“Since our arrest the USA, FBI and Pakistani police have tortured us. They are trying to set us up. We are innocent. They are trying to keep us from the public, media, our families and our lawyers. Help us,” read a scrap of toilet paper tossed by one of the suspects from the window of the vehicle.

Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest countries, is sitting on mineral and petroleum reserves worth an estimated one trillion dollars, President Hamid Karzai said Sunday. The war-ravaged nation could become one of the richest in the world if helped to tap its geological deposits, Karzai told reporters. "I have very good news for Afghans," Karzai said. No it is not "very good news". -Not to the people of Afghanistan. If the US & international corporations have it their way, the Afghans will never be permitted to enjoy this wealth themselves or to build a free and independent Afghanistan with it. They are being occupied by the US army and are even worse off than the other US client states. The majority of the Afghans will be exploited for their labor and remain in servitude. The foreigners will grab these resources and take the profits out of Afghanistan. -The US government has known about all of these reserves for a very long time of course, so this is not even news to them. These reserves are part of the reason why the US attacked Afghanistan on behalf of corporate interest in the first place. The occupation was planned years before September 11, 2001, which was an inside job used as a pretext for imperial conquest. UPI.com: Afghanistan's untapped energy riches. USGS: Western Afghanistan Uranium Content. + USGS Projects in Afghanistan. IIOT: Uranium deposits in Afghanistan. PakTribune: NASA Confirms Gas, Minieral Reserves In Afghanistan. NWO Observer: Making the TransAfghanistan Pipeline Safe for Democracy. Suite101: Afghanistan's Treasure Trove: US & Afghan Geological Surveys Indicate Diverse Mineral Deposits. British Geological Survey: Minerals in Afghanistan (PDF) and HTML here. TimesOnline: Afghanistan copper deposits worth $88 billion attract Chinese investors.

Israeli National Security Advisor Uzi Arad has threatened Iran with 'heavy' measures after reports of US augmentation of forces off Iran's coast. Uzi Arad, senior advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Monday that he believes the situation with Iran may escalate; Tehran may have to pay a heavy price for what he called defying the world Israel. AWIP/Chris Floyd: Obama's Wild Weekend: A Worldwide Surge in Warmongering. AWIP: Senate Quietly Passes Iran Sanctions Bill. The Guardian: US raises stakes on Iran by sending in ships and missiles.

Below is an ad that was in Haaretz lately for the Ultimate Mission to Israel. The trip is a red-meat propaganda trip of a retro-masculine character–"live exhibition of penetration raids in Arab territory"– pitched to American professionals, accountants, doctors, lawyers. The fascination is not just the disgusting events–"observe a trial of Hamas terrorists in an IDF military court"–but that the ad is pitched to wealthy American Jews, and also apparently, the Modern Orthodox. Those groups overlap in the Status Quo Lobby, as it’s called, AIPAC. These are Jews who are deeply enmeshed in the American political process: note the meetings with senior Cabinet officials and the emphasis on Israel’s "struggle for survival."

A local Hamas leader in the southern Gaza Strip has escaped an attempt on his life which damaged nearby homes and left two children wounded. The incident happened on Monday night when a car belonging to Yussef Sarsur exploded overnight, leaving its apparent target unscathed, AFP quoted witnesses as saying. Two children were wounded by broken glass, hospital officials said. No Israeli false front group has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion. The incident comes days after the Palestinian movement blamed Israel for the killing of its senior military commander, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was assassinated in Dubai. AWIP: Israel poisoned Hamas leader

Lebanon has lodged a complaint against Israel to the United Nations Security Council to protest the kidnapping of a citizen in South Lebanon by an Israeli patrol Sunday afternoon. Israeli troops abducted a Lebanese boy in South Lebanon on Sunday, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. The 17-year old shepherd, Rabih Zahra, was tending a flock of sheep near Kfar Shouba when he was abducted. According to NNA, Zahra is being detained at the Zebdine military compound.

A young girl allegedly targeted by an American church group engaged in a child trafficking operation in quake-hit Haiti says she thought she was being taken to a summer camp. Ten members of American Baptist church group New Life Children's Refuge were arrested and charged with child trafficking overnight as they attempted to take 33 children out of the country.

