Orwell Just a note, looks like the American Conservative made it into the Google News index (finally). Or perhaps it's always been there and I never noticed...


08-27-07 - Israeli law experts challenge U.S. law "For more than fifty years, Israel has faced mortal threats to its national survival and countless acts of terrorism against its civilian population, with devastating losses of life," the brief argues. "Yet even as terrorist attacks have intensified, Israel has strengthened its commitment to unimpeded judicial review of detention." Horseshit. Ask the thousands of Palestinians who have been or are now in administrative detention (no due process involved whatsoever).


08-27-07 - Barak: Hezbollah arsenal bigger than ever Hezbollah's arsenal is bigger than it was before the Lebanon war, Israel's defense minister said.

News for 08-26-07

08-26-07 - US photographer shows grim face of troops wounded in Iraq "I started working on it out of exasperation at not seeing any visual representation of the human cost of war. In the press you kept hearing reports or reading reports about wounded but never seeing any images," ....."Nobody really knows what the soldiers are going through. They see on TV, oh yeah, two soldiers got wounded today and they think yeah he'll be all right. But that soldier is scarred for life both physically and mentally."


08-26-07 - Iran slow to markedly expand atom work: diplomats "But they are apparently still far away from (producing nuclear fuel in usable quantities),"


08-26-07 - Terror label 'paves way for air strikes' ** While Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is set on diplomacy, Vice-President Dick Cheney is understood to favour air strikes.


08-26-07 - Iran warns students against 'US contacts' Iran warned on Sunday that the authorities would clamp down on university students who it said were in contact with the US administration and seeking to topple the country's rulers.


08-26-07 - Maliki accuses US politicians of meddling in Iraq "There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it were one of their villages, for example Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin," Mr Maliki said. "They should come to their senses." His highly personal attack on Ms Clinton, who joined the anti-war camp only recently, has cut to the quick because of her party's distaste for the conflict and its overwhelming desire to withdraw US combat troops from Iraq.


08-26-07 - Iran to settle IAEA issues in phases


08-26-07 - France ready to open up to Syria if it stays out of Lebanon France is ready to open up in a "spectacular way" to Syria if it stops meddling in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a newspaper interview Sunday.


08-26-07 - Soldiers killed in Lebanon camp battle Three Lebanese soldiers have been killed fighting Islamist militants who have been battling the army for more than three months in north Lebanon, security sources said on Sunday.


08-26-07 - Lebanon militants request evacuation of wounded


08-26-07 - Lebanese army readies final assault on Islamists


08-26-07 - Bogus War Party Propaganda This weekend on Antiwar.com, Justin Raimondo?s Behind the Headlines column ?Home Front ?Surge?: War Party?s Ad Campaign Will Boomerang,? concerns the Israel Lobby?s pushing of $15 million worth of propaganda ads to run on TV, shaming the Democrats for their supposedly weak Stay in Iraq Forever policy.


08-26-07 - Video: Portion from CNN"s "God's Jewish Warriors" This is a perfect example of the power of the Israeli Lobby in America - and this happened 15 years ago or so. This is the kind of 'conspiracy theory' that the AIPAC/ADLers want you to believe doesn't exist. Good info about Baker and Bush (the first) and their efforts to stop the settlements. Features Mearsheimer and Carter. Note the utter bs that America and Israel have the same interests in the ME. America is against illegal settlements, Israel is for. Includes info on Christian Zionists and their role in this. One obvious point in all this: If Israel's and America's interests were the same, then THERE WOULDN'T BE A NEED FOR AN ISRAELI LOBBY IN AMERICA. Our interests are NOT the same. Not by a longshot.


08-26-07 - New Pro-Iraq-War Organization Hides Its Pro-Israel Agenda It's clear to me that several members of the new group care about Israel's security as a reason for American military engagement in the Middle East. They should say so upfront. As it is, the Freedom's Watch website has imagery of the eagle wrapped in a flag; its big new ad shows an Iraq War veteran who continues to support the disastrous war because of 9/11, and no one on the site is talking about Israel.

News for 08-25-07

08-25-07 - US terror database leads to few arrests: report The US government's terrorist screening database flagged Americans and foreigners as suspected terrorists almost 20,000 times last year, but only a small fraction of those questioned were arrested or denied entry into the United States, The Washington Post reported Saturday.


08-25-07 - IAEA chief criticizes U.S. military aid The head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog criticized U.S. moves to assist in the supply of weapons to its allies in the Middle East, saying the money would be better spent on regional development projects.


08-25-07 - Iran threatens German banks over pull-out


08-25-07 - US predicts further nuclear development in Iran


08-25-07 - Rudy Giuliani: Confused, Ignorant, or Deceitful?


08-25-07 - UN extends Lebanon peace force


08-25-07 - Civilians evacuated from Lebanon camp released by army


08-25-07 - Lebanese army resumes raids on refugee camp The Lebanese army resumed its air raids and shelling of militants holed up at Nahr al-Bared on Saturday after evacuating the last remaining civilians from the battered refugee camp.

News for 08-24-07

08-24-07 - U.S. targets Iranian forces inside Iraq ** A U.S. regional commander in Iraq said he is ?actively targeting? as many as 20 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps who are operating inside Iraq and helping Iraqi insurgents strike U.S. troops.


08-24-07 - U.S. accuses Iran of sending weapons to Iraqi militants The United States on Friday accused Iran of playing a negative role in Iraq by sending lethal weapons to sectarian militants in the war-torn country. Making the case for war.


08-24-07 - Iranian dissident warns of US actions against Iran Mohsen Sazegara, who was a high-ranking Tehran official before turning against the government, told AFP in an interview that the US move, reported to be in the works last week, could spark a backlash, stirring up more turmoil in places where Washington accuses them of terror activities, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon.


08-24-07 - Top Republican urges Iraq pullout Senator John Warner, former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the US needed to show that its commitment to Iraq was not open-ended.


08-24-07 - Robert Fisk: Even I question the 'truth' about 9/11 I am talking about scientific issues. If it is true, for example, that kerosene burns at 820C under optimum conditions, how come the steel beams of the twin towers - whose melting point is supposed to be about 1,480C - would snap through at the same time? (They collapsed in 8.1 and 10 seconds.) What about the third tower - the so-called World Trade Centre Building 7 (or the Salmon Brothers Building) - which collapsed in 6.6 seconds in its own footprint at 5.20pm on 11 September? Why did it so neatly fall to the ground when no aircraft had hit it? The American National Institute of Standards and Technology was instructed to analyse the cause of the destruction of all three buildings. They have not yet reported on WTC 7. Two prominent American professors of mechanical engineering - very definitely not in the "raver" bracket - are now legally challenging the terms of reference of this final report on the grounds that it could be "fraudulent or deceptive".


08-24-07 - An intensifying US campaign against Iran ** The result of this buildup of US allegations of Iranian involvement in Iraq could also prove to be a prelude to war: "If you can make the case that Iranians are actually killing Americans, that makes it extremely difficult for those opponents of military action to depict the administration as warmongering," adds Parsi, also the head of the National Iranian American Council.


08-24-07 - Ron Paul: Americans are Living on Borrowed Money and Time In addition to the negative reactions in financial markets, many Americans have taken on too much personal debt owing to exotic mortgage products and artificially low interest rates. Unfortunately, these families are now in the position of losing their homes in unprecedented numbers as the teaser rates expire and the real bills are coming due.


