Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/06/02-0

Pentagon chief Leon Panetta has announced that the US will be shifting the majority of its naval fleet to the Pacific by 2020, in a "steady, deliberate" effort to increase US presence in the area 'vital to America's future'.

Link: http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/1189

The news that Barack Obama -- a Constitutional scholar and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize -- has taken personal charge of lethal US drone hits in Yemen and Pakistan is one of those stories that takes time to sink in.

Link: http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/canada-and-the-f-35-a-match-made-in-heaven-or-hell-4680/

Canada's potential purchase of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters has sparked questions surrounding the appropriateness of military procurement plans and the legitimacy of government contract practices. But apart from these domestic controversies, there is the more important matter of how these new fighters would fit into Canada's foreign policy, says Zak Rose of Geopoliticalmonitor.com.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/syri-m29.shtml

The massacre of over 100 people in Houla is being utilized by the United States, other Western powers and the Gulf States to step up their drive for regime-change in Syria. Thirty-two children and 34 women were among Friday’s dead, the United Nations has said.

Link: http://cosmicconvergence.org/?p=876

When Corrupt Governments Are Formed and Maintained To Oversee State-sponsored Criminal Enterprises. Israel, Colombia and Pakistan share something in common which can only be properly explained when looking at the world geo-political chessboard through the lens of the New World Order (NWO) leadership. Each of these nations plays a pivotal role in their respective regions of the planet. Their roles are decidedly different from what you might expect of a sovereign nation, especially since they are engaged around the clock in so much illicit and clandestine behavior.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/27-0

At least eight members of an Afghan family have been killed, including six children, after an airstrike by the US-led NATO coalition in Afghanistan. The missiles hit late Saturday night in the eastern province of Paktia, according to officials. The aftermath of airstrikes. File photo. (Image by: BOB STRONG / REUTERS) Rohullah Samon, a spokesman for the governor of Paktia province, said Mohammad Shafi, his wife and their six children died in an airstrike around 8 p.m. in Suri Khail village of Gurda Saria district.

Link: http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/panetta-u-s-is-ready-to-stop-iran-from-creating-nuclear-weapons-20120527

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Sunday indirectly confirmed recent remarks by the Ambassador to Israel that the U.S. is “ready from a military perspective’’ to stop Iran from making a nuclear weapon if international pressure fails. The U.S. and members of the United Nations Security Council recently met in Baghdad for talks about Iran’s suspected nuclear weapon program. Iran denies it has military intentions but has called for the destruction of Israel. US 'should stop trying to conquer countries' - Congressman - Video

Link: http://www.rt.com/news/israel-us-report-iran-301/

Top Israeli officials have refused to meet the US envoy to the P5+1 group, who arrived in Jerusalem with a report on recent talks with Iran. The diplomatic démarche comes as relations between the two countries strain over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Link: http://peacenews.org/2012/05/us-hard-line-in-failed-iran-talks-driven-by-israel-truthout-org/

Negotiations between Iran and the United States and other members of the P5+1 group in Baghdad ended in fundamental disagreement Thursday over the position of the P5+1 offering no relief from sanctions against Iran.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/25/syria-arms-russia-idUSL1E8GPFB820120525

A Russian cargo ship loaded with weapons is en route to Syria and due to arrive at a Syrian port this weekend, Al Arabiya television said in a report that Western diplomats in New York described on Friday as credible.

Link: http://www.activistpost.com/2012/05/house-passes-hr-4133-binding-us-to.html

Without any mainstream media coverage at all, the House of Representatives passed the United States – Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 (USIESC).

Link: http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/national/25-May-2012/us-drone-strike-hits-mosque-10-killed

At least 10 people were killed and several others sustained injuries when unmanned US predator drone targeted a mosque in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan Agency on Thursday.

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-gregory/war-in-afghanistan_b_1539749.html

If President Obama has his way, the last U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan could be Americans born five years after 9/11. The administration has signed a pact to maintain a military presence there until 2024. After initially claiming the rumors of such a deal were false, the administration has since described this pledge as a means of providing "training" assistance to Afghan forces. The White House continues to issue mixed messages on the war, simultaneously insisting that the war is "over," but that U.S. troops will face "hard days ahead" in the conflict.

Link: http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/item/11497-the-nato-un-army-perpetual-war-and-bankruptcy-for-us

Pretending to have achieved some kind of victory in Afghanistan, President Obama and the NATO leaders have pushed ahead on the globalist agenda to transform NATO more fully into the global military arm of the United Nations.

