MCCAIN'S SENATE RECORD NOT ALWAYS CONSERVATIVE

McCain's lifetime rating from the ACU, considered the authority on conservative rankings, is 82.3, though it dropped in recent years and was 65 in 2006, when five senators had a perfect score.

MILITARY TELLS BUSH OF TROOP STRAINS

In the war zone itself, two more American soldiers were killed Wednesday in separate attacks in Baghdad, raising the U.S. death toll to at least 4,003, according to an Associated Press count. Volleys of rockets also slammed into Baghdad's Green Zone for the third day this week, and the U.S. Embassy said three Americans were seriously wounded. At least eight Iraqis were killed elsewhere in the capital by rounds that apparently fell short.

CRUDE OIL SURGES AFTER BASRA PIPELINE BOMBING

The price of crude oil surged this morning after saboteurs bombed one of Iraq's main oil pipelines in what was feared to be a backlash attack by powerful Shia Muslim militias.

TIME TO LISTEN TO RON PAUL?

Time to listen to Texas Congressman Ron Paul, the lone voice of reason in Congress today who's got to feel like he's shouting into a field of cotton with his repeated warnings about the dangers of a collapsing dollar, while the administration goes AWOL on the problem.

OPERATION BITE: APRIL 6 SNEAK ATTACK BY US FORCES AGAINST IRAN PLANNED, RUSSIAN MILITARY SOURCES WARN

I'm reluctant to believe this at this particular time, but in order to play it safe i am posting it -- ZDN

WASHINGTON DC, -- The long awaited US military attack on Iran is now on track for the first week of April, specifically for 4 am on April 6, the Good Friday opening of Easter weekend, writes the well-known Russian journalist Andrei Uglanov in the Moscow weekly "Argumenty Nedeli."

More quotes... -- ZDN

The attack is slated to last for 12 hours, according to Uglanov, from 4 am until 4 pm local time. Friday is the sabbath in Iran. In the course of the attack, code named Operation Bite, about 20 targets are marked for bombing; the list includes uranium enrichment facilities, research centers, and laboratories.

The attacks will be mounted from a number of bases, including the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Diego Garcia is currently home to B-52 bombers equipped with standoff missiles.

"We have drawn the unmistakable conclusion that this operation will take place," said Ivashov. In his opinion, the US planning does not include a land operation: " Most probably there will be no ground attack, but rather massive air attacks with the goal of annihilating Iran's capacity for military resistance, the centers of administration, the key economic assets, and quite possibly the Iranian political leadership, or at least part of it," he continued.

Ivashov noted that it was not to be excluded that the Pentagon would use smaller tactical nuclear weapons against targets of the Iranian nuclear industry.

WHY RON PAUL SCARES THE GOP

There used to be an organization for people who believed in a truly limited government limited taxes, limited spending, limited interference in individual lives and limited intervention in foreign affairs. That organization was known as the Republican Party. But the only one of those beliefs that still motivates the G.O.P. establishment is limited taxes. In 2008, people who still hold all of them joined the Ron Paul Revolution.

AIRFORCE PILOT WHO FLEW CLINTON INTO BOSNIA TELLS HIS SIDE OF THE STORY

The pilot who commanded the C-17 aircraft on which Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., flew into Bosnia says there wasn't even a bumblebee flying around when the aircraft landed with the now-Democratic presidential hopeful.

Hitlery's version...

"I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base," the then-first lady said in a recent speech.

ISRAEL HELL-BENT ON SENDING US TO WAR

Israeli army chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi advises Washington to consider all deterrence measures to cripple Iran's nuclear program.

How about crippling Israels genocide problem instead by not funding it with U.S. dollars? -- ZDN

US MEDDLING IN PAKISTAN DRAWS FIRE

Protesters in Pakistan have expressed growing outrage over the visit by two senior US envoys, decrying the visit as American 'meddling'.

