Top CIA Pick Has Credentials and Skeptics
By Scott Shane and Mark Mazzetti The New York Times
Saturday 06 May 2006
And I place alot of money on some ugly ghosts in his closet ;)
Washington - Gen. Michael V. Hayden, who senior administration officials said Friday was the likely choice of President Bush to head the Central Intelligence Agency, has a stellar résumé for a spy and has long been admired at the White House and on Capitol Hill.
But General Hayden, the principal deputy director of national intelligence, would also face serious questions about the controversy over the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program, which he oversaw and has vigorously defended.
His Senate nomination hearing, if he is chosen to succeed Director Porter J. Goss, is likely to reignite debate over what civil libertarians say is the program's violation of Americans' privacy.
Mr. Bush has often reserved decisions about top-level appointments until just before they are announced, but senior administration officials said Friday that General Hayden was the clear leading candidate.
Confirmation hearings would give the administration's opponents a highly visible forum for questioning not only the eavesdropping program but President Bush's overall handling of national security.
And while he might bring to the beleaguered CIA the power of his ties to the White House and to his current boss, John D. Negroponte, director of national intelligence, General Hayden could find his background as an Air Force officer and specialist in technical intelligence systems does not suit some at the CIA, which specializes in traditional espionage.
The CIA has long resented the expenditure of billions of dollars on technical systems, like spy satellites, while complaining that the budget for human spies has been too low.
Even though General Hayden has not been closely associated with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, his pedigree as a military officer could reinforce concerns at the spy agency that the Pentagon is intruding into its traditional bailiwick.
While General Hayden has extensive administrative experience, he would face daunting challenges at the CIA, an agency that has been demoralized and has endured turbulence since the mid-1990's. As N.S.A. director until last year, General Hayden oversaw the program to intercept international phone calls and e-mail messages of Americans and others in the United States believed to have links to Al Qaeda.
General Hayden, 61, has been the program's most public defender, repeatedly asserting that it is legal and constitutional even though the eavesdropping is done without warrants from a special court set up in 1978 to authorize such surveillance.
"I've taken an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States," General Hayden said at the National Press Club in January as he defended what the Bush administration calls the Terrorist Surveillance Program. "I would never violate that Constitution, nor would I abuse the rights of the American people." (then you're hanging with the wrong people and in the wrong line of work)
Some critics of the program say that General Hayden's public assurances that N.S.A. has always followed the laws governing domestic eavesdropping are difficult to square with his role in the secret program.
Marc D. Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, said the nomination would be strongly opposed by civil libertarians.
"We have to confront the chilling prospect that the incoming head of the CIA believes it's permissible to conduct warrantless surveillance on the American public," Mr. Rotenberg said Friday night.
Last year the CIA lost its half-century-old standing at the center of the sprawling intelligence bureaucracy, as Mr. Negroponte succeeded Mr. Goss as the president's chief adviser on intelligence.
Melissa Boyle Mahle, a CIA officer from 1988 to 2002 who wrote a 2004 book on the agency, "Denial and Deception," said, "The benefit of someone coming from the D.N.I.'s office is obvious - he'd have the immediate ear of Negroponte."
Though he has spent seven years at the N.S.A. and the director's office and away from the Pentagon, General Hayden is a career military intelligence officer. Several senior military officers have been CIA director, and the current deputy director is Vice Adm. Albert M. Calland III of the Navy.
A bigger issue for some intelligence professionals might be General Hayden's lack of experience in traditional human intelligence.
Some officials want to intensify the CIA concentration on the clandestine service, and Mr. Goss's resistance to such a narrowing of the agency's mission is said to have been one reason for his ouster.
General Hayden, who grew up in a working-class family in Pittsburgh, drew mixed reviews at the N.S.A. He overhauled its management but began a multibillion-dollar modernization program, known as Trailblazer, which ran huge cost overruns and is widely considered to be a failure.
4.5.06
Cheney Lectures Russia About Reform
Cheney Lectures Russia About Reform
Shall we say... hippocryte?
CONTINUED 1 2
Next
Shall we say... hippocryte?
By DAVID ESPOThe Associated Press
Thursday, May 4, 2006; 9:08 AM
VILNIUS, Lithuania -- Vice President Dick Cheney, in remarks that caused a stir in neighboring Russia, accused President Vladimir Putin Thursday of restricting the rights of citizens and said that "no legitimate interest is served" by turning energy resources into implements of blackmail.
"In Russia today, opponents of reform are seeking to reverse the gains of the last decade," Cheney told a conference of Eastern European leaders whose countries once lived under Soviet oppression, and now in Russia's shadow.
  U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, left, sits during a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, unseen, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Thursday, May 4, 2006. Cheney and the presidents of eight former communist bloc countries arrived in the Lithuanian capital Wednesday for a conference on the future of the Baltic and Black sea regions. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis) (Mindaugas Kulbis - AP) |
Cheney's speech blended praise for the progress Eastern European countries have made toward democracy since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, with an exhortation to continue on the same path.
"The democratic unity of Europe ensures the peace of Europe," he said.
He said Russia has a choice to make when it comes to reform, and said that in many areas, "from religion and the news media to advocacy groups and political parties, the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of the people."
Other actions "have been counterproductive and could begin to affect relations with other countries," Cheney said, mentioning energy and border issues.
"No legitimate interest is served when oil and gas become tools of intimidation or blackmail, either by supply manipulation or attempts to monopolize transportation," he said.
"And no one can justify actions that undermine the territorial integrity of a neighbor, or interfere with democratic movements."
It was among the strongest remarks that any U.S. official has made publicly about Putin's leadership style. The Bush administration for the most part has tried to play down, at least publicly, any strong differences with Putin.
Andrei Kokoshin, chairman of a Russian State Duma committee, said he believes Cheney's remarks at the Vilnius forum are subjective and do not reflect the real situation in the former Soviet republics.
Cheney's remarks "hardly corresponds to many realities of the political processes that we see on the post-Soviet territory today," he said.
"The United States has to deal with an absolutely different Russia today - a Russia that has restored its real sovereignty in many areas and is pursuing a course on the world arena that meets mainly its own national interests," Kokoshin added.
CONTINUED 1 2
Next
3.5.06
3 Democrats Slam President over Defying Statutes
3 Democrats Slam President over Defying Statutes
Say he cannot claim powers above the law | ||
| by Charlie Savage | ||
| WASHINGTON - Three leading Democratic senators blasted President Bush yesterday for having claimed he has the authority to defy more than 750 statutes enacted since he took office, saying that the president's legal theories are wrong and that he must obey the law. ''We're a government of laws, not men," Senate minority leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, said in a statement. ''It is not for George W. Bush to disregard the Constitution and decide that he is above the law."
''The Bush-Cheney administration has cultivated an insidious brand of unilateralism that regularly crosses into an arrogance of power," Leahy said in a statement. ''The scope of the administration's assertions of power is stunning, and it is chilling." Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, also said that the Bush administration, abetted by ''a compliant Republican Congress," was undermining the checks and balances that ''guard against abuses of power by any single branch of government." The opposition lawmakers were reacting to a report in Sunday's Boston Globe detailing the scope of Bush's assertions that he can ignore laws that conflict with his interpretation of the Constitution. Bush is the first president since Thomas Jefferson to stay so long in office without vetoing a bill -- an act that gives the public notice that he has rejected a provision and gives Congress a chance to override his judgment. Instead, Bush has signed into law every bill that reached his desk, often in public ceremonies in which he praises the legislation and its sponsors. Then, after the ceremony, Bush has quietly appended ''signing statements" to more than one out of every 10 bills he has signed, laying out his legal interpretation for government officials to follow when implementing the new laws. The statements, which until recently attracted little attention in Congress or in the media, are filed without fanfare in the federal record. In many cases, Bush has said he can ignore acts of Congress that seek to regulate the military and spy agencies, asserting the Constitution grants him that power as commander in chief. For example, he has claimed the power to waive a torture ban, provisions for oversight in the Patriot Act, limits on domestic wiretapping, and numerous regulations for the military. Other statutes Bush has asserted that he can ignore have little to do with national security. They include some types of affirmative-action provisions, ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research. The White House has declined to answer questions about Bush's legal claims in his signing statements. ''We follow the practice that has been followed by previous administrations," spokeswoman Dana Perino said yesterday. But legal scholars say Bush's assertions have gone far beyond that of any previous president in US history. Bush has applied his signing statements to more than 750 new statutes. His numbers are by far a record for any US president, scholars say. Many scholars also contend that Bush is usurping some of the lawmaking powers of the Congress and Constitution-interpreting powers of the courts. But, Leahy said, because Bush's fellow Republicans control Congress, Democrats have no power to call hearings on Bush's attempt to ''pick and choose which laws he deems appropriate to follow." ''Just as disturbing as the president's use of press releases to announce which laws he will follow is the abject failure of the Republican-controlled Congress to act as a check against this executive power grab," Leahy said. ''Until Republican leaders let Congress fulfill its oversight role, this White House will have no incentive to stop this abuse of power." |
"Reason for Their Death Is Known"
Why can't they just say over 300,000 OR MORE murdered by US Military?
