Political language. . . is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind: George Orwell




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EXCLUSIVE
List of 140 Afghan Killed In US Attack Includes 93 Children

By Reuters

The list, obtained by Reuters, bears the endorsement of seven senior provincial and central government officials, including an Afghan two-star general who headed a task force dispatched by the government to investigate the incident.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22603.htm



New 'Prisoner Abuse' Photographs Emerge Despite US Bid to Block Publication

By Alex Spillius in Washington

Graphic photographs of alleged prisoner abuse, thought to be among up to 2,000 images Barack Obama is trying to prevent from being released, emerged yesterday.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22624.htm



Will They Hate Us for the Secret Photographs?

By Jacob G. Hornberger

What are Obama and the Pentagon using as an excuse to keep these photographs secret? They're saying that foreigners will get angry if they see photographic evidence of bad things that U.S. officials have been doing to foreigners as part of U.S. foreign policy since 9/11. Isn't that an implicit admission that foreigners do get angry over the bad things that the U.S. government does as part of its foreign policy?
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22626.htm



Barack Obama - Mass Murderer

By Dan Spielberg

If you are a poor, hapless Afghan civilian whose family's bodies were ripped apart by U.S. bombs, does it really make a difference to you if the air "strikes" were ordered by the Moron from Texas, George W Bush, or the Agent of Change, Barack Obama? I would think not.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22607.htm



The Hidden Hand of Dick Cheney

By Juan Cole

Out of office, he continues to push his tortured version of reality -- and his vision of an imperial presidency -- and there are signs he is succeeding.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22609.htm


Palestinians and Israeli Jews to Reach Equal Number by 2016, Data Shows

By Haaretz Service

According to the Bureau, 5.1 million of those who call themselves Palestinians reside in Israel or the Palestinian territories. Currently, there are 5.6 million Jews living in Israel.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22602.htm




MIDEAST: Families Down to a Meal a Day
By Erin Cunningham
GAZA CITY (IPS) - Um Abdullah cannot remember the last time she was able to feed meat to her eight children. She does know that for the past week the single meal she cooked for them each day consisted only of lentils. And that on one day, she had received aid coupons from the United Nations, which she subsequently sold to buy tomatoes and eggplant at the local market.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46824



MIDEAST: Pope Failing the 'Test of Pain'
Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM (IPS) - Before stepping into Jerusalem's interfaith and inter-political Middle East minefields, Pope Benedict XVI had posited himself as a "pilgrim of peace". But, only hours into his spiritual mission, the Pope found himself crashing up against the walls erected by pain - Jewish pain and Muslim pain, the memory of the Holocaust, and Palestinian pain of the continued Israeli occupation.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46807




Brown welcomes the butcher of Buner to Downing Street :

Commenting on Zardari's visit to Britain, Hizb ut Tahrir Britain's Media representative Taji Mustafa said "Once again we see the British government roll out the red carpet for another Muslim ruler who is engaged in the barbaric slaughter of his own people.
http://snipurl.com/i0u2o



We Tortured To Justify War

By Joe Conason

Dick Cheney keeps saying "enhanced interrogation" was used to stop imminent attacks, but evidence is mounting that the real reason was to invent evidence linking Saddam Hussein to al-Qaida.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22619.htm




Jewish Rabbi confesses “Israel should not exist” - Fox News pulls video
FOX’s Neil Cavuto conducted probably what was perhaps a very significant interview in 2006 where Neil Cavuto asks whether Israel should exist and Rabbi Yisroel Weiss from Jews United Against Zionism tells him, and the world, Mideast violence would stop if Israel ceased to exist.
http://teeth.com.pk/blog/2009/01/14/rabbi-confesses-israel-mistake-fox-news



Palestinians Recall 61 Years of Exile

Nakba remembered amid Gaza suffering

Video
Perhaps nowhere are the events of the "Nakba" more pertinent today than in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians are still feeling the devastating effects of the latest Israeli attacks.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22628.htm



