US troops to leave Iraq...[ 2504 ]

Barack Obama: All US troops to leave Iraq in 2011

President Obama: "In the next two months our troops will pack up their gear and board convoys for the journey home"

BBC., 21 October 2011 Last updated at 18:01 GMT

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All US troops will be pulled out of Iraq by the end of the year, President Barack Obama has announced.

He ordered a complete withdrawal from the country, nearly nine years after the invasion under President George W Bush.
About 39,000 US troops remain in Iraq, down from a peak of 165,000 in 2008.
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The US and Iraq were in "full agreement" on how to move forward, Mr Obama said, adding: "The US leaves Iraq with our heads held high."
"That is how America's military efforts in Iraq will end."
According to the Department of Defense, there have been 4,408 American military deaths in Iraq since March 2003.
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Immunity Mr Obama spoke at the White House following a video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

He pledged assistance and "a strong and enduring partnership" with Iraqi government.

The US declared the end of its combat mission in Iraq in 2010. The deadline for complete troop withdrawal by end of 2011 was set during former President George W Bush's term in office.
However, the issue of a full pullout had been the subject of an ongoing debate.
Iraqi leaders had wanted 5,000 US troops to remain in a training capacity. But those trainers would not have received immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law.
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The Pentagon refused to accept that condition, with Defence Secretary Leon Panetta insisting that "we protect and provide the appropriate immunity for our soldiers".
The decision to pull out all US troops suggests no deal could be reached, despite Iraq's desire for continued access to US military expertise, correspondents say.
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Earlier this month, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said: "If we do not have agreement on the immunity, there will be no agreement on the number."
Many Iraqis are sensitive about the issue, given the number of civilian shootings involving US troops since the US-led invasion. Private contractors have already lost their immunity.
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Mr Obama said the withdrawal comes amid changes in American military priorities, including a troop drawdown in Afghanistan, and new political realities in the Middle East and Africa.
"The tide of war is receding," he said.

Soyuz rocket was launched from South America...[ 2503 ]

 

Soyuz rocket launched Friday after delay

By the CNN Wire Staff

October 21, 2011 -- Updated 1603 GMT (0003 HKT)

(CNN) -- A Soyuz rocket was launched Friday morning from a European space base in South America after a delay over a fueling hitch.
The rocket launched just after 6:30 a.m. ET.
The Russian-built Soyuz is hauling the first two satellites of a planned rival to the United States' Global Positioning System -- a major milestone for the European space industry.
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The satellites weigh about 700 kilograms (1,543 pounds) each and form the operational nucleus of Europe's 30-satellite Galileo navigation constellation, launch operator Arianespace said.
"Satellite positioning has already become the standard way of navigating," the European Space Agency said. " If the signals were switched off tomorrow, many ship and aircraft crews would find it inconvenient and difficult to revert to traditional navigation methods."
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European users currently rely on the GPS or Russian Glonass satellites, the agency said.
Scientists delayed the launch a few hours before liftoff Thursday after they detected a problem during fueling at the base in French Guiana, according to the agency.
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Soyuz's flight is the first to depart from European territory in Kourou, French Guiana.
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"October's launch will be doubly historic: the first Soyuz from a spaceport outside of Baikonur in Kazakhstan or Plesetsk in Russia and the start of building Europe's Galileo satnav constellation," the agency said in a statement released before the launch.
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The Galileo navigation constellation is a collaborative effort between the European Space Agency and the European Union. The space agency said it plans to launch four operational satellites in 2011 and 2012.

Last moments of Moammar Kadafi alive ( Video )...[ 2502 ]

The death of Moammar Kadafi ( Video )

REPORTING FROM LONDON -- Leaders of several North Atlantic Treaty Organization member nations were basking Thursday in former Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi’s demise.
“People in Libya today have an even greater chance after this news of building themselves a strong and democratic future,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said outside 10 Downing St. “I’m proud of the role that Britain has played in helping them to bring that about, and I pay tribute to the bravery of Libyans who helped to liberate their country.”

Cameron had taken a political risk by leading the push alongside French President Nicolas Sarkozy for a NATO-enforced no-fly zone in the name of a U.N. mandate to protect civilians from Kadafi loyalists. Throughout the seven-month operation, the alliance in essence served as the anti-Kadafi fighters’ air force, crippling the strongman’s forces and installations with relentless sorties that at times came close to killing him as well.


