U.S. policymakers and forces in Iraq are now adrift in a complex, many-sided war and the democratic political system that was the centerpiece of U.S. strategy is collapsing before Washington’s eyes.

Mahmoud al-Mashadani, the speaker of the Iraqi parliament, warned deputies Wednesday morning they might only have three or four months to prevent the irreversible collapse of their country and its splintering into mutually hostile religious and ethnic enclaves. ‘We have three to four months to reconcile,” he said. “If the country doesn’t survive, it goes under.” (more…)

More than a year before the invasion of Iraq the CIA devised a plan, codenamed Anabasis, to use Iraqi exile fighters to seize an air base and declare a revolt against Saddam Hussein in the hope that his response would create a pretext for war, according to a book published tomorrow. (more…)

Referencing the 2.3 trillion dollars that was discovered to be missing from the Pentagon’s coffers, Christison emphasized the fact that with an unlimited budget, the scope of operations that could be undertaken by the military-industrial complex are almost without recourse. (more…)

NORFOLK NAVAL STATION, Va. — Formal charges will be brought in a Norfolk military courtroom Wednesday against a submarine sailor charged with espionage, desertion and several other offenses, the Navy said.

Notice how there is no mention of the country for whom Weinmann was allegedly gathering intelligence.

(more…)

Convictions could also be based on material unseen by the accused. The Senate may object.

WASHINGTON — President Bush asked Congress Wednesday to approve a new system of military-style justice for terrorism suspects that would, for the first time, permit convictions in American courts based on the use of coerced evidence.

“Coerced evidence” is the media’s euphamism for torture. Yes, they do think we’re that stupid.

(more…)

Abusing the Collective Sadness and Pain of America

The ABC Corporation has decided to air a two-night docudrama, entitled “The Path to 911.” For the uninformed, ABC is owned by Disney, who also refused to run Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911 because it was critical of Bush, costing their stockholders over 200 million dollars. They claimed at the time that they did not want to appear partisan, even though at the same time, ABC was carrying Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity on nearly all of their national radio stations. That hypocrisy aside, it is time to officially bury the right-wingnut fantasy talking point that the media has a liberal bias. This docudrama, officially confirms what we have all known for some time. The increased deregulation under George W. Bush has created a corporate media machine, wielded by the GOP when they wish to deceive the American people. This 911 docu-farce is the quintessential example of that. (more…)

GAZA - The bell rang at 10 A.M. and the hundreds of children who were on break in the Dar al-Arkam school yard ran like crazy to their classrooms, but in a perfectly orderly manner, with hardly any shouting. Despite the remarkable discipline at the school identified with Hamas, kids will be kids: Every few seconds a blast was heard - not of an Israeli mortar shell or Palestinian rocket; just empty sandwich bags the kids fill with air and then burst. (more…)

“The Nation” betrays its roots with this one. Alexander Cockburn’s arguement is so weak, it is laughable.

Read it if you must (subscription is required to read full article, BugMeNot recommended, why pay for this crap?)

It isn’t much of a secret any longer – the MSM is heavily biased towards the state of Israel, just consider this last travesty of justice associated with the media’s coverage of the carpet bombing of Lebanon, more than a thousand dead Lebanese, mostly women and children, a million left homeless, but all we hear about in the United States is the suffering of a few Israelis comfortably sitting in their air conditioned basements and moaning about the inaccurate Katusha rockets, while Israel dumps thousands of cluster bombs with pinpoint accuracy on the heads of defenseless women and children. No, there is no longer any doubt, the mainstream media is firmly in the hands of Zionists and their lackeys. (more…)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to reinstate a special CIA unit hunting for Osama bin Laden as it passed a $469 billion Pentagon funding bill. (more…)

Gaza is dying. The Israeli siege of the Palestinian enclave is so tight that its people are on the edge of starvation. Here on the shores of the Mediterranean a great tragedy is taking place that is being ignored because the world’s attention has been diverted by wars in Lebanon and Iraq. (more…)

It also showed two men that Al Jazeera said were Wael al-Shahri and Hamza al-Ghamdi, among the 19 hijackers identified after the attacks. (more…)

One problem…al-Shahri is is still alive.