Army Officer Says No Abuse: Didn't Interview Any Detainees

February 5, 2007
Army Officer Says No Abuse: Didn't Interview Any Detainees

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - An Army officer who investigated possible abuse at Guantanamo Bay after some guards purportedly bragged about beating detainees found no evidence they mistreated the prisoners — although he did not interview any of the alleged victims, the U.S. military said
Wednesday.

Col. Richard Bassett, the chief investigator, recommended no disciplinary action against the
Navy guards named by Marine Sgt. Heather Cerveny, who had said that during a conversation in
September they described beating detainees as common practice.

7 GOP Senators Back War Debate

February 8, 2007
7 GOP Senators Back War Debate

Senate Republicans who earlier this week helped block deliberations on a resolution opposing
President Bush's new troop deployments in Iraq changed course yesterday and vowed to use every
tactic at their disposal to ensure a full and open debate.

In a letter distributed yesterday evening to Senate leaders, John W. Warner (Va.), Chuck Hagel
(Neb.) and five other GOP supporters of the resolution threatened to attach their measure to any
bill sent to the floor in the coming weeks. Noting that the war is the "most pressing issue of our
time," the senators declared: "We will explore all of our options under the Senate procedures and
practices to ensure a full and open debate."

War tax sought as Congress debates Bush budget

February 5, 2007
War tax sought as Congress debates Bush budget

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An outspoken supporter of the Iraq war on Tuesday called for a new tax to pay for its astronomical cost as Congress opened a debate on President George W. Bush's $2.9 trillion budget plan for next year.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut proposed a "war on terrorism tax" at a Senate hearing
during which he said the Pentagon's $622 billion defense budget proposal for fiscal 2008
threatened to crowd out funds for domestic programs.

The lawmaker, a former Democrat turned independent, favors a U.S. troop buildup in Iraq.

Bush traveled to Manassas, Virginia, to deliver the opposite message about the budget he
submitted to the Democrat-controlled Congress on Monday.

"This budget can work if Congress resists the temptation to raise your taxes," the Republican
president told employees of Micron Technology Inc., a semiconductor manufacturer.

Officials indict 5 in Iraq contract scam

February 5, 2007
Officials indict 5 in Iraq contract scam

WASHINGTON - Three U.S. Army Reserve officers were indicted Wednesday, accused of taking part in a bid-rigging scam that steered millions of dollars for Iraq reconstruction projects to a contractor in exchange for cash, luxury cars and jewelry.

An American businessman in Romania was charged as the go-between for the military officers and
the contractor. The husband of one of the reservists was accused of helping smuggle tens of
thousands of dollars into the United States that the couple used to pay for a deck and a hot tub
at their New Jersey house.

Iraq: Children living without limbs lack support

February 5, 2007
Iraq: Children living without limbs lack support

"When I ask NGOs or the government for a wheelchair for my child, or to pay for surgery or even an artificial leg, they just answer me by saying that people are dying every day and others getting
displaced and they don't have time to worry about just one child," Rand Muhammad, Barakat's
mother, said.

"The problem is that hundreds of children are suffering in Iraq with the same problem but are
not getting help from anyone. They have been put aside until the violence has been controlled and
the displaced return to their homes. But until that happens, they may die or they could be
seriously affected psychologically," she said.

Bush slashes aid to poor to boost Iraq war chest

February 6, 2007
Bush slashes aid to poor to boost Iraq war chest

President George Bush is proposing to slash medical care for the poor and elderly to meet the
soaring cost of the Iraq war.

Mr Bush's $2.9 trillion (£1.5 trillion) budget, sent to Congress yesterday, includes
$100bn extra for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for this year, on top of $70bn already allocated by
Congress and $141.7bn next year. He is planning an 11.3% increase for the Pentagon. Spending on the Iraq war is destined to top the total cost of the 13-year war in Vietnam.

