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When is a Holocaust Not a Holocaust?      : Information Clearing House - ICH : "Although the 'surge' has failed as policy, it appears to be succeeding as propaganda. It seems to be the only thing that supporters of the war have to point to, and so they point, and they point, and they point. Allow me to point out that while there has been a reduction in violence in Iraq -- now down to a level that virtually any other society in the world would find horrible and intolerable, including Iraqi society before the US invasion and occupation -- we must keep in mind that thanks to this lovely little war more than half the population of Iraq is either dead, crippled, traumatized, confined in overflowing American and Iraqi prisons, internally displaced, or in foreign exile.

VOA News - Activists to Again Defy Blockade to Bring Gaza Aid An activist group says it will defy Israel's blockade of the Gaza strip for a second time to deliver aid to Palestinians. U.S.-based "Free Gaza" organizer Greta Berlin said Tuesday a group of about 20 activists will sail Wednesday from Cyprus to Gaza. Berlin says the group includes Nobel peace prize winner Mairead McGuire of Ireland and at least three doctors. She says the group will deliver medicine to Palestinians. "Free Gaza" first defied Israel's blockade of Gaza in August when a group of 44 activists sailed with aid supplies to the coastal territory. The activists were the first foreigners to enter the territory by sea since Hamas seized power in June 2007 and Israel tightened its travel restrictions. Israeli officials allowed the boats in August to reach Gaza and sail back to Cyprus in order to avoid public confrontation. The Israeli government has not said if it will allow the group to reac...

BBC NEWS | UK | Afghan victory hopes played down Brig Mark Carleton-Smith told the Sunday Times the aim of the mission was to ensure the Afghan army was able to manage the country on its own. He said this could involve discussing security with the Taleban. When international troops eventually leave Afghanistan, there may still be a "low but steady" level of rural insurgency, he conceded. He said it was unrealistic to expect that multinational forces would be able to wipe out armed bands of insurgents in the country. The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says Brig Carleton-Smith's comments echo a view commonly-held, if rarely aired, by British military and diplomatic officials in Afghanistan. Many believe certain legitimate elements of the Taleban represent the positions of the Afghan people and so should be a part of the country's future, says our correspondent.

Woman, 90, facing eviction, shoots herself | Wake Up From Your Slumber A 90-year-old Akron woman, about to be evicted from her La Croix Avenue home for failing to pay her mortgage, apparently shot herself Wednesday while Summit County sheriff's deputies were knocking on her door. A neighbor and the deputies found Addie Polk in an upstairs bedroom suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to her upper body. A handgun was found near her. She was taken to Akron General Medical Center, police said, and is expected to recover. Akron police are investigating the incident.

Al Jazeera English - Americas - US passes India nuclear pact : "The US senate has approved a landmark deal that re-establishes bilateral nuclear co-operation with India. The vote on Wednesday night follows its passage through the House of Representatives last weekend, ending a 30-year ban on US nuclear trade with India. The senate's 86-13 vote handed George Bush, the US president, a victory on one of his top foreign policy priorities, which he will later sign into law. The pact, passed by the House of Representatives with a 298-117 vote, comes ahead of a planned trip to India by Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, this weekend."

Turning a Wall Street Giveaway Into a Rescue for All Americans -- In These Times [Editor’s note: The following article provides a summary of the complex issues involved in negotiations over how to respond to the credit market crisis. For the sake of simplicity and navigability, it is broken into five separate parts, which you can scroll to individually: 1) The State of Play 2) Leadership Moves 3) Alternatives 4) Likely Outcomes and 5) The Progressive Bottom Line.]

To Smother Chechen Insurgency, A Campaign of House Burning - NYTimes.com : "In the case of Ms. Basargina, she and her relatives said her family had no connections to the insurgency, but had been under police scrutiny since last year. Before the attack, Ms. Basargina and 11 relatives had lived together in several small buildings behind a wall; the building was badly damaged and is no longer habitable. Their troubles began, they said, when a car formerly owned by her nephew was used by a rebel in an attack last year. The rebel escaped after a skirmish, but abandoned the vehicle, which the police traced back to her nephew, Abubakar Musliyev, 31, the father of five. Mr. Musliyev had sold the car long before, the family said, but the police did not believe him. He was summoned repeatedly to the police station during the ensuing year and was beaten several times, they said. On Aug. 8, he disappeared. His relatives said they did not know where he went; their accounts of his activities ca...