Sarkozy called Kadafi's death a milestone in the Libyan people's battle “to free themselves from the dictatorial and violent regime that was imposed on them for more than 40 years,” according to the Associated Press.
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Even Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, once so friendly with Kadafi that he was photographed kissing the Libyan leader’s hand, expressed no regret over his death.
“Sic transit gloria mundi,” Berlusconi was quoted as saying, Latin for “Thus passes the glory of the world.” He added, “Now the war is finished.”
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In Washington, President Obama said the day belonged to the Libyan people.
"One year ago, the notion of a free Libya seemed impossible. But then the Libyan people rose up and demanded their rights," Obama said in remarks in the Rose Garden. “Today we can definitively say the Kadafi regime has come to an end.... One of the world’s longest-serving dictators is no more.”
Obama also paid tribute to the American military personnel and diplomats who took part in the Libya  intervention.
"Without putting a single U.S. service member on the ground, we achieved our objectives, and our NATO mission will soon come to an end," Obama said.

Occupy Wall Street was a long time coming. ...[ 2501 ]

Occupy Wall Street Has History on Its Side

Previous Protests Haven't Lasted as Long—or Accomplished as Much

• By DAVID WEIDNER

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To many Americans, Occupy Wall Street was a long time coming. On Wall Street, it seems to have been going on for a long time.

Wall Street Journal reporters in New York, Chicago and Washington, DC asked a variety of protestors for their views on the Occupy movement.

No, we're not talking about the six weeks the protest has been camping out. There's a long thread of Wall Street demonstration that dates back to after the Revolutionary War and establishment of a national bank.
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In many ways, Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange are the nation's town square, second only to the National Mall in Washington.
Wall Street protests are an American institution, from Father James Cox's Depression-era march on Washington, which I mentioned last week, to the populist movements of the late 19th century, to the Hard Hat Riot of 1970.
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Though their effect on public policy, big financial interests and public perception vary, the movements shared a central theme, except for the Hard Hats: greed run amok, inequality of income and a government beholden to financial interests.
Until now, none has had the singular focus of banking and finance, says Charles Geisst, a finance professor at Manhattan College and author of "Wall Street: A History."

Enlarge Image

Reuters

A member of the Occupy Wall Street movement protests in New York Oct. 18.

"This is a bit unique," Mr. Geisst says. "Historically, Wall Street has been a convenient target but never really a direct target."
The closest Wall Street came to the bull's-eye was in the late 19th century, when the populist movement railed against robber barons, trusts and labor conditions. J.P. Morgan, the man not the bank, was a favorite target of the protests. A raft of legislation aimed at breaking up monopolies and improving workers' rights followed.

Your money manager is too terrified to occupy Wall Street - with your money, MarketWatch's Brett Arends says. Photo: Getty Images.

Things quieted until 1920. Just past noon on Sept. 16 of that year, a horse-drawn carriage stopped near 23 Wall Street, where J.P. Morgan had an office. The carriage carried a bomb made from 100 pounds of dynamite and 500 pounds of cast iron. After the explosion, 38 were dead and hundreds injured.
The bombers were never caught, which led to several theories about the origin. The most popular suspect was the Galleanists, a group of Italians frustrated with economic and social conditions.
But the bombing didn't incite the reaction its perpetrators wanted. The confusion about exactly who was responsible—Bolshevists were an early suspect, according to reports in the New York Times—was part of the problem. Outrage over the attack seemed to turn public opinion against anticapitalists. And the stock market soon started a bull run.
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The Hard Hat riot differed in that its central issue was the Vietnam War. College and high school students gathered at Broad and Wall streets on May 8, 1970, to memorialize the four students killed at Kent State a few days earlier. They were confronted by an estimated 200 construction workers. A melee ensued. Reports of the riot said Wall Street brokers and traders tried to break up the fights.
From a financial-history perspective, the riot is only notable because of where it happened, not why it happened.
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A few years later, Wall Street was the site of more protests. This time, the cause was shareholder rights, Mr. Geisst says. Again, he says, the impact of those protests was hard to gauge.
In 1990, 250 protesters were arrested when groups such as Earth Day Wall Street called for corporate environmental responsibility and marched at the New York Stock Exchange and in San Francisco's Financial District. A pamphlet from that protest reportedly said: "Wall Street is the symbolic center for an economy based on limitless greed and speculation."
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In 2000, a "May Day" protest brought out mounted riot police in New York and closed the visitors' gallery at the Chicago Board of Trade. Protesters carried signs that would fit in neatly with Occupy Wall Street: "People Before Profit" and "Chicago Board of Traitors."
But if the history of Wall Street protest is a thread, Occupy Wall Street represents a big knot. Mr. Geisst says there's been no protest of this length on Wall Street. And he believes the protest has exceeded all previous efforts by expanding nationally and internationally. Part of the appeal is Occupy Wall Street's use of social networking and blogging.
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"It's the same thing that's been happening in the Middle East," he says.
That part is no accident. Occupy Wall Street is based on the Arab Spring model. Occupy Wall Street hasn't come close to overthrowing a government, of course, but it likely has accomplished more than any other protest in the rich history of demonstrations at Wall and Broad streets.
That's why Occupy Wall Street is different, even for bankers and brokers who have lived through a long history of protest.