That would be telling the truth, and TRUTH is NOT an american policy.
America is GUILTY of genocide in Iraq~kmw
By Dahr Jamail
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Wednesday 03 May 2006
Death in Iraq. It is relentless and incessant.
Know what it is like when scores of your fellow citizens are being
killed every single day while the world proceeds unheedingly on? As a
journalist I've had but a taste of that poison during my eight months in
Iraq. Try it out: be an Iraqi for a day, into your fourth year of being
occupied, humiliated, tortured and killed, doing all you can just to
survive.
All communication with my Iraqi friends is punctuated by and smattered
with their use of the words "praying," "God," and "Insha'allah" (God
willing). Perhaps there is need to invoke something else altogether?
/And all the dead air is alive. With the smell of America's God.
- Harold Pinter, "War With Iraq"/
On one of the days when multiple car bombs drained the blood and souls
of scores in Baghdad, my closest friend wrote from there: "Dahr, This is
a very sad letter I'm writing you as a friend. My tears are coming down
due to the humiliation, suffering, frustration, thwarting defeat and
discomfiture we the Iraqi are living in. Please let people know some of
the news of what is happening to my country, my people and my religion."
Death lurks everywhere in Iraq today. Keeping up with the numbers of
dead is impossible. A doctor working at one of the larger hospitals in
Baghdad recently called it a "camp" because the courtyard of the
hospital is constantly filled with members of the Shia Badr militia, who
continue to carry out their death squad activities of killing Sunnis and
rival Shia. "The Badr are all over the hospital, looking for people,"
said the doctor. "The injured brought here sometimes die before even
reaching the ward, because the Badr are being obstacles for us. One of
the men running our morgue was killed by the Badr. My friends are
warning me to be careful, to keep my mouth shut."
The numbers are being hidden . and the Badr, operating out of the
Ministry of Interior, which is funded by the US, are making sure the
numbers remain shrouded.
Yet on Tuesday of this week, a spokesman at that same hospital, speaking
on condition of anonymity of course, announced that in the last 48 hours
alone Yarmouk Hospital had received 65 bodies, most of them slaughtered
by death squads in execution-style murders. That day they had received
40 bodies, and Monday, 25.
Iraqis are at far greater risk when they speak out about the true number
of the dead than western journalists.
Those who speak out jeopardize their lives, like Faik Bakir, the director of the Baghdad morgue. Bakir fled Iraq fearing for his life in early March, after reporting that over 7,000 people had been killed by death squads in recent months. In an article in the Guardian
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1721366,00.html> on March 2nd,
it was made clear by John Pace, a UN official who worked in Iraq until
February, that "The vast majority of bodies showed signs of summary
execution - many with their hands tied behind their back. Some showed
evidence of torture, with arms and leg joints broken by electric
drills."
He said that the killings had been ongoing long before the
rampant bloodshed that followed the bombing of the Shia shrine in
Samarra. The article added, "Mr. Pace, whose contract in Iraq ended last
month, said many killings were carried out by Shia militias linked to
the interior ministry run by Bayan Jabr, a leading figure in the Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri)."
This past Saturday I received information from the main morgue in
Baghdad from a doctor there, name withheld for security reasons.
"Yesterday we received 36 bodies from the police pickups. All of them
are unknown, without IDs, and we don't have refrigerators to put them in since all of ours are completely full already.
So we had to keep them on the ground. 12 of them were handcuffed, most of them received between 2 and 10 bullets, some many more than 10. We are not going to put them into biopsy. Reason for their death is known. Most of them are between
20 to 30 years . This is the number that was brought directly to us in
one day, plus there are the dead who are sent to the hospitals. They
will be put in the hospitals' morgues. We don't receive bodies from
hospitals nowadays, because we don't have a place to keep them. I can't
tell the exact number of killed people now, but it depends on the
situation. But what I can assure you of is that since the shrine
explosion, deaths have almost doubled. Daily, we receive between 70 to
80 bodies . you can see within these 40 minutes that I've talked with
you, we received 9 bodies.
Nearly every morning the count will be doubled twice this number, for the police find them at night. Most are either found in the streets or killed without sending them to hospitals.
Four days ago we received 24 bodies in just 2 hours."
At this same morgue back in June 2004, I interviewed the aforementioned
director, Dr. Faiq Bakir, who had to flee for his life. He said that
their maximum holding capacity with the freezers was 90 bodies, and
since January 2004 an average of well over 600 bodies each month had
been brought there. The cause of death for at least half of these were
gunshots or explosions. He also pointed out that those numbers did not
include the heavy fighting areas of Fallujah and Najaf.
In addition, he told me, "We deal only with suspicious deaths, not
deaths from natural causes. And so many bodies are buried that never go
to a morgue anywhere."
According to Dr. Bakir, the rate of bodies brought to the Baghdad Morgue
even back then was 3-4 times greater than it ever was during the regime
of Saddam Hussein. "I am sure that not all of the bodies that should
come here do," he continued before very diplomatically adding, "Because
our legal system has some problems right now."
Before the invasion, there was a coordinated system between Baghdad and
the other governorates, which allowed his morgue to track deaths
throughout the country, but this too had been smashed along with the
rest of the infrastructure of his country.
More recently, a doctor at another hospital shared information which
puts this in clearer perspective.
This past Sunday, a doctor from al-Numan hospital in the al-Adhamiya
district of Baghdad reported to my source in Baghdad: "Every major
hospital has either one or two refrigerators, depending on the
population of the area. As for Adhamiya we have one refrigerator that
holds a maximum of 10 bodies. Meanwhile there are two refrigerators in
the Shula hospital. We have not less than 18 major hospitals inside
Baghdad, in addition to the main morgue, which has 6 refrigerators that
contain 20 bodies each. In the emergencies we use refrigeration trucks
to put bodies inside - this is very familiar to the main morgue. I went
there a week ago. I have seen three refrigeration trucks inside the
yard. They were filled with bodies. They keep the bodies in the main
morgue for not more than 15 days, and if no one asks for them, they send
the bodies to the cemetery administration to deal with them. This
administration hands the bodies to some individuals who will bury them,
mostly in Najaf or in the cemeteries around Baghdad."
Reuters recently ran a story
<http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060427/wl_nm/iraq_killing_dc;_ylt=A9G_RwN46FBERUUByQlm.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA-->
titled, "In Baghdad, some killings get noticed, some don't." The story
read, "When gunmen killed a sister of an Iraqi vice president on
Thursday, it grabbed world headlines.
A few streets away, however,
another slaying, typical of hundreds in Baghdad in recent weeks, went
all but unnoticed. Indeed it might never have been recorded had
73-year-old Khatab al-Ani not been shot outside the home of a
journalist." The only part of this I would amend is "in recent weeks,"
because I know for a fact that random unreported killings have been the
norm in the capital city of Iraq for over two years now.
Another Iraqi source of mine works for an Iraqi relief NGO in Fallujah.
He told me that from the April and November 2004 US assaults on Fallujah
there were a minimum of 4,500 dead or missing (most of them dead), and
"killings in Fallujah and Ramadi are a daily reality for us." According
to this source, "Doctors in Fallujah estimate that an average of 3.5
people are being killed in Fallujah every day during 2006, while doctors
we know in Baghdad estimate that the number there is between 150 and 200 per day."
