Revealed: Secret Slan to Keep Iraq Under US Control By Patrick Cockburn
Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20044.htm === New Agreement Lets US Strike Any Country From Inside Iraq By Basil Adas A proposed Iraqi-American security agreement will include permanent American bases in the country, and the right for the United States to strike, from within Iraqi territory, any country it considers a threat to its national security, Gulf News has learned. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20045.htm === Iran: US-Iraq Security Deal Aims To Enslave Iraqis By DONNA ABU-NASR "The essence of this agreement is to turn the Iraqis into slaves before the Americans, if it is sealed," the former president of Iran said. "This will not happen. The Iraqi people, the Iraqi government and the Islamic nation will not allow it." http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20046.htm === Mortgaging America By Eric J. Weiner Investment funds run by foreign governments are keeping the U.S. afloat. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20047.htm === Iraq: At least 13 killed in another bloody day of US occupation: Iraqi police found the bodies of four people in different areas of Baghdad, police said http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSL05587457 === Majority Of Iraqi Legislators Call For Timetable For U.S. Withdrawal: Thirty-one Iraqi legislators, representing a majority of the Iraq Parliament, have expressed "widespread disapproval of the proposed U.S.-Iraq security agreement if it does not include a specific timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. military troops." http://tinyurl.com/4yd5zr ==== Iraqi lawmakers tell Congress of misgivings about security agreement with US: "The Iraqi government right now still does not have full rein of its sovereignty because of the thousands of foreign troops now on its land," Nadim al-Jaberi, an Iraqi Shiite lawmaker, told a House panel on Wednesday. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/04/america/NA-GEN-US-Iraq.php === Aljazeera: Iraqi Reactions to Security Agreements: "Will Iraqi political and religious sides succeed in aborting the controversial draft agreement? What would be the ramifications on Iraq and its neighbouring regional countries if the agreement were signed?" http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/aljazeera-iraqi-reactions-to-security.html === Iran, Turkey coordinate Iraq strikes: A Turkish TV station is quoting a senior military commander as saying that Turkey and Iran have carried out coordinated strikes against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. http://tinyurl.com/4ls2qj ==== Iran says 16 killed in infiltration from northern Iraq: report: Twelve militants and four police were killed during a border infiltration from northern Iraq into Iran's West Azerbaijan province, the Fars news agency reported on Thursday. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080605/wl_mideast_afp/iranunrestkurds === Iran says answered bomb allegations and "matter over": Iran said on Thursday it had given U.N. investigators more than 200 pages of answers to questions about intelligence reports that it secretly researched how to make atom bombs and declared "the matter is over". http://nz.news.yahoo.com/080605/5/5xj1.html === Olmert to ask Bush to step up action against Iran: Ehud Olmert will ask President George W Bush Wednesday to step up US and international action against Iran and prepare for a possible military strike against its nuclear facilities, the Yediot Ahronot daily reported. http://tinyurl.com/3jn8b4 === Obama speech 'very moving' - Olmert: "His appearance was very impressive. His words on Jerusalem were very moving," Mr Olmert said after meeting US President George W. Bush in the White House. http://tinyurl.com/4uqgvp === Israeli Flag On Lapel, He Hails Jerusalem: Barack Obama, wearing a pin bearing the Israeli and American flags, kicked off his general election campaign yesterday with an impassioned appeal for Jewish votes that promised Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel. http://tinyurl.com/4fohy7 === Arabs shocked by Obama speech : Arab leaders have reacted with anger and disbelief to an intensely pro-Israeli speech delivered by Barack Obama, the US Democratic presumptive presidential nominee. http://tinyurl.com/65htjo === The unpromised land: Imagine the shock-horror: Barack Obama attends the conference of an organisation whose former officials face trial for spying on the United States! http://tinyurl.com/5qjbat === Israeli, four-year-old Palestinian killed in Gaza attacks: An Israeli man was killed in a mortar attack by Gaza militants on Thursday, triggering an air raid on the impoverished territory that left a four-year-old Palestinian girl dead. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080605/wl_afp/mideastconflictgaza === Israeli occupation forces storm SE Gaza, raze farms: Israeli occupation troops backed by tanks and attack helicopters stormed on Thursday morning the village of Abbas southeast of the Gaza Strip, Hamas security sources and witnesses said. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/05/content_8317222.htm ==== Abbas calls for unity with Hamas: Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, has called for unity between his Fatah party and the Islamist Hamas group, one of the clearest signs yet that the Palestinian leadership has lost faith in its peace talks with Israel. http://tinyurl.com/3ogtws === Hamas accepts talks with Fatah : Hamas has said it is ready for reconciliation talks with Fatah and called for discussions to take place under the auspices of the Arab League. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A1DA20B2-4602-4BF2-B93B-7D16C880A395.htm === Assad: Israel's demands indicate it's not genuine about peace: "This signals that Israel does not desire peace and is not willing to reach it," Assad was quoted as saying Thursday by Kuwait's state news agency KUNA. http://tinyurl.com/3jgsnb === Israel: No refuge from responsibility: Why is it that the supposedly safest place to be a Jew has turned out to be the most dangerous? And why are the lessons of our own history not being learned just because the tables have now turned and we're in the position of power? http://tinyurl.com/4uv2dk === Air strikes kill 9 suspected militants in Afghanistan: Air raids against Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province left nine insurgents dead on Thursday, deputy provincial police chief Faridullah Khan said. http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?201459 === 'I Wish I Had the Taliban as My Soldiers': President Hamid Karzai: President Hamid Karzai has come under fire for not doing enough to stem corruption in Afghanistan. He speaks to SPIEGEL about the coalition forces' ties with warlords, rumors about his family's influence and why he believes dirty deals are sometimes necessary. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,557188,00.html === US Backs Talks With Some Afghan Rebels - Ambassador: The U.S. ambassador in Kabul said Thursday that Washington backed the Afghan government's efforts to reconcile with Taliban and other rebels without power-sharing or ceding control of certain areas. http://tinyurl.com/4eu776 === Pakistan frees dozens of pro-Taliban militants: The government in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) has freed dozens of militants under a peace deal with the militants who have fought the security forces to enforce Taliban- style rule in the restive valley of Swat, officials said. http://tinyurl.com/4ucrk7 === Pakistan Suspends Talks With Tribes on Afghanistan Border: Pakistan's new civilian government has told the Bush administration it is suspending peace negotiations with tribal groups based along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, according to officials familiar with the discussions. http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?201475 === Musharraf 'is ready to quit': US ally Musharraf, who came to power as a general after a coup in 1999, has probably got a matter of weeks, at most a few months, before the curtain falls, political insiders say. http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=219435&Sn=WORL&IssueID=31077 === Dismay at UN food summit outcome : Small farmers' groups have reacted with "disgust" to the conclusions of the UN food security summit in Italy. http://tinyurl.com/4jywnl === Indicted Saudi Gets $80 Million US Contract: The Financier Has Been Indicted For His Alleged Role in a Scandal Costing US Taxpayers $1.7 billion http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4996285&page=1 === Senate report says Bush misused Iraq intelligence: United States President George Bush and his top policymakers exaggerated Saddam Hussein's links to terrorism and ignored doubts among intelligence agencies about Iraq's arms programnes as they made their case for war, a Senate committee reported on Thursday. http://tinyurl.com/45mm5a === Howard war charges bid: AN AUSTRALIAN doctors' group is pushing to have former prime minister John Howard charged with war crimes for sending troops to Iraq. http://www.theage.com.au/national/howard-war-charges-bid-20080602-2kwg.html === US banks fear $5 trillion balance impact: Analysts at Citigroup warn the planned tightening of accounting rules for off-balance sheet vehicles would force US banks to reconsider arrangements and could result in up to $5 trillion (£2.5 trillion) of assets coming back on to their books http://tinyurl.com/6bgucp === Bankruptcy toll increases: Nationally, the total number of bankruptcies filed in the first quarter rose 26.9 percent, to 245,695, compared with the year-ago period, according to data released Tuesday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-wed-bankruptcy-filings-jun04,0,2920814.story === Soaring diesel hurts truckers: Many are parking their rigs - or going bankrupt: In the first quarter of this year 935 trucking companies, about 2 percent of the nation's total, filed for bankruptcy http://tinyurl.com/4xl8ob ===