Hagel Acquiesces To Block Debate On Non-binding Iraq Resolution

February 6, 2007
Hagel Acquiesces To Block Debate On Non-binding Iraq Resolution

Hagel is a co-sponsor of the non-binding, bipartisan resolution – but he joined every other
GOP senator in voting to avoid debate.

Interestingly, Hagel was still talking last Friday about the absolute need for the debate. That
was the same Friday when the Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky confidently
guaranteed that all of the Republican flock would be in the fold, voting against taking up the
resolution.

Attacking Iran would be disastrous, warns coalition of opinion led by retired officers

February 5, 2007
Attacking Iran would be disastrous, warns coalition of opinion led by retired officers

Warnings of the dire consequences of military confrontation with Iran, and calls for a renewed
diplomatic effort, are being issued on both sides of the Atlantic in a sign of the growing anxiety
over the prospect of US or Israeli action.

A coalition of foreign policy thinktanks, humanitarian organisations and peace groups will
issue a report today arguing that an attack on Iran, reportedly being contemplated by the US and
Israel as a means of slowing down Iran's nuclear programme, would backfire disastrously.

Fears of new civil war increase as Lebanese political factions rearm

February 5, 2007
Fears of new civil war increase as Lebanese political factions rearm

Gun sales in Lebanon have tripled since the current standoff between the government and the
Hizbullah-led opposition began, prompting concern that political factions are rearming.

The increased presence of gunmen on the streets of the capital, Beirut, and reports of fighters
loyal to the Sunni-dominated government being trained overseas has heightened fears of a return to
civil war, which ravaged Lebanon from 1975 to 1990. Gunfights last month, some involving the army, left six civilians dead and more than 150 wounded.

"There is a reappearance of arms in the hands of almost every political group; we are sitting
on a powder keg, tension is increasing every day," said a prominent security analyst. "They don't
know what they are doing, they are going to destroy this country."

Bush submits $2.9 trillion budget

February 5, 2007
Bush submits $2.9 trillion budget

US President George W Bush has submitted a $2.9 trillion (£1.5 trillion) budget to Congress
including almost $700bn in new military spending.

Much of the money is earmarked for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 2008 budget also sets out plans to curb domestic spending, including $66bn savings over
five years from Medicare.

News media cheer ruling on Libby tapes

February 5, 2007
News media cheer ruling on Libby tapes

WASHINGTON -- News organizations praised a judge's decision Monday to release tapes of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's grand jury testimony, saying it would open a window into court proceedings.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he would make the eight-hour recordings public even
though he was worried that jurors could be influenced by outside media buzz.

Federal law supports the public release of evidence presented to a jury. But judges in
high-profile cases occasionally have released only written transcripts or have delayed public
disclosure until the trial's end.

VP appeared eager to blunt criticism

February 5, 2007
VP appeared eager to blunt criticism

Washington -- Vice President Dick Cheney's press officer, Cathie Martin, approached his chief of
staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on Air Force Two on July 12, 2003, to ask how she should respond to journalists' questions about Joseph Wilson. Libby looked over one of the reporters' questions and told Martin: "Well, let me go talk to the boss and I'll be back."

On Libby's return, Martin testified in federal court last week, he brought a card with detailed
replies dictated by Cheney, including a highly partisan, incomplete summary of Wilson's
investigation into what was suspected to be Iraq's program for weapons of mass destruction.

Libby subsequently called a reporter, read him the statement, and said -- according to the
reporter -- he had heard that Wilson's investigation was instigated by his wife, an employee at
the CIA, later identified as Valerie Wilson. The reporter, Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, was
one of five people with whom Libby discussed Valerie Wilson's CIA status during those critical
weeks that summer.

Murder charge filed against Canadian in Guantanamo

February 3, 2007
Murder charge filed against Canadian in Guantanamo

The U.S. military filed a murder charge Friday against Omar Khadr, who is the only Canadian
imprisoned in the Guantanamo Bay prison and has been there for more than four years.

Khadr, who is now 20 but has been imprisoned since he was 15, is among the first three
prisoners to face charges as the military begins a new set of Guantanamo trials after the original
ones were halted by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2006.

