Sunday, December 11, 2005
Pentagon Covering Up Tens of Thousands of U.S. Casualties In Official Reports
thinkprogress.org
Pentagon Covering Up Tens of Thousands of U.S. Casualties In Official Reports
Seven Members of Congress issued a letter this week charging that the Pentagon is systematically “under-reporting casualties in Iraq by only reporting non-fatal casualties incurred in combat.” They asked for a full accounting of the accurate numbers.
Their letter cited a CBS News report:
The Pentagon declined to be interviewed, instead sending a letter that contained information not included in published casualty reports. “More than 15,000 troops with so-called ‘non-battle’ injuries and diseases have been evacuated from Iraq,” wrote the Department of Defense. John Pike, Director of GlobalSecurity.org told 60 Minutes in that segment that this uncounted casualty figure “would have to be somewhere in the ballpark of over 20, maybe 30,000.”
But that CBS report came in November 2004. Today, more than a year later, those numbers have risen significantly. This morning, Salon.com published details of an October ‘05 Veterans Affairs report showing that 119,247 off-duty Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are receiving health care from the V.A.
[T]he statistics seem to show that a lot of those health problems are war-related. For example, nearly 37,000 have mental disorders, including nearly 16,000 who have been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder. Over 46,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan receiving benefits from the V.A. have musculoskeletal problems. These are all veterans who within the last four years were considered by the military to be mentally and physically fit enough to fight.
These men and women have suffered injuries that will impact them for the rest of their lives. The Bush calculation: better to have higher Iraq approval numbers than recognize their sacrifices.
Posted by politicalstuff at 12:35 AM
Lieberman Flashback: Questioning Bush’s Credibility Is Central To Democracy
thinkprogress.org
Lieberman Flashback: Questioning Bush’s Credibility Is Central To Democracy
On Wednesday, Sen. Joe Lieberman argued that anyone who questions President Bush’s credibility while the country is at war puts the nation in danger. Lieberman, 12/7/05:
It’s time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that he will be the commander in chief for three more critical years and that in matters of war we undermine presidential credibility at our nation’s peril.
But when he was running for President, Lieberman directly questioned Bush’s credibility on the war. In fact, he argued that doing so was an essential part of our democracy. Lieberman, 7/28/03:
In our democracy, a president does not rule, he governs. He remains always answerable to us, the people. And right now, the president’s conduct of our foreign policy is giving the country too many reasons to question his leadership. It’s not just about 16 words in a speech, it is about distorting intelligence and diminishing credibility. It’s not about searching for scapegoats; it’s about seeing, as President Kennedy did after the Bay of Pigs, that presidents stand tall when they willingly accept responsibility for mistakes made while they are in charge. [Press Conference with Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) Re: War in Iraq, 7/28/03]
When he was running for President, Lieberman questioned Bush’s credibility on the war because that’s what he needed to do to get votes. Now, after his campaign flopped, he is attacking people who question Bush’s credibility on the war because that’s what he needs to do to get attention.
For Lieberman, this is about political opportunism, not principle.
Posted by politicalstuff at 12:33 AM
Reed: Bush Fails to Outline Iraq Strategy
Reed: Bush Fails to Outline Iraq Strategy
Democratic Sen. Jack Reed Says President Bush Fails to Outline Clear Iraq War Strategy
By ANDREW MIGA
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - President Bush has failed to outline an effective strategy for winning the war in Iraq, Sen. Jack Reed said Saturday in the Democratic Party's weekly radio address.
"The American people are eager to hear the president's plan for success in Iraq, rebuilding the country and bringing our troops home," Reed said. "Instead, the president continues to offer vague generalities and rhetoric with no specifics about what needs to be done."
The Rhode Island senator, saying the current course in Iraq is a mistake, called on Bush to offer a more candid appraisal of how the war-ravaged nation can be stabilized and put on a surer path to democracy.
"If the president has any hope of regaining the nation's support for operations in Iraq and justifying the growing cost in lives and taxpayer dollars ... he must be candid and honest about the current situation."
Reed, a former Army Ranger who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, accused the Bush Administration of assailing the patriotism of Iraq war critics.
ABC News
"I have found it disturbing that the Bush administration has attacked the patriotism of those who question the administration's policies in Iraq," Reed charged. "Baseless partisan attacks won't help us win the war, won't help the troops and won't protect our nation from our enemies."
Reed, unlike some Democrats, does not support an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq. His criticism comes in the wake of two major speeches on Iraq by Bush in the past two weeks aimed at rallying slumping public support for his war policies.
Posted by politicalstuff at 12:09 AM
Katrina victims demand 'right to return'
Reuters
Katrina victims demand 'right to return'
By Michele Gershberg
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - With jazz music, prayer and offerings to the gods, hundreds of Hurricane Katrina survivors on Saturday demanded the government move faster to rebuild the city and provide evacuees with more disaster assistance.
Shouting "We're Back," protesters said they feared the city's poor would be shut out of reconstruction after being dispersed far across the United States since the storm.
City officials estimate more than 300,000 New Orleans residents have yet to return since Katrina flooded the city, reducing entire neighborhoods to a rubble-strewn wasteland.
In one of the largest rallies in New Orleans since the hurricane, survivors marched to City Hall from Congo Square, a centuries-old meeting place where African slaves once gathered to trade, play music and dance.
African drummers and a brass band dubbed the "Soul Rebels" set the carnival-like tone, while a tribal priest made an offering of rum and watermelon.
"I lived in my house for 45 years -- my mother died and left it to me," said Gloria Brown, 70, an evacuee living in San Francisco. "I swam seven blocks in filthy water with my dog Queenie to survive. I want to come back but I can't pay for it."
The federal government is providing varying amounts of assistance to evacuees to cover temporary housing and living expenses. But some evacuees said they have not yet received any money.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has held meetings with evacuees living in places like Alabama or Mississippi to gather their ideas about how to rebuild the city. City and state officials have yet to determine how to rebuild a faulty levee system that created the flooding, a key decision for insurers and lenders financing the reconstruction.
Some hurricane evacuees said there should be less talk and more action.
"Right now they're treating us like refugees," said Mervin Lucas. "They're worried about health in Afghanistan, the cold in Pakistan. They're giving folks in Iraq better things than they're giving us."
Rally organizers accused the city of discriminating against black residents by moving slowly on rebuilding, particularly in low-income areas that were hardest hit, after failing to rescue them quickly in the days following the storm.
"It's no secret the rich white folks uptown don't want us back," said Malcolm Suber, a protest leader with the grass-roots People's Hurricane Relief Fund. "This government left us to starve and to die."
For others, the protest provided a chance to reunite with friends last seen before Katrina hit the city on August 29.
"If I didn't come today, I wouldn't know if he was alive or dead," said a tearful George Quinn, embracing his friend Mervin Lucas in the square. Quinn's home in the flooded Lower Ninth Ward was destroyed. He is living in Arlington, Texas, while he waits for insurance money to rebuild.
Posted by politicalstuff at 12:07 AM
Former Sen. Eugene McCarthy dies
Reuters
Former Sen. Eugene McCarthy dies
By Kevin Drawbaugh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Sen. Eugene McCarthy, whose 1968 anti-Vietnam War presidential candidacy helped drive President Lyndon Johnson from office, died on Saturday in Washington, his son said.
McCarthy, 89, a Democrat during his years as a senator from Minnesota, had suffered from Parkinson's disease, fell ill on Friday night and died from complications on Saturday morning in a Georgetown retirement home, said his son, Michael McCarthy.
