LIFE.COM :SPECIAL REPORT

U.S. Financial Aid To Israel: Figures, Facts, and Impact

A Conservative Total for U.S. Aid to Israel: $91 Billion—and Counting

Iraqi insurgency strong and could get stronger

Despite US claims of progress in quelling the insurgency in Iraq, it remains as robust as ever and could grow a good deal stronger, according to a new study released Thursday.

The study by two veteran defense analysts working for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy also said the US operation in Iraq was at a "tipping point" that will last for six to nine months.

"I think the outcome of this tipping period is probably going to dictate whether or not the US effort in Iraq succeeds or fails," analyst Jeffrey White said at a lunch unveiling the report.

Crying Wolf: Media Disinformation and Death Squads in Occupied Iraq

The phenomenon of death squads operating in Iraq has become generally accepted over recent months. However, in its treatment of the issue, the mainstream media has zealously followed a line of attributing extrajudicial killings to unaccountable Shia militias who have risen to prominence with the electoral victory of Ibramhim Jafaari’s Shia-led government in January. The following article examines both the way in which the information has been widely presented and whether that presentation has any actual basis in fact. Concluding that the attribution to Shia militias is unsustainable, the article considers who the intellectual authors of these crimes against humanity are and what purpose they serve in the context of the ongoing occupation of the country.

American Christian Fundamentalist Leader Calls For Global War

If Christian fundamentalists are to be believed, America's invasion of Iraq and the consequent brutal slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians in that country are all part of a grand divine plan that will finally culminate in the 'second coming' of Jesus Christ. Establishing an empire that will extend all over the globe, Christ will rule like a powerful monarch, saving those who believe in him and dispatching non-believers, all non-Christians and non-conformist Christians, to everlasting perdition in hell.

PA wants end to West Bank carve-up

The Palestinian Authority has appealed to the international community to force Israel to stop carving up the West Bank into enclosures, enclaves and Bantustans.

Israel army to fight human shield ban

The Israeli army has signalled its intention to keep using Palestinian civilians as human shields in operations aimed at assassinating, arresting or kidnapping Palestinian political and resistance activists.

Delusions Under Siege

Not unlike the program the machines created in the movie called the Matrix, America 's Propaganda Matrix manipulates the poor and working class by lulling them into an illusory sense of joy over being so "free". While wealthy dynasties (like the Bush clan), their sycophants, and their corporate cronies pillage the US treasury and employ foreign policies (like the Bush Doctrine) to seek world domination, an apathetic American public joyfully slaps magnetic ribbons supporting the Iraqi invasion onto its gas-guzzling SUV's, smiles and nods its assent at federal budgets calling for increases in an insanely bloated defense budget and cuts in spending for social programs, lightheartedly surrenders its civil liberties, and blithely watches the wealth gap widen to monumental proportions. The brilliance of the American Propaganda Matrix is that it enables a covert nobility to rule behind the guise of a "federal republic". With virtually no open acts of violence or totalitarian measures, a small fraction of the population in the United States maintains a vast majority of the world's wealth and power by ensuring that "their people" are elected and appointed to the key positions in the US government. Living in the delusory American Propaganda Matrix, many poor and working class Americans contentedly go about their lives as the "freest people in the world" enjoying the fruits of "sublime capitalism". In the American Propaganda Matrix, the American Way is The Way, and there is no room for critical evaluation. Those beguiled by the American Propaganda Matrix will tenaciously adhere to their delusions, regardless of who suffers or dies as a result.

Fears mount as US opens new military installation in Paraguay : The tri-border area is home to the Guarani Aquifer, one of the world's largest reserves of water. Near the Estigarribia airbase are Bolivia's natural gas reserves, the second largest in Latin America. Political analysts believe US operations in Paraguay are part of a preventative war to control these natural resources and suppress social uprisings in Bolivia.

More Israeli Jews favor transfer of Palestinians, Israeli Arabs - poll finds

Some 46 percent of Israel's Jewish citizens favor transferring Palestinians out of the territories, while 31 percent favor transferring Israeli Arabs out of the country, according to the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' annual national security public opinion poll.
 

"Hate" bill means funeral for free speech 

Already the Dept. of Global Anti-semitism, being established in the US State Dept., makes it “anti-semitic” to express “strong anti-Israel sentiment” against Israel or its leaders. It also says upholding the New Testament charge that Jews killed Christ is “anti-semitic.” Under “anti-hate” laws in Canada and Europe, such statements are “hate crimes” punishable by harsh fines and imprisonment.

Iran Readying for Conflict With US

But, perhaps, the surest sign yet is the military build up under way in the five provinces bordering Iraq. The region, with a population of 20 millions, has been put under the control of the IRGC which has also taken over units of the regular army, including the 88th Division, and the border police. Iran is estimated to have 250,000 troops in the area, its biggest military build-up since the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988.

A Day in the Life of a City

Rejecting Israeli apartheid

The results are obvious: There are over 4 million Jewish colonial immigrants and there are now 6 million Palestinian refugees or displaced people. Remaining Palestinians are relegated to "homelands," in a scheme similar to what was attempted by South Africa under apartheid.

 

Palestine: Israel extends racist laws

On May 15, the Israeli government voted to extend racist amendments to Israel’s citizenship laws, preventing the reunification of up to 21,000 Israeli and Palestinian families.

Jewish Spies: Bigger than AIPAC

But as the full text of the indictment makes clear, the conspiracy involved not just Franklin and the AIPAC officials, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, but at least several other Pentagon officials who played intermediary roles, at least two other Israeli officials, and one official at a "Washington, D.C. think tank." It's an old-fashioned spy story involving the passing of secret documents, hush-hush meetings and outright espionage, along with good-old-boy networking.

 

ISRAELI NUCLEAR BOMB VIDEO

Israel to Ask U.S. for Funds for Pullout

Terror Attacks Near 3,200 in 2004 Count

There were nearly 3,200 terrorist attacks worldwide last year, a federal counterterrorism center said Tuesday, using a broader definition that increased fivefold the number of attacks the agency had been counting.
The National Counterterrorism Center 's interim director, John Brennan, called a new database that was to go online Wednesday "the most comprehensive U.S. effort to date to track terrorist incidents worldwide." But he cautioned that comparing the new tally to previous ones was comparing apples to oranges.

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