Headlines for 12-31-07

110 US troops die in Afghanistan in 2007


2007 deadliest year yet for US troops in Iraq A total of 899 US troops were killed in Iraq in 2007, the highest number since the US-led invasion nearly four years ago.


2008: The year a new superpower is born China is set to make 2008 the year it asserts its status as a global colossus by flexing frightening economic muscle on international markets, enjoying unprecedented levels of domestic consumption and showcasing itself to a watching world with a glittering £20bn Olympic Games.


Marine avoids Iraq murder charge Sgt Wuterich is the last of four marines to have the murder charge against him dropped.


Iraq PM offers money to families fleeing Turkish bombings


Two US marines to be court-martialed for Haditha killings Two US marines will stand trial following the killing of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha, the worst incident of alleged war crimes involving US troops in Iraq, officials said Monday.


Governments prepare for 'cyber cold war' Paller said attacks against the US military this year ? reportedly made by China, although the Chinese have denied responsibility ? resulted in the loss of large amounts of data. The data had, in part, been stolen from the NIPRNet, a US military network which is open to the internet and used for the transmission of non-classified documents.




Top economist says America could plunge into recession Losses arising from America?s housing recession could triple over the next few years and they represent the greatest threat to growth in the United States, one of the world?s leading economists has told The Times.


Ron Paul Is Right About Pakistan


Police in thought pursuit Congress is perched to enact the "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 20007 (Act)," probably the greatest assault on free speech and association in the United States since the 1938 creation of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Our founding fathers would have made this blacklist, no doubt.


Palestinians remember Saddam year after hanging Saddam remains popular among Palestinians due in part to his payments of millions of dollars to the families of suicide bombers and anti-Israel fighters, as well as his missile attacks on Israel during the 1991 Gulf War.




Jerusalem square to be named after Pollard A Jerusalem square will be symbolically dedicated to Jonathan Pollard ahead of President Bush's visit to Israel....The move is meant to help lobby Bush to pardon Pollard, a former U.S. Navy analyst who is serving a life prison sentence for spying for Israel. Bush leaves office in 2009.


What's the hurry? there is no Jewish leader in the Republican Party who, like Max Fisher in the past, has sufficient enough influence to just phone up the president and quietly take care of things. Most Jewish Republicans who have a degree of access to the White House are not fans of the political process, and some are busy promoting the campaign against a division of Jerusalem, an effort that Olmert perceives as a personal campaign against him and in favor of Benjamin Netanyahu.....At the Prime Minister's Office, the focus is now on Bush's January 9th visit. Expected to top the agenda is the Iranian threat and the ramifications of the American intelligence report that said Iran is not planning to develop a military nuclear capability.


Israel's 2008 plans: Engage Syria, Palestinian peace, upgrade U.S. ties In an internal memo, Ben Zeev argued forcefully for a formal pact with the United States, primarily on the grounds that it would help deter Iran from attacking Israel. Under the terms of such a pact, the United States would consider any military attack on Israel an attack on America, appreciably strengthening Israel's deterrent posture.


Wilson was elected time and again by his constituents and served 24 years in Congress until his retirement in 1996. He was considered a liberal congressman who supported social justice, civil rights and the right to abortion, but he was a wild hawk when i Wilson was elected time and again by his constituents and served 24 years in Congress until his retirement in 1996. He was considered a liberal congressman who supported social justice, civil rights and the right to abortion, but he was a wild hawk when it came to foreign policy. He became a staunch supporter of Israel in its struggle against the Arabs - at least until he visited the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps near Beirut during the first Lebanon war. After that he transferred his love for Israel to the mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan.


Syria unwilling to pressure Lebanon allies: minister


'Even Israel's good friends see future with J'lem divided' Bush was not pressuring Israel in any way, Olmert said. "He's not doing a single thing that I don't agree to," he said. "He doesn't support anything that I oppose." Rather, Olmert said, both he and the president hoped that the Annapolis timetable, for an accord in the course of 2008, could be met. ......"It's a coincidence that is almost 'the hand of God,'" Olmert said, "that Bush is president of the United States, that Nicolas Sarkozy is the president of France, that Angela Merkel is the chancellor of Germany, that Gordon Brown is the prime minister of England and that the special envoy to the Middle East is Tony Blair." ......"The bottom line is that President Bush hasn't changed his opinion regarding the danger posed by Iran. And I haven't changed my impression regarding President Bush's commitment to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons."


Imams leave her name unsaid The Palestinian columnist Ibrahim D'abes wrote a glowing tribute for Ms. Bhutto in the daily Al Quds newspaper, saying she "was and remains the best example of a courageous and fighting woman."


Cheering 40 new Iranian olim, did Israel offer hype or help? Iran?s Jews constitute the Diaspora?s oldest Jewish community, represent the largest Jewish population in a Muslim country and, according to their own accounts, have been treated fairly well by their government......Melman asked why the Jewish Agency and the International Fellowship would turn the arrival of the 40 immigrants into a media circus "when they know that hanging in the balance is the fate of entire Jewish community in a Muslim country hostile to Israel."