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: "Abduljabbar al Kubaysi, influential political leader of the Iraqi resistance and secretary-general of the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA) elaborates on the new situation evolving in Iraq Q: In the last period the European media when touching Iraq have been speaking only on a sectarian civil war. What is really happening? Actually the US occupiers as well as the government imposed by them are pushing for this sectarian civil war. Also the Iranians have interest in this as they are looking for a federation in the South as well. Their attempt is to make the Sunni, the Christians, the Mandeans leave to have a purely Shiite zone. Under the conditions of war this sectarian drive has an immediate effect. The US uses this as an argument to stay in Iraq as they claim that they would be needed to settle this strife. There is, however, so much evidence that the intelligence services of the US, of the Iraqi as well as of the Iranian government are the real source of the violence. Th...

Philip Giraldi: Pakistan If You Can - Politics on The Huffington Post : "The inability of presidential aspirants to deal with reality is sometimes astonishing. Concerning Pakistan and its beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf, only one thing is true from the US national interest perspective: Musharraf is Washington's best hope for containing and eventually defeating the one terrorist group that actually threatens the United States. That group is Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida, which has found shelter in the trackless tribal region of Waziristan along the Pakistani-Afghan border. White House propaganda notwithstanding, no other group has the ability, resources, or the stated intention to attack the United States. One does not have to approve of Musharraf's brand of soft military dictatorship or the delicate political balancing act that he must engage in to stay in power to understand that he is essential to American efforts to control terrorism in central Asia. So why don...

A Living Wage . NOW | PBS : "This week, NOW examines the fight for a 'living wage'—the pay needed to cover an actual week's worth of living—on the Nashville, Tennessee campus of Vanderbilt University. The chancellor there earns $1.2 million a year, the endowment is $3 billion, but some of the school's lowest-paid workers—groundskeepers, custodians, and dining service workers—earn less than $8.00 an hour." video

Income Inequality . NOW | PBS In America, the top one-tenth of one percent of earners make about the same money per year collectively as the millions of Americans in the bottom fifty percent combined. This is putting a tight squeeze on the middle class, while leaving millions of others in the cold. This week, David Brancaccio talks with Pulitzer prize-winning financial reporter David Cay Johnston, as well as author and advocate Beth Shulman about the state of our country's vast income divide and how it's hurting those just trying to make ends meet.

U.S. promotes free elections, only to see allies lose - International Herald Tribune : "DUBAI: Political spin masters in Lebanon have been trying in recent days to explain the results of a pivotal special election last Sunday, which saw a relative unknown from the opposition narrowly beat a former president, Amin Gemayel. There has been talk of the Christian vote and the Armenian vote, of history and betrayal. One explanation, however, that all agree on proved crucial in this race: Gemayel's support by the Bush administration, and the implied agendas behind such support, seem to have helped doom him."

EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Georgia Accuses Russia of Carrying Out "Bombing" Raid : "n what it claims is the latest attempt in an ongoing campaign to undermine Georgian stability, Tbilisi has accused Russia of being behind an alleged August 6 air attack on Georgian territory near the South Ossetian conflict zone. Russia has categorically denied any involvement in the incident."

Occupation 101 Award-winning documentary film on the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The film depicts life in occupied Palestine under Israeli military occupation. Synopsis: A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict -- 'Occupation 101' presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions. The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. The roots of the conflict are explained through first-hand on-the-ground experiences from leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarian workers whose voices have too often been suppressed in American ...

The Pentagon’s latest Big Lie : "The quality of Pentagon-propaganda is really deteriorating. The War Dept.’s latest fraud appeared in this week’s newspapers under the ominous-sounding headline: “US Kills Mastermind of Iraq Shrine” The article is similar to hundreds of other stories we’ve seen in the passed few years boasting of the murder of an “alleged” terrorist kingpin whose evil deeds have prevented democracy from flourishing in Iraq. Oh, please.The quality of Pentagon-propaganda is really deteriorating. The War Dept.’s latest fraud appeared in this week’s newspapers under the ominous-sounding headline: “US Kills Mastermind of Iraq Shrine” The article is similar to hundreds of other stories we’ve seen in the passed few years boasting of the murder of an “alleged” terrorist kingpin whose evil deeds have prevented democracy from flourishing in Iraq. Oh, please."

Anbar 'Turnaround' Undercuts War Rationale - by Gareth Porter : "But the new situation in Anbar cannot be attributed to US military operations or presence in the province. After five years of unsuccessful US military operations in Anbar, the US military's agreements with Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar represents an acknowledgment that it was dependent on the very Sunni insurgents it once considered the enemy in Iraq to reduce al-Qaeda influence in the province. In an interview with ABC News May 30, Petraeus admitted that the Sunnis 'can figure out who al-Qaeda is a heck of a lot better then we can.'"

Korean Whining: The Price of Dependence on America - by Doug Bandow : "Many Koreans blame the captives, and some of them have begun criticizing Washington. In their view, it is America's fault that the Republic of Korea sent troops to Afghanistan. And it is America's fault that Kabul has not conceded the Taliban's demands. Family members have met with U.S. diplomatic personnel to request American aid. Protestors have been holding candlelight vigils outside of the U.S. embassy. Signs included such messages as 'Bush: Don't kill, negotiate' and 'Americans = human beings; Koreans = flies.' A parliamentary delegation raced to Washington to lobby for U.S. action."

Mechanistic Destruction: American Foreign Policy at Point Zero - by Gabriel Kolko : "The United States has rarely lost any conventional military battle since at least 1950. Nor has it, at the same time, ever won a war. It has successfully overthrown governments through interventions or subversion but the political results of all its efforts – as in Afghanistan in the 1980s and Iran in 1953 – have often made its subsequent geopolitical position far, far more tenuous. In a word, in international affairs it bumbles very badly and it has made an already highly unstable world far more precarious than it otherwise would be if only the U.S. had left the world alone."

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush sternly warned Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Thursday against cozying up to Iran, amid what Washington sees as unsettling signs of warming Baghdad-Tehran relations.

Al Jazeera English - News - Heavy Fighting Erupts In Mogadishu : "At least four Somalis are reported to have been killed as heavy fighting broke out in Mogadishu between rebel fighters and Ethiopian-backed government forces."

Al Jazeera English - News - Toll Rises In Philippine Fighting The toll in clashes between the Philippine army and groups suspected of links with al-Qaeda on Jolo island in the country's south has risen to at least 54, the military says.