Iraq Has WMDs and Russia Has Invaded!
Foreign Ownership of U.S. Government Debt Passes $6 Trillion
For the first time in the nation’s history, foreign interests now own more than $6 trillion in U.S. government debt, according to the most recent Treasury Department report on major foreign holders of the debt, which includes the numbers through the end of June.
Iraq Has WMDs and Russia Has Invaded!
Who’s Telling the ‘Big Lie’ on Ukraine?
Official Washington draws the Ukraine crisis in black-and-white colors with Russian President Putin the bad guy and the U.S.-backed leaders in Kiev the good guys. But the reality is much more nuanced, with the American people consistently misled on key facts, writes Robert Parry.
Ukraine’s Poroshenko agrees ‘ceasefire process’ with Putin
Russian bank hires two former U.S. senators
U.S. sanctions against Russia are becoming a boon for Washington’s lobbyists
Russia ‘to alter military strategy towards Nato’
Russia threatens to release Putin’s disputed phone call
Russia raised the stakes Tuesday over a disputed phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and head of the EU Commission president by threatening to go public with the conversation that the Kremlin said misquoted the Russian leader as saying he could be in Kiev within two weeks if he wanted.
Ukraine economy at risk, may need another bailout
Arming Ukraine could lead to nuclear war: Lech Walesa
Tomgram: Engelhardt, The Escalation Follies
Saudi scare story for Western intervention
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah elicited mockery over the weekend among informed circles after he issued a dire warning to Western countries on the imminent threat of terrorism from the Middle East.
To really combat terror, end support for Saudi Arabia
Ramped up rhetoric on security makes no sense so long as the west cosies up to dictatorships that support fundamentalism
Remember Iraq? Former US intel officers warn Merkel against NATO images of Ukraine
With the escalating Ukrainian crisis towards the top of the agenda at this week’s NATO summit in Wales, a group of former American intelligence workers is urging the alliance to be careful before crafting a response.
Memo To Washington: Iraq Is Not A Nation And You Can’t Build One There With Bombs
Washington’s strategy in Iraq is in shambles, but not just because America’s spanker-in-chief is really a wimp at heart. The problem is far more generic. To wit, the geographic territory of Iraq is not a nation; it is an arbitrary series of lines on a map drawn 100 years ago by dandies in the foreign offices of two fading empires (the British and the French)—–which lines encircled numerous tribes, ethnicities and religious confessions that had no interest in sharing a common statehood.
Isis Isn’t the first Group to Use the Butcher’s Knife as an Instrument of Policy. Nor will it be the last
Chopping off someone’s head or sawing it off or slicing it off is about gore. Blood. Pain. Grotesquerie. Death by the blade is about shame, suffering in an animal slaughterhouse. It’s the most repulsive theatre, understood by the Romans, the Tudors, the French revolutionaries, the austerest guardians of Wahhabism. Colour it bright red.
You Can’t Understand ISIS If You Don’t Know the History of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia
Young European converts are swelling the ranks of Islamic State
Flocking of foreigners to Syria and Iraq is unprecedented, expert tells Haaretz.
More US Troops Headed to Iraq; Senate Bill Would Expand War to Syria
White House Insists No Decision Made on Attacking ISIS in Syria
Obama orders 350 additional troops to Iraq
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday authorized the deployment of an additional 350 American troops to Iraq, where they will be charged with protecting US diplomats and facilitates in Baghdad.
Israel raises alarm over Islamist militants on its frontiers
Can you smell what The Caliph is cooking?
Next week is the 13th anniversary of 9/11. And Washington is back to bombing… It’s Iraq, all over again – an eerie echo of the most tragic of all post-9/11 developments: Shock and Awe.
Nusra Front sets demands for releasing U.N. peacekeepers
The al Qaida-linked rebels who captured dozens of Fijian United Nations peacekeepers on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights last week have set demands for their release, including removal of the Islamist group from a U.N. terrorist list and compensation for the deaths of its comrades in fighting with members of the international force, the commander of the Fijian army said Tuesday.
Tense relations between U.S. and anti-Assad Syrian rebels
North of Aleppo, the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army is battling the Islamic State terror group over a vital supply route.
Airstrike in Somalia by U.S. Forces Targets Shabab Leader
For nearly a decade, the United States has been trying to fight the Somali Islamist group known as the Shabab, using everything from its African allies and economic sanctions to American missile strikes and commando raids.
Scores killed as Boko Haram insurgents overrun Nigerian town: sources
Fake cell phone ‘towers’ may be spying on Americans’ calls, texts
More than a dozen “fake cell phone towers” could be secretly hijacking Americans’ mobile devices in order to listen in on phone calls or snoop on text messages, a security-focused cell phone company claims. It is not clear who controls the devices.
Cop cam: Ferguson police to wear body cameras
Following the shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer, which sparked three weeks of protests and violence, officers in Ferguson, Missouri, are now wearing body cameras to film their work.
Go Ahead and Enjoy Eating Fat: It’s Better than Carbs, Major New Study Says
Seems that saturated fat may even be good for you.
Israel Announces Massive West Bank Land Grab
Israel Announces Massive West Bank Land Grab
Some 400 hectares (988 acres) in the Etzion Jewish settlement bloc near Bethlehem were declared “state land, on the instructions of the political echelon” by the military-run Civil Administration.
U.S. urges Israel to reverse planned West Bank land appropriation
400% rise: Fee to renounce US citizenship goes up fourfold to $2,350
Ban Ki-moon: ‘no military solution to Ukraine crisis’
UN secretary general calls for a political dialogue, as Kiev accuses Russia of launching a ‘great war’
Putin breaks ground on Russia-China gas pipeline, world’s biggest
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli have launched the construction of the first part of Gazprom’s Power of Siberia pipeline – which will deliver 4 trillion cubic meters of gas to China over 30 years.