08-24-07 - CIA said to step up operations against Iran as hawks seek to tie Iraq bombs to Tehran ** In an effort to build congressional and Pentagon support for military options against Iran, the Bush administration has shifted from its earlier strategy of building a case based on an alleged Iranian nuclear weapons program to one invoking improvised explosive devices (IEDs) purportedly manufactured in Iran that are killing US soldiers in Iraq.


08-24-07 - War Party's ad campaign will boomerang In a disgusting display of mendacity not seen since the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, a pro-war advertising campaign spearheaded by former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer is buying $15 million worth of 30-second television spots that repeat the lies linking 9/11 to Iraq ? and explicitly threatening another terrorist attack in the US if we "surrender."


08-24-07 - AEI Sets Launch for All-or-Nothing Campaign


08-24-07 - Poll: Poles still oppose U.S. missile base A majority of Poles continue to oppose hosting a U.S. missile defense base, according to a poll released Friday.


08-24-07 - Lawmakers return to U.S. and pledge tougher Iran sanctions U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who led a trip to Israel last week involving 18 members of Congress, told JTA that Israeli leaders depicted the Iran issue as most urgent. The delegation met with Israel's prime minister, foreign minister, defense minister, opposition leader and president. "All of us came back with a renewed sense of the importance of dealing with Iran, of the dangers that a nuclear armed Iran would pose to the region and the international community," Hoyer said. "There is a sense that Ahmadinejad is one of the few world leaders who expresses the possibility of the elimination of another sovereign nation -- Israel -- and hopes to eliminate from the Middle East the United States of America."....The American Israel Public Affairs Committee welcomed the accelerated push for tougher sanctions on Iran.
Thus does the AMERICAN Congress recieve its orders from and do the bidding of: ISRAEL. It's treason.


08-24-07 - We did it to ourselves ? thanks to free-traders by Patrick J. Buchanan As we all buy up those TVs and radios and motorcycles and cars and clothes made in Japan and made in China, we kill factories all over America and push America's companies into chapter 11. Not neocon-related but important all the same.


08-24-07 - Why Cheney Really Is That Bad By Scott Ritter America today is very much engaged in a life-or-death struggle against the forces of evil. The enemy resides not abroad, however, but at home, vested in the highest offices of the land. Neither Osama Bin Laden nor Saddam Hussein threatened the life blood of the United States?the Constitution?to the extent that Cheney has


08-24-07 - More War on the Horizon ** Israel cannot finish off the Palestinians until Hezbollah is destroyed. An Israeli attack on Syria while the US attacks Iran would leave Hezbollah without supplies in the face of a new Israeli attack......The agenda unfolding before our eyes may be the neoconservative/Israeli/Cheney plan to rid the Middle East of any check to Israeli territorial expansion. It sure the hell is.


08-24-07 - Officials in South Florida order charter school to suspend Hebrew lessons Ben Gamla's director, Adam Siegel, says that the 400 students at the school -- which is now off limits to reporters -- are getting lessons in Israeli geography until the 25 faculty members are once again permitted to resume teaching Hebrew. Let's drop the pretense and just fly the Israeli flag in the American capitals and be done with it. Getting ridiculous.


08-24-07 - Truce as women flee Lebanon camp The families of Islamist militants, besieged by Lebanese troops for three months at a Palestinian refugee camp, have been granted safe passage out.


08-24-07 - Mine expert dies in Lebanon blast The United Nations, which is co-ordinating the clear up, believes only a fraction of the more than one million cluster bombs dropped by Israel have been removed so far. Work has been hampered by what it says is Israel's refusal to provide details of where it dropped cluster bombs and how many.
Ahh, Israel: a giant rolling war crime in progress - never being held accountable for any of it, thusly encouraging them to continue in like manner.


08-24-07 - Iraqi refugees struggle in Syria Our government says that it isn't doing enough to please the likes of the Bush administration when it comes to Iraq, but Syria is buckling under the weight of caring for the millions of refugees that both the US and Israel have created. A reminder: Syria does not contain the (oil) wealth that other Middle Eastern nations such as the House of Saud does.


08-24-07 - Bush toughens NGO conditions The policy, announced last month and going into effect Monday, is based on congressional laws aimed at ensuring U.S. funds do not reach Palestinian terrorists. 'War on terror'- Cui Bono?


08-24-07 - Obama: I get my Mideast advice from Dennis Ross
The association with Ross could help Obama solve a key dilemma: how to win the confidence of hawkish pro-Israel donors without alienating his anti-war base. 'See look, Massa AIPAC. I can out-kowtow Rudy AND Hilary with my shiny new pro-Israel 'advisor'!'


08-24-07 - Pro-'surge' group is almost all Jewish Of eight donors named Thursday in Politico, a political newspaper, four are Jewish: Sembler; Richard Fox, the chairman of the Jewish Policy Center, an RJC-affiliated think tank; Ed Snider, the founder of the Philadelphia Flyers ice hockey franchise who has been elected to several Jewish Sports Halls of Fame; and Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas casino operator who recently launched a giveaway newspaper venture in Israel. Note the source.


08-24-07 - NIE faults Iran, Syria in Iraq The Bush administration seeks the isolation of both countries because of their support for anti-Israel terrorism, their alleged backing for the insurgency in Iraq, and their suspected development of weapons of mass destruction.


08-24-07 - Pentagon announces possible weapons sales to Egypt, Israel The US Congress has 30 days to act to prevent the sales. Congress won't prevent the 'sales' to Israel.

News for 08-23-07

08-23-07 - Manufacturing Consent For War With Iran **


08-23-07 - Bush's War Drums ** Our VIPS colleague Phil Geraldi, writing in The American Conservative, earlier noted that in the past Karl Rove has served as a counterweight to Vice President Dick Cheney, and may have tried to put the brakes on Cheney's death wish to expand the Middle East quagmire to Iran.


08-23-07 - Bolton: I 'Absolutely' Hope The U.S. Will Attack Iran In The Next 'Six Months' ** Bolton?s calls for strikes against Iran mirror those of other neocons, such as Bill Kristol and Michael Rubin, who also pushed for the Iraq invasion. Bolton?s claim that ?Iran is interfering in Iraq and is posing a direct threat to our troops? is not a reason to strike the country. In reality, both Gen. Peter Pace and the National Intelligence Estimate have confirmed that Iran is ?not likely? to be a major driver of violence in Iraq.


08-23-07 - Drumbeat Of War: Unsavory logic ** In yet another transparent step in building the case for taking military action against Iran, the Bush administration has said that it intends to place Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps on its list of terror groups. The cool heads at the European Union disagree, but never mind them. Bush knows better, right?


08-23-07 - Feds: Charity Groups to Be Probed for Terror Ties


08-23-07 - Israel to buy advanced Patriot missiles


08-23-07 - Cluster bomb kills Lebanese A cluster bomb left over from last year's Hezbollah-Israel war exploded in southern Lebanon on Thursday, killing a Lebanese mine-clearing expert and wounding three others who were trying to dismantle it, security officials said.


08-23-07 - Two Lebanese soldiers die in battle with Islamists


08-23-07 - Lebanon holds two for attack on UN Two suspected Palestinian extremists have been arrested over a roadside bombing against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, a security official said on Thursday.


