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Today's News From Around The World Saturday 24 March 2007

Five Taliban Mujahideen were freed in exchange for the Italian journalist Five Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan were released on March 20, in exchange for the Italian journalist who was captured by Mujahideen two weeks ago. The exchange which happened with the tribal chiefs in Helmand province. The free Mujahideen were Mofti Latifullah Hakimi who was the spokesman of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and Ustad Mohammad Yasar chief of cultural committee of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the other three were Mullah Akhter Mohammad, Qari Hamdullah and Mullah Abdul Ghafar. They were captives in Poul charkhy jail for two years or three years.

Another Casualty: Coverage of the Iraq War The primary reason why reporting from Iraq is dangerous for all journalists is the horrific security situation. Iraqi journalists reporting from the streets are in perpetual danger. If any of the countless militias does not want a certain story made public, it will make sure that the journalist has filed his or her last story. Not to mention the scores of reporter deaths which have been the combined handiwork of the Iraqi government, occupation forces and/or criminal gangs.

Despite President Bush’s assertion that life in Iraq is improving, a senior Iraqi journalist was found dead in the capital on March 3, 2007. On the same day the body of the managing editor of Baghdad’s al-Safir newspaper, Jamal al-Zubaidi, was found shot in the head.

Nothing but Fascists The war on Iraq was not carried out on the basis of mere strategic interests. No strategies or interests could explain the level of death and destruction that Iraq had undergone ever since the Gulf War in 1991. If one were to assume that the US led invasion in 2003 is a continuation of that war, then Iraq could be said to have suffered more horrors than any country had, including the countries that were involved the WWII. We are talking about at least two and a half million Iraqi civilians who had met their fate, where 750,000 of them were killed during the last four years. That figure represents 10% of Iraq’s population. In addition, you have over three and a half million Iraqis displaced (two million of them fled outside the country while the other1.5 million lost their homes and became displaced inside their own country). That is 14% of the population.

Mythologizing War: The Hidden Abuse and Exploitation of Members of the Military, Veterans, and Gold Star Families Despite recent revelations regarding patient neglect and mismanagement at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and within the Veterans Administration, the extent of the impropriety to which members of the military, veterans, and Gold Star Families have been subjected has yet to be fully realized. Sometimes mistreatment, even exploitation, is not as apparent to the casual observer as are walls covered with fungus and rooms infested with vermin. The abuse of which I speak, the mythologizing of war, is far more subtle, hidden within a tangle of political deceit and manipulation, but equally as harmful, malicious, and disgraceful.

The Sheikh and The Torture Senator Except you don’t know what the results are. In the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, it appears that with torture you can get someone to confess to masterminding the entire al-Qaeda attack on the United States. Senior FBI officials are questioning some of Sheikh Mohammed’s assertions of guilt and remind us of the FBI’s concern about torture techniques used by both the CIA and the US military on prisoners in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo, techniques that can elicit confessions just to get the torturers to stop.

Twilight Zone / Dress code What won't the Shin Bet security service do to break the spirit of a Palestinian detainee? Before, interrogators used threats and told detainees that their loved ones were being arrested because of them. Now they even put on the show. Under false pretenses, agents brought the wife and the aged father of a security detainee to a Shin Bet interrogation facility, where they forced him to remove his kaffiyeh in order to humiliate him, then dressed him in a prisoner's uniform, held him by both arms and, through a window, displayed him to his son, who has been kept for weeks in isolation, without the opportunity to meet with a lawyer.

Demilitarization to ensure final solution Attempt to malign liberation struggle Senior leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference Maulana Abbas Ansari has emphasized that demilitariztion of Jammu and Kashmir will create conducive circumstances to move towards a final settlement of the Kashmir dispute. Addressing Pakistan Day function in New Delhi, he urged India to stop immediately state-terrorism in occupied Kashmir. He pointed out that human rights violations by Indian troops and dialogue process could not go in tandem. The APHC spokesman, in a statement in Srinagar today said that it has come to the knowledge of the Hurriyat headquarters in Srinagar that Indian secret agencies have devised a new plan to malign Kashmiris’ liberation struggle. He added that the plan consisted of mock conversations recorded in video and audio CDs and cassettes, showing the involvement of Mujahideen in anti-people activities.

Gujarat govt admits killing Muslim youth In a startling revelation the government of Indian state of Gujarat has admitted in the Supreme Court that the killing of Muslim youth Shorabuddin by the police in 2005, suspecting him to be plotting the assassination of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, was a fake encounter. A joint team of the anti-terrorist squad of the Gujarat police and special task force of Rajasthan had killed Shorabuddin after making him and his wife alight from a bus on way to Sangli from Ahmedabad. His brother Rubabuddin’s petition for probing the killing was listed before a Bench. The counsel for the Gujarat Government admitted that it was a fake encounter. Rubabuddin had also said that after the killing of his brother, his wife also went missing and apparently had been eliminated by the police for fear of being exposed. He added that co-passenger Tulsi Ram Prajapati, who had brought to light the killing, was also found dead under mysterious circumstances.

Killing and torture of innocent muslims by infidels of kremlin regime and russian secret agents People in the North Caucasian republic of Ingushetia have expressed outrage at the killing of a local man, which they say is only the latest in a string of murder and inhuman killing by russian secret agents.

Russian Puppet Mufti goes haywire - pleases and supports kremlin regime There are a number of so called muftis who try to please people but forget that a small mistake can bring terrible punishment from Allah. We are not in this world to please people or be their slave. Unfortunately most people forget that. We are slaves of Allah and our duty is to work and think for the ummah and help its brothers and sisters.

Southern Ocean Current Faces Slowdown Threat The impact of global warming on the vast Southern Ocean around Antarctica is starting to pose a threat to ocean currents that distribute heat around the world, Australian scientists say, citing new deep-water data.

Plugging into solar power Calls for Arizona to become "the Middle East of solar energy" sound good to environmentally conscious consumers who want to cut reliance on fossil fuels. That goal is achievable, say solar promoters. Though Arizona is widely touted as the sunniest state in the nation, solar energy accounts for less than 1 percent of the power produced commercially here. Changing that would require a hefty upfront investment, advocates say. But it would pay off in a clean, endlessly renewable power source. They say government must lead the way.

