Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Information Clearing House Newsletter News You Won't Find On CNN August 26, 2011 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    "The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed"  - Steve Biko "In the past 30 years, the "masters of mankind," as Smith called them, have abandoned any sentimental concern for the welfare of their own society, concentrating instead on short-term gain and huge bonuses, the country be damned -- as long as the powerful nanny state remains intact to serve their interests." - Noam Chomsky = Take The Pledge "I pledge that if any U.S. troops, contractors, or mercenaries remain in Afghanistan on Thursday, October 6, 2011, as that occupation goes into its 11th year, I will commit to being in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., with others on that day or the days immediately following, for as long as I can, with the intention of making it our Tahrir Square, Cairo, our Madison, Wisconsin, where we will NONVIOLENTLY resist the corporate machine by occupying Freedom Plaza until our resources are invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation. We can do this together. We will be the beginning." http://october2011.org/welcome === Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq "1,455,590" Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America's War On Iraq:  4,792 www.icasualties.org/oif/ Number Of  International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 2,693 = Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan Total Cost of Wars Since 2001 $1,240,660,277,153 http://www.costofwar.com/ = = Libya: 80 Found Dead at Abandoned Tripoli Hospital By The Telegraph Rescuers finally reached the hospital late on Thursday, finding 21 surviving patients among a macabre scene of dead bodies. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28959.htm === Libya: Expect A Humanitarian Crisis By RT "Reporters in the field, more or less embedded with the rebels, cheering the rebels on" http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28961.htm === Special Operations Clear Paths For Rebel Forces Attack On Sirte By Christopher Stephen at Kilometre 60, eastern Libya British and French special forces are on the ground in eastern Libya, calling in air strikes and helping co-ordinate rebel units as they prepare to assault Sirte, according to a rebel officer. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28950.htm === 10 Myths About Libya? Rejoinder By Conn Hallinan With Qaddafi gone, every country that borders the Mediterranean is now associated with NATO, essentially turning this sea into an alliance lake. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28963.htm === NATO Destroys Yet Another Country By M D Nalapat The use of military power for commercial advantage ought to have vanished when the 19th century did. Its reappearance in Iraq and Libya is a worrisome sign that NATO has not learnt the lessons of history. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28952.htm === Eyeing The Prize NATO Nations Set to Reap Spoils of Libya War By Rachel Shabi In the context of responsibility for what happens next in Libya, an anonymous British official told the Economist that NATO's involvement in the Libyan uprising means that: "Now we own it." http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28955.htm === Iran, Turkey, and Saudi The Regional Race for the Arab Spring By Madawi Al-Rasheed Arabs will welcome Saudi economic largess but may well challenge the patron-client relations that the Saudi regime has always deployed to silence regional Arab competitors. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28956.htm === Israel's Exclusive Revolution By Max Blumenthal and Joseph Dana How the largest social justice movement in Israel's history managed to ignore the Palestinians. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28958.htm === What Really Happened in the Bin Laden Raid? By Mark Follman Details of the story don't add up. Footage of the raid either exists or doesn't. The tale of that night in Abbottabad keeps getting more muddled. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28953.htm === New York Becomes the Occupied Territories By Mark LeVine As the US security state grows and civil rights and liberties erode, Osama bin Laden gets the last laugh. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28960.htm === President Narcissus and the faux "Debt Crisis" By Mike Whitney Isn't Obama one of those men who has based his economic policy "on highly abstract theories... on assumptions which are contrary to the facts..." If not, then how do we explain why he's put "deficit reduction" above unemployment? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28962.htm === 'The Banks Have Hi-jacked The Govt' By BBC News Night Nassim Nicholas Taleb - Author of "The Black Swan" http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28964.htm === American Decline: Causes and Consequences By Noam Chomsky In the past 30 years, the "masters of mankind," as Smith called them, have abandoned any sentimental concern for the welfare of their own society, concentrating instead on short-term gain and huge bonuses, the country be damned -- as long as the powerful nanny state remains intact to serve their interests. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28957.htm === 3 Things That Must Happen for Us To Rise Up and Defeat the Corporatocracy By Bruce E. Levine Most Americans oppose rule by the corporatocracy but don't have the tools to fight back. Here are three things we need to create a real people's movement. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28954.htm === Bodies litter streets after fierce Tripoli battle: The streets where rebel fighters bombarded snipers loyal to Moammar Gadhafi were strewn with bullet-ridden corpses from both sides Thursday. Streams of blood ran down the gutters and turned sewers red. http://on.msnbc.com/pibyz9 === Libyan Rebels Call in NATO to Stop Qaddafi Counteroffensive as Fighting Rages: - Libyan rebels called in support from NATO jets to stop a counteroffensive by loyalist troops in Tripoli in the early hours of Friday, as the fight continued for full control of the city. http://fxn.ws/olWHTi === Nato leads attack on Gaddafi bastion: British Tornado jets fired precision-guided missiles at a large bunker in Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, officials have said. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14677754 === Libyan conflict far from being over: Tripoli was attacked not so much by Libyan rebels as members of NATO security services disguised as Arabs. It was them who cleared the way for the opposition to enter a direct fight against Gaddafi troops http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/08/26/55214837.html === Don't Give In To Colonization: Muammar Qaddafi Address to the people of Libya http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28951.htm === Libyan rebel oil firm AGOCO send "small army" to eastern oil fields: "Security is ok now. We have a small army in place," an AGOCO official told Reuters. Libya was producing a total of 1.6 million barrels per day before the war and the country's eastern field of Sarir and Mesla can produce 425,000 bpd, the official said. http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL5E7JQ1XW20110826 === In hunt for Kadhafi, US has crucial, low-profile role: US intelligence agencies have a crucial role to play in tracking down Libya's Moamer Kadhafi but are anxious to keep a low profile, current and former officials said Thursday. http://news.yahoo.com/hunt-kadhafi-us-crucial-low-profile-role-141528552.html === AU won't recognise Libyan rebel council: diplomats: The African Union will not explicitly recognize Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), diplomats said on Friday, in a setback for Libyan rebels who have already been recognized by more than 40 countries as the legitimate government. http://bit.ly/oNU16g === No, we still won't recognise Libya's rebels, says Zuma: "We can't stand here and say this is the legitimate [government] now. The process is fluid. That's part of what we inform countries -- whether there is an authority to recognise," Zuma told reporters http://mg.co.za/article/2011-08-26-zuma-cuts-a-lonely-figure-at-aus-libya-powwow/ === Libya's imperial hijacking is a threat to the Arab revolution: They don't give up. For the third time in a decade, British and US forces have played the decisive role in the overthrow of an Arab or Muslim regime. http://bit.ly/qM4K2P ==== Libya: a new breed of military intervention: High-level bombing, planning by low-level ground forces and a back seat for the US. This was no great victory for Nato http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/25/libya-military-intervention === U.S. May Buy Looted Libyan Missiles Sold in Mali's Black Market: The fall of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi has kicked off a race to recover key types of weapons taken from his stockpiles, such as shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, by getting U.S. operatives to buy them before terrorists do. http://bit.ly/o2dvLG === 16 people killed as car bomb hits Nigeria UN building: At least 16 people have been killed in an apparent suicide car bombing at the United Nations headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.The powerful blast destroyed the lower floors of the building. Dozens have been injured, some critically. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14677957 === Ten Afghan Civilians Killed in Separate Incidents: NATO kills five Afghan civilians: when warplanes carried out air strikes against "Taliban" in Logar province, provincial officials said. http://tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/3786-ten-afghan-civilians-killed-in-separate-incidents === Details of Secret Pact Emerge: Troops in Afghanistan Until 2024: If you thought President Obama was ending the war in Afghanistan, think again. Your children will be fighting it in 2024 if the Pentagon has its way. http://www.alternet.org/world/152146/the_new_date_for_victory_in_afghanistan:_2024 === Pakistan: US Killed 73 people in July: :  According to The Conflict Monitoring Center's (CMC) monthly report, the CIA carried out six drone attacks inside Pakistani territory during the month of July 2011 killing 73 people. http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/paper/index.php?article=5460 === Eight Palestinians Killed Thursday; 11 in Two Days: Palestinian medical sources reported on Thursday evening that two residents were killed when the Israeli Air Force fired a missile at their motorcycle, north of Gaza City. http://www.imemc.org/article/61887 === Factions In Gaza Declare Truce: The Islamic Jihad Movement in the Gaza Strip reported that a new mediated understanding was reached between Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza in Israel to declare a truce starting Friday. http://www.imemc.org/article/61890 === El Salvador Recognizes Independent Palestinian State: The President of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, stated Thursday that his country officially recognizes Palestine as an independent and sovereign state, and that it supports the efforts of the Arab League to upgrade the Palestinian UN status into a full membership. http://www.imemc.org/article/61888 === Israel to sever ties with Qatar: Israel is angry with Qatar over the Gulf emirate's growing ties with Gaza's Hamas rulers, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday. http://bit.ly/pyThHQ === Four killed in Iraq bomb attack : Four people die and 34 are wounded when a car bomb blows up near a Shi'ite mosque in the Southern city of Basra. Sunita Rappai reports. http://reut.rs/qS85Ma === Syrian forces kill two as tens of thousands protest: "Activists" chose "patience and determination" as the theme of Friday's protests across the country of 22 million. http://bit.ly/p2pgV4 === Syrian general: Militaries do not shoot at civilians: "The Syrian militaries have never opened fire at civilians, except in cases of necessary self-defense," Hassan said. http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/1923434.html === Libya 2.0 - Syrian protesters demand UN help to oust Bashar al-Assad: "Opposition activists" voice anger over failed attempts to pass a UN security council resolution http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/26/syria-protesters-demand-un-help === Russia Rejects Syria Sanctions: Russia today announced a diplomatic initiative to halt the violence in Syria, after rejecting a U.S. and European bid to impose United Nations sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad for his attacks on anti-government protesters. http://bloom.bg/rg6bIW === 52 Killed In Mexico Attack: Calderon berates U.S. after casino attack: President Felipe Calderon declared three days of mourning on Friday and demanded a crackdown on drugs in the United States after armed men torched a casino in northern Mexico, killing at least 52 people. http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110826/wl_nm/us_mexico_crime === U.S. Widens Role in Mexican Fight: Mexican commandos have discreetly traveled to the United States, assembled at designated areas and dispatched helicopter missions back across the border aimed at suspected drug traffickers. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/world/americas/26drugs.html === Bolivia's president accuses US of sparking protest: More than a thousand indigenous Bolivians have been marching against a highway being built across their land. Evo Morales says the US is behind the opposition. http://bit.ly/puC52j === Are food prices approaching a violent tipping point?: A provocative new study suggests the timing of the Arab uprisings is linked to global food price spikes, and that prices will soon permanently be above the level which sparks conflicts http://bit.ly/qzXWo0 === US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke offers no new stimulus in key speech: US central bank chief Ben Bernanke called on political leaders to do more to boost jobs and the housing market, saying the Federal Reserve could do little at this time to support economic growth. http://bit.ly/outHve === August consumer sentiment drops to 3-year low: Consumer sentiment in the U.S. plunged to the lowest level in three years and to one of the lowest level recorded by the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey. http://bit.ly/qKUWBv === Battle for the California Desert: Video -  Why is the Government Driving Folks off Their Land? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw3RiMdS7sE&feature=player_embedded#! === "Let us be peace and joy" Tom Feeley