"He's obviously going to be remembered for his opposition to the war in Vietnam and his campaign against Johnson but I think he'd maybe prefer to be remembered for his work on the Civil Rights Act ... Medicare and Medicaid and environmental law," his son said.
"Another thing about him was that he was able to participate in some of the most contentious debates of his time ... and do it on the basis of ideas and policies and not on personalities. I think that was one of the reasons he had such appeal to the young."
McCarthy made his mark in the turbulent 1968 campaign as a Pied Piper of the anti-Vietnam War movement that drove fellow Democrat Johnson from office.
With only $4,000 in campaign funds and no support from top Democrats, McCarthy launched his bid to unseat an incumbent president from his own party because, as he said, "the administration seems to have set no limits to the price that it is willing to pay for a military victory" in Vietnam.
Johnson and his aides dismissed McCarthy as a dreamer. He was, after all, a bookish fellow who was considered an outsider in the cliquish Senate.
STUDENT MOVEMENT
What the skeptics missed was that McCarthy had tapped into the energy of college students and other young people who were rising to protest the Vietnam War in growing numbers.
Young volunteers flocked to his camp. People dubbed him "Clean Gene" for the thousands of long-haired students who went to the barber, donned conventional clothes, swore off drugs and generally cleaned up their acts to serve his cause.
More than 10,000 such youngsters converged on New Hampshire in March 1968 for the first primary of that presidential season, going door to door with their vote-McCarthy message.
McCarthy lost to Johnson but the vote -- 49 percent for the incumbent and 42 percent for McCarthy -- was so close the media and political establishment interpreted it as a stunning defeat for Johnson.
McCarthy's candidacy was soon overshadowed when New York Sen. Robert Kennedy, brother of the slain president, entered the race three days after the primary as an anti-war candidate. By the end of the month, Johnson announced he would not run.
After Johnson's decision not to seek re-election and Kennedy's assassination in June after his victory in the California primary, Vice President Hubert Humphrey went on to take the Democratic nomination that year. He ultimately lost the presidential race to Republican Richard Nixon.
McCarthy staged quixotic presidential campaigns in later years but his moment had passed.
"Eugene McCarthy was a man of compassion and a tremendous figure in the Democratic Party. He dedicated his life to public service and made an enormous difference for the people of Minnesota and the entire United States," Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said in a statement.
Although McCarthy often expressed annoyance that his run for president overshadowed other achievements -- Senate service, books of poetry, political commentary -- the 1968 campaign put him in the history books.
He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1949 and the first of two Senate terms in 1958. He left the Senate in 1970 and eventually moved to rural Virginia to write poetry and books on politics.
Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said McCarthy "was a passionate, articulate and intelligent public servant who spoke his mind and was part of the Minnesota populist tradition."
McCarthy is survived by his son, two daughters, a brother, a sister and six grandchildren, Michael McCarthy said.
A private burial is planned for Wednesday in Woodville, Virginia, where McCarthy lived for about 20 years.
Posted by politicalstuff at 12:05 AM
Saturday, December 10, 2005
The Bush-Cheney Tapes: Fresh Evidence For George W. Bush's Ranking As the Worse U.S. President
huffingtonpost.com
The Bush-Cheney Tapes: Fresh Evidence For George W. Bush's Ranking As the Worse U.S. President
Fred Branfman
President Feared Gestapo-style U.S. Torture Hurt His "Compassionate Conservative" Image
"The National Security Agency has released hundreds of pages of long-secret documents on the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident..." --"Vietnam War Intelligence 'Deliberately Skewed,'" Secret Study Says, N.Y. Times, December 2, 2005
"One former senior official, who served in Bush's first term, (said that) after September 11 he was told that Bush felt that `God put me here' to deal with the war on terror.
Bush saw the (2002 Republican Congressional) victory as a purposeful message from God that `he's the man.' Publicly, Bush depicted his reelection as a referendum on the war; privately, he spoke of it as another manifestation of divine purpose." -- "Up In the Air," Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker, November 28, 2005
WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 9, 2045: The National Security Agency has released hundreds of pages of long-secret telephone transcripts of conversations between former President George W. Bush and his Vice-President Richard Cheney, that occurred in December 2005, at a low point in the Bush Presidency.
These tapes provide the first confirmation of reports by Seymour Hersh, a well-known New Yorker journalist. Hersh had reported that Mr. Bush refused to pull out of Iraq, despite the massive evidence that his intervention was a fiasco strengthening America's enemies, partly because he believed his policy was divinely-inspired.
The tapes are also noteworthy for revealing Mr. Bush's hitherto unknown concerns about the damage done to his personal image from his identification with torture. While the President had no moral qualms about torturing people without evidence of their guilt, he apparently did fear that doing so might hurt his image as a "compassionate conservative." He is heard on the tape expressing concern that he was looking like an "idiot" for claiming the U.S. didn't torture even as his Administration lobbied for torture; and he feared appearing "weird" because the U.S. was practicing the same near-drowning technique - called "waterboarding" - that was commonly used by the Nazi Gestapo in World War II.
This material will not only be a boon for historians of the Bush-Cheney Presidency, but also lexicographers interested in the etymology of the common use of their names. Both men's names have become epithets among the younger generation who, according to a recent poll, agree with the statement that "the world would be a far better place today had George W. Bush and Richard Cheney never been born" by a margin of 95-5. A majority of 85-15 agreed with the statement that "George W. Bush and Richard Cheney would have been found guilty of crimes against humanity had international laws forbidding torture, to which the U.S. was a signatory, been applied to them."
"Bush" is defined by the new Webster's as "1. adj. foolish, stupid, dumb; 2. n. an individual with native intelligence who is mentally lazy and emotionally disengaged, and has no idea of the immense damage he does. 3. n. an insecure leader needing constant praise who is indifferent to the fate of his own descendants and future generations."
"Cheney", is defined as "1. adj. venal; evil 2. n. a torturer and war criminal, responsible for torturing other human beings without evidence of their guilt in violation of international law, human decency, and common sense. 3. n. a vulgar, foul-mouthed, deceptive, secretive, opportunist with no moral center."
Polls show that Mr. Bush is regarded by the public and historians alike as by far the worst leader in American history. His name is cursed globally because his Administration accelerated the global warming and other biospheric problems which have in recent decades killed so many millions, impoverished so many tens of millions more, led to the disappearance of numerous coastal regions and much of Bangladesh, and caused mass migrations and diseases on a scale never before seen in human history.
And he is hated in his own country for having amassed a huge government debt which Americans today are still repaying, and for his wrong-headed intervention in Iraq - which fatally weakened the U.S. military, needlessly killed thousands of young Americans, and vastly increased the Muslim terrorism which has killed hundreds of thousands of American citizens. Historians date the decline of America to Mr. Bush's Administration (2000-2008).
Discussing the significance of the tapes, Harvard historian John Adams explained:
"These tapes are significant because they occurred in December 2005, the period which launched the psychological meltdown which occurred during Mr. Bush's final three years in office. Bush, regarded as second-rate `junior' to his far more successful father throughout his life, had finally begun to feel like a man in his own right after winning re-election in 2004. But then things fell apart for him in 2005.