08-23-07 - Rudy saber rattling is music to some - Giuliani brings presidential hopes to Sephardic enclave


08-23-07 - Oily legacy of war mars Lebanon coast

News for 08-22-07

08-22-07 - UN-Iran 'progress' leaves US cold The US has said a plan agreed between Iran and the UN's nuclear watchdog to clarify Tehran's nuclear programme has "real limitations".


08-22-07 - U.S. sees limits, manipulation in Iran deal with IAEA A nuclear cooperation pact Iran struck with the International Atomic Energy Agency has "real limitations" and Tehran should stop trying to manipulate the IAEA to dodge harsher U.N. sanctions, a senior U.S. envoy said.


08-22-07 - Russia warns Czechs against hosting U.S. shield Russia?s military chief told the Czech Republic it would be making a ?big mistake? to host a U.S. missile defense shield on its soil and urged Prague on Tuesday to delay a decision until a new U.S. president is elected.


08-22-07 - U.S. chides allies for trade deals with Tehran America's allies must do more to cut commercial and energy ties with Iran if the international campaign to halt Tehran's nuclear-weapons programs is to succeed, a top State Department official said yesterday.


08-22-07 - Iran develops 'smart bomb': official media Iran has developed a 900 kilogram "smart bomb", said a Defence Ministry statement, in the latest announcement from Tehran about progress regarding military hardware.


08-22-07 - Boy, 5, doused in gas, set on fire by masked men Five-year-old Youssif is scarred for life, his once beautiful smile turned into a grotesquely disfigured face -- the face of a horrifying act by masked men. They grabbed him on a January day outside his central Baghdad home, doused him with gas and set him ablaze


08-22-07 - Iran's Revolutionary Guards beat sanctions: exile Alireza Jafarzadeh, who accurately disclosed important details about Iran's nuclear program in 2002, called for tighter U.N. curbs and swift U.S. action to rein in the elite corps. Another exile heard from. ~Swell~.


08-22-07 - Diplomats reclaim foreign policy roles Since assuming the helm at the State Department in 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has installed veteran foreign service officers with more than 200 years of collective diplomatic experience in seven critical posts from the Middle East to South Asia and the Far East.


08-22-07 - CIA Missed Chances to Tackle al-Qaida It took an act of Congress to force the CIA to lift the veil on its watchdog's internal investigation that lays out the agency's many failures in the months and years before Sept. 11, 2001.


08-22-07 - Tehran gets ready for potential US strikes ** Despite US foreign policy's focus on the situation in Iraq and in anticipation of September's Congress hearing, high-ranking sources stated that the Iranian leadership is taking US threats to strike its nuclear sites very seriously.


08-22-07 - Support Our Troops They want us out of Iraq


08-22-07 - Most US adults in the dark about world politics One reason for the knowledge gap is lack of interest, according to the poll. Apathy is half the battle right there.


08-22-07 - Iraqi Jews must leave, liaison says The handful of Jews remaining in Iraq should flee for their lives, a representative of the community said.


08-22-07 - AJWS to push U.S. on Sudanese refugee issue The American Jewish World Service is putting together a targeted advocacy campaign to push the United States to develop a policy on accepting refugees from the genocide in the Sudan. "It's not fair to these small countries in the Middle East and in North Africa to ask them to take in all of these refugees,"
Oh you knew that one was coming. Israel doesn't want them, so they'll be sent here instead. Those supremacist aholes. Throw America's borders open to all manner of people, including granting amnesty to illegals, but lil Israel is to remain a nation based on one kind of people. Hypocrites all.


08-22-07 - Israelis airdrop an occupation With an estimated one million unexploded land ordnances meaning lack of access to their lands, many farmers in southern Lebanon see cluster bombs as an Israeli "occupation."


08-22-07 - Iraqi, Syrian oil ministers agree to reopen key pipeline Iraqi and Syrian oil ministers agreed on Wednesday to repair and subsequently reopen a key pipeline between their two countries that connects Iraq's oil-rich Kirkuk region and a Syrian port.


08-22-07 - More Lebanese army raids on camp The Lebanese military has launched further attacks against Islamic militants in a camp in north Lebanon.

News for 08-21-07

08-21-07 - Iran, IAEA agree ways to defuse atom suspicions Iran and the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency said Tuesday they had agreed on a plan on how to help defuse Western suspicions about Tehran's atom work, a move hailed as a "milestone" by a senior IAEA official.


08-21-07 - UN-Iran nuclear talks 'positive' Iran and the UN's nuclear agency say they have made progress in talks on Tehran's nuclear programme.


08-21-07 - Turkey to build 3 power plants in Iran


08-21-07 - Iranians order Kurdish border villages to evacuate


08-21-07 - Why is Iran Shelling Iraq? the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PEJAK) ? is waging a guerilla insurgency against the Iranian government


08-21-07 - Iraqi PM hails Syria co-operation Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has hailed Baghdad's co-operation with Damascus during his first visit to Syria since taking office last year


08-21-07 - Russia, U.S. to consult on missile offer in Sept: Baku Officials from Russia and the United States will meet for talks in early September on Moscow's offer of the joint use of a radar station it leases in Azerbaijan, the Azeri foreign minister said on Tuesday.


08-21-07 - Pentagon to suspend anti-terror database


08-21-07 - US-Iranian academic freed after making TV 'confession' An American-Iranian academic, whose imprisonment in Tehran's notorious Evin jail along with a colleague raised tensions with the Bush administration, has been abruptly freed.


08-21-07 - Iran's Ahmadinejad urges closer ties with US ally Azerbaijan


08-21-07 - The War Party's wackos are indicative of a trend The Family Security Foundation's board of directors is a veritable who's who of third-and-fourth level neocon shills, with a few first-tier types, such as Frank Gaffney, standing out. Indeed, the whole Family Security Matters operation is described by the liberal watchdog group Media Matters as a "front group" for Gaffney's Center for Security Policy (CSP), the hardest of the hard-line neocon propaganda outfits.


08-21-07 - Asking the Wrong Questions on Iran we must begin our discussion on Iran, and the media?s role in preparing the American public for another disastrous war of choice.


08-21-07 - Oil prices calm despite hurricane


08-21-07 - Britons wary of Muslims more than Americans The French were the most enthusiastic when asked whether they saw Muslims as suitable marriage partners for their children, and a large majority also do not see Muslims as a threat.


08-21-07 - War Has Made Baghdad Pre-Industrial Just like Palestine.


08-21-07 - Hezbollah aids baby sea turtles Hezbollah has put half of a beach in southern Lebanon under its protection to safeguard endangered nesting turtles, it was reported Sunday.


08-21-07 - Militants said seeking truce in Lebanon camp war Islamists who have fought the Lebanese army at a Palestinian refugee camp for the past three months are seeking a truce to let their families and other civilians flee, an intermediary said on Tuesday.


08-21-07 - Israeli army mulls how to spend its billions The moves have provided the Israeli military with an unprecedented opportunity for long-term planning and all services in the armed forces -- air, army and navy -- are anxious to get a piece of the financial pie. Question: Are AMERICAN troops serving in Iraq being given anything close to billion$ to secure themselves from roadside bombs and such?


08-21-07 - Syrian newspaper: US pushing Israel to war The newspaper slammed Washington's decision to boost military aid to Israel whom it promised $30 billion over the next 10 years


08-21-07 - Saudi-Syria tensions seethe over Lebanon


08-21-07 - Militants in Lebanese refugee camp seek truce for families Islamists who have fought the Lebanese Army at a Palestinian refugee camp for the past three months are seeking a truce to let their families and other civilians flee.


