White House Selectively Edits ABC Iraq Report: Deletes Criticisms Before Sending To Reporters
Think Progress
On ABC World News with Charles Gibson last night, ABC National Security Correspondent Jonathan Karl filed a report about the recent decline in American troop casualties in Iraq. In the report, Karl noted that “violence in Iraq is down,” but added that “there has been almost no political progress on the national level”: In fact, there’s been almost no political progress on the national level, and U.S. officials know military gains won’t mean much if the Iraqi government doesn’t get its act together, which is one reason the Pentagon doesn’t even want to use the word “winning.” After the report aired, the White House sent the piece out in an official White House publication called “White House Iraq Update.” But, as Karl writes today, the White House edited his report before sending it out, making it look “like an unqualified declaration of success in Iraq.”…

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An ugly image that requires a mamoth task to repair
m taqi::independent freelance writer :: iraqirabita
Karen Hughes was appointed in 2005 by President Bush’s Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs with the aim to improve the US image in the Muslim world. As one of President Bush’s last remaining advisers from his tight circle of Texas aides, she announced recently she was leaving the administration at the end of the year. She is going back to her home state. Her resignation appears to have received very little attention from analysts in the west (…) The US problem with regards to winning the hearts and minds is not Ms Hughes or her qualification or skill which undoubtedly played a role in her appointment. The US problems are much deeper than that. It is the direct linkage of the US image with blood, hypocrisy, double standards, war, death, destruction, torture, sexual abuse, massacre, ethnic cleansing, invasion, white phosphor (alternatively known as napalm) and depleted uranium, tough backing of dictatorship, installation of puppet regimes, racism and corruption to name but a few….

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Maliki: enough about reconciliation
Marc Lynch, Abu Aardvark
I know that most attention to Iraq right now focuses on the very real crisis with Turkey over the PKK. But that doesn’t mean that other central issues aren’t worth keeping in focus- such as the whole national reconciliation thing. Last week Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki mocked Iraqis calling for national reconciliation and dismissing them as self-interested conspirators. On Friday, he elaborated on his views of the current Iraqi political scene in a very intriguing, and frankly troubling, interview with al-Arabiya. The interview did not break any particularly new ground, but it did make one thing very clear: do not expect Maliki to pursue seriously any moves towards national reconciliation, defined in terms of legislation at the national level or agreements with Sunni political parties.

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Ismael Haneyya: Gaza remains steadfast despite the conspirers
From Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Palestine
The democratically-elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismael Haneyya on Sunday vowed to defend the vital interests of the Palestinian people in the face of American-Israeli conspiracies to starve the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip, and bully them to surrender to the colonialist Zionist designs. Speaking during a 90-minute speech in downtown Gaza, Haneyya blamed the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority for colluding with the Zionist regime for the purpose of starving, impoverishing and tormenting the Palestinian people. “They (the American-backed PA) collaborated with Israel at the UN to scrap an international resolution condemning Israel . This happened for the first time in history. They conspired to close all the border crossings, they conspired to prevent all raw material from entering into Gaza…even in matters of pilgrimage, they are conspiring to bar our people from carrying out their religious duties such as Umra (minor pilgrimage) and Hajj (pilgrimage).”….

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Video: DoJ Official Pushed Out For Calling Waterboarding Torture
CrooksandLiars.com
“On Friday’s Countdown Keith Olbermann talked to Newsweek’s Richard Wolfe and Former Nixon White House Counsel, John Dean, about Senators Feinstein and Schumer’s inexcusable caving on President Bush’s Attorney General nominee and an ABC News report that claims former acting Assistant Attorney General Daniel Levin was forced out of the DoJ when he declared waterboarding to be torture — after allowing himself to be waterboarded.”…

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Only Christian TV station in Holy Land closes
Rory McCarthy, Guardian
The only Christian television station in the Holy Land has closed after 11 years because of a lack of funding. Nativity television, or al-Mahed as it was known in Arabic, broadcast a mix of church services, films and discussion programmes 24 hours a day from a small studio in Bethlehem, not far from the Church of the Nativity. Samir Qumsieh, the Greek Orthodox owner and director of the channel, said it had lost around $800,000, half of which were his own personal debts.
Mr Qumsieh has been an often outspoken advocate for the shrinking Christian community in Bethlehem. He said Christians were leaving the city in large part because of the sharp economic slowdown brought about by the Israeli occupation and the effect of the concrete West Bank wall that runs nearby (…) Unemployment runs as high as 65% in Bethlehem and farmers complain that large areas of their land have been taken up by the West Bank barrier and the several Jewish settlements that have been built nearby. The Christian population of the town of Bethlehem is thought to be around 40% today, down from around 90% in the 1940s….