"The President is revealed in these tapes as a deeply insecure man who compensated for his inner feelings of inadequacy with a surface bluster and superstitious belief that he was acting on God's orders. These conversations give a clearer insight into why he did so much damage between 2006 and 2008, accusing his critics of having "stabbed America in the back", and sowing a legacy of national discord. Fearing that he had failed his lifelong psychological project of becoming a man worthy of respect in his own right, he just didn't give a psychological damn anymore.
"And finally, these tapes reveal that Richard Cheney is commonly regarded `as the most powerful Vice-President in U.S. history' because Mr. Bush was psychologically dominated by him. They help explain why he continued to rely on Mr. Cheney despite his disastrous and wrong-headed advice on Iraq, defense and energy policy, and torture, and the indictment of Mr. Cheney's chief of staff for perjury. These tapes also confirm that Mr. Cheney possessed a mean streak and unusual foul-mouthed vulgarity. This had been suspected after he lost control of himself and snarled "go fuck yourself!" to a respected Senator on the floor of the U.S. Senate, but its extent has not been revealed until now.
The full transcript of a December 9 conversation between Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney follows:
BUSH: "Dick, I understand the Democrats criticizing us, that's just politics. But you need to go down to Congress and talk turkey to the Judases on our side of the aisle. Remind them how I said before the last election that I listen to the greatest Father of them all here. How could anyone in their right mind not understand that when the Big Man talks, I have to listen? They need to understand that pulling out is not an option unless we want to lose His favor. And if that happens, they face eternal damnation! They need to get rational here. Have they lost their minds? Can't they think any more? Are they really willing to ignore the evidence that we are only doing what He wants?
CHENEY: "Mr. President, I am on my f___g way!
BUSH: Take 'em through the evidence, Dick. Logically. First I lose the popular vote in 2000. But He ensures that a Republican Supreme Court puts me in anyway. Second by making me President when 9/11 happens, not that gutless Al Gore, He ensures that America has a strong leader to combat those godless fanatics. Third, the Democrats put up a brainy war hero in 2004. But He so addles his brain - "I voted for the bill after I voted against it", letting the Swifties kneecap him - that I win in a walk. And the number He does on Dan Rather! Hoo boy! Fourth, He is presently protecting America. It's been a certified miracle there have been no more 9/11s given how fouled up Homeland Security has become.
"These are facts, see. Anyone with half a brain can see what they mean. And ask them this, Dick: is your seat in Congress worth a lifetime in Hell? How much more evidence do they need to see that God put me here to deal with the war on terror? I want you to ask each one of them directly: do you really expect the President of the United States, who has accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior, to disobey the Lord Our God? What are they thinking? Are they nuts? Failure is not an option, not for anyone who wants to sit at the right hand of God for the rest of time!
CHENEY: "I hear you, Mr. President, and don't worry about a f____g thing. By the time I'm done with those p___ies, they'll be eating out of our hands. And as for the Democrats, we'll have one basic message for them: "go f_____ yourself!" We're going to shove that talk of troops withdrawals right up their big fat Democratic a___es! Big time! They'll be f___g squealing for mercy like Iraqi prisoners, the a___h___s! Can you imagine that c___ Pelosi (NB: Nancy Pelosi, leader of House Democrats) challenging your leadership? That b___h is actually the perfect symbol for those Democrats: they have no b___s! Heh, heh. Get it?"
BUSH: "Heh, heh. Yeh. And look Dick, remind them that as good a man as my father was, when he left office Saddam did not. It took me - and my Great Helper In the Sky - to do what my earthly father could not. I'm the man, Dick! Chosen by our Heavenly Father!"
CHENEY: "F___ g A, Mr. President! You know I loved your father, but he just didn't have your b__s when the s___t hit the fan. History will record that you're more of a f___ ing man than your father ever was. I was there, Mr. President, and he and that p____sy Brent (National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, a former mentor to the opportunistic Cheney, who said in 2005 he no longer knew who the formerly centrist Cheney was) were p____g in their pants at the idea of overthrowing Saddam. It took a man like you to stick it right up Saddam's a____ hole."
BUSH: "Right, Dick. I hear you. But I gotta ask you about one thing. This whole torture business. I know we've got to torture, but I sound like an idiot. On the one hand you've got me saying we never torture. On the other, you've got me saying we need to torture so bad that I'm going to veto the Defense Bill because of the anti-torture clause. (An amendment submitted by Senator John McCain disallowing torture.)
"I don't get it. How can I both say we never torture and lobby for torture at the same time? And I'm worried that it doesn't really work with the `compassionate conservative' thing. I mean it looks funny."
MR. CHENEY: "Mr. President, torture is a defining hallmark of this Administration. It is what we are f___ all about. Strength. Standing up to f___g terrorism! Your ability to torture people who oppose this nation is non-f___g negotiable. The problem is that sanctimonious p____k McCain, who's just trying to position himself for 2008. I know the a___hole was tortured in Hanoi and all that. But g____n it, he needs to get over it, to stop being a f___g cry-baby and start thinking of his country! It helped us then to beat up on those a__holes the North Vietnamese for torturing. But now we need a free hand to f___g do it ourselves."
MR. BUSH: "Yeh, yeh, McCain! `Please don't torture me, please don't torture me!' He's pitiful. But we've still got a problem here, Dick. I mean I was watching this World War II movie the other night, and the Nazi GESTAPO (emphasis added) was ducking people in water. And the next day I read in the Washington Post that we're doing the same thing, calling it `waterboarding'. It looks weird. I mean, the Gestapo?
MR. CHENEY: "Mr. President, I told you how the media has reported that Condi (Secretary of State Condelezza Rice) is as popular as a f___ing "global rock star" these days! Those stupid Japs went crazy for that idiotic P.R. gimmick of having that fat Jap (NB: a nationally-known Sumo wrestler) meet her plane. Plus, as you so wisely predicted, nothing goes over better with those politically correct European a___ holes than a Negro gal.
Just yesterday she had those s___head NATO Defense ministers saying torture was a non-issue after just meeting with her for an hour! If anyone can make torture a non-f____g issue, Mr. President, she can. And the best part of it is she won't be like that p___k (NB: former Secretary of State) Colin Powell, judasing you out later on. She's loyal, Mr. President!"
BUSH: "Oh, yeah, isn't Condi a great gal! Condi'll do anything I ask her. Anything! Can you imagine a former provost for Stanford University willing to justify torture? Now that's loyalty!"
MR. CHENEY: "Mr. President, the basic issue is f___g simple. Torture is the only way to get information, g_____ it! How are we to stop those motherf___g ragheads if we're not allowed to torture their sorry little a___s? The great leaders of history like yourself were not weak p___ies worried about `human rights'. You know as well as I do it's the winners who write the f___g history books. When we prevail in Iraq, noone is going to remember your killing that d___h__d McCain's amendment."
MR. BUSH: "Well, I know one thing, Dick. We're going to win in Iraq, no matter what the N.Y. Times says. Of course, they're godless atheists, they can't understand. But I know that My Father did not bring me this far to fail me now. Why would He do that? It just doesn't make sense. People need to use their heads, darn it! I can't even imagine pulling out of Iraq. It would make a mockery of me and everything this Administration stands for. Not going to happen!"
MR. CHENEY: "Of course, Mr. President, withdrawal is a non-f____ starter. The only way we can lose is if those spineless a____holes in Congress force us out. And if that happens, we'll make sure that every American knows that our brave young boys were stabbed in the back here at home by the f_____ Democrats. We are going to f____ these b____ds so badly that they'll be p___ing in their pants! F___ them, Mr. President, you have nothing to worry about! Your place in history is secure!
