World War

(JoongAngDaily) – North Korea Makes Major Troop Shift, Postures For Direct Attack

The North Korean military has recently altered its wartime contingency plans against South Korea to concentrate on attacking the Seoul metropolitan region, a military source said yesterday. South Korean commanders will meet next month to discuss the change and their response to it. Read More Here

(JTA) – Abrams: U.S. must address Iran’s threat to Israel

A former Bush administration official said he hopes the United States will address the Iranian president’s threat to “wipe Israel off the map.”
“Israelis are living under the threat of annihilation every day,” Elliot Abrams, the Bush administration’s National Security Council senior director for Near East and North African Affairs, said April 25 at the Baltimore Zionist District’s “U.S.-Israel Relations In A New Era” symposium, the Baltimore Jewish Times reported. “If the world does not act, I believe Israel will act, and I hope the U.S. will.”
“We keep saying it’s unacceptable for Iran to have a bomb, but we don’t mean it. We mean it’s terrible, we don’t want it. But when Israel says it’s unacceptable, they mean it.” Read More Here

(WashingtonPost) – Ahmadinejad calls UN veto power ‘satanic tool’ – Read More Here

(WashingtonPost) – Chavez accuses US plane of `electronic warfare’

Without giving details, he said Venezuela’s military intelligence intercepted a conversation between the pilot and air traffic controllers in the northern Colombian city of Barranquilla. The aircraft conducted espionage operations, he said. Read More Here

(AntiWar) – Iran a Threat? I Mean, Really? – Ray McGovern

With all the current hype about the “threat” from Iran, it is time to review the record – and especially the significant bits and pieces that find neither ink nor air in our Israel-friendly Fawning Corporate Media (FCM). Read More Here

(WSWS) – US military escalates its dirty war in Afghanistan

The New York Times reported Sunday that American special forces units are operating in and around the Afghan city of Kandahar, assassinating or capturing alleged leaders and militants of the Taliban resistance ahead of the major US-NATO offensive scheduled for June. Read More Here

(HumanRightsWatch) – Iraq: Detainees Describe Torture in Secret Jail

Detainees in a secret Baghdad detention facility were hung upside-down, deprived of air, kicked, whipped, beaten, given electric shocks, and sodomized, Human Rights Watch said today. Iraq should thoroughly investigate and prosecute all government and security officials responsible, Human Rights Watch said. Read More Here

(Uruknet) – Iraq Today: Afflicted by Violence, Devastation, Corruption, and Devastation – Stephen Lendman

Seven years under occupation, Iraqis still cope with what Refugees International calls “a dire humanitarian crisis that sees huge numbers of displaced (and other Iraqis) struggl(ing) to survive,” a situation “for which the US bears special responsibility” but does nothing to correct. Read More Here

(RawStory) – Syria,Iran arm Hezbollah with improved missiles: US

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday accused Iran and Syria of arming Hezbollah with increasingly sophisticated rockets and missiles, saying the militia’s arsenal undermined stability in the region. Read More Here

(CNN) – Video: Iranian Jet Follows U.S. Aircraft Carrier –

MSM: Israel pounds Gaza with missiles

(AlJazeera) – Three children have been reported injured in eastern Gaza City after Israeli aircraft carried out a series of missile attacks across the Palestinian territory.

Palestinian hospital officials said the children were injured by flying debris after the air raids that came in the early hours of Friday.

MSM: Israel says tests on Iron Dome missile shield have been a success

(Times) – Israel has announced the successful testing of its Iron Dome anti-missile system, said to be capable of intercepting rockets launched by militants in Gaza and South Lebanon.

MSM: Who is funding the Afghan Taliban? You don’t want to know

(Reuters) – It is the open secret no one wants to talk about, the unwelcome truth that most prefer to hide. In Afghanistan, one of the richest sources of Taliban funding is the foreign assistance coming into the country.

MSM: Hezbollah stockpiles 40,000 rockets near Israel border

(Times) – Three years after Israel fought a bloody war in Lebanon against Hezbollah, there are fears that hostilities could erupt again — this time with the militant group better armed than ever.

U.S. Uses False Taliban Aid Charge to Pressure Iran

The Barack Obama administration has given new prominence to a Bush administration charge that Iran is providing military training and assistance to the Taliban in Afghanistan, for which no evidence has ever been produced, and which has been discredited by data obtained by IPS from the Pentagon itself.

MSM: Amnesty accuses Israel of using human shields in Gaza

(AFP) – Amnesty International on Thursday accused Israeli forces of war crimes, saying they used children as human shields and conducted wanton attacks on civilians during their offensive in the Gaza Strip.

MSM: Britain sold arms to Sri Lanka during Tamil Tiger conflict

(Telegraph) – Britain sold arms to Sri Lanka worth over £13.6 million in the last three years of the conflict with the Tamil Tigers, according to reports.

MSM: South Korea Deploys Warship as North Readies Missiles (Update1)

(Bloomberg) – South Korea deployed a high-speed naval vessel equipped with anti-ship missiles to its sea border with North Korea amid reports the communist nation is preparing to test-launch several mid-range and one ballistic rocket.

Beyond Dissidence – Noam Chomsky

The US-Israeli attack on Gaza was a savage and brutal war crime. The term US- Israeli is accurate. Israel relied on US weapons, in violation of US, as well as international, law, and the US provided crucial diplomatic and ideological support.

Obama laments not being able to ban assault weapons

We’ve all seen the news stories about how retail sales of firearms have been at record levels ever since Barack Obama won the election. Two primary reasons have been cited for this spike in ownership, uncertainty about the economy leading to fears of increased crime and the concern that the Obama administration will move to reinstate the “Assault Weapons Ban” which expired in 2004.