Clean coal would cost billions: Energy department puts $4 billion annual price tag on cleansing process Coal-fired power plants have become the focus of carbon sequestration efforts because they are the principal emitters, followed by automobiles, office buildings and residential homes. In recent decades, modern industry has devised technologies for trapping pollutants such as fly ash, mercury, sulphur and nitrogen oxides, leaving carbon dioxide as the remaining obstacle to turning coal into a clean fuel.

The Case Of Academic Complicity In The Violence Against Dalit And Dalit Women In India Author's contribution here is more of a study done by the higher castes (privileged) on 'caste issues in India'. Approach of study is more of explaining and narrating the way it is. No painstaking efforts are made in these and many such studies to understand the governing mechanisms and reasons for perpetuation of inhuman caste system. Nor is any attempt made to find out the reason as to why caste system is so painful to the victim and how to resolve it. Or at least cope up with the oppressive situation. On the contrary such reports have always remained the space for most of the higher castes researchers/academics to show to the world that how this system of caste is so unique and advanced form of stratification in the ancient times. Probably its compartmentalisation, the division of groups in hierarchical closed compartments, is fascinating to these city-dweller researchers. Considering or portraying caste as a part of 'rich cultural heritage' hides from reader the possibility of asking the queries that why such systems have been created at the first place. The system has tormented majority people (all women-even the Brahmin women, all lower castes, tribes etc.) in India and disabled the whole country because caste based inequalities reflect in every aspects of the Indian society. Whether it is corruption in day to day life on the basis of caste based favours or selection in the creative opportunities like sports, arts, music led and influenced by such sectarian power politics under the guise of 'third world's biggest democracy'. And as a result India is gaining failure in return.

Documents Show US Attorney General Took Part in Firings Contrary to his earlier assertions, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales took part in a confidential meeting on firing seven out of eight US attorneys now at the center of a political controversy, documents released late Friday show. The e-mails and other papers sent by the Justice Department to Congress indicate that on November 27, Gonzales attended an hour-long meeting on the firings with his then-chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, the man in charge of putting together a list of those to be dismissed. According to the documents, in late November, Sampson was still struggling with the task as he tried to determine which prosecutors would lose their jobs. The list was finalized days after his meeting with Gonzales in the attorney general's conference room, and the seven attorneys were formally notified of their dismissals on December 7. The eighth attorney was fired earlier. A calendar entry showed that the subject of the meeting was the future of US attorneys. The documents contradict Gonzales's earlier assurances that he played no active role in the firings that have since mushroomed into a heated political dispute between Democratic-controlled Congress and the White House.

Israel Lobby Targets Tax Honesty Movement: Are Kidd, Becraft, Banister and Schulz “Extremists”? As we reported in our previous article, the upcoming Give Me Liberty 2007 conference will examine U.S. Middle East Policy through the prism of the U.S. Constitution. During the conference we will examine the work of professors Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) and Walt (Harvard University) titled, “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,” and the book by Jimmy Carter titled, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid.

Substantial documentary evidence presented by Mearsheimer, Walt and Carter supports the argument that the United States has abandoned its own national interest and security to advance the interests of Israel, that neither strategic nor moral arguments can justify America’s unconditional support for Israel, that the United States has become the de facto enabler of Israel’s unlawful expansion and military occupation of the Palestinian Territories, and that U.S. policy in the Middle East (including giving Israel well over $140 billion in U.S. income tax revenues) has been driven by the activities of the “Israel Lobby.”

America Calls For Foreign Mercenaries As War Enters 5th Year As the United States war against the Muslim peoples of the World enters its 5th year this weekend, and as the American Defense Chief, Robert Gates, warns his countrymen that they will be involved in war for ‘decades to come’, the vast American war machine has now turned to Foreign Mercenaries to fill its vastly undermanned ranks. For many years the warning calls have been sounded that the US Military has reached it’s ‘breaking point’, and as we can read as reported by the BBC News Service:

"The US military has become dangerously overstretched because of the scale of its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, two reports have warned. One, by former officials in the Clinton administration, said the pressure of repeated deployments was very corrosive and could have long-term effects."

Even more troubling for the Americans, according to one of their Military Historians and senior fellow of the National Security Studies group at the Council on Foreign Relations, Max Boot, is that their soldiers are now ‘losing the will to fight’, and as he states:

"Our (US) will is perhaps [at] the point of breaking in Iraq, whereas the enemy is willing to suffer much heavier casualties and keep on fighting. Clearly, the will to win is a major aspect of it."

Iraqi Mujahideen attacks against the enemies of Islam for Friday Mortar shells “fired from direction of American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military base” blast into Sunni mosque in al-Habbaniyah, killing four worshippers Friday. Eight American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military marines reported killed in powerful car bomb attack in ar-Ramadi Friday afternoon. Nine killed, puppet “Deputy Prime Minister” of Iraq severely wounded in coordinated Mujahideen attack Friday. Mujahideen blow up puppet Civil Defense building and railroad bridge in Bayji. Four American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military marines reported killed in Mujahideen ambush in Ba‘qubah. American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military troops open fire on civilian car, killing father, two children; wounding mother near Ba‘qubah Friday morning. Puppet regime fires 40 senior puppet police commanders and other officers in al-Mawsil Thursday. Iranian Coast Guards capture British Christian kafir terrorists occupation military and puppet Iraqi troops aboard two British gunboats at entrance to Shatt al-‘Arab waterway.

Video: Iraqi Mujahideen

Video: Resistance welcoming UN SG in Baghdad

Video: UN Chief attack in Iraq

Video: Iraqi Mujahideen training

Video: American soldiers shooting civilians

Rape fears lead women soldiers to suicide, death The latrine for female soldiers at Camp Victory wasn’t located near their barracks, so they had to go outside if they needed to use the bathroom, Karpinski told retired U.S. Army Col. David Hackworth in a interview, Cohn reported. “There were no lights near any of their facilities, so women were doubly easy targets in the dark of the night.” It was there that male soldiers assaulted and raped women soldiers.

In Logar province one supply truck of American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military was torched Friday night in Waghjan Tangi area of Mohammad Agha district of Logar province Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan torched one supply truck which was carrying food to American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military bases and the driver was captured.

Iran will never build nuclear weapons, says Khatami Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami has pledged Iran will never develop nuclear weapons and called for the crisis over Iran's atomic programme to be settled through talks, a report said Saturday. "Iran will never go for nuclear weapons," Khatami told a media conference in the city, according to the local newspaper. "Weapons of mass destruction have never been our objective," he said. Iran was always ready to give an "objective guarantee" on its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons and the issue should be solved "through negotiations," he added.

