URGENT: IRAQ BLAST KILLS 9 INJURES 37

URGENT / Talafar blast casualties up to 37

November 15, 2008 - 01:29:12

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=103113

NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: Saturday’s earlier car bomb attack casualties rose to nine deaths and 28 others wounded, according to an Iraqi police source.

Earlier, a security source said six civilians were killed and 17 others wounded when a car bomb ripped through Talafar district, west of Mosul city.

“A car bomb went off today in the area of al-Maarid in Talafar district, (60 km) west of Mosul, leaving six killed and 17 others injured, all of them civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

“The casualties will most likely go up,” the source added, not giving more details.

HORRIFYING VIDEO: ACID ATTACKS ON AFGHAN SCHOOLGIRLS: US SOLDIER KILLED IN CONVOY ATTACK

The war in Afghanistan is escalating and this newest video shows what happened when Afghan schoolgirls were sprayed with acid. Also, a US soldier was killed when the convoy he was riding in was struck by an IED.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/XUXZN9cdj-Q&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO PLAY

CATASTROPHIC IED FILMED BY U.S. MARINE CAM

This short video shows what happens when an IED goes off completely wiping out a US. military vehicle.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/TvfLqWV9vp4&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

BAGHDAD COLLAPSING INTO VIOLENCE----AGAIN

We continue to point out how the mainstream media in the U.S. refuses to tell Americans how Iraq and especially Baghdad are collapsing into violence again.

The following is a list of attacks in ONE day in Baghdad as the security situation deteriorates.

Source: http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/

Baghdad:#1: A bomb exploded in a parked car in a bustling section of downtown Baghdad early Wednesday, killing four people and wounding 15 others, police said, the third consecutive day of morning rush hour blasts in the Iraqi capital.At least four people, including two police officers, have been killed in a car bomb attack in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, police have said. The bomb went off on Wednesday at about 9.30am (0630 GMT) in Saadun street, one of the main streets running through the capital.

#2: A half-hour later, a roadside bomb blew up in a Shiite-dominated neighborhood in northern Baghdad, officials said. Seven people, including three policemen, were injured.

#3: The Iraqi army killed five militants and captured nine others hiding in an underground shelter on Wednesday during a regular operation against al Qaeda in the Himreen mountains area of Diyala province, the Defence Ministry said.

#4: A car bomb killed two people and wounded 10 others in the Shaab district of northern Baghdad, police said.

#5: 12 people were killed and 60 others were wounded in a dual bombing with a booby-trapped car and roadside bomb at al-Neairiya neighborhood, eastern Baghdad, a source from the Iraqi police said on Wednesday. “The incident took place at a bus station,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq. “The car bomb went off first, and then was followed by the roadside bomb,” he added.

#6: Around 4 pm a roadside bomb detonated inside a civilian car in Zayuna neighborhood (east Baghdad). Two people were injured. When police arrived found out that the two were planning to plant the bomb somewhere in Baghdad neighborhoods. The police arrested them.

#7: Police found two dead bodies in Baghdad today. One was found in Saidiyah in Karkh bank and one was found in Obeidi in Rusafa bank.

The Washington Post is reporting the deaths of two U.S. soldiers in a friendly-fire Small arms fire attack in Mosul, Iraq on Wednesday, November 12th. Six additional soldiers were wounded in the attack. One Iraqi soldier was also killed.

Insurgents vow to resist Iraq security pact:

IRAQ PEACE IS FALLING APART. 2 US SOLDIERS KILLED, 6 WOUNDED. BLASTS ALL ACROSS IRAQ

The peace and calm the Bush administration and FOX NEWS have been bragging about in Iraq is on the brink of total collapse as 2 U.S. soldiers are killed and six more wounded by an Iraq Soldier, and blasts have been recorded all across Iraq.

Police: Iraq soldier kills 2 U.S. troops
6 GIs hurt before assailant is killed; elsewhere, more blasts hit Baghdad

msnbc.com news services
updated 11:29 a.m. CT, Wed., Nov. 12, 2008
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27674792/

BAGHDAD - An Iraqi soldier shot dead at least two U.S. troops Wednesday at a joint security station where Iraqi and American forces operate side-by-side, Iraqi police and a mortuary official said.

The shooting, which took place in northern Iraq's volatile Nineveh province, came after a series of bombings shook the capital Baghdad for the third straight day, killing 16 people and wounding dozens, police said. The bombings were part of an upswing of violence in the capital this month that has set back recent security gains.

In the face of the heightened violence in Baghdad, the Iraqi military said it was taking measures to curb "the increasing number of terrorist attacks" in the city. Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said the measures would include stepped up intelligence gathering and pre-emptive strikes on suspected extremists.

Soldiers killedIn the Nineveh incident, the Iraqi soldier opened fire on the Americans after a quarrel broke out between them, Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari said. He said the Americans then killed the Iraqi soldier, who was identified as Barzan al-Hadidi. The U.S. military said it could not confirm details about the incident until an investigation is completed.

