Headlines for 03-09-08

Studies: Iraq costs US $12B per month


AP: Water makes US troops in Iraq sick Dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using "unmonitored and potentially unsafe" water supplied by the military and a contractor once owned by Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, the Pentagon's internal watchdog says.


Stop threats then we'll talk, Iran tells West


US Navy strike group responds to increasing Lebanon, Syria tension Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the United States' Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Nassau group would operate in the region "for a while" and that the deployment signals the navy "is engaged" in "a very important part of the world".


Gasoline prices hit new high, seen jumping more U.S. average retail gasoline prices have reached a new high of almost $3.20 per gallon and will likely jump another 20 to 30 cents in the next month, worsening the pain of consumers struggling to make ends meet in an economic downturn.


Syria invites Saudi to Arab summit A Syrian delegation on Sunday delivered an invitation to regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia to join an Arab summit in Damascus at the end of the month, the official SPA news agency reported.


Ex-Defense Official Assails Colleagues Over Run-Up to War Douglas J. Feith, in a massive score-settling work, portrays an intelligence community and a State Department that repeatedly undermined plans he developed as undersecretary of defense for policy and conspired to undercut President Bush's policies. Somebody ought to deport this treasonous pig back to his homeland - Israel. Oops! Already there!


Crisis Over Teheran's Alleged Nuclear Plans Nearing Climax Iran, a nation of proud people in a neighborhood of proud peoples, sees only absurdity in the discrimination against it when the nearby nations of India, Pakistan, and Israel have all developed their own nuclear weapons without the U.S. stopping them.


Hamas details Iranian, Syrian training Hundreds of Hamas' "best brains" have left Gaza for Egypt, and from there have flown to Damascus, the commander said. Some stayed in Syria for training and others went on to neighboring Iran, with border authorities waiving visa requirements so as to avoid a paper trail. How much was he paid to implicate Syria and Iran mewonders.


Israeli FM heads to US Livni will meet Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice along with other senior officials, her office said in a statement. "The meetings will focus on the peace process, the Iran issue and other regional issues," it said.



Kuwaiti analyst: Best if Israel, not U.S., destroys Iranian nukes Officially Kuwait, like the other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, wants a peaceful solution to the nuclear standoff between Tehran and the West and will not allow the U.S. to use its territories for any attack on Iran.



Hezbollah accuses U.S. of declaring war on Lebanese opposition


Operation Merlin II back to the CIA-Mossad Operation Merlin "intelligence" of 2000. What did they hope to accomplish with it?