Impeach Bush

Dedicated to exposing the lies and impeachable offenses of George W. Bush.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Scandal Hits Commerce Deparment: Inspector General Resigns

June 8, 2007
Scandal Hits Commerce Deparment: Inspector General Resigns

Commerce Department Inspector General Johnnie E. Frazier retired yesterday in the face of multiple investigations and a formal report recommending that President Bush punish him for violating the whistle-blower protection law.


Frazier, who since 1999 has served as the department's chief watchdog responsible for investigating waste, fraud and abuse, told the administration that he is retiring effective June 29, congressional and White House officials said.


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Pentagon to appeal dismissal of Khadr charges

June 8, 2007
Pentagon to appeal dismissal of Khadr charges

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced Friday it will challenge a military judge's decision to dismiss all terrorism charges against Canadian Omar Khadr, even as the Bush administration scrambles to assemble an appellate court to hear a formal appeal of the ruling.

Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, said military prosecutors will file a motion asking army Col. Peter Brownback to reconsider his decision earlier this week to throw out the U.S. government's case against the 20-year-old Canadian detainee.

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EU calls for investigations by Poland, Romania into CIA prisons

June 8, 2007
EU calls for investigations by Poland, Romania into CIA prisons

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - The European Commission today called on EU member states accused of running secret prisons for the CIA to conduct impartial investigations into this 'as quickly as possible'.

European Commission spokesman Friso Roscam Abbing stressed the need 'for the member states concerned to conduct impartial investigations to establish the truth.'

'Indeed, such investigations should be fully carried out as quickly as possible in order to establish responsibility and for the victims to obtain compensation,' he told reporters in Brussels.

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Report claims US ran secret prisons in Europe

June 8, 2007
Report claims US ran secret prisons in Europe

The CIA ran secret prisons in Poland and Romania from 2003 to 2005 where terrorism suspects could be interrogated free of US legal restraints, a Council of Europe investigation concluded today.

It revealed that Abu Zubaydah, believed to be a senior al-Qaida member, and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks, were held and interrogated in Poland.

None of the prisoners had access to the Red Cross and many were subjected to what George Bush has called the CIA's "enhanced" interrogation, which critics have condemned as torture.

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Pace Fired: All pro war nuts are finally gone

June 8, 2007
Pace Fired: All pro war nuts are finally gone

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Anticipation of a "contentious" confirmation process on Capitol Hill prompted the decision to replace Gen. Peter Pace as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when his term ends in September, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday.

Gates said he will recommend to President Bush that he nominate Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chief of naval operations, to the post.

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Italia Federici pleads guilty to lying to Senate investigators

June 8, 2007
Italia Federici pleads guilty to lying to Senate investigators

WASHINGTON — Italia Federici, an ally of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pleaded guilty Friday to tax evasion and obstructing a Senate investigation into the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.

Federici's plea was part of a deal with the Justice Department that two people close to the case said could lead investigators to officials in Congress and the Bush administration.

Federici served as a go-between for Abramoff, who currently is in prison, and J. Steven Griles, a deputy Interior secretary who also has pleaded guilty to lying to Senate investigators.

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Nuking Iran: The Republican Agenda?

June 6, 2007
Nuking Iran: The Republican Agenda?

At the Republican debate last night, almost all the candidates said that they would not rule out a nuclear attack on Iran as a means to prevent it from getting its own nuclear weapons. Only one of these knuckleheads would say that attacking Iran -- indeed even threatening to nuke Iran -- is not the right strategy.

Only Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, the "Dennis the Menace" of his party, said he opposed a nuclear strike on moral grounds and because he believed Iran "has done no harm to us directly and is no threat to our national security."

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Republican Presidential Candidates Threaten Nuclear Bombing of Iran

June 7, 2007
Republican Presidential Candidates Threaten Nuclear Bombing of Iran

The core problem for Republican presidential candidates is this: They are forced to continue to support the escalation of the war, while they are forced to appeal to a hard-core, right-wing base that is far out of touch with American opinion.


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AP Poll: Bush Approval Matches Low Point

June 7, 2007
AP Poll: Bush Approval Matches Low Point

Public approval of the job President Bush is doing now matches its all-time low, an AP-Ipsos poll says. The survey, released Thursday, reflects widespread discontent over how Bush is handling the war in Iraq, efforts against terrorism and domestic issues. It also underscores challenges Republican presidential and congressional candidates will confront next year when they face voters who seem to be clamoring for change.