Blasts upset calm In Baghdad, a car bomb and a roadside bomb exploding in quick succession killed 12 people and wounded 60 in the eastern New Baghdad district, police said.

The car bomb targeted a police patrol, then a roadside bomb killed and wounded those who had gathered at the blast site, police said.

The blasts were the latest in a series of attacks in Baghdad. A car bomb killed four people and wounded 13 in the Shaab district of northern Baghdad earlier in the day, police said. Another bomb in the same area wounded seven people.

The latest attacks follow two days of morning rush hour blasts in Baghdad that killed more than 30 people and wounded some 70.

Violence had fallen sharply in the capital before this month. But in the first nine days of November, there were at least 19 bombings in Baghdad, compared with 28 for all of October and 22 in September, according to an Associated Press tally.

Many of the attacks have targeted Iraqi police and army patrols, as well as government officials heading to work and commuters.

Trying to hammer out security dealThe rise in violence comes as U.S. and Iraqi officials try to hammer out a final agreement on a security deal that would keep U.S. troops in Iraq until the end of 2011. The security pact has drawn sharp criticism, especially from within the majority Shiite community.

The current U.N. mandate authorizing the U.S. presence in Iraq expires at the end of December. Without a security agreement or a new U.N. mandate, the U.S. military would have to cease operations in Iraq.

In an attempt to derail the pact, 10 Iraqi insurgent groups have agreed to ramp up attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremists.

But it is not clear who is responsible for the recent attacks in Baghdad.
In the volatile northern city of Mosul, unidentified gunmen killed two sisters from a Christian family as they were waiting in front of their house for a ride to work, police said. The women's mother was injured in the attack.

The attack in Mosul — an ethnically mixed city of Kurds, Christians and Arabs — comes after about 13,000 Christians fled the city last month in the face of threats and attacks from extremists. Some families have started returning to the city, although tensions linger.
Mosul has seen a spike in violence in recent months as the ethnic groups vie for power, and U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces continue to wage an intense battle with insurgents in the city.

BAGHDAD BOMBINGS INCREASE. 2 KILLED 15 WOUNDED. CNN REPORTS

Is this what Vice President-elect Joe Biden might have been referring to when he said President-elect Barack Obama would be "tested" early after his election?

The situation in Baghdad is growing worse.

Baghdad bombings kill two, wound 15

Story Highlights
Car bomb near police car kills two people, injures eight in central Baghdad
Roadside bomb in northeast Baghdad leaves seven wounded
Wednesday blasts come two days after deadly attacks strike Iraqi capital

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/11/12/iraq.violence/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A car bomb exploded near an Iraqi police patrol in central Baghdad on Wednesday morning, killing two people and wounding eight others, an Interior Ministry official said.

The attack took place in Naser Square around 9:40 a.m. (1:40 a.m. ET)

In northeastern Baghdad, meanwhile, a roadside bomb exploded near a car in a Shiite section of the capital, wounding seven civilians.

Wednesday's violence came two days after deadly bombings claimed the lives of 39 people in three Iraqi cities, including what Iraqis called the deadliest attack in the capital in nearly four months.

At least 32 people were killed in a triple bombing in Baghdad on Monday, and another five were slain in a suicide attack in Baquba that was believed to have been launched by a teenage girl.
Two police officers died Monday in a roadside bombing in Samarra.

COMPLETE LIST OF NAMES OF US TROOPS KILLED IN IRAQ IN OCTOBER

The following is a list of names of US troops killed in IRAQ in October. This list also contains cause of death and where they took place in IRAQ. The list has been confirmed by the DOD (Department of Defense). Source: http://icasualties.org/oif/prdDetails.aspx?hndRef=4-2008


29-Oct-2008
2
US: 2 UK: 0 Other: 0

US
Private 1st Class Bradley S. Coleman
Qayyarah Airfield - Ninawa
Non-hostile

US
Sergeant Scott J. Metcalf
Mosul (died in Balad) - Ninawa
Non-hostile
24-Oct-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0



US
Private 1st Class Cody J. Eggleston
National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda
Hostile - hostile fire - indirect fire
23-Oct-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0



US
Staff Sergeant Brian P. Hause
Balad Air Base - Salah Ad Din
Non-hostile - medical
20-Oct-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0



US
Lance Corporal Stacy A. Dryden
Al Asad - Anbar
Non-hostile
16-Oct-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0



US
Private 1st Class Heath K. Pickard
Ba'qubah - Diyala
Hostile - hostile fire - indirect fire
15-Oct-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0



US
Specialist Justin A. Saint
Baghdad
Non-hostile
14-Oct-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0



US
Private 1st Class Christopher A. McCraw
Baghdad (Nasar Wa Salam)
Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire
12-Oct-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0



US
Specialist Geoffrey G. Johnson
Baghdad
Non-hostile
11-Oct-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0



US
Corporal Reuben M. Fernandez III
Majar Al Kabir (Amara) - Maysan
Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
07-Oct-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0



