Headlines for 10-08-07

'War on terror' has been a 'disaster': British think tank The Oxford Research Group (ORG) said in a report that Western strategy since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States had failed to extinguish the threat from Islamist extremism and even fuelled it.


US steps up accusations against Iran ** Statements like those by General Petraeus could be part of an attempt to turn US public opinion in favour of military action against Iran - in particular, air strikes against revolutionary guard bases.


6 years later, US expands Afghan base Originally envisioned as a temporary home for invading U.S. forces, the sprawling American base at Bagram, a former Soviet outpost in the shadow of the towering Hindu Kush mountains, is growing in size by nearly a third.


Blast fuels fears Iran is involved Making the case for war.


Hundreds of Iraqi refugees in Syria protest against US Senate Hundreds of Iraqi refugees staged a sit-in in Damascus on Saturday to protest against a recent nonbinding US Senate resolution that encourages splitting Iraq along ethnic and religious lines.


Giuliani raps Clinton on Iraq, Iran Giuliani said he has made it clear that he would not allow Iran to become a nuclear power and would not rule out military action to stop that from happening.


Iran to re-open its border with Iraq Iran will re-opens its border with Iraq on Sunday after a two-week closure to protest at the detention of an Iranian by US troops, the semi-official news agency Fars reported.


The Ron Paul Breakthrough Ron Paul - one of the good guys.


The Big Lie: 'Iran Is a Threat' by Scott Ritter ** On every point, the case made against Iran collapses upon closer scrutiny. ....Most if not all the claims made by the United States concerning Iranian military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan have not been backed up with anything stronger than rhetoric, and more often than not are subsequently contradicted by other military and governmental officials, citing a lack of specific evidence. Iran as a nation represents absolutely no threat to the national security of the United States, or of its major allies in the region, including Israel......The fact of the matter is that the ?Iranian Threat? is derived solely from the rhetoric of those who appear to seek confrontation between the United States and Iran, and largely divorced from fact-based reality.


Rep. Ron Paul: I advocate the same foreign policy the Founding Fathers would A Paul administration would see Americans engaged overseas like never before, in business and cultural activities. But a Paul administration would never attempt to export democracy or other values at the barrel of a gun, as we have seen over and over again that this is a counterproductive approach that actually leads the United States to be resented and more isolated in the world.


GOP candidate calls for troop withdrawal Rep. Ron Paul believes political leaders are pumping up the threat of terrorism to accomplish political goals. Paul, the 10-term Texas congressman, told Monitor reporters and editors that concerns about the country's security have been overblown to justify needless foreign invasions and domestic surveillance programs....."As long as we occupy Muslims' countries, our danger is always growing," he said. "So, I think we're in a much more dangerous time now than we were before 9/11 because instead of wising up, what we've done is more of the wrong thing."



13 Turkish soldiers killed near Iraq border Kurdish fighters from the separatist group PKK have killed 13 Turkish soldiers in an attack near the border with Iraq, one of the heaviest losses suffered by the Turkish military in conflicts with the group.


'Jewish, Armenian groups defaming us' Babacan said Ankara expected the US administration, the Iraqi government and the administration in northern Iraq to take action against the PKK operating from northern Iraq.



Fire ravages border camp for Palestinian-Iraqi refugees A raging fire swept through the Al-Tanf refugee camp on the Syrian side of the Syrian-Iraqi border on 6 October injuring 25 Palestinian-Iraqi refugees and burning down 53 tents in the isolated camp, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported on 7 October.


Clinton's Iran Vote Prompts A Harsh Back-and-Forth ** Rolph asked Clinton to explain her Senate vote Wednesday for a resolution urging the Bush administration to label the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. Rolph interpreted that measure as giving Bush authority to use military action against the Iranians.




Neocons Converge Around Giuliani Campaign Podhoretz is in favor of bombing Iran because of the country's unwillingness to suspend its uranium-enrichment program. He also believes America is engaged in a "world war" with "Islamofascism" and that Giuliani is the only man who can win it......what's left of the neocon movement does seem to be converging around the Giuliani campaign, to some degree, because he embraces their common themes Clue: The Israel Factor, a site that ranks candidates based on their support of Israel, has Giuliani ranked at number 1. The author of this piece goes on to suggest that neocons are in line with Giuliani's pro-Israeli views, as are most American voters. Hogwash. The name of this game is which candidate can kowtow the lowest to the Israeli Lobby.


WJC officials meet Pope Benedict Lauder and Schneider were scheduled to meet later Monday with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. They were expected to call on Italy to take a firm stance against the intentions of Iran to develop nuclear capabilities.


Turkey says not to let airspace be used against Syria


Israeli president brands Iran 'centre of global terror' "Iran is the greatest terrorist centre in the world today," he said, adding that "it is openly building an arsenal of long-range missiles and, secretely, nuclear weapons.