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Fears over prospects of closing Iraqi-Turkish border crossing increase
Voices of Iraq
A large number of Iraqi traders and Turkish truck drivers expressed deep concern over Turkish officials’ threats to close the border crossing and cut economic relations between the two countries in light of the current tension over the Kurdistan Workers Party’s (PKK) presence in northern Iraq. Ibrahim al-Khalil border crossing in Zakho, Duhuk province, otherwise known as the Khabour border crossing, is the only outlet through which goods are traded between the two countries. It is also through this outlet that Iraqi oil pipelines find their way to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Commenting on likely economic losses on both sides, Said Ali Mazouri, an Iraqi economic analyst, said that Turkey will be the biggest loser if the border outlet is closed. “Half of the imported goods in Iraq’s Kurdistan region come from Turkey,” said the analyst, noting, “The consumer is the main driver of the market.” …

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Sunday: 93 Iraqis Killed, 67 Wounded
Margaret Griffis, Antiwar.com
At least 93 Iraqis were killed or found dead and another 67 were wounded in the latest violence. Among the incidents was the discovery of a mass grave near Ramadi, and the shooting death of an Iranian pilgrim near Baghdad. Also, no Coalition soldiers were reported killed. Near Ramadi, Iraqi security forces discovered a mass grave containing approximately 40 corpses and dozens of civilians cars believed to have been seized by al-Qaeda connected militants….

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2007 Toll Nears Highest for US in Iraq
LAUREN FRAYER
With just under two months left in the year, 2007 is on course to be the deadliest year on record for American forces in Iraq, despite a recent sharp drop in U.S. deaths. At least 847 American military personnel have died in Iraq so far this year — the second-highest annual toll since the war began in March 2003, according to Associated Press figures. In 2004, the bloodiest year of the war for the U.S. so far, 850 American troops died. Most were killed in large, conventional battles like the campaign to cleanse Fallujah of Sunni militants in November, and U.S. clashes with Shiite militiamen in the sect’s holy city of Najaf in August….

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Hanging Ten on a water-board – Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, SHOW!
Stephen P. Pizzo
There seem to be folks on the right who remain unclear on the concept — not the least among them, Attorney General nominee, Michael Mukasey. The concept they can’t seem to get a firm fix on is whether or not the interrogation technique known as “water-boarding,” — making a person think he or she is being drowned — is or is not “torture.” I don’t know about you, but it sure as hell sounds like torture to me. But there are still those in this administration and Congress who support the technique and claim it is not torture. I have a solution (…) what better way to get a handle on the concept than for those who support the technique to step up to the plate and declare, “I say water-boarding is not a form of torture, as described by national and international law. And. to prove it I am submitting myself to the process.”…

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War is Peace
Arablinks
The Lebanese paper Al-Akhbar, citing diplomatic sources, said this morning (Saturday Nov 3) the US administration has given the green light to Israel to launch a wide-ranging attack on the Gaza Strip, although timing is complicated by preparations for the Annapolis peace conference. The paper said the planned incursion is based on Israeli intelligence warnings about the arming of various Palestinian groups, including an allegation about funding from Lebanese Hizbullah, and Israeli demands for more US pressure on Egypt on the issue of arms-smuggling (…) The sources said Olmert and Barak have since then been meeting frequently to work out the timing and other details for the attack on Gaza, adding however that the American green light is being complicated or held up by current multi-party efforts to come up with some kind of an Israel-Palestine agreement ahead of the Annapolis peace conference. They said the Israeli troops currently on the Gaza border are receiving instructions and training, in preparation for a giant military operation in the Gaza Strip which will begin in the north and central parts of the Gaza Strip, and then be extended throughout….

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US, Gaza in darkness
George S. Hishmeh, Jordan Times

Although the Bush administration may be on the verge of taking a big leap forward in paving the way for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, brewing for nearly 60 years now, none of the presidential candidates here have yet bothered to make any noteworthy comment about the upcoming Middle East peace meeting in Annapolis at the end of November. The only step some of the leading candidates – there are more than a dozen running for the top position in each party – have taken on this key issue is not much different from what motivated the Democratic front-runner, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Jewish news agency, JTA, said the senator’s action was “not only to praise the Jewish state but to bury doubts that she would be any less vigilant in its protection than the Bush administration”….

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Factions vie for oil deals to finance activities
Nidhal al-Laithi
Political factions and militia groups now play a bigger role in the country’s oil industry, senior officials and experts said. They said filing stations in major cities are under the control of militias suspected of using the proceeds to finance their operations and activities. “Militia groups have imposed their control over filling stations,” said former Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloom….

