Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq “1,284,105"
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

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
$580,768,704,569
See the cost in your community
nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

Obama’s War
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Just two months after the twin towers fell, the armies of the Northern Alliance marched into Kabul. The Taliban fled. The triumph was total in the “splendid little war” that had cost one U.S. casualty. Or so it seemed. Yet, last month, the war against the Taliban entered its eighth year, the second longest war in our history, and America and NATO have never been nearer to strategic defeat.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21496.htm

Iraq: Coup Plot Foiled?
US Fires on Fallujah Shoe-Throwers
By Juan Cole
The news from Iraq on Wednesday shows that the Iraqi government’s hold on power is fragile, and that it faces shadowy coup plotters from within and a continued guerrilla insurgency from without.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21493.htm

Dick Cheney’s Fantasy World
By Scott Ritter
Despite the facts, the vice-president still insists that Saddam Hussein could have produced weapons of mass destruction.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21494.htm

Should Dick Cheney Be Hanged?
By Rachel Maddow Video And Transcript
We hanged people for waterboarding as a war crime, in Dick Cheney’s lifetime. With that is as the historical context, the vice president cavalierly told ABC News that he specifically approved that same technique being used against the prisoner named Khalid Sheikh Mohammad.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21495.htm

Iraqi Shoe Thrower Prompts Racist Rant From Bill O’Reilly
By RNIF
First he says that the shoe thrower is evidence of the ingratitude, “violence” and “irrational thinking” in the “Arab world”, before going to on discuss the “danger from the Muslim world” and whether torture is the right way to go about dealing with it. Note also the graphic shown at the beginning and end of the segment of the American flag and a menacing, red-coloured star and crescent.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21497.htm

U.S. troops kill three sleeping Iraqi guards:
Trade Minister Abdulfalah al-Soodani has asked the troops for a formal apology and compensation. “The minister (Soodani) denounces and condemns the incident which has lead to the killing of three guards while they were asleep,” the statement said.
www.azzaman.com/english/index.
asp?fname=news\2008-12-18\kurd.htm

Iraq ministry says employees killed in US raid:
The Iraqi government has accused U.S. forces of killing at least three Trade Ministry employees in a pre-dawn raid on ministry property in Baghdad, officials said on Thursday.
www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LI576845.htm

U.S. military’s Iraq withdrawal plan differs from Obama’s promise:
The plan will make the withdrawal at a slower pace than Obama promised during the campaign, when he called for all combat troops to be out within 16 months — by the summer of 2010.
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/19/content_10527451.htm

Foiled coup plot points to dark future for Iraq:
The chance that such a coup could have first succeeded and then maintained itself in the long term is negligible. As long as U.S. forces remain in the country, it would have had zero chance of succeedin
tinyurl.com/3j2nqm

Arrests in Iraq Seen as Politically Motivated:
Government Offers Contradictory Explanations for Interior Ministry Detentions
tinyurl.com/5xuwm6

Fact or fiction?
Shoe-thrower sorry for ‘ugly act’:
Dhargham al-Zaidi, the journalist’s brother, questioned whether the statement was genuine.
english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/
2008/12/200812182353218656.html

Panel: Congress was misled on Iraq uranium issue:
House panel: Former White House counsel misled Congress on Iraq uranium claims in 2002
tinyurl.com/4x9d23

US troops kill three civilians in Afghanistan: official:
 Three civilians were killed and two others injured when their house was attacked by US soldiers in eastern Afghanistan
tinyurl.com/3mtz7g

Afghan leader sends demands to US on troop conduct:
The Afghan president has sent a list of demands to the United States government about troop conduct ahead of the arrival of more U.S. forces, pressing for cooperation with his government.
wire.antiwar.com/2008/12/18/afghan-
leader-sends-demands-to-us-on-troop-conduct/

Pakistan justifies US drone attacks:
Experts say Zardari may have hinted that the US drone strikes in the tribal areas were being conducted with the consent of the government
www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=78858&sectionid=351020401