He went on to say, "The Lancet reported over 100,000 killed over a year
ago. This was even before many of the crimes committed by US troops, the
Iraqi so-called Army and the Government militias, who are all first
class killers, came to light. This brings the number to over 200,000 at
the least. On the other hand, those people (Bush and those claiming less
than 100,000 dead) not reporting the correct number of civilian
casualties - that is a major crime in itself. It looks like they don't
give a damn how many Iraqi people get killed."
Even the UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) humanitarian
news agency reported
<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/0e9b19596e7ec143feaa10e2d4d2e996.htm>
on April 26 that "More than 90 women become widows each day due to
continuing violence countrywide, according to government officials and
non-governmental organizations devoted to women's issues."
Another extremely telling point in the IRIN report is that "Although few
reliable statistics are available on the total number of widows in Iraq,
the Ministry of Women's Affairs says that there are at least 300,000 in
Baghdad alone, with another eight million throughout the country." The
report said that at least 15 police officers' wives are widowed every
day, and that local NGOs in Iraq said the situation had become much
worse since the 2003 US-led invasion of the country, which has brought
horrific violence on a level not seen before.
"Saddam Hussein was responsible for killing thousands of men during his
25 years of brutal rule," said Ibtissam Kamal in the IRIN report. Kamal,
a member of a local organization that works on the issue but prefers
anonymity of the organization for security reasons, added, "But more
people have died during the past three years, most of them men ."
The vast majority of deaths in Iraq are not being counted. Anyone who
has spent any time there knows this. It was and remains common knowledge amongst my colleagues who worked on the streets, rather than those "embedding" or conducting "hotel journalism."
Several of my colleagues who have reported from Iraq feel the number of
Iraqis killed during the occupation far exceeds 100,000.
"If one counts excess mortality from collapsed healthcare, polluted
water, poverty and the like - at least 100,000 Iraqis have died since
the US invaded Iraq," Christian Parenti, author of the book /The
Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq/ wrote me this
week. Parenti, who has reported for over 5 months from Iraq and is a
regularly contributor to The Nation magazine, added, "How many people
have been killed by US troops? How many in sectarian violence? It's
impossible to say, but the point is this: Iraq has been destroyed by the
US invasion and the process of its disintegration will go on for years.
It is a horror no matter what the numbers are."
David Enders, an American freelance journalist who has spent 18 months
reporting from Iraq and author of the book /Baghdad Bulletin/, told me
yesterday, "I visited the Baghdad morgue, and they were receiving
between 30-40 bodies every day. That didn't include car bombs and people
who'd died for obvious reasons. That was more than a year ago, and that
was just for Baghdad. I think it's probably safe to say that well over
100,000 Iraqis have died during the occupation."
Veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk writes for the Independent
in the UK and has reported from the region for over 30 years. He had
this to say in a piece written on March 20th titled,
"The Iraq War:
Three Years On - The march of folly that has led to a bloodbath":
"The Iraqis? Well, they are lesser beings whose casualties cannot be
revealed to us by the Iraqi ministry of health, on orders from the
Americans and British; creatures whose suffering, far greater than our
own, must be submerged in the democracy and freedom in which we are
drowning them; whose casualties "more or less" [mocking the infamous
quote from George W. Bush] are probably nearer to 150,000. After all, if
1,000 Iraqis could die by violence last July - in Baghdad alone; and if
they are being killed at 60 or 70 a day, then we have a near genocidal
bloodbath on our hands. Iraqis, however, are now our Untermenschen for whom, frankly, we do not greatly care." Pathetic
By far and away the survey that comes closest to the true number of dead
in Iraq to date was the one conducted for the Lancet. Yet even Les
Roberts, the lead author of that report and one of the world's top
epidemiologists with the Center for International Emergency Disaster and
Refugee Studies at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said
this February <http://www.alternet.org/story/31508/> that there might be
as many as 300,000 Iraqi civilian deaths generated by the US invasion
and occupation. So as not to skew the results, it is important to note
that the survey did not include areas where major combat had occurred
such as Fallujah, Najaf, and Sadr City - home to roughly three million
Iraqis.
Any news agency, government, or other organization reporting anything
less are actively attempting to hide the level of slaughter and mayhem
and thus aiding and abetting the ongoing war crimes in Iraq.
My aforementioned friend in Fallujah is both frustrated and angry that
most news agencies choose not to report the number of dead in Iraq more
accurately. "I know there are some organizations who claim that they
have an accurate count, which is less than 40,000 dead Iraqis," he wrote
me recently. He went on to reference Bush Junior, "And as if that number
itself isn't shameful enough for the US and the whole world to see.
Anyone claiming that /low/ number who calls himself a humanitarian is a
shameful guy."
/we leave civilian dead
as litter in the streets
ignored by us their numbers
unmarked as are their names
- Labi Siffre/
Anyone who's been in a war zone knows what it feels like to lie in bed
at night listening to the cracking of gunfire, or the sound of thudding
bombs. Knowing that each report means death or maiming. It is true that
the dead do not talk, but each shot fired or bomb detonated means
someone is dead, and the killers know and must live with that knowledge
forever - that they have killed a human being.
And we cannot escape that knowledge either.
Not hearing the sounds of death, but knowing that somewhere this instant
in Iraq is a family that will have to suffer a loss in perpetuity.
/Your silence will not protect you .
- Audre Lorde/
That would be telling the truth, and TRUTH is NOT an american policy.
America is GUILTY of genocide in Iraq~kmw
By Dahr Jamail
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Wednesday 03 May 2006
Death in Iraq. It is relentless and incessant.
Know what it is like when scores of your fellow citizens are being
killed every single day while the world proceeds unheedingly on? As a
journalist I've had but a taste of that poison during my eight months in
Iraq. Try it out: be an Iraqi for a day, into your fourth year of being
occupied, humiliated, tortured and killed, doing all you can just to
survive.
All communication with my Iraqi friends is punctuated by and smattered
with their use of the words "praying," "God," and "Insha'allah" (God
willing). Perhaps there is need to invoke something else altogether?
/And all the dead air is alive. With the smell of America's God.
- Harold Pinter, "War With Iraq"/
On one of the days when multiple car bombs drained the blood and souls
of scores in Baghdad, my closest friend wrote from there: "Dahr, This is
a very sad letter I'm writing you as a friend. My tears are coming down
due to the humiliation, suffering, frustration, thwarting defeat and
discomfiture we the Iraqi are living in. Please let people know some of
the news of what is happening to my country, my people and my religion."
Death lurks everywhere in Iraq today. Keeping up with the numbers of
dead is impossible. A doctor working at one of the larger hospitals in
Baghdad recently called it a "camp" because the courtyard of the
hospital is constantly filled with members of the Shia Badr militia, who
continue to carry out their death squad activities of killing Sunnis and
rival Shia. "The Badr are all over the hospital, looking for people,"
said the doctor. "The injured brought here sometimes die before even
reaching the ward, because the Badr are being obstacles for us. One of
the men running our morgue was killed by the Badr. My friends are
warning me to be careful, to keep my mouth shut."
The numbers are being hidden . and the Badr, operating out of the
Ministry of Interior, which is funded by the US, are making sure the
numbers remain shrouded.
Yet on Tuesday of this week, a spokesman at that same hospital, speaking
on condition of anonymity of course, announced that in the last 48 hours
alone Yarmouk Hospital had received 65 bodies, most of them slaughtered
by death squads in execution-style murders. That day they had received
40 bodies, and Monday, 25.
Iraqis are at far greater risk when they speak out about the true number
of the dead than western journalists.
Those who speak out jeopardize their lives, like Faik Bakir, the director of the Baghdad morgue. Bakir fled Iraq fearing for his life in early March, after reporting that over 7,000 people had been killed by death squads in recent months. In an article in the Guardian
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1721366,00.html> on March 2nd,
it was made clear by John Pace, a UN official who worked in Iraq until
February, that "The vast majority of bodies showed signs of summary
execution - many with their hands tied behind their back. Some showed
evidence of torture, with arms and leg joints broken by electric
drills."