IRAQ FIERCE CLASHES CLAIM 105 LIVES

Fierce clashes between militants and security forces have claimed the lives of at least 105 Iraqis since they broke out three days ago.

IRAN EMBASSY IMPERILED BY IRAQ UNREST

A mortar attack has been launched in the nearby vicinity of the Iranian embassy in Baghdad as unrest escalates in the Iraqi capital.

STATE OF VERMONT: HOUSE RESOLUTION CALLING FOR THE ORDERLY WITHDRAWAL OF AMERICAN MILITARY FORCES FROM IRAQ

Whereas, at the time the Iraq conflict started in March 2003, the American public was told that the primary reason for this incursion was to eliminate weapons of mass destruction that the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, had allegedly stockpiled, and it has been since documented that no weapons of mass destruction were stockpiled in Iraq at the time the American military forces entered that country, and

Whereas, it is now apparent that the U.S. Department of Defense did not develop an exit strategy prior to the invasion, falsely assuming that the Iraqi people would welcome United States forces with open arms, and that withdrawal would not be a difficult problem, and

Whereas, the continuing and daily onslaught of sectarian violence and indications of ethnic cleansing in some areas of the nation have proven disruptive to nearly all aspects of Iraqi society

U.K.: 'TEACHERS TO BAN ARMED FORCES FROM CLASROOMS'

Teachers vowed yesterday to stop military recruitment campaigns in schools that promote pro-war "propaganda".

FEVER NAMED AFTER BLACKWATER

FALLUJAH, Mar 26 (IPS) - Iraqi doctors in al-Anbar province warn of a new disease they call "Blackwater" that threatens the lives of thousands. The disease is named after Blackwater Worldwide, the U.S. mercenary company operating in Iraq.

"This disease is a severe form of malarial infection caused by the parasite plasmodium falciparum, which is considered the worst type of malarial infection," Dr. Ali Hakki from Fallujah told IPS. "It is one of the complications of that infection, and not the ordinary picture of the disease. Because of its frequent and severe complications, such as Blackwater fever, and its resistance to treatment, P. falciparum can cause death within 24 hours."

WINTER SOLDIER 2008: A MARINE MOM'S EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF THE TESTIMONY

The stories they were telling about the rules of engagement they learned while training at boot camp, or on a military base "back home", were the same as what I had heard from my son. I broke down sobbing. The photographs they were showing on the five viewing screens of bloodied bodies torn apart by close gunfire, 50-calibre Machine guns, rocket launchers, and every other damn weapon our great military industrial complex has created, were all too familiar to me.

U.S. PASSPORTS MADE OVERSEAS

The U.S. government prioritizes cost savings over national security by outsourcing the manufacturing of electronic passports to overseas companies, including one in southeastern Asia that has been infiltrated by communist espionage.

FRONTLINE: TOO TIMID, TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

Notably missing was any allusion to the unconscionable role the Fourth Estate adopted as indiscriminate cheerleader for the home team; nor was there any mention that the invasion was a serious violation of international law. But those omissions, I suppose, should have come as no surprise.

Nor was it a surprise that any viewer hoping for insight into why Cheney and Bush were so eager to attack Iraq was left with very thin gruel.

I also watched it and was pretty disappointed overall. Also missing were the ties that defense contractors have to government and how they affect policy -- the military-industrial complex. I saw the piece as a watered down, incomplete report that sought to blame an illegal invasion and subsequent occupation on little more than glitches and distrust within the government and which completely ignores the core problems. They do not follow the money trail and not a word is spoken about how international bankers are financing both sides of the "war on terror". -- ZDN

WEDNESDAY: 2 GIS, 1 BRITISH SOLDIER, 76 IRAQIS KILLED; 367 IRAQIS WOUNDED

As clashes continue today in southern Iraq and Baghdad, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has given the Mahdi Army three days to surrender and turn over their weapons. Overall, 76 Iraqis were killed and 367 more were wounded throughout Iraq. One British and two American soldiers were also killed in separate incidents.

