EAW's Breaking News archive

Panetta Warns Israel Plans Aggression Against Iran
(John Glaser / AntiWar.com)

"There is no evidence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, and the opinion of the US intelligence community, the Obama administration, and the latest IAEA report is that Iran's enrichment is so far civilian in nature."
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Congress and Army Agreed: Drones Are Coming to the Skies Near You
(Secrecy News and Federation of American Scientists )

A House-Senate conference report this week called on the Administration to accelerate the use of civilian unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or "drones," in US airspace. The pending authorization bill for the FAA directs the Secretary of Transporation to develop within nine months "a comprehensive plan to safely accelerate the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system." Meanwhile, the Army has issued a directive to govern the growing use of drones for "domestic operations" inside the US.
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US Plans for Perpetual War
(Renee Parsons / Information Clearing House )

As an attack on Iran remains temporarily on the backburner and Syria, home to "US-identified" terrorist group Hamas, moves up the queue as the next target for military intervention, both are part of a larger strategy proposed to newly-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 1996. "Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm" suggests a "new approach to peace" -- one premised on a "clean break" with the Oslo peace process of the 1990's.
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ACTION ALERT: An Appeal to US and Israeli Air, Missile and Drone Crews To Stand Down from Order to Attack Iran
(World Can't Wait & Midwest Antiwar Mobilization)

An attack on Iran will almost certainly bring retaliation that will result in severe human consequences around the world. An attack against Iran by Israel and/or the United States will violate morality, international and domestic law and the interests of humanity. "We urge all of you who may be called upon to attack Iran from the air, and indeed all military personnel who may be engaged in any kind of attack on Iran, to refuse to do so."
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Israel Continues on Path of Aggression with Threat of Pre-emptive War
(John Glaser/ AntiWar.com & David Ignatius / Washington Post)

Israeli officials have apparently been engaged in an aggressive public relations offensive to broaden support for a military attack on Iran, with particular emphasis on American audiences. For months, Israeli officials have been feeling out the Obama administration's appetite for a war with Iran. Reports have revealed that US officials have tried to assure Israel that a military strike is in principle on the table, while simultaneously urging them not to attack unilaterally.
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New York Times Hypes Israeli Attack on Iran
(Ira Chernus / Common Dreams )

Commentary: A cover story in the New York Times Magazine asks 'When' will Israel attack Iran. Not 'if,' but 'when,' as if it were inevitable. "It's almost a hymn of praise to what one Jewish Israeli scholar has called Iranophobia, an irrational fear promoted by the Jewish state because 'Israel needs an existential threat.' Why? To sustain the myth that shapes its national identity: the myth of Israel's insecurity."
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Students Ask UC: Why Are There Armed Cops on Campus?
(Nanette Asimov / San Francisco Chronicle )

Why does the University of California employ an armed police force on its campuses? That question, and the anger implied in its wording, was asked repeatedly by UC Berkeley students and faculty angered by what is widely perceived as excessive, even brutal responses to students' nonviolent acts of civil disobedience against rising tuition and soarng executive pay at a time of deep cuts to higher education. UC employs about 300 police officers across its 10 campuses.
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27 of 35 Bush Articles of Impeachment Apply to Obama
(David Swanson / War Is a Crime)

"When Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush on June 9, 2008. Sadly, President Obama has no only adopted many of Bush's criminal tactics, he has added his own list of high crimes and misdemeanors including a host of new crimes: openly murdering US citizens; launching massive drone wars; selectively and abusively prosecuting whistleblowers; attacking Libya without so much as bothering to lie to Congress."
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Obama Downplays Civilian Casualties in Drone War: Investigations Present a Grimmer Picture
(AntiWar.com & The Bureau of Investigative Journalism)

CIA drone strikes have led to far more deaths in Pakistan than previously acknowledge. In June 2011, Washington officials stated that no civilians had died. However, an estimate released by a US counter-terrorism official listed 2,050 people as having been killed in drone strikes to mid-August 2011. Since then, credible reports have surfaced identifying at least 392 civilians among the dead. At least 2,347 people were reportedly killed in US attacks since 2004, 175 of them children.
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With Drones Controlled by Pushbuttons, America Runs a 'Coward's War'
(George Monbiot / The Guardian)

The CIA insists there have been no recent civilian casualties in its undeclared drone war in Pakistan. President Obama's chief counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, also claims that US drones spare civilians. It is a blatant whitewash. Without risk, there's less restraint. With these unmanned craft, governments can fight a coward's war, harming only the unnamed. The danger is likely to escalate as drone warfare becomes more automated and the lines of accountability less clear.
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The Invisible War: New Film Exposes Rape, Sexual Assault Epidemic in US Military
(Amy Goodman / Democracy Now! )

"On the heels of a new military survey that the number of reported violent sex crimes jumped 30 percent in 2011, with active-duty female soldiers ages 18 to 21 accounting for more than half of the of the victims, we speak with Trina McDonald and Kori Cioca, two subjects of 'The Invisible War,' a new documentary that examines the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military, which won the Audience Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. "
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The Era of Falling Spacecraft
(Ian O'Neill / Al Jazeera)

On Sunday, January 15, the sorry tale of Phobos-Grunt came to a fiery end. After three months of floating helplessly in Earth's orbit after a botched launch, the Russian mission to the Martian moon Phobos re-entered the atmosphere, scattering its smouldering debris over the Pacific Ocean, somewhere off the coast of Chile. Who was to blame? Was the spacecraft's upper-stage rocket faulty? Or did something (or someone) intentional -- or unintentionally -- "kill" the probe's electronics?
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US Spy Chief: Iran Is 'Not Building a Bomb'; Washington's Policies Are Endangering US
(The Associated Press)

Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper and CIA Director David Petraeus have both told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Iran "is not building nuclear weapons."Clapper also said that that Iran's leaders "seem prepared to attack US interests overseas," because the Iranians "feel threatened by possible US action." Clapper pointed out that Iran has made no moves to enrich uranium beyond the current level of 20 percent -- i.e., to a weapons-grade levels.
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Threat to World Peace: Israeli Leadership Vows to Start War 'By Summer'
(AntiWar.com )

There is never really any discussion of whether or not an Israeli attack on Iran is justified on the basis of Iran's legal civilian nuclear program. Rather, the questions center around just how much damage Israel could accomplish with such an act of aggression. It is likely such and attack would start a massive regional (and potentially a global) war, one that is almost certain to involve the United States and, possibly, Russia. Retaliation against Israel would be significant.
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Iran Nuclear Inspections 'Constructive': Israel Continues to Refuse IAEA Inspections
(Deutsche Presse-Agentur & Al Jazeera)

The three-day inspection visit of the International Atomic Energy Agency team with Iran was 'constructive,' the Fars news agency reports. Negotiations between the two sides were held in 'a positive and constructive atmosphere' and the two sides have agreed to hold further meetings in the future. Meanwhile, the Middle East's biggest nuclear power, Israel, refuses to allow IAEA inspections of its existing nuclear weapons arsenal and has refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
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LA Police Department Conducts Joint Exercises with the Military
(Dan Bacher / AlterNet & TruthOut )

The LAPD, known for its brutality and corruption, has conducted high-profile joint "tactical exercises" with the US military in downtown LA. While the sight of weaponized military aircraft hovering in the skies raised fears of a "police state," the LAPD responds that the Pentagon's show of force was merely "routine training conducted by military personnel, designed to ensure the military's ability to operate in urban environments." Plus: EAW video on DOD Exercise in Bay Area.
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Iran Welcomes IAEA Inspectors: 'Free to Inspect All Nuclear Sites'
(AntiWar.com & Deutsche Presse-Agentur)

The International Atomic Energy Agency has begun an intensive three-day inspection visit under growing threats of an Israeli attack against Iran's civilian nuclear sites. The visit was welcomed by top Iranian officials. Iran's nuclear chief said that the inspection would finally end allegations that the program was anything but a legal, civilian program. Iran has promised that IAEA inspectors would be given free and full access to any nuclear sites they requested.
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Iraqi Slams US Over Plan for Drone Surveillance
(AntiWar.com & The New York Times & FedBizOps.Gov)

The US has quietly fielded a fleet of surveillance drones to fly over Iraq, ostensibly to protect the city-sized US Embassy on the outskirts of Baghdad. The State Department's Diplomatic Security branch has not trumpeted news of the existence of the drone armada. The drones were only mentioned in a single paragraph buried near the back of the Department's annual report. Senior Iraqi officials have expressed outrage at the program, saying the unarmed aircraft are an affront to Iraqi sovereignty.
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What Really Happened at Occupy Oakland
(Occupy Oakland & Russia Today & Eyewitness Reports)

Commentary: "Please spread the fact that the mass arrest of 300+ was ILLEGAL -- no dispersal order was given, nor was an unlawful assembly declared at the arrest location. The media and OPD are flat-out lying about that detail. This is the most important point, in terms of our rights as citizens and OPD breaking their own protest policy. The 300+ were NOT arrested while attempting to occupy a building, they were arrested for marching on public streets a few hours later."
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Iranian Aircraft Carriers in the Gulf of Mexico
(Satire by Tom Engelhardt / TomDispatch)

Imagine as well that an embattled US president has declared the Gulf of Mexico off-limits to Iranian aircraft carriers. In response, the Iranians send an aircraft carrier and its battle group of accompanying ships directly into Gulf waters not far from Florida -- and then stationed a second carrier and its task force in the nearby Caribbean as support. (Okay, the Iranians don't have aircraft carriers, but just for a moment, suspend disbelief.)
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The Conundrum of Iran: Washington's War on Iran Has Already Begun
(Leonid Savin / The Strategic Culture Foundation )

Analysis: "The EU oil embargo recently slapped on Iran and the threats voiced by the US and other Western countries to come up with further sanctions against the country led watchers to conclude that an armed conflict between Iran and the West finally became imminent. The first potential scenario in the context is that the current standoff would eventually escalate into a war. The US forces in the Gulf area currently number 40,000."
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Americans Oppose War: But Does Government Care?
(Russia Today )

With harsh US rhetoric around Iran's nuclear program snowballing by the hour, polls nonetheless show that most Americans think a war with Tehran would be a grave mistake. But do the leaders care? Despite Iran's recent consent to return to negotiations over its atomic work, the White House says war with Tehran is "still on the table." Even harsher statements come from some of Washington's hawks like Newt Gingrich, who spoke of "breaking" the Iranian regime within a year.
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Filipinos Say No to More US Troops
(Reuters & Agence France-Press)

Dozens of activists marched outside the US embassy in Manila on January 28 to denounce ongoing talks with the United States on possibly expanding military cooperation between the two allies. Philippine Defense Minister Voltaire Gazmin said on January 27 that the country was considering a US proposal to deploy surveillance aircraft on a "temporary, rotating basis" to enhance its ability to guard disputed areas in the South China Sea -- against China.
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US Plans for Perpetual War
(Renee Parsons / Information Clearing House )

As an attack on Iran remains on the backburner and Syria moves up the queue as the next target for US intervention, both are part of a larger strategy proposed to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in 1996. "A New Strategy for Securing the Realm" called for a 'clean break' with the Oslo peace process, which would have withdrawn Israeli troops from the occupied territories. Instead of 'comprehensive peace,' the plan called for a pre-emptive US attack to topple Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
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US Pays Boeing Millions for New 'Super Bomb' to Attack Iran
(AntiWar.com & The Wall Street Journal & Business Week )