Somali Insurgent Head Vows To Fight "Until Jerusalem Freed"
A founder and current leader of Somalia's insurgent Al-Shabaab group Wednesday vowed to continue his armed struggle until Islamic law spreads across the world and Jerusalem is "liberated."
Ahmed Abdi Godane, best known in Somalia by his nom de guerre "Abu Zubayr", spoke in a recorded message that was distributed to local media in Mogadishu.
"We will fight and the wars will not end until Islamic Sharia is implemented in all continents in the world and until Muslims liberate Jerusalem," the Shabaab leader said.
http://www.ansarnet.info/showthread.php?s=f3a54dd5786dd09c2987440e12cefede&p=14222



US rejects Pakistan refugee blame:

Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, has denied the US is responsible for exacerbating civilian suffering in Pakistan by supporting a military assault on the Taliban.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/05/200951218454539418.html


Pakistan's Treacherous Regime & US Game Plan
By Dr Shahid Qureshi
Monday 18 May 2009
It was treacheries which killed and bring down Tipu Sultan's rule and not the weakness of his modern rockets and military. Pakistan is facing similar kind of challenge
http://www.thelondonpost.net/comment.html



Pakistan to open second front against Taliban: report:

"The army is planning to go into Waziristan, possibly in June, which will involve huge numbers of troops in an attempt to establish some sort of state control over the area," the Daily Telegraph quoted a source close to the Pakistani military as saying.
http://tinyurl.com/p79e8h



FBI Whistleblower Testimony: Gonzales Imposed Brutal Interrogation Tactics:

In the first public testimony of anyone directly involved, former bureau agent Ali Soufan is expected to directly contradict assertions by CIA officials and former Vice President Cheney that the "enhanced interrogation techniques" were successful in prying information out of al Qaeda detainees.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=7560666




Obama Takes Over Where Bush Left Off

By Mike Whitney

Barack Obama is aggressively stepping up the war in Afghanistan. He's intensified the cross-border bombing of Pakistan and he is doubling the number of U.S. troops to 68,000 by 2010. He's also a strong proponent of pilotless drones even though hundreds of civilians have been killed in bombing raid blunders.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22637.htm



Obama reverses decision to release prisoner abuse photos:

In an about-face, President Barack Obama is seeking to withhold photos of past abuse of prisoners in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, arguing that their release could endanger soldiers abroad and threaten national security - an assertion that his lawyers failed to make in court only weeks ago.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/68103.html




Some of the images Bush did not want us to see

Photographs have been leaked of Iraqi citizens tortured by US soldiers at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6217.htm










US attack kills 29 in Pakistan:

Twenty-nine people were killed when a US drone fired two missiles at a residential compound in the Mirali tehsil of North Waziristan tribal region.
http://snipurl.com/i80x7









Record bombs dropped in Afghanistan in April:

In the past month, warplanes released 438 bombs, the most ever. April also marked the fourth consecutive month that the number of bombs dropped rose, after a decline starting last July.
http://snipurl.com/i815x








The U.S. to Raise Military Aid to Israel:

The budget proposed to Congress for 2010 includes $2.775 billion in aid to Israel, compared to $2.5 billon budgeted for 2009. This is more than a 10% increase in total U.S. aid to Israel.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/1915-the-us-to-raise-military-aid-to-israel.html









War crimes against children: new report on the 313 children killed during Gaza attack:

A new report released today reveals the true extent of child killings by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip during its 23 day offensive on Gaza between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/PSLG-7S2J6W?OpenDocument



New Leader of Afghan War General McChrystal Likes Torture
http://euraktiva786.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/new-leader-of-afghan-war-...




