Interrogation abuses were 'approved at highest levels'
New evidence that the physical abuse of detainees in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay was authorised at the top of the Bush administration will emerge in Washington
this week, adding further to pressure on the White House.
The Telegraph understands that four confidential Red Cross documents implicating senior Pentagon civilians in the Abu Ghraib scandal have been passed to an American television network, which is preparing to make them public shortly.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
BURNING BUSH: PANTS ON FIRE
'Saddam in the bunker' informant killed in strike, but Bush pretends the 'brave soul' is still alive
A Central Intelligence Agency officer reported, based primarily on information provided by satellite telephone from an Iraqi source, that Mr. Hussein was in an underground bunker at the site. That prompted President Bush to accelerate the timetable for the beginning of the war, giving the go-ahead to strikes by precision-guided bombs and cruise missiles, senior intelligence officials said.
But in an interview last summer, Lt. Gen. T. Michael Moseley, of the Air Force, who directed the air campaign during the invasion, acknowledged that inspections after the war had concluded that no such bunker existed.
Various internal reviews by the military and the C.I.A. have still not resolved the question of whether Mr. Hussein was at the location at all.
In the raid, the Air Force primarily used deep-penetrating munitions because of their ability to destroy an underground bunker. The person who was the primary source of the information about the bunker was killed in the raid, according to intelligence officials.
HOWEVER
An interview of President Bush by Tom Brokaw of NBC News aboard Air Force One: New York Times, April 25, 2003. In which Tom Brokaw seems to know that the "asset" was no longer around to talk about whether a certain arabic word meant bunker or refuge or hospital...
Q That human intelligence that we had on the ground, did you hear back from him, I presume?
THE PRESIDENT: We did.
Q And did he --
THE PRESIDENT: He felt like we got Saddam.
Q He did?
THE PRESIDENT: He felt like that, yes. And we're trying, of course, to verify. And before there's any declaration, of course, there will be a lot of evidence.
Q Did you see that famous television video of Saddam the next day, in the glasses, reading out from the notepad and so on?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, yes. I was amused by that, almost as amused by that as I was his PR man -- it was one of the classics -- probably helping NBC Saturday Night Live out mightily, but through his -- it was just unbelievable what he was saying.
But, you know, the people that wonder if Saddam Hussein is dead or not, there's some evidence that says, suggests he might be. We would never make that declaration until we were more certain. But the person that helped direct the attacks believes that Saddam, at the very minimum, was severely wounded.
Q That night?
THE PRESIDENT: That night, yes.
... AND LATER ...
Q I don't want you to give up sources and methods, but the guy who called in the first time -- still with us?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, he is. He is with us. Thank God. A brave soul.
Q That's great.
A Central Intelligence Agency officer reported, based primarily on information provided by satellite telephone from an Iraqi source, that Mr. Hussein was in an underground bunker at the site. That prompted President Bush to accelerate the timetable for the beginning of the war, giving the go-ahead to strikes by precision-guided bombs and cruise missiles, senior intelligence officials said.
But in an interview last summer, Lt. Gen. T. Michael Moseley, of the Air Force, who directed the air campaign during the invasion, acknowledged that inspections after the war had concluded that no such bunker existed.
Various internal reviews by the military and the C.I.A. have still not resolved the question of whether Mr. Hussein was at the location at all.
In the raid, the Air Force primarily used deep-penetrating munitions because of their ability to destroy an underground bunker. The person who was the primary source of the information about the bunker was killed in the raid, according to intelligence officials.
HOWEVER
An interview of President Bush by Tom Brokaw of NBC News aboard Air Force One: New York Times, April 25, 2003. In which Tom Brokaw seems to know that the "asset" was no longer around to talk about whether a certain arabic word meant bunker or refuge or hospital...
Q That human intelligence that we had on the ground, did you hear back from him, I presume?
THE PRESIDENT: We did.
Q And did he --
THE PRESIDENT: He felt like we got Saddam.
Q He did?
THE PRESIDENT: He felt like that, yes. And we're trying, of course, to verify. And before there's any declaration, of course, there will be a lot of evidence.
Q Did you see that famous television video of Saddam the next day, in the glasses, reading out from the notepad and so on?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, yes. I was amused by that, almost as amused by that as I was his PR man -- it was one of the classics -- probably helping NBC Saturday Night Live out mightily, but through his -- it was just unbelievable what he was saying.
But, you know, the people that wonder if Saddam Hussein is dead or not, there's some evidence that says, suggests he might be. We would never make that declaration until we were more certain. But the person that helped direct the attacks believes that Saddam, at the very minimum, was severely wounded.
Q That night?
THE PRESIDENT: That night, yes.
... AND LATER ...