08-21-07 - Giuliani's doubts on Palestinian talks part of 'systematic' policy, adviser says "The main thing I would emphasize is that Mayor Giuliani believes that the Palestinians should have a state only if they earn it by fulfilling much the same set of conditions that are specified in the road map," Norman Podhoretz, the former Commentary editor and another adviser to the candidate, told JTA in an e-mail.


08-21-07 - NGO to Send Aid to Iraqis and Palestinians The NGO, which works on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland, granted 100,000 euros to help Iraqis and 70,000 euros to help Palestinians.


08-21-07 - Cluster bomb kills Hezbollah member in southern Lebanon A cluster bomb left over from the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah on Monday killed a member of the Shiite militant group in southern Lebanon, the country's National News Agency said.

News for 08-20-07

08-20-07 - Iran denies Guards' involvement in Iraq Iran denied on Monday US accusations that a unit of its Revolutionary Guards, the Quds Force, was working inside Iraq to foment more unrest in its conflict-torn neighbour.


08-20-07 - Iran warns against further nuclear sanctions Iran warned the UN Security Council on Monday against imposing new sanctions over its nuclear drive, saying such a move would render its cooperation with the UN atomic agency and other talks "sterile".


08-20-07 - Iran wants IAEA to highlight atomic cooperation Iran expects the U.N. nuclear watchdog to highlight Tehran's cooperation in its next report on Iran's atomic program, which could determine whether it faces more U.N. sanctions, an Iranian official said on Monday.


08-20-07 - Kurds flee homes as Iran shells villages in Iraq The escalation of tensions in northern Iraq came as a senior US army officer renewed allegations of Iranian support for Shia militias in the south.


08-20-07 - Chinese 'spy' pair freed by Iran Iran has freed two Chinese citizens detained for allegedly taking photos of Iranian military facilities, China's foreign ministry has said.


08-20-07 - Khomeini wanted to drop 'Death to America': Iran ex-president Iran's ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has aroused controversy after saying in a new book that revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini favoured dropping the mantra of "Death to America."


08-20-07 - US Foreign Policy Experts Oppose Bush?s Surge More than half of top U.S. foreign policy experts oppose President George W. Bush?s troop increase as a strategy for stabilizing Baghdad, saying the plan has harmed U.S. national security, according to a new survey


08-20-07 - UN opens further talks with Iran


08-20-07 - Camps Offer Comfort to Grieving Children At Camp Good Grief, all the children are mourning for a parent or other relative who died while serving in the military.


08-20-07 - Al Qaeda's Travel Agent BY JOSEPH LIEBERMAN The road to Damascus runs through Baghdad.


08-20-07 - Keith Ellison ends Israel trip unscathed The Israeli and US press were poised to report on any slip by Ellison that might be construed as anti-Israel sentiment.


08-20-07 - Senior Arab officials tell Israel that Syria is not planning to attack


08-20-07 - Hezbollah computer game based on war Hezbollah launched a computer game based on its war last summer with Israel.


08-20-07 - Defendant scolded over outburst during Holy Land trial At the time of the outburst, the courtroom was cleared of spectators as an Israeli government agent known by the pseudonym "Avi" was being cross examined.


08-20-07 - U.S. Arms Create New Divisions "The U.S. is trying hard to convince its Arab allies that Iran represents a greater danger to them than Israel. When, in fact, Israel remains the overriding military threat to the Arab world."


08-20-07 - US experts see more dangerous world for Americans A majority of top US foreign policy experts say the world is a more dangerous place for Americans today than just six months ago, thanks largely to the war in Iraq and a failing US war on terrorism, a new survey shows.


08-20-07 - Lebanon charges siege camp Islamists with terrorism Lebanon on Monday charged more than 200 people suspected of belonging to Fatah al-Islam with murder and terrorism, as a standoff between the army and the militants entered its fourth month.


08-20-07 - Lebanon soldier killed as siege enters fourth month A Lebanese soldier was killed on Monday as the battle with Al-Qaeda inspired Islamist guerrillas at a seafront refugee camp entered its fourth month, the army said.


08-20-07 - US survey raises eyebrows in Jerusalem A survey by a respected journal showing that 15 of 108 foreign policy elites in the US believe Israel does not serve US national security interests has raised eyebrows in Jerusalem

News for 08-19-07

08-19-07 - Army too stretched if Iraq buildup lasts Sapped by nearly six years of war, the Army has nearly exhausted its fighting force and its options if the Bush administration decides to extend the Iraq buildup beyond next spring.


08-19-07 - US says Iran training militias in Iraq The United States military in Iraq says about 50 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are believed to be training Shiite militias in the use of mortars and rockets in the south of the country. Making the case for war.


08-19-07 - U.S. forces tracking Iranians in Iraq


08-19-07 - Ahmadinejad may visit Iraq: report Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accepted an invitation to visit neighboring Iraq, Iran's foreign minister said on Sunday, a move that would be unlikely to be welcomed by the United States.


08-19-07 - Iran says nuclear work non-stop ahead of IAEA talks


08-19-07 - Iranian commander warns of 'hell' in Gulf ** The Gulf would become a "hell" for Iran's enemies if they were to attack the Islamic Republic, a commander of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards said.


08-19-07 - Terror law puts Britons at risk of surveillance by US agents A new law swept through Congress by the US government before the summer recess is to give American security agencies unprecedented powers to spy on British citizens without a warrant.


08-19-07 - Prelude to an Attack on Iran **


08-19-07 - Iran "massing troops near northern Kurdish region" Members of the 'rebel' groups, who fiercely oppose the governments of Iran and Turkey, are said to be based near mountains that stretch along the borders with Iran.


08-19-07 - Abu Ghraib abuse just tip of the iceberg: author Those people truely to blame for the degrading treatment of Iraqi prisoners in Baghdad's infamous Abu Ghraib jail remain in the shadows, while such abuses continue unchecked and unseen.


08-19-07 - Remote northeast Iraq hit by Iran shells: officials The Iranian military has shelled Kurdish areas in Iraq's remote northeast intermittently over the past three days, wounding two women and forcing the evacuation of 200 families, Iraqi officials said on Saturday.


08-19-07 - Six Revolutionary Guards killed in Iran helicopter crash Six members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards were killed and five injured in a helicopter crash during an operation near the Iraqi border, state radio reported on Saturday.


08-19-07 - Gunmen take 30 hostage in southeast Iran: reports


08-19-07 - LOU DOBBS TONIGHT ** WOOLSEY: If it's not halted. I don't think we've to make that decision yet. My view is the same as John McCain's, which is that using force, air force, presumably, air power, is the worst option for dealing with Iran except for one other, and that's letting them have a nuclear weapon. Down bottom of the transcript. That's neocon Woolsey advocating for an attack on Iran.


08-19-07 - What Would War on Iran Do to the Price of Oil? **


08-19-07 - Michael Ledeen's Dangerous Iran Obsession ** Ledeen, James Woolsey, Norman Podhoretz, and others want war now with Iran. They want the bombs to fly.


08-19-07 - Iran? That's your problem ** All these goodies were meant to sweeten one simple fact: the United States is not planning to launch a military attack against Iran and is telling its allies in the region: We'll give you arms, and won't forget to encourage you. Good luck against Iran. Billions of dollars later and thousands of American soldiers dead, at some point Israel needs to learn to fight its own battles.


