Video: Israeli attack coming, World War 3? – Wayne Madsen

(RussiaToday) – Former US envoy to the United Nations says Israel has until August 21st to attack Iran’s nuclear sites. This is before Russia finalizes its shipment of nuclear fuel to Iran. So is an Israeli attack forthcoming? Wayne Madsen says that if there is an attack, multiple nations would join and there could be a major war ahead.

Video: Change That’s Not – ‘Obama On Bush Route’ – John Pilger

(RussiaToday) – John Pilger: Wikileaks Should Teach Journalists to Question ‘Official Statements’, US Foreign Policy

Recent sanctions against Iran are an attempt by the US to return the country to its sphere of influence, claims veteran journalist John Pilger. “Iran was a pillar of the American empire in the Middle East. That was swept away in 1979 by the Islamic revolution, and it has been American foreign policy to get that back,” he said. “It has absolutely nothing to do with so-called nuclear weapons.

The nuclear power in the Middle East is the fourth biggest military power in the world and that is Israel. It has something like 500 or more nuclear warheads. It is never discussed.” Pilger added that Barack Obama has failed to change the trajectory of US foreign policy and following George W. Bush’s line. “For the first time in US presidential history — it has not happened before — a president has taken the entire defense department bureaucracy, and the Secretary of State for Defense, from a previous discredited administration. We have basically Robert Gates and the same generals running American foreign policy with a lot of help from people of like mind.”

Video: Paul Craig Roberts – Americans to be Financially Rapped to Fund War with Iran

(July 7) – Alex welcomes back to the show economist, former syndicated journalist, and former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration, Paul Craig Roberts. He is the author of The Tyranny of Good Intentions: How Prosecutors and Bureaucrats Are Trampling the Constitution in the Name of Justice and How the Economy Was Lost: The War of the Worlds.

Iran’s president: US a global ‘dictatorship’

(KansasCity) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that the U.S. is a “dictatorship” as it tries to control world affairs.

Ahmadinejad made the comments Wednesday night during a speech at the Iranian Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. He is in Nigeria for a summit of an organization known as the D-8, or the Developing Eight nations.

In full, Ahmadinejad says the U.S. is “the self-proclaimed leader, and everybody should know that a self-proclaimed leadership is (a) dictatorship. I am going to say, on behalf of you, that the years of dictatorship are over.”

Nigeria, a nation of 150 million people, is split between Christians and Muslims. A large crowd of Muslims filled the embassy for the speech. – Source: Kansas City

World War

(InfoClearingHouse) – Offically FUBAR – Cindy Sheehan

The problem is—and has been for decades—the Military-Corporate Complex. However, if we want valid change, we also have to look deeper. Read More Here

(ABC) – WikiLeaks Founder Drops ‘Mass Spying’ Hint

WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange has given his strongest indication yet about the next big leak from his whistleblower organisation. Read More Here

(AmericanConservative) – War Makes Us Poor

Far from rescuing the economy from recession or depression, needless conflicts drain capital from productive uses. Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – Kyrgyzstan: Picking Up the Pieces – Read More Here

(AFP) – Nixon mulled North Korea nuclear strike in 1969

The United States studied a plan for a nuclear strike on North Korea in 1969 but advisers to then-president Richard Nixon concluded it was best to remain calm, declassified documents showed Wednesday. Read More Here

(WRH) – Ban the Use of Depleted Uranium Munitions – Read More Here

(Examiner) – Representative Grayson: 85% of Congress funding endless US wars during US economic crisis

The following 8-minute video by Dylan Ratigan of Congressman Alan Grayson is a brilliant discussion contrasting US “investment” of taxpayer money on endless and unlawful wars versus the dire condition requiring policy in the US economy. Read More Here

Afghanistan

(GlobalResearch) – Did 9/11 Justify the War in Afghanistan? – Prof. David Ray Griffin

There are many questions to ask about the war in Afghanistan. One that has been widely asked is whether it will turn out to be “Obama’s Vietnam.” This question implies another: Is this war winnable, or is it destined to be a quagmire, like Vietnam? These questions are motivated in part by the widespread agreement that the Afghan government, under Hamid Karzai, is at least as corrupt and incompetent as the government the United States tried to prop up in South Vietnam for 20 years. Read More Here

(TarpleyNet) – Towards the Eighteenth Brumaire of General David Petraeus? – Webster Tarpley

Prodded doubtless by forces above and behind the Oval Office, Obama has ousted General McChrystal in favor of General Petraeus, who now combines the post of CENTCOM theater commander with that of NATO commander in Afghanistan. This is a move deriving from the inherent fecklessness and incompetence of the Obama administration, especially from the imperialist point of view. Read More Here

(WPost) – CIA gives Blackwater firm new $100 million contract – Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – Is Petraeus McChrystal’s Replacement or Obama’s – Paul Craig Roberts

Our petulant president’s ego can’t handle a general letting off steam. Neither can any of the spoiled children who comprise “our” government in DC, the capital of the “superpower.” Read More Here

(AlterNet) – Don’t Let the McChrystal Frenzy Obscure the Dirty Truth About Afghanistan

While we’ll be treated to plenty of blather about the McChrystal incident, the most important part of the story is largely being ignored by the corporate media. Read More Here

(PoliticalTheatrics) – General Stanley McTerror: The Shocking Admissions – Read More Here

(KurtNimmo) – Video: Obama Fires McChrystal, Selects Petraeus to Oversee Opium Fields in Afghanistan

Obama fired General Stanley McChrystal today and replaced him with the globalist General David Petraeus. Obama said McChrystal’s actions undermined civilian control of the military and asked the Senate to confirm Petraeus immediately. Video Link Here

Palestine

(TheLocal) – Swedish dockers launch Israeli goods blockade

The Swedish Dock Workers Union (Hamnarbetarförbundet) on Wednesday launched a blockade of Israeli cargo in protest against the deadly raid on the Gaza-bound freedom flotilla last month, union representatives have confirmed. Read More Here

(Jpost) – IDF draws up new Gaza war doctrine

The new plans draw on some of the experiences from Cast Lead, and are also being viewed in the IDF as part of the military’s lessons from the Goldstone Report, which harshly criticized Israel and the way it operated within urban areas.

