Stephen Lendman

On November 14, Israel murdered Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari in cold blood. A missile struck his car. Another passenger was killed. Unconfirmed reports said it was his son. An IDF Twitter message said,

"We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead."

Press TV said Shin Bet claimed responsibility. An official statement said:

"During a joint operation of the General Security Service (Shin Bet) and the IDF today, Ahmed al-Jabari, the senior commander of the military wing of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, was targeted."

Attacks continue. Israel's Operation Pillar of Cloud (aka Cloud Column) killed at least nine Palestinians. Over 20 others were injured. Authorities expect death and injury tolls to rise. Bombing and shelling continued overnight. At least three more Palestinians were killed. More were injured. Israel said over 20 sites were targeted. Hamas' military wing, Izzeddin Qassam Brigades, said Israel "opened the gates of hell." A robust response was promised.

Jabari is the most senior Hamas official killed since Cast Lead. He was involved in capturing Gilad Shalit. During his five years in captivity, he led negotiations that freed him. Netanyahu said Israel chose this time to "exact the heaviest price." Initially he added that a significant military action wouldn't be undertaken. In fact, it was initiated and remains ongoing. Perhaps something greater is planned.

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Gilad Atzmon

A Short Comment By Gilad Atzmon

Once again we've learned today that in the Jewish State, Goyim's blood translates into political power. In order to win the Israeli election, Benjamin Netanyahu feels the need to present the Israeli voter with a substantial pile of Palestinian corpses.

Like in the case of previous IDF's genocidal operations, the current Israeli Pillar of Cloud also has a Biblical connotation. In Exodus 13:21-22, you will find the following: “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light.”

Seemingly, the current Israel murderous assault against civilians is consistent with the Zionist secular interpretation of the Old Testament. " …then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.” (Deuteronomy 7:1-2). However, this time it isn’t God who guides his chosen people. It is actually a democratically elected war criminal that was chosen by God’s favourite people.

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Barry Grey

Trade union leaders met Tuesday with President Barack Obama to give their support to his plans for massive cuts in social programs upon which tens of millions of workers depend.

The hour-long, closed-door meeting at the White House was the first act in a carefully orchestrated campaign to convince the public that unprecedented cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps and other welfare programs are the only alternative to economic disaster in the form of the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

The task assigned to the union chiefs is to counter broad popular opposition to the cuts by promoting the White House claim that it is pursuing a “balanced” approach to deficit-reduction, combining spending cuts with increased taxes on the rich.

Also on Tuesday, the post-election “lame-duck” Congress, which continues to sit until the newly elected Congress takes office January 1, reconvened. Previous deals between the White House and congressional Democrats and Republicans insured that the lame-duck session would be conducted in an atmosphere of crisis over hundreds of billions of dollars in tax hikes and automatic spending cuts slated to begin January 1.

No sooner was the election out of the way than the ruling class launched a mind-numbing, saturation media campaign over the need to enact a bipartisan deficit-reduction plan before the new-year. Both the Democrats, who control the White House and the Senate, and the Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, agree that such a plan must include sweeping cuts in social entitlements and a comprehensive “reform” of the tax system.

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Bill Van Auken

The Petraeus investigation has expanded to include Gen.
John Allen, the top US commander in Afghanistan. (AP)

The atmosphere of crisis in Washington triggered by retired Gen. David Petraeus’ resignation as CIA director following an FBI investigation into an extramarital affair has deepened with Petraeus’ successor as the top US commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, being linked to the scandal.

The Obama administration announced Tuesday that it has placed on hold Allen’s nomination to become the senior military commander in NATO and chief of US forces in Europe, following allegations that the American general had engaged in “inappropriate communications”—some 20,000 to 30,000 pages of emails over the last two years—with the woman in Tampa, Florida whose complaint to the FBI initiated the probe that led to Petraeus.

The Pentagon did not clarify what was “inappropriate” about the emails, raising questions as to whether they were of a sexual or security character. An unnamed senior Defense Department official told the New York Times, however, that the content of some of the e-mails “was of a flirtatious nature.”

The woman to whom Allen had allegedly sent the emails was Jill Kelley, a Tampa socialite and wife of a local doctor. Last June, Kelley contacted a personal friend in the Tampa FBI office complaining of harassing emails from an anonymous source.

The matter is being dealt with by the inspector general’s office of the Department of Defense. Under some circumstances, adultery is a prosecutable offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. While Obama issued a statement praising Allen for “ably” leading American occupation troops in Afghanistan, the administration also pressed the Senate to hold speedy confirmation hearings for the officer nominated to succeed Allen in Kabul, Gen. Joseph Dunford.

The FBI launched an investigation and traced the harassing emails to Paula Broadwell, a married US Army reserve officer and West Point graduate, who had authored a fawning biography of Gen. Petraeus that was published last January. The investigation, according to the FBI’s account, led to the discovery of extensive emails between Broadwell and Petraeus and subsequent interviews in which both acknowledged the affair.

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