British sailors admit entering Iran waters: Iran military Fifteen British sailors and marines detained off Iraq by the Iranian navy have admitted illegally entering Iranian waters, senior Iranian commander General Alireza Afshar said on Saturday. "They are currently being questioned and have admitted to violating the territorial waters of Iran," Afshar, the official spokesman of the army chief of staff, told the local news agency. He told the Arabic language service of state television: "We have solid evidence that they were detained in our territorial waters. They themselves have confessed and admitted their mistake."

EU presidency urges Iran to release British sailors The German presidency of the European Union on Saturday urged the immediate release of 15 British naval personnel seized by Iranian forces in the Gulf. "We demand the immediate release of the British soldiers," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters ahead of a meeting of European socialists.

Pakistan to conduct more tests of latest missiles: Dr Samar National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM ) Chairman and renowned scientist Dr Samar Mobarakmand said Saturday that Pakistan has become the third country of the world to prepare the latest missile technology after the successful test of Babar Cruise Missile. Talking to Geo News after a ceremony here, the nuclear scientist said Pakistan will conduct latest missiles tests before long, adding, “Pakistan is not at par with USA; however, it is far ahead of its neighbour, as we possess far superior technology across Asia.” Dr Samar Mobarakmand said the production of Shaheen Missile has begun and it has been handed over to Pakistan Army. Five years ago, we had only six nuclear scientists; but, now their number has crossed ten thousand, he added.

March 23 2007

Jihad The Muslim world today is faced with tyranny and injustice. Indeed oppression and hardship is not just limited to the Muslim world, rather many non-Muslim states are subject to oppression at the hands of the world's leading military and economic powers. Anyone who cares can only be saddened and hurt by the pain and suffering that accompanies so many faces. Islam has allowed jihad as a means to prevent oppression, yet the Muslims have forgotten this for too long.

Though jihad may be a part of the answer to the problems of the ummah, it is an extremely important part. Jihad is to offer ourselves to Allah for His Cause. Indeed, every person should according to Islam prepare himself/herself for jihad and every person should eagerly and patiently wait for the day when Allah will call them to show their willingness to sacrifice their lives. We should all ask ourselves if there is a quicker way to heaven? It is with this in mind that this booklet is being published.

An Offer You Can’t Refuse And now, we have the ‘mother’ of all your screw-ups and fly-by-night deals, the state of Israel…The source of all unrest in the world today and the fountain from which flow waters of nothing but trouble and woe. The ‘Great Experiment’ in Jewish self-rule that has turned out to be a big goose egg for 6 billion people on the planet. Talk about fraudulent investment schemes that leave naïve investors holding a piece of paper worth less than a bubble gum wrapper. One day it will be remembered as the biggest scam, the biggest black hole in mankind’s history, like the search for the Fountain of Youth or trying to turn some worthless metal like lead into gold. An entire half century now of ceaseless warfare resulting in the deaths of millions of people, the loss of billions of dollars and the spilling of trillions of gallons of blood and tears, and what does the world have to show for it?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing, except of course that huge trail of tears you created for your victims. The rest of us have been forced to expend our most precious resources and sacrifice the peace and order of our respective nations just so that you Jews–one seemingly insignificant group of self-absorbed people–could have your turn at bat and have that thing which you have not been able to achieve on your own through hard work and ingenuity throughout your entire history–a country of your own, and with it the reason for which countries exist–stability, peace and prosperity. In all fairness though, you don’t deserve ALL the blame for this disaster, as the rest of us should have known from history that nothing of any good could come from this boondoggle.

Islamic Courts Mujahideen storm the city At least 15 of the enemy forces were killed and 2 captured and loaded them into a pick truck before the Islamic forces withdrew from the area, same operation were carried in other 3 districts of the city, as day broke well into magrib paryers fighting was still continuing in the animal market of Mogadishu.

“Damned Proud” of Dead Arab Women & Children Former ambassador to the UN John Bolton told the BBC that before any ceasefire Washington wanted Israel to eliminate Hezbollah’s military capability.” Bolton said it was “perfectly legitimate and good politics” for Israel to seek to crush Hezbollah. The fact that the Israelis used U.S. bombs to wreak death and destruction throughout Lebanon is apparently irrelevant. More than a thousand Lebanese civilians were killed by the Israeli government, with the Bush team cheering on each detonation. AIPAC, the most powerful lobby in DC, bragged of its role in blocking any ceasefire.

Perle's New World Order -- And Ours? He mocked opponents of American policy, both at home and abroad, as soft and naive. His vision is clear: States that possess weapons of mass destruction or terrorists will be confronted by ''coalitions of the willing'' -- the best hope for ''a new world order.'' Perle rejected any pretense for collective security; the United States has the only legitimate claim to enforce the new order. If others want to sign on as active or passive members of the coalition, fine; if not, it is of no consequence.

A new dividing line in Europe It hardly matters that the "realists" seem to be back in charge of US foreign policy, since when it comes to Russia, they will continue to tighten the noose of containment. Russia is not without its own resources to defend its interests and divide the European players. In this new Great Game, what really counts is access to the energy resources in Central Asia.

American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military led NATO terrorist troops 'shoot dead Afghan child' A distraught Afghan father said Friday his 12-year-old son was shot in the head by NATO terrorists troops on Thursday in the latest in a series of civilian deaths involving American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military soldiers and NATO terrorist troops. The boy's father, named only Zemarai, denied trying to overtake the convoy while driving seven of his relatives home after visiting family. He also said he had been several hundreds metres (yards) away and was not aware of warning shots. "All of a sudden they opened fire at our vehicle," he said from his home, filled with wailing mourners ahead of the burial of young Zaryalai. "The first three bullets hit my car and the fourth one hit my 12-year old son on the side of his head," the father said, his voice breaking with emotion. The boy made no sound and Zemarai only realised the child was dead when he stopped the car.

Shssh! Don't Tell Americans How We Treat "Enemy Combatants" In fact, U.S. officials are doing the same thing with respect to "enemy combatants" that the CIA has been holding for years in its secret overseas prisons. They say the prisoners should not be permitted to reveal what the CIA has done to them because to do so would threaten "national security."

Two more American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military troops killed in Iraq by Mujahideen The American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military announced Friday the deaths of two more servicemen in Iraq. A soldier was killed on Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded alongside a military patrol in west Baghdad. A marine was killed in combat operations in the Anbar province.