Link: http://www.activistpost.com/2012/05/only-bombing-iran-into-submission-will.html

Iran and six world powers are meeting today for nuclear talks in Baghdad - and Israel is unsurprisingly unhappy about such diplomacy.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/22-3

Recent months have seen a flurry of headlines about cuts (often called “threats”) to the U.S. defense budget. Last week, lawmakers in the House of Representatives even passed a bill that was meant to spare national security spending from future cuts by reducing school-lunch funding and other social programs.

Link: http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/admin.php?ctrl=items&action=new&blog=3

With Nato delegates arriving Saturday night, the City of Chicago has been turned into a police state. Courtesy of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who several months ago began implementing new draconian anti-protest measures, Chicago has gone on security lockdown. Starting early Friday night, 18 May 2012, the Chicago Police Department began shutting down – prohibiting cars, bikes, and pedestrians – miles and miles of highways and roads in the heart of Chicago to create a security perimeter around downtown and McCormick Place (where the Nato summit is being held).

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/pers-m19.shtml

For more than a month, Philippine and Chinese vessels have been confronting each other near the Scarborough Shoal—a small group of disputed rocks in the South China Sea. What began as minor incident involving a warning by a Philippine ship to a Chinese fishing boat has escalated into a diplomatic row that risks military conflict.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7LQLLhFdJU

The Republican led House has voted to allow U.S. military action against Iran if the regime threatens the U.S. or it's allies (Israel) with nuclear weapons. According to a section of the National Defense Authorization Act, "it shall be the policy of the United States to take all necessary measures, including military action if required, to prevent Iran from threatening the United States, its allies or Iran's neighbors with a nuclear weapon," reported Raw Story. The use of the word threaten literally makes it possible for the U.S. to attack Iran whenever they please by simply claiming that they were threatening us regardless of the reality of the situation. In a special report for theintelhub.com, Bob Tuskin detailed this breaking news and its connection to an Obama executive order. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/18/republican-led-house-votes-to-allow-military-action-against-iran/ | http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/05/16/executive-order-blocking-property-persons-threatening-peace-security-or-

Link: http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/?p=49046

Some 63 percent of Americans would be in favor of taking military action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, according to a new survey.The Pew Research Center asked 26,210 people in 21 different countries to give their views on Iran’s alleged plans to get nuclear weapons, finding widespread opposition to the idea in the West and also in some countries in the Mideast.

Link: http://thepassionateattachment.com/2012/05/19/kristol-lieberman-will-be-secretary-of-state-in-romney-administration/

On Tuesday at Manhattan’s B’nai Jeshurun Synagogue during a debate with J Street founder and President Jeremy Ben-Ami, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol predicted that the next U.S. Secretary of State in a Romney administration would be Senator Joe Lieberman.

Link: http://socialistworker.org/2012/05/18/our-stand-against-nato

Malalai Joya is a courageous opponent of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan, of the corrupt regime presided over by President Hamid Karzai--and of the Taliban and other conservative Islamist forces battling U.S. and Afghan government troops. She was elected to parliament in 2005, but was suspended after she denounced the presence of representatives she called "warlords" and "war criminals."

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/pers-m18.shtml

While publicly insisting that it is only providing “non-lethal” aid to elements seeking the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria, Washington is coordinating the shipment of arms into the country and working to expand the deadly conflict.

Link: http://www.federaljack.com/?p=175068

Thirty to 50 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars may have fought hard for or suffered for their medals, but this weekend, they plan to hand those medals back during the NATO summit in Chicago, MSNBC reports. The group will stage the demonstration in protest of the war on terror, according to the itinerary for Sunday published on the blog Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/17/g8-russia-idUSL5E8GHEQW20120517

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned on Thursday that military action against sovereign states could lead to a regional nuclear war, starkly voicing Moscow's opposition to Western intervention ahead of a G8 summit at which Syria and Iran will be discussed.

Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57436797/house-oks-continued-war-in-afghanistan/

The House endorsed the continued war in Afghanistan on Thursday despite acknowledgment from Republicans and Democrats that the American people are war-weary after more than a decade of conflict.