Q I don't want you to give up sources and methods, but the guy who called in the first time -- still with us?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, he is. He is with us. Thank God. A brave soul.
Q That's great.
BUSH BASHING
Retired officials say Bush must go
A group of 26 former senior diplomats and military officials, several appointed to key positions by Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, plans to issue a joint statement this week arguing that President George W. Bush has damaged America's national security and should be defeated in November.
The group, which calls itself Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, will explicitly condemn Bush's foreign policy, according to several of those who signed the document.
"It is clear that the statement calls for the defeat of the administration," said William C. Harrop, the ambassador to Israel under President Bush's father and one of the group's principal organizers.
Those signing the document, which will be released in Washington today, include 20 former US ambassadors, appointed by presidents of both parties, to countries including Israel, the former Soviet Union and Saudi Arabia.
Others are senior State Department officials from the Carter, Reagan and Clinton administrations and former military leaders, including retired Marine Gen. Joseph P. Hoar, the former commander of US forces in the Middle East under President Bush's father. Hoar is a prominent critic of the war in Iraq.
It is unusual for so many former high-level military officials and career diplomats to issue such an overtly political message during a presidential campaign.
Former ambassadors who have signed the joint statement include Jeffrey Davidow, William DePree, Charles Freeman Jr., William C. Harrop, Arthur Hartman, H. Allen Holmes, Samuel Lewis, Princeton Lyman, Jack Matlock Jr., Donald McHenry, Richard Murphy,
David Newsom, Phyllis Oakley, John Reinhardt, Ronald Spiers, Nicholas Veliotes and
Alexander Watson; and Adm. William Crowe, Gen. Joseph Hoar and Adm. Stansfield Turner.
[Now lets see haw many fall victim to one of those mysterious "skiing acidents"]
A group of 26 former senior diplomats and military officials, several appointed to key positions by Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, plans to issue a joint statement this week arguing that President George W. Bush has damaged America's national security and should be defeated in November.
The group, which calls itself Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, will explicitly condemn Bush's foreign policy, according to several of those who signed the document.
"It is clear that the statement calls for the defeat of the administration," said William C. Harrop, the ambassador to Israel under President Bush's father and one of the group's principal organizers.
Those signing the document, which will be released in Washington today, include 20 former US ambassadors, appointed by presidents of both parties, to countries including Israel, the former Soviet Union and Saudi Arabia.
Others are senior State Department officials from the Carter, Reagan and Clinton administrations and former military leaders, including retired Marine Gen. Joseph P. Hoar, the former commander of US forces in the Middle East under President Bush's father. Hoar is a prominent critic of the war in Iraq.
It is unusual for so many former high-level military officials and career diplomats to issue such an overtly political message during a presidential campaign.
Former ambassadors who have signed the joint statement include Jeffrey Davidow, William DePree, Charles Freeman Jr., William C. Harrop, Arthur Hartman, H. Allen Holmes, Samuel Lewis, Princeton Lyman, Jack Matlock Jr., Donald McHenry, Richard Murphy,
David Newsom, Phyllis Oakley, John Reinhardt, Ronald Spiers, Nicholas Veliotes and
Alexander Watson; and Adm. William Crowe, Gen. Joseph Hoar and Adm. Stansfield Turner.
[Now lets see haw many fall victim to one of those mysterious "skiing acidents"]
BIG BROTHER
Fast-tracking frequent flyers through security -- for a fee and a personal background 'internal' exam
Aviation sources tell Time that this week the TSA will announce the launch of a three-month trial of its Registered Traveler program, which will start at five airports, beginning in Minneapolis—St. Paul and then in other cities, including Los Angeles and Houston.
A sort of fast track for frequent flyers, the program aims to let approved passengers use less crowded lanes to the security checkpoints and possibly avoid such routine security measures as removing their shoes and coats.
To gain that privilege, passengers must submit to an extensive background check, including searches of commercial and government databases. After being approved and paying a small annual fee (yet to be determined), they would be issued a card—containing a biometric identifier (a fingerprint, for example) and personal data—that shows they're entitled to the special security treatment.
Proposition to take DNA at arrest stirs privacy fears / Mandatory sampling on November ballot
A man who lost his brother to an unknown serial killer has bankrolled a November ballot measure that would force everyone arrested for a felony in California to provide a DNA sample.
Although backers of the measure say such a greatly expanded DNA database could clear up thousands of unsolved crimes, civil rights activists argue it would give the government access to too much information about too many people.
'DNA is not like a fingerprint, since getting it is more invasive and it holds information beyond mere identification,'' said Tania Simoncelli, a science and technology fellow for the American Civil Liberties Union. 'Storing it permanently for future criminal investigations doesn't comply with the Constitution.''