US
Sergeant Michael K. Clark
Mosul - Ninewa
Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire
05-Oct-2008
2
US: 2 UK: 0 Other: 0



US
Colonel Michael R. Stahlman
Anbar Province
Non-hostile

US
Sergeant William P. Rudd
Mosul - Ninewa
Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire
03-Oct-2008
1
US: 1 UK: 0 Other: 0



US
Private 1st Class Tavarus D. Setzler
Majar al-Kabir - Maysan

RAPED IN THE MILITARY. YOU'LL HAVE TO PAY FOR YOUR OWN FORENSIC EXAM KIT

Sarah Palin's decision not to pay for rape kits when she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, was an issue in the campaign for the White House. But allow me to introduce the large pink elephant that has been sitting quietly in the corner of the room: TRICARE, the Pentagon's Military Health System that covers active duty members, doesn't pay for off-base rape kits, either.

By Penny Coleman, AlterNetPosted on November 11, 2008, Printed on November 11, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/106307/

Spec. Patricia McCann, who served in Iraq with the Illinois Army National Guard from 2003 to 2004, raised the issue at the Winter Soldier Investigation in March. McCann read a memo issued to all MEDCOM commanders clarifying that "SAD kits" -- which are forensic rape kits -- "are not included in TRICARE coverage." *

That would put Alaska and the military in a very special category.

Women in the military are twice as likely to be raped as their civilian counterparts. In fact, "women serving in the U.S. military today are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq," Congresswoman Jane Harman, D-Calif., told the House Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs in May.

Harman said, "The scope of the problem was brought into acute focus for me during a visit to the West Los Angeles VA Health Center where I met female veterans and their doctors. My jaw dropped when the doctors told me that 41 percent of the female veterans seen there say they were victims of sexual assault while serving in the military, and 29 percent said they were raped during their military service."

In July, a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing subpoenaed Kaye Whitley, director of the Pentagon's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO), to explain what the department is doing to stop the escalating sexual violence in the military. Her boss, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, ordered her not to appear.

Whitley was finally made available to the committee on Sept. 10, but only after having been threatened with a contempt citation.

Whitley first informed the committee that the DoD was conducting a "crusade against sexual assault."

She then sought to reassure the committee with an accounting of all the heroic measures the Pentagon is planning to implement in the very near future.

But finally, she had to admit that in 2007 there were 2,688 sexual assaults in the military, including 1,259 reports of rape. Just 8 percent (181) of those cases were referred to courts martial, compared to a civilian prosecution rate of 40 percent. And almost half of those cases were dismissed without investigation. (And I say Whitley "had to admit" the number of cases because in 2004, Congress woke up to the fact that the DoD was blowing off the issue and required the military to make yearly reports on all matters relating to sexual assault in the Armed Forces. But those reports did not indicate either prioritizing or progress -- hence the hearings.)

Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., asked the committee if anyone thought that "ordering its employees to ignore subpoenas to discuss the topic" sounded as if DoD was taking any of this seriously. "Let me be very clear. Preventing and responding to sexual assault perpetrated against our soldiers is simply much too important to be playing a game of cat and mouse." He later told Stars and Stripes that there are only seven people on Whitley's staff to devise and implement the military's sexual assault program for the entire military. That number speaks for itself.

This is not news. As far back as 1995, Reuters reported that "Ninety percent of women under 50 who have served in the U.S. military and who responded to a survey report being victims of sexual harassment, and nearly one-third of the respondents of all ages say they have been raped."

Furthermore, the Pentagon acknowledges that 80 percent of military rapes are not reported in the first place, suggesting that the actual number, if it were known, would be astronomical.
Cat-and-mouse games may sound like kid stuff, but refusing to pay for a rape kit is anything but. It implies that the victim is to blame. It does not encourage victims to come forward. And it makes it far more likely that soldiers will interpret the permissive climate as institutionally sanctioned misogyny.

In her Winter Soldier testimony, McCann noted, "The assistant secretary of defense is soliciting legislative changes to TRICARE benefits which will include these kits within covered TRICARE supplies."

I have been in touch with the office of the assistant secretary, S. Ward Casscells, M.D. It seems that he has indeed solicited such legislation, and it is due to go into effect in December as an amendment to the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2007. The amendment contains some "background" that is worth sharing.

Currently, forensic examinations are not covered for beneficiaries in civilian health care facilities through TRICARE medical plans because TRICARE "may cost share only medically or psychologically necessary services or supplies. Forensic examinations are not conducted for medical treatment purposes, but for the preservation of evidence in any future criminal investigation and/or prosecution."

The decision to treat rape kits as purely evidentiary, ignoring the very real medical and psychological benefits to the victim, is reprehensibly primitive thinking. Making sure that those legislative changes happen as planned would be a long overdue step out of the primal ooze that has slimed our military in the eyes of our citizens and the world.

