Rep. Michele Bachmann’s paranoid “One-World” delusion has reared its head yet again. While lunacy has traditionally been associated with the phases of the moon, this particular figment of Bachmann’s paranoia seems to wax and wane on an annual cyle coinciding with the yearly G-20 summit.

Bachmann: ‘I Don’t Want The United States to be in a Global Economy’

By Matt Corley
Think Progress
June 29, 2010

Excerpts

This past weekend, President Obama attended the G-20 Summit on international economic cooperation in Toronto, which ended with a declaration calling for member countries to work “to ensure a full return to growth with quality jobs, to reform and strengthen financial systems, and to create strong, sustainable and balanced global growth.” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), however, fears that the 20 countries were really working to set up “a one world government.”

In an interview on Scott Hennen’s radio show today, Bachmann claimed that the purpose of the G-20 was to “bind together the world’s economies.” …

BACHMANN: “Well, President Obama is trying to bind the United States into a global economy where all of our nations come together in a global economy. I don’t want the United States to be in a global economy where, where our economic future is bound to that of Zimbabwe. I can’t, we can’t necessarily trust the decisions that are being made financially in other countries.”

“So I think clearly this is a very bad direction because when you join the economic policy of different nations, it is one short step to joining political unity and then you would have literally, a one world government,” said Bachmann. “I don’t want to cede United States authority to a transnational organization.”

Audio: Bachmann worries about a “global economy”

Matt Yglesias notes that “the existence of a global economy in which events outside our borders impact us is not something Barack Obama dreamed up, and the idea that having world leaders gather for occasional meetings constitutes a ‘one world government’ is insane.”

But it’s not new for Bachmann to dream up nightmarish scenarios about the U.S. ceding its economic sovereignty. Around the time of the 2009 G-20 Summit, she peddled a false conspiracy theory that the world was moving toward a unified global currency. “This is not Michele Bachmann being a kook,” declared the Minnesota congresswoman. It was and is. …

Read comments

H/T Dump Bachmann

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Related report on this site

Bachmann Says “I’m Not a Kook” (March 28, 2009)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — June 30, 2009

The Bachmann File

ACORN will be a paid partner with the Census Bureau and “they will be in charge of going door-to-door and collecting data from the American public.”
— Michele Bachmann, Wednesday, June 17, 2009.

Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details

The Constitution only requires us to tell the Census Bureau “how many people are in our home.”
— Michele Bachmann, Wednesday, June 17, 2009.

Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details

2 ‘Pants on Fires’ for Bachmann

One-year retrospective: One year ago today I reported that between January 2008 and June 2009, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) was 0 for 5 on the PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter. Her latest ratings at the time involved two “ridiculously false statements” regarding the 2010 Census.

Bachmann Calls Oil Spill Victim Escrow Account
‘a redistribution-of-wealth fund’

By Patrick Caldwell
The Minnesota Independent
June 16, 2010

MnIndy file photo

Excerpts

Hours before President Obama’s Oval Office address regarding the BP oil spill, Rep. Michele Bachmann had some choice words for the escrow account in the works — designed to aid spill victims — during a luncheon Tuesday held at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC. She called it a “redistribution-of-wealth fund.”

In her address to the group, Bachmann attacked the White House proposal for BP to arrange a $20 billion escrow account to pay for damages from the oil spill:

The president just called for creating a fund that would be administered by outsiders, which would be more of a redistribution-of-wealth fund.  And now it appears like we’ll be looking at one more gateway for more government control, more money to government.  If there is a disaster, why is it that government is the one who always seems to benefit after a disaster, and that’s of course what cap-and-trade would be.

Full details of how the escrow account would be operated are pending, but early reports describe the account as one run by an independent panel, and it is intended to hold BP liable for all damages accrued due to the oil spill. The account’s funds will go toward paying for both cleanup efforts and damages for individuals such as Gulf Coast fishermen whose livelihoods have been damaged by the sudden toxicity in the ocean and beaches. …

Bachmann had some words of advice for Obama, as well: Don’t demonize BP. …

They shouldn’t have to be fleeced and make chumps to have to pay for perpetual unemployment and all the rest — they’ve got to be legitimate claims.