MR. BUSH: "Well, Dick, I'm sure you're as right on this as you have been on everything else!"
To explore the impact of these tapes on the younger generation, these transcripts were shown to a group of college students studying American politics at Georgetown University.
"Boy, I never understood the real meaning of the word bush before. What an idiot Bush was! How could he keep Cheney around after he totally screwed up on the war in Iraq, energy policy, torture and so much else?," asked Stacey Kelly, a freshman.
And the Vice-President - what a cheney!," said David Brown, a second-year student. "How could America allow itself be so identified with torture?," he added. "Why wasn't this cheney seen as the national disgrace he was? Couldn't people see that he shamed and dishonored an entire nation, turned the world against us, and vastly increased the torture of Americans?"
"Don't be bush, dude!," George Smith, also a second-year student, said. "All those cheney lobbyists and corporations were getting rich. They kept the Republicans in control of Congress to the very end, so impeachment wasn't on the table. It would have taken a revolution to turn things around!
"The bottom-line is that a large segment of the public was so afraid of terrorism that they turned to the President to protect them, even though his incompetence was the greatest ally the terrorists had. Given this, it would have taken alot more integrity and courage than either the mass media, Democrats, or other opinion-leaders possessed to tell the real truth to the American people.
"Reading these transcripts just confirms what we already know, dude. Those venal idiots are dead and gone, but we're still here, paying for their bush and cheney mistakes. And our kids and grandkids will still be paying for them for a long time to come. It's cheney, man, really cheney. If only they'd never been born."
Posted by politicalstuff at 1:44 AM
Valerie Plame Said to Leave Job at CIA
ABC News
Valerie Plame Said to Leave Job at CIA
Valerie Plame Reportedly Leaves Job at CIA As Investigation of Bush White House Continues
By PETE YOST
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Valerie Plame, the CIA officer whose exposure led to a criminal investigation of the Bush White House, spent her last day at the spy agency Friday.
Neither the agency nor Plame's husband would confirm her departure, but two people who have known Plame for a number of years confirmed she was leaving.
Married to Bush administration critic and former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, Plame was working at agency headquarters in Langley, Va., in 2003 when her CIA status was disclosed by conservative columnist Robert Novak. That triggered a probe that led to the recent indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby.
Plame had served for many years at overseas postings for the CIA, and her employment remained classified when she took a headquarters desk job, traveling overseas periodically.
She was an employee in the CIA's Counterproliferation Division.
"Her career was arbitrarily and whimsically destroyed by a mean political trick," said Vincent Cannistraro, a former chief of operations for the CIA's Counterterrorism Center.
Plame's CIA connection was disclosed eight days after her husband accused the Bush administration of twisting prewar intelligence to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.
In the preface to the paperback edition of his book, "The Politics of Truth," Wilson says that he and his wife were the focus of a "Republican smear machine."
Deputy White House chief of staff Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, remains under investigation in the Plame probe. Libby, who resigned from the government the day of his indictment, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI.
Plame has been cast by Bush administration defenders as "just a desk jockey at the CIA, someone who wasn't really undercover and a manipulative Mata Hari who aspired to bring down the Bush administration. All of that is false," said former CIA officer Larry Johnson, a friend of Plame. "At the end of the day, she was betrayed by her own government and they show no signs of remorse."
Posted by politicalstuff at 1:42 AM
Death toll from bird flu hits 70 as Thai boy dies
Reuters
Death toll from bird flu hits 70 as Thai boy dies
By Panarat Thepgumpanat and Maggie Fox
BANGKOK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Thai boy has become the 70th person to die of bird flu, authorities said on Friday, as reports warned a flu pandemic could cost the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars as well as millions of lives.
China has also reported a new case of H5N1, the fifth person in the country known to have been infected with the deadly virus. The 31-year-old woman farmer, who lived in Heishan county of Liaoning province, has since recovered.
Chinese officials were accused of concealing bird flu outbreaks in several provinces for many months this year, according to comments from a leading virologist in Hong Kong published in Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper on Friday.
The death of the 5-year-old boy from the central province of Nakhon Nayok, 110 km (70 miles) from Bangkok, took Thailand's bird flu death toll to 14 out of 22 known cases since the virus swept through large parts of Asia in late 2003.
It was not certain how the boy caught the virus, which usually strikes those in close contact with infected fowl or their droppings. The boy, who died in hospital on Wednesday, was not known to have had direct contact with chickens.
"We believe that the boy contracted the virus from his surroundings because, although his family does not raise chickens, there are chickens raised in his neighborhood," said Thawat Suntrajarn, head of the Health Ministry's Disease Control Department.
That would follow the usual pattern of human infections of the virus, which has not yet shown signs of evolving into a form which could pass easily from person to person.
Experts say that is the great fear. If the H5N1 virus did acquire that ability, it could set off a pandemic which could kill millions of people without immunity to the new strain.
The virus is now endemic in poultry in parts of Asia and countries around the world are preparing plans to deal with a pandemic that could cause massive economic losses.
CHINA COVER-UP?
China has reported more than 30 outbreaks of bird flu and two deaths among cases where the virus has spread to humans.
Beijing has promised resources and openness in fighting bird flu after being widely criticized for an initial cover-up of the SARS virus in 2003.
But Guan Yi of the University of Hong Kong, one of the world's leading experts on the subject, told the Globe and Mail newspaper that bird flu was "out of control in China".
"Quite honestly, some provinces have the virus and they still haven't announced any outbreak. I can show direct evidence, even though China is still trying very hard to block my research," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it had seen nothing to suggest China was hiding cases of bird flu.
"We don't have any evidence China is concealing anything ... We don't have any information to substantiate claims Guan Yi is making, but clearly he is a respected scientist," said WHO spokeswoman Maria Cheng in Geneva.
BLEAK PICTURE
A pandemic could cause a serious recession in the U.S. economy, with immediate costs of between $500 and $675 billion, according to two new reports.
New Jersey based WBB Securities LLC predicted a pandemic could cause a one-year economic loss of $488 billion and a permanent economic loss of $1.4 trillion to the U.S. economy.
The World Bank has predicted a pandemic could cost the global economy $800 billion a year.
If the virus mutates into a form which passes between humans, it is likely to closely resemble the 1918 pandemic strain of flu that killed anywhere between 20 million and 100 million people, separate reports released by WBB and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said.
This means 30 percent of the population would be infected and more than 2 percent would die, the report from the CBO said.
"Further, CBO assumed that those who survived would miss three weeks of work, either because they were sick, because they feared the risk of infection at work, or because they needed to care of family or friends," the report reads.
The CBO said a pandemic could deal a $675 billion hit to the U.S. economy.
(Additional reporting by Kanokwan Boonngok in Bangkok; Richard Cowan, Susan Heavey and Maggie Smith in Washington; Emma Graham-Harrison in Beijing; Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and David Ljunggren in Ottawa)
Posted by politicalstuff at 1:40 AM
Entergy appeal for New Orleans aid rejected
Reuters
Entergy appeal for New Orleans aid rejected
By Richard Cowan and Chris Baltimore
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration has denied requests from Entergy Corp. for $350 million in federal aid to help rebuild the company's electric generating facilities in storm-ravaged New Orleans, according to documents obtained by Reuters on Friday.
"We believe that transferring federal tax dollars to the bondholders and shareholders of a private firm is inappropriate," said Allan Hubbard, President George W. Bush's top economic adviser who also chairs a White House council on rebuilding the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.