Speaking to Palin's decision not to pay for rape kits, the former governor of Alaska, Tony Knowles, was quoted in Palin's hometown paper, the Frontiersman, as saying, "We would never bill the victim of a burglary for fingerprinting and photographing the crime scene, or for the cost of gathering other evidence. Nor should we bill rape victims just because the crime scene happens to be their bodies."

When Barack Obama decides who he will appoint to head the Department of Veterans Affairs in his administration, he should consider appointing someone who also understands how important it is that women's bodies, souls, dignity and health be taken seriously. Tammy Duckworth, who is reported to be at the top of his list, certainly has had personal experience with a health care delivery system she has called "a little bit arcane."

Duckworth is now director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, but in 2004, she was a Blackhawk helicopter pilot in Iraq and lost both of her legs in a crash. She describes the care she received at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as "excellent," but adds, "the comfort package I received contained men's Jockey shorts, and the local VA hospital carried Viagra but not my birth control."

There are currently about 1.7 million female veterans in the United States, and the Department of Defense estimates that there are about 200,000 women, 15 percent of the military, on active duty. Thirty-nine percent of those women return from Iraq or Afghanistan with mental health issues, and, for more than a third who seek VA health care, the precipitating trauma was a sexual assault.

Every VA center now screens both men and women for sexual trauma. That is an improvement. Still, Duckworth says, "I don't think the VA mental health care system is ready for (female veterans)." It would be encouraging to see a VA director who has some understanding of how important that is to fix.

*The overwhelming indictment of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and the heartbreaking devastation they have wrought on the souls of young American soldiers -- are now the subject of an invaluable book edited by Aaron Glantz and issued by Haymarket Books.
This story has been edited since publication.

Penny Coleman is the widow of a Vietnam veteran who took his own life after coming home. Her latest book, Flashback: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide and the Lessons of War, was released on Memorial Day 2006. Her Web site is Flashback.

VICTIMS OF THE IRAQ WAR. WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC MUSIC VIDEO

Maybe because it is Veteran's Day, or maybe it is because I served my country in the United States Army, but nothing sickens me more than the way the mainstream press has turned their back on thousands of men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This video is brutal. It shows young children with their bodies broken and GIs being treated in a field combat hospitals. This video is NOT for those with a weak stomach.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/oA6-L1yrIfc&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

CNN COMBAT HOSPITAL MUSIC VIDEO (COLD PLAY)

The mainstream media has all but forgotten our brave young warriors on Veteran's Day and any day, but this former GI hasn't and never will.

This CNN combat hospital music video captures the true feelings of war and hopefully will be shared by many.

Bill Corcoran, Editor, CORKSPHERE, former Cpl. (E-4) U.S. Army Combat Engineers

WATCH VIDEO HERE

http://www.youtube.com/v/PUYiO3sFVSQ&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

IRAQ SNIPER FIRES ON US TROOPS. VERY GRAPHIC

A US Marine is shot by an Iraqi sniper as this video depicts exactly what happened after the Marine is shot.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/lAswSJn8ou4&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

AERIAL FOOTAGE OF AFGHANISTAN WAR. GREAT STUFF!!!

This is brand new footage from the war in Afghanistan. You won't want to miss it. Great stuff!!

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/UXSkutuptTs&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

GIRL, 13, BLOWS HERSELF UP AND KILLS 33 IN BAGHDAD

The fragile peace in Iraq took another major step backwards as a 13-year old girl blew herself up in Baghdad killing 33.

Girl, 13, blows herself up as bombings kill 33 in Baghdad

By Mail Foreign ServiceLast updated at 1:26 AM on 11th November 2008

A girl suicide bomber aged only 13 has killed five U.S.-backed security patrolmen and wounded 11 other people when she struck in Iraq.

The attack came at a checkpoint in Baquba, 35 miles north-east of Baghdad in the volatile Diyala province.

It came on a day when more than 30 died in Iraq. In Baghdad, another suicide bomber struck in a crowd that had gathered to help after two car bombs damaged a bus full of schoolgirls.

25 KILLED IN TWIN SUICIDE BOMBINGS IN BAGHDAD

President-elect Barack Obama will face an increasingly unstable Iraq as witnessed by the twin suicide bombings on Monday, November 10 which killed 25 people and injured another 50 in Baghdad.

25 killed in Baghdad bombings

Monday, 10 November 2008 08:45

At least 25 people have been killed and almost 50 wounded in a double bombing in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

The attacks happened in a market in a Sunni district.

The attackers set off a car bomb in Adhamiyah, then a suicide bomber ran into the resulting melee.

An interior ministry official said 48 were wounded.

Witnesses said the attack took place on a street lined with restaurants as a bus carrying children to a school drove past.

Adhamiyah, which is tucked into the mostly Shia eastern half of the city, saw fierce clashes at the height of Iraq's sectarian violence but there has been a sharp reduction in attacks there over the last year.

Story from RTÉ News:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1110/iraq.html

GRUESOME ENEMY VIDEO OF IED ATTACK ON US HUMVEE

This video was made by enemy combatants after an IED attack on US Humvee in Iraq.