Video shows American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military soldiers shooting civilians

America's original sin The illegal invasion and destruction of Iraq is not only the biggest crime of recent history, it is the original sin of the 21st century, a depravity. In its war on Iraq, the United States has sought to destroy Iraq as both a state and a nation.

It decimated an entire class -- the progressive middle class of Iraq that had proven its capacity to manage Iraqi resources independently and to the benefit of all; it killed nearly a million while sending millions more into exile; it orchestrated death squads and looting and invented new horrors in torture and rape; in the name of bringing democracy, it brought material destruction on a mass scale to a people, aiming also to erase their identity, memory, culture, social fabric, institutions and forms of administration, commerce, and everyday life; it even attacked Iraq's unborn generations with the 4.7 billion-year death of depleted uranium.

Indian army to deploy supersonic BrahMos missile The Indian army is to start deploying the supersonic BrahMos missile this year, the CEO of the joint Indian-Russian manufacturer said in an interview with a Russian newspaper Friday. The missile, a version of which is already used by the Indian navy, underwent successful testing and is now ready for use, the official said. The BrahMos has a range of 280 kilometres (175 miles) and has been developed by Indian and Russian experts since 2001. Pillai said “a large quantity” of the BrahMos rockets would be delivered to the Indian army and for deployment on mobile launchers.

Soros and Media Heavyweights Attack Pro-Israel Lobby’s Influence on U.S. Policy Soros singled out Aipac as a key source of the problem, accusing the lobby of pushing a hawkish agenda on Israeli-Palestinian issues. “Aipac under its current leadership has clearly exceeded its mission, and far from guaranteeing Israel’s existence, has endangered it,” he wrote.

Ex-Guantanamo inmate contests Australian poll An ex-Mujahideen suspect who was jailed for more than three years in the American Christian kafir terrorists military in Guantanamo Bay prison will be among the candidates when Australia's most populous state goes to the polls on Saturday. Mamdouh Habib is regarded as a rank outsider for the seat he is contesting in suburban Sydney but said he hoped to send a message to the state of New South Wales, home to seven million of Australia's 20 million population.

March 22 2007

Jews and American Media GRAHAM: "The Jewish stranglehold on the media has got to be broken or this country's going down the drain."

NIXON: "You believe that?"

GRAHAM: "Yes, sir."

NIXON: "Oh boy. So do I. I can't ever say that but I do believe it."

- Religious leader Billy Graham and President Richard Nixon Exchange captured on tape.

Part of the Zionists' control of this country's policies toward Israel comes through their extensive influence on the American and world media. The main reason for this is the strong presence of Jewish owners in the media and their presence in the editorial rooms as writers and editors that gives Zionists such influence. In addition, when one word in a media outlet is said publically against Israel, the Zionists are quick to organize a boycott of that newspaper, radio station, TV station or movie corporation calling them anti-Semitic (i.e. the movie, "The Passion of Christ") and unfairly trying to conjur up all the images that they've kept in the public mind with that term - what one writer calls the use of the "holocaust syndrome."

Here is a sample of the bias Palestinians face in our media:

On February 25, 2005, the Los Angeles Times website edition headline read: "Palestinian Suicide Bomber Shatters Calm of Late." The article goes on to state that this bomber "shattered a month-long period of relative calm." The author is referring to the ceasefire between Israel and Palestine agreed to on February 8, 2005 and the "relative" calm before and after it was agreed to.

There are two issues here: 1) who has been breaking the "calm," and 2) whose "calm" are we talking about?"

Issue #1: Who has been breaking the "calm"?

- Since the ceasefire on February 8th until February 25th - the bombing, Israeli military and illegal settlers have killed eight Palestinians, two of them children.

- Since the previous Palestinian suicide bomber on November 1, 2004 in which Israelis lost three lives, Israeli military and illegal settlers have killed 170 Palestinian men, women, and children; injured and maimed 379 Palestinian men, women, and children; have held 8,000 Palestinians – 300 of them children - in prison where they are routinely abused; confiscated hundreds of acres of Palestinian land; expanded the illegal Apartheid wall; expanded the illegal settlements; demolished hundreds of Palestinian homes and orchards; continued the ruination of the Palestinian economy with checkpoints and curfews until 70% of the Palestinian people are unemployed and living in abject poverty, etc., etc.

Issue #2: Whose "calm" are we talking about?

Surely, after reading the above, not the Palestinians! The article might better be titled "Palestinians Retaliate for Israel's Terrorist Actions" You will never see a headline like that in the mainstream American media, no matter how much it is deserved. I guarantee it!

Issue #3: Who did the suicide bomber attack?

This subject was not even touched in the article by the L.A. Times. The Palestinian bomber attacked an Israeli combat unit that had taken part in numerous brutal invasions in civilian Palestinian neighborhoods. They had killed and mutilated numerous Palestinian men, women, and children. In the Palestinian attack no Israeli civilians were hurt. When all this was brought up to an editor on the Los Angeles Times foreign desk by Alison Weir, a noted journalist and author of the excellent website "If Americans Knew", the Los Angeles Times editor just hung up on her.

Thejustmedia notes The situation in Waziristan is of great concern for Pakistan, America and NATO. Mujahideen are getting ready to launch their summer attacks in Afghanistan. Something needs to change in Waziristan, so that the local population does not help the Mujahideen in the coming summer, events will be perpetrated by the enemies of Islam to weakened the relationship of the locals and Mujahideen in Waziristan, this fighting is just one example of the enemies of Islam agents who are instigating such conflicts among the Mujahideen. Theunjustmedia does not see a difference in Al-Qaeda or Taliban, the only difference is in the scope of implementation of Islam, Al-Qaeda is international while Taliban for now are concentrating in Afghanistan.

Pakistan army try to seed a division among Mujahideen in Waziristan The present bloody infighting between al-Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan's Waziristan tribal areas is likely to end in reconciliation between the two groups that will mark the beginning of the Taliban's major Afghan offensive.

Well-placed sources maintain that the chief commander of the Taliban in South Wazirstan, Baitullah Mehsud, was in Afghanistan's Helmand province when the fighting, in which scores have died this week, erupted. He immediately rushed to South Waziristan on the orders of Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah. He put his foot down, and the fighting has now eased. A new protocol is imminent, under which all parties will agree to fight in Afghanistan and not inside Pakistan. How did this internecine strife in South Waziristan evolve? Is it just a battle between foreign militants and Pakistani Taliban - a clash of interests - or is it a blessing in disguise for the Taliban and a serious problem for the US-led forces in Afghanistan?