The Pentagon has decided that its largest conventional bomb -- the 15-ton Massive Ordnance Penetrator -- needs to be made more powerful to destroy Iran's underground nuclear enrichment facilities. Boeing has received $330 million to build 20 MOPs and now the White House wants to give Boeing another $82 million to create an even deadlier bomb.
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Today's Police State: NYPD Screened Racist Film, Mass Incarceration on the Rise, Press Freedom Down
(Sarah Seltzer / AlterNet )

Commentary: "This week's news has brought a number of stories to our attention that are all united by their relationship to the growing power and corruption of the police and the prison industrial complex in America. New York City police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, acknowledged for the first time that he personally cooperated with the filmmakers of 'The Third Jihad,' an offensive, anti-Muslim film was shown to hundreds of new NYPD recruits."
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Landmines in a Militarised Culture: Threat or Security?
(Preethi Nallu / Al Jazeera)

A protracted conflict on the Thai-Myanmar border has normalised the use of landmines. Even civilians feel landmines are the only way they can protect themselves from attacks by the military. Landmines have become physical and psychological weapons that render a sense of security. But the indiscriminate nature of the weapon has meant that the local Karen residnets often fall prey to landmines planted by people from their own communities.
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War and Being and Nothingness
(Book Review by David Swanson / War Is a Crime )

Commentary: "The best book I've read in a very long time is a new one: 'The End of War' by John Horgan. Its conclusions will be vigorously resisted by many and yet, in a certain light, considered perfectly obvious to some others. The central conclusion -- that ending the institution of war is entirely up to us to choose -- was, arguably, reached by (among many others before and since) John Paul Sartre sitting in a cafe utilizing exactly no research."
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War and Being and Nothingness
(Book Review by David Swanson / War Is a Crime )

Commentary: "The best book I've read in a very long time is a new one: 'The End of War' by John Horgan. Its conclusions will be vigorously resisted by many and yet, in a certain light, considered perfectly obvious to some others. The central conclusion -- that ending the institution of war is entirely up to us to choose -- was, arguably, reached by (among many others before and since) John Paul Sartre sitting in a cafe utilizing exactly no research."
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US Military Presses to Return to Philippines Despite Extensive Human Rights Violations
(The Washington Post & Anti-War.com & WikiLeaks Central)

Twenty years after forcing the closure of major US military bases, the Philippines is being pressed to allow the US to return. In fact, the US military presence in the Philippines never went away. About 600 US Special Forces have remained in the country, targeting a militant group that presents no threat to the US. Meanwhile, with millions of dollars of US military aid, the Filipino government's security forces have engaged in systematic extrajudicial killings, abduction, and false arrests.
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State of the Union: Will the US Be Saved by its Military?
(Mark LeVine / Al Jazeera )

Commentary: Obama's praise for the American military complex is misleading and potentially dangerous. If Obama can't talk openly to the American people about the reality of its military's role in the world, there is almost no chance he'll be able to shepherd the kind of transofmration in the US' political economy that he outlined.
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Obama's "State of Delusion Address": Rebuilding America With War Crimes
(Finian Cunningham / Global Research)

Commentary: "What is sickening is how a truly gargantuan criminal war and blot on humanity is deified as a paragon of virtue to provide inspiration. The day before Obama's syrupy, American-pie paean, the world was reminded of the reality of what 'American heroes' did to Iraq. At the conclusion of military court prosecution over the 2005 Haditha massacre in Iraq, none of the US Marines involved in the incident were found guilty of anything worse than 'dereliction of duty'."
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Is Coca-Cola Propping Up Swaziland's Dictator?
(Bill Berkowitz / Buzzflash & Truthout )

Since its inception in 1886, Coca-Cola has had more slogans than the US has had presidents. Back in the early 1960s, the catchphrase was, "Things go better with Coke." In Swaziland these days, the only person that the multibillion-dollar beverage company is making things "go better" for is King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch. For the rest of the Swazi people, the company has come to represent misery and abject poverty.
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Struggling in US, F-35 Fighter Pushes Sales Abroad
(Eric Talmadge / Associated Press )

Detractors say the F-35 stealth fighter, the costliest military plane ever, is destined to go down as one of the biggest follies in aviation history. But it may have found a savior: deep-pocketed US allies hungry to add its super high-tech capabilities to their arsenal.
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Philippines in Talks for Return of US Military
(Craig Whitlock / The Washington Post )

wo decades after evicting US forces from their biggest base in the Pacific, the Philippines is in talks with the Obama administration about expanding the American military presence in the island nation, the latest in a series of strategic moves aimed at China.
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Panetta: Military Spending Is Going Up
(David Swanson / War Is a Crime )

On Thursday, Leon Panetta held a press conference announcing what he called "cuts" to military spending. The first question following his remarks pointed out that the "cuts" are to dream budgets, while the actual spending will be increased over Panetta's 10-year plan. Is there any year, the reporter asked, out of the 10 years in question, other than the first one, 2013, in which spending will actually decrease at all?
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NY Police Considering Drones for Manhattan's Skies
(Don Dahler / CBS 2 Television)

They're used in war zones for surveillance and military strikes. But are there plans to deploy drones in the Big Apple to keep an eye on New Yorkers? More and more people believe it's inevitable. An e-mail acquired through the Freedom of Information Act request (purportedly from a detective in the NYPD counterterrorism division) reveals the Federal Aviation Administration has been approached about the use of unmanned aerial vehicles as a law enforcement tool.
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Japanese Delegation Wants the US Out of Okinawa
(David Swanson / War Is A Crime & Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post)

