Headlines for 09-06-07

Judge strikes down part of Patriot Act A federal judge struck down a key part of the USA Patriot Act on Thursday in a ruling that defended the need for judicial oversight of laws and bashed Congress for passing a law that makes possible "far-reaching invasions of liberty." 'They that would trade liberty for security deserve neither'


Russian Leader Calls For Urgent Delivery Of Anti-aircraft Missile Systems To Iran **


Iran says Russia committed to finishing nuclear plant Iran said on Thursday that Russia remains committed to completing construction of its first nuclear power plant, despite strings of delays and setbacks, state media reported.


US report calls for troop cuts in Iraq The US military should cut its presence in Iraq to look less like an "occupying force" but Congress should not impose a withdrawal deadline, a new report on the unpopular war said Thursday.


Salon: Former CIA officers report Bush 'didn't give a fuck about intelligence' Months before the Iraq invasion, President Bush apparently ignored a 2002 Oval Office briefing in which CIA director George Tenet provided the president with intelligence that Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction, according to former Clinton advisor and Salon columnist Sidney Blumenthal.


US more eager than Europe for military strikes on Iran: survey ** Far more Americans than Europeans believe that military force could prove necessary against Iran if diplomacy fails to halt the Islamic state's nuclear drive, a major opinion poll said Thursday. That's because we are being prepped for an attack on Iran.


U.S. Staging Nukes for Iran? ** Barksdale Air Force Base is being used as a jumping off point for Middle East operations. Gee, why would we want cruise missile nukes at Barksdale Air Force Base. Can?t imagine we would need to use them in Iraq. Why would we want to preposition nuclear weapons at a base conducting Middle East operations?.....Did someone at Barksdale try to indirectly warn the American people that the Bush Administration is staging nukes for Iran? Sounds like a case of American psyops on Iran.


US strikes in Baghdad kill 14 sleeping civilians: residents


Republicans, Paul Clash Over Iraq War We should take our marching orders from our Constitution,'' Paul shouted back, pointing his pen at Wallace for emphasis. ''We should not go to war without a declaration'' by Congress.


Most yanks say Bush 'too eager' on Iraq NEARLY two-thirds of Americans feel President George W. Bush was too eager to wage war in Iraq and is handling the conflict there badly, a poll released today suggested.


Syria Says Israel Bombs Territory Another Syrian official said: ?They dropped bombs on an empty area while our air defenses were firing heavily at them.?


Most people 'want Iraq pull-out' Most people across the world believe US-led forces should withdraw from Iraq within a year, a BBC poll suggests.


Oil price up on US supply slump


Syrian fire at Israeli aircraft ratchets up tensions, fears Alon Ben-David, Israel analyst for Jane's Defence Weekly, a United Kingdom-based defense magazine, suggested that Thursday's incident might have occurred when a routine Israeli surveillance flight over Syria encountered an unexpected sophisticated radar system.


Russia-US talks on missile defence set for Paris Russian and US diplomats will meet in Paris on Monday to discuss Washington's plans for an anti-missile defence system in central Europe, a Russian foreign ministry official told AFP Thursday.


Ron Paul wins 'text messaging vote' at Fox News debate


A New Hampshire mom walks her talk for Ron Paul


BOOKS-US: Outing the "Israel Lobby"


Pentagon praises Israeli arms controls Pentagon official Beth McCormick said Wednesday that Israeli defense officials, after suffering several spats with U.S. counterparts over attempted arms deals with China in recent years, have satisfactorily tightened up export policies.


Hizbollah 'did not use civilians as cover' In its strongest condemnation of Israel since last summer's war, Human Rights Watch said yesterday that most Lebanese civilian casualties were caused by "indiscriminate Israeli air strikes".


Israel accused of indiscriminate attacks during Lebanon war Although it found some instances where Hizbullah fired rockets from civilian areas, or mixed with the civilian population it said: "Such violations, however, were not widespread: we found strong evidence that Hizbullah stored most of its rockets in bunkers and weapon storage facilities located in uninhabited fields and valleys, that in the vast majority of cases Hizbullah fighters left populated civilian areas as soon as the fighting started, and that Hizbullah fired the vast majority of its rockets from pre-prepared positions outside villages."


Israel censured over Lebanese civilian toll In a scathing report issued Thursday, the New York-based watchdog said its investigators had determined that Israeli air force and artillery shelling caused most of some 900 Lebanese civilian deaths during the July-August conflict. It rejected Israel's argument that Hezbollah invited the heavy toll by operating among non-combatants and thus turning them into "human shields".


A Prosecutorial Brief Against Israel and Its Supporters Uncritical American support for its closest Middle East ally has damaged American credibility in the Arab world, encouraged terrorism, stymied the search for a solution to the Palestinian problem, and in every way made America?s international position weaker and more dangerous.


The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy official web site


Israel Urged to Prepare for Iranian Nuclear Attack Former Israeli Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit said the big question facing Israeli intelligence and other Western intelligence agencies is whether Iran would use nuclear weapons if it acquires them. Nevertheless, he said, Israel must be prepared, although he did not offer specifics on what kind of preparations Israel should take.


Iraq, Israel, Iran the chief orchestrater of the second neoconservative war of aggression is Elliott Abrams. Convicted for deceptions around Iran-Contra, as Lewis Libby was convicted for deceptions stemming from Iraq--and pardoned by the elder Bush just as Libby had his sentence commuted by the younger--Abrams now presides over the Middle East desk at the National Security Council.


More Money for Israel? They're richer than ever, and they don't need it ? so why are we giving it?


Lebanese army kills two militants near battle camp Lebanese soldiers killed two Fatah al-Islam militants and captured seven near a bombed-out refugee camp on Thursday, as they hunted down other Islamists on the run, an army source said.


Six Palestinians charged in attack on UN Six Palestinians were charged on Thursday for their alleged role in a roadside bombing against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, the official news agency ANI reported.


Wiesenthal Center pushes Web battle on Hill The presentation on Capitol Hill Wednesday was sponsored by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), its ranking member.