Guantánamo attorney protests 'new crime'

February 5, 2007
Guantánamo attorney protests 'new crime'

The latest charges are the military's second attempt to try Australian David Hick, 31, and two
other high-profile prisoners at the U.S. detention center in Cuba.

Hicks' Pentagon-appointed lawyer, Marine Maj. Michael Mori, said he had never heard of a charge of providing material support for terrorism.

"It seems to me that they're creating new crimes after the fact," Mori told Australian
Broadcasting Corp. radio today.

Economy tethers Bush budget

February 5, 2007
Economy tethers Bush budget

A business slowdown or recession, an increase in inflation and interest rates, a reversal in the
willingness of foreign investors to keep buying U.S. Treasury bonds could put the skids on what
has been a strong economy.

Meanwhile, spiraling payouts in guaranteed federal benefits for Social Security and Medicare as
baby boomers retire "is going to be the single largest economic problem that we face," said Mark
Zandi, chief economist for at Moody's Economy.com.

"Deficits look OK today," Zandi said. "But what happens at a time when the economy isn't
operating at full tilt?"

When Bush took office in 2001, the national debt was about $5.6 trillion. Now it stands
at about $8.6 trillion.

Republicans block Iraq war debate

February 6, 2007
Republicans block Iraq war debate

A resolution opposing President George W Bush's decision to send extra troops to Iraq has failed
to advance in the US Senate, dealing a blow to war critics.

The measure needed 60 votes before the 100-member Senate could begin debate, but it got 49,
with 47 voting against.

Democratic senators, who backed the motion, said they would raise the issue again, possibly
later this week.

Private Contractors Take On Biggest Role Ever

February 3, 2007
Private Contractors Take On Biggest Role Ever

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 — In June, short of people to process cases of incompetence and fraud by federal contractors, officials at the General Services Administration responded with what has become the government's reflexive answer to almost every problem.

They hired another contractor.

It did not matter that the company they chose, CACI International, had itself recently avoided a suspension from federal contracting; or that the work, delving into investigative files on other contractors, appeared to pose a conflict of interest; or that each person supplied by the company would cost taxpayers $104 an hour. Six CACI workers soon joined hundreds of other private-sector workers at the G.S.A., the government's management agency.

With Rumsfeld Gone, Critics of War Look to Rice

February 4, 2007
With Rumsfeld Gone, Critics of War Look to Rice

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 — For six years, first as national security adviser and then as secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice worked under the cover of a very effective shield: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who was the administration's lightning rod for criticism over its handling of Iraq.

But in recent weeks, with Mr. Rumsfeld gone, Ms. Rice has faced increased, and somewhat unfamiliar, criticism. At a Senate hearing on Jan. 11, she confronted a wall of opposition from Republicans as well as Democrats. During hearings this week on Iraq, several of her predecessors were pointed in their disapproval of her job performance.

Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III took issue with Ms. Rice's refusal to engage Syria diplomatically. Back in his day, he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "We practiced diplomacy full time, and it paid off."

War in Iraq Propelling A Massive Migration

February 4, 2007
War in Iraq Propelling A Massive Migration

Nearly 2 million Iraqis -- about 8 percent of the prewar population -- have embarked on a desperate migration, mostly to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The refugees include large numbers of doctors, academics and other professionals vital for Iraq's recovery. Another 1.7 million have been forced to move to safer towns and villages inside Iraq, and as many as 50,000 Iraqis a month flee their homes, the U.N. agency said in January.

Fewer than 500 have been resettled in the United States since the invasion. Aid officials and human rights activists say the United States and other Western nations are focused on reconstructing Iraq while ignoring the war's human fallout.

Brzezinski: Bush is seeking a pretext to attack Iran

February 4, 2007
Brzezinski: Bush is seeking a pretext to attack Iran

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security adviser in the Carter administration, delivered a scathing critique of the war in Iraq and warned that the Bush administration's policy was leading inevitably to a war with Iran, with incalculable consequences for US imperialism in the Middle East and internationally.