THE ARCHITECTS OF WAR

The chief obstacle standing in the way of war against Iran has been the opposition of senior U.S. military officers, who fear that another major military operation would further burden America's already overstretched combat forces. The most outspoken member of this common-sense faction was, until recently, Adm. William Fallon, commander of the U.S. Central Command, which has jurisdiction over all U.S. forces in the Gulf and Central Asia.

CRAZY U.S. THINKING: RAMPANT SEXUALLY SPREAD DISEASES AND NO TALK ABOUT SEX!

A fourth of American teen girls have an STD. Playing sex police only makes the problem worse.

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING

Famed NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen tells the depressing story of government censorship of years of impeccable research.

U.S. INITIALLY UNCONCERNED ABOUT ERRONEOUS SHIPMENT

U.S. officials suggested that Taiwan simply dispose of the incorrect items -- which turned out to be parts for U.S. nuclear missiles.

GLOBAL CREDIT COLLAPSE LOSSES $1.2 TRILLION

It's like I've been saying, along with thousands of other analysts: We haven't seen anything yet.

CANADIAN ARMY MAY ASSIST LOCAL MAINE AUTHORITIES DURING CIVIL EMERGENCIES

Last month, the United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and Canada Command signed an agreement that would allow the military of one country to assist civil authorities in the other's during times of emergency.

GRAIN PRICES SOAR GLOBALLY

Bangkok, Thailand - - Rice farmers here are staying awake in shifts at night to guard their fields from thieves. In Peru, shortages of wheat flour are prompting the military to make bread with potato flour, a native crop. In Egypt, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso food riots have broken out in the past week.

UN REJECTS WATER AS BASIC HUMAN RIGHT

a special resolution proposed by Germany and Spain at the UN human rights council was stripped of references that recognized access to water as a human right.

FEMA PREPS FOR 'NUCLEAR ATTACKS, INVASIONS AND SUICIDE BOMBINGS IN THE UNITED STATES'

A once-abandoned town in the middle of the New Mexico desert now is victim to "more bombings than Jerusalem ... more terrorist attacks that Baghdad," the Associated Press reports.

see this also

TIME FOR AN UPDATE

HEARING FROM IRAQIS ABOUT THE INVASION OF IRAQ: 5TH YEAR

ROSE: And obviously, what we want to accomplish on this fifth anniversary of the American invasion, or the coalition invasion of Iraq, is how they see it as Iraqis, five years later. Give me an assessment.

ALI FADHIL: That's a big question, assessment. Well, basically, probably, I`ll kind of sum it in a few words.

It's we have a country where the government is not functioning after five years. We have too many internal problems. And we have the violence increasing day after day.

We have a huge crisis of refugees inside and outside Iraq. We have a total failure of the of the civilian the civilian structure and what's happening inside. We have the sectarian divisions increasing. We didn't have that before. Now we have it. So, basically, my assessment is we have a whole nation called Iraq, now it's wiped out.

CHARLIE ROSE: And Iraq is worse off because the United States came?

ALI FADHIL: It's worse off because the United States came to Iraq, definitely, and because the United States did all these mistakes in Iraq.

MCCAIN'S IRAQ VICTORY SPEECH INTERRUPTED BY REPORTS OF VIOLENCE IN IRAQ

While giving one of his standard "we're winning in Iraqâ€¦I don't care what you say" speeches today, Senator McCain was interrupted by MSNBC with some breaking news of violence from that country. Turns out Muqtada al-Sadr, whose cease-fire agreement was a major component to the declining violence, has decided he doesn't want to play nice anymore, with forces loyal to him clashing with Iraqi forces in Southern Iraq, leading to at least 50 deaths and 120 wounded.

I can't think of a more appropriate (although depressing) way to call McCain out on his BS.

