US Blames Iran for Casualties from Its Own Attacks - by Gareth Porter: "When a top U.S. commander in Iraq reported last week that attacks by Shi'ite militias with links to Iran had risen to 73 percent of all July attacks that had killed or wounded U.S. forces in Baghdad, he claimed it was because of an effort by Iran to oust the United States from Iraq, referring to 'intelligence reports' of a 'surge' in Iranian assistance. But the obvious reason for the rise in Shi'ite-related U.S. casualties – ignored in U.S. media coverage of Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno's charge – is that the Mahdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr was defending itself against a rising tempo of attacks by U.S. forces at the same time attacks by al-Qaeda forces had fallen. "
Video: Israeli soldiers fire tear gas at 6-year-old children on their way to school The new school year started four days ago in the occupied West Bank, and Israeli soldiers have fired tear gas and hurled stun grenades at Palestinian elementary school students on at least two occasions already. In the Nablus -area village of Burin , which is surrounded by illegal Jewish-only Israeli settlements , Israeli forces stormed an elementary school Wednesday, firing tear gas and stun grenades at students after a settler’s vehicle traveling nearby the school was allegedly hit with a rock thrown by a Palestinian youth. Many children were treated at the scene for tear-gas inhalation, reported Ma’an News Agency . One day earlier, Israeli forces in Hebron fired up to 15 tear gas canisters and five stun grenades at small children as they made their way to school Tuesday morning. Video of the attack — recorded and posted to YouTube by the International Solidarity Movement (ISM)...
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