Brzezinski, who opposed the March 2003 invasion and has publicly denounced the war as a colossal foreign policy blunder, began his remarks on what he called the "war of choice" in Iraq by characterizing it as "a historic, strategic and moral calamity."

Veterans Affairs: backlog of 400,000 case

February 4, 2007
Veterans Affairs: backlog of 400,000 case

The California Nurses Association reported that in the first quarter of 2006, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs "treated 20,638 Iraq veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder, and they have a backlog of 400,000 cases." A returning soldier has to wait an average of 165 days for a VA decision on initial disability benefits, and an appeal can take up to three years.

This is unacceptable and reprehensible.

Truck bomber kills 135 in deadliest Iraq blast

February 4, 2007
Truck bomber kills 135 in deadliest Iraq blast

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 135 people on Saturday in the deadliest single bombing in Iraq since the 2003 war, driving a truck laden with one tonne of explosives into a market in a mainly Shi'ite area of Baghdad.

The blast, which Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed on Saddam Hussein supporters and other Sunni militants, shattered fruit and vegetable stalls, caved in shopfronts and left the smashed bodies of shoppers strewn in the street.

It came as U.S. and Iraqi troops prepared for a planned offensive seen as a last-ditch effort to stem worsening sectarian bloodshed that kills hundreds in Baghdad every week.

Ground Fire takes out four US helicopters

February 4, 2007
Ground Fire takes out four US helicopters

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The four U.S. helicopters that have crashed in Iraq since Jan. 20 were apparently shot down, the chief American military spokesman said Sunday - the first time the U.S. command has publicly acknowledged that the aircraft were lost to enemy fire.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters that the investigations into the crashes of three Army and one private helicopters are incomplete but "it does appear they were all the result of some kind of anti-Iraqi ground fire that did bring those helicopters down."

Poll: 55% Favor Firm Timetable for Withdrawing Troops

February 2, 2007
Poll: 55% Favor Firm Timetable for Withdrawing Troops

Most Americans (55%) favor a firm timetable for withdrawing all U.S. troops from Iraq within a year. That figure includes 37% who favor an immediate withdrawal and 18% who want a timetable that will complete the withdrawal in a year. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 1,000 adults found that just 33% believe U.S. combat troops should remain in Iraq "until our mission is accomplished."

These results come at a time when just 33% believe the President's call for a temporary troop "surge" will succeed. Just 37% of Americans believe that the U.S. and its allies are winning the War on Terror. Only 28% give the President good or excellent marks for handling the situation in Iraq.

The Cost of the Iraq War: Can You Say $1,000,000,000,000?

February 4, 2007
The Cost of the Iraq War: Can You Say $1,000,000,000,000?

eb. 4, 2007 — The price tag for the Iraq War is now estimated at $700 billion in direct costs and perhaps twice that much when indirect expenditures are included. Cost estimates vary — Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz puts the total cost at more than $2 trillion — but let's be conservative and say it's only $1 trillion (in today's dollars).

As a number of other commentators have recently written, this number — a 1 followed by 12 zeroes — can be put into perspective in various ways. Given how large the war looms, it doesn't hurt to repeat this simple exercise with other examples and in other ways.

Fox Viewership of State of the Union Falls Dramatically

February 4, 2007
Fox Viewership of State of the Union Falls Dramatically

Perhaps drawn by the drama of watching President Bush address a newly Democratic Congress, more than 45 million Americans tuned into the State of the Union speech, a number that was up 9 percent from 2006, according to Nielsen ratings.

But interestingly enough, while the overall audience for the speech grew substantially, the number of Americans who watched the speech on the Fox News dropped dramatically. Hmmm. Wonder why? Maybe folks have lost the stomach for the kind of baloney served by the Fox apologists and propagandists.

All England schools to see Al Gore climate film

February 2, 2007
All England schools to see Al Gore climate film

LONDON (Reuters) - The government will distribute Al Gore's dramatic global warming film to all secondary schools in England in its fight to tackle the climate crisis, Environment Minister David Miliband said on Friday.