Only 32 percent said they were satisfied with how Bush is handling his job overall, the same low point AP-Ipsos polling measured last January and a drop of 3 percentage points since May.


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General's Appraisal Echoes Secret Intelligence Findings

June 8, 2007
General's Appraisal Echoes Secret Intelligence Findings

President Bush's nominee to be war czar said yesterday that conditions in Iraq have not improved significantly despite the influx of U.S. troops in recent months and predicted that, absent major political reform, violence will continue to rage over the next year.

Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, tapped by Bush to serve as a new high-powered White House coordinator of the war, told senators at a confirmation hearing that Iraqi factions "have shown so far very little progress" toward the reconciliation necessary to stem the bloodshed. If that does not change, he said, "we're not likely to see much difference in the security situation" a year from now.


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Is it anti-Americanism or just anti-Bushism?

June 7, 2007
Is it anti-Americanism or just anti-Bushism?

But while America's reputation in the world has suffered great harm in recent years, the damage is not irreparable.

Although most Americans would probably agree that world opinion of the United States is low, our travels abroad have revealed that this is not entirely accurate. In fact, it is not truly anti-Americanism but anti-Bushism that has gripped the world - and this is an illness that time can cure.

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Veterans PAC calls for Arkansas GOP chairman's resignation

June 7, 2007
Veterans PAC calls for Arkansas GOP chairman's resignation

VoteVets.org, a PAC supported by veterans who are critical of the handling of the war in Iraq, condemned state GOP Chairman Dennis Milligan for his remarks in a recent newspaper interview.

"At the end of the day, I believe fully the president is doing the right thing (in Iraq), and I think all we need is some attacks on American soil like we had on (Sept. 11), and the naysayers will come around very quickly to appreciate not only the commitment for President Bush, but the sacrifice that has been made by men and women to protect this country," Milligan was quoted as saying in the Sunday edition of Arkansas' statewide newspaper.

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GOP/Media Rewrite Iraq War History

June 6, 2007
GOP/Media Rewrite Iraq War History

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and radio personality Jay Diamond are right to wonder why Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney got away with rewriting a key chapter of the Iraq War history without political reporters raising a peep.

At the June 5 Republican debate, co-sponsored by CNN, Romney defended George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq in March 2003 on the grounds that Saddam Hussein refused to let United Nations weapons inspectors in to search for WMD.

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Official: Cheney Urged Wiretap

June 7, 2007
Official: Cheney Urged Wiretaps

Vice President Cheney told Justice Department officials that he disagreed with their objections to a secret surveillance program during a high-level White House meeting in March 2004, a former senior Justice official told senators yesterday.

The meeting came one day before White House officials tried to get approval for the same program from then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, who lay recovering from surgery in a hospital, according to former deputy attorney general James B. Comey.

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U.S. Secretly Imprisoned 39

June 7, 2007
U.S. Secretly Imprisoned 39

(LONDON)—A coalition of human rights groups has drawn up a list of 39 terror suspects it believes are being secretly imprisoned by U.S. authorities and published their names in a report released Thursday.

Information about the so-called "ghost detainees" was gleaned from interviews with former prisoners and officials in the U.S., Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen, according to Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and four other groups.

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Lies, Sighs and Politics

June 8, 2007
Lies, Sighs and Politics

In Tuesday's Republican presidential debate, Mitt Romney completely
misrepresented how we ended up in Iraq.

Later, Mike Huckabee mistakenly claimed that it was Ronald Reagan's
birthday.

Guess which remark The Washington Post identified as the "gaffe of the
night"?

Folks, this is serious.

If early campaign reporting is any guide, the bad media habits that helped install the worst president ever in the White House haven't changed a bit.

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Thursday, June 07, 2007

Equipment levels worst ever, Guard chief says

June 6, 2007
Equipment levels worst ever, Guard chief says

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — About half of all National Guard equipment is being used in the Middle East, and the Guard's senior uniformed officer said Tuesday that could hurt the organization´s overall readiness at home.

National Guard units have 53 percent of the equipment they need to handle state emergencies, said Lt. General H. Steven Blum. It falls to 49 percent once Guard equipment needed for war — such as weapons — is factored in, he said.

