Israel plans drills in face of nuke threat

Israeli officials announced Monday plans to conduct the largest emergency drills in its history as part of lessons learned from the 2006 war with Lebanon.

Parts of Israel will effectively shut down starting April 6, rescue officials will conduct mass evacuation exercises and hospitals and even the Knesset will test their ability to operate during a mock chemical and biological weapons attack, The Jerusalem Post said.

Israeli officials familiar with the plans said the drill is in response to lessons learned during the 2006 war with Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. It is also to be prepared in case of an Iranian or Syrian nuclear attack on Israel, the Post said.

"This is the biggest exercise in Israel's history," said one official familiar with the planning.

Other officials stressed the exercise isn't based on any imminent threat to Israel.

Emergency officials Tuesday are to conduct a smaller scale emergency exercise at a hospital in Ashkelon. UPI

ZIONIST ISLAMOPHOBIA IS NOT WORKING

How the Neo Cons use the Myth of religion in politics

This is part of an INCREDIBLE documentary, shedding light on the Myth of Religion, Terrorism, and the other elements the neo cons have created to help create a more ordered society in America.

NKorean jets flew near South 10 times: report

North Korean jet fighters have tested South Korean defences by flying near the border repeatedly in the past month, prompting Seoul to scramble aircraft in response, news reports said Monday.

Seoul military authorities refused comment on the reports, which comes amid a flare-up in tensions between the two nations.

On Sunday the communist state's official media claimed that Seoul was planning a preemptive military strike and threatened to turn South Korea into "ashes" if it went ahead.

In the past five days the North has expelled South Korean officials from a joint industrial complex, test-fired missiles, accused Seoul of breaching a disputed sea border and threatened to suspend all dialogue.

Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted military sources as saying the North's jets, including MiG-21s, had flown near the heavily fortified border 10 times since conservative President Lee Myung-Bak was inaugurated in Seoul on February 25.

Jets scrambled each time to intercept the North's aircraft according to their operational rules, said Chosun, the largest-circulation newspaper.

"It is very unusual for North Korean jet fighters to fly southward so intensively in such a short period of time as one month," the paper said. AFP

North Korea steps up rhetoric on South, renews threat to cut ties

United States seeks copy of Iran gas contract

The United States has increased pressure on Switzerland following the signature of a gas export deal between Swiss and Iranian companies.

After the contract was signed in Tehran on March 17, the US embassy in Bern officially requested a copy. The embassy originally asked for a copy of the contract in June 2007, according to information published on its website.

"As of now, we have not received a response to our request for a copy of the contract," the question and answer statement dated Friday said.

The US intends to examine whether the deal between the private Swiss firm, EGL, and the National Iranian Gas Export Company violates UN sanctions against Iran.

Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey earlier defended the Swiss move, pointing out that the natural gas accord breached neither UN nor US sanctions, which forbid any investment in Iran's oil and gas sector worth more than $20 million (SFr20 million).

Switzerland is representing Washington's interests in Iran. Swiss Info

Brzezinski Mocks Questions Concerned with Bilderberg Secrecy

About a dozen members of We Are Change confronted Zbigniew Brzezinksi, former National Security Advisor under Carter, with questions about the secretive Bilderberg group, the consequences of setting up the Mujahideen and other questions which were largely ridiculed and rejected by Brzezinski as the queries of ‘conspiracy theorists.’

Luke Rudkowski previously confronted Brzezinski in an encounter that ended with him being ejected from the building for asking a pointed question.

Brzezinksi even commented sarcastically that the Bilderberg group indulges in "drinking the blood of the poor"– a comment which may illustrate the underlying disconnect between elites who wield extremely concentrated power and the effect of their policies on the remainder of the world, who largely have no power to control factors that affect them.
Brzezinski ignored the issues raised, including the pattern of false-flag provocation to start conflicts– instead taking the opportunity to belittle those who dared to ask such questions. He was obviously irritated that the sycophants did not turn out in droves for his talk at Columbia University in the same numbers that concerned members of We Are Change did.

The University ejected at least one member and deflected several other questions.

Rumsfeld Rides Again as Old, New Europe Tensions Shake Up NATO

The spirit of Donald Rumsfeld is stalking NATO: From the war in Afghanistan to confronting the Kremlin, the U.S. once again has more support from ``new'' Europe than from ``old.''

Rumsfeld launched a broadside at France and Germany in 2003, when as U.S. defense secretary he dismissed them as problematic ``old Europe'' for resisting the Iraq War and said that ``the center of gravity'' was shifting east, where new allies like Poland had joined in the coalition against Saddam Hussein.

With North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders meeting in Bucharest this week, the pattern is reemerging on two fronts. The first is Afghanistan, where Western European governments are balking at putting troops in harm's way. The second is the future shape of NATO itself, with the same old allies frustrating U.S. goals of taking in countries such as Georgia and Ukraine from the former Soviet heartland.

NATO is evolving into ``a two-tier organization: those that are willing to fight and die for democracy and those who are not,'' says Gary Rice, a retired Canadian colonel who is an Ottawa-based independent military analyst. NATO risks becoming ``just another alliance that's had its day,'' he says Bloomberg

Pentagon Plans Expansion of US Special Forces

Since the start of the Global War on Terrorism, the Pentagon has taken steps to expand the role of the United States Special Operations Command and its forces. In response, the Command has transformed its headquarters to coordinate counterterrorism activities, while the Defense Department has increased funding and the number of special operations forces positions.

Although Pentagon plans to significantly increase the number of special operations forces personnel, the Special Operations Command has not yet fully determined all of the personnel requirements needed to meet its expanded mission.

While DOD has determined the number of personnel needed to increase its number of warfighter units, it has not completed analyses to determine how many headquarters staff are needed to train and equip these additional warfighters, or how many headquarters staff are needed to plan and synchronize global actions against terrorist networks—a new mission for the Command. CFP

CIA enlists Google's help for spy work

US intelligence agencies are using Google's technology to help its agents share information about their suspects.

Google has been recruited by US intelligence agencies to help them better process and share information they gather about suspects.

Agencies such as the National Security Agency have bought servers on which Google-supplied search technology is used to process information gathered by networks of spies around the world.

Google is also providing the search features for a Wikipedia-style site, called Intellipedia, on which agents post information about their targets that can be accessed and appended by colleagues, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The contracts are just a number that have been entered into by Google's 'federal government sales team', that aims to expand the company's reach beyond its core consumer and enterprise operations.

In the most innovative service, for which Google equipment provides the core search technology, agents are encouraged to post intelligence information on a secure forum, which other spies are free to read, edit, and tag - like the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

Depending on their clearance, agents can log on to Intellipedia and gain access to three levels of info - top secret, secret and sensitive, and sensitive but unclassified. So far 37,000 users have established accounts on the service, and the database now extends to 35,000 articles, according to Sean Dennehy, chief of Intellipedia development for the CIA. Times Online
We told you so years ago!

Evidence Points To Murder Conspiracy In "Suicide" of Cop Who Investigated Torture Flights

• Mountain rescue chief says they could have saved top policeman on Snowdon

• Mystery of dark suited 'spooks' waiting at bottom of mountain

• Chinook helicopter appeared above body - but could not land

• 'Champagne was in police chief's rucksack'

The police chief who died on a blizzard-swept mountain might have survived if rescue services had been alerted earlier, according to the expert who masterminded the recovery of his body.

Peter Walker has provided the first detailed account of the hunt on Snowdon for Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Michael Todd.

