Tomgram: Fatima Bhutto, The War Against Pakistan

Pakistani media: Fake WikiLeaks cables attacking India published
In the December 9 edition of The Express Tribune, a report was published on page 8 under the caption “Wikileaks: What US officials think about the Indian Army”. It now transpires that the story, which was run by a news agency, Online, was not authentic. The Express Tribune deeply regrets publishing this story without due verification and apologises profusely for any inconvenience caused to our valued readers. UK-based newspaper Guardian published a report on this issue, which is bei...

Pakistan US drone report released
An international group has called on the US to acknowledge the number of civilians killed by drone attacks in north-west Pakistan. The Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (Civic) says it investigated nine recent cases involving more than 30 non-militant deaths. The group says that it is not clear how many people have died in drone attacks in the past two years. But it is thought to be about 1,000, with a higher number of injuries. The US says very few are civilians. "Despite the se...

Court rejects el-Masri suit against German gov't
BERLIN - A German court rejected a Lawsuit filed by Khaled el-Masri seeking to force Berlin into prosecuting suspected CIA agents he alleges illegally detained him nearly eight years ago as part of the U.S. rendition program. The Cologne Administrative Court, in a ruling on Dec. 7, supported Berlin's decision not to seek the Americans' Extradition after Washington told the Germans in 2007 it would reject any attempts to prosecute its agents, citing National Security concerns. The ruling wa...

Pakistan fakes cables to slam India, US
ISLAMABAD: They read as the most extraordinary revelations. Citing the Wikileaks cables, major Pakistani Newspapers on Thursday ran stories that purported to detail astonishing American assessments of India's Military and civilian leaders. According to the reports, US Diplomats described senior Indian generals as vain, egotistical and genocidal; they said India's government is secretly allied with Hindu fundamentalists; and they claimed Indian spies are covertly supporting Islamist Militants in ...

Pakistani newspapers fooled by fake cables
Published: Dec. 10, 2010 at 10:29 AM Islamabad, Pakistan, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Newspaper leaders in Pakistan admitted they published reports based on phony documents -- supposedly from Wikileaks -- containing anti-Indian comments. The fake U.S. State Department cables, believed to have been planted by Pakistani intelligence, indicated U.S. Diplomats believed the Indian army was riddled with factions, a "Bosnia-like Genocide" was occurring in Indian-administered Kashmir and the Indian Military suppor...

Is Nobel Peace Prize Still Noble?
Noble peace prize became Controversial for last two years. Doubts surfaced over whether noble peace prize awardees really deserve it. It is believed in some quarters that the prize became politically motivated. Last year the peace prize was awarded to the US President Barack Obama. The prize was awarded to Obama only eleven days after he assumed office. This had raised many eyebrows questioning the motive behind awarding to an eleven days old presidency of Obama. By the time Obama accepted the...

US 'threatened to bomb' Pakistan
The US threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" unless it joined the fight against Al-Qaeda, President Pervez Musharraf has said. General Musharraf said the warning was delivered by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to Pakistan's intelligence director. "I think it was a very rude remark," Gen Musharraf told CBS television. Pakistan agreed to side with the US, but Gen Musharraf said it did so based on his country's national interest. "One has to think and take actio...

Blast kills at least 11 in northwest Pakistan
The Explosion occurred near a Hospital in Hangu, the town's Police Chief, Abdul Rashid, said. Five people were wounded. Pakistan's U.S.-backed government faces Taliban Insurgents who have sustained a campaign of Suicide bombings in defiance of a series of Military offensives launched last year against their strongholds in the northwest. On Wednesday, a Suicide Bomber blew himself up beside a minibus in the nearby town of Kohat, killing at least 16 people, officials said. The Pakistani Taliban m...

Iran slams Mossad, CIA, MI6
Published: Dec. 8, 2010 at 7:57 AM Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili holds a Press Conference in Tehran, Iran on December 4, 2010. Iran today accused the United Nations of sending spies instead of nuclear inspectors and said the International Atomic Energy Agency will need to take responsibility for those actions. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian TEHRAN, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Iran said Terrorists linked to the Mossad, CIA and MI6 involved in the death of a Nuclear Scientist and plotting more attacks...

Full Frame: Valley of tears
It's the longest unresolved conflict in the history of the United Nations — the fight over the valley of Kashmir. Kashmir is not a poor region: unlike the rest of India it has rich natural resources and most of its population lives in comparably good conditions. The surge in militancy, which started in the early-1990s, changed the fate of the valley, turning it into the so-called "Valley of tears." It became the most highly militarized zone in the world. More than 700,000 Ind...

Court rejects el-Masri suit against German gov't
A German court has rejected a Lawsuit filed by Khaled el-Masri seeking to force Berlin to prosecute CIA agents he alleges illegally detained him nearly eight years ago as part of the U.S. rendition program. In a ruling published Friday, the Cologne Administrative supported Berlin's decision not to seek the Americans' Extradition after Washington told Berlin it would reject any attempts to prosecute its agents, citing National Security concerns. El-Masri, a German of Lebanese descent, says he was...

On This Day In History: December 8th 2000 9/11 Hijacker Hani Hanjour Came to SD
On this day in San Diego history in the year 2000 9/11 hijacker Hani Hanjour arrived in San Diego from Dubai via Paris and Cincinnati. He is believed to have spent only a few days in San Diego  with fellow 9/11 hijackers  Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar before moving on to Arizona. It’s possible that he spent time in San Diego earlier in the year as well. Hani Hanjour, who is believed to have been the hijacker/pilot who flew American Airlines flight 77 into...