Charges of ‘Open Aggression’ Spoil Hopes for Cease Fire in Ukraine
Key parties to the conflict in eastern Ukraine meet in Minsk as war of words between leaders and continued violence on the ground give little hope for peace
Putin Urges ‘Statehood’ Talks for Eastern Ukraine
Ukraine war pulls in foreign fighters
NATO planning ‘rapid-deployment force’ of 10,000 troops to counter Russia
NATO is reportedly working towards the creation of an expeditionary force composed of 10,000 troops from seven different member states as a result of escalating tensions with Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.
Russia-led military bloc ready to send peacekeepers to Ukraine
The head of the CSTO says its peacekeepers are ready for any operations, including in Ukraine, but their deployment requires the go-ahead from leaders of all member-countries.
As Islamic State fighters begin to blend in, defeating them no easy matter
Obama: ‘We don’t have a strategy yet’ to combat Isis militants
Pushing back against fervent speculation that he is preparing to bomb Isis in Syria, Obama said plans limited to Iraq
Saudi king warns West will be jihadists’ next target
Gay NFL player overlooked by teams: report
Michael Sam, who is seeking to become the NFL’s first openly gay player, was passed over by 31 teams Sunday just one day after being cut by St. Louis, USA Today reported.
Bills’ Eric Wood blames ESPN for lack of interest in Michael Sam
The Great Nunquisition: Why the Vatican Is Cracking Down on Sisters
Obama threatens Russia with new sanctions
Britain Raises Terror Threat To Severe, Attack ‘Highly Likely’
Obama threatens Russia with new sanctions over Ukraine
Don’t mess with nuclear Russia, Putin says
President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia’s armed forces, backed by its nuclear arsenal, were ready to meet any aggression, declaring at a pro-Kremlin youth camp that foreign states should understand: “It’s best not to mess with us.”
Putin calls on pro-Russian rebels to let Ukraine troops leave encirclement
The Nail In The Petrodollar Coffin: Gazprom Begins Accepting Payment For Oil In Ruble, Yuan
According to Russia’s RIA Novosti, citing business daily Kommersant, Gazprom Neft has agreed to export 80,000 tons of oil from Novoportovskoye field in the Arctic; it will accept payment in rubles, and will also deliver oil via the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline (ESPO), accepting payment in Chinese yuan for the transfers. Meaning Russia will export energy to either Europe or China, and receive payment in either Rubles or Yuan, in effect making the two currencies equivalent as far as the Eurasian axis is conerned, but most importantly, transact completely away from the US dollar thus, finally putin'(sic) in action the move for a Petrodollar-free world.
Putin likens Ukraine’s forces to Nazis and threatens standoff in the Arctic
Hours after Barack Obama accused Russia of sending troops into Ukraine and fuelling an upsurge in the separatist war, Putin retorted that the Ukrainian army was the villain of the piece, targeting residential areas of towns and cities like German troops did in the former Soviet Union.
Reports of Russian Troops in Ukraine, But Little Evidence
“Russian Invasion” Of Ukraine, Turns Out to Have Been a Translation Error
After all major news-entities repeated the “invasion” claim and the public damage is done they simply take it back.
Ukraine Lost A Battle – West Escalates With More Russia Sanctions
The Iraq War Was a Smashing Success
Make no mistake about it: by any vaguely human measure, the situation in Iraq is a US-made disaster of historic proportions. Millions dead or wounded, millions more displaced, and all overseen by a kleptocratic government more interested in grinding old enemies into the dust than governing…and of course, yes, a seemingly endless cycle of violence that claims new victims every day.
President Obama on ISIS: ‘We Don’t Have a Strategy Yet’
Modeling CIA Torture, ISIS Waterboarded Those It Captured: Report
Sources quoted by the Washinton Post say ISIS “knew exactly how it was done” as it employed brutal techniques also approved by Bush administration
Captives held by Islamic State were waterboarded
James Foley was among the four who were waterboarded several times by Islamic State militants who appeared to model the technique on the CIA’s use of waterboarding to interrogate suspected terrorists after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Christian leaders call for end to US strikes in Iraq, focus on peaceful resolution
In Aleppo, rebels back U.S. strikes against jihadists
French leader calls Assad a ‘jihadist ally’
Hollande rules out working with Syria president against Islamic State, as group is accused of executing Syrian soldiers.
Islamic State group executes Syrian soldiers
Victims shot and stabbed in the latest brutal mass killing by armed group already accused by UN of war crimes.
UAE strikes on Libya stir US fears of a free-for-all in the Middle East
The U.S. was reportedly caught off guard last week by a mysterious set of airstrikes in Libya, which senior White House officials told The New York Times were carried out by the United Arab Emirates with support from Egypt. The report, denied by both countries, has sparked concerns that transnational military action without Washington’s endorsement by two of the region’s U.S.-armed powers portends a new era of free-for-all military intervention in the Middle East amid waning U.S. influence.
50 days of war in Gaza likely to cost Israel dearly
Netanyahu faces revolt over truce with Hamas
Benjamin Netanyahu faces strong criticism in Israel over costly conflict with Palestinian militants in which no clear victor has emerged
43 UN peacekeepers in Golan Heights seized by militants
Exclusive: U.S. may use secrets act to stop suit against Iran sanctions group
Did Certain Foreign Governments Facilitate the 9/11 Attacks?
Somalia Asks UN Court to Set Maritime Boundary