Moving the fault lines

There has long been debate within the Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants over strategy in the fight against North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and US-led-coalition forces in Afghanistan: Should war be waged against all opponents - including US ally Pakistan - without discrimination, or should political issues be considered, so as to allow for strategic repositioning in future? The Uzbek al-Qaeda-linked militants in South and North Waziristan believe in a global war against NATO and all its allies, such as the Pakistani government. This strategy is now in conflict with that of the Taliban leadership. The tension between the two sides broke out into open warfare on Wednesday in South Waziristan, with thousands of Pakistani Taliban dug in against the Uzbek militants and their supporters, believe to number 20,000. So far, at least 110 people have been killed, mostly Uzbeks. The fight has isolated the chief of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Tahir Yaldeshiv. Tahir is the main preacher of the idea that fighting the Pakistan Army is the first priority, and he is violently opposed to any rapprochement between Pakistani Taliban and the army. "The implementation of the sharia [Islamic law] and the appointment of the emir of the sharia emirate are supposed to be the first priority of mujahideen in Pakistan," Yaldeshiv said in a speech now widely available on disc.

Part of the solution

Should the Taliban be part of a solution for their sympathizers in Afghanistan and Pakistan, or a constant problem? That was the debate initiated by Mullah Dadullah when he tried to mediate a ceasefire between Pakistani Taliban and the Pakistani military early last year. Dadullah has constantly argued that Pakistani Taliban going into Afghanistan and fighting against NATO forces was a greater service to Afghanistan's cause of freedom than staying in the two Waziristans and fighting Pakistani soldiers. The dialogue convinced the leading anti-army commanders in North Waziristan, Sadiq Noor and Abdul Khaliq, and they agreed that jihad was only relevant in Afghanistan and that fighting against the Pakistan Army had no relevance to the Afghan resistance. Al-Qaeda elements in North Waziristan, including Uzbeks settled in the town of Mir Ali, were converted to this point of view and broke with Yaldeshiv, who was living in South Waziristan and still demanding the establishment of the Islamic Emirates in Pakistan by waging jihad against "the crusaders' ally". At present, information coming from South Waziristan suggests that Uzbeks settled in three main points, Shin Warsak, Azam Warsak and Kaloosha, have now in effect been surrounded by local Taliban. The Uzbeks are tenacious fighters, but the most likely outcome will be their surrender and agreement that from now on all fighting will be done in Afghanistan. Such unity of purpose would be a boon for the Taliban's looming offensive against NATO. By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online's

After 4 years: Iraqi Resistance Indicators..Up and Up! Rumsfeld's Metrics..Wet! The second graph shows that 75% of the recorded attacks, (here based on the quarterly reviews to congress only) has remained directed at the occupation forces directly, and further 17% at the Iraqi government forces. The remaining, 8% are directed at unspecified civilian targets. It is the later that makes it to the media.

Iraqis tormented by the invasion of the infidels "U.S. Go out of Iraq, now", "world's biggest tyrants - Napoleon, Hitler and Bush", shouted anti-war protesters marking the fourth anniversary of America's invasion of Iraq.

Uranium and the War: The effects of depleted uranium weapons in Iraq In five billion years our sun will explode into a white dwarf and envelope the earth, according to NASA projections. The half-life of uranium 238 is 4.5 billion years. This means that by the time the Earth ceases to be a planet, only a little more than half of the depleted uranium (DU) that the United States Army is firing into Iraq and other countries around the world will be gone. The rest of the radioactive material will still be poisoning the Iraqi people.

The U.S. Army revealed in March 2003 that it dropped between 320 and 390 tons of DU during the Gulf War—the first time the material was ever used in combat—and it is estimated that more still has been dropped during the current invasion, though there have been no official counts as yet. Depleted uranium munitions are extremely dense, toxic, and mildly radioactive. And despite mounting evidence of DU’s negative health affects for combatants and civilians alike, their use is increasing. Naturally occurring uranium has three forms: uranium 235, 234, and 238. More than 99 percent of earth’s uranium is 238.

Uranium 238 is much less radioactive than uranium 235, which is why it takes so long to deteriorate. Nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants require highly radioactive uranium, so the uranium 238 is removed from the naturally occurring uranium by a process known as enrichment. Depleted uranium is the by-product of the uranium enrichment process. Since so much of the natural uranium is 238—which is nearly useless for nuclear weapons manufacturing and use in power plants—uranium enrichment factories are left with large amounts of uranium 238, or DU. According to an estimate by the Kansas-based group Nukewatch, the United States has over a billion pounds of DU in its stockpile. This product is twice as dense as lead, and more toxic than it. DU is used to make numerous weapons systems, from shells to bullets to armor for tanks. DU munitions are commonly called Penetrators, a testament to the material’s density.

Ungovernable Somalia and the Imminent Collision of Hegemonic Interests The Ethiopian/US invasion prematurely ended a delicate peace process, six months of law and order, and threw Mogadishu back into that all too familiar vacuum of nihilism. Today, motors and artilleries are routinely fired from all directions; assassinations-- including high profile ones-- became part of the daily rituals; robbery and rape became rampant, and a full-fledged insurgency is underway.

Indian agencies set for maligning Kashmiris’ movement In occupied Kashmir, yet another plan of Indian secret agencies has been exposed which is aimed at maligning Kashmiris’ liberation struggle.

The Billionaires and How They Made It, Meet the Global Ruling Class Even as the world's billionaires grew in number from 793 in 2006 to 946 this year, major mass uprisings became commonplace in China and India. In India, which has the highest number of billionaires (36) in Asia with total wealth of $191 billion, Prime Minister Singh declared that the greatest single threat to 'India's security' were the Maoist-led guerrilla armies and mass movements in the poorest parts of the country. In China, with 20 billionaires with $29.4 billion net worth, the new rulers, confronting nearly a hundred thousand reported riots and protests, have increased the number of armed special anti-riot militia a hundred fold, and increased spending for the rural poor by $10 billion in the hopes of lessening the monstrous class inequalities and heading off a mass upheaval.

The total wealth of this global ruling class grew 35 per cent year to year topping $3.5 trillion, while income levels for the lower 55 per cent of the world's 6-billion-strong population declined or stagnated. Put another way, one hundred millionth of the world's population (1/100,000,000) owns more than over 3 billion people. Over half of the current billionaires (523) came from just 3 countries: the US (415), Germany (55) and Russia (53). The 35 per cent increase in wealth mostly came from speculation on equity markets, real estate and commodity trading, rather than from technical innovations, investments in job-creating industries or social services.

