News For August 29, 2010

America’s Corruption Racket in Central Asia

By Scott Horton

This is the third time this summer that the United States has been slammed with credible charges of corrupting foreign governments in Central Asia. Continue

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Afghanistan
PowerPoints 'R' Us

By Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D., is a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve

I have been assigned as a staff officer to a headquarters in Afghanistan for about two months. During that time, I have not done anything productive. Fortunately little of substance is really done here, but that is a task we do well. Continue

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Our Bloody Valentine

By David Michael Green

when an empire has to label its military gang-rape of 25 million other people by the title “shock and awe”, it’s a safe bet that the folks who need convincing are the ones doing the giving, not the receiving. Continue

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Stranger Than Fiction?
At Lincoln Memorial, a Call for Religious Rebirth

By KATE ZERNIKE, CARL HULSE AND BRIAN KNOWLTON

“Something that is beyond man is happening,” Mr. Beck told the crowd, in what was part religious revival and part history lecture. “America today begins to turn back to God.” Continue

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Kill Them

By Linh Dinh

The scapegoating of Muslims, blacks and Mexicans gives the appearance that we're being threatened from without and below, when we're actually being mugged from above, from the inside. It's the entrenched who are killing us, not outsiders. Continue

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Cycling in a Depression;
"Guys like me who built this great land are no longer needed"

By John Mele

Do I take any job and try to keep the home I spent a lifetime working for? In short, do I suck it up again, go to where I must and start over again at 60 and keep my mouth shut and show up for work and do this until I am dead? Continue

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Make Sure the Bunker is Well Stocked

By Mike Whitney

No one wants to fix the problem, because then the big players would lose boatloads of money. So the vehicle continues to speed faster and faster down the mountain veering wildly from one side of the road to the other. How long before it jumps the guardrail and plunges to the bottom of the canyon? Stay tuned.... Continue

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Overdose

Must Watch - ABC Australia Video Documentary

This is the story of the greatest financial crisis we will ever see... The one that is on the way. Continue

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Afghanistan: At Least 21 killed as occupation force bases come under attack: Up to 30 Taliban-linked fighters, including suicide bombers, have attacked two Nato bases in Afghanistan's east.

Seven US occupoation troops killed by latest fighting in Afghanistan: Seven US troops have died in weekend attacks in Afghanistan's embattled southern and eastern regions, while officials found the bodies Sunday of five kidnapped campaign workers for a female candidate in the western province of Herat.

3 NATO Soldiers Killed in Afghan Violence: Three coalition soldiers were killed in Taliban attacks Friday in eastern Afghanistan, NATO statement says.

Afghans protest killing of civilians: Over 500 protesters condemned the killing of two Afghan civilians by mercenaries in the region, a Press TV correspondent reported on Saturday.

US Official say the CIA pays multiple members of Afghan government for information: Several former U.S. government officials said the U.S. has little choice but to cut deals with corrupt individuals.

Afghan president condemns CIA payment reports: "We strongly condemn such irresponsible allegations which just create doubt and defame responsible people of this country," it said.

Taliban has spies in British army bases: Taliban spies have infiltrated army bases in Afghanistan, the former commander of British forces there warned yesterday.

8 killed in clashes between militant groups in NW Pakistan: At least eight militants were killed and many others injured on Saturday afternoon when two militant groups of Punjabi Taliban opened fire at each other in North Wazirsitan, a tribal area in northwest Pakistan which borders Afghanistan, reported local media.

US Attack Kills 4 In Pakistan: US drone strike on Saturday killed "four militants" in Pakistan's north-western tribal belt near the Afghan border, security officials said.

Blast kills 3, wounds 7 in Pakistan: Pakistani officials told Press TV that the bomb went off in a shop in a village in South Waziristan Agency, near the Afghan border, late on Saturday.

15 dead in fresh clashes in Somalia: Government troops accompanied by Africa Union Soldiers were still battling Saturday with the armed Islamists at the strategic road that links the presidential palace and Mogadishus main airport.

Somali militants seize key road in Mogadishu: Saturday's attack triggered an intense gun battle on the Muka al-Mukarama, a vital artery that connects key government ministries and the presidential palace to the airport. The fighting sent hundreds fleeing their homes and trapped men like Mohammed Ali in the cross hairs of war.

Ethiopia troops invade Somalia to battle "radicals": A large number of Ethiopian troops in military vehicles on Sunday reached Somali villages after crossing its borders with Hiran region in Central Somalia.

Al Qaeda kill seven Yemeni soldiers: Seven Yemeni soldiers were killed and five wounded in an Al Qaeda attack in the country's troubled Abyan province, an official said.

Yemen denies foreign troops fighting Qaeda on its soil: Sanaa says 'surprised' at reports suggesting presence of British, US forces in Yemen.

U.S. military involvement may worsen situation in Yemen: The U.S. open involvement is also causing embarrassment for Yemeni authorities, who have insisted Yemeni military forces alone are responsible for anti-terror operations in the country and that the U.S. military's job is limited to intelligence and training.

U.S. Senators make sudden visit to Yemen: A delegation of U.S. Congressional Senators led by George LeMieux, a member of the armed services committee, was received by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to commend the efforts exerted by Yemen in the fight against terrorism, said the official website of the General People’s Congress (GPC) al-Moatamar.

Five people killed in northern Iraq: Five people, including four policemen, were killed in three separate shooting incidents in the the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police said Sunday

Five killed in attacks on Iraqi police: A group of armed men attacked a police checkpoint in the village of al-Djawana in the al-Qiyara district on Saturday, Aswat al-Iraq news agency quoted local police sources as saying.

'Every Corner in the Region Is Frightened: Ayad Allawi: Iraq's former and possibly future prime minister, discusses the withdrawal of US troops, the power struggle in Baghdad and the "very high possibility" of a new war in the Middle East.

U.S. wasted billions in rebuilding Iraq: A $40 million prison sits in the desert north of Baghdad, empty. A $165 million children's hospital goes unused in the south. A $100 million waste water treatment system in Fallujah has cost three times more than projected, yet sewage still runs through the streets

Adm. Mike Mullen: 'National Debt Is Our Biggest Security Threat': America's highest-ranking military official thinks the U.S. has bigger security problems than al-Qaeda, suicide bombers and an increasingly deadly nine-year war.

Larijani: Iran ready for nuclear talks: As the US expresses optimism about future talks on Iran's nuclear program, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says Tehran has never refused nuclear talks, Press TV reported.

Report: Israel planning to attack Hezbollah arms depots in Syria: The Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai reports that Israel is preparing to strike Hezbollah targets in Syria; Al-Arabi Al-Quds reports that western diplomats have asked Bashar Assad to refrain from interfering with Israel-PA direct peace talks.

'IDF can destroy Lebanon army within 4 hours': An senior advisor to US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell has threatened Lebanese army commander, Jean Kahwajim that should his army initiate additional fire exchanges with Israel, the IDF would annihilate his military within four hours, Lebanese newspaper al-Liwa reported Friday.
Rabbi: Abbas and Palestinians should perish : "Abu Mazen and all these evil people should perish from this world," Rabbi Ovadia was quoted as saying during his weekly sermon at a synagogue near his Jerusalem home. "God should strike them with a plague, them and these Palestinians."
Any bastard can be a rabbi: Some 30 years ago, the Hebrew slogan was coined: "Medinat halakha - halkha hamedina," which means more or less that if Israel becomes a state governed by Jewish law, that will be the end of the state. Is the end near? It is coming.
CIA probes British spy murder: Questions also remain over why his body lay undiscovered for up to a fortnight at his£400,000 flat in a Victorian townhouse in Pimlico, central London, half a mile from MI6 headquarters.
Congress may sneak through Internet ‘kill switch’ in defense bill: A federal cybersecurity bill that critics say creates a presidential "kill switch" for the Internet could be added on to a defense spending bill and passed without much debate, technology news sources report.
Who is watching you? Spy satellite use in the U.S. : Video report
Inside Top Secret America: A major investigation reveals the extent of America's vast and heavily privatized military-corporate-intelligence establishment.
Desperate homeowners line up for mortgage modification marathon: Before dawn, with a plump white moon overhead, a line of desperate home­owners trailed around the outside of the building. They slept in beach chairs or on blankets on the ground, refugees from a bad economy, bad loans, or bad decisions.
12% of Houston homes underwater: About 12 percent of residential properties in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown are underwater, according to a recent report from financial and real estate data provider CoreLogic.
Housing's new nightmare: In another ominous sign for the economy, the number of people falling behind on their mortgages for the first time is on the rise.

Source: http://ichnews.blogspot.com/2010/08/news-for-august-29-2010.html