A 24-member delegation from Japan arrived in Washington, DC, this week to oppose new construction of US military bases in Okinawa and to protest the continued occupation by US troops. US tax money is being spent to pay billions of dollars to US corporations to maintain and expand some 90 military bases in Japan. Okinawa has been dominated by US military bases for 67 years -- ever since the US forcibly appropriated much of the best land. Okinawans have protested this US presence for decades.
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The Myth of Defense Cuts
(Lee Wrights / Anti-War.com )

Despite all the hysteria, wailing, and gnashing of teeth from Washington war hawks, there are no spending cuts proposed in the defense budget, nor is there any change at all in our defense policy. The claim of "massive cuts" is all a charade. The actual defense budget grows steadily each year and will continue to grow. One way politicians hide this fact is by excluding the actual cost of ongoing wars from the "defense budget." These massive expenditures are all deemed to be "off-budget expenses."
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Car Bombs & Mass Executions: UH Rights Chief Assails Iraq Leadership
(Reuters & Kareem Raheem / Reuters)

The top United Nations human rights official criticized Iraq on Tuesday for carrying out a large number of executions, including 34 on a single day last week, and voiced concern about due process and the fairness of trials. Under the new government, installed after the US invasion that toppled the ruling Baath Party, the death penalty can be imposed for some 48 crimes including a number of nonviolent acts, including damage to public property.
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ACTION ALERT: IRAN: Who Is the Real Threat? Take the Test
(The World Can't Wait)

In 2007, when the Bush regime was threatening to attack Iran, (with substantially the same justification the US is now using to impose sanctions on Iran), World Can't Wait circulated a "history lesson" quiz on dozens of college campuses and street corners. Most people flunked. Students on the "elite" campuses also did terribly. Take the test: If you answer all 7 questions correctly, you'll win the first-ever World Can't Wait surprise quiz prize.
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US Secretly Deploys Commandoes Near Iran's Border
(PressTV & DangerRoom, Wired Magazine)

Wired magazine reports that Washington has stationed a special team of highly trained commandos near Iran's border for possible sabotage operations. The magazine quoted Maj. Rob Bockholt, a spokesman for special-operations forces in the Mideast, as saying that the task force provides "highly trained personnel that excel in uncertain environments," and "seeks to confront irregular threats."
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ACTION ALERT: The Invisible War: The Pentagon's 'Rape Problem'
(Anu Bhagwati / SWAN (Service Women's Action Network) )

A new film, "The Invisible War," has spurred Representatives Mike Turner (R-OH) and Niki Tsongas (D-MA) to form the Military Sexual Assault Prevention Caucus to "provide a bipartisan forum for all Members of Congress to learn about the problem, work with the Department of Defense to shape policy and create legislative solutions that improve Servicemember morale and welfare."
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US Paying Millions in Cash to Families of 'Collateral Damage'
(Anti-War.com & Middle East Research and Information Project)

The Pentagon has a practice called "condolence payments." This is when US commanders pay surviving family members thousands of dollars for every civilian they've killed. After a night operation in 2009 killed 15 civilians, US commanders visited the village and handed out $40,000 in cash -- $2,500 for each death, $500 for two wounded men and $1,500 for village repairs. The Pentagon doled out $688,000 in condolence and $6.8 million in battle repair funds in Afghanistan in the first half of FY 2011.
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Iraqis Condemn US Haditha Sentence as Insult
(Jason Ditz / Anti-War.com & Fadhel al-Badrani / Reuters)

To the dismay of many observers, the only US soldier to face conviction for the massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians -- including women and children -- will serve no jail time. "This is a disgraceful sentence for an inhuman crime that lines up with the Abu Ghraib scandal and Nisour Square massacre," said Hussein Ali, a 40-year-old Baghdad engineer. "History will mention this sentence and will show how the Americans have a black history that disrespects human blood."
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US War Criminal Allowed to Plead Guilty to 'Negligence'
(Associated Press & Al Jazeera)

Sergeant Frank Wuterich, accused of the 2005 massacre of Iraqi civilians in Haditha, was allowed to plead guilty to 'dereliction of duty' (instead of 'homicide'). Another soldier testified that Wuterich killed five Iraqi civilians and asked him to lie about it. A total of 24 unarmed civilians -- including women and children -- were murdered by US soldiers. Seven other Marines who participated in the massacre were acquitted. Wuterich's sentence for mass-murder: 3 months imprisonment.
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Military Intervention vs. Maritime Union Power
(Brian Tierney / Common Dreams )

For the first time in 40 years, the Armed Forces have been ordered to intervene in a labor dispute, facilitating a scab operation against union dockworkers in Washington State. The dispute pits the International Longshore Workers Union against EGT Development, an global conglomerate poised to make its first grain shipment from a new $200 million export terminal, thus violating its contract with the publicly-owned port and the union. The Coast Guard is siding with the scabs.
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Fact-Finding Mission to Libya Uncovers Reports of War Crimes
(The Independent Civil Society )

Findings and Observations of the Fact-Finding Mission The Mission’s investigation in Libya revealed significant evidence concerning possible violations of international law. Due to a number of constraints documented in the Report, the Mission was unable to reach definitive legal conclusions regarding individual incidents. However, from its observations potential violations of international law may include war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.
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Big Oil, Not Green Energy, Is the Real Beneficiary of US Energy Subsidies
(David Sirota / Salon )

Commentary: "Listen to the typical conservative rhetoric about energy being thrown around on talk radio or in Republican presidential debates, and you're likely to hear that our government primarily uses its regulatory and financial power to create a destructive green energy boondoggle.... But the reality is something wholly different. Washington is aggressively favoring the fossil fuel industry in ways that give that industry a special economic advantage over clean energy."
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Iraq's Government Is Coming Apart
(Roy Gutman / McClatchy Newspapers)