Billions promised, but Gazans still waiting:

International diplomats, Israeli officials and leaders of the Palestinian Authority haven't been able to figure out how to rebuild Gaza while keeping the cash out of the hands of Hamas, which runs the narrow strip of land. Food aid can get in, but substantial reconstruction hasn't begun.
http://snipurl.com/i3nut


Boycott Israel campaign starts to bite:

Motorola, Caterpillar, Veolia, the Tesco supermarket chain, and other companies across the world that do business with Israel are suffering losses due to a global boycott in support of Palestinian rights.
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/794/40892







Community Events

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MUHAMMAD (PBUH) - HIS TEACHINGS AND THE MODERN WORLD

by Alyas Karmani

Date: Friday 22nd May 2009
Time: 3.30 pm
Venue: Brunswick Room, Guildhall, High Street, Bath, BA1 5AW

An event organised by Bath Islamic Society focusing on the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and their relevance to the world we live in today. Everyone is welcome.

For further information please contact:
E-mail: waliurrahman@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.bathislamicsociety.org



GAZA 100 - WORLD RECORD RUN

Dates: Saturday 23rd May & Sunday 24th May 2009
Time: 12.00 noon - 12.00 noon
Venue: Mile End Stadium, Burdett Road, London, E3

Let your feet do the talking! Could you spare 20 seconds of your time to help save a child's life? Race into the Guinness Book of Records and help raise £400,000 in 24 hours for Save the Children's Gaza Appeal. We need 4,000 participants to break the world record for the 'Most people running 100 metres in a 24 hour relay'. The current record was set in Latvia in October 2008, in which 3,807 people participated. Help bring this record to London! You must be able to run 100 metres in or around 20 seconds and raise a minimum of £100 sponsorship, which will go directly as humanitarian aid to the children of Gaza. 100 metres, £100, 100% for the children of Gaza. Note that IF or Save the Children will not be taking any administrative costs out of money raised. The nearest tube station is Mile End. Volunteers are also needed for the Gaza 100 - World Record Run event. We are looking for responsible, mature individuals to help in a variety of roles on the day. The deadline for registration is 1st May 2009.

For more information and registration please contact:
Tel: 020 8963 9262 / 020 8963 9266
E-mail: info@ifcharity.com
Website: www.ifcharity.com/gaza100.html



















Gitmo News \ Rendition

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Obama threatens to limit U.S. intel with Brits:

The Obama administration says it may curtail Anglo-American intelligence sharing if the British High Court discloses new details of the treatment of a former Guantanamo detainee.
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/12/obama-threatens-to-limit-us-intel-with-brits/


FBI Whistleblower Testimony: Gonzales Imposed Brutal Interrogation Tactics:

In the first public testimony of anyone directly involved, former bureau agent Ali Soufan is expected to directly contradict assertions by CIA officials and former Vice President Cheney that the "enhanced interrogation techniques" were successful in prying information out of al Qaeda detainees.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=7560666


Dick Cheney 'suggested waterboarding' Iraqi prisoner:

The former US vice-president, suggested waterboarding an Iraqi prisoner whom White House officials suspected might possess knowledge of a potential connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, it has emerged.
http://snipurl.com/i3o9p



in case you missed it

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Abu Ghraib - The Sequel

This is a must watch video

These are the photos the American Government doesn't want you to see. While researching a story on guards at Abu Ghraib, I obtained a copy of the unreleased photographs and videos. Taken at the same time as the photos released in 2004 and often of the same abuses, this is the first time they have been shown to the public.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11944.htm





Turkey Shoot At Abu Ghraib

Tales of Murder and Torture

Video

I wanted to find out what had turned ordinary American soldiers into the apparent monsters revealed in the photographs.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12258.htm

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Video

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Rumsfeld Remained

You're A War Criminal

Video

At the entrance to the White House Correspondents Dinner, Donald Rumsfeld remained by Codepink "You're A War Criminal"
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22622.htm









Shorts

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According to a "list drawn up by Afghan officials," 95 children were "among the 140 people said to have died in a recent U.S.-Taliban battle in western Afghanistan." Afghan authorities blame the deaths on U.S. air strikes, but the U.S. military disputes their claim.


Yesterday the House passed a bill "that would provide more than $96 billion in funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq through Sept. 30, as President Obama had requested." However, a bloc of 51 Democrats opposed it, accusing Obama of "escalating a war without a clear exit strategy." "I'm tired of wars with no deadlines, no exits and no ends," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA).