Date: 18 January 2008
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq 1,168,058
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
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Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America’sWar On Iraq 3,926
icasualties.org/oif/
The War in Iraq Costs
$486,769,250,980
See the cost in your community
nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182
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“Don’t Mess With Us,”
Pakistan’s Nukes Are Here To Stay, Get Used To It
By Ahmed Quraishi
The ‘real’ Pakistani officials in charge of the nation’s vast nuclear and strategic arsenal have spent the past few months quietly laughing at the doomsday scenarios that American politicians and media organizations have been spinning for months now. These Pakistani officials say they are calm because of their confidence in their capabilities. However, this Pakistani calm should not be mistaken for weakness. “My message is: Don’t mess with us,” says Air Commodore Khalid Banuri, with pride.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19101.htm
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Blowback In The War On Terror
By Anita Inder Singh
Can the war against global terrorism be won? Or do two badly bent prongs in America’s anti-terrorist campaign, in Afghanistan and Iraq, suggest that the war is unwinnable, in part because the US has engaged in unrealistic realpolitik, flouted international law and disregarded human rights?
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19104.htm
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Canada Puts U.S., Israel On Torture Watchlist
By Reuters
An official Canadian government document has put both the United States and Israel on a watch list of countries where prisoners run the risk of being tortured, CTV television reported on Thursday.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19102.htm
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No Peace
By Charley Reese
Let’s review the situation from the standpoint of international law. The West Bank, Gaza, the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and a smidgen of Lebanon the Israelis still occupy are officially designated as occupied territories.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19107.htm
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Bush’s “Stimulus” Cash Giveaway; “Gentlemen, Start The Helicopters”
By Mike Whitney
The White House is now in full-panic mode. In fact, the falling stock market has the administration so worried that Bush will deliver a speech later today that will lay out the details of a “stimulus package” designed to rev-up flagging consumer spending.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19105.htm
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George of Arabia:
Better Kiss Your Abe ‘Goodbye’
By Greg Palast
Bend over, pull out your wallet and kiss your Abe ‘goodbye.’ The Lincolns have got to go – and so do the Hamiltons and Jacksons. Those bills in your billfold aren’t yours anymore. The landlords of our currency – Citibank, the national treasury of China and the House of Saud – are foreclosing and evicting all Americans from the US economy.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19103.htm
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Congressman Robert Wexler – Cheney Impeachment Stronger than Watergate
5 Minute Video
Robert Wexler (D-FL) took to the House floor to urge the House Judiciary Committee to begin impeachment hearings into Vice President Cheney for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” – History demands that we take action, because the case against Vice President Cheney is far stronger than the illegalities surrounding Watergate.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19106.htm
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Top Rumsfeld Aide Wins Contracts From Spy Office He Set Up
By Tim Shorrock , Special to CorpWatch
A Pentagon office that claims to monitor terrorist threats to U.S. military bases in North America — and was once reprimanded by the U.S. Congress for spying on antiwar activists — has just awarded a multi-million dollar contract to a company that employs one of Donald Rumsfeld’s former aides. That aide, Stephen Cambone, helped create the very office that issued the contract.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19100.htm
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Bringing Death and Destruction to Muslims
Leader and Vassal
By Paul Craig Roberts
After pandering to Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert’s right-wing government last week, US president George W. Bush carried the Israeli/neoconservative campaign against Iran to Arab countries.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19097.htm
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Is Hamas Saving More Jewish Lives Than Olmert?
By Mike Whitney
Hamas’s second in command, Mahmoud al Zahar, has saved more Jewish lives in his short tenure as Palestinian Foreign Minister, than Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. And how has he been rewarded?
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19096.htm
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George Galloway vs Neocon David Frum
8 Minute BBC Video
As President Bush began his last big tour of the Middle East – and threatens US sanctions on Iran – George Galloway and David Frum debate the issues.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19099.htm
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This Is The Debate General Electric Didn’t Want You To Hear.
Audio & Transcript – Democracy Now! – Broadcast - 16/01/08
Democracy Now! Re-Hosts NBC Las Vegas Debate to Include Kucinich After NBC Wins Appeal to Exclude Him. In an exclusive broadcast, we re-broadcast excerpts of the debate and give the Ohio Congressman a chance to answer the questions he might have faced if he hadn’t been silenced.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19093.htm
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Find the Truth About Bush’s Wars
Nancy Pelosi, You Must Impeach!
By Richard Behan
Madam Speaker, if you will not impeach, then you must refute this history, if you can?