His claims raise a series of disturbing questions about the death of Mr Todd, who was tipped as a future Scotland Yard Commissioner. UK Daily Mail

Mr Walker, 52, a veteran of hundreds of rescue operations, alleges that mountain rescue services were not called in to search for the police chief, who had been linked with a number of women, until hours after he was first reported missing.

He also claims that a mysterious group of dark-suited men were seen at the bottom of Mount Snowdon after Mr Todd's body was found. He believes the group, who did not identify themselves, were from the Security Services.

Mr Walker also reveals that a Chinook helicopter attempted to land close to where Mr Todd's body was found - an apparent breach of normal rescue procedure. And he says that a bottle of champagne was found in Mr Todd's rucksack.

Inquiries suggest that officers from Greater Manchester Police were also involved in the hunt for the missing chief constable.

Coroner clears Prince Philip of ordering 'MI6 to execute Diana'

There is no evidence Prince Philip orchestrated the murder of Diana, Princess of Wales, the coroner at her inquest has declared.

Mohamed al Fayed last month sensationally dubbed the Duke of Edinburgh a "Nazi racist" while in the witness box and claimed he had conspired with Prince Charles to murder Diana.

But Lord Justice Scott Baker today attacked Mohamed al Fayed's theories as "demonstrably without foundation" and insisted neither Philip nor MI6 were involved in her death.

In his summing up after the six-month hearing, he swept aside the Harrods boss's claims which he said had been fuelled by the media over the past decade.

He told the jury: "Various propositions were being asserted, have been shown to be so demonstrably without foundation that they are no longer being pursued by Mohamed al Fayed's lawyer, even if he still continues to believe in their truth in his own mind.

"They are not being pursued because there is not a shred of evidence to support them.

"Foremost among them is the proposition that Diana was assassinated by the secret intelligence service (MI6) on the orders of the Duke of Edinburgh.

"There is no evidence that the Duke of Edinburgh ordered Diana's execution, and there is no evidence that the secret intelligence service or any other Government agency organised it."

Full article

Murdering Iranians

Terrible rumors from Russia continue to swirl around the Middle East that the Cheney-Bush junta has decided to bomb Iran on April 4th or 6th, targeting not only nuclear-power research facilities but ships, planes, antiaircraft installations, and the Iranian pentagon.

Apparently the nuclear-power reactor being built by Russian companies will be spared, but not much else. Will it happen?

Certainly the neocon hate network is working overtime to make it so. Bush fired the anti-neocon Admiral Fallon.

One thing we know for sure: it will be the typical Bush administration snafu, with horrific consequences for the region and the world, not to speak of the Iranian people, and reap much trouble for the US empire.

Indeed, it could mark the end of the empire if, as Bill Lind worries, the Iranians in retaliation cut off water-food-ammo supply routes to US troops in Iraq, and, with the help of Shiite militians, capture large numbers of them. Need I mention that Ron Paul, our champion of peace, is the leading opponent of war on Iran?

Czech defense minister: Radar deal will help Israel

A new missile-defense system that will be deployed in the Czech Republic will also contribute to Israel's defense, the Czech defense minister suggested Sunday in an interview with Haaretz.

"If there is an effective missile defense, it will diminish the threat posed by Iran on Israel," said Vlasta Parkanova, who is on a visit here.

The Czech defense minister will meet with her counterpart Ehud Barak Monday, and discuss greater defense cooperation between the two countries, and possible procurement of Israeli-made defense systems. Parkanova refused to specify what systems her country was interested in or the scale of the deals in question, but she stressed Sunday that "we are aware that Israel has very advanced technologies."

Parkanova also told Haaretz that she and her colleagues support the deployment of a missile-defense system on Czech soil, as proposed by the United States, much to Moscow's chagrin, even though there is no official decision on the matter yet by the Czech government or parliament. Haaretz

Saudi Shura council to discuss sudden radioactive hazards

The Saudi Shura council will secretly discuss national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards following experts' warnings of possible attacks on Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactors, media reports said Saturday.

The Saudi Shura council will secretly discuss national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards that may affect the kingdom following experts' warnings of possible attacks on Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactors, media reports said Saturday. The Saudi-based King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology has prepared a proposal that encapsulates the probabilities of leaking nuclear and radiation hazards in case of any unexpected nuclear attacks in Iran, the Okaz Saudi newspaper said.

The Saudi Shura or consultative council plans to debate the proposal today.

The power plants in the south-western Iranian port of Bushehr were built with German assistance in 1974 and resumed with Russian aid in 1992, after it had been stopped by the Islamic revolution. Link

The Saudi government is now preparing plans to deal with "any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards" that may arise from an attack on Iran's nuclear reactors. This was reported by a top Saudi newspaper, Okaz, and relayed by a leading German news service, DPA

-- one day after Dick Cheney paid a visit to the kingdom. As we noted, no one knows exactly what was said at that confab of allied authoritarians -- but something sure lit a fire under the Saudis, and convinced them that urgent action is needed to brace for the lethal overspill from a strike on Iran.

Floyd points out that nothing in Saudi Arabia becomes the top news story without government approval. That such a story should be released the day after Cheney's visit, sends a message to everyone about what’s on Cheney's mind.

This, combined with the dismissal of Centcom chief, Admiral Fallon, Petreus' claim to have evidence (which he doesn't produce) that Iran was responsible for the recent shelling of the Green Zone, . . and the Egyptian report that a nuclear sub has been ordered by Bush into the Gulf, the bleak picture in both Pakistan and Afghanistan (accelerating collapse of Musharraf's power and strategy, the coming spring offensive in the Taliban's announced drive for Kabu),
. . plus the oft-stated desire of Bush and Cheney to attack Iran, and, as noted by former mideast policy official William K. Polk at Juan Cole's site just a few days ago, the last time Cheney visited the nations he visited this time was right before the Iraq attack, . . then only a moron would deny that Bush and Dick have nothing but contempt for the will of the people, congress and the courts, and that they crave war like a junkie craves his fix.

Related:

Operation Cassandra
Worried Yet? Saudis Prepare for "Sudden Nuclear Hazards" After Cheney Visit

Bush Closer To Bombing Iran

The odds of Bush bombing Iran have gone up dramatically this week. There's just no other way to rationally interpret the resignation of Admiral William Fallon as head of Centcom.

Fallon resigned, and more likely was pushed out, after Esquire published an article on him entitled "The Man Between War and Peace." It said he was the one standing in the way of Bush bombing Iran.

He's not standing in the way any longer.

Actually, his rival, General David Petraeus, is now more powerful than ever. And as the Esquire article noted, Petraeus has said: "You cannot win in Iraq solely in Iraq."

Fallon seemed to understand the risk he was taking when he took the job as head of Centcom. He told Esquire: "Career capping? How about career detonating?"

Fallon's fate as a weathervane for war with Iran has been clear since the time of his confirmation, when he told a source that an attack on Iran "will not happen on my watch." His watch just stopped.

He also said at the time, "There are several of us trying to put the crazies back in the box."

But the crazies are still bounding around outside the box, and none crazier than Dick Cheney, who is off on a Mideast trip, ostensibly to deal with Israel and Palestine and also with high oil prices.

But there are other purposes, as well. Cheney is visiting Oman, "a key military ally and logistics hub for military operations in the Persian Gulf," notes U.S. News & World Report. What's more, according to U.S. News, "two U.S. warships took up positions off Lebanon earlier this month." The Pentagon "would want its warships in the eastern Mediterranean in the event of military action against Iran to keep Iranian ally Syria in check and to help provide air cover to Israel against Iranian missile reprisals," the story said. "One of the newly deployed ships, the USS Ross, is an Aegis guised missile destroyer, a top system for defense against air attacks."

