Obama at Fort Bragg:
A Hypocritical Embrace of a Criminal War

By Bill Van Auken

President Barack Obama used his speech to US troops at Fort Bragg, to embrace the nine-year war in Iraq that he had ostensibly opposed and to declare the destruction of the country a "success."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30009.htm

Why Do They Hate Us?

By Dave Lindorff

Let's dispense with the euphemistic term "contractors," which is meant to bring to mind the image of a couple of overweight construction workers. In Iraq, and especially in lawless areas like Anbar at that time, "contractor" means "mercenary,"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30010.htm

Fact Checking Bachmann's Claim That
Iran Is A 'Few Months' From The Bomb

By Eli Clifton

GOP presidential hopefuls Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Ron Paul (R-TX) engaged in a heated exchange about Iran's nuclear program during last night's debate.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30011.htm

Iran Hijacked US Drone, says Iranian Engineer

By Scott Peterson, Staff writer, Payam Faramarzi

In an exclusive interview, an engineer working to unlock the secrets of the captured RQ-170 Sentinel says they exploited a known vulnerability and tricked the US drone into landing in Iran.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30004.htm

NATO Troops on Syrian Border?

By RT

Sibel Edmonds, exposes what is going on around Syria.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30008.htm

No Justice for Bradley Manning

By Charles Davis

The US government has made an example of Bradley Manning to prevent others from challenging the American empire.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30005.htm

When Corporations Rule the World
Banker Occupation and Europain

By Stephen Lendman

Over half the world's largest economies are corporations. Financial ones controlling the power of money are most dominant.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30007.htm

50 Economic Numbers From 2011

That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe

By Economic Collapse

Most Americans have no idea just how bad our economic decline has been or how much trouble we are going to be in if we don't make dramatic changes immediately.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30013.htm

U.S. Mayors Decry Rise in Poverty, Homelessness

By Agence France-Presse

US mayors sounded an alarm Thursday over deepening economic woes after a survey of 29 cities from Los Angeles to Washington showed worrying rises in homelessness and poverty-related food aid.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30012.htm

10 people killed in clashes in Kazakhstan:
 

Roadside bomb kills 4 in Kabul:   A roadside bomb killed four civilians in Afghanistan's southwestern province of Farah Thursday, the provincial police chief said.
http://bit.ly/ukGVsO

U.S. military acknowledges abuse by Afghan militias it trains:   Members of local police forces that the United States sees as vital to ending the Afghan war have committed human rights abuses, the U.S. military acknowledged in a report issued late Thursday.
http://wapo.st/vVNwcX

UK implicated in Afghanistan drug trade:
"There are documents and evidence that show that British forces in [Afghanistan's] Helmand Province not only did nothing to prevent the illicit drug trade, but in some cases also took part in it," Yousef-Ali Vaezi, an advisor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, told Press TV on Thursday.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/215748.html

Pakistan insists air strikes were deliberate:   Pakistan's embassy in Washington invited reporters to a briefing at which officials showed images and maps that they said supported Islamabad's case, despite US insistence that the November 26 incident was a regrettable mistake.
http://bit.ly/uAtPqJ

Pakistan: No compromise on sovereignty, territorial frontiers:   The Prime Minister made it clear that the future rules of engagements with the US/NATO would ensure national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan.
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=130354

Moscow offers Syrian resolution:   The draft "demands that all parties in Syria immediately stop any violence, irrespective of where it comes from," text supplied to Bloomberg News stated.
http://bit.ly/sbo4h8

'NATO wants a simmering civil war in Syria - as a prelude':   Washington is ready to discuss Russia's UN Security Council draft resolution on Syria, describing some provisions as however "unacceptable" and still not acknowledging that the anti-regime protesters are well-armed.
http://rt.com/news/nato-civil-war-syria-011/

Russian expert: Iran will be apparently attacked from Georgia's territory:   The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq is a sign of future war against Iran, "Should the U.S. forces remain in Iraq, it would inevitably lead to unpredictable consequences, with Iran striking heavy blows on the U.S. bases," Maxim Shevchenko told vesti.az.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/86722/

U.S. to leave Iraqi airspace clear for strategic Israeli route to Iran:

 The U.S. military's fast-approaching Dec. 31 exit from Iraq, which has no way to defend its airspace, puts Israel in a better place strategically to strike Iran's nuclear facilities.
http://bit.ly/tWbGr9

Yes, Obama May Call Iran Strike:   Dennis Ross, just retired as President Barack Obama's top adviser on the Middle East, warned yesterday that Obama means what he says when he declares that the White House isn't ruling out military action against Tehran
http://the-diplomat.com/2011/12/15/yes-obama-may-call-iran-strike/

'Iran will hunt any intruding US drone':

Senior Iranian military official has lashed out at the United States over the recent US spy drone incident, stressing that Iran will hunt out any American recon aircraft that violates Iranian airspace.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/216000.html

Iran to exhibit US and Israeli spy drones:

 Iran says it will put on display a series of foreign spy drones that it claims to have obtained, including four Israeli and three US unmanned aircraft, according to a state-run newspaper.
http://bit.ly/tBOSiq

US Fear And Loathing Over Spy Drone:   In what seems to be nothing but US-style barefaced arrogance, President Barack Obama has demanded the return of a spy drone which violated the airspace of the Islamic Republic but which was to the humiliation of the US officials downed by the Iranian army.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30006.htm

U.S. drones allowed in Iraqi skies:   American troops are almost gone from Iraq, but that doesn't mean the U.S. military will cease its operations there entirely.
http://wapo.st/vM1bIc

Hundreds rally in Baghdad against Anti-Iranian exiles:   Friday's demonstrators in Baghdad demanded the Iranians be evicted because their group - the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, which seeks to overthrow Tehran's clerical rulers - is considered by some to be a terrorist organization.
http://yhoo.it/ujf2m8

Craig Murray: Iraq Disaster:   On the eve of the attack there were still over twice as many functioning healthcare clinics and hospitals as there are today, and nearly five times as many doctors working in them.
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2011/12/iraq-disaster/

Iceland recognizes state of Palestine:   Republic becomes first west European country to formally recognize Palestinian state. Palestinian FM believes move will 'surely have positive influence on other states'
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4162393,00.html

Newt's New York visit for funds was about Israel:
Gingrich came to New York looking for right-wing Jewish campaign donors who are hardline supporters of Israel.
http://bit.ly/uPfgGt

Protesters clash with military in Cairo:   Witnesses say military police fired in the air and protesters threw stones and set cars alight near parliament building.
http://bit.ly/rSRmYq

'Saudi Arabia behind Yemen crises':   Yemeni activist and co-winner of 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, Tawakkul Karman, has accused Saudi Arabia of attempting to destabilize her country.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/215985.html

Bahrain Police Crack Down on Highway Protest: -  Bahraini security forces used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of opposition supporters attempting to protest alongside a highway leading to the island kingdom's capital Thursday.
http://on.wsj.com/vvXLXs

Frustration threatens to unleash second Libyan "revolution":   The young "revolutionaries" who fought the Gadhafi regime for control of Libya are far from content.
http://bit.ly/tCCKv5

Concerns over Gaddafi's death - "Suspicions of war crimes".:   The death of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was captured and killed by fighters in October, may have been a war crime, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court [ICC] has said.
http://bit.ly/taaQ7d

Al Jazeera: Covering the revolutions or fueling them?:   The station claims it is neutral, though not everyone agrees.
http://bit.ly/rFA2Vd

Minister: Russia to respond to U.S missile defense system in Europe:
Once the U.S. missile defense system hits Poland, Russia will take adequate retaliatory measures, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
http://en.trend.az/regions/world/russia/1969804.html

China warily watches U.S. withdrawal from Iraq:   The worry here is that an American military free of the nearly nine-year-long commitment to Iraq might now be freer to focus attention on the Asia-Pacific region, which China considers its back yard
http://wapo.st/u7CLcq

US Client State: Australia and South Korea Forge Deal for Closer Military Cooperation:   South Korea strengthened military ties with Australia as the two nations formally agreed on Wednesday conduct more joint exercises.
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/267478/20111215/australia-s-korea-forge-deal-closer-military.htm