While the army is drawing up plans, current assessments in the military are that Hamas is not interested in instigating a new conflict with Israel. Read More Here

(SouthLebanon) – Barriers, Borders, and Blockades: Policing Movement and Controlling Information

To keep some out. To fence others in. To police movement, instill fear, uncertainty, and instability. Palestine is a land cross-hashed with separation barriers, walls, fences and checkpoints. For many people, these structures make one either an exile or a prisoner, barred from returning or unable to leave. But in addition to the policing of movement, these mechanisms correspond to a policing of information, a control of what truths are able to travel beyond the borders of these territories, to reach the world outside. Read More Here

(SouthLebanon) – ‘Free Palestine’, Not Only Gaza

One thing is missing in the ‘Free Gaza’ movement. Activists and civil societies and journalists who support the Palestinian cause are rightfully angry at Israel’s murderous campaign against the aid-loaded ‘Freedom Flotilla’ that was going to the besieged and starved residents of Gaza, but they ignore the overall conditions in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the refugee camps. Read More Here

(PoliticalTheatrics) – Israel Preparing For Flotillas Like On Eve of War – Read More Here

Video: Gaza Flotilla – Facts vs Fiction

A collection of interviews shows the truth about Gaza….

Iran

(AlethoNews) – Turkey warns EU against Iran sanctions – Read More Here

(ArmeniaNow) – Tehran says will oppose ‘American forces’ in Karabakh

Iran will not allow a United States-led military force to be deployed in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone that immediately borders on its territory, according to the Islamic Republic’s chief diplomat in Armenia. Read More Here

(IsraelNationalNews) – Reports: IAF Landed at Saudi Base, US Troops near Iran Border

The Israeli Air Force recently unloaded military equipment at a Saudi Arabia base, a semi-official Iranian news agency claimed Wednesday, while a large American force has massed in Azerbaijan, which is on the northwest border of Iran.

Both reports follow by less than a week the Pentagon’s confirmation that an unusually large American fleet sailed through the Suez Canal Saturday. Several reports stated that an Israeli ship joined the armada. Read More Here

(Jpost) – Report: IAF planes spotted over Saudi Arabia

Israel Air Force aircraft have been spotted in recent days at a Saudi Arabian military base unloading military equipment in the city of Tabuk, in northwestern Saudi Arabia, according to a report from Iranian news agency FARS.

The base will reportedly be used as a forward operating base by the Israelis as part of an offensive on an Islamic country. – Source: JPost

(TalkSport) – Video: Attack on Iran – George Galloway

Respect Party’s MP George Galloway answers a listener about war with Iran

World War

(YNet) – Army chief: We have right to impose siege

Israel has ‘natural right’ to inspect ships heading to Gaza, army chief says, stresses Strip must not turn into Iranian port; addressing lethal raid on Turkish ship, Ashkenazi says: I salute fighters, they operated exceptionally well Read More Here

(Redress) – Why they hate America

Paul J. Balles says the reason why so many people in the Arab and Muslim worlds hate the United States is not envy of American wealth or power but injustice and greed. And the solution is simple: “Stop occupying their countries. Stop controlling others’ land, populations, governments and resources.” Read More Here

(PeaceByTruth) – Dreams of Palestine

The memories I took with me from my weeks in Palestine and from the Palestinian people, a people who in spite of so much suffering have never lost their courageous spirit and their basic humanity, these memories will stay with me for as long as I live – while I´m awake and in my dreams. Read More Here

(AlterNet) – Are U.S. Warships Gearing Up for a Confrontation With an Iranian Aid Flotilla to Gaza?

Anchors aweigh. The United States Navy is sending an aircraft carrier and nearly a dozen other warships through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea, according to the British Arabic Language newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, which reported that the ships carry infantry troops, armored vehicles, and ammunition. Read More Here

(CostOfWar) – See the Cost of War to your community – View More Here

(TehranTimes) – Entire Persian Gulf region on Iran’s radar screen: general

A senior Iranian military commander has said that all Persian Gulf countries are within the reach of Iran’s radars and the Iranian armed forces are prepared to guarantee the security of the Persian Gulf. Read More Here

(MarketOracle) – The Fateful Geological Prize Called Haiti

Behind the smoke, rubble and unending drama of human tragedy in the hapless Caribbean country, a drama is in full play for control of what geophysicists believe may be one of the world’s richest zones for hydrocarbons-oil and gas outside the Middle East, possibly orders of magnitude greater than that of nearby Venezuela. Read More Here

(AP) – Iran to send blockade-busting ship to Gaza – Read More Here

(IsraelNationalNews) – Iran Changes Course on Ship; Israel Trains for the Worst

Iran has changed course again and announced Tuesday afternoon it will send a ship to try to challenge Israeli sovereignty over the waters off of Hamas-controlled Gaza, as was agreed in the Oslo Accords. Read More Here

(Telegraph) – General Stanley McChrystal offers resignation to President Barack Obama

General Stanley McChrystal has offered his resignation to President Barack Obama after he was summoned to the White House to explain derisive comments he made about the US leader and his administration. Read More Here

(AlterNet) – 5 Million Iraqis Killed, Maimed, Tortured, Displaced

In 1970 a Lao villager who had survived five years of U.S. bombing wrote: “In reality, whatever happens, it is only the innocent who suffer. And as for the others, do they know all the unimaginable things happening in this war? Do they?” Read More Here

(CBS) – Video: U.S. Tax Dollars Fueling Afghan Insurgency

House Investigation: Private Contractors Paying Warlords, Criminals to Get Supplies to U.S. and NATO Bases View Video Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – Commit Yourself To The Truth

Cutting Through the Confusion About Israel/Palestine Read More Here

(DG) – Global War Racket Exposed: Funding Our Enemies – David DeGraw

Building on my Af-Pak War Racket report, a few recent news items help expose the true drivers of current wars around the world. Read More Here

(FutureFastForward) – “Our Potential to Create a Better World, a Just World”: Testimony of a Survivor of the Mavi Marmara Massacre – Ken O’Keefe

Ken O’Keefe, former US Marine, Gulf War veteran, and now survivor of the Mavi Marmara massacre, has issued a remarkable and searing statement from Istanbul.

