Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq “1,366,350"
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America’s War On Iraq: 4,691
icasualties.org/oif/
Number Of International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 1,582
icasualties.org/oef/
Cost of War in Iraq
$700,919,461,679
Cost of War in Afghanistan
$246,997,138,062
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U.S. Counters Israeli Claim Iran Nuclear Facility Bomb-proof
By Haaretz Service
Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, told CNN’s Christine Amanpour that Washington had developed a contingency plan for dealing with Iran’s contentious nuclear program.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24358.htm
Israeli General Denies Iran is Nuclear Threat
By Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv
A general who was once in charge of Israel’s nuclear weapons has claimed that Iran is a “very, very, very long way from building a nuclear capability”.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24357.htm
The Mushroom Effect
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
One could be forgiven for thinking that the neoconservatives who nudge us towards war with Iran are under the effect of the magic mushroom. Obsessed with Iran, their trips take on the shape of a ‘mushroom cloud’. Christopher Hitchens is one such example.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24367.htm
Neocons ‘The Transparent Cabal’
Video
Press TV interview with Dr. Stephen Sniegoski (Author of ‘The Transparent Cabal’)
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24366.htm
Helen Thomas Deviates From the Terrorism Script
By Glenn Greenwald
At a White House press conference yesterday with Janet Napolitano and John Brennan, Helen Thomas shows — yet again — that she’s one of the very few White House reporters willing to deviate from approved orthodoxy scripts. She asks the prohibited question about the motives of Terrorists, and keeps asking as she receives complete non-responses, until they all just decide to ignore her:
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24362.htm
Answering Helen Thomas on Why They Want to Harm Us
By Ray McGovern
Thank God for Helen Thomas, the only person to show any courage at the White House press briefing after President Barack Obama gave a flaccid account of the intelligence screw-up that almost downed an airliner on Christmas Day.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24363.htm
Always Be Scared!
Video
Funny, yet sickening view of societies “ills”, and loss of liberty.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24365.htm
CIA Planned to ‘Rendition’ Kidnap Suspects in Germany: Report
By Agence France Presse
“It was about grabbing people without the Germans knowing about it,” the German weekly magazine cited an unnamed former CIA agent as saying. “We were planning stuff that was totally illegal.”
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24370.htm
U.S. Suggestion of Sanctions Causes Stir in Israel
By Jeffrey Heller
“Under American law, the United States can withhold support on loan guarantees to Israel,” George Mitchell said on U.S. television on Wednesday after being asked about the kind of pressure that could be brought to bear on Israel.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24359.htm
Senators McCain, Lieberman Downplay Mitchell’s Threat
By Roni Sofer
Mitchell can threaten Jerusalem, but there will be others ready to defend Israel in Washington: Four senior US senators visiting Israel said Sunday that they oppose attempts to apply pressure on Israel by freezing aid.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24360.htm
Africom – Latest U.S. Bid to Recolonise Continent
By Tichaona Nhamoyebonde
Towards the end of last year, the US government intensified its efforts to bring a permanent army to settle in Africa, dubbed the African Command (Africom) as a latest tool for the subtle recolonisation of Africa.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24364.htm
The Implosion of the American Political Consciousness
By David Michael Green
Our problem isn’t that the Obama administration is socialist, but rather that it is a captive of the worst elements of capitalism.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24361.htm
Wall Street Will Be Back For More
By Chris Hedges
Corporations, which control the levers of power in government and finance, promote and empower the psychologically maimed. Those who lack the capacity for empathy and who embrace the goals of the corporation-personal power and wealth-as the highest good succeed. Those who possess moral autonomy and individuality do not.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24361.htm
Taking Tea with the Lizards
By Joe Bageant
The Tea Party is the latest neoconservative end run around the possibility of a real third party emerging to threaten the status quo. To be honest, it’s a brilliant political move, absorbing any energies that might have propelled a real third party. And, in true neocon fashion, it capitalizes on the working class’ inchoate anger at the ongoing screwjob they’ve been getting from both parties for thirty years.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24371.htm
George Orwell’s Animal Farm
Video
Animated barn animals act out human faults in life and politics in Orwell’s captivating tale.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24368.htm
Official: Algerian army kills 10 “al-Qaida fighters”:
An Algerian military police official says an army patrol has ambushed suspected militants from al-Qaida’s north Africa wing, killing 10.
snipurl.com/u1q6o
Pakistan: Eight militants, one soldier killed in South Waziristan:
Eight militants have been killed while one soldier lost his life during operations in South Waziristan on Monday. Security forces have also arrested six suspected militants in Swat.
snipurl.com/u1q6t
US Attack In Pakistamn Kills Five People: :
Five more people were killed and six others sustained injuries in yet another US drone attack on a remote village in Dattakhel Tehsil in the troubled North Waziristan tribal region on Saturday night.
paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?223234
Fear grips Karachi as nine people shot dead:
The three-day death toll of the recent targeted killings reached 27, while nine people were killed in the third consecutive day in various areas of the city.