Son of Patriot Act rises
While activists and politicians work to repeal or change parts of the Patriot Act that they say violate constitutional rights, Patriot Act II legislation -- which caused a stir when it came to light last year -- is rearing its head again in a new bill making its way through Congress.
The bill would strengthen laws that let the FBI demand that businesses hand over confidential records about patrons by assigning stiff penalties (up to five years in prison) to anyone who discloses that the FBI made the demand.
The bill would also let the FBI compel businesses to cooperate with record requests, and it would expand the government's secret surveillance powers over noncitizens in the United States.
The bill, known as the Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Tools Improvement Act of 2003, or HR 3179, was introduced last September by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin) and was co-sponsored by Rep. Porter Goss (R-Florida), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a possible contender to replace departing CIA chief George Tenet.
Aviation sources tell Time that this week the TSA will announce the launch of a three-month trial of its Registered Traveler program, which will start at five airports, beginning in Minneapolis—St. Paul and then in other cities, including Los Angeles and Houston.
A sort of fast track for frequent flyers, the program aims to let approved passengers use less crowded lanes to the security checkpoints and possibly avoid such routine security measures as removing their shoes and coats.
To gain that privilege, passengers must submit to an extensive background check, including searches of commercial and government databases. After being approved and paying a small annual fee (yet to be determined), they would be issued a card—containing a biometric identifier (a fingerprint, for example) and personal data—that shows they're entitled to the special security treatment.
Proposition to take DNA at arrest stirs privacy fears / Mandatory sampling on November ballot
A man who lost his brother to an unknown serial killer has bankrolled a November ballot measure that would force everyone arrested for a felony in California to provide a DNA sample.
Although backers of the measure say such a greatly expanded DNA database could clear up thousands of unsolved crimes, civil rights activists argue it would give the government access to too much information about too many people.
'DNA is not like a fingerprint, since getting it is more invasive and it holds information beyond mere identification,'' said Tania Simoncelli, a science and technology fellow for the American Civil Liberties Union. 'Storing it permanently for future criminal investigations doesn't comply with the Constitution.''
Son of Patriot Act rises
While activists and politicians work to repeal or change parts of the Patriot Act that they say violate constitutional rights, Patriot Act II legislation -- which caused a stir when it came to light last year -- is rearing its head again in a new bill making its way through Congress.
The bill would strengthen laws that let the FBI demand that businesses hand over confidential records about patrons by assigning stiff penalties (up to five years in prison) to anyone who discloses that the FBI made the demand.
The bill would also let the FBI compel businesses to cooperate with record requests, and it would expand the government's secret surveillance powers over noncitizens in the United States.
The bill, known as the Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Tools Improvement Act of 2003, or HR 3179, was introduced last September by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin) and was co-sponsored by Rep. Porter Goss (R-Florida), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a possible contender to replace departing CIA chief George Tenet.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
NAVAL GAZING
Seven US carriers 'surge' out to sea
The USS Harry S. Truman and the USS Enterprise have set sail -- meaning the US Navy now has seven of its 12 carriers away from port simultaneously, a major shift from the way carriers have traditionally been used. The two Norfolk-based carriers are participating in the exercise, dubbed 'Summer Pulse 04'.
'Summer Pulse 04' continues through August, with seven carriers conducting joint exercises and international exercises with allies from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia, officials said.
Capt. Michael R. Groothousen, the Truman's commanding officer, said "Terrorists love predictability. If we can start putting some unpredictability into our schedule, it makes it more difficult for any threat out there to determine when to strike."
The other carriers in "Summer Pulse 04" are the Norfolk-based USS George Washington and San Diego-based USS John C. Stennis, which are already deployed; the USS Kitty Hawk, based in Yokosuka, Japan; the Mayport, Fla.-based USS John F. Kennedy; and the USS Ronald Reagan, which left Norfolk last week and is en route to its new home port of San Diego.
Eighteen Royal Navy warships head west
The largest commitment of Royal Navy personnel since the liberation of Iraq 12 months ago has been sent west for huge war games in the Atlantic.
Eighteen warships, led by Fleet flagship HMS Invincible, are taking part in Exercise Aurora, stretching along the eastern seaboard of the United States to the Gulf of Mexico.
Among the ships deployed are helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, assault ship HMS Albion and Type 23 frigates HM ships Marlborough and Sutherland, all sailing in small ‘packets’ to meet up in Norfolk, Virginia.
The linchpin of the deployment is Exercise Rapid Alliance, involving two American carrier battlegroups and a US Marine Corps task force, staging mock invasions.
Also joining the war games are ships and personnel from Canada, Holland, Germany, Peru, Norway, Italy, Denmark, France and Australia.