“While in Israeli custody I, along with everyone else, was subjected to endless abuse and flagrant acts of disrespect. Women and elderly were physically and mentally assaulted. Access to food and water and toilets was denied. Dogs were used against us, we ourselves were treated like dogs. We were exposed to direct sun in stress positions while hand cuffed to the point of losing circulation of blood in our hands. We were lied to incessantly, in fact I am awed at the routineness and comfort in their ability to lie, it is remarkable really. We were abused in just about every way imaginable and I myself was beaten and choked to the point of blacking out… and I was beaten again while in my cell. Read More Here

(KurtNimmo) – Iran Attack Moves Forward

Iran permitted the U.S. and Israel to score a propaganda victory on Monday when it refused to allow two International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors entry into the country for an inspection of its nuclear program. Read More Here

(Cryptogon) – Next WikiLeaks Release May Involve ECHELON – Read More Here

FLASHBACK – (WRH) – FAKE TERROR – THE ROAD TO WAR AND DICTATORSHIP – Michael Rivero – Read More Here

Video: If Army Ads Had Health Warnings – Video Link Here

(AFP) – Former Israeli top spy calls for strike on Iran

Israel should launch a pre-emptive strike to prevent arch-foe Iran from going nuclear, a former head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency said on Monday.
“I am of the opinion that, since there is an ongoing war, since the threat is permanent, since the intention of the enemy in this case is to annihilate you, the right doctrine is one of pre-emption and not of retaliation,” Shabtai Shavit told a conference. Read More Here

(Australian) – US defies China on Pakistan reactors – Read More Here

(ColumbiaReports) – Chavez: Colombian mercenaries plan to kill me

In an address broadcast on Venezuelan television Saturday night, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says that paramilitaries from various other countries, including Colombia, are part of a “reactivated” plot to assassinate him. Read More Here

(TheHindu) – Missiles do not threaten Europe, says Iran – Read More Here

(Fars) – Ahmadinejad: Iranian Nation Foils US Plots against World States

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated that the Iranian nation does not allow the US and its western allies to plunder the world countries. Read More Here

(VOANews) – UN: Violence Getting Worse in Afghanistan – Read More Here

(AFP) – US lawmakers unveil Iran sanctions bill – Read More Here

(AFP) – Saudi king to visit Obama: White House – Read More Here

(Reuters) – Obama and Netanyahu to meet July 6 – Read More Here

(Navy.Mil) – SSGN Force Reaches Historic Milestone

The Submarine Force announced it has achieved another first with all four guided-missile submarines (SSGN) deployed for the first time simultaneously June 10. Read More Here

(PressTV) – ‘US conduct can elicit public revolt’

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says if US politicians allowed the American nation free access to government conduct, US citizens would rise against their outrageous policies.

President Ahmadinejad, who is touring Iran’s western province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari with his cabinet and staff, criticized US policies on the global stage on Wednesday and warned officials in Washington about an imminent ‘just’ world order.

“If the US offered its citizens the right to freedom of information on world affairs, so that the American people could be fully informed of their leaders’ support for Israeli atrocities as well as the crimes they have committed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the people would take effective measure against their statesmen,” the Iranian president said.

World War

(OpEdNews) – “360 Rotational Fire” Against Iraqi Civilians After IED Attacks

Ethan McCord, one of the soldiers seen in the now-famous Wikileaks video in which two American Apache helicopters fire upon a relaxed, unhurried gaggle of men in Baghdad, has stated in an interview with World Socialist Website that he witnessed numerous times the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians in Iraq after IED attacks. Read More Here

(KurtNimmo) – Most Americans and Europeans Support Impending Attack on Iran

Remember Hitler’s maxim that the bigger and the more outrageous the lie, the more likely the masses are to believe it? Following the results of a recent poll we once again get an object lesson demonstrating that Hitler knew what he was talking about. Read More Here

(TheAge) – Expert: Terrorists Win If Obama Shuts Down The Internet

US President Barack Obama would be granted powers to seize control of and even shut down the internet under a new bill that describes the global internet as a US “national asset”.

One of Australia’s top communications experts, University of Sydney associate professor Bjorn Landfeldt, railed against the idea, saying shutting down the internet would “inflict an enormous damage on the entire world”.

He said it would be like giving a single country “the right to poison the atmosphere, or poison the ocean”. Read More Here

(PakAlert) – Flashpoints For Global War

In this article, we will examine some of the regions around the world in which such a “shock and awe” campaign could begin, facilitating the escalation of global war. Read More Here

FLASHBACK – (Examiner) – Video: Fox “news” continues CBS, ABC, CNN propaganda to attack Iran: today’s CIA Operation Mockingbird

In the video clip from Fox below, Bill Kristol advocates US military attack on Iran because he predicts that Israel will attack Iran. This is propaganda for an unlawful war for the following “emperor has no clothes” obvious reasons. Fox “reporting” is also a manipulative variation of the same war drone I’ve documented from CBS, ABC, and CNN. View More Here

(Ma’an) – Danish pension funds divest from Israeli companies

Two Danish pension funds announced on Tuesday their decision to divest from two Israeli companies implicated in the construction of Israel’s illegal wall and settlements inside the West Bank, a statement issued by the Stop the Wall Campaign said. Read More Here

Jews Against Zionism

The first national Jewish anti-Zionist gathering will take place this weekend in Detroit. The “U.S. Assembly of Jews: Confronting Racism and Israeli Apartheid,” endorsed by over 50 groups, will explore strategies for anti-Zionist Jewish organizing, expanding the boycott and divestment movement, decolonizing Palestine, and developing Jewish political perspectives distinct from Zionism.