U.S. News cited three other signs why war is more likely now: Israel's airstrike on Syria, Israel's war with Hezbollah, and Shimon Peres's disavowal of unilateral action.

Here's one more: The director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, testified to the Senate on February 5 that maybe in last fall's NIE he overstressed the fact that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons work. And maybe he overplayed the fact that Iran doesn't know how to design a nuclear weapon just yet.

And maybe he should have highlighted the fact that Iran was still enriching uranium. And maybe he should have emphasized that, therefore, Iran still poses a potential nuclear threat.

"In retrospect," McConnell said, "I would do some things differently."

Like give Bush and Cheney exactly what they ask for.

Something Admiral Fallon, to his credit, was not prepared to do.

By Matthew Rothschild The Progressive - UK

Bush Protects Jews Spying On US

Friday afternoon is not the best time for major news developments, but in the case of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) trial it seems to have become a habit.

For those who might have forgotten by now, the case is about two former AIPAC lobbyists, charged by the government with violating the Espionage Act, a legislation from the time of World War I, by revealing information to journalists and Israeli diplomats.

This classified information, acquired by Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman in the course of conversing with American officials, dealt mainly with the sensitive topics of Iran and Iraq.

The most tantalizing decision made in this case came a while ago, when the judge ruled that the defense will be able to subpoena a group of senior Bush administration officials.

This group includes Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, Deputy National Security Advisor Elliot Abrams, former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, the new Deputy at State William Burns, former deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz, former undersecretary of defense Douglas Feith and others.

The government was not happy about it, but the legal proceedings kept going toward the target date - not the first one, as the judge had to push back the trial date many times in the past - April 29. But on Friday a new development threatened to extend the trial into the future.

This has been going on for quite a while now. It was 2004 when federal agents knocked on Rosen's door in Silver Spring, informing him that he plays a role in this criminal case. Haaretz

Russia and Japan form nuclear alliance

Paris is in shock: nuclear giants Atomenergoprom and Toshiba have decided to form an alliance in civilian nuclear power operations, including power plant construction and fuel production.

The two companies signed a framework agreement last week, under which the Russian company will enrich uranium produced in Kazakhstan, while Toshiba will produce nuclear fuel and undertake the designing and engineering of nuclear power plants.

The firms may establish a strategic partnership in the future, Toshiba said. By securing a stable supply of nuclear fuel through the alliance with Atomenergoprom, Toshiba hopes to sharpen its competitive edge.

Experts predict that the alliance will become the world's leader in the nuclear sector.

Previously, the market was divided between four players: the French-German alliance of Areva and Siemens, two American-Japanese groups, Toshiba-Westinghouse and GE-Hitachi, and Russia's Atomenergoprom.

The Russian-Japanese alliance will cut the number of players to three. Moreover, Toshiba now owns a 70% stake in Westinghouse.

The French newspaper Les Echos described the alliance as "the main event in the nuclear production cycle." As a nuclear power and leading player on the global market of nuclear power engineering, France is worried that the Russian-Japanese tie-up could become a major rival of the French Areva.

The newspaper reports that the French government intends to merge Areva and Alstom into a nuclear power plant building super-company.

The Russian-Japanese merger was prompted by Russia's desire to swim with the tide, although Toshiba was neither its initial nor only choice. Russia made offers of strategic partnership to several candidates, but Toshiba offered the best terms.

Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for Rosatom, the Federal Agency for Nuclear Power, said: "The Japanese have the engineering know-how to build nuclear power plants within three years. They are the recognized leaders in this respect; it takes us five years to build a nuclear power plant. So, we will learn from them if the alliance is formed. We may also cooperate in mutual supplies of large-size equipment. [The alliance] will also allow Russia to emerge on the global market for nuclear fuel."

Atomenergorpom has the technologies of an open nuclear fuel cycle and can build civilian nuclear facilities under turnkey conditions. It also has cutting-edge water-water reactor (VVR) technologies.

Although it has signed only a framework agreement with Toshiba, experts believe that the document is the first step to forming a full-scale transnational alliance. It will be set up as an absolute parity, without the partners exchanging stakes or assets, but agreeing to jointly plan their business. The alliance will work toward a global goal of developing and applying safe, clean and efficient nuclear generation systems.

"The framework agreement is a sign made to the market; subsequent moves will be based on the assumption that business is a highly practical matter, with adequate decisions depending on each particular project," said Novikov.

"If we decide to build a nuclear power plant in Russia's Far East, as stipulated in the general plan for placing nuclear power plants, it would be logical to invite the Japanese," he said.

Experts also say that Russia may join forces with Toshiba to manufacture equipment for nuclear power plants.

Taken together, this promises dynamic, effective and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Rosatom corporation, said: "An alliance of two giant companies would have a positive effect on the nuclear renaissance, making it more predictable and technically feasible."

He said that all consumers of commodities and services of the nuclear fuel cycle would enjoy the fruits of Russian-Japanese partnership.

Harufumi Mochizuki, head of Japan's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, is of the same opinion. RIA Novosti.

Laser plane could destroy tanks from 10 miles

The weapon is capable of destroying targets up to 15km (10m) away, according to Defense Update online magazine.

The ten-centimetre-wide beam will heat targets almost instantly to thousands of degrees and will slice through metal even at maximum range. It is intended both for battlefield use and for missile defense.It is anticipated the beam will be adjustable, allowing the gunner to choose between, for example, targeting a vehicle's fuel tank to destroy it utterly, or slice through a tyre to bring it to a halt without injuring the driver.

The laser will be housed in a rotating turret attached to the underside of the aircraft and will be aimed independently of the plane. Early tests have focused on testing the rotation of the laser housing.


The laser is housed in a rotating glass turret, seen here on the front of the aircraftSo far the laser itself has not been tested in flight, but first trials are expected during 2008. Tests on a laser for destroying vehicles will be carried out on the prototype based on the C-130 "Hercules" transport aircraft. A separate version of the missile will be trialled on a Boeing 747.

Evidence That the CIA Murdered RFK

A new BBC documentary supports the conclusion that the CIA planned and executed the assassination of Robert Kennedy. The new video and photographic evidence -- the result of a three year long investigation --"puts three senior CIA operatives" at the scene of the murder.

Three of these men have been positively identified as senior officers who worked together in 1963 at JMWAVE, the CIA's Miami base for its Secret War on Castro.David Morales was Chief of Operations and once told friends: "I was in Dallas when we got the son of a bitch and I was in Los Angeles when we got the little bastard."Gordon Campbell was Chief of Maritime Operations and George Joannides was Chief of Psychological Warfare Operations.Joannides was called out of retirement in 1978 to act as the CIA liaison to the Congressional investigation into the JFK assassination. Now, we see him at the Ambassador Hotel the night a second Kennedy is assassinated. --CIA role in Kennedy killing

As with the 1963 murder of JFK in Dallas, lingering questions dog the official theories. Powder burns indicated that three shots had been fired from very close range from 0 to 1-1/2 inches though no witness could place Sirhan closer than three feet. Sirhan's gun held only eight bullets but a total of ten were recovered. Three were found in Kennedy. Two were lodged in a pantry door frame. One was found in an airspace. Presumably four more were found elsewhere. Significantly, four bullets 'touched' Kennedy to include the three that were recovered --lodged --in his back. At no time was Sirhan ever behind RFK. More

CIA Agents killed Robert Kennedy

When the hypnotized patsy, Sirhan Sirhan, opened fire on Robert Kennedy from the front, a CIA agent fired the kill shot at close range into the back of Kennedy's head.

The same agent who coordinated the operation and was at the scene, was later brought out of retirement to "handle" the congressional investigation into the assasination.