He said that the killings had been ongoing long before the
rampant bloodshed that followed the bombing of the Shia shrine in
Samarra. The article added, "Mr. Pace, whose contract in Iraq ended last
month, said many killings were carried out by Shia militias linked to
the interior ministry run by Bayan Jabr, a leading figure in the Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri)."
This past Saturday I received information from the main morgue in
Baghdad from a doctor there, name withheld for security reasons.
"Yesterday we received 36 bodies from the police pickups. All of them
are unknown, without IDs, and we don't have refrigerators to put them in since all of ours are completely full already.
So we had to keep them on the ground. 12 of them were handcuffed, most of them received between 2 and 10 bullets, some many more than 10. We are not going to put them into biopsy. Reason for their death is known. Most of them are between
20 to 30 years . This is the number that was brought directly to us in
one day, plus there are the dead who are sent to the hospitals. They
will be put in the hospitals' morgues. We don't receive bodies from
hospitals nowadays, because we don't have a place to keep them. I can't
tell the exact number of killed people now, but it depends on the
situation. But what I can assure you of is that since the shrine
explosion, deaths have almost doubled. Daily, we receive between 70 to
80 bodies . you can see within these 40 minutes that I've talked with
you, we received 9 bodies.
Nearly every morning the count will be doubled twice this number, for the police find them at night. Most are either found in the streets or killed without sending them to hospitals.
Four days ago we received 24 bodies in just 2 hours."
At this same morgue back in June 2004, I interviewed the aforementioned
director, Dr. Faiq Bakir, who had to flee for his life. He said that
their maximum holding capacity with the freezers was 90 bodies, and
since January 2004 an average of well over 600 bodies each month had
been brought there. The cause of death for at least half of these were
gunshots or explosions. He also pointed out that those numbers did not
include the heavy fighting areas of Fallujah and Najaf.
In addition, he told me, "We deal only with suspicious deaths, not
deaths from natural causes. And so many bodies are buried that never go
to a morgue anywhere."
According to Dr. Bakir, the rate of bodies brought to the Baghdad Morgue
even back then was 3-4 times greater than it ever was during the regime
of Saddam Hussein. "I am sure that not all of the bodies that should
come here do," he continued before very diplomatically adding, "Because
our legal system has some problems right now."
Before the invasion, there was a coordinated system between Baghdad and
the other governorates, which allowed his morgue to track deaths
throughout the country, but this too had been smashed along with the
rest of the infrastructure of his country.
More recently, a doctor at another hospital shared information which
puts this in clearer perspective.
This past Sunday, a doctor from al-Numan hospital in the al-Adhamiya
district of Baghdad reported to my source in Baghdad: "Every major
hospital has either one or two refrigerators, depending on the
population of the area. As for Adhamiya we have one refrigerator that
holds a maximum of 10 bodies. Meanwhile there are two refrigerators in
the Shula hospital. We have not less than 18 major hospitals inside
Baghdad, in addition to the main morgue, which has 6 refrigerators that
contain 20 bodies each. In the emergencies we use refrigeration trucks
to put bodies inside - this is very familiar to the main morgue. I went
there a week ago. I have seen three refrigeration trucks inside the
yard. They were filled with bodies. They keep the bodies in the main
morgue for not more than 15 days, and if no one asks for them, they send
the bodies to the cemetery administration to deal with them. This
administration hands the bodies to some individuals who will bury them,
mostly in Najaf or in the cemeteries around Baghdad."
Reuters recently ran a story
<http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060427/wl_nm/iraq_killing_dc;_ylt=A9G_RwN46FBERUUByQlm.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA-->
titled, "In Baghdad, some killings get noticed, some don't." The story
read, "When gunmen killed a sister of an Iraqi vice president on
Thursday, it grabbed world headlines.
A few streets away, however,
another slaying, typical of hundreds in Baghdad in recent weeks, went
all but unnoticed. Indeed it might never have been recorded had
73-year-old Khatab al-Ani not been shot outside the home of a
journalist." The only part of this I would amend is "in recent weeks,"
because I know for a fact that random unreported killings have been the
norm in the capital city of Iraq for over two years now.
Another Iraqi source of mine works for an Iraqi relief NGO in Fallujah.
He told me that from the April and November 2004 US assaults on Fallujah
there were a minimum of 4,500 dead or missing (most of them dead), and
"killings in Fallujah and Ramadi are a daily reality for us." According
to this source, "Doctors in Fallujah estimate that an average of 3.5
people are being killed in Fallujah every day during 2006, while doctors
we know in Baghdad estimate that the number there is between 150 and 200 per day."
He went on to say, "The Lancet reported over 100,000 killed over a year
ago. This was even before many of the crimes committed by US troops, the
Iraqi so-called Army and the Government militias, who are all first
class killers, came to light. This brings the number to over 200,000 at
the least. On the other hand, those people (Bush and those claiming less
than 100,000 dead) not reporting the correct number of civilian
casualties - that is a major crime in itself. It looks like they don't
give a damn how many Iraqi people get killed."
Even the UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) humanitarian
news agency reported
<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/0e9b19596e7ec143feaa10e2d4d2e996.htm>
on April 26 that "More than 90 women become widows each day due to
continuing violence countrywide, according to government officials and
non-governmental organizations devoted to women's issues."
Another extremely telling point in the IRIN report is that "Although few
reliable statistics are available on the total number of widows in Iraq,
the Ministry of Women's Affairs says that there are at least 300,000 in
Baghdad alone, with another eight million throughout the country." The
report said that at least 15 police officers' wives are widowed every
day, and that local NGOs in Iraq said the situation had become much
worse since the 2003 US-led invasion of the country, which has brought
horrific violence on a level not seen before.
"Saddam Hussein was responsible for killing thousands of men during his
25 years of brutal rule," said Ibtissam Kamal in the IRIN report. Kamal,
a member of a local organization that works on the issue but prefers
anonymity of the organization for security reasons, added, "But more
people have died during the past three years, most of them men ."
The vast majority of deaths in Iraq are not being counted. Anyone who
has spent any time there knows this. It was and remains common knowledge amongst my colleagues who worked on the streets, rather than those "embedding" or conducting "hotel journalism."
Several of my colleagues who have reported from Iraq feel the number of
Iraqis killed during the occupation far exceeds 100,000.
"If one counts excess mortality from collapsed healthcare, polluted
water, poverty and the like - at least 100,000 Iraqis have died since
the US invaded Iraq," Christian Parenti, author of the book /The
Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq/ wrote me this
week. Parenti, who has reported for over 5 months from Iraq and is a
regularly contributor to The Nation magazine, added, "How many people
have been killed by US troops? How many in sectarian violence? It's
impossible to say, but the point is this: Iraq has been destroyed by the
US invasion and the process of its disintegration will go on for years.
It is a horror no matter what the numbers are."
David Enders, an American freelance journalist who has spent 18 months
reporting from Iraq and author of the book /Baghdad Bulletin/, told me
yesterday, "I visited the Baghdad morgue, and they were receiving
between 30-40 bodies every day. That didn't include car bombs and people
who'd died for obvious reasons. That was more than a year ago, and that
was just for Baghdad. I think it's probably safe to say that well over
100,000 Iraqis have died during the occupation."
Veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk writes for the Independent
in the UK and has reported from the region for over 30 years. He had
this to say in a piece written on March 20th titled,
"The Iraq War:
Three Years On - The march of folly that has led to a bloodbath":
"The Iraqis? Well, they are lesser beings whose casualties cannot be
revealed to us by the Iraqi ministry of health, on orders from the
Americans and British; creatures whose suffering, far greater than our
own, must be submerged in the democracy and freedom in which we are
drowning them; whose casualties "more or less" [mocking the infamous
quote from George W. Bush] are probably nearer to 150,000. After all, if
1,000 Iraqis could die by violence last July - in Baghdad alone; and if
they are being killed at 60 or 70 a day, then we have a near genocidal
bloodbath on our hands. Iraqis, however, are now our Untermenschen for whom, frankly, we do not greatly care." Pathetic
By far and away the survey that comes closest to the true number of dead
in Iraq to date was the one conducted for the Lancet. Yet even Les
Roberts, the lead author of that report and one of the world's top
epidemiologists with the Center for International Emergency Disaster and
Refugee Studies at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said
this February <http://www.alternet.org/story/31508/> that there might be
as many as 300,000 Iraqi civilian deaths generated by the US invasion
and occupation. So as not to skew the results, it is important to note
that the survey did not include areas where major combat had occurred
such as Fallujah, Najaf, and Sadr City - home to roughly three million
Iraqis.
