7/11/07

LIKE A BRACELET AROUND AN ARM
Malcom Lagauche
Saudi Arabia has invited bids for a 900-kilometer long fence along its border with Iraq. Saudi Arabia wants to build a razor-wire fence along the 900-km (560 mile) frontier with its northern neighbor Iraq, sources say. The extravagant barrier will have thermal imaging and radar equipment, Saudi officials told Reuters. On October 28, 14 local and international firms have submitted bids, according to the list of bidders obtained by Reuters and confirmed by three industry sources. European firms, EADS and Thales, and the US-based Raytheon Co are among bidders. Some contractors have said that the projects would cost about 4 billion riyals ($1.07 billion), and are part of a wider defense plan to secure the country’s 6,500 km of borders. The Saudi fence has been on the drawing board for almost two years. Add to this the already built walls in Baghdad environs, and you see a plan to isolate areas of Baghdad as well as the entire country. These plans came from the same government that called for Gorbachev to “tear down that wall” in Berlin…

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Israel: perpetual criminal, perpetual liar
Comment by Khalid Amayreh
Just as the Nazis sought to concoct “reasons” to justify their criminality, the Zionist state of Israel and its fanatical supporters are doing the same thing to justify the slow-motion genocide the Jewish state is carrying out against the Gaza Strip’s 1.4 million inhabitants. Israeli spokespersons and apologists, especially in North America, where Zionist Jews control the bulk of the mass media, routinely claim that Israel has no moral or legal obligation to feed and cater for the blockaded Gazans. This is, of course, a blatantly misleading argument, because Israel is still “the occupying power” in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli army is still in tight control of Gaza’s skies, territorial waters and all border crossings….

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“Take us Back Home”
Treasure of Baghdad
Iraqi refugees inside Iraq, are facing terrible living situations due to the reluctance of the Iraqi government to provide them with the necessary living equipments. According to Radio Sawa, the Iraqi government allocated $125 M to displaced Iraqis inside and outside the country, yet “no one has received a [cent] yet” from the money that was supposed to be paid six months ago, according to Sallama al-Khafaji, the Prime Minister advisor. In a conference held for the displaced families, al-Khafaji told Radio Sawa that the ministry of finance justifies that by having no mechanism to distribute this money. At the al-Manathira refugee camp, One of the refugee camps in the country, the living conditions for Iraqi refugees are harder than anyone could imagine, despite the humanitarian aid provided to them. Families are in a helpless situation because they will live the winter in the wilderness….

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Mad Cow Nation: America’s Willing Surrender
Chris Floyd , Empire Burlesque
Michael Massing has written a very important story about at very important truth: the main reason that the American people are so deeply uninformed about the reality of the war of aggression being waged in their names in Iraq is that they do not want to know. Massing shows that the rigorous self-censorship practiced by the American people and the media is actually worse than the machinations of Big Brother in Orwell’s 1984; at least in that fictional world, the draconian repression of reality was imposed by force at the hands of an all-powerful state – but today we are doing it to ourselves….

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I Knew It!
24 Steps to Liberty
…Iraqi Red Crescent, or IRC, in a statement announced that the number of the displaced within Iraq reached 2.3 million Iraqis, a 16% increase from last month. IRC statement also talked about the false promises Maliki’s government ahs given the Iraqis before when it promised to bring back the displaced to their houses when it is safe for them to do so. Although the Iraqi government’s propaganda, backed by every major American media outlet, is working very well on faking the success of the “surge” in Iraq, the displaced have not been able to return to their homes. IRC also talked about the $25 million Maliki said that the Iraqi government was giving to help Iraqi refugees outside Iraq. the statement said although Maliki announced it months ago, nothing has been given yet. But I am sure the money left the government’s account, it just did not go where it was supposed to go!…

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US Iraq Military Casualties Rise To 61,596
Michael Munk
US military occupation forces in Iraq suffered at least 178 combat casulties in the six days ending Nov. 6, as total casualties reached at least 61,596*.The total includes 31,596 killed or wounded by what the Pentagon classifies as “hostile” causes and 30,294 (as of Oct. 1) dead and injured from “non-hostile” causes. US media divert attention from the actual cost in American life and limb by routinely reporting only the total killed (3,855 as of Nov. 6) and rarely mentioning the 28,451 wounded in combat. To further minimize public perception of the cost, they cover for the Pentagon by ignoring the 30,294 (as of Oct. 1) military victims of accidents and illness serious enough to require medical evacuation…