Hubbard conveyed the message in a November 18 letter to Entergy Corp. Executive Vice President Curt Hebert, who is a former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The letter was part of a bitter exchange between the White House and Entergy last month. Entergy has warned of more than $1 billion in damages, and its New Orleans unit was forced into bankruptcy.
An Entergy spokeswoman noted that the U.S. has "made money available to ConEd (the New York utility) after (the attacks of September 11, 2001), the airlines and other private business."
An administration official, who asked not to be identified, also warned that any attempt by lawmakers to aid Entergy by inserting federal dollars into must-do spending bills speeding through Congress next week would raise a red flag.
"There are administration officials who are keeping their eye out very closely for this kind of thing and I think it's very safe to anticipate strong opposition should someone (in Congress) suggest it," the official said.
The tension between the White House and Entergy comes as Gulf Coast lawmakers have been clamoring for more aggressive federal aid to clean up and rebuild the region. About $62 billion in emergency aid has been appropriated, with much of that unspent.
Since the late-August destruction from Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans-based Entergy has been waging an aggressive lobbying campaign for federal aid. It is the primary supplier of electricity to the New Orleans area, where large parts of the city are still without power.
A November 16 letter to the White House from Entergy warned that its board of directors was poised to "consider whether to continue to finance Entergy New Orleans."
The administration official told Reuters that Entergy has alluded to the possibility the city of New Orleans might have to take over the utility's operations.
In September, the company, a large U.S. utility operating in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, approached the White House seeking $500 million in aid to help the company rebuild power plants and power lines destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, according to the administration official.
Hebert delivered a revised request for aid, this time for $350 million, at a November 15, meeting with Hubbard and Don Powell, who oversees federal efforts to rebuild the Gulf Coast.
In rejecting that request, Hubbard noted Entergy Corp.'s 2004 revenues of $10 billion and $29 billion in assets. Saying the Bush administration respects "the right of your board to decide how to allocate financial resources, such as last year's $909 million in earnings," Hubbard added that it was "inappropriate to transfer taxpayer resources to those investors after the fact for a risk they chose to take."
In a seven-page, single-spaced response dated November 28, Hebert said, "We are very disappointed by your response. Without immediate federal assistance, it is unlikely that Entergy New Orleans can continue as a viable commercial entity."
In a footnote, Hebert says the utility was "somewhat disappointed" by Hubbard's references to Entergy's revenues. "We fail to understand how this is relevant to this policy debate," Hebert said.
Hebert told Hubbard that utility rates are set by state commissions, and that state commissions provide ways to recover storm-related costs.
Hebert also mentioned that "the failure of a federally designed and built levee system" is partially to blame for Entergy's current predicament.
But the administration official countered that Entergy has "certain contractual obligations" to the city of New Orleans.
"Any company that has a contract needs to live up to their responsibilities to their customers," the official said.
Posted by politicalstuff at 1:35 AM
Friday, December 09, 2005
Jury Duty Scam
Jury Duty Scam
The following is from the NYC Department of Investigation. The provided
contact information in the notice is for the NYC Inspector General's
office. If you are outside NYC, and you encounter this problem, you
should notify your local Inspector General's office.
ADVISORY FROM THE INSPECTOR GENERAL’S OFFICE
Law enforcement agencies have been receiving reports of a new
identity theft scheme. Callers, identifying themselves as United States
court employees, have been contacting members of the public by
telephone, and telling them that they have been selected for jury duty.
The caller then asks for personal information including names, social
security numbers, dates of birth, and credit card numbers. The callers
have threatened fines if the person refuses to provide the requested
information.
All members of the public should be aware that the United States
court system does not contact members of the public by telephone and
does not ask for personal information over the telephone. If you
receive a telephone call like the one described above, do not provide any of
the requested information as this is an attempt to obtain personal
information so that your identity can be used fraudulently.
If you have already been contacted and provided personal
information, you should obtain and carefully review your credit reports
and monitor all account statements. Also, please notify the Inspector
General’s Office at (212) 825-5904.
Posted by politicalstuff at 2:38 PM
U.S. Nobel winners fret over Bush research policies
USA TODAY
U.S. Nobel winners fret over Bush research policies
Roy J. Glauber and John L. Hall believe the White House focuses on research's political consequences rather than science.
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two American Nobel Prize winners said Thursday they are worried about President Bush's attitude toward science and accused his administration of ignoring important research findings.
"There is a measure of denial of scientific evidence going on within our administration, and there are many scientists who are not happy about that," said Roy J. Glauber, who shared this year's physics prize with fellow American John L. Hall and Germany's Theodor W. Haensch. Their research on the quantum nature of light has resulted in more precise optical clocks and measuring systems, and is used in today's satellite positioning systems.
Glauber also said some U.S. Congress members are more concerned about the political consequence of research projects than their scientific importance when they decide where to allocate money.
"(The projects) are not evaluated scientifically, they are only evaluated politically," Glauber said, but did not give details on specific projects. He spoke at a news conference after the three physics laureates gave a lecture to students and fellow researchers at Stockholm University.
Hall agreed that the attitude toward science in the Bush administration "does not go in the right direction."
"I think to put a gloom and doom spin on it is probably a little bit of overreacting, but it is a worrying time," Hall said.
A large part of the U.S. scientific community has accused Bush of spending too little on research and appointing people who are not qualified for top government science positions.
Administration officials have dismissed such concerns as misguided and accuse some scientists of playing politics — of attempting to undermine Bush administration policies by claiming they are based on bad science.
Ahead of last year's presidential election, 48 Nobel laureates signed a letter endorsing Democratic candidate John Kerry.
All five of this year's American Nobel laureates met with Bush at the White House in November, but Glauber said the meeting did not focus much on science.
"He didn't seek or ask our advice on any issue as far as I can remember," Glauber said.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, meanwhile, arrived in Oslo, to accept the award he shared with his International Atomic Energy Agency for their drive to curb the spread of nuclear weapons.
"Our work is crucial to our survival, and I think the Nobel Prize is a shot in the arm for us," ElBaradei said.
Speaking of the Iran's nuclear program, ElBaradei said there was still time for dialogue.
"The Iranians are getting the message clearly: That the world is concerned about their nuclear program, that they need to show more transparency," he said.
In a special Nobel lecture on Wednesday, literature laureate Harold Pinter slammed Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, saying they should be prosecuted for the invasion of Iraq.
The Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine and literature and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic sciences will be handed out Saturday in Stockholm. The Nobel Peace Prize will be presented on the same day in Oslo.
Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2005-12-08-nobellaureates_x.htm?csp=34
Posted by politicalstuff at 1:22 AM
FEMA Official Criticizes Trailer Plan for Evacuees
washingtonpost.com
FEMA Official Criticizes Trailer Plan for Evacuees
Lump-Sum Payments to Victims Urged
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
The federal government's second-ranking disaster official in Louisiana yesterday criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency's program to house Hurricane Katrina evacuees in trailers, calling the effort wasteful and counter to the long-term interest of more than 100,000 displaced families.
Instead of spending as much as $140,000 for each trailer and site for a family to use for 18 months, the government should hand out in a lump sum the $26,200 that Congress has approved for storm victims, Scott Wells, a FEMA official and the federal coordinating officer for Louisiana, told senators.
"This would allow [evacuees] to quickly get on with rebuilding their lives and afford them an immediate permanent housing solution. It also saves the U.S. taxpayer hundreds of thousands of dollars," Wells told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in written remarks he submitted. "Temporary housing is not cost effective or customer-oriented."
