After the marines arrived, a small group of Iraqis gathered around a statue of Saddam Hussein in the middle of the square and tried to bring it down with a sledgehammer and rope. More photographers and TV crews appeared. An American flag was draped over the statue’s head. Eventually, a Marine vehicle equipped with a crane toppled the statue. The spectacle was broadcast live around the world.
Some have argued that the events at Firdos were staged, to demonstrate that America had triumphed, the war was over, and the Iraqis were happy. After all, the marines had seized the only place in Baghdad where a large number of foreign reporters could be found—at least two hundred were at the Palestine.
Toppling Saddam's statue: How the media inflated a minor moment in the Iraq war
2nd person denied Ariz. transplant coverage dies
A second person denied transplant coverage by Arizona under a state budget cut has died, with this death "most likely" resulting from the coverage reduction, a hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday.
University Medical Center spokeswoman Jo Marie Gellerman said the patient died Dec. 28 at another medical facility after earlier being removed from UMC's list for a liver transplant needed because of hepatitis C.
Milwaukee archdiocese files for bankruptcy
Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki says the archdiocese had no choice but to file for bankruptcy due to the lawsuits it faces for sexual abuse by its clergy. Listecki described the bankruptcy filing Tuesday as something that would allow the archdiocese to pay victims molested by priests while preserving programs, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
"As a result of the horrific actions of a few, there are financial claims pending against the archdiocese that exceed our means," Listecki said at a news conference at the archdiocesan headquarters.
BP Not Alone in Lax Practices, Obama Spill Panel Says
BP Plc’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill was caused by poor management practices that are “systemic” in the industry and may recur absent “significant reform,” according to a presidential panel probing the spill.
Bad decisions by BP and its main contractors, Halliburton Co. and Transocean Ltd, coupled with lax government oversight, caused the worst U.S. offshore oil spill, the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill said today. The April 20 blowout of BP’s Macondo well, which killed 11 workers, destroyed Transocean’s $365 million Deepwater Horizon rig and spewed crude for 87 days, was avoidable and not the result of “aberrational decisions,” the panel said in a report.
Leftist groups: 'Witch hunt' against us will destroy democracy in Israel
Israeli left-wing organizations decried Wednesday a Knesset plenum decision to support a panel of inquiry to investigate certain groups suspected of "delegitimizing" the Israel Defense Forces.
The plenum's approval means that the initiative will now be taken to the Knesset House Committee for debate. The initiative proposes investigating the sources of funding for these left-wing groups, and to determine whether money is being funneled from foreign states or organizations linked to terror activities.
Israel said would keep Gaza near collapse: WikiLeaks
Israel told U.S. officials in 2008 it would keep Gaza's economy "on the brink of collapse" while avoiding a humanitarian crisis, according to U.S. diplomatic cables published by a Norwegian daily on Wednesday.
Three cables cited by the Aftenposten newspaper, which has said it has all 250,000 U.S. cables leaked to WikiLeaks, showed that Israel kept the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv briefed on its internationally criticized blockade of the Gaza Strip.
WikiLeaks' Most Terrifying Revelation: Just How Much Our Government Lies to Us
Do you believe that it is in Americans' interest to allow a small group of U.S. leaders to unilaterally murder, maim, imprison and/or torture anyone they choose anywhere in the world, without the knowledge let alone oversight of their citizens or the international community? And, despite their proven record of failure to protect America -- from Indochina to Iran to Iraq -- do you believe they should be permitted to clandestinely expand their war-making without informed public debate? If so, you are betraying the principles upon which America was founded, endangering your nation, and displaying a distinctly "unamerican" subservience to unaccountable authority. But if you oppose autocratic power, you are called to support Wikileaks and others trying to limit U.S. Executive Branch mass murder abroad and failure to protect Americans at home.
U.S. Alters Rule on Paying for End-of-Life Planning
The Obama administration, reversing course, will revise a Medicare regulation to delete references to end-of-life planning as part of the annual physical examinations covered under the new health care law, administration officials said Tuesday.
The move is an abrupt shift, coming just days after the new policy took effect on Jan. 1. Many doctors and providers of hospice care had praised the regulation, which listed “advance care planning” as one of the services that could be offered in the “annual wellness visit” for Medicare beneficiaries.
Americans Face Guantanamo-Like Torture Everyday in a Super-Max Prison Near You
“They push you, knee you, poke you,” he said, his voice faint but ardent through the speaker. “They slam your head against the wall and drop you on the floor while you’re cuffed.” He lifted his manacled hands to a scar on his chin. “They split it wide open. They’re yelling ‘Stop resisting! Stop resisting!’ when you’re not even moving.”
Page 664 of 1144