WARNING: The video is VERY graphic.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/soPllkFHB-U&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

U.S. SOLDIER KILLED, 2 WOUNDED IN BAGHDAD

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A U.S. soldier was killed and two others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near their vehicle in northern Baghdad, the U.S. army in Iraq said.

“The three soldiers were wounded when their vehicle came under an IED bombing attack on Saturday. They were rushed to a medical unit but one of them died of his wounds,” according to a U.S. army statement received by Aswat al-Iraq.

The death brings the number of U.S. soldiers who have been reported killed in Iraq this month to three, including two in non-combat incidents, and to 4,193 the number killed since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

November 9, 2008 - 07:05:31
http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=102748

NINE CIVILIANS KILLED IN ATTACKS IN IRAQ

Nine civillians killed in attacks in Iraq
Indo-Asian News Service
Sunday, November 09, 2008 (Baghdad )

http://arabia.ndtv.com/Story.aspx?pageheader=news&sub_category=&ID=NEWEN20080071861

Nine civilians were killed and many injured on Saturday in violent attacks in Iraq. Eight people were killed and 22 injured in twin blasts in al-Ramadi city.The attacks took place as two suicide bombers blew themselves up near a police station in the capital of al-Anbar province, about 110 km west of Baghdad, a news agency reported.Earlier, one person was killed and seven were injured in a bomb blast in northern Baghdad, the police said.In a separate incident, a prominent Al-Qaida leader was killed north of the Iraqi capital in an operation by Iraqi forces, Sahwa fighters and coalition forces, a US army statement said on Saturday.The statement said that Abu Ghazwan was killed on Thursday in the Tarmiyah area and described him as "a key link in the network operations for the Al-Qaida in Iraq".

SARAH PALIN BLAMED BY THE US SECRET SERVICE OVER DEATH THREATS AGAINST BARACK OBAMA

Sarah Palin's attacks on Barack Obama's patriotism provoked a spike in death threats against the future president, Secret Service agents revealed during the final weeks of the campaign.

By Tim Shipman in Washington Last Updated: 4:04PM GMT 08 Nov 2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/sarahpalin/3405336/Sarah-Palin-blamed-by-the-US-Secret-Service-for-death-threats-against-Barack-Obama.html

Palin's tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists. The Republican vice presidential candidate attracted criticism for accusing Mr Obama of "palling around with terrorists", citing his association with the sixties radical William Ayers.

The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric.
But it has now emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists to go even further.

The Secret Service warned the Obama family in mid October that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Mrs Palin's attacks.

Michelle Obama, the future First Lady, was so upset that she turned to her friend and campaign adviser Valerie Jarrett and said: "Why would they try to make people hate us?"

The revelations, contained in a Newsweek history of the campaign, are likely to further damage Mrs Palin's credentials as a future presidential candidate. She is already a frontrunner, with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, to take on Mr Obama in four years time.

Details of the spike in threats to Mr Obama come as a report last week by security and intelligence analysts Stratfor, warned that he is a high risk target for racist gunmen. It concluded: "Two plots to assassinate Obama were broken up during the campaign season, and several more remain under investigation. We would expect federal authorities to uncover many more plots to attack the president that have been hatched by white supremacist ideologues."

Irate John McCain aides, who blame Mrs Palin for losing the election, claim Mrs Palin took it upon herself to question Mr Obama's patriotism, before the line of attack had been cleared by Mr McCain.

That claim is part of a campaign of targeted leaks designed to torpedo her ambitions, with claims that she did not know that Africawas a continent rather than a country.

The advisers have branded her a "diva" and a "whack job" and claimed that she did not know which other countries are in the North American Free Trade Area, (Canada and Mexico). They say she spent more than $150,000 on designer clothes, including $40,000 on her husband Todd and that she refused to prepare for the disastrous series of interviews with CBS's Katie Couric.

In a bid to salvage her reputation Mrs Palin came out firing in an interview with CNN, dismissing the anonymous leakers in unpresidential language as "jerks" who had taken "questions or comments I made in debate prep out of context."

She said: "I consider it cowardly. It's not true. That's cruel, it's mean-spirited, it's immature, it's unprofessional and those guys are jerks if they came away taking things out of context and then tried to spread something on national news that's not fair and not right."

She was not asked about her incendiary rhetoric against Mr Obama. But she did deny the spending spree claims, saying the clothes in question had been returned to the Republican National Committee. "Those are the RNC's clothes, they're not my clothes. I asked for anything more than maybe a diet Dr Pepper once in a while. These are false allegations."

Speaking as she returned to her native Alaska, Mrs Palin claimed to be baffled by what she claims was sexism on the national stage. "Here in Alaska that double standard isn't applied because these guys know that Alaskan women are pretty tough, on a par with the men in terms of being outdoors, working hard," she said.

"They're commercial fishermen, they're pilots, they're working up on the North slopein the oil fields. You see equality in Alaska. I think that was a bit of as surprise on the national level."

