Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America’sWar On Iraq 4,209
icasualties.org/oif/
The War And Occupation Of Iraq Costs
$578,211,272,388
See the cost in your community
nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182
Afghanistan: The Arrogance and Ignorance
By Yvonne Ridley
The western leaders can either choose to remain in denial and send in more troops while listening to pompous civil servants, politicians and diplomats who say only what they think their masters want to hear, or they can sit down and read the ICOS report and act upon it.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21428.htm
Legal Scholars Outraged by Talk of Blanket Pardons
By Daphne Eviatar
Obama’s advisers are encouraging him to look to the future and avoid the appearance of seeking vengeance for past practices. But many legal experts insist it’s as important not to let those responsible for diminishing America’s moral stature get away scot-free.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21421.htm
Torturing Democracy
The Documentary PBS Does Not Want You to See Before Jan 21, 2009
Video and Transcript
“Torturing Democracy” is a new documentary which details how the government set aside the rule of law in its pursuit of harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21422.htm
Guantanamo ‘a Stain on US Military’
Gitmo Military Prosecutor Breaks His Silence
9 Minute Video Report From The BBC
Former Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, a former U.S. prosecutor at Guantanamo, told BBC yesterday in his first interview since resigning earlier this year that Guantanamo detainees were treated in a “wrong, unethical and finally, immoral” manner. Watch BBC’s segment:
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21425.htm
How Rahm Emanuel Made Mega-Millions and Bought His Way to Power
By Ben Protess
New details emerge of Emanuel’s days as an investment banker.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21427.htm
Breaking the Stranglehold on Middle East News Coverage?
By Joshua Frank
Joshua Frank talks with Press TV correspondent Afshin Rattansi.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21426.htm
And Now For A World Government
By Gideon Rachman
I have never believed that there is a secret United Nations plot to take over the US. I have never seen black helicopters hovering in the sky above Montana. But, for the first time in my life, I think the formation of some sort of world government is plausible.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21424.htm
Pakistan: We’re ready for war with India:
“We do not want to impose war, but we are fully prepared in case war is imposed on us,” said Mr Qureshi.
tinyurl.com/5zf7hp
Pakistan confirms Lashkar militant arrests:
Pakistan’s defense minister says two top leaders of the militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba, suspected in the Mumbai terror attacks, have been arrested
tinyurl.com/68h3cy
Police name new suspect in Mumbai attack probe:
Maria on Tuesday also identified the nine gunmen that were killed and released pictures of eight of them.
tinyurl.com/6d59fv
30 selected for Mumbai attacks, 10 executed it:
The 10 men who conducted the attacks in Mumbai belonged to a group of 30 recruits selected for suicide missions and the whereabouts of the other 20 are unknown, the New York Times reported.
tinyurl.com/65o7qb
Bush defends ‘necessary’ US action in Pakistan: –
George W. Bush promised Tuesday to “do what is necessary” to blunt any terrorist threats originating from suspected extremist havens in Pakistan’s remote tribal areas.
news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081209/pl_afp/usattacksbushpakistan
Demonizing Pakistan
Pakistan is a ‘failed state’, says US Congressman:
Condemning the Mumbai carnage, senior US Congressman Frank Pallone has said the terrorists involved in the attack tried to give the impression that they were local Indian Muslims.
www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=18895
NATO-Afghan Troops Kill Taliban Commander:
A Taliban commander accused of facilitating suicide-bombings was killed in a joint operation by NATO and Afghan forces, media reports said Tuesday.
tinyurl.com/5qtop2
Kandahar base braces for wave of U.S. troops:
Massive new construction program under way at sprawling facility in order to accommodate expected doubling of population.
tinyurl.com/5z98mh
How the Taliban Hopes to Choke U.S. Afghanistan Mission:
As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to send more troops to join the fight in Afghanistan, Pentagon planners are scrambling to figure out how to keep those already there – and the anticipated reinforcements – supplied with food, fuel, bullets and everything else a modern army needs.
news.yahoo.com/s/time/20081209/wl_time/08599186522300
Iraq: Sticky bomb attacks increasing:
Insurgent groups in Baghdad have added a new weapon to their urban warfare armoury by developing a small but deadly device to destroy vehicles carrying government employees, police officers and military personnel.
tinyurl.com/5cl8an
Report: IED threat known before war:
Military leaders knew the dangers posed by roadside bombs before the start of the Iraq war but did little to develop vehicles that were known to better protect forces from what proved to be the conflict’s deadliest weapon, a report by the Pentagon inspector general says.