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Topping Nixon, Bush disapproval soars to highest level ever recorded in Gallup poll
RAW STORY
For the first time, George W. Bush has surpassed Richard M. Nixon in unpopularity in the Gallup Poll, receiving the highest “strongly disapprove” rating for a president in Gallup’s history. The little noticed statistic — publicly noted on Gallup’s poll writeup — made a single headline in Google News. The story, at Editor and Publisher, was titled “GALLUP: Bush Finally Tops Nixon — In Unpopularity — As Call for Iraq Pullout Hits New Peak.”…

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GI Special 5K4: Seventeen Candles [ November 6, 2007 ]
Thomas F. Barton
“I Volunteered To Fight In Iraq When I Was Seventeen Years Old”
“What They’ve Never Told Us Is That The Enemy Is Already Here, And They Never Came From Places Like Iraq, Or Vietnam, Or Iran”
“They Were Born And Raised Right Here In The United States, And They All Live About 800 Miles North Of Here, Right Across The Potomac River, In A Filthy, Rotten Cesspool Called Washington, D.C.”

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The Media’s Plan to Ambush Ron Paul
Mike Whitney
First we stop the killing, and then we restore the Constitution. These are our two main priorities. And that’s why I’m voting for Ron Paul. He is the only candidate (with a chance to win) who’s promising to do either. And he’ll keep his word. That makes him the only truly American candidate running for president. Paul is serious about withdrawing US troops from Iraq. He knows that the war was a mistake and believes that the American occupation must end. He has promised to stop the ongoing slaughter of Iraqi civilians. That should be the primary moral consideration for anyone casting a ballot on November 3….

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Uprooted and displaced
Israeli military destroys a 267-person Palestinian farming village
Palestine Monitor
Standing on a hill at the edge of Idhna with the displaced farmers Muhammad Talab and Muhammad Ibrahim Natah, the only visible remnants of their destroyed village is a patch of white dust just on the other side of Israel’s wall. Despite being part of the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military destroyed the 267-person farming village of tents and tin houses west of Hebron on October 29 and allegedly ordered villagers to relocate to Idhna….

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Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice. www.freearabvoice.org
…In a dispatch posted at 8:13pm Baghdad time Wednesday night, the Yaqen News Agency reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US patrol in the Tall az-Za’tar area to the north of Bayji, about 200km north of Baghdad. Eyewitnesses said that the bomb destroyed a US vehicle carrying four soldiers and that none of them was seen to emerge after the attack. Yaqen reported the witnesses as saying that the explosive used in the Resistance attack was so powerful that it blew the American Humvee apart, leaving only scattered parts around the scene, which the Americans surrounded and cordoned off after the attack…

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Are US and Iran acting behind the scenes?
Alsumaria
What are Iran and the US preparing as to Iraq behind the scenes? Have they reached a compromise in the wings of Ankara’s Conference? Though an agreement is early to be uncovered, some signs of progress have been observed since US Ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker affirmed at the end of Istanbul Conference that talks would be resumed in Baghdad between the US and Iran on the ambassadors level. In a related issue, US Army spokesman Admiral Greg Smith announced that the nine detained Iranians by the US military will be released soon as they do not constitute any risk to Iraq’s security anymore. Meanwhile, Tehran opened two Iranian consulates in Iraq’s Kurdistan region in Erbil and Sulaymaniya cities…

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Moisha’le’s New Suit
Hans Christian Underdog, Peacepalestine
NOT THAT MANY years ago, at the hub of the Kosher Palestinian solidarity cyber ghetto lived a Marxist emperor named Moisha’le, who thought so much of new clothes for the progressive cosmopolitan chosen people that he spent all his time in trying to obtain them; his only ambition was to make his very people look as important and righteous as he mistakenly believed himself to be. But in fact, he did not truly care for his two and a half obedient Gefilte soldiers, and the Palestinian reality did not bother him either. For instance, he believed that as far as the Palestinian struggle is concerned, fighting anti-Semitism was a major priority. For him, starvation in Gaza or the emerging involvement of Zionists in the American imperial wars were something that one should not even bother to mention in any significant way. For every event and occasion emperor Moisha’le had a ready-made proletarian thought to offer. And as one would say of a king “He is in his cabinet,” so one could say of him, “Moisha’le was well imbued is in his red light kosher haven philosophy.”….