The other thing we have to remember is that Obama loves to make evil whatever company it is that he wants to get more power from. He makes them evil, and what we’ve got to ask ourselves is: Do we really want to be paying $9 for a gallon of gas? Because that could be the final result of this. 

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Related reports

Bachmann backs off BP defense, as GOPers distance from Barton (Andy Birkey, Minnesota Independent, June 17, 2010) — Rep. Michele Bachmann on Wednesday appeared to back off her criticisms of the Obama administration’s plans to have BP pay for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as other Republicans weighed in the plan: Rep. Joe Barton apologized to BP for the escrow fund, while Republican Rep. Jeff Miller called for Barton to step down from his leadership post on the House energy committee. … Full story

Bachmann mentioned in new DNC video about Barton apology (Paul Schmelzer, Minnesota Independent, June 17, 2010) — Rep. Michele Bachmann gets a mention by a CNN figure who describes the Sixth District Republican as being among “tea party spokespeople” who oppose the fund. … Full story

National Dems highlight Bachmann race in Minnesota (The Examiner, June 14, 2010) – National Democrats are adding Republican Michele Bachmann’s Minnesota district to an expanded list of GOP seats Democrats are targeting in this year’s election. A spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said state Sen. Tarryl Clark has been added to its “Red to Blue” program. That’s a sign that the party may spend money on the race in Minnesota’s 6th District, the most conservative in the state. … Full story

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 WCCO video

Pat Kessler reporting on WCCO

 Michele Bachmann on BP, Obama (WCCO, June 16, 2010) – Pat Kessler interviews Rep. Michele Bachmann (13:20)

 Michele Bachmann to BP: Don’t be a chump (WCCO, June 16, 2010) — Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann warned BP chairman not to be a chump. Political reporter Pat Kessler reports (03:38)

MSNBC video

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6/21/10 Update

Bill O’Reilly Chastises Michele Bachmann over Obama Extortion Comments

FOX News commentator Bill O’Reilly takes Rep. Michele Bachmann to task over her comments accusing the Obama administration of extorting funds from BP. (Corey Anderson MinnPost, June 21, 2010)

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6/22/10 Update

Clark Raises $30,000 to Air BP Commercial

By Paul Demko
Politics in Minnesota
June 21, 2010

Excerpts

Tarryl Clark raised $30,000 over the weekend from 800 donors in order to air a commercial attacking incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann over her comments about BP and the Gulf Coast oil spill, according to the Democratic challenger’s campaign.

Clark’s campaign released the spot on Friday. and also sent out a fundraising appeal to help pay for getting the ad up on the airwaves. Here’s the commercial:

… Bachmann went on John King’s CNN program to discuss the BP fund. She warned that the oil company shouldn’t become a “piggy bank” or a “permanent ATM card” for the federal government.

That same day, in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio, the two-term incumbent also criticized the Obama administration’s dealings with BP. “It sounds like the federal government essentially wants to nationalize BP, and this could be pushing this company into bankruptcy,” Bachmann said. …

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6/23/10 Update

Video of Michele Bachmann flying around the Gulf of Mexico out of New Orleans during her 2008 reelection campaign on a platform of “Drill, Baby, Drill!” — touring deep sea oil rigs and promoting a lift of the ban on deepwater oil exploration.

Photo collage posted by Avidor on the Dump Bachmann blog, June 23, 2010. The image of Michele Bachmann is from a junket to Alaska during her 2008 reelection campaign to promote oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR).   

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Related reports on this site

Big-Government Bachmann (June 4, 2010)

Gulf Coast Oil Disaster (June 3, 2010)

Gulf Coast Oil Spill is ‘The Big One’ (April 30, 2010)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — June 18, 2009

Al-Qaida’s reach  For nearly two decades, al-Qaida and groups it’s inspired have tried to attack U.S. and other Western targets across the world, with mixed results.

Terrorists Recruit for Cyberwar

One-year retrospective: One year ago today I reported that intelligence reports indicate terrorist groups that have long used the Internet to spread propaganda are increasingly tapping the Web to teach Islamic extremists how to be hackers, recruiting techies capable of breaching government or other sensitive network systems for cyberwarfare, and raising money through online fraud.