The blunt assessment from the top deputy to Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, who is in charge of the disaster response, is the first rebuke by a top FEMA official of one of the government's biggest recovery initiatives, which is bogged down more than three months after the Aug. 29 storm.
FEMA spokeswoman Nicol Andrews said that Wells spoke for himself but added that the program is under review.
"I think Mr. Wells would agree, since he has led dozens of disasters, that FEMA programs work well in the large majority of the 50 to 60 disasters declared in this country every year," Andrews said. "However, [Homeland Security Secretary Michael] Chertoff and [FEMA Acting Director R. David] Paulison have committed to review how those programs work in catastrophic situations and how they may be improved overall."
She added that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) requested the trailers so state residents could return while they await reconstruction. Heavily damaged areas lack other housing, and not all victims are eligible for the full amount of aid.
FEMA awarded without competition more than $1 billion to four firms for temporary housing within days of the storm, but determined later that they could not meet production goals. Housing analysts condemned creation of "FEMAville" evacuee encampments, and local communities balked at hosting them.
Under fire from Congress, FEMA is rebidding the contracts, but 125,000 trailers remain on order. As of Wednesday, FEMA has installed 39,000 trailers and mobile homes. An additional 20,000 are in place or await sites.
Meanwhile, about 1.6 million families are approved for FEMA hurricane assistance. About 800,000 households have received cash aid, and 519,000 families have gotten help with their rent, at a total cost of $3.3 billion.
A federal court in New Orleans is set to hear a request today to order a temporary halt to FEMA's plans to stop paying for 41,000 hotel rooms for evacuees, beginning Dec. 15. The class-action lawsuit was brought by 14 evacuees who say the agency has failed to provide other assistance as required under law.
FEMA says it is trying to move families into a three-month, $2,368 rental aid program and end the hotel subsidy, which costs more than $2,000 a month per room. But apartment industry and low-income housing advocates say that program, too, has been poorly implemented, with little notice or guidance to landlords or evacuees.
"I have long believed that it would have been far more effective at this stage for FEMA to have given vouchers for housing and to assist people in finding private-sector housing," said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairman of a panel investigating the response. "I think it still is a possibility."
Wells's testimony came as House and Senate members stepped up criticism of the efforts by FEMA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Gulf, and top FEMA officials in Gulf states described a listing of problems.
Senior FEMA aides warned then-Director Michael D. Brown in June 2004 that response teams were unprepared and understaffed. After the hurricane, they found that Gulf state and local officials lacked familiarity with national emergency plans, and that programs for individuals are confusing, inadequate and contradictory, Wells said.
Posted by politicalstuff at 1:16 AM
Before 9/11, Warnings on Bin Laden
The New York Times
Before 9/11, Warnings on Bin Laden
By SCOTT SHANE
WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 - More than three years before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, American diplomats warned Saudi officials that Osama bin Laden might target civilian aircraft, according to a newly declassified State Department cable.
The cable was one of two documents released Thursday by the National Security Archive, a research organization at George Washington University that obtained them under the Freedom of Information Act. The other was a memorandum written five days after the 2001 attacks by George J. Tenet, then director of central intelligence, to his top deputies, titled "We're at War."
The June 1998 cable reported to Washington that three American officials, the State Department's regional security officer, an economics officer and an aviation specialist had met Saudi officials at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh to pass along a warning based on an interview Mr. bin Laden, the Saudi-born leader of Al Qaeda, had just given to ABC News.
They said he had threatened in the interview to strike in the next "few weeks" against "military passenger aircraft," mentioning surface-to-air missiles. The cable said there was "no specific information that indicates bin Laden is targeting civilian aircraft," but added, "We could not rule out that a terrorist might take the course of least resistance and turn to a civilian target."
Part of the Tenet memo had been reported previously in Bob Woodward's 2002 book, "Bush At War." The eight-paragraph Tenet letter was a call to arms, declaring "a worldwide war against Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations" and saying that the effort would require "our absolute and total dedication."
The 2001 document echoed an earlier memo about Al Qaeda that Mr. Tenet had sent on Dec. 4, 1998, to top C.I.A. officials and other intelligence agencies, stating: "We are at war. I want no resources or people spared in this effort." But the national 9/11 commission concluded last year that the 1998 memo had "little overall effect" on mobilizing the agencies to fight terrorism.
Posted by politicalstuff at 1:04 AM
Time Reporter Is Questioned in Leak Case
The New York Times
Time Reporter Is Questioned in Leak Case
By DAVID JOHNSTON
WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 - A Time magazine reporter met on Thursday with the special counsel in the C.I.A. leak case to answer questions about her conversations last year with a lawyer for Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, a senior editor of the magazine said.
The reporter, Viveca Novak, met with the prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, for more than an hour at the office of Ms. Novak's lawyer, Henry F. Schuelke III.
Jim Kelly, Time's managing editor, said Ms. Novak's account of her testimony, in a deposition, would appear in the magazine on Monday.
Mr. Fitzgerald sought to question Ms. Novak about conversations she had with Robert D. Luskin, a lawyer for Mr. Rove, who has been under scrutiny in the investigation into the disclosure of a C.I.A. officer's identity.
Mr. Luskin testified in a deposition last Friday about his conversations with Ms. Novak, said people who had been briefed on the matter. Mr. Luskin said Thursday that he would not discuss the deposition, first disclosed by CNN on its Web site.
What information the prosecutor hoped to learn from Ms. Novak and Mr. Luskin was not publicly known, but lawyers in the case had suggested that the information could be used by Mr. Luskin to help Mr. Rove explain his belated disclosure of a conversation with another Time reporter, Matthew Cooper.
Ms. Novak agreed to cooperate with the investigation, the magazine said. Mr. Cooper waged a lengthy legal battle resisting Mr. Fitzgerald's effort to obtain his testimony, but in the end he answered the prosecutor's questions about his conversations with Mr. Rove and I. Lewis Libby Jr., then chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.
"We thought that Matt Cooper's involvement was it for Time magazine," Mr. Kelly said. "Obviously other people are involved."
Mr. Fitzgerald has focused on why Mr. Rove did not disclose until a second grand jury appearance, in October 2004, his conversation with Mr. Cooper. It was in that conversation, Mr. Cooper said, that Mr. Rove spoke about the C.I.A. officer.
Posted by politicalstuff at 1:01 AM
US, UN condemn Iranian leader's Holocaust comments
Reuters
US, UN condemn Iranian leader's Holocaust comments
By Carol Giacomo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressing doubt about the Holocaust and suggesting Israel be moved to Europe are appalling and reprehensible, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.
"These latest remarks ... are clearly appalling and reprehensible. They certainly don't inspire hope among any of us in the international community that the government of Iran is prepared to engage as a responsible member of that community," deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said.
At the United Nations in New York, Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed shock at the comments attributed to Ahmadinejad, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Annan noted the U.N. General Assembly last month passed a resolution rejecting "any denial of the Holocaust as an historical event, either in full or in part."
He said all nations should educate their populations about the Holocaust in which "one third of the Jewish people were murdered, along with countless members of other minorities."
Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying: "Some European countries insist on saying that Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in furnaces ... Although we don't accept this claim."
"If the Europeans are honest they should give some of their provinces in Europe ... to the Zionists, and the Zionists can establish their state in Europe," he said.