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Is France about to train Iraqi security forces?
AMITIES FRANCO – IRAKIENNES / French-Iraqi Friendship Organisation
….The French-Iraqi Friendship Organisation will hold a meeting late November so as to decide what should be the response to Mr. Sarkozy’s as it has learnt from the Koweit Press Agency (KUNA) dated November, 4, 2007 that the Iraqi “President”; Jalal Talabani, has declared after meeting Jawad Al Boulani, his “minister “of Interior, on November 3rd, that “ France intended to train Iraqi security forces.” If confirmed, this agreement would make France an accomplice of all mistreatments committed by death squads in Iraq…

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Uprooted and displaced
Israeli military destroys a 267-person Palestinian farming village
Palestine Monitor
Standing on a hill at the edge of Idhna with the displaced farmers Muhammad Talab and Muhammad Ibrahim Natah, the only visible remnants of their destroyed village is a patch of white dust just on the other side of Israel’s wall. Despite being part of the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military destroyed the 267-person farming village of tents and tin houses west of Hebron on October 29 and allegedly ordered villagers to relocate to Idhna….

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State Seeks $1.5 Billion for Iraq
RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press Writer
The State Department’s request for $1.5 billion to protect U.S. diplomats and a growing number of reconstruction teams in Iraq is a pricey reminder that the war-torn country remains a dangerous place. The bid to boost security spending by one-third in 2008 comes as the department confronts mounting criticism over problems with construction of a massive new embassy in Baghdad, heavy-handed tactics by private security guards and a plan to force U.S. diplomats to serve in Iraq….

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The Dead Sea meetings: Parliamentary junket, or fund-raising exercise for think-tanks?
Arablinks
Azzaman has a small item in its Iraqi edition today headed: “Altercations between Iraqi personalities at a meeting on reconciliation by the Dead Sea”, consisting of two points: (1) an Iraqi parliamentarian said there were indirect communications between the Iraqi government and representatives of armed factions who showed positive interest in the national reconciliation project (no further details); and (2) there have been reports of verbal arguments between persons who attended a meeting in Jordan yesterday on reconciliation between Iraqi groups. The journalist then quotes the head of the National Dialog party Saleh al-Mutlak with some fairly unenlightening remarks on the Jordan Dead Sea Meeting. It was organized, he said, by a “non-governmental organization”; it was followup to other meetings that have been held in various regional capitals; he, Mutlak wasn’t there; the purpose of the meeting was national reconciliation…

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Wednesday: 48 Iraqis Killed, 35 Wounded
Margaret Griffis, Antiwar.com
At least 48 Iraqis were killed or found dead 35 more were injured in the latest incidents, which include the discovery of yet another mass grave near Baquba. A suicide bomber also injured at least 20 people in Kirkuk. No Coalition servicemember deaths were reported. A mass grave was found in Hashimiyat. Seventeen bodies in various states of decomposition were discovered in an area west of Baquba. A number of mass graves have been found recently as security forces take control of new areas. The victims were possibly kidnapped at fake checkpoints…

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ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER REPORTEDLY THE MOST CORRUPT MEMBER OF GOVERNMENT
Desert Peace
Ehud Olmert is unique in that he is equally despised by both the right and the left in Israel. At no time in the history of this Desert Paradise has anyone else in government received such an ‘honour’. His arrogance, dishonesty and corruptness has captured the attention of all… traits that were known about him when he was Mayor of Jerusalem. How he got to be Prime Minister is a question millions of Israelis are asking. The following two articles from HaAretz gives details of these feelings….

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The deceit of Reporters Without Borders
Salim Lamrani, Global Research,
On October 16, 2007, the Paris based organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published its “Worldwide Press Freedoms Index 2007.” RSF claims to be neutral, objective and solely interested in press freedoms. But this claim does not hold up to scrutiny. In reality the 2007 index, laden with contradictions, is nothing more than a fraud and demonstrates, to the contrary, that the association directed by Robert Ménard since 1985 defends a very specific interest and political agenda….

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An Intervisit – Morning Coffee (1)
Layla Anwar, An Arab Woman Blues
I have a neighbor. We cross each other’s paths occasionally…
We sometimes wave hello and sometimes stop and exchange a few words from across our “garden fences.” I know that my neighbor, who also lives in Iraqi land, is an editor/publisher of some sort. The other day, driven by both curiosity and an eagerness to get better acquainted with my neighbor, I invited her over for a virtual cup of coffee. And since she lives in Uruk Land, I naturally, wanted to find out more…So we chatted a little… I will let you in on our conversation….