CO-SIGN A COMPLAINT TO THE FEC OVER JOHN MCCAIN'S CAMPAIGN VIOLATION

McCain has claimed he is backing off that decision, and justifies it with the fact that he never received any of that public money. However, the law clearly states that he is bound by those limits if he uses the promise of those funds in order to secure campaign loans something he absolutely did.

BILDERBERG: THE ULTIMATE CONSPIRACY THEORY

The Bilderberg group, an elite coterie of Western thinkers and power-brokers, has been accused of fixing the fate of the world behind closed doors. As the organisation marks its 50th anniversary, rumours are more rife than ever.

BBC gets it wrong. Again.

This article leaves the reader with the impression that the most elite power brokers in the world all come together just to chat, the results of which have nothing to do with affecting global policy. It also makes it appear that no information from within the Builderberg meetings is leaked. Both are false.

See these resources... -- ZDN

Bilderberg Meeting at Fiuggi, 4-6 October 1957
Welcome to the World of Bilderberg
Builderberg.org
PRISON PLANET.com News Archive: Bilderberg
Bilderberg at SourceWatch
propagandamatrix.com
BBC Bilderberg Report: European Union, Single Currency Planned Since 50's (mp3 audio)
Intelligence Sources Say Bilderberg Targeting Patriots

YOUR TAX DOLLARS SUPPORTING VIOLENCE AGAINST NONVIOLENT DEMONSTRATORS IN IRAQ

"They can accuse anyone who is participating or organizing [a protest] of 'threatening' others,'" he said. "When Iraqis choose nonviolent civil disobedience, the Iraqi government responds by calling it terrorism. The US and Iraqi government policies are removing nonviolence as an option and pushing Iraqis to choose armed resistance."

MCCAIN'S ACHILLES HEEL

IN IRAQ, WAS I A TORTURER?

Not uncommonly the thermometer inside read 135, even 145 degrees. The Conex box was the first stop for all prisoners brought to the base, most of them Iraqis swept up during mass raids. Ben kept them blindfolded, their hands bound behind their backs with plastic zip ties, without food or sleep, for up to 48 hours at a time. He made them stand in awkward positions, so that they could not rest their heads against the wall. Sometimes he blared loud music, such as Ozzy or AC/DC, blew air horns, banged on the container, or shouted. "Whatever it took to make sure they'd stay awake," he explains.

SADDAM HUSSEIN PAID FOR CONGRESS MEMBERS' TRIP

Of course, at that time, Hussein was screaming the truth to the world: "I have no WMDs," and an important corner of the world was refusing to listen. Instead, the White House was telling us that Saddam Hussein might blow us all up at any moment, that a "war" with him would take no more than a few weeks and cost no more than $50 billion, and that Iraqi oil would pay for that war. So, if a few congress members unwittingly got Iraq to pay for a trip aimed at saving millions of lives, that's more than Bush has accomplished wittingly or otherwise. He invaded, slaughtered, and is sticking our descendants with a bill for trillions of dollars (including another $102 billion from Congress next month unless we help Congress find a spine).

GEORGE GALLOWAY ON THOSE WHO VOTED TO ATTACK IRAQ

WHY THE SURGE IS FAILING THE TEST

For weeks, Bush. McConJob, and the GOP have been trotting out experts to tell us that the Iraqi army can stand on it's own.

MYSTERY SPACE MACHINES

PAKISTAN'S NEW LEADERS TELL US: WE ARE NO LONGER YOUR KILLING FIELD

In blunt remarks afterwards, Sharif said he told Negroponte that Pakistan was no longer a one-man show. "Since 9/11, all decisions were taken by one man," he said. "Now we have a sovereign parliament and everything will be debated in the parliament."

It was "unacceptable that while giving peace to the world we make our own country a killing field," Sharif said, echoing widespread public anger at US-funded military operations in the tribal belt.

"If America wants to see itself clean of terrorism, we also want our villages and towns not to be bombed," he said.