Major Russian armed forces exercises to be held in June
The Russian Armed Forces will hold major exercises in June 2004, acting Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told President Vladimir Putin.
"In June, permanent alert units will be redeployed from one Russian region to some."
In addition, exercises within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) will be held in the Central Asian strategic sector from August to September, the acting defense minister noted.
"The Russian Navy is planning major independent and international campaigns in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea in August-September," Mr. Ivanov said.
The USS Harry S. Truman and the USS Enterprise have set sail -- meaning the US Navy now has seven of its 12 carriers away from port simultaneously, a major shift from the way carriers have traditionally been used. The two Norfolk-based carriers are participating in the exercise, dubbed 'Summer Pulse 04'.
'Summer Pulse 04' continues through August, with seven carriers conducting joint exercises and international exercises with allies from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia, officials said.
Capt. Michael R. Groothousen, the Truman's commanding officer, said "Terrorists love predictability. If we can start putting some unpredictability into our schedule, it makes it more difficult for any threat out there to determine when to strike."
The other carriers in "Summer Pulse 04" are the Norfolk-based USS George Washington and San Diego-based USS John C. Stennis, which are already deployed; the USS Kitty Hawk, based in Yokosuka, Japan; the Mayport, Fla.-based USS John F. Kennedy; and the USS Ronald Reagan, which left Norfolk last week and is en route to its new home port of San Diego.
Eighteen Royal Navy warships head west
The largest commitment of Royal Navy personnel since the liberation of Iraq 12 months ago has been sent west for huge war games in the Atlantic.
Eighteen warships, led by Fleet flagship HMS Invincible, are taking part in Exercise Aurora, stretching along the eastern seaboard of the United States to the Gulf of Mexico.
Among the ships deployed are helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, assault ship HMS Albion and Type 23 frigates HM ships Marlborough and Sutherland, all sailing in small ‘packets’ to meet up in Norfolk, Virginia.
The linchpin of the deployment is Exercise Rapid Alliance, involving two American carrier battlegroups and a US Marine Corps task force, staging mock invasions.
Also joining the war games are ships and personnel from Canada, Holland, Germany, Peru, Norway, Italy, Denmark, France and Australia.
Major Russian armed forces exercises to be held in June
The Russian Armed Forces will hold major exercises in June 2004, acting Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told President Vladimir Putin.
"In June, permanent alert units will be redeployed from one Russian region to some."
In addition, exercises within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) will be held in the Central Asian strategic sector from August to September, the acting defense minister noted.
"The Russian Navy is planning major independent and international campaigns in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea in August-September," Mr. Ivanov said.
EARTH CHANGES
27,000 pelicans abandon their nests to places unknown
Wildlife officials estimate nearly 27,000 pelicans have abandoned their summer nesting grounds at Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The question is why - and where they went.
'They just left,' said Ken Torkelson, a spokesman for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Bismarck. Abandoned were thousands of eggs, which are unlikely to hatch.
The refuge is the home of the largest known nesting colony of white pelicans in North America.
'We don't think they were killed. We think they abandoned their nest,' said Kim Hanson, refuge manager of the Arrowwood complex, which includes Chase Lake. Officials suspect some kind of disturbance -- human or animal -- because some of the remaining birds appear more skittish than usual, Hanson said.
[Of course, they may be "more skittish than usual" because all their neighbours have just disappeared.]
Wildlife officials estimate nearly 27,000 pelicans have abandoned their summer nesting grounds at Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The question is why - and where they went.
'They just left,' said Ken Torkelson, a spokesman for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Bismarck. Abandoned were thousands of eggs, which are unlikely to hatch.
The refuge is the home of the largest known nesting colony of white pelicans in North America.
'We don't think they were killed. We think they abandoned their nest,' said Kim Hanson, refuge manager of the Arrowwood complex, which includes Chase Lake. Officials suspect some kind of disturbance -- human or animal -- because some of the remaining birds appear more skittish than usual, Hanson said.
[Of course, they may be "more skittish than usual" because all their neighbours have just disappeared.]
TORTURE RULES OK
Lawyers decided bans on torture didn't bind Bush
A team of administration lawyers concluded in a March 2003 legal memorandum that President Bush was not bound by either an international treaty prohibiting torture or by a federal antitorture law because he had the authority as commander in chief to approve any technique needed to protect the nation's security.
The memo, prepared for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, also said that any executive branch officials, including those in the military, could be immune from domestic and international prohibitions against torture for a variety of reasons.
A team of administration lawyers concluded in a March 2003 legal memorandum that President Bush was not bound by either an international treaty prohibiting torture or by a federal antitorture law because he had the authority as commander in chief to approve any technique needed to protect the nation's security.