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Ex-UN inspector fears secret US plan to stay in Iraq
AFP
Former chief United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix said Wednesday he feared the United States had a secret plan to keep troops in Iraq for an extended period. Blix, who led a fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and argued against the 2003 US-led invasion, said it was possible that Washington wanted to stay in Iraq to ensure the safety of oil supplies. “One fear I would have is that the US has a hidden thought to remain in Iraq,” Blix told national radio. “One reason why they wanted in was that they felt they must leave Saudi Arabia. After the Gulf War in 1991, they left their troops in Saudi Arabia to protect pipelines,” he explained….

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Security Companies in Afghanistan
Sarah Meyer, Index Research
The mess with security companies in Afghanistan is equal to the confusion and chaos within US-NATO forces. The Afghan warlords and the US government appear to have a few qualities in common – including secrecy. The Working Group, presents a report to the UN General Assembly in New York today. Relief Web says: “Though heavily armed, the “private security guards” the companies employ are neither civilians nor combatants, the Group notes. They represent a new form of mercenarism, similar to “irregular combatants”, itself an unclear concept, the Group adds. The Working Group warns that States that employ these services may be responsible for violations of internationally recognized human rights committed by the personnel of such companies.” Following is some available information about the security companies in Afghanistan: Aegis, Armorgroup, Blackwater, Dyncorp, Gardaworld, Global Strategies, Khawar, Olive, Mallat, Olympus, Paul Grimes, Saladin, SOC-SMG, SIG, USPI, Watan and Caps….

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Congress and the Israel Lobby
The Politics of Servility
WILLIAM COOK
Shakespeare’s Caesar caustically commented, “Cowards die many times before their deaths; / The valiant never taste of death but once.” Curious how our lawmakers huddle behind their sophistries, their voice votes, their parliamentary play acting to avoid the daring feat that would force them to confront the moral consequences of their obsequious pandering to the lobbyists who pad their pin striped suits with the means to stay in office, all the while selling their souls to their executioners. Every day they die another death; every day a new resurrection to fulfill their obligation to their puppeteers. How different from their forebears who understood the valiant feast on liberty, even in the face of death: “Americans! Liberty or Death” rang through the hills of Massachusetts and all the colonies as the Revolution loomed, a fervor marked by foreigners because they could see the Americans really meant it. But how can our representatives be free if they are at the mercy of a foreign lobby? ….

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=37958

Khudari: More than 1,000 patients in Gaza require urgent treatment abroad
Palestinian Information Center
MP Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the popular anti-sanctions committee, said that there are more than 1,000 Palestinian patients awaiting urgent treatment abroad but cannot because of the imposed siege on the Gaza Strip, which, he asserted, is contrary to all international norms and human rights, and called for the immediate opening of the Rafah border crossing before the situation in Gaza explodes. In a press conference held on Tuesday at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza during a sit-in staged by Palestinian patients, Khudari stated that the Palestinian patients in Gaza are threatened with slow death and every day that passes new cases come to the surface. The committee’s head called on human rights organizations to pressure the Israeli occupation in order to open the crossing for the citizens, highlighting that the continuing closure of the crossings will cause Gaza explode any time….

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ISRAEL ADMITS THERE WILL BE NO PEACE AFTER THE SUMMIT
Desert Peace
It looks like Israel is realy serious about the upcoming ‘peace talks’… according to the Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak (which btw means lightening in Hebrew), there will not be a planned invasion of the Balata refugee camp until AFTER the talks are finished…. key word is AFTER. In other words, Israel has already admitted that NOTHING WILL CHANGE as a result of the talks. And you, my dear American readers are paying for that farce with your tax dollars….

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=37959

Khudari: More than 1,000 patients in Gaza require urgent treatment abroad
Palestinian Information Center
MP Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the popular anti-sanctions committee, said that there are more than 1,000 Palestinian patients awaiting urgent treatment abroad but cannot because of the imposed siege on the Gaza Strip, which, he asserted, is contrary to all international norms and human rights, and called for the immediate opening of the Rafah border crossing before the situation in Gaza explodes. In a press conference held on Tuesday at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza during a sit-in staged by Palestinian patients, Khudari stated that the Palestinian patients in Gaza are threatened with slow death and every day that passes new cases come to the surface….

