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This week on Uprising:

* US Intelligence: No Nukes in Iran
* Empire Notes on Venezuela’s Referendum Defeat
* Pakistan: Turmoil in Lead Up to Elections
* Black Agenda Report on the Sub-Prime Housing Bubble
* Crisis Continues in Somalia

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US Intelligence: No Nukes in Iran

GUEST: Muhammed Sahimi, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of
Southern California

In what appears to be a blow to the Bush Administration’s plans for war and sanctions on Iran, a US intelligence report has asserted that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program four years ago. The National Intelligence Estimate represents the consensus of all 16 American spy agencies. In October President Bush warned that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons could ‘ignite World War III.’ Reacting to the report earlier this week, Bush called the report “a warning signal,” not grounds for reassurance, and refused to renounce a military option for Iran. His allies, Britain and France lined up behind him. According to British PM Gordon Brown, “the report confirms we were right to be worried about Iran seeking to develop nuclear weapons.” Other reactions to the report were quite the opposite. Mohammed El Baradei, the head of International Atomic Energy Agency, said the report “should help to defuse the current crisis” over Iran’s nuclear program and called for swift negotiations to bring an end to the standoff between Iran and the West. For its part, the Iranian government said it welcomed what it called a United States decision to “correct” its claim of an active Iranian nuclear weapons program. An interesting twist on this story comes from Robert Baer, a former CIA field officer writing for TIME.com, who concludes that Bush backed the report’s findings as it allowed him a face-saving way out of an unfeasible war.

Empire Notes on Venezuela’s Referendum Defeat

GUEST: Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade

Empire Notes are weekly commentaries filed by Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade. Today commentary is on Venezuela’s Referendum Defeat.

Empire Notes is online at www.empirenotes.org.

Pakistan: Turmoil in Lead Up to Elections

GUEST: Ali Ahsan, Pakistani lawyer and son of leading dissent lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan

As upcoming parliamentary elections approach in Pakistan, two former Prime Ministers are divided whether to participate or boycott them. Benazir Bhutto has said that her Pakistan People’s Party will take part in the January 8th elections under protest while reserving the right to ultimately boycott them. Nawaz Sharif, who recently returned to Pakistan after being deported, has decidedly called upon all political parties to boycott parliamentary elections. Last week Sharif was barred from running because of a prior conviction. Meanwhile, as the Pakistani President began his controversial third term, Pervez Musharraf resigned as chief of the army last week. Following his departure from the military, Musharraf has also announced that the state of emergency he declared on November 3rd of this year will be lifted on December 16th. Aitzaz Ahsan, the first person to be imprisoned under Pakistan’s state of emergency, plans to run for office despite the fact that he feels the process will most likely be rigged. Many believe that Ahsan’s legal challenge to Musharraf’s third presidential term was the true cause of the state of emergency.

Black Agenda Report on the Sub-Prime Housing Bubble

GUEST: Glen Ford is a writer and radio commentator and the Executive Editor of The Black Agenda Report

This week’s commentary is on the Sub-Prime Housing Bubble. Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

Crisis Continues in Somalia

GUEST: Leslie Lefkow, Senior Researcher at Human Rights Watch

The top humanitarian official at the United Nations, John Holmes, has urged more aid for Somalia, where serious violence has killed hundreds this year and sparked a dire humanitarian crisis. Somalia is considered one of the world’s worst developing humanitarian crises but very few aid agencies have been able to establish permanent and efficient operations there citing frequent check points and extortion. The political context of the crisis lies in the fierce fighting between Ethiopia-backed Somali forces and Islamist rebels which displaced at least 600,000 people from the capital Mogadishu since February. With the tacit approval of the US, the neighboring nation of Ethiopia intervened militarily in Mogadishu, enabling Somalia’s current transitional government to reclaim power from the Council of Islamic Courts militia. Senior United Nations officials in the region consider Somalia to be the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa, surpassing even Darfur in its horror and hopelessness.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“We prefer self-government with danger to servitude in tranquility.” — Kwame Nkrumah, anti-colonial African leader and former president of Ghana