‘ISI cleared of Mumbai involvement’:
After interrogating the sole surviving gunman, The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) concluded that the ISI was cleared of any involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks on November 26, Pakistani daily The Dawn quoted diplomatic sources as saying on Thursday.
www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=78821&sectionid=351020401

Hamas throws in the towel on Gaza cease-fire:
Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for the militant group that governs Gaza, said the truce was expiring at 6 a.m. today. He said it was not being renewed because “the enemy refused to comply” with promises to lift a crippling blockade of the Palestinian enclave.
www.twincities.com/national/ci_11266272?nclick_check=1

Russian air defence deal with Iran under way – report:
Russia is currently fulfilling a contract to deliver S-300 air defence systems to Iran, RIA news agency quoted confidential sources as saying on Wednesday.
tinyurl.com/45yu3k

Russia to give Lebanon 10 MiG-29 jets as gift:
Russia will give 10 MiG-29 fighter jets to Lebanon as a gift, Russian news agencies quoted the head of Russia’s Federal Military and Technical Cooperation Service as saying on Wednesday.
tinyurl.com/47yzje

Eleven killed in fighting in Somalia’s capital:
Eleven people were killed on Wednesday in fighting between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian forces in the north of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, residents and witnesses said.
www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre4bg6bx-us-somalia-conflict/

US says piracy resolution allows for air strikes in Somalia:
The 15-member Security Council unanimously approved Tuesday a new resolution authorizing for one year international military operations on Somali territory in agreement with the transitional government.
news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081217/pl_afp/somaliapiracyunus

Cheney faces ‘torture’ criticism:
A senior US Democrat has condemned Dick Cheney, the US vice-president, for his defence of waterboarding “terror” suspects, saying the abuse amounted to torture and warning there could be prosecutions over the issue under a new administration.
english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/
2008/12/20081218155537836929.html

Guantanamo closure plan ordered:
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, has ordered his staff to draw up plans to close the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba.
english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/
2008/12/2008121822716620698.html

Castro offers to exchange dissidents for ‘Cuban 5':
Cuban President Raul Castro made an unprecedented offer Thursday to exchange political dissidents jailed in his country for five Cubans imprisoned in the U.S. for espionage.
wire.antiwar.com/2008/12/18/castro-
offers-to-exchange-dissidents-for-cuban-5-2/

US gives Nicaragua 90 days to clear election concerns:
MCC chief John Danilovich on November 25 suspended the 175-million-dollar aid program launched in Nicaragua in 2005, after the ruling Sandinista party of President Daniel Ortega won most of the mayoral elections, amid allegations of widespread fraud.
news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081216/wl_afp/nicaraguauspoliticsaid

Impeachment drive slowed against Illinois governor:
Illinois lawmakers could be forced to build their impeachment case against Gov. Rod Blagojevich on a raft of relatively small grievances, rather than the blockbuster Senate-seat-for-sale allegations, for fear of undermining federal prosecutors’ criminal investigation.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081218/ap_on_re_us/illinois_governor

Bush ‘considering’ auto bankruptcy:
The Bush administration has said it is seriously considering allowing struggling major US vehicle manufacturers to go bankrupt despite their plea for government aid.
english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/
2008/12/200812181746743740.html

Federal spending soars 25% before bailout:
The government’s spending commitments exploded by 25 percent in 2008, putting taxpayers more than $1 trillion in the hole even before the astronomical costs of the economic bailout were taken into account, according to an annual report released Monday by the White House.
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec
/16/spending-soars-25-before-bailout/

GM Opens Eighth China Plant, Won’t Add Further Capacity Soon:
GM expects to boost China sales about 9 percent next year as it adds new models and an economic stimulus plan helps revive overall demand. Auto sales in China have declined in three of the past four months because of the global economic slowdown.
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206
01080&sid=aWHbmXZFhiEs&refer=asia

Credit-Card Users Feel Pain as U.S. Banks Reap Gain:
Credit-card companies, facing an increase in defaults and a decline in consumer spending, are raising some rates, adding fees and cutting credit lines as the Federal Reserve makes the most sweeping changes to the industry in 30 years.
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20
601103&sid=ap_9fTPViwzU&refer=us