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Bush "Willfully Ignored Experts" Before Iraq War

June 6, 2007
Bush "Willfully Ignored Experts" Before Iraq War

Whether out of hubris or incompetence, the President and his men willfully ignored the experts and sent our troops to battle unprepared for the consequences."

"Despite more than three years of stonewalling by Republicans in Congress and the Bush Administration, Democrats have taken another major step forward in restoring accountability to government by completing another exhaustive investigation of the Bush Administration's dangerous incompetence," said Reid on May 25, when the report was released. "This new Senate Intelligence Committee report clearly demonstrates that the Bush Administration ignored and dismissed its best intelligence experts' warnings to expect major challenges in post-war Iraq. We have seen the terrible consequences to American national security that have resulted from the Bush Administration's failures over the last five years."


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China Warns U.S. May Set Off Arms Race

June 5, 2007
China Warns U.S. May Set Off Arms Race

BEIJING -- China joined Russia on Tuesday in criticizing a U.S. plan to build a missile defense system in Europe, saying the system could set off an arms race.

The White House plans to install a radar system in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland -- two Eastern European countries that were in the Soviet orbit during the Cold War era.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the plan had "aroused great concern and attention."

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Crazy, unpatriotic bigots

June 7, 2007
Crazy, unpatriotic bigots

What Little George and his gang in their enthusiasm forgot to remember is that crazy, unpatriotic bigots who form the hard core of Bush's support network don't like being called crazy, unpatriotic bigots. And so, you see, it wasn't long before Right-wing media were all ablaze with comments from crazy, unpatriotic bigots who fancy themselves principled conservatives:

  • "I am tired of Washington elites calling me a racist bigot because I believe in the rule of law, fairness and protecting our national identity." – Wes Allen, Troy, AL, to the editor of the Montgomery Advertiser, June 3.

  • "George Bush .... will be remembered as the president who discarded American sovereignty, rule of law, language, and culture in exchange for cheap lettuce and fruit." – John Lillpop, who bills himself 'a recovering liberal,' June 3.

  • "Those who endorse a vigorous immigration crackdown are upholding a sound conservative idea ... namely, the rule of law." – columnist Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune, June 3.

  • "It's a great national concern about observing the rule of law." – Sen. Arlen Specter, in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 3.

  • "It's about the rule of law, our national security, the American culture, the English language, national unity during time of war, the constitutional rights of American citizens and the fiscal concerns of American taxpayers and their descendants." – columnist David Limbaugh, May 22.

  • "Over those years, it has not been uncommon for conservative thinkers ... to disagree.... But never before has a dispute degenerated into a street fight. We're seeing one now." – editor, Arizona Republic, June 3.

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Republicans Eating Their Own

June 4, 2007
Republicans Eating Their Own

Bush chastised opponents of the bill, most of them from his own party, saying that if they oppose the bill they "...don't want to do what's right for America." Garsh. Republicans deciding against the best interest of America. What's next? Republicans undermining the troops?

Sen. Lindsey Graham went in for a hot wing of Right. "We're gonna tell the bigots to shut up." Yowza! At least some honesty was seeping out

On Fox News Sunday, that far-left loon, Newt Gingrich, said, "We're losing this war with Islamo terrorists." Not "making progress." Not "too early to gauge how the surge is going." Nope. Clear and simple, Fox News' favorite pundit and just waiting to be drafted...into the presidential race, Gingrich said "five and a half years after 9/11, we are losing the war to the (terrorists)."

Brit Hume said that Gingrich "sounds like he's running on Mike Dukakis's platform."

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Poll: Democrats Lose Their Edge

June 4, 2007
Poll: Democrats Lose Their Edge

The Democrats in Congress have lost much of the leadership edge they carried out of the 2006 midterm election, with the lack of progress in Iraq being the leading cause. Their only solace: President Bush and the Republicans aren't doing any better.

Another figure underscores the public's broad grumpiness: Seventy-three percent now say the country's off on the wrong track, the most in just over a decade.

The shift away from the Democrats in Congress has occurred on two levels. In terms of their overall approval rating, the damage is almost entirely among people who strongly oppose the war in Iraq. In this group 69 percent approved of the Democrats in April, but just 54 percent still approve now -- a likely effect of the Democrats' failure to push a withdrawal timetable through Congress.