All 3 members of the assasination team are now dead, but many of those connected to them still hold high offices in government.

Russian intelligence sees U.S. military buildup on Iran border

Russian military intelligence services are reporting a flurry of activity by U.S. Armed Forces near Iran's borders, a high-ranking security source said Tuesday.

"The latest military intelligence data point to heightened U.S. military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran," the official said, adding that the Pentagon has probably not yet made a final decision as to when an attack will be launched.

He said the Pentagon is looking for a way to deliver a strike against Iran "that would enable the Americans to bring the country to its knees at minimal cost."

He also said the U.S. Naval presence in the Persian Gulf has for the first time in the past four years reached the level that existed shortly before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Col.-Gen. Leonid Ivashov, vice president of the Academy of Geopolitical Sciences, said last week that the Pentagon is planning to deliver a massive air strike on Iran's military infrastructure in the near future.

A new U.S. carrier battle group has been dispatched to the Gulf.

The USS John C. Stennis, with a crew of 3,200 and around 80 fixed-wing aircraft, including F/A-18 Hornet and Superhornet fighter-bombers, eight support ships and four nuclear submarines are heading for the Gulf, where a similar group led by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower has been deployed since December 2006.

The U.S. is also sending Patriot anti-missile systems to the region.

US gave $300m arms contract to 22-year-old with criminal record

The Pentagon entrusted a 22-year-old previously arrested for domestic violence and having a forged driving licence to be the main supplier of ammunition to Afghan forces at the height of the battle against the Taliban, it was reported yesterday.

AEY, essentially a one-man operation based in an unmarked office in Miami Beach, Florida, was awarded a contract worth $300m (£150m) to supply the Afghan army and police in January last year. But as the New York Times reported in a lengthy investigation, AEY's president, Efraim Diversoli, 22, supplied stock that was 40 years old and rotting packing material.

"Much of the ammunition comes from the ageing stockpiles of the old communist bloc, including stockpiles that the state department and Nato have determined to be unreliable and obsolete, and have spent millions of dollars to have destroyed," the paper said.

The report on AEY was the latest instance of private firms securing lucrative defence contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan under the Bush administration's policy of privatising growing aspects of the military.

"Operations like this pop up like mushrooms after the rain," said Milton Bearden, a former CIA official who in the 1980s was in charge of arming Afghan rebel groups fighting the former Soviet Union.

"For the most part the US or coalition forces will stick with the Warsaw Pact weapons and munitions systems that were already being used by the Afghans or the Iraqis. There becomes an insatiable demand for certain munitions. Suppliers go all over the world sweeping out warehouses and you end up with boxes of junk and unstable gear if you are not careful." More

Supplier Under Scrutiny on Arms for Afghans

Pentagon agency confuses Iran with Iraq in official history

"George W. Bush is not stupid," Jon Stewart told a crowd in 2005. "He invaded Iraq. They didn't have weapons of mass destruction or ties to Al Qaeda ... but Iran does. So he was only one letter off and that should be credited."

The Agency that brought you bogus intelligence on the Iraq war -- a Defense Intelligence Agency operative who knew that a key US intelligence source was unreliable sat in on meetings with then-Secretary of State Colin Powell when he incorporated claims about mobile Iraqi weapons labs into his portfolio -- now brings you the Iran that is actually Iraq.

In a brief official history of their own agency, posted on their website (pdf here), the DIA confused Iran and Iraq.

Noting "world crises" in the 1980s, the agency's report cites “an Israeli F-16 raid to destroy an Iranian nuclear reactor.” (See page 14)

The discrepancy was first caught by the Federation of American Scientists' Steven Aftergood, who writes the blog Secrecy News.

In fact, Israel attacked an Iraqi nuclear reactor -- Osirak -- in 1981. Israel has not attacked Iranian nuclear sites -- or at least, not yet.

“The description appears to match Israel’s raid on Iraq’s [Osirak] nuclear reactor” in 1981, Israeli scholar Gideon Remez told Aftergood on his blog. “Today’s preoccupation with Iran’s nuclear program seems to have been projected onto the events of 27 years ago.” Raw Story

Bush: US will show Iran who rules

The US claims Iraq success will send a 'clear message' to Iran that it cannot have its way with other countries in the Middle East.

“The reason why it's ... important to be successful in Iraq, is because, one, we want to help establish a democracy in the heart of the Middle East, the most volatile region of the world," President George W. Bush said at a White House news conference with visiting Australian Premier Kevin Rudd.

"Two, we want to send a clear message to Iran that they're not going to be able to have their way with nations in the Middle East,” he continued.

Earlier, Iran advised the Bush Administration to stop blaming other nations for its wrongdoings in Iraq."The US is exhibiting clear signs of projection bias and President Bush's recent remarks show he is desperate to run away from the reality of the grim situation in Iraq," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said Friday. Press TV

Transgender man gets pregnant

Thomas Beatie, a transgender man of Oregon, gets pregnant by artificial insemination. He has decided to carry his child as he has said, "Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire." (Photo: xinhuanet.com)

BUSH'S IRAQ BUBBLE OF DENIAL IS BURSTING

As Iraqi daily rocket attacks pound the supposedly "safe" American Green zone in Iraq, two things become readily apparent ~ 1. Contrary to Bush's continued exclamations, Democracy is not coming to Iraq anytime soon, if ever . 2. Bush's illegal occupation and face covering "surge" is collapsing as Iraqi "freedom fighters" ( not insurgents ) begin a broad and coordinated effort to rightfully take back their own country: Allen L Roland

Bush's bubble of denial is rapidly bursting in Iraq effectively ending Bush's attempts to maintain the perception of progress until he leaves office next January ~ effectively leaving the Democrats with his mess to clean up.

For those of you who remember, the daily rocket attacks on the Green Zone are similar to the daily attacks on Siagon before the capital fell to the Vietcong ~ but this time it may fall to a Iraqi national liberation movement against America's illegal occupation and economic rape of Iraq.

No Americans are safe anymore in Iraq and that includes the Green Zone. Salon

NWO Gestapo Block Raid

This video report portrays the New World Order Gestapo at it's finest. Hundreds of Stormtroopers raid an entire block and lock it down. Watch as the Stroomtroopers Round up the citizens and drag them into the streets. Utilized by the Illuminazis an excellent tactic, so the rest of the people will submit to their Power of Fear.

This is a primary example of how the Tyrannical Vampire Rat Masters suck the life blood from peoples lives. They send their firm messages that the worthless eaters are living in a Prison Planet, as they drive the slaves into obedient submission.



NWO Gestapo preps for 'Nuclear attacks, invasions and suicide bombings in the United States' in ab
This video report profiles the Secret Governments plans in Playas, New Mexico as a modern day Gestapo Play Pen and The "secret" black helicopters that have been reported throughout the US, a full-scale training ground for the Federal Emergency Management Agency . That give the New World Order Thugs experience dealing with all manners of Domestic Terrorism scenarios and disasters.

The New World Order Stormtrooper training program within a real town in New Mexico where Black helicopters buzz overhead in the middle of the night, mock nuclear explosions are drilled and "suicide bombers" are taken down by SWAT teams who pull citizens out of their homes.


Even the worst feared infamous phrase "The Knock in the middle of the Night'' under Martial Law State Tactics. Have many wondering if their own Government is plotting to grab them from their homes and ship them of to FEMA Detention Centers.

'"PROJECT DISARM": NWO Gestapo Gun Grab betrayal

Are We Headed For Jericho?