08-19-07 - Mehdi fighters 'trained by Hizbollah in Lebanon'


08-19-07 - Lebanese bomb camp in bid to flush out Islamists Troops on Sunday bombarded the north Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in a bid to smash underground bunkers sheltering Fatah al-Islam fighters, who killed two more soldiers at the weekend.


08-19-07 - Report: Bodies of 3 PFLP men killed in 1982 found in Lebanon

News for 08-18-07

08-18-07 - Iran Guards warn U.S. of heavier blows ahead - daily The Iranian daily Kayhan said commander-in-chief Yahya Rahim Safavi made clear the Guards would not bow to U.S. pressure and would use all their leverage against the Americans.


08-18-07 - Iraqi PM to pay first visit to Syria Syrian Vice President Faruq al-Shara said on Tuesday that Maliki, during his visit, would discuss how to tackle the needs of more than a million Iraqi refugees in Syria who have fled the brutal sectarian conflict in their home country.


08-18-07 - Lone US military officer goes on trial for Abu Ghraib abuse


08-18-07 - A debt culture gone awry The ongoing sub-prime mortgage crisis, a result of irresponsible lending policies designed to generate commissions for unscrupulous brokers, presages far deeper problems in a U.S. economy that is beginning to resemble a giant smoke-and-mirrors Ponzi scheme. And this has not been lost on the rest of the world.


08-18-07 - Saudi hits back at Syria in growing diplomatic spat Saudi Arabia has rejected as "lies and fallacies" high-level Syrian accusations that its role in the Middle East was waning and accused Damascus of fomenting instability in the region.


08-18-07 - Israel is 'flag of Satan', Iranian President says


08-18-07 - Analysis: New Law Gives Government Six Months to Turn Internet and Phone Systems into Permanent Spying Architecture - UPDATED A new law expanding the government's spying powers gives the Bush Administration a six-month window to install possibly permanent back doors in the nation's communication networks. The legislation was passed hurriedly by Congress over the weekend and signed into law Sunday by President Bush. Wow.


08-18-07 - Homeland Security Enlists Clergy to Quell Public Unrest if Martial Law Ever Declared


08-18-07 - Cheney, Lieberman and Iran War Conspiracy ** Lieberman was acting as a stalking horse for Cheney's proposal, softening up public opinion for later war propaganda.


08-18-07 - Effecting Regime Change in Iran **


08-18-07 - HARDER LINE WITH IRAN LEAVES US WITH FEWER OPTIONS


08-18-07 - Iraq to Kishangarh: Palestinians' hunt for postal address on in city It has been a long and precarious journey for 12-year-old Palestinian Mohammad Thaiar. From Baghdad to Kishangarh village in the backyard of Vasant Kunj, via a bus ride through the sandy plains of Syria.


08-18-07 - CAIR Says ADL Seeks to Hinder Legal Rights of U.S. Muslims The ADL's campaign of defamation was revealed when the Los Angeles Times wrote: 'Pro-Israel or Jewish organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Defense League and [Daniel Pipes'] Middle East Forum think tank have provided news organizations with reams of critical documentation on Muslim leaders in recent weeks.'


08-18-07 - Tossing Fuel on a Fire: US Military Aid to Israel Tops $30 Billion this is no basket case nation; this is one of the most technologically developed and wealthiest countries on earth we're talking about here.


08-18-07 - U.S.: No strings attached to new defense package for Israel The new $30 billion American defense package for Israel is not conditioned on diplomatic progress or concessions to the Palestinians, a top U.S. aide said Thursday as representatives from both countries signed the memorandum of understanding in Jerusalem.

News for 08-17-07

08-17-07 - Depression Taking Toll on Returning U.S. Vets Depression may be a largely unrecognized problem for many U.S. soldiers returning from duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, placing a tremendous strain on them and their families, a new study suggests.


08-17-07 - Short of Purple Hearts, Navy tells vet to buy own After waiting 55 years, however, Reed decided to pay $42 for his own Purple Heart and accompanying ribbon ? plus state sales taxes ? at a military surplus store. Hey but, as long as poor little Israel got its 30 bil, everything's peachy keen. Right?....


08-17-07 - UN could soon debate fresh sanctions on Iran


08-17-07 - U.S. actions against Iran raise war risk, many fear **


08-17-07 - France mulls new measures against Iran


08-17-07 - Russia's war planes to patrol the skies again Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced he is reviving the Soviet-era practice of sending bomber aircraft on regular patrols beyond its borders, due to current threats to "security."


08-17-07 - US Paid $1 Million to Ship Two 19-Cent Washers


08-17-07 - Dollar Falls Against Euro After Unexpected Discount Rate Cut The dollar weakened against 14 of 16 major currencies as a reduction in borrowing costs dims the allure of U.S. assets. The decline today trimmed the dollar's weekly advance as investors had sought safety in the currency after a global rout of credit markets. U.S. and European stocks rallied.

Wait a sec, I know. Let's attack Iran.


08-17-07 - UN plans Mideast and Iraq conferences in September U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans to call a meeting on the future of Iraq as well as a session of the Quartet mediators on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a U.N. official said on Thursday.


08-17-07 - Lebanese army says two militants killed in siege camp


08-17-07 - Charity trial witness falters An Israeli intelligence agent whose earlier testimony linked a U.S.-based Islamic charity to Hamas acknowledged Thursday that none of the overseas charities it supported has appeared among hundreds of names on U.S. government terrorist lists. The testimony seemed to cast doubt on a central element of the government's criminal case against former officials of the now-defunct Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development


08-17-07 - Ankara upbeat on start of Israel-Syria talks Turkish officials trying to jumpstart peace talks between Syria and Israel have sounded hopeful as they have said they were encouraged by recent statements by Syrian and Israeli decision-makers, and described Syrian President Bashar Assad's recent statements on the chance of resuming negotiations as particularly positive.


08-17-07 - Ellison joins anti-Semitism task force The only Muslim member of Congress has joined its anti-Semitism task force.


08-17-07 - Obama praises Israel aid hike Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) welcomed a hike in defense assistance to Israel.
Stoolie.

News for 08-16-07

08-16-07 - Russia, China, Iran warn U.S. at summit The leaders of Russia, China and Iran said Thursday that Central Asia should be left alone to manage its stability and security - an apparent warning to the United States to avoid interfering in the strategic, resource-rich region.


08-16-07 - Iran?s Revolutionary Guards Scoff At US Blacklist Plan


08-16-07 - Iran denounces US missile defense plans


08-16-07 - Former Marine appears in court for shooting Iraqi prisoners A former US Marine sergeant appeared in a California court on Thursday to face manslaughter charges in connection with the deaths of two unarmed Iraqi prisoners, justice officials said.


08-16-07 - Outside View: Nuclear terror's false logic


08-16-07 - US to use spy satellites for domestic surveillance


08-16-07 - Syria denies setting conditions for Iraqi PM's visit


08-16-07 - US finalizes deal on unprecedented military aid to Israel


08-16-07 - U.S. comptroller general: America is Rome


08-16-07 - "An Attempt to Deceive Americans Into Yet Another War" ** the unprecedented attempt to label Iran?s 125,000-strong Republican Guard as a ?specially designated global terrorist? group ? is, as the congressman says ?nothing more than an attempt to deceive Americans into yet another war ? this time with Iran.?