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19095.htm
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What The CIA Had To Destroy
By Nat Hentoff
The many reasons this torture evidence was too hot to handle.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19098.htm
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Monsters Of Our Own Making
By Rosa Brooks
Foreign policy nightmares are everywhere for the U.S. these days.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19108.htm
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In case you missed it
America Is A Bully. OK. There, I Said It!
By Tom Feeley
9/11 has taught us nothing. We have become narcissistic and self centered; like the drug addict who refuses to look at himself, we rage on about how everyone is against us, and use our denial to continue our self destructive behavior. In search of another fix we roar across the world dropping bombs on anyone who may try to point out that our sickness is self-imposed.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19094.htm
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Mike Huckabee – We Should Amend The Constitution So It Fits With God’s Standards
1 Minute Video
Mike Huckabee claims that he would rather change the constitution than the word of the living God and that we should amend the constitution so that it fits with God’s standards
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19084.htm
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Around 90 militants killed in Pakistan-Afghan border region :
Around 90 militants were killed by the Pakistani army on the Afghan border on Friday, an army spokesman said.
en.rian.ru/world/20080118/97303079.html
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Kandahar’s cemetery of ‘miracles’ :
At Kandahar’s Arab cemetery, victims of the US “war on terror” are revered by many as shaheed (martyrs) and their graves are believed to possess miraculous powers.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7193579.stm
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Armed clashes leave 110 casualties in Nassiriya :
At least 50 persons were killed and 60 more, including security officers, were injured during armed clashes that flared up on Friday afternoon n the city of Nassiriya with gunmen, believed to be members of the self-styled Ansar Ahmad al-Yamani group, a police source said.
snipurl.com/1xqqn
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Dozen killed as bloody US occupation continues:
U.S. troops backed by aircraft killed 13 suspected militants during operations targeting al Qaeda in central and northern Iraq on Thursday and Friday, the U.S. military said.
www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL1871207
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Iraqi refugees: “We can’t return” :
Umm Ali, describes what she found when she visited the home in Baghdad she had fled a year earlier.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/7179657.stm
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Romania prepares to pull out troops from Iraq :
Romania is preparing the pullout of its troops from Iraq, after the NATO April summit in Bucharest, Romania’s Caretaker Defense Minister Teodor Melescanu said on Friday in Iasi, eastern Romania.
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/19/content_7449575.htm
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Turkish Jets Bomb 60 Kurdish Targets:
Turkish jets targeted rebel positions on Tuesday in the fourth cross-border aerial attack since Dec. 16. The military said earlier Friday that 10 Kurdish rebels surrendered after the air strike.
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/18/iraq/main3727076.shtml
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Iraqi Police Commander in Basra Dismisses Accusations Against Iran:
This accusation which the US and British forces of occupation have continuously and repeatedly made in the past few years has not been backed up with facts, according to the (Iraqi) field commanders in southern Iraq.
snipurl.com/1xqqr
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House passes $696 billion “defense” bill:
Overall, the bill authorizes about $696 billion in defense spending, including $189 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
wiredispatch.com/news/?id=7400
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Iran slams US sanctions drive, China backs dialogue:
Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on Friday criticised a US drive to impose sanctions over its atomic programme, and claimed support from Beijing ahead of crunch high-level talks next week.
www.afp.com/english/news/stories/080118115848.4rvvnqe5.html
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Iran receives nuke fuel:
Iran received a third shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia on Friday for a power plant being constructed in the southern port of Bushehr, state radio reported.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080118/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear_russia
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Israel “would not dare attack Iran”: Ahmadinejad:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that Israel “would not dare attack Iran,” after Israel said it tested a missile and warned against Tehran’s nuclear program.
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080117/wl_nm/israel_iran_dc
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Israel Tests New Long-Range Missile:
Israel successfully tested a new long-range missile on Thursday, defense officials said, and reports indicate the missiles might be capable of being armed with nuclear warheads.
snipurl.com/1xqqx
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Manufacturing Consent For War With Iran?