MORE FROM FOX NEWS ON SARAH PALIN--WATCH VIDEO

CARL CAMERON, chief political reporter for FOX NEWS, reveals even more about how little knowledge SARAH PALIN had on world events in this video from Talking Points Memo.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/2NEtRNrQwwg&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

FOX NEW, YES, FOX NEWS, CARL CAMERON TRASHES SARAH PALIN. WATCH VIDEO

FOX NEWS' chief political correspondent, CARL CAMERON, is seen on this video talking to SHEP SMITH of FOX NEWS about how SARAH PALIN didn't know Africa was a continent and many other gaps in her knowledge which only serve to underscore how little PALIN knew about the world outside of Alaska.

What is not said, but what is apparent is JOHN McCAIN and his staff did a horrible job of vetting SARAH PALIN before announcing she would be McCAIN's running mate.

Nobody can claim this is the "liberal" media talking because this comes from FOX NEWS.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/MWZHTJsR4Bc&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEO AS DAVID LETTERMAN GETS IN LAST JAB AT JOHN McCAIN

"Anyone mind if he (President-elect Obama) starts a little early?" LOL sez CRainqueen.

"Attention passengers, the Straight Talk Express is no longer in service," David Letterman opened his "Late Show" monologue Wednesday night.The late night host, who famously sparred with John McCain after the Republican candidate canceled on a scheduled appearance, only to be caught on tape filming an interview with Katie Couric at the time he was due with Letterman, then openly mocked McCain over his loss.

"I would like to say one thing to John McCain," Letterman said. "Listen, Senator: you don't show up for me, America doesn't show up for you."

Letterman also joked about the Obama transition."I think I speak for most Americans when I say, anybody mind if he starts a little early? Would that be a problem?"

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/ju99vfIwRzI&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

RALPH NADER CALLS OBAMA AN "UNCLE TOM" ON FOX NEWS

Ralph Nader once had some credibility, but he has lost it all. In this video you see Nader telling Shep Smith of Fox News that President-elect Obama is an "Uncle Tom."

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/XkoB4r9FSzY&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO

VIOLENT VIDEO: GRENADES KILL U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ--CBS' LARA LOGAN REPORTS

The insurgents have come up with a new grenade that is very, very deadly in the war in Iraq.

In this video, CBS' Lara Logan shows how the new grenade works with dramatic footage of recent attacks on U.S. troops.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/GFh2yqe8NQg&hl=en&fs=1

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NEW VIDEO: DAILY SHOW: JON STEWART INTERVIEWS FOX NEWS' CHRIS WALLACE

Jon Stewart host of the "Daily Show" on Comedy Central does a fantastic job of pointing out how Fox News tried desperately to smear Barack Obama when Stewart interviewed Chris Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday.

Watch the video here:
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http://www.mediachannel.org/wordpress/2008/11/06/daily-show-jon-stewart-interviews-chris-wallace/

PALIN MEETS McCAIN STAFFERS WEARING ONLY A TOWEL

This Newsweek report sheds light on many things that never made the news including how Sarah Palin met McCain staffers at her hotel room on the night of the Republican Convention wearing only a towel.

Bill Corcoran, Editor: corksphere: http://corksphere.blogspot.com

Hackers and Spending Sprees
Highlights from NEWSWEEK's special election project.

Newsweek Web Exclusive
Nov 5, 2008 Updated: 5:01 a.m. ET Nov 5, 2008

URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581

The computer systems of both the Obama and McCain campaigns were victims of a sophisticated cyberattack by an unknown "foreign entity," prompting a federal investigation, NEWSWEEK reports today.

At the Obama headquarters in midsummer, technology experts detected what they initially thought was a computer virus—a case of "phishing," a form of hacking often employed to steal passwords or credit-card numbers. But by the next day, both the FBI and the Secret Service came to the campaign with an ominous warning: "You have a problem way bigger than what you understand," an agent told Obama's team. "You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system." The following day, Obama campaign chief David Plouffe heard from White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, to the same effect: "You have a real problem ... and you have to deal with it." The Feds told Obama's aides in late August that the McCain campaign's computer system had been similarly compromised. A top McCain official confirmed to NEWSWEEK that the campaign's computer system had been hacked and that the FBI had become involved.

Officials at the FBI and the White House told the Obama campaign that they believed a foreign entity or organization sought to gather information on the evolution of both camps' policy positions—information that might be useful in negotiations with a future administration. The Feds assured the Obama team that it had not been hacked by its political opponents. (Obama technical experts later speculated that the hackers were Russian or Chinese.) A security firm retained by the Obama campaign took steps to secure its computer system and end the intrusion. White House and FBI officials had no comment earlier this week.