08-16-07 - Backlash Over Book on Policy for Israel "On July 24, Council President Marshall Bouton phoned one of us (Mearsheimer) and informed him that he was canceling the event," and that his decision "was based on the need 'to protect the institution.' He said that he had a serious 'political problem,' because there were individuals who would be angry if he gave us a venue to speak, and that this would have serious negative consequences for the council. 'This one is so hot,' Marshall maintained." All a big conspiracy theory, right Abe? The proof is right there.


08-16-07 - A year after the Second Lebanon War Recent reports have revealed that one of the main justifications for Hizbullah's continuing resistance -- that Israel failed to withdraw fully from Lebanese territory in 2000 -- is now supported by the UN. Last month its cartographers quietly admitted that Lebanon is right in claiming sovereignty over a small fertile area known as the Shebaa Farms, still occupied by Israel. Israel argues that the territory is Syrian and will be returned in future peace talks with Damascus, even though Syria backs Lebanon's position. The UN's admission has been mostly ignored by the international media.


08-16-07 - Which U.S. Political Party Is Better For Israel? For the past several years, whenever anyone asked me which American political party was best for Israel, my answer was: both. Even AIPAC, in the weeks before the 2006 Congressional election, stated that both parties are equally good for Israel. This of course has been and will continue to be ignored by the Republican Party, which attempts to use Israel as a wedge issue in the Jewish community. Note the source.


08-16-07 - Will the Israel Lobby Issue Go Mainstream? The Lobby has already sprung into action in order to quash this book.


08-16-07 - Islamic advocacy group asks for removal from terror-finance co-conspirator list in U.S.


08-16-07 - The Hague plans to host Hariri tribunal


08-16-07 - Mortgages and the Jewish Question Not coincidentally, the big news in Israel last week was the announcement that the Jewish state?s defense budget had to be slashed by a shocking 10%, suddenly and unexpectedly. The reason: Washington told Jerusalem it was not going to deliver an expected infusion of military aid, because Uncle Sam doesn?t have the money. The world economy may not be troubled by the weakness in America, but there?s one little corner of the world that?s terrified.

News for 08-15-07

08-15-07 - U.S. army suicides at highest level in 26 years


08-15-07 - US: Military action on Iran 'not being contemplated' ** Mm k.


08-15-07 - US hits Iran over journos' death sentences The United States says that Iran's sentencing of two journalists to death demonstrates its willingness to "trample on the rights of its citizens".


08-15-07 - Russian bombers getting closer to US: American commander Long-range Russian bombers are flying more often and closer to US territory, a top US commander said Tuesday, as Moscow made its latest show of military might with exercises over the North Pole.


08-15-07 - Marine accused of stabbing Iraqi soldier: report A US Marine reservist faces a court martial after allegedly stabbing to death an Iraqi soldier in an argument, it was reported Wednesday.


08-15-07 - US turns heat up on Iran ** If the United States designates the Iranian Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist" organisation, the question will be whether it is an extension of its current efforts to isolate Iran economically or a step towards military action.


08-15-07 - Syria says Iraqi PM to visit for refugee talks An estimated 30,000 new refugees arrive every month in Syria, which already hosts 1.5 million Iraqis, and Shareh said the influx constitutes an "economic, social and political burden."


08-15-07 - Internet is "the new Afghanistan": NY police commissioner The Internet is the new battleground against Islamist extremism because it provides ideology that could radicalize Westerners who might then initiate home-grown attacks, New York police commissioner Raymond Kelly said on Wednesday.


08-15-07 - US threatens to scrap India nuclear deal


08-15-07 - Chinese pair face Iran spy claims Iran has arrested two Chinese nationals for allegedly spying on military and nuclear facilities.


08-15-07 - US Blames Iran for Casualties from Its Own Attacks


08-15-07 - ?No American President can stand up to Israel.? These words came from feisty Admiral Thomas Moorer, Chief of Naval Operations (1967-1970) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1970-1974). Moorer was, perhaps, the last independent-minded American military leader. Admiral Moorer knew what he was talking about. On June 8, 1967, Israel attacked the American intelligence ship, USS Liberty, killing 34 American sailors and wounding 173. The Israelis even strafed the life rafts, machine-gunning the American sailors leaving the stricken ship I don't agree with paragraph 7-8. There are some Americans like that, but they are thankfully a minority.


08-15-07 - Hizbullah marks Lebanon war anniversary with pomp and piety


08-15-07 - Left and Right Make Same Argument Re Israel Lobby


08-15-07 - More anonymity in terror-linked Holy Land case The Holy Land Foundation was part of a global network of organizations that raised money from Muslims throughout the world and funneled it to Hamas, according to a second Israeli secret agent who testified under a pseudonym Wednesday.


08-15-07 - Va. man indicted for threatening Arabs A Virginia man was indicted Wednesday on charges that he left threatening messages at an Arab political organization in the U.S. during fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in the Middle East last year.


08-15-07 - U.N. Special Envoy Will Join Mideast Forum at Rushmore The two-day forum at Mount Rushmore National Memorial Oct. 16-17, is open to the public and is designed to promote dialogue and expand America's knowledge of the complex issues surrounding tensions in the Middle East, said James Nelson, president of the Mount Rushmore Institute.


08-15-07 - Olmert meets senior US diplomat on eve of arms deal The aid to Israel reflects an increase in value of more than 25 percent, Olmert has said, describing it as a considerable improvement and very important element for national security.


08-15-07 - Olmert grateful for U.S. aid boost Ehud Olmert thanked the Bush administration for boosting U.S. military aid to Israel. Yeh, ~swell~.

News for 08-14-07

08-14-07 - U.S. Weighing Terrorist Label for Iran Guards ** If imposed, the declaration would signal a more confrontational turn in the administration?s approach to Iran and would be the first time that the United States has added the armed forces of any sovereign government to its list of terrorist organizations.


08-14-07 - US stands by Iran weapons charge


08-14-07 - Iran leader denies arms supplies Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied US allegations that Iranian weapons are finding their way into the hands of the Taleban. ....."The same allegations are made in Iraq. They are saying that they discover some weapons,"


08-14-07 - Bush Warns Puppets Not to Praise Iran


08-14-07 - In Magazine Article, Giuliani Details His Policy on Iran


08-14-07 - 'Captive' Belgians found in Iran Two Belgian tourists who disappeared in south-eastern Iran at the weekend have been found and are in good health, Belgium's foreign ministry has said.


08-14-07 - Neolibs and Neocons, United and Interchangeable by Philip Giraldi Neoconservatives and neoliberals are really quite similar, so it doesn't matter who gets elected in 2008. The American public, weary of preemptive attacks, democracy-promotion, and nation-building, will still get war either way......It is very discouraging to note that the advocates of the Iraq war, which is almost universally seen as Washington's greatest foreign policy blunder of the past hundred years, are continuing to play a major role in the shaping of policy for the next generation of political leaders of both parties.

IF you look at the rundown Giraldi offers on how the candidates are now appointing neocon advisors in order to gain support, you'll notice this is now a new trend. So, America loses no matter who wins, evidently. That is, unless we can get Ron Paul in there.


08-14-07 - The Democrats Are Selling Out the Peace Movement Another article on how the presidential candidates are playing the neocon card by appointing them as advisors in order to win votes. Disgraceful. These aholes should be sitting in cells for lying this country into war. We owe it to every single soldier killed or wounded in Iraq, in the very least.