Faster than anyone expected, barely a month after the last US troops left, Iraq's government appears to be coming apart, prompting fears that the country is headed for another round of sectarian strife. Barham Salih, the widely admired prime minister of the autonomous Kurdish region, says the infighting is "tearing the country apart." Preemption is the name of the game. "The motto is: 'I'll have him for lunch before they have me for dinner'."
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Deathwatch for Democracy: Iraq Becoming a Police State
(Human Rights Watch )

A new Human Right Watch investigation finds that Iraq cracked down harshly on freedom of expression and assembly in 2011 by intimidating, beating, and detaining activists and reporters. "Iraq is quickly slipping back into authoritarianism as its security forces abuse protesters, harass journalists, and torture detainees. Despite US government assurances that it helped create a stable democracy, the reality is that it left behind a budding police state."
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Officials: French Troops Killed Over US Marines Urine Video
(Anti-War.com & Agence France-Presse)

An Afghan soldier who shot dead four French troops and wounded 15 has said he did it because of a recent video showing US Marines urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban insurgents. French President Nicolas Sarkozy reacted angrily, threatening to pull his forces out of Afghanistan ahead of the 2014 deadline for all US-led coalition combat troops.
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Jewish Publisher Calls for Attack on Iran, Assassination of US President
(Joe Sterling / CNN & Chemi Shalev / Ha'aretz)

The publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times has apologized after writing an article in which he suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu consider ordering a Mossad hit team to assassinate US President Barack Obama so that his successor will defend Israel against Iran. The American Jewish Committee in Atlanta issued a harsh condemnation of the article, saying that his proposals were “shocking beyond belief.”
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Why Obama's 'Targeted Killing' Is Worse than Bush's Torture
(Mary Ellen O'Connell / The Guardian)

Like many of the Bush administration's torture memos, the Obama administration's memo on 'targeted killing' was written by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Many consider targeted killing worse than torture. "Targeted killing" is the killing of certain individuals away from battle zones using missiles, bombs, commando raids and drone aircraft. More than 2,200 civilians are estimated to have died in the three years of the Obama administration's campaign in Pakistan alone.
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A Fitting Symbol of the American Empire
(Sheldon Richman / The Future of Freedom Foundation )

Commentary: "The image of four US marines urinating on the corpses of Afghan fighters is a fitting symbol of American intervention in Central Asia and the Middle East. That picture will live forever in the memories of people in the region, along with the pictures from Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison."
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Hotspots of Potential Conflict in the Geo-energy Era
(Michael Klare / TomDispatch & Al Jazeera )

Welcome to an edgy world -- where a single incident at an energy "chokepoint" could set a region aflame, provoking bloody encounters, boosting oil prices, and putting the global economy at risk. With energy demand on the rise and sources of supply dwindling, we are, in fact, entering a new epoch -- the Geo-Energy Era -- in which disputes over vital resources will dominate world affairs.
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Army Report: Suicide Rate Sets Record; Some Alcohol Abuse Up 54 Percent
(Anna Mulrine / Christian Science Monitor )

The suicide rate among active-duty soldiers hit an all-time high in 2011. But there are signs that rates among reservists and members of the National Guard are stabilizing after years of steady increase. Efforts to confront suicide have produced some encouraging successes. There were 164 suicides among active-duty, Army, National Guard, and Reserve troops in 2011, compared with 159 in 2010 and 162 in 2009.
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Department of Defense's Operational Access Strategy: We Own the World
(John Glaser / Anti-War.com)

One of the primary concerns of the Pentagon is that America's military is permitted to span the entire globe. The DoD's Joint Operational Access Concept recently was introduced as a strategy to deal with what "anti-access" and "area denial" scenarios around the world. The concept is not new: the US has considered the entire planet as their own jurisdiction since at least WWII. Full spectrum dominance, or global hegemony, is the goal, and is righteous because We Own the World.
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America's Empire of Bases
(Chalmers Johnson / TomDispatch.com )

Commentary from 2004: "Militarism and imperialism are Siamese twins joined at the hip. Each thrives off the other. Already highly advanced in our country, they are both on the verge of a quantum leap that will almost surely stretch our military beyond its capabilities, bringing about fiscal insolvency and very possibly doing mortal damage to our republican institutions."
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Accused War Criminal 'Worked with CIA'
(The Boston Globe & Al Jazeera)

Liberia's Charles Taylor, the first African head of state to be prosecuted for war crimes by an international tribunal, used to work with the CIA, according to a report in the Boston Globe. The revelation was the result of a Freedom of Information Act request filed six years ago. The Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon's spy arm, confirmed its agents and CIA agents worked with Taylor beginning in the early 1980s.
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Military Urination and a Nation's Ruination
(Charles V. Pena / Anti-War.com & Kelley Vlahos / The American Conservative)

Commentary: "By now, everyone has either seen or knows about the video of US Marines urinating on the corpses of dead Taliban fighters. But not everyone seems to feel that way about the incident. Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), a former US Army lieutenant colonel, says that 'the Marines were wrong' but that critics need to 'chill' and that 'unless you have been shot at by the Taliban, shut your mouth.'" (Of course, West was discharged from the Army for threatening a hostage.)
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ACTION ALERT: Constitutional Amendment to Take the Cash Out of Politics
(Hon. Dennis Kucinich / US Congress & David Swanson / War Is a Crime)

Congressman Dennis Kucinich has introduced a Constitutional Amendment to address the Supreme Court's ruling that "Corporations are people" with the right to spend unlimited cash on political campaigns. The amendment says: "All campaigns for President and Members of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate shall be financed entirely with public funds. No contributions shall be permitted to any candidate for Federal office from any other source, including the candidate."
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ACTION ALERTI: Repeal the Farce of 'Corporate Personhood'
(Jim Hightower / Jim Hightower's Blog & Don Cavallaro / SeaCoast Online)