Laws are meant to be perfectly clear and followed; especially those to save human beings from the scourge of war. The UN Charter are those laws, fortified with treaty status that under the US Constitution puts the Charter equal in authority to US law. The problem is that when political “leadership” of both parties want war, and then engage their propaganda minions in corporate media disclosed in the 1975 Church Senate Committee as “Operation Mockingbird,” Americans can easily be dis-informed. After all, Americans witness few wars and not many of us study the UN Charter to clearly understand lawful and unlawful wars.

After Blackwater contractors were accused of shooting killed 17 civilians in Iraq, the State Department announced it would stop doing business with the company, but ABC News has found that several other agencies, including the CIA and the Pentagon, continue to employ the controversial company, under a myriad of names, often via secret, classified contracts. AWIP/DN: EXCLUSIVE…Blackwater’s Youngest Victim: Father of 9 Year-Old Killed in Nisour Square Gives Most Detailed Account of Massacre to Date -VIDEO

Last week’s breakin at Senator Mary Landrieu’s office in the New Orleans Federal Building was more than it seemed, much more. All of the 4 arrested had been trained by the CIA and, possibly, Israel. One arrested, Stan Dai, is listed as an Operations Officer of the Department of Defense Irregular Warfare Program and a known expert and lecturer on, not only surveillance but explosives training, assassinations and “false flag operations.” If you wanted a plane to crash, an enemy to get sick and die or a building to blow up, Dai would be the man to know how to make it happen. Problem is, his skills were being used as part of a criminal conspiracy inside the United States against members of our own government. AWIP/Eamon Javers: CIA moonlights in corporate world.

Preparing the U.S. military to fight two major conventional wars is "out of date" and does not reflect the numerous challenges U.S. military forces could face in the future, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday. Gates made that pronouncement as he revealed the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, the military's strategic outlook. He said the military needs to start planning for multiple operations such as major disasters in the United States and various scuffles around the planet.

Climategate intensifies: Jones and Wang apparently hid Chinese station data issues. The "climategate" controversy intensified last night when the senior British scientist at its centre, Professor Phil Jones, faced fresh accusations that he attempted to withhold data that could cast doubt on evidence for rising world temperatures. The charges follow an analysis of the emails hacked from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit, of which Professor Jones is the director.

Egypt's archeology chief has announced that he will soon reveal the results of the DNA testing conducted on Pharaoh Tutankhamun's mummy. Zahi Hawass said that the results would be released on February 17, 2010, the Cleveland Leader reported.

DNA tests and CAT scans were conducted to find out about King Tut's lineage, which has been one of the greatest mysteries surrounding the world's most famous Pharaoh.

The test results will be compared with that of King Amenhotep III, who might have been Tutankamun's grandfather. Although archeologists are not sure about the identity of Tutankamun's parents, many believe that he was the son of the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten. His mother is also believed to be Kiya, one of Akhenaten's queens. Some others, however, believe that Tut was the son of a less famous pharaoh who followed Akhenaten. WikiPedia: Tutankhamun

;-)

UN team find remains of aircraft-dropped bombs, contradicting Israeli report on military conduct during three-week conflict. The UN mine action team, which handles ordnance disposal in Gaza, has told the Guardian that the remains of a 500-pound Mk82 aircraft-dropped bomb were found in the ruins of the mill last January. Photographs of the front half of the bomb have been obtained by the Guardian. This evidence directly contradicts the finding of the Israeli report, which challenged allegations that the building was deliberately targeted and specifically stated there was no evidence of an air strike. Goldstone, however, used the account of the air strike as a sign that Israel's attack on the mill was not mere collateral damage, but precisely targeted and a possible war crime.

A three-month course of the supplement appeared to be as effective as drugs, cutting the rate of psychotic illness like schizophrenia by a quarter. The researchers believe it is the omega-3 in fish oil - already hailed for promoting healthy hearts - that has beneficial effects in the brain.

Chinese Communist Party official Zhu Weiqun said there would be "corresponding action" if the meeting went ahead. The White House has indicated that Barack Obama intends to meet the head of Tibetans in exile. Mr Zhu's comments follow talks between China and the Dalai Lama's representatives in China. The talks yielded little progress, with both sides reiterating positions that were "sharply divided".

South Australia has become one of the few states in the world to censor the internet. The new law, which came into force on January 6, requires anyone making an online comment about next month's state election to publish their real name and postcode. ArsTechnica: Internet uprising overturns Australian censorship law.