08-14-07 - Who Cares? Since Dr. Paul doesn't have a chance of winning, I can therefore guarantee you that regardless of who wins the nominations and regardless of who ends up in the White House, you will be saddled with same failed interventionist policy. It's looking that way, indeed.


08-14-07 - Israel, Turkey, US to hold joint military exercises Navy and air forces of Israel, Turkey and the United States will stage joint search and rescue exercises in late August south of the Turkish coast, the Israeli army announced on Tuesday


08-14-07 - DEBKAfile editor says New York at risk Claiming that New York City residents had much to fear, Shamis said, "There is always something to be afraid of, because the threat is an ongoing threat, and it's a fact that the New York Police Department has taken it seriously. These people have something to gain by keeping the American sheeple in constant fear of the terrorist 'boogeyman' who happens to be Muslim. Israel has been a huge benefactor in the 'war on terror' (on several different fronts - one being the homeland security business).


08-14-07 - Terror threat Web site called unreliable Shamis says Debka, which is financed by subscriptions and ad revenue, has a daily readership of 1.3 million. But its reports, published in English and Hebrew, rely on anonymous sourcing and often prove untrue.


08-14-07 - IDF assessment: Syria thinks Olmert wants to launch war That's like saying a bear likes to defecate in the woods. But seriously folks..


08-14-07 - Prices for Key Foods Are Rising Sharply Already stung by a two-year rise in gasoline prices, American consumers now face sharply higher prices for foods they can?t do without. This little-known fact may go a long way to explaining why, despite healthy job statistics, Americans remain glum about the economy


08-14-07 - Hezbollah's leader warns Israel Much of Lebanon's infrastructure was damaged by an intense Israeli bombardment in 2006 after Hezbollah forces seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. Bridges, roads and thousands of homes were destroyed in the Israeli bombardment and a major ground assault across the border.


08-14-07 - Neoconservatism: A Cancer on the Presidency His great fault was to heed to the voices of the Zionist lobby in Washington and to listen to the Circe-like sounds of the neocon Fifth Columnists......Bush is going to be judged a disaster by history because he listened to and followed the advice of forked tongues a-la-Feith, Wolfowitz, Kagan, Podhoretz, Abrams, Perle, Pipes, Cheney, Abraham and the worst and most treacherous of this miserable lot, William (Iago) Kristol. Sublimely blind to the disaster of Iraq, these double-agents keep asking for more American and Iraqi blood to be shed, and are lobbying hard for an attack on Iran. Agreed.


08-14-07 - Itzik on U.S. tour for captive soldiers Israel's Knesset speaker is meeting with U.S. and U.N. leaders to press the case of Israel's captive soldiers.


08-14-07 - U.S. court ruling: Evidence seized in IDF raid not admissible Lawyers for Muslim charity leaders accused of aiding Hamas terrorists scored a rare win in court Tuesday when a federal judge blocked some evidence seized by Israel Defense Forces soldiers during raids of Palestinian organizations. Defense lawyers had objected that some of the documents were not signed or dated, and they cast doubt on Israel's handling of the evidence.
Ouch.


08-14-07 - Muslim hearts are hard to win after years of hypocrisy There must be a timetable for an independent Palestinian state and a willingness to twist Israeli arms to get it.


08-14-07 - Ban Ki-moon: Kidnapped soldiers top priority Ban told reporters before the meeting that the issue of the MIA Israeli soldiers topped his daily agenda and that he is working hard to resolve the matter. Ban Ki-moon=Israel's stooge.


08-14-07 - Syria has no plans for war on Israel: Al Sharaa


08-14-07 - US candidate Giuliani warns on Palestinian state Republican 2008 White House front-runner Rudolph Giuliani warned Tuesday it was not in the interest of the United States to help create a Palestinian state that would "support terrorism." Rudy, the AIPAC ass kisser. Pucker up.


08-14-07 - Syria backs bigger role for India in Middle East peace Syria Tuesday asked India to play a bigger role in the peace process in the Middle East and said that New Delhi should use its growing relations with Washington to promote stability in the region


08-14-07 - Giuliani says U.S. will need long presence in Iraq Rudy, the neocon ass kisser. Pucker up.


08-14-07 - Lebanese army wants more from U.S. The Lebanese military has been pounding the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp relentlessly for nearly three months, trying to wipe out Islamic militant fighters. But instead, it has given them a new form of protection: vast rubble in which to hide.


08-14-07 - Lebanon appeals to besieged Islamists to surrender


08-14-07 - UN slams Israel over details of ordnance dropped on Lebanon "In spite of repeated requests for information, Israel has not provided the required Strike Data -- location of intended target, quantity and type of ordnance dropped or fired -- that is required to quantify the problem," the UN Mine Action Coordination Center (MACC) said. That would probably be because Israel deliberately targeted civilians, and it would be proven by turning over those maps. Not that Israel really gives a rat's (about targeting civilians, as has been the case throughout its history).


08-14-07 - Evidence Suggests Ron Paul Was Cheated Ron Paul's fifth place in the Iowa Straw Poll questioned due to voting machine failure, fuzzy figures and conflicts of interest

News for 08-13-07

08-13-07 - Fatigue cripples US army in Iraq The Americans he commands, like the other men at Sullivan - a combat outpost in Zafraniya, south east Baghdad - hit their cots when they get in from operations. But even when they wake up there is something tired and groggy about them. They are on duty for five days at a time and off for two days. When they get back to the forward operating base, they do their laundry and sleep and count the days until they will get home.


08-13-07 - Iran president to tour Central Asia


08-13-07 - Official: Sadr is not in Iran


08-13-07 - Belgian pair missing in east Iran


08-13-07 - US not considering draft: Pentagon


08-13-07 - Cheney vs. Cheney: Invasion of Iraq Would Lead to "Quagmire" A video has surfaced of Dick Cheney predicting an invasion of Iraq would lead to a "quagmire."


08-13-07 - Imam attacked as anti-Muslim violence grows A brutal assault on a London imam has highlighted fears that Muslims are suffering a sharp increase in race attacks after the failed car bombings in June.


08-13-07 - Wolfowitz 'tried to censor World Bank on climate change'


08-13-07 - Ron Paul, Iowa and the Presidency by golly, don't dare threaten the establishment with Jeffersonian democratic vision and Washingtonian non-interventionism. Don't boldly challenge the NYC/DC axis of politics with sheer constitutionalism. Better yet, don't remind us that the American president is not the commander-in-chief of everybody but a narrowly defined and legally constrained institution that is only equal -- and certainly subject -- to our judicial and legislative bodies.
Ron Paul makes the corporate and foreign lobbies defile their collective astronaut diapers. My kinda guy!


08-13-07 - NSA wiretapping trial begins one rather obscure case could pull back the veil on a surveillance program that's at the heart of the US fight against terror. In the federal appeals court in San Francisco Wednesday, lawyers for a Saudi charity accused of helping Al Qaeda will argue that their clients, including two American attorneys, were illegally spied on without the required court warrant.



08-13-07 - Musharraf: No U.S. strikes in Pakistan Pakistan's president on Monday vigorously defended his government's independence from Washington and said he was "200 percent sure" the United States would not launch unilateral strikes against terrorists in Pakistan.


08-13-07 - Syria buys advanced anti-aircraft missiles: Israeli report Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has nevertheless refused to order the distribution of gas masks to civilians, fearing such a step would further escalate the heightened tensions between Israel and its northern neighbour, the report said, quoting sources in the military intelligence.