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The standard trick, again
Xymphora
Wakeupfromyourslumber.com has a good analysis of the standard intelligence technique, used this time by Israel to spread the preposterous story that the attack on Syria was an American nuclear attack. The story flew around the blogs, but it was so silly I didn’t even bother to mention it. The Israelis arranged for an anonymous source to launder the story by passing it first to Al Jazeera, which reported it, carefully noting the sources. The Jerusalem Post then picked up the story, citing Al Jazeera (thus providing credibility as it came from an Arab source), but, of course, deliberately confusing the identity of Al Jazeera’s sources….

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Stranded Palestinians at the Egyptian side enter their 4th month of suffering
Palestinian Information Center
The number of Palestinians stranded at the Egyptian side of the borders with the Gaza Strip has risen to 1,400, Egyptian sources announced on Tuesday, adding that they might be transferred next Sunday via Israeli-controlled Oja crossing into Gaza. A number of those stranded at the Egyptian city of Arish said that they started their fourth month of suffering amidst complete disregard on the part of the Palestinian embassy in Cairo that sent about 20 dollars for each one carrying a Palestinian passport….

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Report: Israeli soldiers admit government has spied on international phone calls since 1973
Saed Bannoura – IMEMC
Israeli TV Channel 10 released a report on Tuesday revealing that Israeli authorities have been spying on citizens’ phone calls without warrants for over 30 years. In the report, Channel 10 interviewed Israeli soldiers who described being part of an organization which was started by the Israeli military in 1973, and remains in place until today. The organization is part of the Military Censor’s Office, which monitors all work by foreign journalists working inside Israel. According to Channel 10's report, the military personnel involved in the phone tapping operation admit that, although their mandate was to listen to calls related to the security of Israel (which in itself is extremely broadly defined), they listened to many phone calls which were completely personal in nature — simply to entertain themselves…

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A Flashback to the Horrors of America’s Past
The Return of Water Torture
WILLIAM SCHRODER
In the 1970s, while cleaning my closet one day, my sainted grandmother leaned into my room and said, “You should hold on to those platform shoes. They’ll come back in style someday.” Mercifully, that particular item of 1970s male apparel has not yet reappeared in America’s prêt-à-porter, but Granny was right about the whole concept of cycles, closed loops, patterns and history repeating itself. Today, another piece of America’s past once again rears its ugly head—water boarding. Water torture or drinking by force, a method of inflicting pain as punishment or to extract information, has been around as long as man has been near water….

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Iran reaches key nuclear target: Ahmadinejad
AFP
Iran has built a landmark 3,000 centrifuges for uranium enrichment, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Wednesday, despite international pressure to halt its atomic work. “We have now reached 3,000 machines,” a defiant Ahmadinejad told a rally in the northeastern city of Birjand. Scientists say that in ideal conditions 3,000 centrifuges can make enough highly enriched uranium in a year’s time for an atom bomb (…) Iran denies Western charges that it is trying to build atomic weapons under the guise of its civilian nuclear programme, and says it only wants to enrich uranium for civilian energy purposes…

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Taliban stage a coup of their own
Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asia News
While the world’s attention focused on the troubles of President General Pervez Musharraf following his declaration of a state of emergency in Pakistan at the weekend, the Taliban have launched a coup of their own in Afghanistan and the Pashtun areas of Pakistan. Pakistani troops had prevented the Taliban from launching their planned post-Ramadan (Muslim holy month) offensive into Afghanistan by invading the Pakistani North Waziristan and South Waziristan tribal areas on October 7. The Taliban managed to set up a counter engagement by stirring their network in the Swat Valley in North-West Frontier Province, which took the pressure off the Waziristans. The November 4 declaration of an emergency and the preparations before it was enforced distracted the military. As a result, several villages and towns in the Swat Valley, only a drive of four hours from Islamabad, have fallen to the Taliban without a single bullet being fired – fearful Pakistani security forces simply surrendered their weapons….

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U.S. casualties reach new high in Iraq
CHRISTIAN BERTHELSEN | Los Angeles Times
This year has become the deadliest for American soldiers in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, after the U.S. military announced yesterday that five soldiers and a sailor had been killed in roadside bombings. The attacks brought the total number of U.S. troops killed this year to at least 852, eclipsing the previous high of 849 in 2004, according to data compiled by icasualties.org, an independent Web site that tracks Iraq War casualties. With more than seven weeks left in 2007, the toll is on pace to far outstrip any previous year….