A friend recently turned me on to the CBS television series, Jericho. I watch so little network television that I confess to never having seen the show before this week. Obviously, then, I am quite uninformed as to the overall plot and previous episodes. What I saw Tuesday evening, however, stunned me. Why? Because it very aptly depicted what could become a very real-life scenario for these United States in the not-so-distant future.

If I accurately picked up the basic plot of the show, average, freedom-loving citizens in the Western U.S. are fighting against tyrannical elements of their own government, including military forces. The State of Texas has declared its independence from the corrupt new government and another civil war is breaking out in America. And all this was predicated upon a nuclear attack, which some believed was an inside job. Am I close?

Contributing further to my amazement was the way Jericho used real-life political events to depict America's fall into tyranny. I was flabbergasted to see the characters of Jericho refer to the Continuity of Government act as the foundation for the government's declaration of martial law after the nuclear attack had occurred.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Continuity of Government (COG) act is not television make-believe: it is the real deal.

To read up on COG, go to Wikipedia's entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_of_Operations_Plan

In addition, I have reported the potential problems associated with COG in this column.

See http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20070112.html

See also http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20070525.html

Here is a quote from the Wikipedia entry: "The George W. Bush administration put the Continuity of Operations plan into effect for the first time directly following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Their implementation involves a rotating staff of 75 to 150 senior officials and other government workers from every Cabinet department and other parts of the executive branch in two secure bunkers on the East Coast . . . . More

Homeland Security is full of *hit

Homeland Security crap office filled with feces

Phantom crapper lets Dual-Citizen israeli Chertoff know what he thinks of homeland security.

Someone with an urge to purge took it out on the Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management office in downtown St. Paul, police said.

An unknown man defecated in several rooms Friday afternoon and left on foot before an officer arrived, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Tuesday. Based on the suspect's description, he appeared to be homeless, a police spokesman said.

It turns out the Homeland office wasn't too secure -- a contractor working for the building's management failed to properly secure a door behind him, said Susan Lasley, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Pubic Safety *hit. UPI

More disgraceful conduct by zionist Chertoff's perverted Gestapo agents.

A woman said Thursday she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane in Texas, and demanded a civil rights investigation as well as an apology from federal security agents.

"I wouldn't wish this experience upon anyone," Mandi Hamlin, 37, said at a news conference. "My experience with TSA was a nightmare I had to endure. No one deserves to be treated this way."

Hamlin said she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas on Feb. 24 when she was scanned by a Transportation Security Administration agent after passing through a larger metal detector without problems.

The female TSA agent used a handheld detector that beeped when it passed in front of Hamlin's chest, the Dallas-area resident said.

Hamlin said she told the woman that she was wearing nipple piercings. The women then called over her male colleagues, one of whom said she would have to remove the body piercings, Hamlin claimed. Hamlin said she could not remove them and asked if she could instead display her pierced breasts in private to the female agent. But several other male officers told her she could not board her flight until the jewelry was removed, she said.

She was taken behind a curtain and managed to remove one bar-shaped nipple piercing but had trouble with the second, a ring.

"Still crying, she informed the TSA officer that she could not remove it without the help of pliers, and the officer gave a pair to her," said Hamlin's attorney, Gloria Allred, reading from a letter she sent Thursday to the director of the TSA's Office of Civil Rights and Liberties. iht

UN says 'network' killed Hariri

Rafik Hariri was killed using a lorry full of explosives

A UN commission investigating the death of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri says the evidence suggests a network of people was responsible for the attack.

No individuals were named, but the investigators said what it called the "Hariri Network" might also be behind other deadly attacks in Lebanon.

The ex-PM and 22 others died in a huge car bombing in Beirut in February 2005.

Past UN inquiries suggested that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence forces had played a role - which Syria denied.

The commission said the evidence indicated that the network existed before his assassination and carried out surveillance of the former prime minister.

It said at least part of the network continued to operate after Mr Hariri's killing.

Lebanon has been in crisis and without a president for months, amid a drawn-out power struggle between the pro- and anti-Syrian factions. Progress

NKorea raises stakes in nuke dispute with missile launches

North Korea raised the stakes Friday in its nuclear disputes with South Korea and the United States, test-firing several missiles and warning it may slow down work to disable atomic plants.
The actions come one day after the communist state expelled South Korean officials from a joint industrial estate, in protest at the new conservative government's tougher policy towards Pyongyang.

Presidential spokesman Lee Dong-Kwan described the missile launches as part of a regular military exercise. "I believe North Korea will not sour relations with South Korea," he said.

But one analyst said it was "highly possible" the situation would worsen.

"We may see naval clashes (in disputed waters) in the Yellow Sea," said Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies, adding that the North seeks to sway the outcome of the April 9 parliamentary election. AFP

White House says NKorea missile tests 'not constructive'

Supreme Court Ruling Rebukes the President

President Bush wanted Texas to adhere to a World Court ruling and the Texas courts resisted. After years of wrangling, the Supreme Court has just agreed with Texas.

Follow this link to the original source: "Justices Rebuff Bush and World Court"

Mexican national Jose Medellin brutally raped and murdered two Houston teenagers in 1993. For his crime, he was tried, convicted and awarded the death penalty by a Texas court. After an appeal on his behalf, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that Medellin had received fair treatment and his conviction was upheld.

Because the murderer was not advised of his right to receive legal assistance from Mexico's consul, Mexico sued the United States in the World Court. In 2004, the United Nations body located in The Hague told the United States that it was obliged to reopen the case. Medellin's lawyers went back to court. The fate of the convicted murderer and that of 50 other Mexican nationals facing the death penalty in four separate states for similar crimes, would again come before the judges. JBS

Jannati: US backs terrorists in Iraq

A senior Iranian cleric has called the US the biggest terrorist in the world, accusing it of supporting terrorist organizations in Iraq.

"Five years of Iraq's occupation brought nothing but misery and loss for the American and Iraqi nations. The occupation has left one million Iraqis killed and 2-3 million others homeless. The US has seized the administration of the country's affairs from the Iraqi officials and does not allow the democratically elected government to serve the nation," Tehran's interim Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said.

The US has invariably failed to achieve anything from interference in the domestic affairs of other countries, the Ayatollah said, calling on Islamic states and organizations to adopt a firm stance on the occupation of Iraq and its dire consequences.

The cleric also praised the massive participation of the Iranian nation in the recent parliamentary elections, saying that despite sanctions and resolutions against the Islamic Republic, the elections were held in an appropriate and orderly fashion.

"The Iranian nation is well aware of the fact that the US has only its own interests in mind when it bothers to make statements," noted the senior cleric. Press TV

Britain admits its troops abused Iraqi prisoners

Britain's Defence Ministry is to admit that its troops tortured and breached the human rights of nine Iraqi men they detained in southern Iraq in 2003, opening the way to potentially large compensation claims.

The decision follows years of legal wrangling in which the family of Baha Musa, an Iraqi hotel worker who was beaten and died in British custody, and eight other Iraqis who survived the beatings, have sought justice.

The ministry, which will make the admission in the High Court tomorrow, said today it was doing so to try to smooth the process of paying compensation to Musa's family and the eight other Iraqis and end lengthy court proceedings.

The case was one of the British military's darkest episodes in Iraq. All nine detainees suffered 36 hours of violent interrogation before Musa died with 93 injuries to his body, including a broken nose and ribs.

"I deeply regret the actions of a very small number of troops and I offer my sincere apologies and sympathy to the family of Baha Musa and the eight others," armed forces minister Bob Ainsworth said in a statement issued along with the ministry's admission of its breach of human rights.