The memo, prepared for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, also said that any executive branch officials, including those in the military, could be immune from domestic and international prohibitions against torture for a variety of reasons.
Monday, June 14, 2004
REVISION THING
A history of the Iraq war, told entirely in lies
All text is verbatim from senior Bush Administration officials and advisers.
Example: We had the overwhelming support of the Iraqi people. Once we won, we got great support from everywhere.
All text is verbatim from senior Bush Administration officials and advisers.
Example: We had the overwhelming support of the Iraqi people. Once we won, we got great support from everywhere.
POLITICAL ANIMALS
Amoral philosophy driving current political agenda in US
Is United States foreign policy being run by followers of an obscure German Jewish political philosopher whose views were elitist, amoral and hostile to democratic government? Suddenly, political Washington is abuzz about Leo Strauss, who arrived in the US in 1938 and taught at several major universities before his death in 1973.
Members of the cognoscenti are becoming aware that key neoconservative strategists behind the Bush administration's aggressive foreign and military policy consider themselves to be followers of Strauss.
The New Yorker's legendary investigative reporter, Seymour Hersh, who noted that Strauss believed the world to be a place where "isolated liberal democracies live in constant danger from hostile elements abroad", and where policy advisers may have to deceive their own publics and even their rulers in order to protect their countries.
Is United States foreign policy being run by followers of an obscure German Jewish political philosopher whose views were elitist, amoral and hostile to democratic government? Suddenly, political Washington is abuzz about Leo Strauss, who arrived in the US in 1938 and taught at several major universities before his death in 1973.
Members of the cognoscenti are becoming aware that key neoconservative strategists behind the Bush administration's aggressive foreign and military policy consider themselves to be followers of Strauss.
The New Yorker's legendary investigative reporter, Seymour Hersh, who noted that Strauss believed the world to be a place where "isolated liberal democracies live in constant danger from hostile elements abroad", and where policy advisers may have to deceive their own publics and even their rulers in order to protect their countries.
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
WORLD DOMINATION
Massive 'dart' to be launched from space to strike like a meteor
A pair of satellites orbiting several hundred miles above the Earth would serve as a weapons system. One functions as the targeting and communications platform while the other carries numerous tungsten rods -- up to 20 feet in length and a foot in diameter -- that it can drop on targets with less than 15 minutes' notice.
When instructed from the ground, the targeting satellite commands its partner to drop one of its darts. The guided rods enter the atmosphere, protected by a thermal coating, traveling at 36,000 feet per second--comparable to the speed of a meteor. The result: complete devastation of the target, even if it's buried deep underground.
[Even as the Pentagon struggles with the low-tech reality of war in Iraq, it looks to increasingly bizarre-sounding technology for next-gen fighting systems. This article looks at the Pentagon's sci-fi future.]
A pair of satellites orbiting several hundred miles above the Earth would serve as a weapons system. One functions as the targeting and communications platform while the other carries numerous tungsten rods -- up to 20 feet in length and a foot in diameter -- that it can drop on targets with less than 15 minutes' notice.
When instructed from the ground, the targeting satellite commands its partner to drop one of its darts. The guided rods enter the atmosphere, protected by a thermal coating, traveling at 36,000 feet per second--comparable to the speed of a meteor. The result: complete devastation of the target, even if it's buried deep underground.
[Even as the Pentagon struggles with the low-tech reality of war in Iraq, it looks to increasingly bizarre-sounding technology for next-gen fighting systems. This article looks at the Pentagon's sci-fi future.]
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
SUFFER THE CHILDREN
It's my party and I'll kill if I want to
Crying is not how one 13-year-old Baltimore girl handled a 'betrayal' at her recent birthday party.
When the birthday girl's 'boyfriend' kissed a 12-year-old guest on the cheek at the party, the birthday girl's mother was furious, and ordered her daughter to 'handle your business'. At which point the unfortunate guest, Nicole Ashley Townes, was savagely beaten by six women and girls, including the mother, and sent into a coma.
[While it is still true that violence among boys is a much bigger problem than violence among girls, as measured by arrest statistics, AP reports that while it used to be the ratio was 10 to 1, now it's 4 to 1.]
Crying is not how one 13-year-old Baltimore girl handled a 'betrayal' at her recent birthday party.
When the birthday girl's 'boyfriend' kissed a 12-year-old guest on the cheek at the party, the birthday girl's mother was furious, and ordered her daughter to 'handle your business'. At which point the unfortunate guest, Nicole Ashley Townes, was savagely beaten by six women and girls, including the mother, and sent into a coma.
[While it is still true that violence among boys is a much bigger problem than violence among girls, as measured by arrest statistics, AP reports that while it used to be the ratio was 10 to 1, now it's 4 to 1.]
