Headlines for August 26 - September 1

A Stand For Justice


U.S. wasted billions in rebuilding Iraq
As the U.S. draws down in Iraq, it is leaving behind hundreds of abandoned or incomplete projects. More than $5 billion in American taxpayer funds has been wasted — more than 10 percent of the some $50 billion the U.S. has spent on reconstruction in Iraq, according to audits from a U.S. watchdog agency.


Adm. Mike Mullen: 'National Debt Is Our Biggest Security Threat'



AP IMPACT: US wasted billions in rebuilding Iraq
As the U.S. draws down in Iraq, it is leaving behind hundreds of abandoned or incomplete projects. More than $5 billion in American taxpayer funds has been wasted – more than 10 percent of the some $50 billion the U.S. has spent on reconstruction in Iraq, according to audits from a U.S. watchdog agency.



Boxed into a Corner on Iran by Philip Giraldi
To be completely and cold bloodedly serious about the respective positions being staked out by Iran and its chief antagonists in Washington and Tel Aviv, one must first of all remember that Tehran does not currently have a nuclear weapon and there is no real evidence that it even has a program to produce one. It has been basically compliant with the UN inspection regime mandated by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which it is a signatory. Nor is there any evidence that the Mullahs are suicidal....The conversation on Iran, such as it is, has been expressly designed to bring about a war rather than avoid it. The mainstream media disinformation campaign orchestrated by AIPAC has worked just fine. Most Americans already believe incorrectly that Iran has a nuclear weapon and most also support attacking it, a product of the steady diet of hokum that they have been fed


'IDF can destroy Lebanon army within 4 hours'



Iran proposes to produce nuclear fuel with Russia
An official at the Russian nuclear agency said the two countries have discussed the possibility of creating a facility to assemble the fuel rods for Bushehr. The facility would operate under Russian license on Iranian territory.

But the official said the uranium enrichment would be performed on Russian soil. Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, the official added that Russia first will focus on commissioning the Bushehr plant, and then turn its attention to Iran's new proposal.

Russia is currently supplying all the uranium fuel for Bushehr. That fuel is enriched to 3.5 percent, well below the 90 percent enrichment needed for a nuclear warhead.


Report: Israel planning to attack Hezbollah arms depots in Syria
The report is based on Western sources who asserted that Israel has increased its military force level along the northern border in the Golan Heights and Mount Dov areas.


For America's Middle Class, the Hits Just Keep on Coming



Ninth Circuit: The Government Can Use GPS to Track Your Moves (without a Warrant)
Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn't violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway - and no reasonable expectation that the government isn't tracking your movements.


Social Security Cuts Threaten to Hurt Low-Income Americans More
After running a surplus for years and building up a sizable trust fund, Social Security now runs in the red. Though the program is far from bankrupt, more money is pouring out than going in. Economists project that the trust fund will be emptied by 2037. From there, opinions diverge on how far into debt the program will fall if nothing is done.


Congress may sneak through Internet ‘kill switch’ in defense bill
Carper, along with Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), introduced the bill in June in an effort to combat cyber-crime and the threat of online warfare and terrorism.


Record number in government anti-poverty programs
Government anti-poverty programs that have grown to meet the needs of recession victims now serve a record one in six Americans and are continuing to expand.


Homelessness Up 50% In New York City



Iraq - An End or an Escalation?
The ongoing war in Iraq takes place against a backdrop of economic crisis at home, as fresh numbers indicate that our economic situation is as bad as ever, and getting worse! Our foreign policy is based on an illusion: that we are actually paying for it. What we are doing is borrowing and printing the money to maintain our presence overseas. Americans are seeing the cost of this irresponsible approach as our economic decline continues. Unemployed Americans have been questioning a policy that ships hundreds of billions of dollars overseas while their own communities crumble and their frustration is growing. An end to this type of foreign policy is way overdue.