Any news agency, government, or other organization reporting anything
less are actively attempting to hide the level of slaughter and mayhem
and thus aiding and abetting the ongoing war crimes in Iraq.
My aforementioned friend in Fallujah is both frustrated and angry that
most news agencies choose not to report the number of dead in Iraq more
accurately. "I know there are some organizations who claim that they
have an accurate count, which is less than 40,000 dead Iraqis," he wrote
me recently. He went on to reference Bush Junior, "And as if that number
itself isn't shameful enough for the US and the whole world to see.
Anyone claiming that /low/ number who calls himself a humanitarian is a
shameful guy."
/we leave civilian dead
as litter in the streets
ignored by us their numbers
unmarked as are their names
- Labi Siffre/
Anyone who's been in a war zone knows what it feels like to lie in bed
at night listening to the cracking of gunfire, or the sound of thudding
bombs. Knowing that each report means death or maiming. It is true that
the dead do not talk, but each shot fired or bomb detonated means
someone is dead, and the killers know and must live with that knowledge
forever - that they have killed a human being.
And we cannot escape that knowledge either.
Not hearing the sounds of death, but knowing that somewhere this instant
in Iraq is a family that will have to suffer a loss in perpetuity.
/Your silence will not protect you .
- Audre Lorde/
2.5.06
36 US House Reps Want Bush Impeachment Probe
36 US House Reps Want Bush Impeachment Probe
I think the nature of his wrongs speak for themselves, in fact they do so repeatedly. What more do you need?
Tuesday 02 May 2006
I think the nature of his wrongs speak for themselves, in fact they do so repeatedly. What more do you need?
Tuesday 02 May 2006
Atlanta - 36 US House Representatives have signed on as sponsors or co-sponsors of H. Res 635, which would create a Select Committee to look into the grounds for recommending President Bush's impeachment, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.
The two latest co-sponsors, as of Friday, were US Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) and US Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA).
"For the House to impeach and the Senate to convict a President, the public must be fully informed and convinced by credible information that a President deserves impeachment. That means gathering the facts. Rep. Conyers' bill calls for setting up a select committee to gather information to see if there is any basis for impeachment - i.e., a violation of the Constitution - or if impeachment should even be considered. With that understanding I support H. Res. 635," Congressman Jackson said in a statement released to Atlanta Progressive News.
Rep. Fattah's Office was not able to provide comment in time for press, but was invited to send along comments to be added to the Atlanta Progressive News website when available.
"The Bush administration must be held accountable for the failures in their Iraq War policy. Congress has a Constitutional obligation to determine whether this disastrous Iraq policy is the result of deceit and deception or simply reckless incompetence. Providing the Congress and American people with the opportunity to seek the truth regarding the facts and the fabrications that led our nation into the Iraq War is why I am supporting the Conyers' resolution," US Rep. Betty McCollum, another recent co-sponsor, said in a statement prepared for Atlanta Progressive News.
An Atlanta Progressive News analysis has found that, interestingly, 29 of the 36 total co-sponsors are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. However, only 29 of the 62 members of the Caucus have signed on.
Atlanta Progressive News is calling out the other 33 self-described progressives who have not signed on. They are Reps. Becerra, Bordallo, Corrine Brown, Sherrod Brown, Carson, Cristenson, Cleaver, Cummings, DeFazio, DeLauro, Evans, Frank, Grijalva, Gutierrez, Tubbs Jones, Kaptur, Kilpatrick, Kucinich, Lantos, Markey, McGovern, Miller, Holmes-Norton, Pastor, Rush, Serrano, Slaughter, Solis, Thompson, Udall, Watson, Watt, and Waxman.
As noted below, two of these Progressive Caucus members who have not signed on, are in fact two of the four Democrats on the House Rules Committee, meaning they have direct influence over this bill: Slaughter and McGovern.
In the US Senate, Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) are currently the two co-sponsors of US Senator Russ Feingold's (D-WI) bill, S. Res 398, to censure President Bush.
"There has been massive support for House Resolution 635 from a very vigorous network of grassroots activists and people committed to holding the Bush Administration accountable for its widespread abuses of power," US Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) said in a statement prepared for Atlanta Progressive News.
"The Atlanta Progressive News has reported regularly on this bill," Conyers wrote in an article on his blog.
A spokesperson for Rep. Conyers noted the Congressman is continuing in his lobbying efforts for the bill, which was first introduced in December 2005, prior to so many recent additional shocking revelations about the actions of President Bush.
It was recently revealed, for one thing, that Bush himself authorized the leak of the identity of a CIA agent, endangering US security, in retaliation for the agent's husband questioning the US's faulty intelligence on Iraq's nonexistent WMDs.
In another recent revelation, Bush was provided with evidence that the information he was propagating on Iraq was faulty.
Conyers's spokesperson also concurred there continues to be some confusion among Members of US Congress who have not yet signed on to the bill about the content of the bill. Specifically, some members have not signed on because the media has not clearly reported that the bill is not a call for impeachment, nor an impeachment inquiry, but rather is a call for the creation of a committee that would look into the possible grounds for impeachment and could make recommendations.
Meanwhile, at least twelve (12) US cities, including Arcata, Berkeley, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz, each in California; Woodstock in New York; and Battleboro, Brookfield, Dummerston, Marlboro, Newfane, Putney, and Rockingham, each in Vermont, have passed resolutions calling for Bush's impeachment, according to a running tally at www.impeachpac.org/resolutions.
In addition, the State Legislatures in California, Illinois, and Vermont are each considering impeachment resolutions, which, if passed, could fast track the impeachment issue to the US House.
Over 17% of US House Democrats now support the impeachment probe; over 8% of all US House Representatives now support the probe. In December 2005, there were 231 Republicans in the US House, 202 Democrats, 1 Independent, and 1 vacancy, a clerk for the US House of Representatives told Atlanta Progressive News.
The best represented states on H. Res 635 are California (8), New York (6), Illinois (3), Massachusetts (3), Minnesota (3), Georgia (2), and Wisconsin (2).
The current 36 total co-sponsors are Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA), Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), Rep. Jackson, Jr., (D-IL), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), Rep. John Olver (D-MA), Rep. Major Owens (D-NY), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Martin Sabo (D-MN), Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA), Rep. John Tierney (D-MA), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and Rep. David Wu (D-OR).
"What a lot of activists group want is the next step, which is Articles of Impeachment. You don't have to pass this type of bill first. I think there's a fair chance that if the list of co-sponsors grows dramatically, Conyers and others will take that next step of introducing articles of impeachment," David Swanson of ImpeachPAC told Atlanta Progressive News.
At least two members of Congress are prepared to sign Articles of Impeachment if they were to be introduced, sources tell Atlanta Progressive News. One of the members is US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), whose office clarified earlier Associated Press reports, by saying Lewis would indeed sign such a bill, assuming that any bill of impeachment would of course be introduced as a result of a thorough process, such as one including the investigation called for in H. Res 635.
Dave Lindorff wrote in The Baltimore Chronicle that he and Barbara Olshansky (an attorney at The Center for Constitutional Rights) will reveal in an upcoming book that "members of Congress-even firebrands like Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Cynthia McKinney (D-GA)-have been strong-armed behind the scenes by the Democratic National Committee not to introduce an impeachment bill in the House."
Conyers's bill was initially referred to the US House Rules Committee, which has not taken action. None of the US House Democrats on the Rules Committee have signed on as co-sponsors. The Ranking Democrat on the Committee is US Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY). Democratic members of the Committee are Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Doris Matsui (D-CA), and James McGovern (D-MA). Republicans currently outnumber Democrats on the committee by about a two-to-one ratio.
The US House Rules Committee would need to take action on H. Res 635 because it calls for the creation of a Select Committee, in other words the creation of a new committee that is not a standing committee, Jonathan Godfrey, Communications Director for US Rep. Conyers, told Atlanta Progressive News. Such a Committee would need to be staffed, Godfrey noted.