Write to David Weidner at david.weidner@dowjones.com

Is Moammar Gadhafi dead ? ....[ 2500 ]

Reports indicate Gadhafi is dead

By the CNN Wire Staff

October 20, 2011 -- Updated 1326 GMT (2126 HKT)

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Reports indicate deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is dead, the National Transitional Council spokesman said Thursday.
Revolutionary fighters attacked the house where Gadhafi was hiding, Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam told CNN. Gadhafi was shot while trying to flee, he said.
"Colonel Gadhafi is history," he said, adding that interim council's chairman or prime minister needs to officially confirm the death.
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However, Gadhafi's status remained unclear as a host of conflicting reports surfaced Thursday. None could be independently verified.
AbdelHakim Bilhajj, head of the National Transitional Council's military arm in Tripoli announced Gadhafi;s death live on Al-Jazeera Arabic Thursday. It was also reported by National Transitional Council television station Al-Ahrar. It did not cite a source.

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A grisly cell phone photograph distributed by the news agency Agence France Presse appeared to show the arrest of a bloodied Gadhafi. CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the image.
Gadhafi's capture was also reported by Libyan television, citing the Misrata Military Council.
The U.S. State Department could not confirm any of the reports about Gadhafi's capture or killing, a spokeswoman said.
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Abubaker Saad, who served as a Gadhafi aide for nine years, said it didn't really matter whether Gadhafi was dead or alive -- as long as he was captured.
"As long as he was on the run he represented a very ominous danger to the Libyan people," Saad told CNN.
In another major development, revolutionary fighters said they wrested control of Sirte Thursday. And NATO said it is going to convene soon for a meeting to discuss ending its operation in Libya, a source told CNN.
Earlier, NATO aircraft struck two pro-Gadhafi military vehicles in the Sirte vicinity.
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Without foolproof evidence of Gadhafi's capture, it was unclear whether Thursday would turn out to be the biggest day in recent Libyan history. Statements made by representatives of Libya's new leadership in the past have not always turned out to be true.
But Libyans, who have been waiting for months for Gadhafi's demise, erupted in deafening celebrations.
Horns blared and celebratory gunfire burst into the air in Tripoli.
Gadhafi ruled Libya with an iron fist for 42 years. The mercurial leader came to power in a bloodless coup against King Idris in 1969, when he was just an army captain.
By the end of his rule, he claimed to be "King of Kings," a title he had a gathering of tribal leaders grant him in 2008.
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But a February uprising evolved into civil war that resulted in ousting the strongman from power.
Many were waiting for photographs as proof of Gadhafi's capture.
Earlier, anti-Gadhafi fighters said they had taken control of the last holdout of loyalists in Sirte. They said they were still battling pockets of resistance, but they were in control of District 2.
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Sirte has been the big prize for Libya's NTC, waiting for the city to fall to officially declare liberation.
Most residents abandoned Sirte in the many weeks of bloody battles that raged there. Revolutionary forces have fought Gadhafi's men street by street, cornering the last vestiges of the old regime to that last district.
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Gadhafi, wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged crimes against humanity has not been seen in public in months. Many believed he was hiding out in Sirte after rebel forces marched into Tripoli in August.
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CNN's Dan Rivers, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Barbara Starr contributed to this report