The announcement came as a panel of the world's top scientists issued a new report blaming mankind for the crisis and predicting that average temperatures would rise by between 1.8 and 4.0 degrees Celsius this century as a result.

"The debate over the science of climate change is well and truly over, as demonstrated by the publication of today's report," Miliband said.

"I was struck by the visual evidence the film provides, making clear that the changing climate is already having an impact on our world today, from Mount Kilimanjaro to the Himalayan mountains," he added.

Care for U.S. veterans could cost $662 bln

February 2, 2007
Care for U.S. veterans could cost $662 bln

BOSTON (Reuters) - Medical costs for U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could range from $350 billion to $662 billion over the next 40 years, as soldiers survive injuries that would have killed them in past conflicts, according to a Harvard University study.

Due to improvements in battlefield medicine and equipment, there are now about 16 "nonmortally wounded" soldiers for every death, far more than the 2.6 soldiers wounded per death in Vietnam, the study said, citing Department of Veterans' Affairs data.

Iraqi Interior Ministry estimates 1,000 killed in one week

February 4, 2007
Iraqi Interior Ministry estimates 1,000 killed in one week

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi Interior Ministry estimates that about 1,000 people have been killed throughout Iraq in the past week due to gunbattles, drive-by shootings and bomb attacks, a ministry official said Sunday.

The figure includes members of militia and terrorist groups, civilians and Iraqi security forces. The official said the data was gathered by Iraq's Interior, Health and Defense ministries.

Pentagon official resigns over detainee remark

February 2, 2007
Pentagon official resigns over detainee remark

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon official who criticized law firms for defending detainees held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has resigned due to the backlash over his remarks, a Defense Department spokesman said on Friday.

Charles "Cully" Stimson, deputy assistant secretary for detainee affairs, last month called it "shocking" that major U.S. law firms represented Guantanamo detainees for free and said they would likely suffer financially after their corporate clients learned of the work.

Mainline Churches oppose troop surge

February 6, 2007 (issue)
Mainline Churches oppose troop surge

Mainline church leaders are expressing opposition to President Bush's plan to escalate U.S.
troop presence in Iraq. Some clergy drew parallels to Martin Luther King's impassioned pleas
decades ago against the ultimately fruitless American war in Vietnam.

"Congress should provide funding only to bring U.S. troops home and to aid in rebuilding Iraq,"
said Winkler, general secretary of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society. The
denomination, like most mainline churches, has opposed the U.S.-led invasion and occupation since
its prelude four years ago when the administration argued that the Iraq regime had weapons of mass
destruction—a claim found to be false.

Soaring war funding raises concerns about scope of spending

February 2, 2007
Soaring war funding raises concerns about scope of spending

WASHINGTON — Next week, the Bush administration is expected to send Congress what could be one of the largest supplemental spending requests in history — $100 billion or more, primarily for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's supposed to cover basic costs, including personnel, equipment repairs and replacement, ammunition and other directly related operating expenses not covered by the Pentagon's regular annual budget for fiscal year 2007.

But military budget analysts and tax watchdogs say if the past is any indicator, the Pentagon and the Congress will try to load this off-budget shopping cart with expensive new weapons and pork for the voters that has nothing to do with defense or any of the disaster relief that emergency spending bills sometimes fund as well.

Global Warming Will 'Continue For Centuries'

February 2, 2007
Global Warming Will 'Continue For Centuries'

(CBS News) PARIS The warning from a top panel of international scientists was blunt and dire: "warming of the climate system is unequivocal," the cause is "very likely" man-made, and the menace will "continue for centuries."

Authors of the 21-page report released Friday on why the planet is warming by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change placed the onus on governments to stop prevaricating and take action.

The report highlighted "increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level," the report said.