If the Democratic Party is able to retake the US House of Representatives, Rep. Conyers would become Chairman Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee, whereas he is currently the Ranking Democrat on the Committee. The Judiciary Committee would oversee any actual impeachment investigation.
If not acted on this session, the bill would have to be reintroduced next session. It is possible that a new bill could include new language regarding Bush's approval of illegal NSA domestic wiretapping.
For now, however, sources in Washington DC tell Atlanta Progressive News that H. Res 635 is a venue for coalition among members of Congress who are willing to consider impeachment for a variety of reasons.
Even though H. Res 635 does not specifically reference the NSA domestic wiretapping issue, some Members of US Congress have found the wiretapping issue to be a compelling reason to sign on as a co-sponsor, sources say.
In other words, why introduce separate legislation to address a single issue when momentum has been built with H. Res 635?
The thing about H. Res. 635 is, it deals with impeaching Bush over a cluster of issues from misleading the public to go to war, to authorizing torture. Wiretapping was not listed as one of the reasons to investigate the grounds for Bush's impeachment in the bill because the existence of the secret, illegal wiretapping had not come to light yet when the bill was being prepared.
US Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) withdrew her name from H. Res 635 at the end of January 2006, whereas she had been listed as a cosponsor throughout January 2006. Lofgren cited a clerical error for her name having been listed in the first place. Lofgren's Office told Atlanta Progressive News the Representative learned of her being listed as a co-sponsor after reading an exclusive article by Atlanta Progressive News issued January 01, 2006.
Lofgren, and 17 other Members of Congress, wrote to President Bush in February 2006 that they wanted the wiretapping issue to be pursued by a Special Counsel, which Lofgren considers a next step in a crucial investigation, seeing as how the Republicans have been stonewalling on necessary documents and testimony to determine if Bush's domestic wiretapping program was legal.
H. Res 635 reads as its official title: "Creating a select committee to investigate the Administration's intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, retaliating against critics, and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment."
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) also just released a book, Articles of Impeachment Against President Bush. The Center is extremely influential in high-profile court fights over issues such as wiretapping, the treatment of detainees by the US, and felon voting rights.
"We have the book, we are calling for the impeachment of the President, and we're supporting Conyers's resolution," Bill Goodman, CCR Legal Director, told Atlanta Progressive News.
Rock music artist Neil Young has also released a song with the lyrics, "Let's impeach the President for lying..."
Atlanta Progressive News has provided near-exclusive-and during many times, exclusive-coverage of the progress of H. Res 635. We will continue to follow this story and any related developments.
Iran threatens Israel if US acts "evil" | Reuters.com
Iran threatens Israel if US acts "evil" | Reuters.com
It would be the dumbest thing those clowns in DC would ever do, and what is more frightening is they are truly dumb enough to do it.~kmw
It would be the dumbest thing those clowns in DC would ever do, and what is more frightening is they are truly dumb enough to do it.~kmw
By Edmund Blair
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran threatened on Tuesday to attack Israel in response to any "evil" act by the United States and said it had enriched uranium to a level close to the maximum compatible with civilian use in power stations.
The defiant statements were issued shortly before world powers met in Paris late on Tuesday to plan their next moves after Tehran rejected a U.N. call to halt uranium enrichment.
Senior officials from the U.N. Security Council's permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany discussed how to curb an Iranian program that Western nations say conceals a drive for atomic warheads.
"The participants discussed the steps to come in the United Nations Security Council," a French Foreign Ministry statement said after the dinner.
"The three European political directors presented the broad lines of a draft resolution aimed at giving mandatory force to the IAEA's (U.N. nuclear watchdog) demands, in particular those which deal with the suspension of activities linked to the enrichment and reprocessing of uranium."
Iran refuses to back down from what it calls its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
Driving home that message, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, said his country had now succeeded in purifying uranium to 4.8 percent, at the top end of the 3 to 5 percent range for fuel used in nuclear power plants.
"Enrichment above 5 percent is not on Iran's agenda," Aghazadeh told the students' ISNA news agency.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Billions Wasted in Iraq, Says US Audit
Billions Wasted in Iraq, Says US Audit
WE have a Right to know where our tax dollars went.
WE have a Right to know where our tax dollars went.
· Projects behind schedule despite massive outlay · Roadside bomb kills 3 contractors, wounds 2 |
| by Ewen MacAskill |
A US congressional inspection team set up to monitor reconstruction in Iraq today publishes a scathing report of failures by contractors, mainly from the US, to carry out projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In one case, the inspection team found that three years after the invasion only six of 150 health centres proposed for Iraq had been completed by a US contractor, in spite of 75% of the $186m (£100m) allocated having been spent. The report says: "Fourteen more will be completed by the contractor, and the remaining facilities, which are partially constructed, will have to be completed by other means." The inspectors blame the failure in this instance on management problems and security concerns. The danger facing foreigners in Iraq was highlighted yesterday when a roadside bomb 30 miles south of Baghdad killed three private security firm staff and wounded two others. One of the wounded is British, the Foreign Office said. The detailed and lengthy report on work projects in Iraq has been drawn up by Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction (Sigir). Mr Bowen's office was set up after Congress expressed concern about the slow rate of reconstruction and the misuse of funds on a massive scale. The report says Mr Bowen's inspection team is investigating 72 cases of alleged fraud and corruption, and is pursuing leads not only in the US but in Europe and the Middle East. In March, investigators conducted a successful sting operation which led to the arrest of a contractor who offered a bribe to one of its undercover agents. The report says many completed projects "have delivered positive results, but there exists a gap between US project outputs and the delivery of essential services to Iraqis". While progress has been made in the construction of schools and police stations, many Iraqis still have no access to clean water, and electricity supplies in Baghdad are still below pre-invasion levels. The inspectors say that economic recovery is being hampered by the failure to restore Iraq's oil production to levels before 2003. The report says that corruption in the oil and gas sector is a continuing problem that could have "devastating effects" on reconstruction in Iraq. The inspectors audited Task Force Shield, a project established in September 2003 to build Iraq's capacity to protect its oil, gas and electrical infrastructure, and found significant shortcomings. The report concludes the project "failed to meet its goals because it was burdened by a lack of clear management structure and poor accountability. There were also indications of potential fraud, which are now under review by Sigir investigators." Up to last month, Washington had invested more than $265m to improve the protection of energy infrastructure in Iraq. Task Force Shield sought to cover 340 key installations, 4,000 miles of oil pipeline, and 8,000 miles of electrical transmission lines. In a separate section, the report notes that a former contractor and former senior staffer in the now defunct US-led coalition government are facing jail sentences 30 to 40 years on corruption charges.The contractor will have to pay $3.6m in restitution and forfeit $3.6m in assets. Apart from mismanagement and corruption, the report identifies continuing attacks by Iraqi insurgents as one of the main reasons for the delays and failures. It says: "Insurgent activity continues to impede ongoing reconstruction projects and interrupt their transition to Iraqi control. "But the attacks remain concentrated in a few areas, leaving daily life in much of the rest of Iraq - particularly the Kurdish north and some areas of the south - in a state of gradual recovery." The report adds: "Corruption is another form of insurgency. This second insurgency can be defeated only through the development of democratic values and systems, especially the evolution of effective anti-corruption institutions." Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, said yesterday that he and US officials had met with insurgents and that a deal with some groups to end violence could be reached. In a statement, Mr Talabani said: "I believe that a deal could be reached with seven armed groups that visited me." Unfinished business Congress has approved $21bn for reconstruction since the invasion, of which 67% has been allocated. Precisely how much has been squandered is not known but the congressional team has been carrying out investigations and publishes quarterly reports. In the latest, it highlights the case of a US company which was given a contract to build 150 health centres in Iraq. Only six have been built, all in Baghdad, in spite of 75% of its allocated $186m having been spent. The report says the contractor will only complete a further 14. Last year the congressional team reported that almost $9bn in Iraqi oil revenues disbursed to ministries had gone missing. |
1.5.06
April 29th March in NYC
Please forward widely!
Is this wide enough?
Is this wide enough?