snipurl.com/u1q79
Six foreign occupation force troops killed in Afghanistan: NATO:
The dead included three Americans killed in southern Afghanistan, one French soldier northeast of the capital Kabul, and two more whose nationalities were not officially given, NATO and military officials said
news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100111/wl_afp/afghanistanunresttoll
UK reporter, US Marine, Afghan soldier killed in Afghan blast:
The blast, killed a U.S. and an Afghan soldier with whom Sunday Mirror journalist Rupert Hamer was traveling, brings the number of reporters who have died in Afghanistan since the Sept. 11 attacks to 18
snipurl.com/u1q7f
Militants kill 4 civilians in N Afghanistan:
“A group of armed Taliban targeted a house with rocket propelled grenade Sunday night, killing four people, a 14-year old girl, two women and a man,” Mohammad Sadeq, deputy provincial police chief, told Xinhua.
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/11/content_12791639.htm
Karzai’s new cabinet raises concerns:
Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s second attempt to form a cabinet has raised concerns of a return to patronage politics with a batch of largely unknown figures who appear to come with useful connections.
snipurl.com/u1q7r
Afghans Losing Hope After 8 Years of War:
According to Bashardost, about 80 percent of the country is without electricity and unemployment is 60 percent. Many families can only afford to eat once a day and corruption is so rampant, “it’s practically legal,” he said.
www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/10/world/AP-AS-Afghanistan-Losing-Hope.html
Blackwater wants $1 billion to train the new Afghan police force:
Blackwater, mercenaries known around the world for their brutality, might get the contract to train the Afghan police? In what world does this seem like a good idea?
seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/23043
CIA bomber shared US and Jordanian secrets:
If the video is verified, it will point to massive intelligence failures by the United States and Jordan, one of its most important Middle East allies.
snipurl.com/u1q85
Iraq: Civilian killed, 7 wounded in Iraq’s Diyala province:
One civilian was killed and seven others were wounded in separate incidents in Diyala province in eastern Iraq on Sunday, a provincial police source said.
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/10/content_12786431.htm
UK troops ‘executed Iraqi grandmother’:
UK government ministers are to be given previously unseen police reports from a Basra crime unit which conclude that Mrs Talib’s body was dumped on a roadside in a British body bag in November 2006. There was a bullet hole in her abdomen and her face had injuries consistent with torture, police reported.
snipurl.com/u1q8c
Iraqis Decry Settlements in Blackwater Shootings:
Several victims of a 2007 shooting involving American private security guards employed by the firm formerly known as Blackwater claimed Sunday they were coerced into reaching settlements and demanded the Iraqi government intervene to have the agreements nullified.
snipurl.com/u1q8g
Young UK men ‘tortured’ while held in Yemen:
A group of British Muslims who were detained and allegedly tortured last month while travelling in Yemen say their interrogators demanded detailed information about mosques in London and their associates in Britain.
snipurl.com/u1q8k
Yemen’s president open to dialogue with al-Qaida:
The United States has complained in the past that Yemen struck deals with al-Qaida fighters and freed them from prison after they promised not to engage in terrorism. Some later broke those promises and are now believed to be active in al-Qaida’s offshoot in Yemen.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100110/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_yemen_al_qaida
In case you missed it:
Yemen oil min- oil majors mull investments-paper:
The companies include Exxon Mobil, Total, and BP (BP.L), the minister said, but did not elaborate on the nature of the investments.
uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLL50541520090221
Israeli attack kills five Gaza militants:
Confirmed dead by Gaza medics were Hassan al-Qatrawi, 29, and Huzaeifa el-Hams, 27, as well as two others. Islamic Jihad confirmed in a statement the death of the three militants and said they were members of the group’s armed wing al-Quds Brigades.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1141532.html
Iran will enrich uranium to 20% if West balks:
“The Tehran reactor produces medicine for 800,000 people. The parties engaged in negotiations with Iran to supply the 20 percent [enriched] fuel are advised to stop the procrastination. Otherwise, Iran will begin 20 percent enrichment,” the chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee told IRNA on Sunday.
presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115851§ionid=351020104
‘Iran’s military deterrent is unimaginable’:
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has highlighted the deterrence capability of Iran’s ballistic missiles and warned enemies against taking any military action against the Islamic Republic.
presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115844§ionid=351020101
Fact or fiction?
Suspect: 20 Others Trained to Blow Up Jets:
British Intelligence has confirmed perhaps the most chilling boast that accused Christmas Day bomber Umar Abdulmutallab made to investigators after his arrest: that close to 20 other young Muslim men were being prepared in Yemen to use the same technique to blow up airliners
snipurl.com/u1q99
Israeli Firm Responsible for Amsterdam Airport Security Where Terrorist Boarded Aircraft:
An Israeli firm is responsible for security inspections in the airport in Schiphol, Holland, the airport where Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded the Airbus 330 heading for Detroit (USA). The Israeli company, ICTS, is reportedly one of the leaders in security, & operates in Amsterdam and a number of other European countries.