Latest News and Timeline of the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Gusher

A brown pelican covered in oil sits on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast on Thursday, June 3, 2010. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon has affected wildlife throughout the Gulf of Mexico. (Photo credit: Charlie Riedel / AP)

Live video

BP’s live stream This live video stream is provided by BP and could be interrupted at any time.

Slide presentation

Gulf oil disaster Thousands of gallons of oil are gushing from the busted well, fouling the water and coastline.

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Related reports on this site

Gulf Coast Oil Spill is The Big One (April 30, 2010)

$2 Gas? Bad News. (November 22, 2008)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — June 3, 2009

Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said “[Barack] Obama is like a wolf whose fangs tear your flesh and whose paws slit your face and then he calls on you to talk about peace.” (Photo credit: Reuters file) 

Al-Qaida Lashes Out At Obama

One-year retrospective: One year ago today I reported that Al-Qaida’s deputy leader criticized President Barack Obama’s upcoming speech to the Islamic world in Cairo, saying it would not change the “bloody messages” the U.S. military is sending Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. Al-Qaida has repeatedly lashed out at Obama since he was elected, a move some analysts believe indicates the terrorist organization is worried Obama will be effective in improving the U.S. image in the Muslim world.

Please Sign the Nominating Petition

Click on the image above for a downloadable (PDF) printable petition to help nominate Aubrey Immelman to run as an independent candidate against Rep. Michele Bachmann for the office of U.S. Representative in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District.

Minnesota Statutes require that anyone not running as a major-party candidate (Republican, DFL, and Independence parties) file by nominating petition to have their name placed on the general election ballot.

In my case — as an independent U.S. House of Representatives candidate unaffiliated with any of the major parties — 1,000 signatures are required from eligible voters in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District (Stearns, Benton, Sherburne, Wright, Anoka, and Washington counties) to gain ballot access.

The signatures must be collected during the filing period beginning May 18 and ending June 1, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.

If you are eligible to vote and would like to sign the petition, please contact my campaign by email for a copy of the petition or download the printable nominating petition (PDF) and mail it to the address below as soon as possible, but no later than Friday, May 28, 2010.

Immelman for Congress
P.O. Box 117
Sartell, MN 56377

Thank you for helping me gain ballot access as an independent candidate to challenge Rep. Michele Bachmann in the 2010 general election.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — May 22, 2009

The profile reveals that Dick Cheney has an amalgam of conscientious (obsessive) and dominant (aggressive) personality patterns, suggesting an “obsessive enforcer” leadership type.

Dick Cheney is Bashing Bush

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that when former Vice President Dick Cheney in a speech on national security delivered May 21, 2009 lambasted the change in security policy under President Barack Obama, he was not attacking the Obama administration so much as the Bush administration itself – considering he was essentially repeating many of the same arguments he had made unsuccessfully within the Bush White House as policy decisions increasingly went the other way in President Bush’s second term.

No Clear Explanation for Wall Streets Wild Plunge

Human error, computer trading programs, and concerns over the widening financial crisis in Europe cited as contributing factors

Update

Origin of Wall Streets plunge continues to elude officials (New York Times, May 8, 2010) — A day after a harrowing plunge in the stock market, federal regulators were still unable on Friday to answer the one question on every investors mind: What caused that near panic on Wall Street? Through the day and into the evening, officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal agencies hunted for clues amid a tangle of electronic trading records from the nations increasingly high-tech exchanges. But, maddeningly, the cause or causes of the markets wild swing remained elusive, leaving what amounts to a $1 trillion question mark hanging over the worlds largest, and most celebrated, stock market. … Full story

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago – May 6, 2009

In the 1970s, “the swine flu broke out . . . under another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter.

— Michele Bachmann, April 27, 2009.

Bachmann Ignites Truth-O-Meter

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter gave U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann a liar “Pants on Fire” rating for her false statement, “I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter. And I’m not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it’s an interesting coincidence.” In fact, the February 1976 scare happened on the watch of Gerald Ford, a Republican — not that President Ford was blameworthy in the least; in fact, he called for a nationwide vaccination program, in which 40 million Americans were vaccinated in just 10 days.

Oil Spill is the ‘Bad One’ Experts Feared

Environmental effect compared to Category 5 hurricane

In this August 1979 photo, Mexico’s runaway Ixtoc 1 oil well dumps oil into the Gulf of Mexico in what was the worst peacetime oil spill on record. (Photo credit: AP file)

By Seth Borenstein

April 30, 2010

WASHINGTON – What makes an oil spill really bad? Most of the ingredients for it are now blending in the Gulf of Mexico.