Commentary: The idea that corporations are "persons' with the Constitutional right to buy elections with bottomless troves of corporate cash is an absurd perversion. A person, after all, has a navel. Where's the corporate navel -- or its heart, brain, or soul? If corporations are the same gender and they want to merge, would that be prohibited in states that don't recognize civil unions? If you sue a corporation into bankruptcy, should that now be considered murder?
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Pentagon Pollution: Virtually Everyone In US Now Contaminated with Rocket Fuel
(The Awakening 2012)

Perchlorate is an environmental pollutant primarily associated with releases by defense contractors, military operations and aerospace programs, as it is a key ingredient in rocket fuel.It is now found in virtually all humans tested, and it is continually making its way up the food chain through ground and drinking water, into feed and edible plants, animals products, milk and breast milk -- contaminating conventional and organically grown food, alike. In now permeates most of North America.
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Are Drones Watching You?
(Jennifer Lynch / Electronic Frontier Foundation )

Clones of the Pentagon's remote-controlled drones are now being used domestically for non-military purposes, raising significant privacy concerns. In December 2011, US Customs and Border Protection purchased its ninth drone. It uses these drones to patrol US borders and it also uses them to aid state and local police for :routine law enforcement." Some drones carry high-res "gigapixel" cameras that can "track people and vehicles from altitudes above 20,000 feet."
/know/read.php?itemid=11864

Drone Disasters: The Crash-and-Burn Future of Robot Warfare
(Tom Engelhardt & Nick Turse / TomDispatch & Al Jazeera )

American fighter jets screamed over the Iraqi countryside heading for the MQ-1 Predator drone, while its crew in California stood by helplessly. When it was all over the $4 million killer robot had been obliterated. This is only one of the revelations contained in Air Force accident investigation documents examined by TomDispatch. They catalog more than 70 catastrophic mishaps since 2000, each resulting in the loss of drone or property damage of $2 million or more.
/know/read.php?itemid=11858

NATO Night Raid Kills Five Civilians, Including a Woman and Two Children
(Anti-War.com & Associated Press & Agence France-Presse & YNet News & Associated Press)

The Governor of Afghanistan's Kunar Province reports that an overnight raid by NATO forces has killed at least five civilians, including a woman and two children. The raid was part of a "kill-and-capture" operation. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly demanded that NATO halt night raids, saying that Afghan civilians no longer feel safe in their own homes if occupation forces can burst in during the night. The US rejects the calls, saying they don't need Karzai's permission.
/know/read.php?itemid=11857

A Close Look at SOPA: the Stop Online Piracy Act Bill
(Prof. Jonathan Zittrain / Electronic Frontier Foundation )

This article is a guide to the Stop Online Piracy Act as proposed in the House of Representatives. We have sought to understand exactly what SOPA does and how it does it -- along with explaining why its principal mechanisms make for poor law. Our aim is for this analysis to be useful to anyone wanting to understand the act -- whatever their point of view focuses primarily on technology or on intellectual property policy.
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Department of Homeland Security Monitors Journalists
(Russia Today & Reuters)

The DHS is helping the government keep dibs on who is saying what. Under the National Operations Center's Media Monitoring Initiative that came out in November, Washington has the written permission to retain data on users of social media and online networking platforms. In addition to monitoring journalists and bloggers, DHS also provides "situational awareness" by monitoring Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks and news sites like the Huffington Post and the Drudge Report.
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Think Before Acting on Iran
(Leslie H. Gelb / Newsweek & The Daily Beast)

America is once again stumbling toward war. If we've learned anything from the past, it's that we'd better debate Iran policy before, not after, the fighting begins. We're doing this terrible thing all over again. As before, we're letting a bunch of ignorant, sloppy-thinking politicians and politicized foreign-policy experts draw "red line" ultimatums. As before, we're letting them quick-march us off to war.
/know/read.php?itemid=11852

Herding Americans to War with Iran
(Robert Parry / Consortium News )

The murder of a fifth Iranian scientist on the streets of Tehran had all the earmarks of an Israeli-sponsored assassination. The killing also worsened tensions at a moment when the momentum toward war with Iran seems unstoppable. Even the New York Times now acknowledges that Israel, with some help from the United States, appears to be conducting a covert war of sabotage and assassination inside Iran. Any suggestion of negotiations is mocked, while alarmist propaganda and provocative actions push Americans closer to what seems like an inevitable bloodletting.
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It's Called the Persian Gulf for a Reason
(Marke Sheffie / Policy on Point)

Commentary: " Iran just can't help but make the 'news' these days. Whether it's some used-car salesman trying to whack the Saudi ambassador for the IRGC (ridiculous), the constantly advancing nuclear weapons program (shenanigans), or the hacking and downing of an American RQ-170 (impressive), they just can't stay out of trouble. How dare they take our drone, it's just uncivilized. Don't they understand we are the United States the Invincible? "
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ACTION ALERT: Charlottesville, Va., City Council Passes Resolution Opposing War on Iran
(David Swanson / War Is a Crime.org )

On January 17, 2012, the City Council of Charlottesville, Virginia, home of Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe, passed a resolution opposing the launching of a war on Iran, as well as calling for an end to current ground and drone wars engaged in by the United States and urging Congress and the President of the United States to significantly reduce military spending. This is believed to be the first such resolution in the country but other cities may soon vote on similar resolutions based on this draft.
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Why I'm Suing Barack Obama
(Chris Hedges / TruthDig )