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
US plans to build military training facility in Australia
Australia and the US have moved closer to an agreement on basing a major US military training facility in northern Australia.
Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill said he discussed the project with his US counterpart, Donald Rumsfeld, during a security conference in Singapore over the weekend and an agreement could be signed as early as next month.
'It's to enhance mutual capability, ensure inter-operability and to assist a critically important ally,' Hill said on ABC Radio. Hill said an agreement in principle on setting up the training facility could be reached at annual bilateral defense talks to be held in Washington next month.
[[A major enhancement of the US military presence in Australia could upset neighbour states like Indonesia, which has in the past bristled at suggestions Australia serves as Washington's "deputy sheriff" in the region.
About half the world's oil supplies move through the Indonesia region on the way to markets in Japan, China and South Korea, making it a tempting target for Islamic militants seeking to destabilize the industrialized world.]]
Australia and the US have moved closer to an agreement on basing a major US military training facility in northern Australia.
Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill said he discussed the project with his US counterpart, Donald Rumsfeld, during a security conference in Singapore over the weekend and an agreement could be signed as early as next month.
'It's to enhance mutual capability, ensure inter-operability and to assist a critically important ally,' Hill said on ABC Radio. Hill said an agreement in principle on setting up the training facility could be reached at annual bilateral defense talks to be held in Washington next month.
[[A major enhancement of the US military presence in Australia could upset neighbour states like Indonesia, which has in the past bristled at suggestions Australia serves as Washington's "deputy sheriff" in the region.
About half the world's oil supplies move through the Indonesia region on the way to markets in Japan, China and South Korea, making it a tempting target for Islamic militants seeking to destabilize the industrialized world.]]
DEAD PRESIDENT
Goodbye and good riddance to the Gipper
Ronald Reagan, our 40th president, died on Saturday, June 5th, and the airwaves and newspapers covered little else. I found the astounding collective mindset to revere this past president while forgetting or foregoing any of his past that was remotely negative, very disturbing. After all, doing so is a blatant disregard of history.
None of the articles or all-day eulogies mentioned the Iran-Contra crimes, the Savings and Loan scandals, the insider trading and leveraged buy-outs that ruined many an everyday folk, or his "trickle down" economics that coincidentally never trickled to the citizens that actually needed a trickle. Gosh, that sounds ominously familiar.
[Ronald Reagan was a conman. Reagan was a coward. Reagan was a killer.]
Ronald Reagan, our 40th president, died on Saturday, June 5th, and the airwaves and newspapers covered little else. I found the astounding collective mindset to revere this past president while forgetting or foregoing any of his past that was remotely negative, very disturbing. After all, doing so is a blatant disregard of history.
None of the articles or all-day eulogies mentioned the Iran-Contra crimes, the Savings and Loan scandals, the insider trading and leveraged buy-outs that ruined many an everyday folk, or his "trickle down" economics that coincidentally never trickled to the citizens that actually needed a trickle. Gosh, that sounds ominously familiar.
[Ronald Reagan was a conman. Reagan was a coward. Reagan was a killer.]
CLOAK AND DAGGER
Dentist who was writing book about 9-11 hijackers mysteriously falls ill
A dentist who claims he met three of the Sept. 11 hijackers a year before the attacks has mysteriously fallen ill and is on life support.
Dr. David Graham was driving back home from Houston on Saturday night when he became sick. A friend said Graham began suffering organ failure and medical tests show possible poisoning. He is hospitalized in Houston.
Graham is trying to publish a book that claims meetings with the hijackers and another Middle Eastern man who is a Federal fugitive here.
Mike Sledge, a friend of Graham, has a manuscript of Graham's book, 'The Graham Report: The true story of three 9-11 hijackers who were reported to the FBI 10 months before 9-11'.
In the book, Graham claims he met the hijackers at his home town in September 2000 and thought they were plotting an attack on an Air Force Base. He said he reported them to the FBI.
A dentist who claims he met three of the Sept. 11 hijackers a year before the attacks has mysteriously fallen ill and is on life support.
Dr. David Graham was driving back home from Houston on Saturday night when he became sick. A friend said Graham began suffering organ failure and medical tests show possible poisoning. He is hospitalized in Houston.
Graham is trying to publish a book that claims meetings with the hijackers and another Middle Eastern man who is a Federal fugitive here.
Mike Sledge, a friend of Graham, has a manuscript of Graham's book, 'The Graham Report: The true story of three 9-11 hijackers who were reported to the FBI 10 months before 9-11'.
In the book, Graham claims he met the hijackers at his home town in September 2000 and thought they were plotting an attack on an Air Force Base. He said he reported them to the FBI.