"During 2003 and 2004, a very small minority committed acts of abuse and we condemn their actions." Brisbane Times

A Chinese Muslim's Desperate Plea From Gitmo

The stories of the Uighurs in Guantánamo – Muslims from the oppressed Xinjiang province of China, formerly known as East Turkistan – have long demonstrated chronic injustice on the part of the U.S. authorities to those who know of them, although they have only sporadically registered on the media's radar.

Numbering 22 men in total, three were picked up randomly in Afghanistan, another was caught crossing the Pakistani border disguised in a burqa, while the other 18 were seized together by opportunistic Pakistani villagers after fleeing Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion in October 2001, and sold to U.S. forces for a bounty, as was common at the time. A leaflet dropped by U.S. planes offered enterprising villagers and soldiers "millions of dollars for helping the anti-Taliban force catch al-Qaeda and Taliban murderers."

These 18 men, who had fled their homeland because of persecution, in search of a new life, or in the hope of gaining some sort of training to enable them to fight back against their oppressors, had been living together in a small, run-down hamlet in Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains, mending the settlement's ruined buildings, and occasionally training on their only weapon, an aging AK-47.

After the U.S.-led invasion, they were targeted in a U.S. bombing raid, in which several men died. The survivors then made their way across the mountains to the Pakistani border, where they were first welcomed by the villagers, then betrayed by them. In U.S. custody, they attracted attention because of their supposed insights into the workings of the Chinese government, but it was apparent from early on that they had not been involved with either the Taliban or al-Qaeda, and that there was no reason to hold them. More

Gates orders inventory of US nukes

Gates Orders Full Inventory of US Nuclear Weapons, Related Materials After Mistaken Delivery

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered a full inventory of all nuclear weapons and related materials after the mistaken delivery of ballistic missile fuses to Taiwan, the Pentagon said Thursday.

Blocked Ad

Gates told officials with the Air Force, Navy and Defense Logistics Agency to assess inventory control procedures for the materials and to submit a report within 60 days.

Earlier this week, Gates directed Navy Adm. Kirkland H. Donald to take charge of a full investigation of the delivery mistake in which four cone-shaped electrical fuses used in intercontinental ballistic missile warheads were shipped to the Taiwanese instead of the helicopter batteries they had ordered.

It was the second nuclear-related mistake involving the military that has been revealed in recent months. In August an Air Force B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La. At the time, the pilot and crew were unaware they had nuclear arms aboard.

The electrical fuses were delivered in fall 2006, but the military did not fully realize the gravity of the blunder until last week. The revelation sparked sharp protests from China and forced President Bush to acknowledge the error in a phone call Wednesday with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

While the shipment did not contain nuclear materials, the error is particularly sensitive because China vehemently opposes U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. U.S. officials were quick to say that the incident did not suggest any change in policies toward Taiwan arms sales.

But China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said, in a statement posted on the agency's Web site, that China had sent a protest to Washington expressing "strong displeasure."

He said China demanded the U.S. investigate the matter and report back to China to "eliminate the negative effects and disastrous consequences created by this incident."

Despite quarterly checks of the inventory, defense officials said they never knew the fuses were gone. Only after months of discussions with Taiwan over the missing batteries did the Pentagon finally realize — late last week — the seriousness of what had happened. Source: AP News

Obama a Tool of Bilderberg?

Senator suggests UN taxes on taxpayers in America not really such a bad idea

As AFP has reported for years, Bilderberg has been trying since 1992 to “establish a UN tax” which would be used to finance their globalist-oriented programs. Of course, the brunt of this tax would fall on American workers, and it appears this is being spearheaded by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

On Feb. 14, 2008, an Obama-sponsored bill called the “Global Poverty Act” (S 2433) was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after passing the House. What this bill would do, in effect, is levy a global tax on the United States where an additional 0.7% of the gross national product would be earmarked to foreign aid (on top of what we already give).

If passed this year, by 2021 the U.S. would be committed to an extra $845 billion in foreign aid. Not only would the United States be under the UN’s thumb in regard to taxation, but this bill (part of the globalists’ Millennium Development Goal) would also seek to ban certain weapons, establish an international criminal court, push global warming legislation, and promote “biological diversity.”

Anyone familiar with Bilderberg sees that all of the above “buzzwords” have been part of their agenda for decades. Assisting Obama in his endeavors are two longtime Council on Foreign Relations members: Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), who has been called Obama’s mentor, and Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.). Both have attended secret Bilderberg meetings and have been influential in trying to ratify the UN’s Law of the Sea Treaty
(LOST).

One political commentator has stated that this bill “would effectively turn control of seven-tenths of the Earth’s surface over to the UN,” not to mention surrendering the sovereignty of our seas to them.

Obama’s popularity can be attributed to one concept: he stands for “change.” But is this the type of change that American citizens really want—to become enslaved by a UN global tax on top of the local, state and federal taxes they already pay? Obama is another political tool whose loyalties lie with those shadowy figures who sit atop the world’s control pyramid.

Victor Thorn is the co-founder of the World Independent News Group (www.wingtv.net) and the author of many books about 9-11, the New World Order and, of course, the Hillary (And Bill) trilogy. By Victor Thorn

China indignant over US warhead fuse shipment to Taiwan

China on Wednesday expressed "grave concern" over the revelation that the United States had mistakenly sent Taiwan four nuclear warhead fuses in 2006.

The erroneous shipment of the fuses, which can be used to trigger warheads on ballistic missiles, was only discovered last week, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

"We express our serious concern and strong dissatisfaction and demand the US side investigate this incident," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement.

"We urge the US to cease selling military hardware to Taiwan and end US-Taiwan military ties, or risk harming stability in the Taiwan Strait and the healthy and stable development of China-US ties."

Nose cone assemblies containing the fuses were recovered on Monday from Taiwan where they had been held in storage after being shipped there as helicopter batteries, senior Pentagon officials said.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered an investigation into the incident and a comprehensive review of the US inventory of all nuclear-related components as well as of policies and procedures, the officials said.

"We'll do a thorough investigation, and those who are responsible will be held accountable. The secretary is quite forceful on this," said Ryan Henry, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy. AFP

Dimona within range of Hezbollah missiles

Most of Hezbollah's weapons arsenal consists of Katyushas.

Israel believes Hezbollah has succeeded in repairing its missile arsenal and has developed a new missile with a range of 300 kilometers.

Maan news agency quoted from the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv, that Hezbollah has completely restored its missile potential and is ready to hit back at the Zionist regime in case of an attack.

The range of the new missile means that the Israeli nuclear reactor at Dimona will be within reach of Hezbollah fire.

However, most of Hezbollah's weapons arsenal consists of simple Katyushas whose range is not more than 20 to 40 kilometers, Maariv added.

Despite the high technology employed by the Israeli military, the regime's army failed to stop missile attacks by Hezbollah during the 33-day Lebanon war.

Israel: Iran seeks death, destruction

Israel's president Shimon Peres

Israel once again points the finger at Iran, saying Tehran would not need long-range missiles if it weren't seeking nuclear armament.

"Why are they building long-range missiles, which are extremely expensive? In those missiles you put in only wars (warheads) that have the capacity of mass destruction, otherwise it doesn't make sense," Israeli president Shimon Peres asked UN envoy to the Mideast Robert Serry in a Thursday meeting.

"They build the missiles of all ranges: short range, medium range, 1,500 kilometers range - what for?," he continued.

This is while the Zionist regime, itself, bars inspections of its nuclear facilities and is widely believed to have over 200 nuclear warheads in its arsenal.

Israel calls its approach of neither denying nor admitting that it has nuclear weapons 'strategic ambiguity'.

Iran, however, is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and allows the UN nuclear watchdog to conduct inspections of its nuclear program.