www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-12-08-mrap_N.htm
British forces to start leaving Iraq in March: down to 400 by summer:
The troops will make way for several thousand American soldiers who are to move into the British base at Basra airport, in the south of the country.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article5315269.ece
From his office in clouded cuckoo land:
George W Bush: The Middle East has a brighter future than it did seven years ago:
Iraq has gone from an enemy of America to a friend of America, from sponsoring terror to fighting terror, and from a brutal dictatorship to a multi-religious, multi-ethnic constitutional democracy.
tinyurl.com/579bsj
UN panel demands Israel lift Gaza blockade, free Palestinian prisoners:
The 47-member-state Council adopted its list of 99 recommendations by consensus at the end of a two-day review of Israel’s human rights record.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1045083.html
UN official seeks world court probe over Gaza:
The International Criminal Court should investigate Israel and its leaders over the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, a UN official said yesterday.
tinyurl.com/5rgqod
Activists break Gaza siege for fourth time:
Humanitarian activists bring Israel-besieged Gaza one tonne of medical supplies, high-protein baby formula.
www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=29120
Olmert refuses to rule out Gaza offensive ahead of key discussion:
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is due to meet with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Wednesday to discuss the future of the Gaza lull, a day after Olmert threatened that Israel would lash out against Gaza militants in response to a recent escalation in rocket and mortar fire from the Gaza Strip.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1045135.html
Jewish parents want Arabs out of TA school:
Parents in south Tel Aviv who are seeking to prevent two Arab girls from attending their children’s school are denying accusations of racism, saying they’re worried about academic standings.
tinyurl.com/5jjzvj
Carter, in Lebanon, says ready to meet with Hezbollah officials:
Asked whether he would meet with Hezbollah officials during his five-day visit, Carter told reporters that it was up to the militant group, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1045050.html
Russia: Iran could not build A-bomb:
A senior Russian diplomat says that even if Iran sought to make a nuclear weapon, it does not have the necessary “means” to do so.
www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=77931§ionid=351020104
Russian diplomat: Iran not yet able to build nuclear bomb:
A top Russian diplomat has hinted that his country’s extensive spying network believes Iran is not yet able to build a nuclear bomb.
tinyurl.com/6mqo9x
Ethiopia sends more troops into Somalia:
Ethiopia redeploys troops across border into Somalia, reoccupies former military positions in Mogadishu.
www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=29138
Five 9/11 Suspects Offer to Confess: But Proposal Is Pulled Over Death Penalty Issue:
“Are you saying if we plead guilty we will not be able to be sentenced to death?” Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed operational mastermind of the attacks, asked at a pretrial hearing here.
tinyurl.com/5u8hmt
Nobel Winner: Internet Might Have Stopped Hitler: –
The spread of information on the Internet has given the world a new tool to forestall conflicts, Nobel literature prize winner Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio said
www.thenewsvault.com/cgi/xtra.pl?go=12287321865
Illinois Governor Arrested on Corruption Charges:
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat, according to a criminal complaint by federal prosecutors who said the governor had put a “for sale” sign on his administration.
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aPxQeDJXgOXc&
World Bank predicts global gloom:
The Bank said a deep global recession could not be ruled out.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7774199.stm
UK: The great credit card scandal:
Credit card companies are facing an investigation by competition watchdogs after defying government warnings to improve their lending practices.
tinyurl.com/5mlxta
Sony to cut 8,000 jobs, 4 percent of work force: –
Sony Corp. is slashing 4 percent of its worldwide work force, reining in spending and shutting plants as it tries to ride out a looming worldwide recession that is battering Japan’s export-reliant manufacturers.
finance.yahoo.com/news/Sony-to-cut-8000-jobs-amid-apf-13780783.html
Coming soon to U.S., 1 million jobs lost every month: Report:
London-based GFC Economics is making a frightening prediction: By spring 2009, the United States could be facing more than 1 million layoffs every successive month.
rawstory.com/news/2008/Coming_soon_to_U.S._1_million_1207.html
Economy bad all over — even before current crisis:
New census data shows that throughout the first half of the decade, the slumping economy touched nearly every community in the country. Incomes dropped while poverty and unemployment rose in the vast majority of the nation’s cities and towns.
finance.yahoo.com/news/Economy-bad-all-over-even-apf-13780442.html
10 clues: A new bubble is blowing:
Bet on Wall Street hyping a recovery, big earnings, new bull in 2009
tinyurl.com/6pqelj
U.S. to announce rescue for corporate credit unions: Journal:
Some major corporate credit unions, whose finances have been hurt by losses on mortgage-backed securities, are the subject of a federal rescue plan to be announced this week, The Wall Street Journal reported
tinyurl.com/6hvg36
Investors Buy $32 Billion in Treasury Bills with ZERO Yield: .
Why would anyone be willing to make an investment in which they are guaranteed to make nothing? The one word answer is “Fear.”
tinyurl.com/5ao8t3