Experts tick off the essentials: A relentless flow of oil from under the sea; a type of crude that mixes easily with water; a resultant gooey mixture that is hard to burn and even harder to clean; water that’s home to vulnerable spawning grounds for new life; and a coastline with difficult-to-scrub marshlands.

Gulf Coast experts have always talked about “the potential for a bad one,” said Wes Tunnell, coastal ecology and oil spill expert at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. “And this is the bad one. This is just a biggie that finally happened.”

Recipe for devastation

It hasn’t quite become a total disaster yet. But it’s hard to imagine it not being devastating, said Ed Overton, who heads a federal chemical hazard assessment team for oil spills. The Louisiana State University professor has been testing samples of the spilled crude.

He compared what’s brewing to another all-too-familiar Gulf Coast threat: “This has got all the characteristics of a Category 5 hurricane.”

If conditions don’t change quickly, devastation of the highest magnitude is headed for somewhere along the coast, said Overton, who works with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

More than 200,000 gallons of oil a day are spewing from the blown-out well at the site of BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig, which exploded April 20 and sank two days later. Crews are using at least six remotely operated vehicles to try to shut off an underwater valve, but so far they’ve been unsuccessful. Meanwhile, high winds and waves are pushing oily water over the booms meant to contain it. Besides BP, a slew of federal and state agencies are scrambling to minimize the onslaught of damage.

‘This is relentless’

Experts in oil spills have drills every few years to practice their response for spills of “national significance.” One of those practice runs took place just last month in Maine. The Gulf of Mexico leak is a “combination of all the bad things happening” and makes it far worse than any disaster imagined in the drills, said Nancy Kinner, director of the Coastal Response Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.

“This is relentless,” Kinner said.

Most Americans think of Exxon Valdez when it comes to spills. But the potential and likelihood here “is well beyond that,” said University of Rhode Island ocean engineering professor Malcolm Spaulding. Because the Deepwater Horizon well has not been capped and may flow for months more, it should be compared to a bigger more dangerous one from a well explosion in 1979, said Tunnell. That was Ixtoc 1, off the coast of Mexico. It was the worst peacetime oil spill on record.

The current spill “is kind of a worst-case scenario,” Tunnell said.

What makes this spill relentless and most similar to Ixtoc 1 is that it’s an active well that keeps flowing. The Exxon Valdez was a tanker with a limited supply of oil. The rig 40 miles from the Gulf Coast may leak for months before a relief well can be drilled to stop the flow, Kinner said. …

Type of oil also a problem

The type of oil involved is also a major problem. While most of the oil drilled off Louisiana is a lighter crude, this isn’t. It’s a heavier blend because it comes from deep under the ocean surface, Overton said.

“If I had to pick a bad oil, I’d put this right up there. The only thing that’s not bad about this is that it doesn’t have a lot of sulfur in it and the high sulfur really smells bad.” …

This oil also emulsifies well, Overton said. Emulsification is when oil and water mix thoroughly together, like a shampoo, which is mostly water, said Penn State engineering professor Anil Kulkarni. …

And once it becomes that kind of mix, it no longer evaporates as quickly as regular oil, doesn’t rinse off as easily, can’t be eaten by oil-munching microbes as easily, and doesn’t burn as well, experts said. …

Oil pushing toward sensitive coastal areas

The wind and waves are also pushing the oil directly toward some of the most sensitive coastal areas: the marshlands of Louisiana and surrounding states.

And there are three types of beaches: sandy, rocky and marshy. Sandy beaches, like those in Florida, are the easiest to clean, Overton said. By far the hardest are marshlands and that’s where the oil is heading first.

Marshes are so delicate that just trying to clean them causes damage, Kinner said. Once the oily mess penetrates, grasses must be cut. But it also penetrates the soil and that is extremely difficult to get out, she said.

The normal bacteria that eats oil needs oxygen to work, and in the soils of the marsh, there’s not enough oxygen for that process, she said.

It’s also the time of year in the Gulf of Mexico when fish spawn, plankton bloom and the delicate ecosystem is at a vulnerable stage.