U.S. STEPS UP UNILATERAL STRIKES IN PAKISTAN

The United States has escalated its unilateral strikes against al-Qaeda members and fighters operating in Pakistan's tribal areas, partly because of anxieties that the country's new leaders will insist on a scaling back of military operations in that country, according to U.S. officials.

NEW EVIDENCE SUGGESTS SECOND SHOOTER KILLED RFK

Forty years after Democratic rising star Robert F. Kennedy was killed at a Los Angeles hotel during his presidential run, new evidence suggests the man serving a life sentence for his murder did not fire the shots that killed the charismatic senator.

WASHINGTON'S GOOD DOCTOR

No presidential election for a long time has excited so much interest as this year's, outside and inside America. In personal terms, a black man, a woman and a septuagenarian war hero make most elections in most countries seem thin stuff. And yet the truth is that, while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama slug it out in a popularity contest (or a competition in gaffes that may yet be disastrous for the Democrats), there's little to choose between them politically.

John McCain's startling success in routing his opponents means, however, that Republican debate has been ended, certainly on the great questions of war and peace. This includes the quixotic presidential bid of Dr Ron Paul, a Republican congressman from southern Texas and one of America's most fascinating political figures - who this month has again demonstrated his independence and courage in the House of Representatives, on a subject where all other Washington politicians speak with one voice.

LINKIN PARK HINTS MARTIAL LAW

DID THE GOVERNMENT ENTRAP THE 9/11 HIJACKERS?

* PBS' Frontline ran a special report focusing on the the alleged Al Qaeda plot in Lodi, California, which showed -- based upon interviews with top law enforcement officials involved in the case -- that the bust amounted to little more than entrapment and coerced and fabricated confessions from two men who, in fact, had nothing to do with the terrorist group

* The Washington Post ran a story about one alleged threat entitled "Was it a terror sting or entrapment?", showing that the U.S. government lent material support to the wanna-be terrorists, and put violent ideas in their heads

* Raw Story reports that the alleged terrorist group that is alleged to have planned to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower was non-violent before a government informant infiltrated the group and planted violent ideas in their heads

* There are numerous other instances of entrapment of peaceful or mentally incompetent people who are then arrested as "terrorists" (see this, this and this)

Entrapment is exactly what happened to Randy Weaver (Ruby Rigde). I met randy in 2007, read his book and did some research. Randy was duped into shortening off the barrel of a gun by a well paid government informant with a criminal background. The result: he was shot, his friend was shot, his wife was killed (while holding their daughter), his boy was killed and his dog was killed. He lost nearly everything at the hands of a bunch of criminals wearing badges while the mainstream media continues to label him a "white supremacist", among other things. -- ZDN

AMERICANS ARE GUILTY

Led by rulers blind to justice and deaf to history, arrogant and self-righteous, anxious for fame, indifferent to violence and willfully ignorant, a selfish and malleable American people, aroused by fear and steeped in obedience, sent their uniformed and armed sons and daughters into a strange and ancient land to conquer and root out its political leaders, defeat its forces, and remake that distant and foreign nation in its own image.

DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY HISTORY CONFUSES IRAQ AND IRAN

“Ain’t there a real danger that someone give like a message over the radio to one of them fighter pilots whatever saying bomb ‘Ira…’ and the geezer don’t hear it properly and bomb Iran rather than Iraq?”

“No danger,” Secretary Baker gamely replied.

DOMESTIC SATELLITE SURVEILLANCE, AND MORE FROM CRS

Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public

SICK WORKERS HOPE TO HANG KBR WITH ITS OWN TAX LOOPHOLE

When the American team arrived in Iraq in the summer of 2003 to repair the Qarmat Ali water injection plant, supervisors told them the orange, sand-like substance strewn around the looted facility was just a “mild irritant,” workers recall….But the chemical turned out to be sodium dichromate, a substance so dangerous that even limited exposure greatly increases the risk of cancer. Soon, many of the 22 Americans and 100-plus Iraqis began to complain of nosebleeds, ulcers, and shortness of breath

THE WAR IN IRAQ: THE SOLDIER'S PERSPECTIVE

I don t know anyone who went in early, but I know guys who talked to some spooks who said they had been right in downtown Baghdad about a month before the ground assault. I can t verify that with any hard facts, but it was pretty openly known. We completely ignored some of the same international conventions that we said Iraq violated in 1990 when they invaded Kuwait. I find it very disturbing that we went to war over that in 1991, but then broke a whole bunch of the UN charters when we invaded Iraq.

