Pakistan Taliban denies U.S.-Pak reports its leader was killed; 54% of Americans oppose Afghan War; U.S. kills five Afghan cucumber farmers thinking they were loading munitions; ‘Iran unlikely to produce uranium for a nuke ’til at least 2013′, U.S. intel says; U.S. dollar hits ten-month low; Georgia and Russia continue ‘warlike rhetoric’; E.U. seizes Indian generics to compete on the market because of patents…
Pakistan Taliban senior commander Haikmullah Mehsud calls the reports that its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed, “ridiculous”. Pakistan intelligence is “pretty certain” the U.S. air strike that killed the Pak Taliban leader’s wife and father-in-law killed the leader as well (AJE).
CNN POLL: 54% of Americans oppose the ongoing war in Afghanistan (Antiwar.com).
U.K. Gen. Sir David Richards says the “committment” to Afghanistan could last 30-40 years. Sir David is the incoming head of the British Army (Times).
A U.S. air strike in the Afghan Kandahar Province killed five cucumber farmers. U.S. officials thought they were “militants loading munitions into a van”. (AntiWar.com)
“Iran is unlikely to be able to produce enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon until at least 2013, according to a U.S. government intelligence estimate made public Thursday,” writes Daniel Luban (IPS). “The [U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research’s] estimate is in line with other recent intelligence estimates suggesting that Iran is years away from a deliverable weapon, if it chose to pursue one.” Meanwhile, in small-penisville, Ret. U.S. Air Force Gen. Charles Wald says that attacking Iran is “a technically feasible and credible option” and The U.S. Director of National Intelligence is now saying the Iran is aiding the Taliban as Iran ‘welcomes’ the ‘fight against extremism’ in Afghanistan. Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran is seeking the “full elimination” of nuclear weapons. If 1,339,771 Iraqis hadn’t died in Iraq since the invasion after the 500,000 children who died from the sanctions during the Clinton Administration, the similarities of lies and ‘stupid’ would be hilarious.
The U.S. dollar dropped to its lowest level in ten months this week. Commodity-linked currencies like the Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand dollar hit ten-month highs along with the Brazilian real, the South Korean won and the Turkish lira (FT). Magically, gold is at a two-month high.
The U.S. deficit hit $1.3tn this July, $880bn more than was registered at July of 2008 (PTV). “U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner formally requested that Congress raise the $12.1 trillion statutory debt limit on Friday, saying that it could be breached as early as mid-October,” reports David Lawder reports (Reuters).
Will Georgia attempt to invade South Ossetia again? South Ossetian soldiers are preparing for it as the U.S. has continued to pledge support for Georgia (3:12):
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev ‘reaffirms’ support for South Ossetia. “I am certain that, in time, just and severe punishment, severe retribution, will come to those people who issued the criminal orders [to attack South Ossetia]”, he said (AJE). Mr. Medvedev has “serious concerns” with Georgia’s “everyday “warlike rhetoic” (RT).
Portugal has agreed to take two Syrians from Gitmo and grant them ‘special visas’ (AJE).
‘Alarming spike in executions’ since Iran election in June (AI). In the last 50 days, there have been 115 executions by the Iran gov’t. From the beginning of 2009 up to the June 12 election, there were 196 executions.
The E.U. seized generic drugs from India because they violated patents (FT). You want your biggest healthcare problem: this is it.
ASK MURRAY ROTHBARD: PART I and PART II. Wendy McElroy takes some of Prof. Rothbard’s sound bytes and uses them to answer FAQ.
Little Alex in Wonderland 