Two days ago, on April 29, the streets of New York City echoed with the chants, songs and shouts of at least 350,000 people from across the United States. Mobilized around the call to end the war in Iraq now, to say no to any attack on Iran, and to support the rights and dignity of immigrants and women, and all people, the marchers brought a renewed urgency to the clear demand for change. One of the largest contingents of the day was organized by antiwar activists in the trade union movement, bringing together the largest antiwar labor contingent in U.S. history.
At the march’s conclusion in Foley Square, a vibrant sea of flags, banners and signs welcomed marchers to the “Peace and Justice Festival.” Issue tents featured speakers, literature, educational activities, t-shirt sales, food and music highlighting the key issues of the wide-ranging March coalition: the war in Iraq and threats of war and U.S. nuclear attacks on Iran, a Palestine tent featuring Q&A on Israel/Palestine and folkloric dance in an Arab-style “café,” counter-recruitment campaigners, a Labor tent featuring the NYC Labor Chorus, and others. A special Children’s Peace Tent featured puppet making and peace crane art projects, “Putt for Peace” and other games, face painting, musicians and jugglers. Films, music, performances by the Raging Grannies and many other activities were featured as well. A fuller report, including photographs, will be available soon on our website.
Now we must look forward and build on the momentum of this vibrant, empowering demonstration. We call on you to help us quickly and energetically into the next phase of our work. We need your time, talent and dedication to your local activism, and we need more financial support for our national organizing work.
UFPJ’s 2006 plan of action to Organize, Mobilize and Empower the Peace Majority began with the April 29th mobilization. In the coming months we plan to:
- Expand the pressure on Congress and the White House to end the war on Iraq and bring all of the troops home now. We will work to prevent a pre-emptive war on Iran or any other country. We will continue to put people into the streets in marches and rallies and vigils; we will strengthen our legislative action and we will support non-violent civil resistance.
- Convene organizing conferences for UFPJ member groups, which will include skill-building workshops and training in building stronger, broader coalitions.
- Organize to make peace and justice issues the focal point of the election-year agenda, and to mobilize voters for peace.
One way you can be part of this dynamic program of work is to become a UFPJ Sustainer by making a monthly donation. If each one of you gave $10 or $15 a month, or a quarterly donation of $25, we would have the resources we need to move forward.
Of course, they need donations to keep moving forward. I generally omit that part of the story- but on this one I'll make an exception. Passing on the the information is my task.
Above The Law
CCR
ABOVE THE LAW: Bush claims the right to spy on everything, including attorney-client conversations
Synopsis
ABOVE THE LAW: Bush claims the right to spy on everything, including attorney-client conversations
Synopsis
CCR President Michael Ratner discusses the disclosure by the office of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales that the NSA domestic spying program may include spying on communications of attorneys with their clients. This article was originally published by Salon on March 31, 2006.
It's hard to remember how shocked Americans used to be when their presidents broke the law. In a 55-page letter sent on March 24 the Senate Judiciary Committee, the office of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales brazenly asserted that President Bush had every right to secretly order the National Security Agency to engage in warrantless eavesdropping for what it called the "Terrorist Surveillance Program." On the last page, after he essentially refused to answer most of Congress' questions about the illegal program, which had been revealed in December ("It would be inappropriate to discuss in this setting the existence or nonexistence of specific intelligence activities"), Gonzales let slip a bombshell. "Although the Program does not specifically target the communications of attorneys or physicians," his office wrote, "calls from such sources would not be categorically excluded from interception."
Sen. Russ Feingold has called for a censure of the president for breaking the law, and civil rights groups, including the Center for Constitutional Rights where I work, have called for impeachment.
Yet President Bush seems to be betting -- as he has, successfully, before -- that the public will overlook his crimes and allow him to continue destroying, as Feingold put it, both "the separation of powers and the rule of law."
Indeed, Friday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Feingold's censure proposal under chairman Arlen Specter, who has characterized the proposal as baseless, are expected to be brief.
Thirty years ago, President Nixon's warrantless wiretapping scandalized the nation and became one of the articles of impeachment against him. And though Nixon invoked "national security," Congress and the Supreme Court insisted that the law had to govern all intelligence and counterintelligence gathering by the government, even when it was undertaken to protect against terrorism.
After Nixon's disgrace, new laws were written to enable the government to continue the surveillance of both U.S. citizens and foreigners on intelligence and national security grounds. In 1978, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FSIA) was established, as the "exclusive means by which electronic surveillance" could be conducted; a secret court was empowered to authorize phone taps and, later, e-mail and physical searches. The FISA court was set up to oversee highly sensitive U.S. counterintelligence objectives, and government agencies could get approval to spy if they showed the court their activities were intended to counter espionage, sabotage, assassinations, and international terrorist activities. FISA, which provides criminal penalties for unauthorized wiretapping, has been a virtual rubber stamp for government requests: In the more than 18,000 known cases, there have been only five refusals to authorize surveillance.
And yet, beginning in 2001, the Bush administration sidestepped even the FISA court in order to conduct its own off-the-radar, entirely uncontrolled spying, unaccountable to Congress. For more than four years it engaged in widespread electronic surveillance of Americans and foreigners without warrants from any court, including FISA magistrates. In CCR v. Bush, a case I helped file this January on behalf of the Center for Constitutional Rights and its lawyers, we argue that since the president may only conduct electronic surveillance pursuant to FISA, which criminalizes surveillance outside its terms, President Bush, acting outside those "exclusive means," is committing a crime. On Tuesday, five former FISA judges, including one who apparently resigned in protest over Bush's secret eavesdropping, testified to Congress; several expressed doubt about the constitutionality of a president ordering wiretapping on Americans without a court order.
This is, of course, not the first time that Bush has simply ignored inconvenient provisions of the law and acted unilaterally: This administration has pushed the boundaries of executive power in ways that make Richard Nixon's White House look like a model for the system of checks and balances. Bush has insisted that he can disregard the McCain Amendment's prohibition barring torture; that Supreme Court rulings on habeas corpus can be stonewalled; and that he can ignore the congressional oversight provisions of the Patriot Act.
And now it turns out that Bush's eavesdropping program is not only in criminal violation of FISA, but an end-run around one of the most basic pillars of our system of law: the constitutional right to counsel and the confidentiality of attorney-client conversations necessary to protect that right.
As an attorney for CCR, which has brought many of the most important legal challenges to the Bush administration since Sept. 11, I thought, when the NSA program was revealed, that we could be among the targets of the spying. We represent hundreds of Guantánamo detainees and high-profile victims of torture and kidnapping; we were winning cases against the government and successfully challenging their illegal actions in court. I had ample reason to believe that our conversations with our clients, witnesses and colleagues would be overheard, and even our families' phone lines would be tapped. Now, with the admission by the government that it has not "excluded" listening in to attorneys' conversations, I feel sure that this once absolute boundary has been crossed.
The attorney-client privilege is more than a legal nicety. It is central to the American idea of justice that all clients be able to speak in confidence with those who represent them. It is fundamental to an honest defense that attorneys have access to their clients without surveillance. In the past, when wiretaps picked up attorneys talking with clients, the statutes required turning off the tap as long as the attorney was on the line. But these basic rules have apparently been cast aside by the president.
We at CCR believe that if the Bush administration had gone to Congress and asked for a broader statute, or even to the FISA court for approval, they would never have been able to get permission for listening to attorneys or doctors. So they simply wiretapped attorneys on the sly, without authorization. By spying on me, my colleagues, and other attorneys who challenge them, the administration can learn our legal strategies, end our relationship of trust with our clients, and in essence make us into agents of the government: We ask questions of clients, and the government, listening in secretly, gets the answers.
We may learn more, as our case against Bush and the NSA proceeds. But we, like other Americans, may never know the full extent of the surveillance launched by this administration. Like the secret prisons and torture centers that shame our nation, and the secret executive orders that overwrite the Constitution, the secret eavesdropping that undercuts our legal system will not end until Americans, once again, have the decency to be shocked.
Note:
Did you know Corporate
A new lawsuit argues that AT&T has been helping the NSA’s illegal surveillance for years. Court papers describe the program as a "vast fishing expedition" to monitor Americans’ communications, without the warrants required by the U.S. Constitution. We need your help to press AT&T for answers – click here to ask the company if it is spying on you!