MATERIEL GIRL
Madge does the military two-step
Last year, Madonna cut a video for the song that reportedly featured "a runway show of couture army fatigues which escalates into a mad frenzy depicting the catastrophic repercussions and horror of war," Madonna's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg explained last February. "This will be a stirring and extremely controversial piece of work from the artist."
But, before it could be premiered, Matt Drudge began to leak details of transvestite soldiers and Madonna tossing a grenade at a George W. Bush look-alike. The resulting outcry from Drudge's core conservative constituency convinced Madonna to back down.
"Due to the volatile state of the world and out of sensitivity and respect to the armed forces, who I support and pray for, I do not want to risk offending anyone who might misinterpret the meaning of this video," Madonna explained in shelving the clip in favour of a neutered flag-waving second cut.
At the time we still believed in weapons of mass destruction. Support for the President and his war was high. And Madonna had sales to worry about.
[A year later, critics have turned and that album has tanked, as has the popularity of the President. More importantly, several hundred thousand concert tickets have gone on sale. So here (again) comes Madonna the anti-war agitator, seeming not so much brave as desperate.]
NEW WORLD ORDER
CIA veteran Ray McGovern on CIA director George Tenet's surprise resignation
"I am more frightened now than at any time over the last three and a half years, that this administration will resort to extra-legal methods to do something to ensure that there are four more years for George Bush. And Ashcroft’s statement last week, gratuitous statement, uncoordinated with the department of, CIA, with the Department of Homeland Security, his warning that there is bound to be a terrorist strike before the US elections.
That can be viewed and this can be reasonably viewed as the opening salvo in the justification for doing, taking measures to ensure that whatever happens in November comes out so that four more years can be devoted to maybe changing that war crimes act or protecting at least these vulnerable people for four more years." -- 27-year veteran CIA analyst Ray McGovern.
"I am more frightened now than at any time over the last three and a half years, that this administration will resort to extra-legal methods to do something to ensure that there are four more years for George Bush. And Ashcroft’s statement last week, gratuitous statement, uncoordinated with the department of, CIA, with the Department of Homeland Security, his warning that there is bound to be a terrorist strike before the US elections.
That can be viewed and this can be reasonably viewed as the opening salvo in the justification for doing, taking measures to ensure that whatever happens in November comes out so that four more years can be devoted to maybe changing that war crimes act or protecting at least these vulnerable people for four more years." -- 27-year veteran CIA analyst Ray McGovern.
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
MISSISSIPPI LYNCHIN
Man found hanged after land feud
Family members say 55-year-old Roy Veal, found yesterday hanging from a tree in rural Mississippi, had returned home to fight for his family's land.
Doris Gordon, the man's sister her brother had returned to the family home in Wilkinson County 'to help with a lawsuit pending against our family.'
'There are people trying to take part of our land because they apparently think there is oil on the land,' she said.
Thelma Veal, the man's 79-year-old mother, said her son had obtained a map of the property and was collecting documents to prove the family owned the land.
"Now they have found my son hung back there on a tree," said Mrs Veal.
She said her husband owned more than 40 acres in the area southwest of Woodville and that it was being sought because it might have oil deposits.
There is oil production in that area of the state.
"My husband's daddy bought this land in 1926, and I've been here ever since I was 18," she said. "It's our land."
Family members say 55-year-old Roy Veal, found yesterday hanging from a tree in rural Mississippi, had returned home to fight for his family's land.
Doris Gordon, the man's sister her brother had returned to the family home in Wilkinson County 'to help with a lawsuit pending against our family.'
'There are people trying to take part of our land because they apparently think there is oil on the land,' she said.
Thelma Veal, the man's 79-year-old mother, said her son had obtained a map of the property and was collecting documents to prove the family owned the land.
"Now they have found my son hung back there on a tree," said Mrs Veal.
She said her husband owned more than 40 acres in the area southwest of Woodville and that it was being sought because it might have oil deposits.
There is oil production in that area of the state.
"My husband's daddy bought this land in 1926, and I've been here ever since I was 18," she said. "It's our land."
PRESIDENT GORE
He won by half a million votes ..but he's been quite til now...
"In December of 2000, even though I strongly disagreed with the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to order a halt to the counting of legally cast ballots, I saw it as my duty to reaffirm my own strong belief that we are a nation of laws and not only accept the decision, but do what I could to prevent efforts to delegitimize George Bush as he took the oath of office as president.
I did not at that moment imagine that Bush would, in the presidency that ensued, demonstrate utter contempt for the rule of law and work at every turn to frustrate accountability...