Link: http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-us-military-option-for-iran-is-ready-american-ambassador-says/

Daniel Shapiro’s comments, reportedly made at closed forum in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. The United States has completed its planning for a military strike on Iran, the US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro said in remarks at a closed conference in Tel Aviv that were broadcast on Israel TV on Wednesday night.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/pers-m14.shtml

Negotiations next week in Baghdad between Iran and the P5+1—the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany—will be a turning point in the dangerous confrontation over Iranian nuclear programs. Washington is putting intense pressure on Tehran to make major concessions, even as the US prepares to impose crippling sanctions and threatens war.

Link: http://www.opinion-maker.org/2012/05/the-zionist-infestation-of-africa/

It isn’t matter of debate, on any level, that historically, Africa has been the most tormented and tortured of the planet’s continents and regions. Ravaged by centuries of colonialism and its bastard child, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, imperialism, civil wars instigated by foreign intelligence agencies, the plundering of natural resources and faux “humanitarian” interventions en masse, it seems that Africa just cannot find the salaam it undeniably and screamingly deserves.

Link: http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/05/12/bush-convicted-of-war-crimes-in-absentia/

Kuala Lumpur — It’s official; George W Bush is a war criminal. In what is the first ever conviction of its kind anywhere in the world, the former US President and seven key members of his administration were yesterday (Fri) found guilty of war crimes. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their legal advisers Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo were tried in absentia in Malaysia. The trial held in Kuala Lumpur heard harrowing witness accounts from victims of torture who suffered at the hands of US soldiers and contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/pers-m12.shtml

“Our policy is to try to accelerate the arrival of that tipping point” at which the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad is toppled, Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman explained last March to the US Senate’s foreign relations committee. Thursday saw the latest incarnation of this policy. The devastating car bombs that slaughtered 55 people and left nearly 400 more wounded in Damascus mark a new stage in the criminal imperialist campaign for regime change in Syria.

Link: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/05/11/the-u-s-house-of-representatives-again-promotes-israel-over-america/

In yet another sickening display of gutless obedience to the Israel lobby and the Jewish dominated media, the “U.S.” House of Representatives has passed legislation which promotes Israel’s interests over the interests of America and Americans by passing the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012.

Link: http://rt.com/usa/blogs/trends-forcaster-gerald-celente/celente-iran-war-former/

Trend forecaster Gerald Celente, writing in the Spring Trends Journal, was virtually alone in his assessment of an Israeli/United States military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities as an act of folly that would have catastrophic consequences.

Link: http://portugheis.livejournal.com/85733.html

What is important is NOT "how much" USA will give Israel in military grants. What matters here is: 1) how much Israel's foreign debt will increase by, making Israel a poorer country and more and more reliant on foreign assistance.

Link: http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/05/10/481764/romney-military-spending-2-trillion/?mobile=nc

Mitt Romney is campaigning for president on fiscal responsibility. “The mission to restore America begins with getting our fiscal house in order,” he says. At the same time, the presumptive GOP nominee says he wants to increase military spending. His campaign website claims that a President Romney will peg the Pentagon’s budget to Gross Domestic Product “at a floor of 4 percent of GDP.” What will that mean in dollars? CNNMoney reports that under Romney’s plan, “the additional spending really piles up in future years”:

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/10/syria-worst-terror-attack-uprising

Government and opposition blame each other for twin car bombings in Damascus that leave dozens dead. Syria suffered its worst terrorist attack since the start of the uprising when 55 people were reported killed and nearly 400 injured in twin car bomb blasts near a government intelligence building in Damascus.

Link: http://www.activistpost.com/2012/05/drone-deals-go-international-with-no.html

If one ever needed a case of clear war profiteering with zero concern for the fallout, one need look no further than the international market in drone warfare.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/08-5

The way in which the U.S. media ignores such events speaks volumes about how we perceive them

Link: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/8956-violence-usa-an-interview-with-henry-a-giroux

One of the things that I am trying to say in this piece is that war has become one of our most vaunted and cherished national values. What I mean by that is the United States is not only obsessed with military values shaping foreign policy, but war and militarism have become a mediating force that begins to seep into almost every aspect of daily life.

Link: http://socialistworker.org/2012/05/07/forever-war

When Barack Obama talked last week about the end of the war in Afghanistan, he didn't mention that by his timeline, it isn't even half over. THE BEST way to make sense of the Obama administration's statements about its plans to "wind down" the decade-old occupation of Afghanistan is to recall the words of author George Orwell: "Political language...is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."