Annan last month canceled a trip to Tehran because of Ahmadinejad's call in October "to wipe Israel off the map."
Ereli said the remarks appeared to be part of a "consistent pattern of rhetoric that is both hostile and out of touch with the values that the rest of the international community lives by."
The State Department spokesman said Iran had pledged to uphold international norms and must be held to those standards but he declined to say what, if any, action the United States might be inclined to take in response.
Ahmadinejad's comments were reported by IRNA news agency from a news conference he gave in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca.
Six million Jews were killed by Germany's 1933-1945 Nazi regime. Ahmadinejad's remarks drew swift rebukes from Israel and Germany as well.
The United States accuses Iran of sponsoring terrorism, interfering with Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and developing a nuclear weapon under the cover of a program Tehran insists is aimed only at producing energy for civilian use.
Britain, France and Germany, with U.S. backing, have been trying to defuse the nuclear issue through diplomatic negotiations but Iran increasingly has toughened its stance, dimming chances for a compromise.
(Additional reporting by Evelyn Leopold at the United Nations)
Posted by politicalstuff at 12:57 AM
Dean says new Iraq strategy needed
Reuters
Dean says new Iraq strategy needed
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Party chief Howard Dean said on Thursday his comment that the United States could not win the war in Iraq was reported "a little out of context," but a new strategy would be needed to triumph there.
Dean was attacked by President George W. Bush and Republicans earlier this week for telling a Texas radio station that "the idea we're going to win this war is an idea that unfortunately is plain wrong."
"It was a little out of context. They kind of cherry-picked that one the same way the president cherry-picked the intelligence going into Iraq," Dean told CNN.
"We can only win the war, which we have to win, if we change our strategy dramatically," he said. "We can and we have to win the war on terror. We can't do it with this approach, with this leadership the president is showing."
Democrats have offered a range of ideas on Iraq, from quick withdrawal of troops to a gradual drawdown to Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman's backing of Bush.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Dean's remarks reflected the Democratic Party's problem developing an approach to Iraq.
"You have a lot of disarray and disagreement within the Democratic Party," he said. While Bush emphasized a plan for victory, he said, Democrats emphasized "immediate withdrawal of troops or artificial timetables. That's a plan for defeat."
Dean said Democrats were beginning to rally around a concept of strategic redeployment in Iraq. That plan would gradually phase out most U.S. troops over the next two years, withdraw them from urban areas and bring home National Guard forces within six months.
The idea that Democrats do not have a coherent plan for the future of Iraq was "mostly press gobbledygook," Dean said.
"The press wants to focus on the differences. The differences are pretty small, perhaps Senator Lieberman excepted," he said. "We may have some small disagreements on timing. We know the direction we're going on is a very different direction than the president."
Posted by politicalstuff at 12:56 AM
How common is US abuse of detainees?
Yahoo! News
How common is US abuse of detainees?
By Mark Sappenfield, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Any analysis of America's record on detainee abuse in the war on terror begins with a single set of numbers: Amid the handling of an estimated 70,000 detainees, military officials say they have found fewer than 600 credible allegations of abuse.
It is a rate of 1 investigation for more than 100 detainees, and for the Pentagon, it is a point of pride - apparent proof that abuses are the work of a misguided few.
Outside the Pentagon, however, those numbers - and the positive assessment - are open to doubt. As the world, and increasingly the country's lawmakers, look at how America has treated those captured in the war against terror, many have come to the conclusion that, as one expert puts it: "The one thing we know is that we don't know everything."
Clearly, this is the first time that the health and status of detainees have been such a pressing issue for the American public, and the military justice system is straining to meet the desires for a more open process. Taken together with President Bush's decision to exempt certain prisoners from the protections of the Geneva Conventions, it has brought the fog of war to the cellblock, as activists and attorneys alike wonder whether the military is faithfully investigating abuse and meting out appropriate punishments.
"The ability of anyone to get a handle on it is becoming impossible," says Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice here, which studies trends in military law. "The net effect is that public opinion is lost in a fog, and I don't think that's healthy."
From the military's perspective, it has done its job as best it can. Of the 600 investigations conducted by military officials, about 450 have been closed, yielding 280 punishments, which ranged from imprisonment to admonishment.
"This is the most investigated Army in history," says Maj. Wayne Marotto, an Army spokesman. "We've taken every allegation of detainee abuse seriously."
Moreover, the Pentagon has taken the unprecedented step of impaneling a dozen reviews of detainee abuse. The latest, chaired by Vice Adm. Albert Church, found "no policy that condoned or authorized either abuse or torture."
None of the reviews found evidence that torture and abuse were part of any servicewide policy. Yet critics note that each of the reviews was initiated by the Pentagon, and they note that certain questionable interrogation techniques migrated from one detention facility to another. The review by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger concluded that the scandal went beyond a few rogue soldiers: "There is both institutional and personal responsibility at higher levels."
The question, say some analysts, is whether senior leaders knowingly neglected to provide clear standards as to what were acceptable interrogation tactics. When the administration elected not to afford Geneva protections to detainees taken in Afghanistan, "there was a lot of uncertainty," says William Banks, director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism at Syracuse University in New York.
The result, many say, is the scandal that now encompasses Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay. "The main reason that the abuse was so widespread was the lack of clarity, and the lack of desire to be clear," says Jumana Musa of Amnesty International.
An amendment by Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) (R) of Arizona seeks to provide that clarity. In recent years, the Army has revised its field manual to eliminate much of the ambiguity over which techniques are permissible during interrogations. But those rules apply only to the Army. Senator McCain wishes to apply the Army's code to any detainee held in a Defense Department-run facility - as well as intelligence agencies such as the CIA.
That is a significant point, given that the CIA's activities remain an almost complete mystery. "One gap in the investigations to date is what was the role of 'other government agencies,' primarily the CIA, in detainee abuse," said Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record) (D) of Michigan at a May hearing.
The amendment, which was attached to the 2006 Defense appropriations bill, passed the Senate 90 to 9, and it appears the motion would enjoy overwhelming support in the House, making it likely that Congress could override a presidential veto. The White House, concerned about Congress diluting its authority to run the war as it sees fit, is seeking a compromise with McCain.
Interestingly, though, Americans in general appear conflicted about the use of torture against suspected terrorists. Some 61 percent of respondents said that torture could be justified at least on rare occasions, according to a new AP-Ipsos poll.
Despite the public uncertainty over the use of torture, the scandal surrounding it has clearly come at a cost for the American soldier. The military's investigations have pointed to low-level troops, leading Senator Levin to suggest that "only an independent review can fully and objectively assess both the institutional and personal accountability for the abuse of detainees."
In addition, the allegations have tarnished the image of the troops. The Pentagon, citing its data, says it's an unfair reputation. Yet with the constant emergence of allegations of torture and degrading treatment, the Pentagon has been hard pressed to win over public opinion with its statistics.
The problems partly stem from the military-justice system itself, say some analysts. In a country that has become accustomed to openness in its legal proceedings, the military's modes of justice tend toward the unfamiliar: "It is a system of military justice that Lord [Horatio] Nelson would largely recognize," says Mr. Fidell, referring to the late 18th-century British naval legend.
Commanders in the field have an enormous amount of discretion in disciplinary actions, and their decisions are "largely unreviewable," Fidell says. Moreover, the various services have different rules and compile their data separately, meaning that a marine and a soldier standing side by side would be subject to two different legal authorities.