MAD in the Middle East :
Seven weeks after they dealt a serious blow to the United States’ plans to use military force against Iran’s nuclear sites, several of the American intelligence officers who were involved in the drafting of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), according to which Iran suspended its secret nuclear military program back in 2003, are due to visit Israel.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/945843.html
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Iran, Israel and Nuclear War: An Illustrative Scenario Analysis:
This briefing provides the material used in a scenario analysis and interactive game that looks at some of the consequences of a future nuclear exchange between Israel and Iran, and the possible impact of its expansion to cover targets in Syria, Egypt, and the Gulf.
snipurl.com/1xqqy
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Palestinians: Mother and son killed in Israeli strike:
IDF launches attack in northern Gaza killing three Palestinian civilians from same family riding donkey cart
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3495737,00.html
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One killed as Israel flattens Hamas ministry in Gaza Strip:
One woman was killed and at least 30 others nearby were wounded in the air strike, medical officials said.
snipurl.com/1xqr1
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Israel murders Hamas activist :
Since Tuesday the Zionist regime’s strikes have murdered 32 innocent Palestinian people.
www.iribnews.ir/Full_en.asp?news_id=249577&n=23
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Aid Blocked As Gaza Crossings Closed:
Israel has closed border crossings with the Gaza Strip and destroyed the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in what witnesses said was an air strike.
news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1301302,00.html?f=rss
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UN wants Gaza crossings reopened:
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees appealed to Israel to lift a lockdown of Gaza that it imposed yesterday and to reopen crossings into the impoverished territory where most residents depend on food aid.
www.rte.ie/news/2008/0118/mideast.html
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Abbas threatens to quit if ‘escalation’ continues:
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is considering resigning from his post if Israel continues its military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a top PA official said Thursday.
snipurl.com/1xqri
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CIA chief: Mehsud behind Bhutto killing:
Toeing the Pakistani government’s line, the US intelligence chief has said he has “no reason to question” the assertion that Al Qaeda and allies of tribal leader Baitullah Mehsud were responsible for the assassination of former Premier Benazir Bhutto.
snipurl.com/1xqrk
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Kenya’s “martyrs” protest as death toll reaches 1,000:
The opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has charged the government is committing crimes against humanity, allowing extra-judicial police killings that have hiked the death toll to more than 1,000 people, according to leader Raila Odinga
wiredispatch.com/news/?id=8040
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Death toll soars in Kenya clashes :
The death toll after three days of opposition rallies against Mwai Kibaki, the Kenyan president, has soared to 25 people
snipurl.com/1xqrn
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Russia secures Bulgaria pipeline :
The deal will undercut a rival project backed by the US and EU and strengthen Russia’s dominance over EU energy supplies.
snipurl.com/1xqro
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Canadian FM puts Israel, U.S. on torture watch list :
Canada’s foreign ministry has put the United States and Israel on a watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured and also classifies some U.S. interrogation techniques as torture, according to a document obtained by Reuters on Thursday.
snipurl.com/1xqsd
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Mother says Padilla ‘is not a monster,’ deserves lenient sentence:
The sentencing hearing for Jose Padilla continues today in Miami. Yesterday, his mother told a federal judge that Padilla is “not a monster” despite convictions on terrorism conspiracy. She pleaded for mercy instead of the life prison sentence sought by prosecutors.
www.wwsb.com/Global/story.asp?S=7737949
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Former JAG lawyer: Only America ‘parses’ torture:
The United States has lost so much of its credibility and prestige on the world stage because of its heavy-handed interrogation tactics that President Bush’s insistence that US interrogators don’t torture holds as much water as “Iran denying it has a nuclear weapons program,” a retired Navy lawyer says.
snipurl.com/1xqsi
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John McCain’s real war record:
On the campaign trail he touts his sharp criticism of Donald Rumsfeld and the Bush administration on Iraq. But a look at McCain’s record reveals a different war story.
www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/01/17/mccain/
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Fund stops investor withdrawals :
A rush to withdraw money from its commercial property funds has forced Scottish Equitable to introduce delays of up to 12 months for its customers.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7195391.stm
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Bush considering $800 tax rebate to boost US economy: report :
President George W. Bush’s administration is considering an individual tax rebate of up to 800 dollars as a short term measure to help boost the sagging US economy, a media report said Friday.
snipurl.com/1xqsp
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Bush calls for economy kick-start :
Some lawmakers and officials are pressing for a tax rebate of at least $300 per taxpayer, with some lawmakers seeking as much as $800 for per person and $1,600 for families.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7196517.stm
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U.S. economy teeters on the brink:
Bush, Bernanke endorse $100-billion package in effort to prevent recession as housing mess hammers banks, consumers and investors
snipurl.com/1xqsu
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California home prices drop nearly 15 percent:
Plummeting median cost in December during a 20-year record sales falloff
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22712082/
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