(Telegraph) – Why Kyrgyzstan’s pogroms are my fault (and yours, Britain’s and America’s) – Read More Here

(CBCTheNational) – Video: Why Do Govt Agencies ALWAYS Seem To Destroy Evidence Involved In Terrorism Cases – View Video Here

(KOMO) – Video: US Soldiers Charged with Murder of Three Afghan Civilians – Video Link Here

FLASHBACK – 2007 – (TEDTalks) – Video: James Nachtwey’s searing photos of war

Accepting his 2007 TED Prize, war photographer James Nachtwey shows his life’s work and asks TED to help him continue telling the story with innovative, exciting uses of news photography in the digital era.

(CSMonitor) – US opposes ICC bid to make ‘aggression’ a crime under international law

The Obama administration has resisted efforts by the International Criminal Court to include ‘aggression’ as a crime, mainly because it could impact US military operations abroad. Read More Here

(AntiWar) – Gates Demands Congress OK War Funds by July 4 – Read More Here

(RawStory) – US, Europe tighten screws on Iran nuclear program

The new US sanctions target insurance companies, oil firms and shipping lines linked to Iran’s atomic or missile programs as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s defense minister Ahmad Vahidi. Read More Here

(Salon) – John McCain on the Evil, Barbaric Iranians – Read More Here

(ArabNews) – Israel’s list of broken world records – Read More Here

(TheCableFP) – Congress calls on administration to use the Human Rights Council against Iran – Read More Here

(SMH) – Strong support for Iran action: poll

The Pew Research Center’s poll conducted in 22 countries found majorities or pluralities in 16 countries endorsing the possibility of military intervention. Read More Here

(CNN) – Video: B.P.s Ties To Iran! (Are They Trying To Vilify Iran Or B.P.?) –

Regime Change 2.0

(PoliticalTheatrics) – The US Department of The Treasury has kindly decided to relax export controls related to technology for Iranian web users. The amendments will allow Internet users in Iran to download software related to communications, such as instant messaging and chat clients, and tools related to social networking. They will also permit the export of the same types of software to Iran.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin opines that this is “consistent with the administration’s deep commitment to the universal rights of all the world’s citizens”. How touching, but apparently this noble respect for individual freedom doesn’t apply to the administration’s own citizens.

It doesn’t take a genius to see the real motives behind the Treasury Department’s cynical move. During the 2009 Presidential Election of Iran, US officials and media outlets unleashed a frenzied volley of fraud allegations at the Iranian government. However, to this day, no credible evidence of vote fraud has surfaced.

World War

(Uruknet) – Genetic Mutations, Peculiar Injuries: More Evidence Emerges that Israel Used Gaza as Testing Ground for Experimental Weapons

Pages upon pages have been written about the 2008-2009 Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip by human rights groups and fact-finding missions. The scale of the destruction is well-known: some 1,400 Palestinians were killed by Israel, the vast majority of them civilians; over 15,000 homes were destroyed or so severely damaged that 100,000 Palestinians were rendered homeless; nearly half of health facilities in Gaza were destroyed or damaged.

But allegations that Israel used new, experimental weapons in Gaza have not been adequately investigated. Read More Here

(AFP) – US plans naval exercises with South Korea:Pentagon – Read More Here

(SteveWatson) – Former CIA Officials Admit To Faking Bin Laden Video

Two former CIA officials have admitted to creating a fake video in which intelligence officers dressed up as Osama Bin Laden and his cronies in an effort to defame the terrorist leader throughout the middle east. Read More Here

(PaulWatson) – Nuclear War Between Koreas: Brought To You By The U.S. Government

Kim Jong-Il has put North Korean troops on combat alert and threatened military action if the South trespasses in its waters as global stock markets freak out at the prospect of a war which, if it occurs, can be blamed on the U.S. government’s history of arming the Stalinist dictator with nuclear weapons. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Stock Futures Drop as North Korea Orders Military to Prepare for Combat

U.S. stock futures fell, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may slip to 2010’s lowest level, as bank borrowing costs rose and a report said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il ordered his military to prepare for combat. Read More Here

(KurtNimmo) – U.S. Expands Covert Military Disruption of Iran

A not so secret directive penned by Gen. David H. Petraeus authorizes sending American Special Operations troops into Iran. The directive mentions a wide swath of countries in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa, but is obviously tailored for Iran, the number one target on the Pentagon’s radar. Read More Here

(BBC) – North Korea “severs all ties” with Seoul

KCNA said the North was also expelling all South Korean workers from a jointly-run factory north of the border. Read More Here

(WorldThreats) – PsyOps Against North Korea

Joongang Ilbo English language edition is reporting that South Korea will resume loudspeaker broadcasts across the Demilitarized Zone to the people of North Korea. Read More Here

(BBC) – US troops in Afghanistan outnumber those in Iraq

There are more US troops in Afghanistan than Iraq for the first time since Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003, officials say. Read More Here

(Komo4News) – Video: 10 Stryker Brigade Soldiers Accused Of “Deliberately” Killing 3 Afghan Civilians

(May 24) – Video: Alex Breaks Down Why The Globalist Want Iran and WW3

Alex breaks down in detail why the globalist want iran and world war 3 with other countries that are not under their control.

