Headlines for 03-13-08

Iran still a target? The fact that most Americans seem to believe the threat of such an attack has receded may actually make it more possible. Officials in Washington could easily take the lack of sustained public and political protest as a sign that citizens don't really care whether the U.S. launches this new war.


Iran destroys 'terrorist' cells on Iraqi border: report


Right now, feds might be looking into your finances As concerns about fraud and terrorist financing grow, an increasing number of suspicious deposits, withdrawals and money transfers are being reported by banks and others to the federal government. Banks and credit unions as well as currency dealers and stores that cash checks reported a record 17.6 million transactions to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in 2006, according to a report from the network, a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department.


Pentagon Cancels Release of Controversial Iraq Report The Pentagon on Wednesday canceled plans for broad public release of a study that found no pre-Iraq war link between late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the al Qaida terrorist network.


Most Economists Say Recession Has Arrived as Outlook Darkens


Audit: FBI Privacy Abuses Rose in 2006 Top-level FBI counterterrorism executives issued improper blanket demands in 2006 for records of 3,860 telephone lines to justify the fact that agents already had obtained the data using an illegal procedure that is now prohibited, the Justice Department inspector general reported Thursday.


An alternative intelligence view If John McCain does not make it to the White House, Israel is likely to be faced with a cruel decision at the end of the decade: to attack a nuclearizing Iran or accept a nuclear-capable Iran. This coming from the ISRAELI news site, Ha'aretz. Whose war is it? And notice how the author blames the US for the failure to democratize the Middle East when it was Israel's minions in this nation that foisted this on us in the first place. If the Israelis have their way, we won't be leaving Iraq any time soon.


Blowback of Iran War Likely to Be 'Terrible' And last year, after further tightening economic sanctions against Iran, Democrats in Congress removed a provision in an Iraq war spending bill that would have forbidden an attack on Iran without congressional approval. The measure was removed after intense lobbying from groups such as the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, an influential lobbying group that is seen as supporting policies in line with Israel's right-wing Likud Party.




Smearing Obama The purpose of the smear is to paint him as an Arab-loving, Israel-hating, terrorist-coddling, radical black nationalist......He has occasionally angered pro-Israel hawks by urging direct negotiations with Iran and Syria, but Obama's foreign policy record is well within the Democratic Party mainstream. Love the bit about Aaron Klein, writer for World Net Daily, and sometimes, incredulously, TIME.


McCain's Spiritual Advisers So while Hagee is busy angling for the rapture by making sure that there's no peaceful settlement to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Parsley wants to mobilize the country in a Christian-style jihad against Muslims.


Syria invites Lebanon to Arab summit