WHY THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH NEEDS TO VISIT THE CONFESSION BOOTH

It is time for the Roman Catholic Church to give up its nearly 2,000 year old secrets and explain to the world what it really represents. Despite its many great works, the Catholic Church is also Roman bureaucracy that was responsible for one of the greatest acts of cultural genocide in history. It needs to confess its sins and ask for forgiveness.

REPORT OF WTC COLLAPSE COVER-UP JUSTIFIES CALL FOR NEW INQUIRY

Richard Gage AIA, the founder of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, and hundreds of other industry experts' call for a new investigation into the collapse of the WTC twin towers and Building 7 is gaining strength following revelations of falsification and cover-up in relation to the FEMA-funded inquiry into the destruction of the buildings on 9/11.

DEADLINE APPROACHES IN MAINE'S REAL ID STANDOFF WITH FEDS

States have until Monday to ask for a waiver, giving them more time to comply with the Federal Real ID Act. Maine is refusing to comply.

CALLING ON ALL PERSONS SEXUALLY INVOLVED WITH OBAMA TO STEP FORWARD

Barack Obama and his campaign are not denying these charges because THEY CAN’T, without lying to do so. Barack Obama and David Axelrod are not responding because they will not be able to explain their lies and their actions if they do.

CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY'S 'OPERATING THETAN' DOCUMENTS LEAKED ONLINE

Hubbard then goes on to explain OT2, but before he does so, he tells the Churches how to keep Scientology working. One way is to not divulge information on their "technology." Doing so, says Hubbard, would result in "the complete destruction of all our work."

DECEMBER 26, 1979: MEMO TO PRESIDENT CARTER GIVES PAKISTAN GREEN LIGHT TO PURSUE NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM

He does not give any warning that such aid will strengthen Islamic fundamentalism. He also concludes, “[W]e must both reassure Pakistan and encourage it to help the rebels. This will require a review of our policy toward Pakistan, more guarantees to it, more arms aid, and alas, a decision that our security problem toward Pakistan cannot be dictated by our nonproliferation policy.”

JULY 9, 2003: CIA EXPERT ON IRAQ DISCREDITS THEORY OF CONNECTION BETWEEN IRAQ AND AL-QAEDA

Judith Yaphe testifies before the 9/11 Commission. Yaphe, a CIA veteran who now teaches at the Pentagon’s National Defense University, is considered one of the agency’s most experienced and knowledgeable Iraq analysts. Yaphe states that while Saddam Hussein was indeed a sponsor of terrorism, it is improbable, based on what is currently known, that Hussein and Iraq had any connections to the 9/11 attacks, nor that a connection between Iraq and al-Qaeda is believable.

2/14/2008: NEWLY RELEASED FBI TIMELINE REVEALS NEW INFORMATION ABOUT 9/11 HIJACKERS THAT WAS IGNORED BY 9/11 COMMISSION

A contributor to the History Commons has obtained a 298-page document entitled Hijackers Timeline (Redacted) from the FBI, subsequent to a Freedom of Information Act request. The document was a major source of information for the 9/11 Commission’s final report. Though the commission cited the timeline 52 times in its report, it failed to include some of the document’s most important material.

1986: AL-QAEDA FIGURES ESTABLISH FIRST US BASE IN ARIZONA

Counterterrorism expert Rita Katz will later call the Islamic Center, “basically, the first cell of al-Qaeda in the United States; that is where it all started.”