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90 years ago today: The Balfour Declaration
al-falasteenyia |
90 years ago an Englishman named Balfour declared his official support for the mass colonization of Palestine. And to think that today another Englishman naimed Blair, has been appointed the go-to person for the middle east peace process. Does anyone else find this ironic? We all know what happened next…The revolt against the british in ‘36, the nakba of ‘48, the naksa of ‘67, the intifada, the disaster that was oslo, the dramatic increase in settlements, the second intifada, the establishment of an apartheid wall that effectively caused yet another wave of refugees caught on the ‘wrong’ side of the border, the open air prison that is gaza today…not to mention a few massacres here and there. the question is, what will happen next?….

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HAMAS IS NOT AN OCCUPIER ~~ ISRAEL IS
Desert Peace
Despite charges against Hamas by Abbas, Israel and the United States, there was no coup in Gaza. Hamas was ELECTED to represent the Palestinian people in January of 2006. It was a fair and democratic election. If anyone is GUILTY of usurping power illegally it is Abbas, Israel and the United States for establishing an ILLEGAL government in the Occupied West Bank. Recent claims that Hamas is prepared to ‘take over’ the West Bank are denied by the Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh….

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Britain In The Collective Memory Of Iraq
Marwan Asmar
Before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, I used to think about Britain regularly, having lived there in the 1970s and 1980s. After the invasion and the straddling of British and American troops on Iraqi soil, I consciously tried to blot the UK out of my collective memory. My politics took the better part of me, I wasn’t about to continue to let my nostalgia override the imperialistic convulsions of a nation that keeps harping back on empire and king and country. I think I was becoming politically mature, or to use a cleverly devised western term politically correct….

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Israeli Ritual Murder – Missions Continues on Gaza Strip
Hiyam Noir, PalestineFreeVoice
The Israeli murder-missions over Gaza Strip, the incursions and arbitrary arrests on the West Bank continues unabated. – The Israeli direct involvement of the war-crimes in Iraq. The Israeli campaign of daily threats to Iran. The Israeli attacks on Syrian sovereign territories last month. is clear evidence of that peace and stability in the Middle East is not on the Zionist agenda – quite the contrary. The Zionist Entity, “Israel “ is proving ground,testing devises,new equipment and lethal weapons on the Arab Muslims in the entire Middle East.Using its hegemonic theories, how they as individuals and group can maintain or increase a capacity of dominance….

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Sabri warns: IOA pursuing attempts to change Jerusalem landmarks
Palestinian Information Center
Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, the Khatib (preacher) of the holy Aqsa Mosque has urged Arab and Islamic countries along with the world community to shoulder their responsibility towards the Israeli threats to the holy site and occupied Jerusalem. He asserted that the IOA incessantly works for changing the historical landmarks of the occupied city in a bid to impose the Jewish features on it and spread the illusion in the western world that Jews had relics in the occupied city. A Hebrew paper recently disclosed that Jewish groups planned to dig a tunnel in occupied Jerusalem with the consent of the IOA, which is only 100 meters away from the Aqsa Mosque….

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AMSI Denounces The Raid on Imam A’dham College
Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq (AMSI)
The Association of Moslem Scholars in Iraq (AMSI) said on Saturday, Nov. 3, “A National Guard force accompanied with American troops arrested at dawn Saturday a number of students, instructors and guardsmen of Imam A’dham College in Adhamiya, northern Baghdad. A statement by the AMSI said, “After surrounding the College premises with armored vehicles and using sound bombs as well as breaking windows and doors, the force burst into the College.” The statement pointed out, “Among the arrested was Professor Ahmed Abdul Jabbar, Professor Dhiya al-Qaisi as well as five students and two guardsmen. No reason was given for the arrests.”….

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Two Palestinian female detainees appeal for medical intervention as their conditions deteriorate
IMEMC
Seema Anbas, in charge of the Detainees File at the Detainees Studies Center in Tulkarem, said on Saturday that detainees Fatima Al Zoq, 39, and her niece Rawda Habeeb, 30,both from Gaza, are facing deteriorating health conditions and are being deprived of their right to medical care. Anbas added that Al Zoq is seven months pregnant and is suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, and is not being provided with sufficient and healthy food. Anbas also stated that Al Zoq id continuously losing weight, and that her body is getting weaker as she continues to be deprived from medical attention.

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Four Palestinians killed in Gaza as Israeli army attack different positions
Rami Almeghari – IMEMC
Four Palestinians including a father and a child have been killed after Israeli warplanes struck a factory in northern Gaza. In less then half an hour, the Israeli army attacked different positions in northern Gaza, including the factory in which three people have been killed, media sources reported. Palestinian medics declared the death of at least one resident and the injury of a number others, when a brick factory has been hit….

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