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.
A Palin aide said: "Governor Palin was not directing staffers to put anything on their personal credit cards, and anything that staffers put on their credit cards has been reimbursed, like an expense. Nasty and false accusations following a defeat say more about the person who made them than they do about Governor Palin."
McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended. Palin asked to speak along with McCain at his Arizona concession speech Tuesday night, but campaign strategist Steve Schmidt vetoed the request.
The disclosures are among many revealed in "How He Did It, 2008," the latest installment in NEWSWEEK's Special Election Project, which was first published in 1984. As in the previous editions, "How He Did It, 2008" is an inside, behind-the-scenes account of the presidential election produced by a special team of reporters working for more than a year on an embargoed basis and detached from the weekly magazine and Newsweek.com. Everything the project team learns is kept confidential until the day after the polls close.

Among the other revelations from the special project:
The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time that many crowds at Palin rallies became more frenzied. Michelle Obama was shaken by the vituperative crowds and the hot rhetoric from the GOP candidates. "Why would they try to make people hate us?" Michelle asked a top campaign aide.

On the Sunday night before the last debate, McCain's core group of advisers—Steve Schmidt, Rick Davis, adman Fred Davis, strategist Greg Strimple, pollster Bill McInturff and strategy director Sarah Simmons—met to decide whether to tell McCain that the race was effectively over, that he no longer had a chance to win. The consensus in the room was no, not yet, not while he still had "a pulse."

The Obama campaign's New Media experts created a computer program that would allow a "flusher"—the term for a volunteer who rounds up nonvoters on Election Day—to know exactly who had, and had not, voted in real time. They dubbed it Project Houdini, because of the way names disappear off the list instantly once people are identified as they wait in line at their local polling station.

Palin launched her attack on Obama's association with William Ayers, the former Weather Underground bomber, before the campaign had finalized a plan to raise the issue. McCain's advisers were working on a strategy that they hoped to unveil the following week, but McCain had not signed off on it, and top adviser Mark Salter was resisting.

McCain also was reluctant to use Obama's incendiary pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, as a campaign issue. The Republican had set firm boundaries: no Jeremiah Wright; no attacking Michelle Obama; no attacking Obama for not serving in the military. McCain balked at an ad using images of children that suggested that Obama might not protect them from terrorism. Schmidt vetoed ads suggesting thatObama was soft on crime (no Willie Hortons). And before word even got to McCain, Schmidt and Salter scuttled a "celebrity" ad of Obama dancing with talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres (the sight of a black man dancing with a lesbian was deemed too provocative).

Obama was never inclined to choose Sen. Hillary Clinton as his running mate, not so much because she had been his sometime bitter rival on the campaign trail, but because of her husband. Still, as Hillary's name came up in veep discussions, and Obama's advisers gave all the reasons why she should be kept off the ticket, Obama would stop and ask, "Are we sure?" He needed to be convinced one more time that the Clintons would do more harm than good. McCain, on the other hand, was relieved to face Sen. Joe Biden as the veep choice, and not Hillary Clinton, whom the McCain camp had truly feared.

McCain was dumbfounded when Congressman John Lewis, a civil-rights hero, issued a press release comparing the GOP nominee with former Alabama governor George Wallace, a segregationist infamous for stirring racial fears. McCain had devoted a chapter to Lewis in one of his books, "Why Courage Matters," and had so admired Lewis that he had once taken his children to meet him.

On the night she officially lost the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton enjoyed a long and friendly phone conversation with McCain. Clinton was actually on better terms with McCain than she was with Obama. Clinton and McCain had downed shots together on Senate junkets; they regarded each other as grizzled veterans of the political wars and shared a certain disdain for Obama as flashy and callow.

At the GOP convention in St. Paul, Palin was completely unfazed by the boys' club fraternity she had just joined. One night, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to her hotel room to brief her. After a minute, Palin sailed into the room wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat with her laconic husband, Todd. "I'll be just a minute," she said.

The debates unnerved both candidates. When he was preparing for them during the Democratic primaries, Obama was recorded saying, "I don't consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, 'You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.' So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done [that's green], and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking about personal.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, Brian, we can't solve global warming because I f---ing changed light bulbs in my house. It's because of something collective'."

HERE IS WHAT PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA IS LOOKING AT IN IRAQ TODAY

President-Elect Barack Obama faces a daunting task of bringing the U.S. economy back on line, but he also is faced with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which are still raging despite the hoopla dished out by the Bush Administration and their puppet mouthpiece FOX NEWS.

Here is just a sample of what took place on Wednesday, November 5 in Iraq and Afghanistan:

SOURCE: http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/

Baghdad:#1: Anti-bomb squad on Wednesday defused a bomb planted in central Baghdad, a security source said. “Anti-bomb squad defused the bomb planted in Abu Nawas street in central Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.“The operation ended without casualties,” he said.

#2: An improvised bomb exploded Tuesday near the car of an Iraqi official, missing him but killing two people and injuring several others, police said. It was the latest in a series of apparent assassination attempts against Iraqi authorities. The attack on Ahmed Shyaa al-Barak, head of a government property and claims office, occurred amid bombing and shooting attacks in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul that left nine people dead and dozens injured.