I have filed a complaint in the Southern US District Court in New York City against Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to challenge the legality of the Authorization for Use of Military Force embedded in the National Defense Authorization Act. The act authorizes the military in Title X, Subtitle D, entitled "Counter-Terrorism," for the first time in more than 200 years, to carry out domestic policing. Beginning March 3, the military can indefinitely detain without trial any US citizen deemed to be an "accessory" to terrorism.
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10 Reasons The US Is No Longer The Land Of The Free
(Jonathan Turley / Washington Post )

Continued rollbacks on civil liberties in the US conflicts with the view of the country as the land of the free. If we are going to adopt Chinese legal principles, we adopt one Chinese proverb: "The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names." We seem to be in denial as to the implications of these laws and policies. Whether we are viewed as a free country with authoritarian inclinations or an authoritarian nation with free aspirations, we are not what we once were.
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Dehumanizing the Enemy: Gov. Perry Defends Desecrating Dead Afghans
(Sebastian Junger / The Washington Post & Jason Ditz / Anti-War.com)

The video that emerged in recent days showing US Marines urinating on dead Taliban fighters has outraged viewers around the world. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has condemned the act and the military has promised an inquiry of what some have called a war crime. As a society, we may be disgusted by seeing US Marines urinating on dead Taliban fighters, but we remain oddly unfazed by the fact that, presumably, those same Marines just put high-caliber rounds through the fighters' chests.
/know/read.php?itemid=11850

MIC@50: New Book Surveys Current State of the Military Industrial Complex
(David Swanson, et al / MIC50)

A remarkable new book, MIC@50, is the most comprehensive collection available explaining what the military industrial complex (MIC) is, where it comes from, what damage it does, what further destruction it threatens, and what can be done and is being done to chart a different course. Contributors to MIC@50 include academics, activists and former members of the US military establishment.
/know/read.php?itemid=11851

"I Will Study War No More"
(Quotes from Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction."
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ACTION ALERT: Honor Dr. King; Raise Your Voice Against Gun Violence
(Dennis Henigan / Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once observed that "Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that." On Sunday, the sad first anniversary of the Tucson shooting, many thousands of Americans joined together to light candles of remembrance and protest against the darkness of gun violence.
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Radioactive Russian Space Probe Crashes Back on Earth
(Karl Grossman / Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space & Associated Press)

Russia's $170 million Phobos-Grunt space probe, with 22 pounds of radioactive Cobalt-57 on board, fell to Earth Sunday. Fragments reportedly fell over a broader patch of Earth's surface, spreading from the Atlantic and including the territory of Brazil. It said the midpoint of the crash zone was located in the Brazilian state of Goias. The 14.9 ton satellite carried 12 tons of highly toxic rocket fuel. The US and Russia have plans to try launching missiles with payloads containing radioactive plutonium.
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Met to Probe Libyan Rendition Claims
(Simon Israel / Channel 4 News )

Senior UK security officials and ministers could be in the frame as the Metropolitan Police begins a new wider investigation into allegations of rendition in Libya. The UK is being sued by several individuals who claim they were kidnapped, "handed over to US authorities and taken to what they believe was a US secret prison," where "they were subjected to a barrage of barbaric treatment" before being rendered to Libya by the US authorities.
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Obama Ready to Strike to Stop Nuclear Iran, Ex-Adviser Says
(Indira A.R. Lakshmanan/ Bloomberg & BusinessWeek & David S. Cloud / Tribune Co.)

No one should doubt that President Barack Obama is prepared to use military force to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon if sanctions and diplomacy fail, the president's former special assistant on Iran said. The Pentagon has quietly shifted combat troops and warships to the Middle East after the top American commander in the region warned that he needed additional forces to deal with Iran and other potential threats, US officials said.
/know/read.php?itemid=11840

US Warns Israel on Strike Against Iran
(Adam Entous, Julian E. Barnes and Jay Solomon / Wall Street Journal)

US defense leaders are increasingly concerned that Israel is preparing to take military action against Iran, over US objections, and have stepped up contingency planning to safeguard US facilities in the region in case of a conflict. President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top officials have delivered a string of private messages to Israeli leaders warning about the dire consequences of a strike.
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Preventing the Coming War with Iran
(Tom Hayden / The Peace Exchange Bulletin )

Commentary: "During the past decade, this writer has remained skeptical about prospects of a US-supported war against Iran. The potential costs outweighed the benefits. Now, as the 2012 election year unfolds, I am not certain. The political and geo-political dynamics underscore the growing threat of war.... Presidents are not all-powerful, and Obama can be forced to acquiesce unless there is a sharp increase in serious public opposition."
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Western Intelligence Sources Tell Time Magazine Israel's Mossad Targeted Iranian Scientist
(Haaretz & Reuters & PressTV)

Iran claims it has information tying US to the incident; Senior Israeli official tells Time Magazine he 'doesn't feel bad' for scientist killed. "We have reliable documents and evidence that this terrorist act was planned, guided and supported by the CIA," the Iranian foreign ministry said in a letter handed to the Swiss ambassador in Tehran. "The documents clearly show that this terrorist act was carried out with the direct involvement of CIA-linked agents."
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OPD Arrest Occupy Protesters for 'Self-Lynching'
(Susie Cagle / East Bay Express & Yael Chanoff / Bay Guardian)

In California, Oakland police harass Occupy protesters by invoking a provocatively named law that doesn't mean what you think it means. Police have arrested some protesters on the charge of attempted "self-lynching." These controversial arrests have raised fundamental civil liberties concerns.
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Refugees Find Oakland Can Be Worse than Iraq
(Jordan Gerstler-Holton / Special to The Chronicle )

Since the start of the Iraq war, nearly 60,000 Iraqi refugees have settled in the United States. Oakland has a long history of hosting immigrants from around the world. Affordable housing and an accepting, multicultural society make the city a great place for refugees. Unfortunately, the city also has one of the country's highest crime rates, according to federal statistics and other studies. Many Iraqi refugees living in Oakland have been robbed, beaten or shot and now say they felt safer in Iraq.
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Meet Baroness von Suttner: The Mother of the Anti-war Movement
(David Swanson / War Is a Crime.org )