World War

(ABC) – Israel FM: Iran, Syria, NKorea New ‘Axis of Evil’

Israel’s foreign minister on Wednesday declared North Korea, Syria and Iran the new “axis of evil,” claiming that North Korean weapons seized in Bangkok in December were bound for Middle Eastern militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Read More Here

(PressTV) – Israel must sign NPT, IAEA chief says

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog has called for international input to pressure Israel into joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Read More Here

Video: Seymour Hersh – U.S. troops executing prisoners in Afghanistan – View Video Here

(ThePeoplesVoice) – No Influential Voice in U.S. Supporting War on Iran: Peter Feaver

A Harvard University graduate, a current Alexander F. Hehmeyer Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Duke University, and the director of Triangle Institute for Security Studies (TISS), Peter D. Feaver is perhaps best known for his mission under President Bush as the special advisor for strategic planning and institutional reform on the National Security Council from 2005 to 2007. Read More Here

(Uruknet) – 6,500 disabled children in Gaza after war

Recent statistics shows an increment in the number of children who have lost at least one or more of their limbs during the war in Gaza. The number is an estimated 6,500. Read More Here

(PoliticalTheatrics) – The Tragedy That is Gaza Today And The Role Of The EU

In mid January 2010, the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG) organized a 50-person delegation of MPs, politicians and former ministers into Gaza to witness firsthand the conditions on the ground one year after the 22-day Israeli invasion that laid waste to the Gaza Strip. Here is the report the delegation prepared (PDF) Read More Here

(CNN) – Video: 50 Killed by Drone Attack in Pakistan – Drone Attack – Video Link Here

(LATimes) – Digging up chemical weapons in D.C.

After World War I, munitions including shells of poisonous liquid mustard were buried in a then-rural area. The cleanup has forced evacuations at American University and prompted concerns about illness. Read More Here

(DesertPeace) – Iraq Genocide and More… – Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

In this digest: Resumption of indirect negotiations a waste of time, video of protest in Nabi Saleh, John Greyson calls on Elton John to cancel appearance in Tel Aviv, Obama’s wrong appointment to the Supreme Court, proposal for an commemoration of Iraq Genocide, how an Israeli general tried to cover-up the murder of Rachel Corrie, and two Nakba articles. Read More Here

(Reuters) – Obama adviser warns Russia against arms sale to Iran

The United States has made it clear to Russia that delivering an anti-aircraft system to Iran would have severe consequences for U.S. ties with Moscow, a senior advisor to President Obama said Tuesday. Read More Here

(Almanar) – Barak: Israel to Keep Nuclear ‘Ambiguity’ with US Backing

Media reports have said the United States agreed in 1969 that as long as Israel did not test a nuclear weapon or publicly confirm that it had one, Washington would not press it on the issue. Read More Here

(Haaretz) – MESS Report / Nobody wants war, but Israel-Lebanon border is heating up

As Hezbollah grows in strength, concern over a possible confrontation in the north is becoming an international issue. Read More Here

(Haaretz) – Netanyahu on northern border: Iran is trying to drag Israel, Syria into war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday blamed Iran for trying to drag Israel and Syria into a military confrontation. During a meeting with reservist officers at a Northern Command training base, Netanyahu said that “Iran is trying to stir up war between Israel and Syria in order to cause tension in the region.” Read More Here

(AsiaTimes) – Helmand’s poppy growth surges – Read More Here

(Rense) – Top Prof Fired For Opposing Israeli Gaza Slaughter

Denis Rancourt is a distinguished, tenured Professor of Physics, a recognized expert in his field, and an Environmental Science Researcher at the University of Ottawa, Canada.

Yet because of his activist position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he was unfairly fired and barred from campus on threat of arrest – a violation of his tenure, academic freedom, and beliefs about human rights and equal justice. Read More Here

(Newswise) – Multi-Symptom Pain Disorders Plague Returning Service Men and Women

Nine in 10 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans return with some form of pain and about 60 percent have significant pain, mainly from the cumulative effect of exposure to recurring blasts which cause unimaginable injuries, according to prominent VA pain clinicians speaking at the American Pain Society’s annual scientific meeting. Read More Here

(C-Span) – Video: We Must Give Israel Intelligence Logistic & Political Support So They Can Successfully Attack Iran!

(CNN) – Video: No Reason To Be In Afghanistan! –

MSM: Israel primed for war on Iran: Netanyahu deputy

(Reuters) – Israel is primed for a war on Iran, a deputy to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday, in a rare break with his government’s reticence as world powers try to talk Tehran into curbing its nuclear plans.

By spearheading assaults on guerrillas in neighboring Lebanon and Palestinian territories, the Israeli air force had gained the techniques necessary for any future strikes on Iranian sites, Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said.

“There is no doubt that the technological capabilities, which improved in recent years, have improved range and aerial refueling capabilities, and have brought about a massive improvement in the accuracy of ordnance and intelligence,” he told a conference of military officers and experts. Read entire article

US threatens Iran with all options

(PressTV) – Washington says “all options are on the table” in dealing with Tehran, in a veiled threat, which refers to a new US nuclear policy.

During a Sunday address to attendees of a Pentagon briefing, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates touched on the newly-crafted Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), under which the Obama administration promises not to use nuclear weapons against states that do not possess nuclear warheads, with the exception of Iran.

‘Iran to go nuclear within month’

(JerusalemPost) – Iran will join the global nuclear club within one month, according to the deputy research chief of the Islamic Republic’s Atomic Energy of Iran (AEOI).

MSM: Equating Iran nukes with Holocaust highlights Israel’s isolation

(Haaretz) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the official ceremony for Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday to warn about the Iranian threat. “The world gradually accepts Iran’s statements of destruction against Israel and we still do not see the necessary international determination to stop Iran from arming,” Netanyahu said, calling on “all enlightened countries” to strongly condemn Iran and act with “genuine determination” to prevent it from building nuclear weapons.

Video: Iran Warns It Will Hit U.S. Troops If Attacked

(RussiaToday) – Iran’s president said on Thursday he would not plead with opponents of Tehran’s nuclear program in order to avoid sanctions as Russia and the United States said new measures might be necessary.

MSM: U.S. official says intel suggests Iran plans to ship arms to Taliban

(CNN) – New U.S. military intelligence suggests Iran plans to smuggle new shipments of weapons into Afghanistan in the coming weeks as part of an increased effort to interfere with coalition operations, a senior U.S. Defense Department official said Friday.

Video: CIA – Iran Now Capable Of Producing Nukes!