Russia cautions US on missile shield

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the onus is on Washington to abandon its missile shield initiative in Eastern Europe.

Speaking at the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday, Lavrov advised the Bush administration to abandon its missile plans as it would be the best solution for the Washington-Kremlin standoff.

"Our position is simple. We think that the best way to remove the concerns about the third missile area is the rejection of such plans, and a switch to a collective project with participation of Russia, the US and European countries," AP quoted Lavrov as saying.

His statement followed intense US effort to sway Moscow with various proposals regarding the projected missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Lavrov said although Russian officials are studying Washington's proposals, the US missile plan should be dropped completely.

Russia's outgoing President Vladimir Putin has brushed aside Western claims that the missile shield is necessary to protect Europe against a potential missile threat from the Islamic Republic. Press TV

Hersh: Don't trust Washington on Iraq

Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh

Prominent journalist Seymour Hersh says the US is 'in real trouble' because news coverage on Iraq is anything but balanced and unbiased.

When the American government says the US is winning in Iraq and is not torturing prisoners, they are just words, Hersh told his audience of journalism students in Regina, Canada. "We are in real trouble [in Iraq]."

Pointing to the changes reporting has undergone since the Vietnam War, the award-winning journalist explained that reporters are now imbedded with troops who cloud their judgment and therefore do not touch the same kind of issues.

"It has led to a lot of lousy reporting," continued Hersh. "I don't think it is bad for a journalist to come back (from covering a war) and say it s***s."

Hersh said media outlets spread 'fake' news and suggested his audience resort to translations of local media sources when learning about issues concerning the Middle East.

Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Myron Hersh first gained worldwide recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War. Press TV

Pakistan's new leaders tell US: We are no longer your killing field

This article appeared in the Guardian on Thursday March 27 2008 on p17 of the International section. It was last updated at 08:52 on March 27 2008.

Link to this audio
Listen to Declan Walsh in Islamabad assess the options as two senior US diplomats visit Pakistan

The Bush administration is scrambling to engage with Pakistan's new rulers as power flows from its strong ally, President Pervez Musharraf, to a powerful civilian government buoyed by anti-American sentiment.

Top diplomats John Negroponte and Richard Boucher travelled to a mountain fortress near the Afghan border yesterday as part of a hastily announced visit that has received a tepid reception.

On Tuesday, senior coalition partner Nawaz Sharif gave the visiting Americans a public scolding for using Pakistan as a "killing field" and relying too much on Musharraf.

Yesterday the new prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, said he warned President George Bush in a phone conversation that he would prioritise talking as well as shooting in the battle against Islamist extremism. "He said that a comprehensive approach is required in this regard, specially combining a political approach with development," a statement said.

But Gilani also reassured Bush that Pakistan would "continue to fight against terrorism", it said.

Since 2001 American officials have treasured their close relationship with Musharraf because he offered a "one-stop shop" for cooperation in hunting al-Qaida fugitives hiding in Pakistan. More

Putin invites Bush to confer in move to avoid public clash

President George W. Bush announced Wednesday that he had accepted an invitation by President Vladimir Putin to visit Russia next week, signaling an effort to avoid a public clash over NATO and missile defenses when Bush travels to Europe next week.

The meeting — expected to take place on April 5 and 6 in Sochi, a resort city on the Black Sea — is likely to be the last between them before Putin steps aside as president and is replaced by his protégé, Dmitri Medvedev.

Medvedev is also likely to attend the meetings for what would be his first substantive discussions with Bush.

Bush's secretaries of state and defense, Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates, went to Moscow this month after the president had sent a letter offering to formalize negotiations on a series of disputed issues.

Those included the administration's plans to base parts of a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, which Russia opposes, as well as stalled efforts to resume negotiations on reductions and verification measures for the two countries' strategic nuclear arsenals. iht

Dead also vote in the only democracy in ME

The Knesset Constitution Law and Justice Committee on Thursday approved regulations to combat the phenomenon of 'dead voters' - whereby those registered to vote are listed as having impossibly high ages and are presumed to be filed erroneously.

There are currently 5,711 registered voters listed over 110 years of age, according to the Interior Ministry - and only 30 of them receive senior citizen stipends from the government.

The ministry believes that the majority of the 'voters' listed at these ages are dead and were mistakenly registered. The 2004 State Comptroller report, released following elections for the 16th Knesset, showed seven voters between the ages of 110 and 134 - raising suspicion of irregularities in the registration process.

According to the regulations passed by the Knesset committee on Thursday, anybody listed as 110 or older who does not receive insurance or guaranteed minimal income stipends from the government will be considered inactive.

These inactive residents will then receive a notice from the government informing them that their names and addresses will be erased from the registrar, thus preventing them from voting. Unless, of course, the residents respond to the government's notice.

The regulations are set to go into effect immediately and will be implemented in the local authority elections scheduled for November.

As the regulations will only include those listed as 110 years or older, the government still expects to see a problem with 'dead voters' listed in their 90s or early 100s. More?

New Twist in Kennedy Mystery; Photo Negatives of Robert F. Kennedy's Assassination Disappear

The negatives of some photographs taken in the moments surrounding the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy are missing.

That is not a matter of debate. But almost everything else about the pictures is.

Did they show the crucial seconds when bullets felled the presidential candidate in a pantry at the Ambassador Hotel on June 5, 1968, as claimed by the photographer, Jamie Scott Enyart? Or did they show nothing of the assassination, as alleged by the city attorney's office?

Could they have been destroyed, along with other evidence, after the official assassination investigation, as suggested by Enyart? Or were they simply misplaced, only to turn up in state archives more than 25 years later, as claimed by city and state officials?

And was a manila envelope containing the recently rediscovered negatives stolen from a courier's car in Inglewood last Friday, as claimed by the courier? Even attorneys for the city, who may soon have to mount a defense in Enyart's $2-million lawsuit over the missing negatives, admit that the circumstances surrounding the alleged theft are "highly unusual."

Enyart's attorney, Alvin Greenwald, hinted darkly at a conspiracy--a suggestion, never substantiated, that has haunted every investigation of the New York senator's death.

"Somebody, for some reason, is making sure those photos do not reach public view," Greenwald said. More

Soldier Suicides: veterans are killing themselves in record numbers

On February 19, 2004, Private Jonathan Schulze's life changed forever. The stone-faced, blue-eyed Marine got word he was going to war in Iraq, an environment completely different from his previous cozy posts in Okinawa, Japan, and California.

Two months later, Schulze found himself in the midst of a bloody, two-day firefight in Ramadi. He watched a rocket-propelled grenade decapitate his best friend. There was no time to grieve, he told his family; he had to "bag and tag" bodies with the dead man's brains still smeared across his shirt. There were 16 U.S. fatalities that day.

Seven months later, after receiving a general discharge from the Marine Corps, Schulze returned to the family farm near Stewart, Minnesota, where he grew up. Although unusually quiet, his life seemed back on track; he worked construction with his father and fawned over his daughter, Kaley Marie.

In May 2005, Schulze suffered an on-the-job injury and turned to the Minneapolis Veterans Administration for treatment. For reasons unknown, his body was resisting antibiotics and he was continually developing infections.

But that wasn't all that was wrong. Jonathan told doctors that several times a day he experienced panic attacks. His heart would race, his chest would hurt, and he'd feel like he was being choked. He couldn't sleep at night and had developed a violent temper. One psychiatrist noted that Schulze said his "life was falling apart."

Jonathan was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a serious mental condition that can result in nightmares, panic attacks, and hypervigilance.