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Related

Top 10 worst oil spills

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — April 30, 2009

MN-06 H1N1 Situation Report

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, in the public interest, I featured information about the H1N1 novel virus (swine flu) pandemic, including links to news reports and resources.

Christians Converge in Jerusalem, Rome

Good Friday rituals mark holiest day

A Christian pilgrim holds a cross as he stands on a rooftop overlooking the Via Dolorosa, the “Way of Suffering,” tracing Jesus’ final steps, during a Good Friday procession in Jerusalem’s Old City, Friday, April 2, 2010. Christians are marking the solemn period of Easter. (Photo credit: Sebastian Scheiner / AP)

By Amy Teibel

April 2, 2010

JERUSALEM – The cobblestone alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City became moving forests of wooden crosses as Christian pilgrims and clergymen commemorated the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, Good Friday.

In Rome, meanwhile, pilgrims arrived in St. Peter’s Square as the church defends itself against accusations that Pope Benedict XVI played a role in covering up sex abuses cases. …

Good Friday rituals center on the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Christian tradition says Jesus was crucified and buried before his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

While Catholics and Orthodox Christians follow different calendars, this year their Easters coincide and the churches are commemorating Good Friday together. …

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162,000 Jobs Added in March, Most in 3 Years

Video

Obama: Economy ‘beginning to turn the corner’ (NBC News, April 2, 2010) – Speaking at a town hall in Charlotte, North Carolina, President Obama says he’s encouraged by new jobs numbers, but it will take time to see the strong and sustained job growth the nation needs. (11:25)

April 2, 2010 

WASHINGTON – The nation’s economy posted its largest job gain in three years in March, while the unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent for the third straight month.

President Barack Obama on Friday hailed the report showing the largest job creation number in nearly three years. “We are beginning to turn the corner,” he said.

The increase in payrolls is the latest sign that the economic recovery is gaining momentum and healing in the job market is beginning. Still, the healing is likely to be slow, and most economists don’t expect new hiring to be fast enough this year to rapidly reduce the unemployment rate.

The Labor Department said employers added 162,000 jobs in March, the most since the recession began but below analysts’ expectations of 190,000. The total includes 48,000 temporary workers hired for the U.S. Census, also fewer than many economists forecast.

Private employers added 123,000 jobs, the most since May 2007. …

The economy began recovering in the middle of last year, but is only now showing modest job gains. …

Friday’s jobs report follows positive data earlier this week that showed consumers are increasing their spending and manufacturing activity is growing at its fastest pace in more than five years. Economists are increasingly confident that the nation will avoid a “double-dip” recession, in which growth slows after a short burst at the end of last year. …

Analysts expect the economy will expand at a roughly 3 percent pace in the current January-to-March quarter. That’s roughly half the 5.6 percent pace seen in the final quarter of last year.

Normally, growth in the 3 percent range would be considered respectable. But the nation is emerging from the worst recession since the 1930s. Growth needs to be in the 5 percent range or higher to quickly drive down the unemployment rate. Both the Federal Reserve and Obama administration expect joblessness will remain above 9 percent through the end of this year.

Video

Bikini graph shows jobs gains (MSNBC, April 2, 2010) — Washington Posts Ezra Klein joins the Rachel Maddow show to talk about whether or not the economy is turning the corner, and how the unemployment rate is used in politics. (12:24)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago – April 2, 2009

PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I featured PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning project of the St. Petersburg Times to help find the truth in American politics by fact-checking statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists, and interest groups and rating them on the Truth-O-Meter.

Related: The Bachmann File

Bin Laden Blames U.S. for Climate Change

The Associated Press via NBC News
Jan. 29, 2010

CAIRO – Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has called for the world to boycott American goods and the U.S. dollar, blaming the United States and other industrialized countries for global warming, according to a new audiotape released Friday.

In the tape, broadcast in part on Al-Jazeera television, bin Laden warned of the dangers of climate change and said that the way to stop it is to bring “the wheels of the American economy” to a halt.

He blamed Western industrialized nations for hunger, desertification and floods across the globe, and called for “drastic solutions” to global warming, and “not solutions that partially reduce the effect of climate change.”

Bin Laden has mentioned climate change and global warning in past messages, but the latest tape was his first dedicated to the topic.