Iran has material for 1-2 atom bombs: ex-IAEA aide



Yizkor for Jabotinsky: The Prophet Half-Heeded
At New York’s only memorial for him, an evening organized by Americans for a Safe Israel and held at Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue, the keynote speaker was Douglas Feith, a prominent neoconservative who was under secretary of defense for policy in George W. Bush’s administration. Early on in his talk, Feith highlighted this distinction about Jabotinsky. That's the same Douglas Feith that was making the case for war against Iraq. Read Whose War by Patrick J. Buchanan for more information


Obama Resists Pressure for Red Line on Iran's Nuclear Capability
Gates appears to have been trying to maneuver Obama into adopting a policy under which the United States would have a reason for threatening Iran unless it agreed to divest itself of its low enriched uranium stocks and end enrichment.


Leaked CIA memo cites U.S. Jews among exporters of terrorism
"Some American Jews have supported and even engaged in violent acts against perceived enemies of Israel," the report reads. "In 1994, Baruch Goldstein, an American Jewish doctor from New York, emigrated to Israel, joined the extremist group Kach, and killed 29 Palestinians during their prayers in the mosque at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron which helped trigger a wave of bus bombings by Hamas in early 1995."


ISRAEL ORDERS MASSIVE MILITARY FUEL STOCKS FAR IN EXCESS OF THAT REQUIRED FOR NORMAL OPERATIONS
The only conclusion one can draw, if Israel is not planning to actually invade Iran, which, clearly, it could not, is that Israel is planning to use the gasoline and the diesel fuel for some other ground incursion – and that can only mean an invasion of Lebanon and possibly the Gaza and West Bank when an attack against Iran is launched.


Anniversary of WTC Attack To Prompt Rallies Amid Holy Days
The rally will be held on the corner of Park Place and West Broadway, half a block from the proposed site of the Islamic community center and two blocks from Ground Zero. In addition to Wilders, the rally will feature a videotaped address by John Bolton, ambassador to the United Nations during the second Bush administration, and speeches by Republican political candidates and by a conservative radio host


FBI paid informant in Bronx synagogue bomb plot $97K, who provided terror suspects with fake bombs
Defense lawyers contend that without the informant - who they say entrapped the suspects - their bumbling clients would never have tried to blow up two synagogues in Riverdale and shoot down missiles.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/08/25/2010-08-25_fbi_paid_informant_in_bronx_synagogue_bomb_plot_97k_who_provided_terror_suspects.html#ixzz0ysf1kstr


The Israeli Right’s ‘Post-Nationalism’ Excuse
George Will, the conservative Washington Post columnist, was in the Israeli prime minister’s office a few weeks ago and came away with a fascinating new take on Israel’s image troubles.
George Will, a neocon. Whodda thunk it?


At Ground Zero, a Fight We’re All Losing
said Gingrich, “There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia.” (So now the state of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia becomes the standard against which we are urged to measure ourselves.)


Peres warns IAEA chief of Iran nuclear threat
Israel is also widely believed to have an arsenal of around 200 nuclear warheads – but as the country has not signed the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, the IAEA has no inspection rights in the country and has not been allowed access to Israel's main nuclear installation at Dimona.


California mosque vandalized, Ground Zero mentioned



One in 10 with a mortgage face foreclosure
The number of Americans missing payments and falling into foreclosure has followed the upward trend in unemployment, which has shown no sign of easing soon.


Fort Carson soldiers' killing spree after Iraq combat



Poll: Most Americans Say Iraq War Was a Mistake
nearly six in ten say it was a mistake to start the battle in the first place, and most say their country did not accomplish its objectives in Iraq.


Secret 'Kill Lists' Fly in the Face of US and Int'l Law



NYT: The Neoconservatives’ Best Friend



Third World America: 'Fast-Tracking to Anarchy'
Much of poor America, especially in our major cities, has been Third World America for decades. Soon the urban middle classes and even upper classes will become better acquainted with that world.


First They Came for the Sharia Court. Then They Came for the Bet Din
Permitting people to settle their disputes in their own religious courts is not a “replacement” of American law, but a time-honored expression of religious freedom and accommodation.

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