(Fox) – March 30, 2010

World War

(Salon) – A stark truth: Israeli arms, U.S. dollars

One does not normally see this truth stated so starkly in places like Time Magazine — from Michael Scherer’s interesting article on AIPAC’s current strategy to “storm Congress”: Read More Here

(MotherJones) – Sen. Lindsey Graham: Any Attack on Iran Must Be Full-Scale

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) laid it on thick at AIPAC’s annual gala banquet on Monday. Referring to the pro-Israel lobby, Graham declared, “The Congress has your back.” (What other lobby would he say that to?) He declared that Israel is “our best friend in the world.” (Does that tick off Canadians?) But Graham went especially far when he endorsed the idea of a military strike against Iran. Read More Here

(AntiWar) – Iran forcing us to impose sanctions: Kouchner

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday there was “no other choice” but to impose fresh sanctions on Iran as its nuclear programme is suspect. Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – U.S. Interceptors Will Target Russian Nuclear Capability: Commander

Russia says no arms reduction deal without missile defense clause Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – Obama the Cold Warrior? Hostile Relations with Russia and China

After observing recent pronouncements from Hillary Clinton that Venezuela start ‘playing by the rules’ and revert to free market capitalism, it’s starting to look like we might be heading into an era of deja vu once more. Provocations from Obama against China and Russia, are making the current climate look a lot like the recent past. One would have thought in a world where the United States only has the courage to attack much lesser third world ‘powers’, that Obama wouldn’t be ginning up a great deal of antagonism with much more evenly matched states; but that’s precisely what seems to be occurring under team Obama’s charge. Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – Iran: US ‘works on’ China to Isolate Iran

Among the many inadvertent insights into the twisted US logic and policy towards the Middle East revealed in Hillary Clinton’s barnstorming speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee this week was her fatwa of “biting sanctions” on Iran. Read More Here

World War

(Examiner) – Look Your Victims in the Eyes: This is Iran, These are Iranians to be Killed in the Next US War

‘If you don’t already know that claims for war with Iran are all provable and absolute lies, start here. Read More Here

(Aljazeera) – Video: Putting a price on Afghan life

In Afghanistan, if foreign troops kill an innocent civilian by accident, families may receive compensations of around $2,500. Video Link Here

(Pravda) – U.S. Iran Sneak Attack?

It has been revealed that hundreds of powerful U.S. “bunker-buster” bombs are being shipped from California in the U.S. to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for a possible attack on Iran. Although Diego Garcia is part of British Indian Ocean Territory, it is used by the US as a military base under an agreement made in 1971. The agreement led to 2,000 native islanders being forcibly evicted to the Seychelles and Mauritius. Read More Here

Is The US Preparing For “The Total Destruction Of Iran?” – Tyler Durden

(ZeroHedge) – Is war just around the corner? While in theory it would make perfect sense to distract Americans from the long road to US insolvency, and other more pressing issues such as the endless criminality all around us, in practice we have so far heard merely rumors. The Herald of Scotland, however, may have credible proof that a US-led attack on Iran approaches and could be just days away.

World War

(RawStory) – Rove denies Bush admin said oil would help pay for war

NBC was the latest stop on Karl Rove’s book tour for ‘Courage and Consequence.’ Revising history has been his main focus recently, and this morning’s interview with Tom Brokaw focused on Iraqi oil revenues. Read More Here

(InfoClearingHouse) – Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran – Pakistani Scientist Khan Describes Iranian Efforts to Buy Nuclear Bombs

The father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program has written an official account that details an Iranian attempt to buy atomic bombs from Pakistan at the end of the 1980s. Read More Here

(HeraldScotland) – Final Destination Iran?

Hundreds of powerful US “bunker-buster” bombs are being shipped from California to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for a possible attack on Iran. Read More Here

(Telegraph) – Is China’s Politburo spoiling for a showdown with America?

The long-simmering clash between the world’s two great powers is coming to a head, with dangerous implications for the international system. Read More Here

(MSNBC) – Newly powerful China defies Western nations

China’s government has embraced an increasingly anti-Western tone in recent months and is adopting policies across a wide spectrum that reflect a heightened fear of foreign influence. Read More Here

(EarthTimes) – Report: US, Russia account for half of world arms sales

The United States and Russia jointly accounted for more than half of global arms sales between 2005 and 2009, according to a report Monday by a Swedish-based research institute Read More Here

(AsiaTimes) – Obama in more trouble than Netanyahu over Iran

The chess-masters of Tehran have played a single combination for the past five years: threaten America’s flanks in Iraq and Afghanistan in order to gain control of the center of the board, that is, by pushing on with a nuclear program that many suspect is designed to acquire nuclear weapons. Read More Here

(DW-World) – Germany doubles arms exports

Germany doubled the amount of its arms it sold abroad in 2004-2009, compared to that exported during the previous five-year period, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released Monday. Read More Here

(Haaretz) – Netanyahu: Israel will keep building in Jerusalem

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said that Israel would continue to build in Jerusalem in the same way that it has over the last 42 years. Read More Here

(LATimes) – India embraces Russia arms

New Delhi signs five deals, buying fighter jets, an aircraft carrier and nuclear reactors. Read More Here

Taboo Inhibits Frank Iran/Israel Talk – Ray McGovern

(InfoClearingHouse) – Participants at an otherwise informative discussion on “Iran at a Crossroads” at the Senate on Wednesday seemed at pains to barricade the doors against the proverbial elephant being admitted into the room — in this case, Israel.

This, despite the fact that the agenda virtually dictated that the elephant be allowed in. The cavernous hearing room also could have accommodated it — however awkward and untidy the atmosphere might have become.

Otherwise, as was entirely predictable, the discussion would be lacking a crucial element. Which it turned out to be.

MSM: Lula Says Leaders Afraid Israel May Attack Iran If Talks Fail

(Bloomberg) – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said world leaders are afraid that Israel may attack Iran if a diplomatic solution over the country’s nuclear program is not reached “quickly.”

MSM: Iran warns neighbors over U.S. presence in the Gulf

(Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Gulf countries on Thursday against the U.S. presence in the region, saying Washington aimed to dominate their energy resources in the name of fighting terrorism.