Intelligence estimate cites increasing peril in Iraq

February 2, 2007
Intelligence estimate cites increasing peril in Iraq

WASHINGTON - A new National Intelligence Estimate paints a grim view of the violence and political situation facing the United States in Iraq, according to officials familiar with a much-anticipated, collaborative analysis from all 16 U.S. spy agencies.

The Office of the National Intelligence Director was releasing an unclassified summary of the document - entitled "Prospects for Iraq's Stability: A Challenging Road Ahead" - on Friday. President Bush was briefed on its conclusions on Thursday.

Bush Seeks Big Medicare and Medicaid Saving

February 2, 2007
Bush Seeks Big Medicare and Medicaid Saving

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 — President Bush will ask Congress in his budget next week to squeeze more than $70 billion of savings from Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years, administration officials and health care lobbyists said Thursday.

Mr. Bush is also expected to propose changes in the Children's Health Insurance Program to sharpen its focus on low-income families. The changes could reduce federal payments to states that cover children with family incomes exceeding twice the poverty level. Under federal guidelines, a family of four is considered poor if its annual income is less than $20,650.

One measure of the political difficulty facing the president's plan for Medicare and Medicaid is that he sought $20 billion less in savings from the two programs last year, when Republicans controlled Congress, and few of those proposals were adopted.

U.S. Reconfigures the Way Casualty Totals Are Given

February 2, 2007
U.S. Reconfigures the Way Casualty Totals Are Given

Statistics on a Pentagon Web site have been reorganized in a way that lowers the published totals of American nonfatal casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On Monday, the bottom line of the Defense Department's Web page on casualties in Iraq listed a total of 47,657 "nonmortal casualties."

By Tuesday, the same page no longer showed a total for nonmortal casualties. The bottom line is now "total — medical air transported," and the figure is 31,493.

The new total excludes 16,164 troops who were wounded but did not require medical air transport because their injuries were minor. The total does include combat wounds, nonhostile injuries and diseases serious enough for medical transport.

Guantanamo inmates shown Saddam hanging photos

February 1, 2007
Guantanamo inmates shown Saddam hanging photos

In an attempt to intimidate inmates, the lead American lawyer for Australian detainee David Hicks said, pictures of Saddam's trial were also shown to detainees, along with articles about executions carried out by extremists.

"Displaying photos of condemned men to those who may be facing capital charges can only be interpreted as an attempt to intimidate and compel submission under a threat of death and mentally torture an already abused detainee population," Joshua Dratel said in a statement to media in Australia.

US lags far behind wealthy countries family-oriented workplace policies

February 1, 2007
US lags far behind wealthy countries family-oriented workplace policies

NEW YORK - The United States lags far behind virtually all wealthy countries with regard to family-oriented workplace policies such as maternity leave, paid sick days and support for breast-feeding, a new study by Harvard and McGill University researchers says.

The new data comes as politicians and lobbyists wrangle over whether to scale back the existing federal law providing unpaid family leaves or to push new legislation allowing paid leaves.

Religious zealot jails rape victim for two days

January 30, 2007
Religious zealot jails rape victim for two days

TAMPA - First, police say, a 21-year-old woman was raped at Gasparilla. Then, she was handcuffed and jailed - for two nights and two days.

A jail worker with religious objections blocked her from ingesting a morning-after pill to prevent pregnancy, her attorney says, keeping her from taking the required second dose for more than 24 hours longer than recommended.

Scientists, economists offered cash to dispute climate study

February 2, 2007
Scientists, economists offered cash to dispute climate study

Scientists and economists have been offered $10 000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world's largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report due to be published on Friday.

Letters sent by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an ExxonMobil-funded think tank with close links to the Bush administration, offered the payments for articles that emphasise the shortcomings of a report from the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

As US power fades, it can't find friends to take on Iran

February 2, 2007
As US power fades, it can't find friends to take on Iran

The safest conclusion is that Washington remains confused about what Iran is doing, and frustrated by its own inability to find allies to support a response. All options are being prepared, along with their "justifications". The International Institute for Strategic Studies' annual survey rightly pointed out this week that US power is fading. It can shape an agenda but not implement it globally.