Iraqi journalist detained without charge for a year

A year ago today, U.S. and Iraqi forces raided the home of Iraqi journalist Ibrahim Jassam, a freelance photographer working for Reuters. Soldiers seized his computer hard drive and cameras. He was led away, handcuffed and blindfolded. For the past year the U.S. military has held Jassam without charge. Ten months ago the Iraqi Central Criminal Court ordered his release for lack of evidence but the U.S. military refused to release him claiming he was a “high security threat.”

While the case of Laura Ling and Euna Lee made international headlines — as did the recent jailing of American journalist Roxana Saberi in Iran — far less attention has been paid to Jassam's case.

Lockerbie part of a bigger story

1986: Libya is accused of bombing a Berlin disco, killing two U.S. servicemen. A defector from Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, claims it framed Libya. Khadaffy demands Arabs increase oil prices.

1987: The U.S. tries to kill Khadaffy but fails. Eighty-eight Libyan civilians die.

1988: France wages a secret desert war with Libya over mineral-rich Chad. France's secret service, SDECE, is ordered to kill Khadaffy. A bomb is put on Khadaffy's private jet but, after Franco-Libyan relations abruptly improve, the bomb is removed before it explodes.

1988: The U.S. intervenes on Iraq's side in its eight-year war against Iran. A U.S. navy Aegis cruiser, Vincennes, violates Iranian waters and "mistakenly" shoots down an Iranian civilian Airbus airliner in Iran's air space. All 288 civilians aboard die. Then vice-president George H.W. Bush vows, "I'll never apologize ... I don't care what the facts are."

The Vincennes' trigger-happy captain is decorated with the Legion of Merit medal for this crime by Bush after he becomes president. Washington quietly pays Iran $131.8 million US in damages.

War in Sudan's Darfur 'is over'

Remember Iraq's WMDs? Now it's Iran's WMDs

* Iran is unlikely to be able to produce enough highly enriched uranium (HEU) for a nuclear weapon until at least 2013, according to a United States government intelligence estimate made public last Thursday.--Daniel Luban, "New nuke report debunks Iran hawks," atimes.com, August 11, 2009

* Key to bringing Israel on board is a promise by the US to adopt a much tougher line with Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons programme. The US, along with Britain and France, is planning to push the United Nations security council to expand sanctions to include Iran's oil and gas industry, a move that could cripple its economy.--Ewen MacAskill and Julian Borger, "Barack Obama on brink of deal for Middle East peace talks," Guardian, August 25, 2009

* Western officials are leaking stories to the Associated Press and Reuters aimed at pressuring the outgoing chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, to include a summary of intelligence alleging that Iran has been actively pursuing work on nuclear weapons in the IAEA report due out this week.

The aim of the pressure for publication of the document appears to be to discredit the November 2007 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on the Iranian nuclear programme, which concluded that Iran had ended work on nuclear weapons in 2003.--Gareth Porter, "Planted News Stories Show New Bid by West to Say Iran Seeks Nuclear Weapons," counterpunch.org, August 26, 2009

NEW BOOK Zionism: An 'Abnormal' Nationalism

"The ultimate goal . . . is, in time, to take over the Land of Israel and to restore to the Jews the political independence they have been deprived of for these two thousand years . . . The Jews will yet arise and, arms in hand (if need be), declare that they are the masters of their ancient homeland." — Vladimir Dubnow, 1882

The Israeli body snatchers

AFRICOM: African security or Western interests?

U.S. funding travel to Israel for anti-Islam indoctrination

The Israel program is run by Security Solutions International (SSI), a group that has attracted controversy due to its ties to Islamophobic propaganda groups — as well as its apparent view that indoctrinating first responders with alarmist information about Islam is an essential part of counterterrorism training.

Most striking of all, the SSI Israel trip is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Lockerbie bomber freed, believed innocent by many

Alleged Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, landed in Libya to a hero's welcom. Libyans view Megrahi as a scapegoat used by the West to reinforce its depiction of Libya as a pariah state.

Rethink Afghanistan

Afghanistan election chaos

Ebrahim (Eboo) Patel on CNN's 'Generation Islam'

Ebrahim (Eboo) Patel, an Indian-American Muslim, was featured on CNN's, Christiane Amanpour reports "Generation Islam". Eboo Patel is the founder of Interfaith Youth Core based in Chicago, and a member of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Founded in 2002, IFYC has had remarkable success in obtaining grants and contributions: $14,110 in 2003, $653,825 in 2004, $593,258 in 2005, $974,889 in 2006, and $5,026,122 in 2007.

According to IFYC's 2007 Annual Report: "Approximately 66% of the total contribution revenue was contributed by one individual organization during the year ending July 31st, 2007."

IFYC's mission is stated on their website. What is the mission of IFYC's contributors?

Postponing Iraqi public opinion

When Iraq's Parliament ratified its security pact with the US last year, allowing the presence of US troops until the end of 2011, it built in a provision for a public referendum vote to take place. . . . The vote, scheduled to take place by July 30, never happened.

Explosive allegations: Blackwater founder implicated in murder

Sworn statements filed in Federal Court also allege that Blackwater founder Erik Prince launched a "crusade" to eliminate Muslims and Islam.

Overview: Tenth International Kashmir Peace Conference, Washington, DC USA

War crime in Afghanistan?

Thousands of Afghan prisoners were killed while travelling in sealed containers on their way from Konduz to a prison at Sheberghan. The bodies of the dead and some who survived were then buried in a mass grave at nearby Dasht Leile. US special forces were closely involved and in charge at the time. Were they involved in a war crime? The Pentagon denies the events. The eyewitnesses tell what happened.

Independence Day: A repeat of Japanese style internment for Muslims?

Ask CNNs Soledad O'Brien to do "Muslim in America" — she can begin here.

Scientific evidence proves official account of 'Flight 77' is false

Given the topography, forces generated by the transition from downward flight to level flight would cause the aircraft to disintegrate before striking the Pentagon.

Israeli forces abduct humanitarian workers, former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney

Last night, Israeli Occupation Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The passengers and crew are being forcibly dragged toward Israel.

The seizure of humanitarian supplies and abduction of human rights workers is an act of piracy, a crime under international law. When the boat was attacked, it was not in Israeli waters and was on a human rights mission to Gaza. Israel's deliberate and premeditated attack on an unarmed boat in international waters is a clear violation of international law.

The U.S. government and corporate media have largely ignored or buried this story,

Torture accountability action day