Video: Biden Conspires With Israel To Bomb Iran Back To The Stone Age

(KurtNimmo) – Joe Biden went to Israel not for the sake of peace or even to admonish the country for its plan to build 1,600 illegal settlement homes in East Jerusalem. Biden went there to talk about bombing Iran back to the Stone Age.

World War

(JPost) – Manufacturing Consent For Attack On Iran ‘US Determined to Prevent Nuclear Iran’

US Vice President Joe Biden expressed America’s “absolute, total, unvarnished commitment to Israel’ security” at a press conference in Jerusalem following a meeting with Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu Monday morning. Read More Here

(BBC) – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacks US for Afghan ‘double game’

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused the US of playing a “double game” in Afghanistan after the US used the same term to condemn Iran’s role. Read More Here

(AP) – China warns US against selling F-16s to Taiwan

China on Tuesday warned the United States against any future arms sales to Taiwan, including F-16 fighter jets the island has been pushing for in hopes of upgrading its air defense capabilities. Read More Here

(RiaNov) – Russia seeks to buy 1,000 Italian armored vehicles – report

Russia is in talks with Italy on the purchase of up to 1,000 armored vehicles, an Italian news agency reported on Tuesday. Read More Here

(AlalamNews) – Brazil warns against Iran sanctions

The Brazilian president has raised alarms over imposing further sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, warning any punitive measure could spark a conflict. Read More Here

Video: China is being threatened by the United States says Michel Chossudovsky

United States-China relations are on the rocks recently, China says that they have been seriously disrupted. Essentially, China feels that it is being threatened by the United States and this has been mounting since 1999. The threats are coming in the form of diplomacy, however Michel Chossudovsky says that the United States also has missiles pointed at Chinese cities. Video Link Here

(JTA) – AIPAC calls for swift action to block U.S. companies supporting Iran

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is calling on the U.S. Congress to take several immediate steps in response to a New York Times report revealing that the federal government has awarded more than $107 billion in grants, contracts and other benefits to foreign and multinational U.S. companies conducting business in Iran. Read More Here

(PoliticalTheatrics) – Barak on Iran: We Must Keep Finger On Trigger,4-8 Weeks Left For Diplomacy

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak addressed the Iranian nuclear threat and said, “The State of Israel is the strongest country in the region. However, we must recognize opportunities and not be confused by challenges.” Read More Here

(TimesOnline) – Vladmir Putin forging ahead with vision of Eurasian empire

The Soviet Union is gradually being rebuilt as Vladimir Putin eyes a return to the Kremlin. The man who declared the collapse of the Communist state to be the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century” appears determined to forge a new empire. Read More Here

Oil Traders Dump Iran

(IsraelNN) – The three largest oil trading firms in the world – Glencore, Trafigura and Vitol – announced Monday that they would no longer do business with Iran. A report in the London Financial Times said that the companies had concluded that there was too much risk and not enough profit in supplying Iran. The three companies had been responsible for supplying Iran with about half its daily oil use.

Source: Israel National News

A “Good” Terrorist Captured by Iran – Ray McGovern

The Iranian government is celebrating the capture of Abdolmalek Rigi, the leader of a violent group called Jundullah (Arabic for Soldiers of God), which Tehran says is a terrorist organization supported by the United States, Great Britain and Israel.

World War

(Examiner) – US sponsors terrorists to overthrow Iran’s government again? Evidence suggests it’s true

Abdolmalek Rigi, leader of the assassination/terrorist group, Jundallah, was announced as captured by Iran’s government on February 23, 2010. Iran televised Mr. Rigi making a statement that the US government funds Jundallah, provides weapons, and assists with logistical management. Read More Here

(Rense) – US Steps Deeper Into Afghan Quagmire – Joul Skousen

With the ongoing attack on Marjah, the US military began its first major assault on a Taliban controlled town in Afghanistan and simultaneously entered a new and expanded phase of the war. Read More Here

(AntiWar) – Israeli DM: No Need to Coordinate With US on Attacking Iran

At his visit to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), an AIPAC founded think tank, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak reiterated his calls for Western nations to keep “all options” open in moving against Iran. But more importantly, he suggested Israel might attack Iran even beyond American objections. Read More Here

(HuffingtonPost) – Russia Angered By US Missile Defense Plan

Russia has serious concerns about U.S. plans to deploy missile interceptors in Romania, the Foreign Ministry said Friday. Read More Here

Video: CIA helps terrorists in Iran? Jundullah leader claims agency arms support – Webster Tarpley

(RussiaToday) – The leader of a Sunni terrorist group fighting against Shiites in Iran says his organization has close links with the CIA. The head of the Jundullah group was captured earlier this week in the south of the country. Abol-malik Rigi says he met the U.S. agents in Pakistan, who promised support for carrying out terrorist attacks in Iran.

World War

(Reuters) – Medvedev objects to “endless” NATO expansion

Russia’s new military doctrine does not identify NATO as its major threat but Moscow is disturbed by the alliance’s “endless enlargement”, President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview published on Thursday. Read More Here

(Xinhuanet) – Russia threatens to react to NATO expansion

Russia will have to respond as it is concerned by NATO’s active eastward expansion and the U.S. plans to deploy elements of a missile defense system in Europe, Russia’s top military officer said on Wednesday. Read More Here

(RiaNov) – China could build up nuclear capability to counter U.S. missile shield

China could strengthen its nuclear capability in response to U.S. global missile defense plans, a Russian military expert said on Wednesday.
“At present, China has a very limited nuclear potential, but my recent contacts with Chinese military representatives indicate that if the United States deploys a global missile defense system, in particular in the Far East, China will build up its offensive capability,” said Lt. Gen. Yevgeny Buzhinsky, former department deputy head in the Russian Defense Ministry. Read More Here

(Reuters) – North Korea, as usual, threatens South, U.S. over drill

North Korea threatened to attack South Korean and U.S. forces for scheduled joint military drills in March even as nuclear envoys picked up the pace of work to get stalled disarmament talks back on track. Read More Here