08-13-07 - UN official calls for improving living conditions of Palestinian refugees Panos Moumtzis, Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Syria, made the remarks at an annual four-day conference of the General Authority for Palestine Arab Refugees at its headquarters in Damascus.


08-13-07 - Why the power of three soon will change in Chicago He doesn't come across as the superstitious type, so it's unlikely that phenom-federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald believes in the power of threes.....As much as Mr. Fitzgerald and other U.S. attorneys might like to keep their jobs, they serve at the "pleasure of the president" as the saying goes. Or, as we now know after the firings of some prosecutors appointed by Mr. Bush, they may not serve for long if the president or his underlings become displeased.


08-13-07 - Army Torturing Palestinian Refugees'


08-13-07 - 'Gifts' that haunt U.S.


08-13-07 - Lebanese soldier killed in battle with Islamists


08-13-07 - Lebanon villagers slowly rebuilding lives a year after war "Nothing has improved for me in the last year," Mokdad says bitterly as she chain smokes, holding back tears. "I used to have my dignity, my home and now look at me.


08-13-07 - 100% Proof Google is Keeping Conspiracy Sites Down Based on personal experience with some Google services, Google definitely is biased towards neocons.

News for 08-12-07

08-12-07 - Russia flexes military muscle, evoking cold war posturing The Russia of President Vladimir Putin has taken a number of provocative military steps in recent days, creating concern about how the US and Europe should engage with a country that also has a vital role to play in Middle East peacemaking and the nuclear standoff with Iran.


08-12-07 - Iran concludes inquiry into detained U.S.-Iranians


08-12-07 - US 'surge' in Iraq 'likely to fail': British lawmakers


08-12-07 - Marine freed in Iraq killing case Of the eight members of the squad involved only one remains in prison.....Investigators said the soldiers dragged disabled Mr Awad from his home and killed him in Hamdaniya in April 2006.


08-12-07 - Report: Iran Less Than 10 Years Away From 2016 According to an alarming new Department of Defense report combining civilian, military, and calendric evidence, Iran may be as few as nine years away from the year 2016. HOLY CRAP!Nooooooo... We're all gonna die!!


08-12-07 - Challenging Bush?s Reality


08-12-07 - Russia, China and allies play war game


08-12-07 - Bush, Congress Could Collide On Iran ** Taking military action against Iran could put President Bush on a collision course with Congress, leading Democrats and a Republican lawmaker cautioned Friday following Bush?s threat of unspecified consequences for alleged Iranian meddling in Iraq.


08-12-07 - Credit crisis has Main Street watching Wall Street Behind all this lies a big question: If the turmoil on Wall Street gets worse, how large an effect will it have on Main Street ? in communities where consumers are already burdened by high gas prices and falling home values?


08-12-07 - Fox News pines for another 9/11 John Gibson endorsed Bykofsky's thesis on the air: "I think it's going to take a lot of dead people to wake America up."


08-12-07 - U.S. Pressure on Israel for a Palestinian State Foreseen ** Yogev explains that the Bush Administration is working under the pressure of the 2008 elections. "By then," Yogev posits, "Bush plans to hit the Iranian nuclear infrastructures. This is why he is in such a rush to give the Palestinians and the moderate Moslem states fat weapons deals and a Palestinian state - in order to silence them in anticipation of the planned attack on Iran.".....MK Yuval Shteinitz (Likud) told Arutz-7 this morning that the summit is something that must be strongly opposed: "This summit could well lead to a Palestinian state, with clear Hamas and Iranian influence, right on the doorstep of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Ben Gurion International Airport. Even if it just serves as a small support for this idea, the summit is something that we must not allow."


08-12-07 - U.S.-Israel aid deal near The $30 billion package would come in parallel to stepped-up arms donations and sales by Washington to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) said Israel would still have the mightiest military in the region.


08-12-07 - U.S. and Israel close gap on defense aid payouts Israel wins, as expected. See "Holdup in U.S. aid deal".


08-12-07 - Lantos not hopeful on Mideast conference Lantos said the arms sale "needs to be of such a nature that it does not represent a threat to the State of Israel."


08-12-07 - Speechless in Chicago John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt were scheduled to use the Sept. 27 address to outline their upcoming book, ?The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,? which is expected to be released by Farrar, Straus & Giroux early next month. But the president of the Chicago Council, Marshall Bouton, canceled the event under pressure from critics who were uncomfortable with the academics? arguments, according to a letter drafted by Mearsheimer and Walt to the Council?s board. The Israeli Lobby strikes again. Islamofascism is the problem in America? The greatest threat to American freedoms and security is the Israeli Lobby, and that includes the efforts and policies of the neocons.


08-12-07 - Break with Bush over middle East, MPs warn Brown The Labour-led Foreign Affairs Committee urged Gordon Brown's ministers to talk to Syria and Iran - part of President George Bush's 'axis of evil'.


08-12-07 - UK 'damaged' by Lebanon war delay The UK's reputation was damaged when the government hesitated in calling for an immediate end to the Lebanon war last year, MPs have said......It called some of Israel's military actions in Lebanon during the war "indiscriminate and disproportionate".


08-12-07 - Peace in Iraq is inextricably linked to a Palestinian settlement For four decades, successive American administrations have failed to halt Israel's colonisation of the occupied territories. With Washington's redoubtable Israel lobby openly calling for an attack on Iran, the besieged President probably feels it would be safer to follow its lead than confront Israel over its refusal to enter into final status talks on a settlement to the Israel-Palestine conflict.....Should Israel's colonisation of the West Bank continue, the US will find itself defending what former US president Jimmy Carter has described as a regime of apartheid in which Jews and Palestinians living in the same area are subject to different laws and differential access to resources. Should America succumb to Israeli pressure to isolate Iran, it will lose the war in Iraq.


08-12-07 - After the visit, family waits The deputy searched the car with the occupants' permission and found what he believed was a pipe bomb in the trunk, according to an arrest affidavit. Bomb technicians confirmed his suspicions, jail records show. But test results on the material in the trunk have not been released.


08-12-07 - US moves to hobble Lebanon's president The Bush administration has quietly opened a new diplomatic front in its efforts to free Lebanon from Syrian influence, with a move to undermine the authority of the country's pro-Syria president.


08-12-07 - UN's website breached by hackers Slogans accusing the US and Israel of killing children appeared on the pages reserved for statements from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.


08-12-07 - Lebanese army turns down siege surrender offer The Lebanese army on Sunday rejected a conditional offer of surrender by Islamist extremists in a besieged Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the country, a mediator told AFP.


08-12-07 - Walt-Mearsheimer Cancelled by Chicago Council on Global Affairs The Foxman ploy sounds suspiciously like the one they tried against Jimmy Carter when he was to speak at Brandeis. The University asked if instead of speaking alone he'd debate Alan Dershowitz, to which the former president said something like: "What? You must be kidding." Brandeis caved and Carter spoke alone as was befitting a former president.


08-12-07 - Kill Or Convert, Brought To You By the Pentagon With the endorsement of the Defense Department, OSU is mailing "Freedom Packages" to soldiers serving in Iraq. These are not your grandfather's care packages, however. Besides pairs of white socks and boxes of baby wipes (included at the apparent suggestion of Iran-Contra felon Oliver North, according to OSU) OSU's care packages contain the controversial Left Behind: Eternal Forces video game. End Times Christianity is Christian Zionism.