Climate change an ‘actual fact’

The speech, which included almost no religious rhetoric, could be an attempt by the terror leader to give his message an appeal beyond Islamic militants. …

“Speaking about climate change is not an intellectual luxury, the phenomenon is actual fact.”

He pointed out that former President George W. Bush had not signed the Kyoto emissions agreement although most industrialized countries did.

Grave ramifications

Bin Laden targeted the U.S. economy in particular in the recording, calling for a boycott of American products and an end to the dollar’s domination as a world currency.

“We should stop dealings with the dollar and get rid of it as soon as possible,” he said.

“I know that this has great consequences and grave ramifications, but it is the only means to liberate humanity from slavery and dependence on America.” …

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Related reports on this site

Al-Qaida Aims to Hit U.S. with WMD (Jan. 26, 2010)

Al-Qaidas Next High-Value Target (Jan. 18, 2010)

Where is Osama Bin Laden? (Dec. 10, 2009)

Osama bin Laden Personality Profile (Dec. 6, 2009)

Adapting to Climate Change (Dec. 3, 2009)

Bin Laden Attacks Obama (Sept. 14, 2009)

Bin Laden Rails Against Obama (June 4, 2009)

Al-Qaida Lashes Out At Obama (June 3, 2009)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago – January 30, 2009

Blackwater contractors secure the site of a roadside bomb attack near the Iranian embassy in central Baghdad in 2005. (Photo credit: Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP – Getty Images)

Blackwater Booted from Iraq

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that Iraq denied North Carolina-based Blackwater Worldwide (Xe), which guards American diplomats in Iraq, an operating license because of a deadly shooting spree in Baghdad. Iraqi officials said the lingering outrage over a September 2007 shooting in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead led to its decision. The shooting strained relations between Washington and Baghdad and fueled the anti-American insurgency in Iraq, where many Iraqis saw the bloodshed as a demonstration of American brutality and arrogance.

Iranians Seize Iraqi Oil Well, Iraq Official Says

Baghdad in talks to decide next move with Tehran

Gas is vented from the al-Fakkah oil field near Amara, Iraq, Dec. 8, 2009. Iraq on Friday said Iran had seized one oil well in the field. (Photo credit: Atef Hassan / Reuters)

Dec. 18, 2009

BAGHDAD – Iranian troops have crossed into Iraqi territory and seized an oil well that lies in a disputed area along the two countries’ southern border, Iraq’s deputy foreign minster said Friday.

The deputy minister, Mohammed Haj Mahmoud, said Iranian troops seized oil well No. 4 Thursday night in the al-Fakkah oil field, located about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad. The oil field is one of Iraq’s largest.

Oil prices rose slightly after news of the incident.

“We are coordinating with the Oil Ministry regarding this issue. This is not the first time that the Iranians have tried to prevent Iraqis from investing in oil fields in border areas. Tomorrow, we might summon the Iranian ambassador to discuss this issue,” Mahmoud told The Associated Press.

The al-Fakkah field is considered a shared field between Iran and Iraq, meaning both nations are able to pump oil from it, but the Iraqis consider oil well No. 4 theirs.

In Washington, a U.S. official said that although Iranians have crossed the border before, they had not previously ventured this far.

Iraqi security forces were in the area, but there are no reports of any fighting or that any shots were fired, he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

No U.S. troops were in the area and the Iranians are believed to have left the area, he said.

Such incidents have happened before along the Iran-Iraq border, which was never clearly delineated after the brutal war between the two countries in the 1980s. …

The deputy foreign minister said he did not know whether the Iranians were still in control of the oil well. The U.S. military said it did not have any information on the incident. …

According to Iraq’s state-run Iraqiya television, the National Security Council, headed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, was meeting Friday night to discuss the issue. …

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Late update

Iranians Seize Iraqi Oil well on Border, Iraq Says

Dec. 18, 2009

BAGHDAD – Iranian forces crossed into Iraq and seized an oil well just over the two countries’ disputed border, Iraq’s government said Friday, prompting a protest from Baghdad and providing a dramatic display of the sometimes tenuous relations between the wary allies.

