A report to the U.N. Security Council last April by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s special representative for Children and Armed Conflict said, “The number of child casualties attributed to airstrikes conducted by pro-government forces, including the Afghan National Security Forces and the International Military Forces, doubled compared with the last reporting period, with 110 children killed and 68 injured in 2011.” In its report, the U.N. committee told the United States to “take concrete and firm precautionary measures and prevent indiscriminate use of force to ensure that no further killings and maiming of civilians, including children, take place.” Human rights and civil liberties groups applauded the U.N. committee’s findings and recommendations. “The U.S. must also honor its international law obligations to thoroughly and independently investigate civilian deaths and abuses against children, hold perpetrators accountable and compensate victims,” Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Human Rights Program, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Barak hints Israel was behind attack on Syria

With Syria engaged in an ugly and ever-worsening civil war [with Israel/US], the border with Israel and the huge Israeli-built fence several miles into internationally recognized Syrian territory, remains calm.

But just because nothing is happening doesn’t mean the military can’t scaremonger, with Israeli military officials saying that the calm is “deceptive” and that terror attacks from Syrian rebels or regime are “only a matter of time.” The terror attacks, which again one must be reminded aren’t actually happening, are being preemptively blamed on Syrian President Bashar Assad, and his criticism of recent Israeli air strikes against his country.

The logic is that Assad’s criticism, and his accusation that Israel is backing the rebels with such attacks, is fueling “anti-Israel aggression” that will lead to attacks at some non-specified point in the future by some non-specified combatant force.

An undercover FBI agent posing as a go-between with the Taliban in Afghanistan had been meeting with Llaneza since Nov. 30 and accompanied him to the bank, according to an FBI declaration filed in federal court. The declaration said the FBI had built the purported bomb, which was inert and posed no threat to the public. [...] A mentally disturbed man who said he believed in violent jihad and hoped to start a civil war in the United States was arrested early Friday after trying to detonate what he thought was a car bomb at a Bank of America branch in Oakland, prosecutors said.

AWIP: Inside the FBI's 'Terror factory' - VIDEO

Israeli firms Delek and Anver signed an agreement on Monday to acquire a 30 percent stake in exploration rights for gas and oil off Greek Cyprus's southern shore carried out by US company Noble Energy. - Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis told reporters that the signing provided a "new era of Cyprus-Israeli strategic cooperation which includes economic and political dimensions". Noble Energy Inc was the first to drill when awarded Block 12 after Greek Cyprus launched its energy search in 2007. In December 2011, Noble said it had discovered gas reserves of up to 8 trillion cubic feet (226.5 billion cubic metres), with an estimated value of 100 billion euros. This would satisfy domestic needs for decades and could enable Greek Cyprus to become a regional player by exporting gas to Europe from 2019.

[Video of putting the letter in the mail is supposed to be uploaded soon. High school student sends letter to Obama over drone assassinations. Letter.]

President Obama, It is my understanding, throughout the duration of your Presidency, that you have persistently authorized drone strikes on innocent Middle Eastern civilians who were supposedly working for, or somehow affiliated with Al-Qaeda. As a further matter, you have gone so far as to publicly announce – in accordance to your Administration’s white paper concerning the legalities and justifications concerning your drone policy, which was leaked to NBC – that you have the authority to drone bomb any American citizen. The Hill wrote, “In the document, the Justice Department concludes that a lethal strike against a senior operational leader of al Qaeda — or an affiliated terrorist group — can occur if a three-part test is met: that a high-level American intelligence official has determined the individual poses an imminent threat, that capture is infeasible, and that the strike is conducted according to the laws of war governing use of force.” The key phrase here is: “Or an affiliated terrorist group.” This is chilling. It is jaw-dropping, rather. Why? It’s simple. According to multiple documents – such as the FBI’s “Project Megiddo” document from the late 1990’s and the FBI’s and BJA’s “Communities Against Terrorism” documents – we, the American people, are considered “an affiliated terrorist group.”

The US military plans development of newer drones and other aircraft intended to deal with its ‘changing security threats’ and greater focus on Asia as its troop drawdown from Afghanistan gets underway. - Pentagon’s new focus on Asia would demand “a new mix of drones and other aircraft” since nations in the region are better capable of detecting and shooting down American assassination and spying drones, AP reports Tuesday citing senior US military commanders. The plan, however, will not affect CIA’s terror drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere. [...] There has been a major surge in US assassination drone strikes in Muslim countries in Asia and North Africa since Barack Obama assumed US presidency in 2009. The attacks have reportedly caused thousands of civilian casualties, prompting popular outrage in targeted nations.

North Korea on Tuesday confirmed it conducted a third controversial nuclear test, news agencies report. - North Korean official state media confirmed the reports of a nuclear test, adding that it had been conducted in a safe manner, and was aimed at dealing with "outrageous" US hostility against the North's sovereign rights to launch satellites, international news agencies reported. The test has been condemned by South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom and UN Chief Ban Ki-moon. South Korea’s Defense Ministry estimates the power of the presumed blast at 10 kilotons.

Reuters Canada: China joins U.S., Japan in condemning North Korea nuclear test
Russia Today: Iran urges to destroy all atomic weapons after N.Korea nuclear test
Jason Ditz: North Korea Confirms Successful Underground Nuclear Test

China has warned that the US sanctions recently imposed against a Chinese individual and certain companies over their alleged trading with Iran will harm Beijing’s relations with Washington, urging the US to “correct its mistaken policy.” - Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement on Monday that the US measure "seriously violates the norms of international relations and harms China's interests." "China urges the United States to immediately correct its mistaken policy and revoke these irrational sanctions toward the relevant companies and individuals and cease taking actions that harm China's interests and China-US relations," the statement further read.

"Back during slavery, when Black people like me talked to the slaves, they didn't kill 'em, they sent some old house Negro along behind him to undo what he said. You have to read the history of slavery to understand this. There were two kinds of Negroes. There was that old house Negro and the field Negro. And the house Negro always looked out for his master. When the field Negroes got too much out of line, he held them back in check. He put 'em back on the plantation. The house Negro could afford to do that because he lived better than the field Negro. He ate better, he dressed better, and he lived in a better house. He lived right up next to his master - in the attic or the basement. He ate the same food his master ate and wore his same clothes. And he could talk just like his master - good diction. And he loved his master more than his master loved himself. That's why he didn't want his master hurt. If the master got sick, he'd say, "What's the matter, boss, we sick?" When the master's house caught afire, he'd try and put the fire out. He didn't want his master's house burned. He never wanted his master's property threatened. And he was more defensive of it than the master was. That was the house Negro. But then you had some field Negroes, who lived in huts, had nothing to lose. They wore the worst kind of clothes. They ate the worst food. And they caught hell. They felt the sting of the lash. They hated their master. Oh yes, they did. If the master got sick, they'd pray that the master died. If the master's house caught afire, they'd pray for a strong wind to come along. This was the difference between the two. And today you still have house Negroes and field Negroes. I'm a field Negro."

Paul Craig Roberts: Obama’s Expanding Kill List
Glen Ford: Why Barack Obama is the More Effective Evil
Yves Smith: Barack Obama, the Great Deceiver
Philip Giraldi: Obama’s Report Card
Chris Hedges: The NDAA and the Death of the Democratic State

Stephen Lendman: More Evidence Obamacare Ripped Off Americans
Stephen Lendman: Money Party Wins US Election
Stephen Lendman: Obama's Legacy of Shame
Stephen Lendman: Obama's Failed State of the Union
Stephen Lendman: Murder, Inc: Official Obama Policy