Unmasking Vancouver's Olympic Legacy: Poverty cleansing the Downtown Despite all the promises to the contrary, Vancouver's Olympic Games have failed to be sustainable. Instead, slick public relations by VANOC and support from Vancouver's tight-knit corporate media sector have masked a public policy imperative to drive out seniors, income assistance recipients and those suffering from mental illness and addiction from the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood.

Policing, private security and property flipping have been the rules of the game. With more security on its way and the property frenzy continuing, Vancouver City Hall is not acting adequately to set up barriers to displacement. This idea of 'fixing' the neighbourhood means the permanent displacement of the long-term low income community that has called this neighbourhood home for decades. It's Expo 86 all over again -- just slower and carried out over more years.

'Israel Lobby' Authors Return With Book Two leading political scientists are writing a book extending their controversial argument that the domestic pro-Israel lobby bends U.S. foreign policy disproportionately in favor of Israel, one of the authors, Stephen M. Walt of the Kennedy School of Government, confirmed yesterday.

Walt, the Belfer professor of international affairs, and co-author John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago set off a storm of controversy last March when they published a paper arguing that the pro-Israel lobby, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has distorted foreign policy through its influence on academia, the media, and think tanks. Their essay also argued that the lobby was a “critical element” in the decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN HEAD IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS This week, India’s feisty press was gleefully speculating that Pakistan’s embattled President Pervez Musharraf, better known here as `Mush,’ was about to be kicked out by his erstwhile patrons in Washington and replaced by another senior general deemed even more responsive to US policy.

There is indeed growing anger at Musharraf in Washington. The Bush Administration, stuck in an aimless war in Afghanistan, blames Musharraf for its problems and for not crushing Pashtun resistance in Pakistan’s tribal belt. But he has already pushed Pakistan close to civil war in an effort to answer US demands. It’s getting hard to tell who is angrier at the beleaguered general, his own people or Washington.

Pakistan tests nuclear-capable cruise missile Pakistan successfully tested on Thursday a nuclear-capable cruise missile with a range of 700 kilometres, the military said in a statement. The Hatf V11 Babur missile is a terrain-hugging, radar avoiding cruise missile capable of carrying a variety of warheads including nuclear, it said. “The flight data collected validated the design parameters set for the flight test,” the military said. “It is a highly manoeuvrable missile with pin-point accuracy.” The missile was first tested in 2005. Since then, its range has been enhanced to 700 km, from 500 km previously, the military said.

US govt expects Musharraf to quit army post The United States has said that it expects President Gen Pervez Musharraf to give up the army chief’s post by the end of this year, indicating a major change in the US policy. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a briefing here that the US expected the current judicial crisis to be resolved “within the confines of Pakistani law” and in a ‘transparent’ manner that satisfied the people of the country. “He has made certain commitments in this regard and we think it’s important that he follow through on those commitments,” said Mr McCormack when asked if it was the US government’s view that Gen Musharraf should leave the army post by the end of 2007 as scheduled.

Jerusalem And Washington Bring Palestinians To The Brink Of Starvation The House of Commons International Development Committee has recently published a report of the findings of its visit to Israel and Palestine.It paints a devastating picture of the impact of the economic sanctions imposed against the Hamas government of the Palestinian Authority (PA) by the United States and the other major powers, including Britain. In so doing, it demonstrates the collusion of the whole of Europe and of the United Nations with Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and its brutal suppression of the Palestinians.

Iraqi Mujahideen send their greetings to UN chief Ban Ki-moon... Bomb rattles UN chief's Iraq news conference An explosion rocked Baghdad's fortified Green Zone on Thursday as Ban Ki-moon held a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, causing the UN chief to flinch. After a brief pause, both men continued to take questions at an event marking Ban's first visit to the Iraqi capital. The loud blast sent a column of smoke and dust into the sky near the northern edge of the Green Zone, opposite the Jumhuriyah Bridge in downtown Baghdad in a heavily policed area surrounded by government offices.

March 21 2007

Open Letter To The Anti-War Movement The illegal invasion and destruction of Iraq is not only the biggest crime of recent history, it is the original sin of the 21st century, a depravity. In its war on Iraq, the United States has sought to destroy Iraq as both a state and a nation. It decimated an entire class — the progressive middle class of Iraq that had proven its capacity to manage Iraqi resources independently and to the benefit of all; it killed nearly a million while sending millions more into exile; it orchestrated death squads and looting and invented new horrors in torture and rape; in the name of bringing democracy, it brought material destruction on a mass scale to a people, aiming also to erase their identity, memory, culture, social fabric, institutions and forms of administration, commerce, and everyday life; it even attacked Iraq’s unborn generations with the 4.7 billion-year death of depleted uranium. It has engaged in civilisational genocide as well as its own moral suicide. Force, however, does not dictate right. The brutality of power and imperialism has been definitively exposed while the project for a new American century has utterly failed. The consequences for American and international history are conclusive. The world order that formed around erstwhile US liberal values has evaporated.

Iraqi Mujahideen attacks against the enemies of Islam for Tuesday American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military-backed puppet regime executes Iraqi Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan. Thirty more bodies of apparent victims of American created sectarian violence found dumped throughout Baghdad as American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military “Security Plan” enters second month in operation. Bomb rips through Kia passenger bus in Baghdad, as mysterious bombings increase. Russian expert cites agitation by US special services as source of sectarian tension in Iraq. Seven American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military Marines reported killed in truck bomb attack on Buhriz checkpoint late Monday night. Turkoman leader: 600,000 Kurds from neighboring countries have flocked to Kirkuk to change its ethnic makeup so as to facilitate its incorporation into Kurdish separatist state. Seven mysterious explosions shake Kirkuk on Monday, killing 30.