snipurl.com/u1q9c
Israeli firm blasted for letting would-be plane bomber slip through:
The Israeli firm ICTS International and two of its subsidiaries are at the crux of an international investigation in recent days, as experts try to pinpoint the reasons for the security failure that enabled Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to board Northwest flight 253 and attempt to set alight explosives hidden in his underwear
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1141434.html
Israeli Security Firm Fails To Stop Passenger From Carrying Explosives On Detroit Flight:
This firm was also one of the companies operating the security position at Boston’s Logan Airport on Sept. 11, 2001, when one of the planes that eventually collided with the World Trade Center took off from there.
snipurl.com/u1q9l
The Man In Orange:
My wife Lori and I were passengers and innocent victims of Northwest Flight 253 (Flight 253). – What I would like to emphasize in this article is that not only did we almost lose our lives in the air, but we also almost lost our lives after our plane landed. Let me explain.
haskellfamily.blogspot.com/2010/01/latest-story-by-kurt-haskell.html
Palestinian official: Israel destroyed 150 Arab homes in West Bank:
Israeli security forces on Sunday knocked down shelters that were home to about 150 Palestinians in the West Bank, Palestinian officials said.
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1141553.html
Netanyahu: Israel will resume illegal West Bank building in 8 months:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday reminded coalition members that Israel’s freeze on construction in West Bank settlements was only temporary, saying: “In another eight months, we’ll start building again.”
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1141563.html
Hamas warns of unrest if Israel seizes Gaza-Egypt borderline:
Hamas on Monday warned that unrest will hit the region if Israel occupies the border area between Egypt and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/11/content_12792888.htm
The looming war in Gaza: Can Obama stop it before it starts?:
The countdown to the Second Gaza War has begun in earnest
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1141858.html
U.S. To Store $800 Mil in Emergency Gear in Israel:
The U.S. Army will double the value of emergency military equipment it stockpiles on Israeli soil, and Israel will be allowed to use the U.S. ordnance in the event of a military emergency, according to a report in Monday’s issue of the U.S. weekly Defense News.
www.forward.com/articles/123141/
5 militants killed in southern Russia:
Two militants were gunned down Sunday in the provincial capital, Makhachkala, after police surrounded and stormed a house where a group of wanted terrorists was hiding, regional Interior Ministry spokesman Mark Tolchinsky said.
snipurl.com/u1qa6
Migrants escorted out of Italy town:
At least 300 African migrants have been transported out of a southern Italian town rocked by two days of clashes between the migrants, police and local residents.
english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/01/20101918461937126.html
Churches firebombed in Malaysia:
Two more churches and a Catholic convent school in Malaysia have been targeted by arsonists, amid a row over the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims.
english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/01/20101106245977872.html
Somali Islamists: A potential ally?:
There are some huge misunderstandings within the international community about the role that Islam and Somalia’s Islamists should play in the governance of Somali society and the de-radicalisation efforts.
english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/01/201016102343505552.html
US-China rivalry intensifies:
Last year, it was fashionable to talk of an emerging “G2". The US, the world’s largest economy, and China, its rising rival, would come together to resolve global problems-in particular, the international economic crisis wracking capitalism.
www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jan2010/pers-j09.shtml
China urges U.S. to stop arms sales to Taiwan:
This was China’s sixth official warning over the issue in a week, as government officials denounced the U.S. move.
en.rian.ru/world/20100109/157501681.html
Exclusive: U.S. heads for record overseas arms sales in 2009:
The United States is close to a new peak in government-to-government arms sales, poised to top last year’s record $36.4 billion. Way back in second place was Russia with $3.3 billion or 7.8 percent of such agreements. France was third with $2.5 billion or 5.9 percent, the report said.
www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5895G620090910
Chavez: Venezuela sent F-16 jets to intercept U.S. military plane:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday that he had ordered F-16 jets to intercept a U.S. military plane that twice violated Venezuelan airspace earlier in the day.
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/09/content_12780156.htm
Venezuela devalues currency:
The government-set rates are an attempt to keep the cost of priority imports low in the face of an inflation rate of 25 per cent – the highest in Latin America.
english.aljazeera.net/business/2010/01/20101913615836221.html
China overtakes Germany as biggest exporter:
China overtook Germany as the world’s top exporter after December exports jumped 17.7 percent for their first increase in 14 months, data showed Sunday, in another sign of China’s rise as a global economic force.
snipurl.com/u1qdv
Simon Johnson: We’re Setting Ourselves Up For A Big Catastrophe, ‘Crisis Is Just Beginning’ (VIDEO):
Simon Johnson, the MIT professor and economist who’s long been a strident critic of “too big to fail” institutions, appeared on CNBC this morning and predicted that the next phase of the financial crisis could be precipitated by banks exploiting emerging markets like China
snipurl.com/u1qe2
US loses 85,000 jobs in December:
The US economy lost 85,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department reported Friday, the same day new major layoffs were announced by UPS and Lockheed Martin.
www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jan2010/jobs-j09.shtml
US ‘in danger of recession relapse’:
The economists say there is a 25 to 40 per cent chance of a 2010 crisis, a phenomena they call a “double dip recession”.
english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/01/20101113446788772.html