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Khudari: More than 1,000 patients in Gaza require urgent treatment abroad
Palestinian Information Center
MP Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the popular anti-sanctions committee, said that there are more than 1,000 Palestinian patients awaiting urgent treatment abroad but cannot because of the imposed siege on the Gaza Strip, which, he asserted, is contrary to all international norms and human rights, and called for the immediate opening of the Rafah border crossing before the situation in Gaza explodes. In a press conference held on Tuesday at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza during a sit-in staged by Palestinian patients, Khudari stated that the Palestinian patients in Gaza are threatened with slow death and every day that passes new cases come to the surface. The committee’s head called on human rights organizations to pressure the Israeli occupation in order to open the crossing for the citizens, highlighting that the continuing closure of the crossings will cause Gaza explode any time….

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=37957

ISRAEL ADMITS THERE WILL BE NO PEACE AFTER THE SUMMIT
Desert Peace
It looks like Israel is realy serious about the upcoming ‘peace talks’… according to the Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak (which btw means lightening in Hebrew), there will not be a planned invasion of the Balata refugee camp until AFTER the talks are finished…. key word is AFTER. In other words, Israel has already admitted that NOTHING WILL CHANGE as a result of the talks. And you, my dear American readers are paying for that farce with your tax dollars….

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=37959

Congress and the Israel Lobby
The Politics of Servility
WILLIAM COOK
Shakespeare’s Caesar caustically commented, “Cowards die many times before their deaths; / The valiant never taste of death but once.” Curious how our lawmakers huddle behind their sophistries, their voice votes, their parliamentary play acting to avoid the daring feat that would force them to confront the moral consequences of their obsequious pandering to the lobbyists who pad their pin striped suits with the means to stay in office, all the while selling their souls to their executioners. Every day they die another death; every day a new resurrection to fulfill their obligation to their puppeteers. How different from their forebears who understood the valiant feast on liberty, even in the face of death: “Americans! Liberty or Death” rang through the hills of Massachusetts and all the colonies as the Revolution loomed, a fervor marked by foreigners because they could see the Americans really meant it. But how can our representatives be free if they are at the mercy of a foreign lobby? ….

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=37958

British forces prepare to stay in Afghanistan until 2010
The Associated Press
Britain has begun preparing to extend its military deployment in Afghanistan until 2010, the defense secretary said Wednesday. Defense Secretary Des Browne announced a temporary brigade headquarters was being set up to command British forces in Afghanistan from October 2009 — when the current British commitment ends — to April 2010. Brown said no decision has been made on deploying British troops beyond 2009, but he said the government made it clear that its commitment to Afghanistan was long term. British brigades are deployed to Afghanistan for six months at a time and spend two years planning and training before their deployment — making it necessary to act now, the defense ministry said….

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Former Intel Officers on Mukasey and Torture
Ray McGovern
… Twenty-four former intelligence and national security officials delivered an urgent message Monday morning to the chairman and the ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, calling on them to hold the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey for attorney general until he states his opinion on the legality of waterboarding. Their message strongly endorsed the view of former judge advocates general that waterboarding “is inhumane, is torture, is illegal.” ….

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Iraq Kurds sign seven new oil contracts
Jay Deshmukh, AFP
Iraq’s Kurdish region has defiantly signed seven new foreign oil deals in a move sure to anger Baghdad, which opposes the unilateral sell-off of crude blocks in the absence of a national oil law. The autonomous Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) said in a statement posted on its Web site Wednesday that two production sharing contracts have been signed with OMV Petroleum Exploration, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Europe’s OMV Aktiengesellschaft. The deals relate to the Mala Omar and Shorish blocks in the province of Arbil, the statement said….

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Rashideen Army: It is a media war
Roads to Iraq
The leader of Rashideen Army issued an audio statement [fist time], a warning calls for the Resistance factions and members about the occupation propaganda media and intern struggles inside the faction saying: The enemy is fighting us with its media more than fighting us militarily and they spent billions of Dollars on this….. …..Their first priority right now is to convince the people that the best option for the current situation is to provide security, water, electricity and fuel instead of resisting the occupation and liberate the country…

Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo: www.uruknet.de/?p=37968