(Reuters) – China’s military warns Washington, denies hacking

China’s military warned the United States on Thursday to “speak and act cautiously” to avoid reigniting tensions between the two powers, denying the People’s Liberation Army played a part in Internet hacking. Read More Here

(Reuters) – U.S. raps Europe for underfunding defense

Europe has demilitarized too much since the end of the Cold War and its underfunded defense budgets are undermining shared security goals, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday. Read More Here

(PressTV) – Iran launches Saeqeh fighter-bomber squadron

The Iranian military has introduced a new squadron of domestically-manufactured Saeqeh fighter-bombers to the country’s Air Force to strengthen its deterrence power. Read More Here

(YNet) – IDF practices 2-front war

Senior officers complete drill involving war against Hezbollah in north, Hamas in south Read More Here

(PressTV) – US offered Rigi ‘extensive aid’ for Iran attacks

The captured ringleader of the Jundallah terrorist group, Abdolmalek Rigi, has confessed that the US administration had assured him of unlimited military aid and funding for waging an insurgency against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Read More Here

MSM: Obama Missile Defense Agency logo apes Iranian space agency logo

(WashingtonTimes) – Weaselzippers.net caught this bizarre governmental coincidence. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Defense, went from using the first logo below to using a logo looking strangely similar to the Obama 2008 campaign  along with the original agency logo. The new logo was created by the logo design company TMP Government. It appears the logo below still exists on the site and coexists with the new logo on letterhead, but the Web site shows it in a less prominent smaller area than the newer one.:

Iran to reveal evidence of Jundallah ties with U.S.

(PressTV) – Iran says it has irrefutable evidence confirming that terrorist ringleader Abdolmalek Rigi had been aided and abetted by the US government before his arrest.

Anglo-Israeli “Doomsday” War Scheme Advances

(LPAC) – Sources close to the Israeli government have warned Executive Intelligence Review that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner cabinet is close to making a decision to launch a preventive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Such a decision, that would be a further step closer to a devastating regional confrontation, could come as early as Sunday, when the Israeli cabinet convenes.

Video: Bomb Iran Drumbeat Picks Up Pace

(KurtNimmo) – It looks like years of incessant propaganda about Iran seem to have paid off. According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans consider Iran to be the “least liked” nation on the planet. “Canada retained its top position in Gallup’s annual country ratings, with 90% of Americans viewing it favorably, unchanged from 2009. Iran continues to rank last, with 10% this year,” Gallup reports. Even the reclusive totalitarian state of North Korea fared better than Iran.

IAEA Letter Fuels CNN Alarmism Over Iran – Rick Sanchez Speculates About Non-Existent Iranian ‘Nuclear Missile’

Fueled by an unfortunately worded letter by the IAEA about a “technical violation” allegedly made by Iran last week in its civilian nuclear program, CNN’s Rick Sanchez is now speculating about the possibility of Iran “building some kind of nuclear weapon,” even though one of his guests from MIT made it clear this threat was totally illusory.

Video: Nuclear Iran – Fueled by fear?

(RussiaToday) – The United States is not giving up its request for tougher sanctions on Iran, after Iran has kept up their enrichment of uranium program. Is it simply fear about nuclear weapons that is fueling this fight or is there more to it? William Weddin says the United States has sought to undermine democracy in Iran and has pushed it to be a military dictatorship ever since the Iranian revolution.

World War

(PressTV) – Russia commits to deliver S-300 system to Iran

The Kremlin’s powerful Security Council says Moscow sees no reason to delay the sale of its S-300 anti-aircraft systems to Tehran. Read More Here

(TimesOnline) – Hillary Clinton: Iran is becoming a military dictatorship

Iran is becoming a military dictatorship, Hillary Clinton declared today as the US prepared fresh sanctions against the Islamic Republic that would specifically target the Revolutionary Guard. Read More Here

(AFP) – Attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities ‘worries’ US admiral

The chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said on Sunday he was concerned about the consequences of any attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Read More Here

(Reuters) – NATO Kills 12 Civilians in Afghanistan

NATO rockets killed 12 Afghan civilians on Sunday, the second day of an offensive designed to impose Afghan government authority on one of the last big Taliban strongholds in the country’s most violent province. Read More Here

(JPost) – Will Israel run Obama’s red light on Iran ?

If the US gives Israel a firm red, the gov’t will have to approach the oncoming fateful intersection with extreme caution. Read More Here

(Defpro) – U.S Army Chief: “Iran attack option on the table”

U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, attended a press conference after his arrival to Israel and made it clear that all options are on the table. “We would operate all our forces for Israel” Read More Here

(Reuters) – Netanyahu to lobby in Russia for Iran sanctions

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will push for urgent “crippling sanctions” against Iran over its nuclear program during talks in Moscow on Monday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Read More Here

(HuffingtonPost) – U.S. Forces Kill Children, Other Civilians in Marjah, Afghanistan, with “Precision” Weapons

A few days ago a commenter on my blog took issue with my post, “Fallujah, New Orleans and Marjah.” Part of our disagreement focused on whether the Marines could precisely target their munitions. The commenter said in part:

What do you know about Marine Corps military operations? What do you know about the accuracy of any of the weapons in their arsenal? We are not talking about the CIA lobbing missiles at some Taliban bad guys from a UAV. We are talking about precision guided weapons.

I don’t often call out commenters like this, but at least 10 people including 5 children were butchered today because someone bought this kind of thinking in Marjah, Afghanistan: Read More Here

Video: Clinton – Iran Is Becoming Military Dictatorship

(AP) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that Iran is becoming a military dictatorship, a new U.S. accusation in the midst of rising tensions with Iran over its nuclear ambitions and crack down on anti-government protesters.

Israel, US and Iran: an environmental perspective

(PalTel) – In my last column, I reviewed the military implications if the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran. I will now discuss the types of weapons likely to be used and the catastrophic contamination of the entire Middle East region and the world that would result should they be foolish enough to proceed.