Talks with all Mujahideen groups possible except Al-Qaeda: Iraq Iraq's Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, renewed calls for talks to be opened with Mujahideen in an attempt to bring peace, but he excluded al-Qaida in Iraq. “I do believe that there is no way but to talk to everybody,'' he told the a British television in an interview. Apart from al-Qaida, which he said was “not very much willing in fact to talk to anybody,'' all parties “should be invited, should be called to sit down around the table to discuss their fears, their reservations,'' he said. Well this is something new from US puppet Iraqi government, who for the first has admitted that there are other Mujahideen groups beside Al-Qaeda which are fighting the American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military and its elected Iraqi government. Reading the daily mainstream media reports only points to Al-Qaeda Mujahideen fighting the American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military and its elected puppet Iraqi government and now and then you might find a new Mujahideen group but then it would be some how contented to al-Qaeda in the mainstream media. So, now if we are to believe what the mainstream media has been reporting of Iraqi Mujahideen, the only conclusion which we come up with is that Al-Qaeda is the main Mujahideen group which is fighting the American Christian kafir terrorists occupation military and its elected Iraqi government and then there are other small Mujahideen groups who are connected to Al-Qaeda. Now my question is what conclusion do we come up to, when we see the puppet Iraqi government offering to talk with Mujahideen groups except Al-Qaeda, yet they have always directly or indirectly connected the Iraqi resistance to Al-Qaeda but here it does not want to talk to Al-Qaeda, logical??

US power games in the Middle East The spring rain beat down like ball-bearings on the flat roof of General Claudio Graziano's office. Much of southern Lebanon looked like a sea of mud this week but all was optimism and light for the Italian commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, now 11,000 strong and still expecting South Korea to add to his remarkable 29-nation international army. He didn't recall how the French battalion almost shot down an Israeli jet last year - it was before his time - and he dismissed last month's border shoot-out between Israeli and Lebanese troops.

Into Africa Increased U.S. military presence in Africa may simply serve to protect unpopular regimes that are friendly to its interests, as was the case during the Cold War, while Africa slips further into poverty.

Blackwater- the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army "Blackwater is the elite Praetorian Guard for the 'global war on terror,' with its own military base, a fleet of twenty aircraft, and 20,000 private contractors at the ready. Run by a multimillionaire Christian conservative who bankrolls President Bush and his allies, its forces are capable of overthrowing governments." From Iraq to New Orleans, Blackwater has continued to pull in multi-million-dollar government contracts, mostly without accountability and in near-secrecy.

Antimissiles: Why Europe Resists Bush relaunches Star Wars. In spite of Russia's warnings, the United States wants to install bases for its antimissile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. What is its real motive? That's the question that divides Central European public opinion and strategists.

Palestine: Israeli Killing Fields Zionism is a newer name for an ancient racist, expansionist, and imperialist political movement, whose aim was, and still is, the establishment of a strong “Jewish-only” empire (Greater Israel) in the Middle East, which was considered the heart of the ancient world, and the center of all trade.

One Palestinian Martyred in the West Bank The Zionist regime’s troopers fired shots and martyred a Palestinian in the West Bank. According to Al-Alam News Network, citing the Palestinian security and medical sources, the Zionist troopers martyred 22-year-old Palestinian, Sadi Abu Kisheq, while raiding Asgar Refugee Camp in the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus. The Zionist regime has remained silent regarding this raid.

Shaky Musharraf holds only the military card As a judicial crisis and consequent political storm escalate in Pakistan, President General Pervez Musharraf and his army face a stark choice: whether or not to use the military to suppress rioting that has so far raged out of control. Neither option bodes well for the man who will soon seek democratic re-election to the presidency.

Pakistani lawyers hold new anti-Musharraf rallies Thousands of lawyers and political party workers called on President Pervez Musharraf to quit Wednesday as fresh protests erupted over his removal of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, witnesses and officials said. In Islamabad around 600 people including lawyers, party workers, women and students rallied outside the Supreme Court building after breaking their way through police cordons. They were later joined by some 300 party workers who raised anti-Musharraf slogans. The former head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, Hamid Gul joined the protest in his military jacket. “I wore this jacket today because we are fighting the war of Pakistan's survival,” Gul said. Tehreek-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan said that the demonstrators showed “immense courage” by breaking the police lines. “Our struggle will continue until the dictatorship ends,” Qazi Hussain Ahmed, leader of the Muthaida Majlise Amal, told the crowd. Asfandyar Wali Khan, the leader of the Awami National Party, told the rally after meeting Chaudhry that “he told us that if the government has courage, they should try me in an open court”. Around 3,000 lawyers in the eastern city of Lahore removed barricades erected by police to block a main road. They later staged a sit-in outside the provincial assembly building to press their demand for Chaudhry's reinstatement. Police fired tear gas shells and baton-charged a group of around 100 lawyers in the southwestern city of Quetta who wanted to stage a protest in front of the provincial governor's residence, lawyers and witnesses said. Some burnt their black jackets in protest.

World's Most Important Crops Hit by Global Warming Effects Global warming over the past quarter century has led to a fall in the yield of some of the most important food crops in the world, according to one of the first scientific studies of how climate change has affected cereal crops. Rising temperatures between 1981 and 2002 caused a loss in production of wheat, corn and barley that amounted in effect to some 40 million tons a year - equivalent to annual losses of some £2.6bn.

The American Worker Is Doomed Not since the Great Depression has the American worker faced such a bleak future. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, incomes for the lowest income quintile have declined during the past decade and the gap between the rich and the poor grows bigger each year. In essence, the rich are getting richer - and the poor are getting poorer.

All Hail Israel Like all patriotic Americans, I spend a portion of each weekend browsing through the “official” web sites of the Presidential candidates preparing myself for the 2008 run off between Republicans and Democrats, Republicrats for short. I now aggregate all of them because all pay homage, indeed a groveling obsequiousness, to AIPAC and to the Olmert/Leiberman regime in Israel. Such fawning is born of fear, as former congressmen Paul Findley, Cynthia McKinney and Earl Hilliard can testify, fear that comes with crossing a powerful force, a force that can threaten the candidate’s standing in the polls. Yossi Beilin, former Labor Party Minister under Ehud Barak recognized this force: “They (AIPAC) have the threat of voting out (congressional) representatives. I never liked this leverage. It’s counterproductive.”

Yet it’s clear that the American Congress’ unrestrained support for the Sharon/Olmert regimes over the past six years, coupled to the Bush administration’s total capitulation to Israel’s dominance in Palestine, has created an untenable situation for America in the eyes of the world. America’s bondage to Israel is the overriding issue that can release America from its position as the target for the world’s hatred, yet all candidates but two grovel before AIPAC and the Olmert/Leiberman regime.

The AIPAC Girl If George W. Bush launches a pre-emptive war on Iran, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will bear full moral responsibility for that war. For it was Pelosi who quietly agreed to strip out of the $100 billion funding bill for Iraq a provision that would have required President Bush to seek congressional approval before launching any new war on Iran.

