ICH: The True Cost Of War
 
Resent-Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:21:42 -0600 (CST)


"Media manipulation in the U.S. today is more efficient than it was
in Nazi Germany, because here we have the pretense that we are
getting all the information we want. That misconception prevents
people from even looking for the truth." - Mark Crispin Miller

= "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will
eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for
such time as the State can shield the people from the political,
economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes
vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress
dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by
extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."

- Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945

= "With each newly minted crisis, US leaders roll out the same
time-tested scenario. They start demonizing a foreign leader ...
charging them with being communistic or otherwise dictatorial,
dangerously aggressive, power hungry, genocidal, given to terrorism
or drug trafficking, ready to deny us access to vital resources,
harboring weapons of mass destruction, or just inexplicably
"anti-American" and "anti-West." Lacking any information to the
contrary, the frightened public ... are swept along." - Michael
Parenti

= "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims
may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber
barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's
cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be
satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment
us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own
conscience." - C. S. Lewis

= "One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." - Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Read this newsletter online http://tinyurl.com/dy6yy

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Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq "1,173,743"

http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

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Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged)
In America's War On Iraq 3,973 http://icasualties.org/oif/

The War in Iraq Costs $498,582,933,043

See the cost in your community
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

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Israeli Missiles Silence Baby's Laughter in Gaza

By Sami Abu Salem

Tears poured from al-Bor'i's eyes when he saw Mohammed's shoes.
"After five years of treatment for sterility, [my wife and] I had
a baby. I can't imagine that I lost him in a second."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19441.htm

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Abbas Needs a Miracle

By Ramzy Baroud

Time is running out for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Although both men
are still committed to their risky venture of marginalising Hamas
at any cost, the latter's obduracy and recent events in Gaza point
to the inescapable conclusion - the undertaking was doomed from the
start.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19445.htm

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Ben Griffin: Former SAS, Banned Speech to Anti-War Rally

Video and Text

Ben Griffin, the ex-SAS trooper who this week revealed the extensive
British collaboration with US rendition and torture, was served
with an injunction immediately after speaking at the London World
Against War rally last night.

The government is trying to gag Ben to prevent any more revelations
about British involvement in the US policy of kidnapping people and
sending them to secret centres for interrogation and torture.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19444.htm

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US: Vets Break Silence on War Crimes

By Aaron Glantz

"Americans are bred deep into their psyches to think of America as
a good country and, I think, much harder than just the hurdle of
getting troops out of Iraq is to get Americans to realise the
terrible things we do in the name of the United States."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19442.htm

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The True Cost Of War

By Aida Edemariam

In 2005, a Nobel prize-winning economist began the painstaking
process of calculating the true cost of the Iraq war. In his new
book, he reveals how short-sighted budget decisions, cover-ups and
a war fought in bad faith will affect us all for decades to come.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19443.htm

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Bombs targeting police kill over 40 in Pakistan:

A suicide bomber blew himself up among mourners at a police funeral,
killing at least 38 people in northwest Pakistan on Friday,
intelligence officials said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSISL19062920080229

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Afghanistan mission close to failing :

US Injection of troops and aid has not brought stability says
intelligence chief
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/29/afghanistan.terrorism

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Sunni Forces Losing Patience With U.S.:

Citing Lack of Support, Frustrated Iraqi Volunteers Are Abandoning
Posts http://tinyurl.com/27mx44

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Dems Iraq Plans Would Leave Tens Of Thousands In Iraq:

Despite the rhetoric of the Democratic presidential candidates,
significant numbers of U.S. troops will remain in Iraq regardless
who wins in November.

http://tinyurl.com/ywjorw

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Economist: War to cost $3.5 trillion:

Nobel economist tells Congress about impact of war that White House
said would cost $60B.

http://tinyurl.com/ysketb

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Iraq war 'caused slowdown in the US' :

THE Iraq war has cost the US 50-60 times more than the Bush
administration predicted and was a central cause of the sub-prime
banking crisis threatening the world economy, according to Nobel
Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23286149-2703,00.html

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18 Turkish troops killed in northern Iraq- PKK :

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters killed 18 Turkish soldiers
in remote and mountainous areas in northern Iraq, a PKK foreign
relations official said.

http://tinyurl.com/yvusmn

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Turkey wraps up Iraq offensive, says objectives achieved:

The Turkish army ended its week-old ground offensive against Kurdish
rebels in northern Iraq on Friday, saying its forces had pulled out
after achieving their objectives.