US official: nuke deal with Russia to boost ties
MOSCOW — The United States and Russia welcomed Friday the U.S. Congress’ passing of a new accord that will allow them to significantly expand cooperation in civilian Nuclear Energy. U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman told The Associated Press that the framework pact — known as the 123 agreement because its requirements are set in section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act — would help boost nonproliferation efforts and create new business opportunities. "It’...

Pakistani intelligence officials say US drone strike kills 4 in northwest Pakistan
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US concerned Mozambique becoming drug hub
MAPUTO, Mozambique - The United States is concerned that Mozambique could become a narco-state because of close ties between Drug Smugglers and the southeastern African nation's government, according to U.S. Embassy cables released by Wikileaks. The four cables released this week cite unnamed officials from Law Enforcement, the ruling FRELIMO party and business figures, as well as local media reports. The cables say Cocaine, Heroin and other drugs come in from South America and Asia, and a...

WikiLeaks cables cast Hosni Mubarak as Egypt's ruler for life
Source: Guardian UK US ambassador tells Hillary Clinton that president will win rigged election next year, his 30th in power Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's long-serving president, is likely to seek re-election next year and will "inevitably" win a poll that will not be free and fair, the US ambassador to Cairo, Margaret Scobey, predicted in a secret cable to Hillary Clinton last year. Scobey discussed Mubarak's quasi-dictatorial leadership style since he took power in 1981; his critical views of George ...

Morning Beat at the Left Coast Rebel: Prince Charles gets a Glimpse of the Inevitable Conclusion of the Entitlement Mentality Ed
by the Left Coast Rebel They come for your Tax Dollars and they expect you to give them everything they want in life, handed to them on a silver platter. Behold the Socialist entitlement mentality on display or "and they call "Teabaggers" violent?: Sipping coffee, and glad I live in the USA, checking out teh blogs: Wrinkled Weasle's World: Napoleon was right The Other McCain: Epic post - 'I live in Reality' WC Varones: Obama, "what's the definition of is?" Moonbattery: Moonbats riot in London ...

Sri Lankan MPs to de-stress with yoga lessons
What is Yoga? Can you Patent yoga postures? Sri Lankan members of parliament are to be offered yoga sessions at work, starting next month. The aim is to eliminate their high levels of stress, the practitioners have told the BBC. "With peace in Sri Lanka, the most stressed-out people are now the politicians," said the instructor in charge, Chamin Warnakula. Breathing and posture exercises will "teach them discipline, good behaviour, and how to control themselves in stressful sit...

Ron Pauls Passionate Defense Of Julian Assange And WikiLeaks On House Floor
Ron Paul is nothing if not an conservative iconoclast. The Texas Republican House Representative, with deep Libertarian roots is taking a counter-intuitive departure from the traditional and established GOP Rhetoric on the issue of Wikileaks. In an impassioned Speech on the U.S. House floor, Paul likened the attack on Julian Assange to “killing the messenger for bringing bad news” before providing nine provocative questions for Americans to consider. Mr. Paul concluded his Speech wi...

NY subway plotter's father pleads not guilty
A New York City Subway pulls up to a station. The father of a Colorado man ... The father of a man who admitted plotting to bomb New York's Subway System in an Al-Qaeda inspired scheme pleaded Not Guilty Thursday to new charges. Afghan-born Mohammed Wali Zazi, 54, entered his plea in Federal Court responding to charges that include obstruction of justice, witness tampering, making false statements and visa Fraud. "He pleaded Not Guilty and was released on bail," Brooklyn Federal Court spokesma...

Somali PM Sought Major US Strikes, Shrugged Off Civilian Death Fears
In the wake of the failed May 2009 offensive, Somali Prime Minister Omar Sharmarke met with US officials in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss addition requests for US money and Military Aid, as well as to encourage the US to launch such Military strikes. Sharmarke, according to a newly released cable, repeatedly confirmed that the self-proclaimed Somali “government” was willing to accept any negative publicity resulting from major US Air Strikes against the country, and gave the US and upd...

Former FBI Lawyer Opposes Pollard Release
Jonathan Pollard. Over the past months, momentum had been building toward the United States perhaps releasing Jonathan Pollard, the man who in 1987 was convicted of and sentenced to life for spying on behalf of Israel. You had early chatter that Pollard could be released in exchange for some sort of peace process deal; then you had former deputy Defense Secretary Lawrence Korb claim that his former boss Caspar Weinberger’s anti-Israel bias contributed to Pollard’s life sentence; then...

Protests, cyber-skirmishes rage over WikiLeaks
© AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer Pakistani Protesters rally to condemn the arrest in London of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, seen in poster, during a Protest in Multan, Pakistan London - Skirmishes raged across cyberspace Thursday between Wikileaks supporters and the companies they accuse of trying to stifle the group, with websites on both sides of the battle line taken out of service or choked off by attacks. The U.N.'s top Human Rights official raised the alarm over officials' and corpor...

Berkeley Considers Declaring Bradley Manning a Hero
The city of Berkeley, also known as “Berzerkeley,” is considering a resolution to declare alleged Wikileaks source Bradley Manning a hero. Or, as a FoxNews site puts it, “Berkeley Gives America the Middle Finger.” According to a resolution being considered for vote, the imprisoned Army private suspected of providing Wikileaks with its most significant U.S. releases should be released from Prison and praised for his “courage in bringing truth to the American People a...

Putin Leads Attack On Assange Detention
From a cheering Agence France-Press: Putin leads backlash over WikiLeaks boss detention by Maria Antonova - Thur Dec 9, 2010 MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Thursday led growing support from some world leaders for the beleaguered WikiLeaks founder, describing his detention in Britain as "undemocratic" … Putin railed against the detention of the 39-year-old Assange, the Australian founder of the website which has been releasing thousands of secret US dipl