Mexico Under Siege: Drug cartels’ new weaponry means war

Narcotics traffickers are acquiring firepower more appropriate to an army — including grenade launchers and antitank rockets — and the police are feeling outgunned.

MSM: Israelis ‘firing live rounds’ at West Bank protesters

Israeli armed forces and border police used the cover of the war against Hamas in Gaza to reintroduce the firing of .22 rifle bullets – as well as the extensive use of a new model of tear-gas canister – against unarmed demonstrators in the Occupied West Bank protesting at the building of Israel‘s “separation wall”.

“The Lancet” reveals horrendous Israeli war crimes

The horrendous mortality and morbidity statistics revealed by the paper “The Wounds of Gaza”, just published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet are truly shocking – 1,350 killed (60% children) and 5,450 severely wounded (40% children) in reprisals for zero (0) Israeli deaths from Gaza rockets in the preceding year. This demands International Criminal Court and intra-national prosecutions (e.g. in major Israeli military R & R destination countries Australia, the US, the UK and India) and Sanctions and Boycotts against Apartheid Israel by all decent Australians and indeed all decent people around the world.

The USA Isn’t a Country, It’s a Corporation!

We celebrate this day in honor of our “independence”. We call ourselves a free people in a land of liberty. Our anthems proudly sing the praises of this nation, and we raise our voices, wave our flags and join in song –but how many Americans realize they are not free? This is a myth perpetuated by the powers-that-be in order to avoid any major civil unrest, and to keep us all living under the thumb of a militaristic corporate Big Brother within the illusions that have been created for us. The truth of the matter is this: what freedom has not been stolen from us, we have surrendered willingly through our silence and ignorance. As Americans, most of us have no idea how our freedoms are maintained –or lost. Apparently, our ancestors didn’t have a good grasp of this either. It is sad, but it is also very true.

Israel on the verge of war with Syria

A senior Israeli official has warned that Tel Aviv is on the verge of a military confrontation with Syria should peace efforts fail.

“We’re on a collision course with Syria,” said Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, who heads the Defense Ministry’s Diplomatic-Security Bureau.

Video: “White Phosphorus Being Used Over Gaza City” – CNN

The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated pieces of property in the world. The presence of militants within a civilian population does not, under international law, deprive that population of their protected status, and hence any assault upon that population under the guise of targeting militants is, in fact, a war crime.

MSM: New Evidence Shows Iran May Be Pursuing Hi-Tech Weapons

Israeli army masses along Lebanon border

Israel deploys military units along the border with Lebanon amid growing concerns that the assault on Gaza was the onset of a multi-front war.

Video: UK, Europe hit with riots over Israel’s Gaza campaign

Protesters in London smash a Starbucks, throw shoes at Israeli embassy

A London protest against the Israeli military campaign in Gaza turned violent Saturday night as police charged demonstrators outside the gates of Israel’s embassy.

MSM: Gaza violence rages on despite UN cease-fire call

JERUSALEM – The U.N. Security Council called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, but an intense bombardment of missiles from Israeli jets and helicopters early Friday and a barrage of Hamas rockets indicated there may be no quick end to the fighting.

The Security Council resolution was approved Thursday night by a 14-0 vote, with the United States abstaining. The resolution “stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.”

Video: This is Your Tax Dollars at Work! – Dennis Kucinich

January 07, 2009 C-SPAN

We are all Gazan – Cindy Sheehan

My eyes are red from crying as I write this.

The images of bloody babies and maimed children and mothers and fathers wailing in pain are too much to bear for me.

Today, the defense forces of Yahweh’s “Chosen People” bombed two UN refugee centers. The schools, which Israel knew were being used as refugee centers (the UN was idiotic enough to give the GPS coordinates?) were demolished, dozens of innocent Gazans killed and Israel makes the convenient claim that Hamas was using the playgrounds as rocket-launching pads, which has been denied by the UN.

Video: CNN Confirms Israel Broke Ceasefire First – MSM

Rick Sanchez does the research and finds that Israel violated the terms of the ceasefire first by killing 6 Gazans on November 4. Shouldn’t media outlets check the facts before running with a story?

The American Puppet State – Paul Craig Roberts

President George W. Bush was in his stand-up comedian role when he declared that he wanted to be remembered as a fighter for human rights.

Seldom has a fighter for human rights amassed Bush’s death toll. According to Information Clearing House, Bush’s invasion and occupation of Iraq has resulted in 1,297,997 dead Iraqis. Millions more have been wounded, and millions are displaced. Bush’s legions have taken out weddings, funerals, kid’s soccer games, hospitals, and mosques.

And that’s before we come to Afghanistan.

MSM: Israeli ground forces cross border into Gaza

Israeli tanks and troops have launched a ground invasion to reoccupy parts of the northern Gaza strip as the military escalated its assault on the Palestinian enclave in an attempt to curb Hamas rocket attacks on Israel.

With Israel’s chief military spokesman warning that the attack would take “many long days”, the Israeli Cabinet also authorised the call of thousands more reservists. As Israeli tanks and infantry crossed into northern Gaza reports began to emerge of fighting between Hamas and Israeli troops. The invasion comes after Hamas warned Israeli forces entering Gaza faced a “black destiny” and vowed that they would be defeated.

The truth about those Hamas rockets

Five years ago, the Bush administration lied about weapons of mass destruction to dupe us into supporting an illegal, immoral invasion of Iraq.

A few days ago, Israel trotted out only an infinitesimally more credible excuse — the Hamas rockets case — as justification for its own murderous shock and awe in Gaza, a long-planned campaign perniciously aimed at ousting a “regime” that came to power via popular, democratic vote.