It is not a system built to be transparent, partly because it has never needed to be. But freedom-of-information legislation in the 1970s has changed the public's expectations.
Posted by politicalstuff at 12:46 AM
Thursday, December 08, 2005
New Grand Jury in CIA Leak Case Hears From Prosecutor
washingtonpost.com
New Grand Jury in CIA Leak Case Hears From Prosecutor
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
The CIA leak investigation returned to a more active stage yesterday as a special prosecutor presented information to a grand jury for the first time in six weeks.
Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald's decision to enlist a new grand jury comes as he continues to investigate possible criminal charges against senior White House adviser Karl Rove. Rove faces possible legal consequences for not telling investigators for months that he had provided information about CIA operative Valerie Plame to Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper in July 2003.
Rove disclosed the conversation only after Cooper was subpoenaed to testify about their discussions, said sources familiar with Rove's account. Rove maintains that he initially forgot about the contact, the sources said.
Yesterday was the first time a grand jury has met to consider the case since Oct. 28, when a previous grand jury indicted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff. Fitzgerald, who arrived with four deputies, an FBI agent and boxes of files, declined to comment on the three-hour session as he left the courthouse. No witnesses were seen entering the grand jury room.
But several legal experts and sources involved in the case said Fitzgerald was probably providing the new grand jury with a primer on what has been learned in the investigation and what remains unresolved. They said the prosecutor's move into a more active probe could spell trouble for Rove, or for other people enmeshed in more recent developments in the case.
Fitzgerald has spent two years investigating whether White House officials knowingly disclosed Plame's identity and undercover status in 2003 to discredit allegations made by her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, that the Bush administration twisted intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war.
The term of the previous grand jury expired on the day it indicted Libby on five felony counts of lying, perjury and obstruction of justice. Fitzgerald said then that he would continue to look into lingering issues, and he privately told Rove's attorney that Rove remained under investigation.
Two other revelations have been made since then. Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward disclosed that, unbeknown to Fitzgerald, an administration source had told him about Plame's CIA role in June 2003, before Libby allegedly disclosed similar information to another reporter. In a Nov. 14 deposition, Woodward answered questions under oath from Fitzgerald about the mid-June 2003 conversation with his source. The source, whose identity has not been revealed, had testified much earlier in Fitzgerald's investigation but did not mention the conversation, said two sources familiar with the investigation.
Time magazine disclosed on Nov. 27 that one of its reporters, Viveca Novak, would soon answer Fitzgerald's questions about conversations she had with Rove attorney Robert Luskin in 2004. Sources familiar with the case said Luskin told Fitzgerald in October that those conversations would help buttress Luskin's argument that Rove did not intentionally conceal his contacts with reporters from the grand jury.
Novak is scheduled to give a deposition under oath to Fitzgerald today, two sources close to the case said.
Luskin declined to comment on the grand jury session yesterday. "What I can say is, there's been no change in Karl's status since late October," he said. At that time, Fitzgerald told Luskin that Rove remained under investigation but that he would hold off on charging him because of information Luskin had provided late that month.
Randall D. Eliason, who headed public corruption prosecutions in the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, said Fitzgerald would not go through the trouble of repeating information to a new grand jury unless he is considering criminal charges or there are significant, potentially criminal matters he wants to resolve.
"The fact that Fitzgerald is going through the effort to re-present is certainly a sign that the investigation is active," Eliason said.
Posted by politicalstuff at 12:59 AM
Politics or Not, Bronx Warmly Receives Venezuelan Heating Oil
washingtonpost.com
Politics or Not, Bronx Warmly Receives Venezuelan Heating Oil
By Michelle Garcia
Washington Post Staff Writer
NEW YORK -- A green Citgo tanker truck chugged up a hill with a grim view of tenement buildings, elevated subways and treeless sidewalks to deliver Venezuelan heating oil, a "humanitarian" gift from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Moments before the orange-gloved worker snaked the hose to a Bronx tenement, Eartha Ferguson, a manager and resident of a low-income building, said: "I call it a gift of survival. It comes at a good time, a very needed time."
Chavez's gift, which arrived on Tuesday and is being distributed this week, may be nothing more than a chance to tweak the nose of the Bush administration, which has long opposed the South American leader. But few residents in the South Bronx, where 41 percent live on incomes below the federal poverty line, are inclined to worry about international politics.
Citgo Petroleum Corp., which is controlled by the Venezuelan government, signed a deal with three Bronx housing nonprofits to sell 5 million gallons of heating oil at 45 percent below the market rate, an estimated savings of $4 million. The discounted oil will heat 75 Bronx apartment buildings, housing 8,000 low-income working poor and elderly tenants.
Officials with Mount Hope Housing Co., Fordham Bedford Housing Corp. and VIP Community Services -- which have organized tenants and rehabilitated low-income apartments for several decades -- say savings from the cheap oil will allow them to reduce rents temporarily and invest in neighborhood social programs.
"A lot of families are struggling," said Lenice Footman, who hopes her $600 monthly rent will be reduced. Neighbor Dionne Morales agreed, saying she is overlooking the criticism directed at Chavez. "If he can give oil to my country and help the lives of my community, I'm impressed," she said.
Chavez has sold the discounted oil in two U.S. markets, New York and Massachusetts. Citizens Energy Corp., a Boston-based nonprofit cooperative, bought 12 million gallons at a steep discount after U.S. oil companies ignored its written plea for help. Similar oil deals are in the works for other parts of New York and some New England states.
Americans face record prices for heating oil this winter, with a gallon selling for $2.41 -- a 38 percent increase from this time last year. Congress declined to provide additional funding for the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and Citizens Energy and other housing advocates expect that families, especially in the Northeast, will exhaust their benefits by Christmas.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in a recent briefing that the Bush administration expects the recently passed energy bill and efforts to expand capacity to help address the shortfall. "All of us have a role to do to help address high energy prices," he said. "And we are taking action to do so."
But on the second snow day in the Bronx, where scrawled graffiti warns pedestrians of rats, fleas and maggots, it did not escape the notice of tenants that a foreign government stepped in after Congress did not.
"The government should have done it," said Shirley Manuel, 52, a tenants' rights activist, wrapped up tightly in her wheelchair. "This is their country, this is their people -- they should be taking care of their own."
Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.), who brokered the oil deal, brushed aside suggestions that Chavez was playing petro politics.
"To those who say this is to score political points," he told a shivering crowd when the first oil arrived, "I invite any American corporation that wants to score points with my community to start this afternoon."
But, in fact, politics is very much part of this deal. The Bush administration has made no secret of its dislike for Chavez and his populist, left-wing politics, nor of its desire to see him turned out of office. Chavez, in turn, was a featured speaker at a demonstration in Argentina this year, in which he denounced President Bush's policies in Latin America.
Last week, Citgo bought full-page ads in The Washington Post and the New York Times, lauding Venezuela's role in heating the homes of the nation's poor. El Diario/La Prensa, New York's major Spanish-language newspaper, published a front-page photo of Chavez wearing a Santa Claus hat above the words, a "Gift from Chavez to the Bronx."
In September, Chavez traveled to the Bronx and spent several hours with 17 community groups. Flanked by Serrano and Jesse L. Jackson, Chavez proposed selling heating oil at below market rates and laid out plans to invest some of Venezuela's oil revenue in health and environmental programs in the Bronx.
"I fell in love with the Bronx and New York," Chavez said that day. "I have met the soul of the American people."
Posted by politicalstuff at 12:57 AM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
