AFP | The United States on Tuesday denied Moscow’s latest charge that US missile defense plans in Europe are aimed at Russia, insisting they are directed at Iran.

Washington’s Blog | As I have repeatedly shown, war is bad for the economy. According many economists, the Iraq war and the war on terror in general were huge factors in destroying our economy.

Times Online | MORE than half of Chinese people questioned in a poll believe China and America are heading for a new “cold war”.

American Chronicle | Senior Lebanese sources told the Saudi daily Al-Okaz that Hezbollah has announced emergency readiness in all areas of the country where it operates.

Patrick J. Buchanan | Harry Reid is surely aware a U.S. clash with Iran, with him at the president’s side, could assure his re-election.

Stephen Sniegoski | Despite the fantasy aspect of an Iranian electromagnetic pulse threat, it is reasonable to believe that such a claim, if publicized widely, could resonate with a substantial proportion of the American public and help to cause the US to launch a preventive war.

AFP | In a break with tradition for the secretive Central Intelligence Agency, the president delivered the eulogy to an audience of about 1,000 CIA employees, relatives of the slain agents, lawmakers and officials.

Condemnations, tirades and threats issued by the U.S. secretary of state and ambassador to the United Nations may as well be presented in triplicate.

CS Monitor | News reports said a volley of missile strikes from US drones killed 16 alleged militants in Pakistan on Tuesday. The use of drones to assassinate Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan has soared under President Barack Obama.

Uruknet | America is “a nation that seeks war” and if it doesn’t change it could end up destroying itself, a law school dean warns.

The Independent | The Israeli army went beyond its previous rules of engagement on the protection of civilian lives in order to minimise military casualties during last year’s Gaza war.

Russia Today | In an exclusive interview to RT, Anand Gopal says Obama’s mission in Afghanistan is not much different from Bush’s in Iraq.

NY Times | Obama’s budget predictions for 2019 and beyond draws a picture of a nation that, like many American homeowners, simply cannot get above water. It may dramatically change American politics and American power.

Politico | President Obama’s new budget, to be released Monday, forecasts two consecutive years of near $160 billion in war funding, far more than he hoped when elected and only modestly less than the last years of the Bush Administration.

Market Watch | China adopted a tough stance against the U.S. over the weekend for selling arms to Taiwan, announcing it will suspend military exchanges with Washington, and warning of sanctions against U.S. companies involved.

Fascist Soup | The level of brazen hubris and open contempt for the American troops is absolutely stunning.

Andy Worthington | The Pentagon responded to a FOIA request submitted by the ACLU last April, and released the first ever list of 645 prisoners held.

Pravda | International arrest warrants have been requested for George W. Bush, Richard (Dick) Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleeza Rice and Alberto Gonzales at the International Criminal Court, The Hague, Netherlands.

| Brand Obama makes us hopeful. We like our president and we believe he’s like us. But we’re being duped into doing a lot of things that are not in our interest.

Russia Today | In response to Warsaw’s recent announcement that it will base US Patriot missiles near the border with Kaliningrad, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow needs more information.

FOX News | USAID apparently overlooked a growing stack of U.N. audits and investigations that pointed to fraud, mismanagement and lack of internal financial controls by UNOPS in Afghanistan, even as the U.S. agency continued to shovel money in UNOPS’s direction.

Press TV | Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua say the US is using the international relief operation in Haiti as a cover-up for a military takeover.

Jamaal Long | “The Army is basically paying the Taliban not to shoot them,” one American executive told the Guardian. “You are paying the people in local areas—some are warlords, some are politicians in the police force—to move your trucks.”

Fox Business | Al Qaeda is seeking to destabilize the entire South Asia region and could trigger a new war between Pakistan and India

Press TV | President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says hegemonic powers wage wars under different pretexts to take over other countries’ natural resources.

Daily Telegraph | The French minister in charge of humanitarian relief called on the UN to “clarify” the American role amid claims the military build up was hampering aid efforts.

Press TV | Saudi fighter jets have launched another round of airstikes on Houthi positions in northern Yemen.

Bloomberg | NATO is likely to rebuff a Russian proposal for a bilateral security treaty, seeing it as a ploy to regain lost influence over eastern Europe, four allied officials said.

Michel Chossudovsky | Haiti has a longstanding history of US military intervention and occupation going back to the beginning of the 20th Century.

Eurasia Review | Hundreds of Afghans took part in the demonstration, which had to be dispersed by police and the military.

Ynet | “Should the (security) situation deteriorate, we’ll hold the Lebanese government and all those who help Hezbollah responsible,” said Barak at an IDF outpost overlooking south Lebanon’s villages.

Press TV | At least 18 people have been killed in clashes between rival factions in southern and central Somalia, and there are reports that Blackwater/Xe mercenaries have entered the country.

Press TV | An up-for-grabs State Department deal could help the infamous US ’security’ contractor Blackwater stage a comeback as a leading security firm.

Red Orbit | A strong, magnitude 6.5 earthquake off the coast of Northern California left thousands without power and was felt as far away as Oregon and central California.

Global Research | U.S. and NATO allies have laid the groundwork for increased naval, air and ground operations in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden.

Campaign for Liberty | Supporters of Guantanamo were fired up by an inaccurate ABC report in which it was stated that two former Guantanamo prisoners were amongst the leaders of the al-Qaeda-inspired group in Yemen that claimed responsibility for the failed attack.

Reuters | Pakistan officially objects to the attacks on suspected al Qaeda and Taliban militants along its border with Afghanistan, saying they violate its sovereignty.

Agence France-Presse | US military intervention in Yemen to help fight Al-Qaeda militants could backfire and strengthen the jihadists.

| Last month, President Obama announced that he would send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. Shortly after, Gen. Petraeus, head of the CENTCOM, warned of increased violence in the Central Asian country as the new troops arrived

BBC | Speaking after a meeting with the visiting prime minister of Qatar, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said stability in Yemen is a top priority for the US.

Scott Creighton | Did Daddy Warbucks sell Little Orphan Umar to the CIA?

AlJazeera | Yemen’s foreign minister has ruled out direct US military intervention to tackle the al-Qaeda group operating in his country.

ABC News | The informant was a Pakistani and a member of the Wazir tribe from the Pakistani tribal area North Waziristan.

L.A. Times | The year’s tally was 318, compared with 155 in 2008, due mostly to the crude but ever larger and deadlier roadside bombs employed by the Taliban. And Western military fatalities are expected to spike.

Washington’s Blog | There have also been upgrades in U.S.-Israeli military cooperation on missile defense and a deal on the table to give one of the U.S. most advanced fighter jets to Israel along with some of America’s most sensitive new technology.

Reuters | A suicide bomber penetrated a foreign army base in Afghanistan and killed eight CIA employees on Wednesday.

Jeremiah Bell | I was reading Obama’s speech for the peace prize and I got inspired to do a series of graphics that displays the text, so people can focus on what he is saying. The word war was used over 50 times.

Press TV | US special operations forces and intelligence agencies, and their Yemeni counterparts, are working to identify potential al-Qaeda targets in Yemen, one of the officials said.

Kurt Nimmo | Obama’s reaction will result in more dead Yemeni children and grandmothers.

The Hill | Lieberman Sunday said that Yemen could be the ground of America’s next overseas war if Washington does not take preemptive action to root out al-Qaeda interests there.