By January of 2007, Schulze's binge drinking and violent outbursts had hurt his relationships with family and friends. He'd been convicted of driving drunk and was asked to leave an apartment he was renting.

Schulze hit bottom and realized that no amount of booze and anti-anxiety drugs would make the pains of the war fade. He inquired about residential PTSD programming at the Minneapolis VA and was told he had to wait until March. More

Experts Say Sirhan Sirhan Did Not Shoot RFK

A report from Connecticut's NBC 30 concerning new evidence in the controversy surrounding the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.

'Israeli spies helping Mugabe'

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has enlisted the services of Israeli computer experts with links to the Jewish state's Mossad spy agency to help steal a weekend vote, the opposition said on Thursday.

Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) secretary general Tendai Biti claimed that Mugabe has hired an Israeli company manned by IT experts who are linked to Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, to doctor the voters' roll to help him win the tightly-contested vote with around a 60% majority.

"We are getting, by the second, evidence of the manner in which Mugabe and his cronies are assaulting this election," said Biti.

"Mugabe intends to steal this election ... through the technical assault. They are thoroughly organised, thoroughly computerised. The voters' roll and technology is the key vehicle of fraud that they intend to use.

"This is based on sophisticated Israel technology. All the people in the firm are Mossad.

"They are very experienced people who know what they are doing."

The MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai went on trial in 2003 for treason in a case largely based on an interview he conducted with an ex-Mossad agent who was later discredited after being exposed as being on the government pay roll.

To illustrate what it said was evidence of how the voters' roll had been inflated, the MDC made a slide presentation of its investigations of one Harare constituency where around 1 000 voters had been registered as residents of a 300m² undeveloped piece of land.

Biti said the MDC was filing a court application over the involvement of the Israel firm in the election.

"This election, unlike in 2002, where it was stolen through people being killed and through people being beaten up, this election is being stolen and lost through the computer." News 24

Chavez says U.S. relations could worsen with McCain

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a socialist and fierce U.S. critic, warned on Tuesday that relations with Washington could worsen if Republican candidate John McCain wins this year's presidential election.

Chavez said he hopes the United States and Venezuela can work better together when his ideological foe, U.S. President George W. Bush, leaves the White House next year, but he said McCain seemed "warlike."

"Sometimes one says, 'worse than Bush is impossible,' but we don't know," Chavez told foreign correspondents. "McCain also seems to be a man of war."

Chavez -- who has called Bush "the devil", "a donkey" and 'Mr Danger" -- accuses the United States of having imperial designs in Latin America and says the White House has plotted his overthrow.

McCain calls Chavez a dictator who wants to emulate retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Although Venezuela remains a key supplier of oil to the United States, relations have steadily deteriorated since Bush took office in 2001.

Chavez is an outspoken critic of the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has accused Washington of stirring unrest in Tibet to destabilize China. Full article

War on terror: Bush waives law on coups

President George W. Bush has cleared the way for giving millions of dollars to Pakistan to fight terrorism this year, the White House said Tuesday as a new government took power in Islamabad.

In a memo to the secretary of state dated Monday, Bush used his authority to exempt Pakistan from a law that restricts funding countries where the legitimate head of state was deposed by a military coup, as in Pakistan.

The waiver, which Bush has approved every year since 2003, opens the way for the United States to provide about 300 million dollars this year to key "war on terror" ally Pakistan to boost its counter-terrorism operations.

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the Bush administration still had concerns about the human rights situation in Pakistan, where President Pervez Musharraf took power by force in 1999, but stressed its major strategic role.

"Pakistan is a key ally in the 'war on terror.' The Pakistani government is conducting military, police, and intelligence operations to fight terrorist groups on Pakistani soil and bring terrorists to justice," Johndroe said.

The White House said Bush had asked the US Congress for about 300 million dollars for security assistance in Pakistan.

The announcement came as Pakistan's new prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, a key aide of slain opposition icon Benazir Bhutto, was sworn in by Musharraf after being picked as premier by parliament on Monday.

He will lead a coalition of Musharraf's opponents, who won general elections last month and who have indicated they plan to review the president's cooperation with the United States.Full article

CIA Operation in Tibet

Following URL links list can be downloaded at:
http://rapidshare.com/files/102540832...

** Australian newspaper reports "US Finger in Unrest Pie" on March 24, 2008, with subtitle: "WHICH country's interests are best served by an uprising in Tibet on the eve of the Beijing Olympics?" The last sentence of the article: "China is not perfect, but nor are the Dalai Lama and the Free Tibet crowd, who are being used as pawns by the US."
http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,23423457-5006550,00.html
(Cut-and-paste the above URL or Google "US Finger in Unrest Pie")

* Asia Times said on March 26, 2008 that "Large quantities of former Eastern bloc small arms and explosives have been reportedly smuggled into Tibet over the past 30 years, but these are likely to remain safely hidden until the right opportunity presents itself. The weapons have been acquired on the world markets or from stocks captured by US or Israeli forces. They have been sanitized and are deniable, untraceable back to the CIA."
http://atimes.com/atimes/China/JC26Ad...

** US State Department archive on Tibet operations:
http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/...

** MAKING TIBET A RUNNING SORE and A NUISANCE to the CHINESE:
The former CIA Executive Assistant, Sam Halpern, said "the whole idea was to keep Chinese occupied ... annoyed, ... disturbed. No body wanted to go to war over Tibet. ... And so, it was nuisance operation, ... it wouldn't cost very much, not even money or manpower. ... it was Tibetan manpower. We were willing to help Tibetans from becoming a running sore and a nuisance to the Chinese"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcGCjo...

** "Students For A Free Tibet" (STF") website: "SFT's programs focus on two main areas: hard-hitting campaigns to make China's occupation of Tibet too costly to maintain, and training to help students become successful leaders and activists for Tibet":
http://studentsforafreetibet.org/sect...

** CIA operations in 1984-1995 period as reported in the website of "Friends of Tibet":
http://www.friendsoftibet.org/databan...

** From 1959 to at least 1970, the Tibetan government in exile received $1.7 million (or $11.6 million in 2006 dollar) a year from CIA. The money is used to pay the terrorist activities against China. Dalai Lama himself was on CIA's payroll until 1974, reportedly receiving $180,000 a year ($897,000 in 2006 dollar). The funds were paid to him personally. National Endowment for Democracy ("NED") has taken over to finance Dalai Lama after 1970, and there is no record in public domain that shows how much money have been funneled to Dalai Lama since then.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/busines...
http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/...

** CIA Front Organizations:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.ph...
http://news.imagethief.com/blogs/chin...
http://www.gnucash.org/mirrors/www.sa...
http://www.informationclearinghouse.i...
http://www.voltairenet.org/article300...
http://venezuelasolidarity.org.uk/ven...

**Buddhism and Violences:
http://www.aasianst.org/absts/2005abs...
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~stroble/BUDDW...
http://www.sangam.org/articles/view/?...
http://www.bodydharma.org/choices/vio...
http://www.sangam.org/articles/view/?...

** All About Dalai Lama (violence, war, meat-eating, missing sex, exile government,...):
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/0...
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/95...
http://www.theage.com.au/news/busines...
http://www.salon.com/news/1998/07/13n...
http://www.trimondi.de/EN/interv03.html
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/200...
http://www.badkarmalama.com/open-lett...
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/31/sto...
http://www.aegis.com/news/lt/1989/LT8...
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage...
http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom...
http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassana/...

** Others:
http://www.international.ucla.edu/art...
http://www.palgrave-usa.com/catalog/p...
http://www.cefc.com.hk/uk/pc/articles...
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/...
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2007...
http://www.anandainfo.com/tantric_rob...