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=217479

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Turkish Army to set up security corridor in northern Iraq:

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) will create temporary security bases
in northern Iraq after troops wrap up an ongoing ground offensive
in the region against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
security sources told Today's Zaman.

http://tinyurl.com/2bovel

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Court gags ex-SAS man who made torture claims:

A former SAS soldier was served with a high court order yesterday
preventing him from making fresh disclosures about how hundreds of
Iraqis and Afghans captured by British and American special forces
were rendered to prisons where they faced torture.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/feb/29/military.law

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US: Iran sanctions vote 'soon' :

The United States said Friday that a UN Security Council vote on
more sanctions against Iran would come "relatively soon" and said
the world agrees Tehran must freeze sensitive nuclear work.

http://tinyurl.com/27scou

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US sends warship to Lebanon as tensions mount with Syria:

The Cole is sailing to the region from Malta. It's a not-too-subtle
show of U.S. force in the region as international frustration mounts
over a long political deadlock in tiny, weak Lebanon.

http://www.dailymail.com/News/200802280536

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Hezbollah says US warship threatens regional stability :

The pro-Iranian Hezbollah group accused the United States on Friday
of endangering regional stability by deploying a warship off Lebanon
and vowed to defy what it called an act of military intimidation.

http://tinyurl.com/276gjl

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Israeli strike kills playing children:

FOUR Palestinian children playing in a field were killed in the
latest Israeli air strike on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, where eight
gunmen were also killed in raids, medics said.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23295357-38201,00.html

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Israeli minister vows Palestinian 'holocaust':

A senior Israeli politician provoked controversy today when he
warned that Palestinians firing rockets from Gaza would be punished
with a "bigger holocaust" from Israeli armed forces.

http://tinyurl.com/2jws4z

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Click Here To Help Stop Military Aid to Israel:

President Bush's FY2009 budget request for $2.55 billion in military
aid for Israel, a proposed increase of 9% over actual spending in
2007, now rests with the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees
on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.

http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_976.shtml

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To be in favour of peace is not anti-Israeli:

In a Haaretz article this week Akiva Eldar pointed out that AIPAC
"does not really bother to rally in favour of a two state solution".
While those it sees as "friends of Israel" certainly include
hardliners who believe in a greater Israel stretching from the
Mediterranean to Jordan, those who criticise Israel for not moving
fast enough in its own long-term security interests towards the
just two state solution it says it wants, are enemies.

http://tinyurl.com/236zjn

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Australia's Government Continues Its Love Affair with Israel:

Before our politicians even warmed their seats in the new parliamentary
sittings, the Australian Prime Minister announced that he will lead
a parliamentary motion to honour Israel on 12 March acknowledging
Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day.

http://www.counterpunch.org/karkar02292008.html

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An invention called 'the Jewish people' :

Israel's Declaration of Independence states that the Jewish people
arose in the Land of Israel and was exiled from its homeland. Every
Israeli schoolchild is taught that this happened during the period
of Roman rule, in 70 CE. The nation remained loyal to its land, to
which it began to return after two millennia of exile. Wrong, says
the historian Shlomo Zand, in one of the most fascinating and
challenging books published here in a long time.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959229.html

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When McCain and Obama face off, Israel may find itself in the eye
of the storm :

McCain's people have no intention of backpedaling from their claim
that Obama's policy endangers Israel. This will not be easy for
Jerusalem, whose diplomats will have to maneuver carefully in a
political minefield. Obama will now have to decide whether to use
the endorsement he got Thursday from former secretary of state James
Baker against McCain http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/959362.html

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Hillary: "Ready to Lie From Day 1" About Venezuela:

According to Senator Hillary Clinton, the leader of Venezuela is a
dictator.

http://tinyurl.com/2wk25a

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Bolivia's Morales calls referendum on new Constitution for May 4

" We are talking about a new political constitution of the state
that allows us to re-found Bolivia," Morales told a crowd of thousands
of peasants, indigenous people and other supporters gathered at the
Plaza Murillo in La Paz.

http://tinyurl.com/24cgdo

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US president's brother visits Paraguay president as guest of
Moon-backed group:

Neil Bush, younger brother of U.S. President George W. Bush, called
on Paraguay's president as the guest of a business federation allied
with the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church.

http://tinyurl.com/yrsrf5

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Racist video sparks outrage in South Africa:

A "barbaric" video of white South African students forcing black
university workers to eat meat saturated in urine caused widespread
outrage and protests yesterday.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/28/southafrica.race

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Caught on tape: More deputies accused of brutally beating inmate :

Former teacher Paul King says he used to be one of those people who
said lock 'em up throw away the key.

http://tinyurl.com/2cu95d

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Let Us Work Towards Peace & Joy

Tom Feeley