Bertha von Suttner's novel "Ground Arms," or "Lay Down Your Arms," was widely described as the "Uncle Tom's Cabin" of war abolition. It was doing and would accomplish for war what Harriet Beecher Stowe's book had for slavery. It was principally this book, along with years of activism, journalism, and organizational leadership in the peace movement that won von Suttner the 1905 Nobel Peace Prize.
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ACTION ALERT: Urge Your Legislators to Commit to Nuclear Disarmament
(Nuclear Age Peace Foundation)

Help build a stronger network of legislators in the United States and around the world working for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), a global cross-party network of over 800 legislators in 80 countries, supports and enables legislators to take action on key initiatives.
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Marines ID Two of the Men in Urination Video
(CNN Wire Staff)

Two of the four Marines shown in a video urinating on dead bodies sprawled out on the ground in Afghanistan have been identified by the Marine Corps, however, the names of the accused criminals are not being made public, according to an official "who did not want to be identified because the investigation is ongoing." US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called the Marine's conduct "inappropriate."
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Pakistan Condemns Resumption of Bloody US Drone War
(John Glaser / Anti-War.com & Haji Mujtaba / Reuters & Usman Manzoor / The News)

Pakistan officials have condemned the resumption of US drone strikes inside their country as counterproductive and a violation national sovereignty. The 75 drone strikes launched in 2011 killed 609 people. Most of the victims were never identified publicly; only three were ever confirmed to be al-Qaeda "commanders." A total of 303 US drone attacks have been carried out since 2004 killing at least 2661 people -- at least 168 of those killed were children.
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Secrecy Defines Obama's Drone War
(Karen DeYoung / The Washington Post)

While carrying out hundreds of strikes over three years -- resulting in an estimated 1,350 to 2,250 deaths in Pakistan -- the White House has provided virtually no details to support assertions that civilian casualties are minimal. In Pakistan, at least 240 CIA drone strikes have been reported since 2009. The CIA and the US military carried out strikes this year in Yemen and Somalia, with at least two US citizens among those killed.
/know/read.php?itemid=11834

Iran 'Open to Nuclear Talks'
(Al Jazeera)

Iran's parliamentary speaker has said that he believes that the standoff over his country's nuclear programme can be solved through serious talks. Ali Larijani told a news conference after meeting Turkish leaders in Ankara that Tehran supports the idea of holding further talks in Turkey. Meanwhile, Saeed Jalili, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, recently said he had called on six powers -- the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- to resume talks.
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ACTION ALERT: The Due Process Guarantee Act
(Editorial / San Francisco Chronicle)

Due process is one of this nation's most cherished rights, a defining attribute of a free country. Yet President Obama recently signed a $662 billion defense bill that obliterates due process by giving the military the authority to detain terrorism suspects indefinitely -- even if they are US citizens. Now Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) have sponsored bills to guarantee that defense bill provisions will not usurp the right to due process for American citizens.
/know/read.php?itemid=11828

Covert War against Iran Continues with Assassination of Another Nuclear Scientist
(Finian Cunningham / Global Research)

The US covert war against Iran raised the stakes even higher today with the assassination of yet another nuclear scientist, with some analysts saying that the Islamic Republic is being pushed into a corner to either back down in its confrontation with the US or retaliate -- the latter most certainly triggering an all-out war.
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My Guantanamo Nightmare
(Lakhdar Boumediene / The New York Times )

On Wednesday, America's detention camp at Guantánamo Bay will have been open for 10 years. For seven of them, I was held there without explanation or charge. During that time my daughters grew up without me. They were toddlers when I was imprisoned. Most of their letters were returned as "undeliverable," and the few that I received were so thoroughly and thoughtlessly censored that their messages of love and support were lost.
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US Defense Secretary Admits "Iran Not Trying to Develop Nuclear Weapon"
(Global Economic Analysis )

Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta admitted that despite all the rhetoric, Iran is not pursuing the ability to split atoms with weapons, saying it is instead pursuing "a nuclear capability." That "capability" falls in line with what Iran has said for years: that it is developing nuclear energy facilities, not nuclear weapons.
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The Unreported News: All Iranian Nuclear Sites Routinely Inspected; No Violations
(Anti-War.com & Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting )

Almost a year ago, Iran sent a letter to IAEA explaining that they would begin enrichment for medical radioisotopes to treat cancer patients at the Forodow facility. Iran agreed in August that Forodow would not be making highly enriched uranium needed to build a bomb. In fact, the underground enrichment site at Fordow has been inspected at least ten times since October 2009.
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Why Do We Ignore the Civilians Killed in American Wars?
(Julie Watson / Associated Press & John Tirman / The Washington Post)

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich stands accused of war crimes for the 2005 murders of 24 Iraqis, including unarmed women and children in the town of Haditha. The president recently offered words of comfort for the nearly 4,500 US soldiers who died in Iraq. He did not, however, mention the deaths of the Iraqi people. This inattention to civilian deaths isn't unusual. There's little evidence that the American public gives much thought to the people killed by our military interventions.
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Empire Still: Obama's Misguided Pentagon Strategy
(Matthew Rothschild / The Progressive )

The problem with Obama's new strategy is that it doesn't make a sharp break with business-as-usual at the Pentagon. Indeed, it relies more heavily than ever on the threat of using nuclear weapons, and it escalates tensions with China. The "new doctrine" still assumes the need to have troops in more than 100 countries, including in Germany and Japan 67 years after the end of World War II. The "new doctrine" It still sees the Pentagon as the enforcer of free trade for US multinationals.
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