#3: Also on Tuesday, an explosive device also went off under a police commander's car in the Karrada neighborhood, killing him and wounding two other officers, police said.

#4: Two roadside bombs exploded in a market in the Qahira neighborhood in northern Baghdad, killing at least one person and wounding nine, police said.

#5: In eastern Baghdad, an improvised explosive device blew up in a parking garage in the neighborhood of Mashtal, killing at least four people and injuring 17, police said.

#6: A booby-trapped car exploded in another parking garage near Baghdad Technology University in central Baghdad, killing one civilian and injuring five, police said.

#7: A car bomb near a checkpoint on the road to Baghdad's airport killed four people and wounded nine on Wednesday, police said. Two policemen were among the dead and three policemen were among the wounded in the blast, which took place by a statue near a major checkpoint outside the heavily guarded airport, police said.

Amarra:#1: A policeman was killed and three more were wounded in a bomb explosion in central Amara, a security source said. “An improvised explosive device went off near the police station in central Amara, killing a policeman and injuring three,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.The deputy chief of the Missan police on Wednesday survived an attempt on his life, while a policeman was killed and four more were wounded in a bomb blast in central Amara, a security source said. “An explosive charge went off targeting the motorcade of Colonel Sadeq Abdul Aziem, killing a cop and injuring four,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq, noting that the deputy chief of police survived. A security source had said earlier a policeman was killed and three more were wounded in a bomb explosion in central Amara.

#2: The executive director of the Sadr office in Missan said on Wednesday that unknown gunmen stormed the office and locked up the staff in a room. “Four gunmen stormed the Sadr office in Awasha region in central Amara and confined the office’s staffs in a room and set the special office of the social committee on fire,” Sheikh Hadi al-Fridawi told Aswat al-Iraq.

Numaniya:#1: An armed group kidnapped a girl in north of Kut and took her to unknown place, a police source said on Wednesday.“Unknown gunmen kidnapped a girl in central Nuaamaniya district in north of Kut and took her to unknown place,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

Riyadh:#1: Police found two dead bodies (man and woman) in Riyadh town (west of Kirkuk) on Tuesday night.Kirkuk:#1: Two bodies of a young man and a woman were found by police forces in southwest of Kirkuk, a police source said on Wednesday. “The bodies were found on late Tuesday in Mezher al-Aasi village in Riyadh district, southwest of Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

Mosul:#1: In eastern Mosul, gunmen shot dead a policeman in a prison for political detainees, a police source said.

#2: Another policeman was also killed by gunmen in al-Shefaa district in western Mosul. Mosul is located some 405 kilometres north of Baghdad.

Afghanistan:#1: An Afghan villager at the scene of an apparent U.S. bombing says 23 children and 10 women attending a wedding party are among 37 Afghans killed during a U.S. fight with the Taliban. Kandahar province villager Abdul Jalil says he was hosting a wedding party for his niece when Taliban militants fighting U.S. forces took cover near his home. Jalil says 37 people were killed when U.S. warplanes later bombed the wedding party.

#2: Three children were killed and six injured when an old shell they were playing with exploded in Kabul on Wednesday, a source in the republic's interior ministry said.

#3: Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) backed by the U.S. -led Coalition forces have killed five insurgents during a combat security patrol in southern Afghan province of Helmand, said a Coalition statement received here on Wednesday. Insurgents engaged the combined patrol with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in Nahr Surkh district of Helmand on Nov. 3, the statement said. The combined forces returned fire killing five, and "no ANSF, Coalition forces or civilians casualties were reported," it said.

#4: A roadside bomb killed four police when the device hit their vehicle in Logar province, 80 km (50 miles) south of Kabul, on Tuesday, a provincial official said.

#5: A rocket attack killed two civilians and wounded three more in a residential area in eastern Kabul overnight, a police official said. One civilian was killed and four wounded when an old bomb exploded in western Kabul, the official said.

VIDEO REPORT: TACKLING THE TALIBAN IN AFGHANISTAN

This short documentary shows U.S. Special Forces and Engineers involved in a firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Excellent narration and fantastic war footage.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG7ksVUTjdc&feature=related

VIDEO OF MARINES SURVIVING SMALL IED ATTACK IN AFGHANISTAN

This is a video showing a U.S. Marine squad and how they survived a small IED attack in Afghanistan. Warning: Rough language.

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http://www.youtube.com/v/xLIvJqv7Mxo&hl=en&fs=1

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RAW VIDEO OF U.S. MARINES IN GUN BATTLE WITH TALIBAN

This is new and raw footage of the U.S. Marines in a gun battle with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Plenty of live action.

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http://www.youtube.com/v/KT3YtP3qPLk&hl=en&fs=1

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YOU GOTTA SEE THIS VIDEO OF U.S. TROOPS IN COMBAT IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

The attention in the United States is focused on the election, but there is still a war going on in Iraq and Afghanistan as this video points out in a graphic way. Plenty of action footage.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/nCTBeS7Eb1c&hl=en&fs=1

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