The incident could trouble Iraq’s drive to attract the international investment needed to develop its beleaguered oil sector, analysts said, and it raised questions about the two countries’ ties, which had improved greatly after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

According to Iraq’s deputy foreign minister, Mohammed Haj Mahmoud, Iranian troops crossed into Iraqi territory on Thursday and seized oil well No. 4 in the al-Fakkah oil field, located in Maysan province about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad. The oil field is one of Iraq’s largest. …

Relations between the two countries have improved dramatically since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam, who in the ’80s attacked Iran and started an almost decade-long war. Since Saddam’s ouster, however, both countries have had Shiite-led governments, a rarity in the mostly Sunni Middle East. …

Iranian soldiers carrying rifles seized the well Thursday night in a 25-car convoy and ordered the Iraqi workers to leave the area, according to a worker at the site who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution. The soldiers then mounted an Iranian flag inside the well, he said.

There were no reports of violence during the incident, and Iranian forces left the well on Friday, leaving the flag behind, the worker said. His account could not be immediately confirmed.

Analysts said it was too early to say whether the incident would mushroom into greater tension but said it could raise concerns with oil companies looking to invest in Iraq. Oil prices rose slightly after news of the incident. …

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12/20/09 Update

Iraq says Iranian troops left disputed oil well (AP, Dec. 20, 2009) — A standoff between Iraq and Iran over a remote oil well ended peacefully Sunday as Iranian forces pulled back from the disputed site. … Full report

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MORE IRAQ NEWS

Car Bomb Near Central Baghdad Restaurant Kills 3

Suicide blast kills 3 in Baghdad (Dec. 18, 2009) – At least three people are dead after a suicide bomber exploded outside a popular restaurant in Baghdad. MSNBC.com’s Dara Brown reports. (00:29)

Dec. 17, 2009

BAGHDAD – A car bomb exploded outside a popular restaurant in central Baghdad on Thursday night, killing three people and wounding 16 as diners were out enjoying the start to their weekend, police and hospital officials said.

The explosion happened around 7:10 p.m. outside the City Chef restaurant in the Karradah neighborhood. Diners were among those injured, police said. …

The attack happened just days after three car bombs were detonated across the Tigris River, outside the Green Zone, and a week after suicide bombers killed 127 and wounded more than 500 in Baghdad. …

At an hourlong news conference Wednesday, al-Maliki cited the continuing investigation of the Dec. 8 attacks. He said several security forces were involved in the probe.

He also appeared to say that some of the alleged plotters were connected to security forces, telling a news conference: “The investigation is continuing and different security bodies have played a role in revealing the involved net, which is a big one – 24 from a security body, 13 from another body and eight or nine from another one.” …

The prime minister is running for re-election in March on a campaign of restoring security in Iraq, but has recently come under criticism after a series of blasts targeting government institutions in downtown Baghdad. The attacks have called into question the government’s ability to protect itself and its citizens.

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Pentagon: Insurgents Intercepted Spy Videos

By Pauline Jelinek

Dec. 17, 2009

WASHINGTON – Insurgents in Iraq have hacked into live video feeds from Predator drones, a key weapon in a Pentagon spy system that serves as the military’s eyes in the sky for surveillance and intelligence collection.

Though militants could see the video, there is no evidence they were able to jam the electronic signals from the unmanned aerial craft or take control of the vehicles, a senior defense official said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence issues.

Obtaining the video feeds can provide insurgents with critical information about what the military may be targeting, including buildings, roads and other facilities. …

Full report

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — December 18, 2008

Iraq Coup d’État Foiled?

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that at least 25 Iraqi interior ministry officials had been arrested, including several accused of planning a coup; that the Iraqi government accused U.S. forces of killing at least three Trade Ministry employees in a pre-dawn raid on ministry property in Baghdad; and that attackers shot and beheaded Nahla Hussein al-Shaly, 37, leader of the women’s league of the Kurdish Communist Party, reportedly because she promoted women’s rights in Iraq.

Microsoft Network, promoting its new bing! search engine, recently featured a demo search of “angry Americans.”

It caught my attention, because history has shown that times of economic uncertainty — as we’re currently experiencing while bogged down in two wars in the aftermath of 9/11 — can be a fertile breeding ground for extremist ideologies, as we saw in Germany during the Great Depression followed a humiliating defeat in World War I.

Following are the search results.