A former AT&T technician has now spoken out about how AT&T assisted NSA spying. The New York Times reported that the technician has internal company documents describing “a mysterious room at the AT&T Internet and telephone hub in
As you know, CCR filed suit against President Bush for illegal spying in January. And this week, we filed court papers in the suit against AT&T for assisting the NSA’s illegal spying. That lawsuit was filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It is demanding an injunction to stop AT&T from disclosing consumer communications to the government, and seeking damages on behalf of millions of AT&T subscribers. The case may take a long time, but illegal wiretapping is continuing as the court deliberates. That’s why we demand answers from the company now. As a citizen and potential consumer, you have an opportunity to take a stand against companies helping the Bush Administration break the law. Take a moment to demand answers from AT&T.
Once you have contacted AT&T, please take a moment to learn more about our case against domestic spying here, and then spread the word about this important effort.
What our Governing Officials are up to
I believe 12-15 of these homes with children for hire were discovered within 1 mile radius of the White House. I actually saw this on Oprah one day when Ricky Martin, who turned his quick fame and fortune into Charity and decent and kind work. The figures in the Country alone are appalling, yet its is rarely mentioned. ~kmw
Until recently...
"Conspiracy of Silence" is a powerful, disturbing documentary revealing a nationwide child abuse and pedophilia ring that leads to the highest levels of government. Featuring intrepid investigator John DeCamp, a highly decorated Vietnam war veteran and 16-year Nebraska state senator, "Conspiracy of Silence" reveals how rogue elements at all levels of government have been involved in systematic child abuse and pedophilia to feed the base desires of key politicians.
Based on DeCamp's riveting book, The Franklin Cover-up, "Conspiracy of Silence" begins with the shut-down of Nebraska's Franklin Community Federal Credit Union after a raid by federal agencies in November 1988 revealed that $40 million was missing. When the Nebraska legislature launched a probe into the affair, what initially looked like a financial swindle soon exploded into a startling tale of drugs, money laundering, and a nationwide child abuse ring. Nineteen months later, the legislative committee's chief investigator died suddenly and violently, like more than a dozen other people linked to the Franklin case.
So why have you never heard of the Franklin cover-up? Originally scheduled to air in May of 1994 on the Discovery Channel, "Conspiracy of Silence" was yanked at the last minute due to formidable pressure applied by top politicians. Some very powerful people did not want you to watch this documentary. Thanks to the wonderful power of the Internet, three different links below take you to this eye-opening documentary. Other links provide detailed information about the case, reliable media coverage, and places to order DeCamp's revealing book, The Franklin Cover-up.
Beware that you may find yourself becoming angry or upset while watching "Conspiracy of Silence." Many people do. However, I invite you to consider that each of us, myself included, has at times in our life acted out of selfish motives when it comes to sexuality and ended up hurting others in one way or another. Let us take this information not only as a call to stop this kind of abuse at the nationwide level, but also as a call to examine our own sexual relationships and make a commitment to deep honesty and integrity in our own lives around this most sensitive issue. Thanks for caring, and may we all work together to build a brighter future for ourselves and for our world.
"Conspiracy of Silence" (55 minutes) is available for free viewing at the three links below:
http://www.franklincase.org/silence.htm - best quality of these three (free Windows Media Player required)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=359924937663867563 - "Conspiracy of Silence" on Google Video
http://www.propagandamatrix.com/141003conspiracyofsilence.html - see note below
Note: The final link above includes a copy of the front page of the Washington Times with a top headline and story published on the Franklin case. Scroll down and click on the images to read the full story. DeCamp's commentary on "Conspiracy of Silence" and more can be found below the newspaper articles there.
Dozens of media articles on the Franklin case which led to "Conspiracy of Silence:"
http://www.franklincase.org/articles.htm
For an excellent website filled with information about the Franklin case:
http://www.franklincase.org
To order John DeCamp's excellent book, The Franklin Cover-up:
http://www.franklincase.org/franklinbook.htm - $16.95 (includes shipping and handling)
http://www.amazon.com - Used copies only available on amazon.com
With best wishes,
Fred Burks for the WantToKnow.info Team
Former language interpreter for Presidents Bush and Clinton
Cindy Sheehan | Mission Accomplished Day
Cindy Sheehan | Mission Accomplished Day
True, but we've only just begun.
Mission Accomplished Day
By Cindy Sheehan
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
True, but we've only just begun.
Mission Accomplished Day
By Cindy Sheehan
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Monday 01 May 2006
May 1st, 2006, is the third anniversary of the end of "major combat" in Iraq. It was a glorious day when George Bush flew onto the deck of the Abraham Lincoln and was hailed by the rapturous throngs of toadie "news" persons like Chris Matthews ("And that's the president looking very much like a jet, you know, a high-flying jet star." "Hardball," May 1, 2003) and Bob Schieffer ("As far as I'm concerned, that was one of the great pictures of all time. And if you're a political consultant, you can just see campaign commercial written all over the pictures of George Bush." "Meet the Press," May 4, 2003). What a fast and clean war! G. Gordon Liddy was enthralled with the president's package ("All those women who say size doesn't count - they're all liars." "Hardball," May 7, 2003) and a new era free from terrorism was ushered in.
This is the faith-based fable of what happened almost exactly three years ago. The reality-based scenario goes something like this:
- Over 2,400 American soldiers (including my son, who was killed almost a year after Mission Accomplished Day) have come home in cardboard boxes in cargo areas of planes in the secrecy of the night.
- Thousands of our young people have been wounded, many grievously, and bused into Walter Reed and other hospitals in the dark of the night.
- There are tons of rubble upon rubble in Iraq with inconsistent electrical power still and not much clean water, or chance of future power and clean water.
- Hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians are dead, being punished for the sins of a leader who was propped up, armed, and supported by many US regimes.
The Mission Accomplished Day (or Operation Codpiece) public relations dream for the presidential pelvic zone has turned into a frighteningly real nightmare for so many people around the world who have had sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and oftentimes entire families wiped out and devastated by the strutting and smirking terrorist who was feeling mighty "chipper" last night at the Washington Correspondent's annual dinner as the 2,400th soldier was being killed and as the 2,400th Gold Star Mother was falling on the floor screaming for her child. There are hundreds of thousands of people on our planet who will have a hard time ever feeling chipper again because of George Bush, no matter how good he looks in a flight suit.
Now that BushCo has done such a fantastic job with the invasion and occupation of Iraq that never should have happened - but now that it has happened and is extraordinarily evil in its scope and tactics - he is warning Iran that if it doesn't shape up, the US is going to come and impose freedom and democracy on that country. The rah-rah, "yes, sir" Congress, which has an easy job of approving everything that George Bush does, thereby eliminating critical thinking, debate, or any semblance of rational discussion, has voted for sanctions that will lead to an attack on Iran that will be devastating for our troops in Iraq and for that poor region that had the unfortunate luck to be built upon tremendous oil and natural gas reserves.
Only 21 Congress people voted "nay" on the Iran Freedom Support Act, which is incredible, considering what happened when they voted "yea" to give George Bush the green light for every sanction against Iraq and to invade it. I ran into one of the "yea" voters on the Iran Freedom Support Act, Rep. Major Owens, and I asked him why he voted that way. He said it was because he hated the "evil" regime of Iran. I asked him about our own evil, irresponsible regime! The radical President of Iran says very irresponsible and inflammatory things, but by all accounts is over a decade away from a nuclear weapon and is reined in by the mullahs and the young population of Iran that is very westernized. We are in trouble with our one-party system of government, which is the War Party.
Before we the people need to be subjected to another swaggering spectacle from George after he has bombed Iran back into the stone ages and has made we the people of the United States of America even more hated around the world, it is time to rein him in ourselves. Congress won't do it and the media is falling into lockstep behind the murderer again.
It is time to fire the warniks, whose bloodlust cannot be sated, and hire people who will finally use their wisdom, integrity, and non-violence to solve problems, and who won't create imaginary problems out of smoke and mirrors. We need a Congress that will hold George accountable, not one that is complicit in the war crimes.
Martin Luther King Jr. said: "We must live together as brothers, or perish together as fools." God protect us from the fools that we elected to protect us!
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