Iraq: Shoe-thrower sent to prison for 3 years: Zaidi's sister Ruqaiya burst into tears at the verdict and shouted "Down with Maliki, the agent of the Americans," referring to Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/world/shoethrower+sent+to+prison/3027267
=== Exposed Cheney Assassination Squads By Eric Black MSNBC reported that Seymour Hersh has uncovered evidence that Vice President Cheney operated secret assassination squads out of the White House by using military personnel without the knowledge of the CIA. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22194.htm === Seven Years in Iraq The War is Not Over By John Ross The first step in this charade of false closure is Obama's drawdown. The next is to make the citizens of the occupying power forget Iraq ever happened - a brainwashing that has been in process since the "success" of Bush's "surge." One problem though: how do you brainwash the brain dead? http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22197.htm === Memo told Blair Aides Saddam Hussein Posed no Imminent Threat By Paul Waugh Intelligence experts explicitly warned Tony Blair's aides that Britain was not in "imminent danger of attack" from Saddam Hussein, a confidential memo revealed today. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22198.htm === Gaza: Lest We Forget By Ahmad Barqawi It gives me shudders to think that I am living in a day & age where rationalizing the bombing of unaided infants & children audaciously live on T.V. is just as effortless as opening a soda can, all you have to do is throw in broad & ambiguous justifications... -the most common one of course being "Fighting Terrorism"- & you're automatically immune against the slightest form of protest, condemnation or even friendly critique. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22200.htm === Clinton: U.S. Gaza Aid Tied to Recognition of Israel By Barak Ravid About $900 million pledged by the United States to the Palestinians will be withdrawn if the expected Palestinian Authority coalition government between Fatah and Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist, Western and Israeli diplomats said Wednesday. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22195.htm === Breaking the Taboo on Israel's Spying Efforts on the United States By Christopher Ketcham Scratch a counterintelligence officer in the U.S. government and they'll tell you that Israel is not a friend to the United States. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22196.htm === Timidity Derails Obama Intel Choice By Ray McGovern In June 1967, the Israelis learned that they could get away, literally, with murder and still not endanger their influence in Washington. Events of the past weeks demonstrate that they and their Lobby are equally good at character assassination. It is embarrassingly shameful to watch President Obama acquiesce in all this. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22193.htm === Haircut Time For Bondholders By Mike Whitney When George Soros recently said that the financial system had "effectively disintegrated", it caused quite a flap. But Soros was not exaggerating. The financial system has disintegrated. What we are experiencing now is just the fallout from that event. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22202.htm === Reforming the Global Financial System Flushing the Parasites By Nikki Alexander Why rob just one bank when you can rob the whole nation? And why rob just one country when you can rob them all? Flushing the global economy of this systemic parasite begins with understanding how its debilitating web of debt is manufactured. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22199.htm === In case you missed it Madoff and Company Spent Nearly $1 Million on Washington Influence By Lindsay Renick Mayer The man behind a $50 billion Ponzi scheme that has roiled Wall Street and shaken up the nonprofit world was also a long-time contributor to Democrats, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has found. http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22201.htm === Pakistan: Security forces kill 18 "militants" in Momand: 'At least 18 "militants" were killed, including one important commander,' a security official told AFP. He did not disclose the identity of the commander. http://snipurl.com/doxh5 === Pakistani police block opposition protest march: Police detained protest leaders Thursday and stopped hundreds of marchers from leaving Pakistan's largest city for a rally in the capital, underscoring the government's determination to squelch the demonstration. http://snipurl.com/doxis === Demonizing Pakistan: Taliban operate freely from Quetta: US: Pakistan came under immense pressure at a US Senate hearing this week, as both officials and senators accused Islamabad of allowing terrorists to use its soil for planning attacks on the United States. http://snipurl.com/doxjs === Bring tanks: Canadians to Americans headed to Kandahar: As the U.S. prepares this spring to surge 17,000 fresh troops into Afghanistan, they have two words of advice for their American colleagues: Bring tanks. http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/03/11/8710421.html === Taliban poised at the gates of Kabul: "We are working on a security strategy for the city and if we don't get it right, they [the Taliban] can attack at any minute, at any hour, any time," says Commander Mohammed Daud Amin, in charge of securing the Kabul district that includes the Presidential Palace and many government ministries. http://snipurl.com/doxlc === US looks for Afghan supply routes even in Iran: Report : US military officials are exploring alternative supply routes for NATO and Afghan troops in Afghanistan that include Iran, the New York Times reported Thursday. http://snipurl.com/doxm7 === Iran to attend Afghanistan talks: spokesman: Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said Iran would attend an upcoming conference on Afghanistan, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Thursday. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/13/content_11002106.htm === American diplomat affirms Washington''s desire to restore ties with Tehran: Turkish President Abdullah Gul has conveyed a message to the Iranian leadership from the US Administration affirming Washington's desire to "resort to positive methods of dealing" with Tehran, the US Ambassador here said on Thursday. http://snipurl.com/doxnf === Manufacturing Consent For Attacks On Iran: Iran missile, nuclear threat 'real, dangerous' - Russian analyst: "Iran is actively working on a missile development program. I won't say the Iranians will be able to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles in the near future, but they will most likely be able to threaten the whole of Europe," said Maj. Gen. Vladimir Dvorkin, head of the Moscow-based Center for Strategic Nuclear Forces. http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090312/120537431.html === Iran 'one or two years' from nuclear weapon: Russian expert: "In the technical sense, what may be holding them back is the lack of enough weapons-grade uranium," said Dvorkin, who today heads a strategic arms research centre at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090312/wl_mideast_afp/russiairanmilitarymissile === Iran sends nuclear letter to UN: Iran has reacted to Western accusations leveled against the country's uranium enrichment activities in lengthy and detailed letter. http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=88406§ionid=351020104 === Three more Iraqi soldiers killed near Mosul: Three Iraqi soldiers were killed by two roadside bombs as they patrolled areas around the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Thursday, police said. http://snipurl.com/doxqj === Two Iraqis killed in Baghdad violence: Two people were killed and seven others wounded, including two senior police officers, in Baghdad on Thursday morning, an Interior Ministry source said. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/12/content_10999826.htm === Hamas condemns rocket fire on Israel: "Regarding the report about rockets fired from Gaza, we emphasize that these rockets have no link to any of the Palestinian resistance groups and are being fired at the wrong time. We emphasize also that the security agencies are investigating who is behind such acts," the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry said. http://snipurl.com/doxsn === U.S. official: Obama won't cut military aid to Israel: The $30 billion in aid promised to Israel over the next decade will not be harmed by the world financial crisis, the official told Israel Radio. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1070318.html === The Israel lobby's Lexington and Concord: Chas Freeman's resignation is the first skirmish in what will be a long war between the Obama administration and the Israel lobby http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/mar/11/chas-freeman-israel-lobby-obama === Australia threatens to quit Durban 2 anti-racism meet : Like U.S., Australia is demanding the final wording of declaration be changed to omit anti-Israel rhetoric http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1070565.html === Lancet Report: Health in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: "Hope for improving health and quality of life of Palestinians will exist only once people recognise that the structural and political conditions that they endure in the occupied Palestinian territory are the key determinants of population health", states the first report in the Series http://www.thelancet.com/series/health-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory === Cheney supervised 'assassination ring'?: Seymour Hersh says an 'executive assassination ring' in the US military was in direct contact with the Bush administration's second-in-command. http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=88339§ionid=3510203 === Italian court says state secrets breached in CIA kidnap case: The court ruled that wiretap surveillance of the Italian secret services contravened state secrecy laws, but a lawyer for the prosecution, Alessandro Pace, said the decision did not doom their case. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hprtgOLowZAptYd7KJExjftx07ig === The Drug War: An Old Mission for the Pentagon: Here is how the system works. U.S. government policy produces the conditions for a crisis, which then is used as the excuse for military intervention, which means ever-growing budgets for government officials. http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2009-03-11.asp === Terrorist watch list hits 1 million: Without specific rules for who goes on the list, it's too bloated to be effective, says Tim Sparapani, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-03-10-watchlist_N.htm === In Congress, UN chief calls US 'deadbeat' donor: A day after his White House meeting with President Barack Obama, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon raised congressional hackles by calling the United States a "deadbeat" donor to the world body. http://snipurl.com/doxyb === The tax haven scandal must end: Britain's offshore tax havens are central to worldwide tax dodging. We must clean up our financial act http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/12/tax-evasion-avoidance-jersey === Foreclosure Filings in U.S. Jump 30%, Thwart Prevention Effort: Foreclosure filings in the U.S. climbed 30 percent in February from a year earlier as the worsening economy thwarted efforts by the government and lenders to prevent homeowners from losing property, RealtyTrac Inc. said. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a.r81zAhO1so&refer=us === Federal Budget Deficit Reaches $765B In 5 Months : Lower tax revenue and massive government spending on the bank bailout pushed the federal deficit to $765 billion in the first five months of the budget year, well on its way to hitting the Obama administration's projection of a record annual imbalance of $1.75 trillion. http://snipurl.com/doy0y === More Companies At Risk of Failing: Moody's, the ratings agency, recently published a list of "bottom rung" companies most likely to default on their debt. The criteria are technical, but the upshot is that a lot of companies are in deep trouble - and the list is getting longer, not shorter. http://biz.yahoo.com/usnews/090310/10_more_companies_at_risk_of_failing.html?.&.pf=family-home ===