Hague court could try Bush, Blair The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said in an interview that he can envision a scenario in which President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair could one day face war-crimes charges at The Hague.

Hot Trends in Protest Technology Activists have been using heavy-duty hardware and homemade devices to lock themselves in front of weapons factories, banks and trade summits for decades. To be sure, locking down is not a pleasant undertaking. The general range of possibilities --pepper spray, chemical weapons, tasers -- is terrifying; and for most protesters, the prospect of facing almost certain arrest is frightening. These tactics also tend to be physically taxing. Most activists experience numbness and circulation problems after one to two hours in position. In many situations, the weight and awkward construction of the devices forces activists into strenuous positions.

Bolton President Bush’s former envoy to the United Nations says using military force against Iran would be preferable to allowing the country to acquire nuclear weapons “I believe that ultimately the only real prospect of getting Iran to give up nuclear weapons is to change the regime,” Bolton told reporters after an off-the-record speech to the Hudson Institute, a nonpartisan policy research organization. “By the force of the Iranian people themselves,” Bolton replied. ”But if the alternative is a nuclear Iran, as unpleasant as the use of military force would be, I think the prospect of a nuclear Iran is worse.” “I think Iran’s record is clear that they’re never going to give up the pursuit of uranium enrichment,” Bolton said, ”and I think that there’s no disagreement within their leadership that that’s the road to nuclear weapons.”

US opposes Iranian gas pipeline to India The United States has told the Indian Government that it is opposed to plans to build a natural gas pipeline from Iran to India through Pakistan, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Wednesday. "During my trip, I have made it clear at the highest levels of the Indian government that the United States opposes the development of the Iranian pipeline to India,'' Bodman said in an interview with a foreign media. If constructed, the 2,600-kilometer (1,620-mile) on-land pipeline is expected to carry 150 million cubic meters (5.2 billion cubic feet) of gas a day and will cost about US$8 billion (euro6.25 billion) to build.

Bush vows to resist subpoenas in prosecutor storm US President George W. Bush has vowed to resist any attempt by Congress to force top aides to testify under oath about a row over fired prosecutors, warning against a "partisan fishing expedition." In his boldest political language since Democrats seized Congress in November, Bush accused his opponents of using the escalating showdown to "score political points" and refused to back down. Faced with a fierce new partisan fight, as he tries to breath life into a second-term administration hobbled by the unpopular Iraq war Bush warned: "we will not go along with a partisan fishing expedition." Earlier, the president personally endorsed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who is facing calls for his ouster over the dismissal of eight prosecutors which critics claim was political motivated. The White House also branded as "completely false" reports that it was already scouting for a replacement for Gonzales, a trusted member of Bush's Texas inner circle, desperate to thwart Democrats' demands for blood. "I will oppose any attempts to subpoena White House officials," Bush said, throwing down the gauntlet for his Democrat foes.

Lawmakers Warn FBI Over Spy Power Abuse Republicans and Democrats alike sternly warned the FBI on Tuesday that it risks losing its broad power to collect telephone, e-mail and financial records to hunt terrorists because of rampant abuses of the authority. The threats were the latest blow to the embattled Justice Department and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who is already on the defensive and fighting to keep his job over the firings of federal prosecutors. The warnings came as the department's chief watchdog, inspector general Glenn A. Fine, told the House Judiciary Committee that the FBI engaged in widespread and serious misuse of its authority to issue national security letters, which resulted in illegally collecting data from Americans and foreigners. If the FBI doesn't move swiftly to correct the mistakes and problems revealed last week in Fine's 130-page report, "you probably won't have NSL authority," said Representative Dan Lungren referring to the data requests by their initials. "I hope that this would be a lesson to the FBI that they can't get away with this and expect to maintain public support for the tools that they need to combat terrorism," said Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, the former Judiciary chairman, who called the abuses "a gross overreach."

Free trade pact with SKorea key to opening up trade with Asia: US The administration of US President President George W. Bush warned Tuesday that a failure to strike a free trade agreement with South Korea could damage American relations with East Asia. The warning came as US lawmakers threatened to reject an agreement that does not include the opening up of South Korea's sensitive rice market and removal of non-tariff barriers to America motor vehicles. The United States and South Korea, a key Asian ally, are racing ahead of a March 31 deadline to strike what could be the biggest free trade agreement (FTA) since the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement. "Any let-up in focus that results in our inability to complete agreements with major emerging-market economies like South Korea could have unfortunate consequences."

Israeli Workers Launch General Strike Tens of thousands of Israeli workers launched an open-ended general strike on Wednesday that crippled airports, seaports, railways, government offices, banks, the stock exchange and many other services. Marathon overnight talks between the Histadrut labor federation and the government failed to avert the walkout, which began at 9 a.m. because thousands of municipal workers haven't been paid for months. Past strikes have lasted for days, each day costing the economy tens of millions of dollars in losses. Making one concession, the Histadrut labor union said it would open Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday to let in one incoming flight — so England's national soccer team could land in time for a crucial Euro 2008 Championship qualifier match on Saturday. General strikes in Israel encompass a wide array of services. Travelers are stranded at airports, cargo piles up at seaports, and stinking garbage accumulates on sidewalks. Government offices are shuttered, and state-run utilities operate on skeleton staffs, carrying out no repairs. A Histadrut spokesman said as many as 150,000 workers walked off the job.

Heavy Fighting Convulses Somali Capital Heavy fighting erupted Wednesday in the Somali capital killing at least eight people in a dramatic escalation that saw stray rounds flying over southern Mogadishu. The clashes come a day after African Union peacekeepers reinforced security in the seaside capital. Residents said the heavy weaponry duels, which left at least eight dead and several wounded, erupted when fire opened in the former defence ministry headquarters in southern Mogadishu, where Ethiopian troops are based. Abdullahi Ahmed Sheikh, a resident of Shukri area said , "So far, I have seen four bodies of people killed and several others wounded. The fighting is intensifying and stray bullets are flying all over the area. " Muhubo Moalim Dahir, a resident of Al-Baraka area added , "A stray bullet killed my neighbour and wounded five others, one of them is a child."

29 Indian soldiers committed suicide in last 3 months As many as 29 personnel of Indian army have committed suicide in the last three months due to stress, caused by dealing with fierce uprisings in many parts of India. Majority of those committed suicide are from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indian upper house (Rajya Sabha) was informed today. Notwithstanding introduction of several programmes, including yoga and many stress-reducing centers, the number of suicides cases has not come down.

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