So today, I want to speak on behalf of those Americans who feel that President Bush has betrayed our nation's trust, those who are horrified at what has been done in our name, and all those who want the rest of the world to know that we Americans see the abuses that occurred in the prisons of Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo and secret locations as yet undisclosed as completely out of keeping with the character and basic nature of the American people and at odds with the principles on which America stands.
I believe we have a duty to hold President Bush accountable - and I believe we will."
"In December of 2000, even though I strongly disagreed with the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to order a halt to the counting of legally cast ballots, I saw it as my duty to reaffirm my own strong belief that we are a nation of laws and not only accept the decision, but do what I could to prevent efforts to delegitimize George Bush as he took the oath of office as president.
I did not at that moment imagine that Bush would, in the presidency that ensued, demonstrate utter contempt for the rule of law and work at every turn to frustrate accountability...
So today, I want to speak on behalf of those Americans who feel that President Bush has betrayed our nation's trust, those who are horrified at what has been done in our name, and all those who want the rest of the world to know that we Americans see the abuses that occurred in the prisons of Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo and secret locations as yet undisclosed as completely out of keeping with the character and basic nature of the American people and at odds with the principles on which America stands.
I believe we have a duty to hold President Bush accountable - and I believe we will."
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
Ribbon of carbon nanotubes the cable for elevator into space
As long as man has been able to stare at the stars the idea has been there, in Jacob's ladder, in the Tower of Babel. It was a mystical dream of something tall enough to reach into the heavens.
What if there were a way, a ribbon slicing through the atmosphere that spacecraft could climb? An extreme version of an elevator that's right out of science fiction by writers like Arthur C. Clarke.
The space elevator starts with a basic platform in the ocean, near the equator. Attached to the platform is a paper-thin ribbon no more than a metre wide that stretches 100,000 kilometres into space, about one-quarter of the way to the moon. There it's tied to a satellite that pulls the ribbon taut and keeps it straight as it orbits in synch with the Earth's rotation.
Spacecraft would ride up the cable on an electrically powered climber that would be fuelled by ground-based lasers shining onto solar panels.
Once above the Earth's atmosphere the spacecraft would be released to orbit the Earth and do whatever business it was sent to do. Or it could ride the elevator right to the end and be thrown toward Mars or Venus.
[Until 1991, scientists were forced to fantasize about a space elevator built with a magic material they called "unobtainium". Then carbon nanotubes were discovered -- hollow carbon tubes 100 times stronger than steel yet so tiny 50,000 of them would fit inside a human hair. Scientists are trying to figure out a way to stretch carbon nanotubes. Right now the longest one they can make is just 1.5 centimetres.]
As long as man has been able to stare at the stars the idea has been there, in Jacob's ladder, in the Tower of Babel. It was a mystical dream of something tall enough to reach into the heavens.
What if there were a way, a ribbon slicing through the atmosphere that spacecraft could climb? An extreme version of an elevator that's right out of science fiction by writers like Arthur C. Clarke.
The space elevator starts with a basic platform in the ocean, near the equator. Attached to the platform is a paper-thin ribbon no more than a metre wide that stretches 100,000 kilometres into space, about one-quarter of the way to the moon. There it's tied to a satellite that pulls the ribbon taut and keeps it straight as it orbits in synch with the Earth's rotation.
Spacecraft would ride up the cable on an electrically powered climber that would be fuelled by ground-based lasers shining onto solar panels.
Once above the Earth's atmosphere the spacecraft would be released to orbit the Earth and do whatever business it was sent to do. Or it could ride the elevator right to the end and be thrown toward Mars or Venus.
[Until 1991, scientists were forced to fantasize about a space elevator built with a magic material they called "unobtainium". Then carbon nanotubes were discovered -- hollow carbon tubes 100 times stronger than steel yet so tiny 50,000 of them would fit inside a human hair. Scientists are trying to figure out a way to stretch carbon nanotubes. Right now the longest one they can make is just 1.5 centimetres.]
BERG WEIRDNESS
Filmmaker Moore says he has footage of Berg interview
Filmmaker Michael Moore, whose incendiary new documentary lambastes President Bush's handling of the war, said Thursday that he has footage unused in the film of Nicholas Berg, the American civilian later beheaded in Iraq.
The footage, of an interview with Berg, 'is approximately 20 minutes long. We are not releasing it to the media,' Moore said in a statement. 'It is not in the film. We are dealing privately with the family.'
Filmmaker Michael Moore, whose incendiary new documentary lambastes President Bush's handling of the war, said Thursday that he has footage unused in the film of Nicholas Berg, the American civilian later beheaded in Iraq.
The footage, of an interview with Berg, 'is approximately 20 minutes long. We are not releasing it to the media,' Moore said in a statement. 'It is not in the film. We are dealing privately with the family.'
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