Their decline in leadership ratings vs. Bush is more broadly based -- that's occurred among war opponents and supporters alike, apparently reflecting more an assessment of their performance than an expression of support or opposition.

The toll of this discontent is unmistakable. Bush has not seen majority approval in any ABC/Post poll since January 2005; in presidential polling back to the late 1930s, only President Truman stayed so low for a longer period of time. And Americans are nearly three times as likely to "strongly" disapprove of Bush's job performance (46 percent) as to strongly approve (17 percent).

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At U.S. military hospitals, 'everybody is overworked'

June 4, 2007
At U.S. military hospitals, 'everybody is overworked'

The Army operates 36 medical facilities worldwide. For the past two years, more than half have failed to meet Pentagon standards for providing a doctor within seven days for routine medical care. And the Army has been forced to spend more money sending military families to doctors in nearby communities. Payments for outside referrals have jumped from $200 million in 2000 to nearly $1 billion last year, records show. Outpatient care accounts for 70% of those costs.

Goodrich points to a more immediate problem: the conflicting demands for limited funds. "(The Pentagon) says you're authorized this many people. It's not enough," Goodrich says of his staffing. "There's only so many dollars. If you've got a war, you need equipment, you need soldiers, you need body armor. If I had more money, I'd buy more doctors."

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The Iraq Embassy: A monument to failure

June 5, 2007
The Iraq Embassy: A monument to failure

In September, the world's largest, most expensive and most heavily fortified embassy will open. It is ours and it is in Baghdad.

The embassy compound occupies 104 acres of primo real estate along the Tigris River in downtown Baghdad. If the embassy were in Washington, it would take up most of the National Mall.

The embassy will cost $592 million, although Congress is mulling a $50 million request for additional housing. The compound will contain 21 buildings, in addition to the embassy itself, residences for the ambassador and deputy, housing for 380 families, a PX, commissary, theater, schools, restaurants and a firehouse.

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GOP: Bush should adopt bipartisan plan

June 6, 2007
GOP: Bush should adopt bipartisan plan

Several Republican senators Tuesday called for President Bush to implement a new war strategy based on recommendations by the Iraq Study Group, which advocated winding down the U.S. combat mission.

"The president needs bipartisan support if the United States is to sustain a long-term position in Iraq," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

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Bush-bashing dominates Republican debate

June 6, 2007
Bush-bashing dominates Republican debate

Republican candidates in the 2008 presidential race today sharply criticised George Bush for being a vote-loser, during a live televised debate.

During the two-hour debate in Manchester, New Hampshire, the third since the campaign began, the candidates were asked what job they would give Mr Bush.

"I would certainly not send him to the United Nations" to represent the US, Tommy Thompson, one of the candidates, said.

The president also faced criticism over his handling of the Iraq war and illegal immigration, the hottest issue in the US after Iraq.

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U.N.: More than 4 million Iraqis displaced

June 5, 2007
U.N.: More than 4 million Iraqis displaced

GENEVA - More than 4 million Iraqis have now been displaced by violence in the country, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday, warning that the figure will continue to rise.

The number of Iraqis who have fled the country as refugees has risen to 2.2 million, said Jennifer Pagonis, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. A further 2 million have been driven from their homes but remain within the country, increasingly in "impoverished shanty towns," she said.


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Democrats Bungle War Talking Points

June 4, 2007
Democrats Bungle War Talking Points

Goffstown, N.H -- Ever since Senate Majority leader Harry Reid provoked a firestorm last April by declaring "the war is lost" -- without attributing defeat to President Bush -- Democrats have scrambled to pin the Iraq fiasco on the Republican Party.

Leading Democratic presidential candidates have had trouble, however, keeping the strategically critical issue of blame in focus. In the debate Sunday night at St. Anselm College here, neither Barack Obama nor John Edwards directly targeted Bush on his culpability for the war.

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Military Panel Suggested Discharge for Anti-War Marine

June 4, 2007
Military Panel Suggested Discharge for Anti-War Marine

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A military panel has recommended a general discharge for an Iraq war veteran who wore his uniform during a war protest and later responded with an obscenity to a superior who told him he might have violated military rules.

"This is a nonpunitive discharge," said Col. Patrick McCarthy, chief of staff for the mobilization command. "The most stringent discharge that could have been received is other than honorable, and the board chose to raise that up to a general discharge."

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The dysfunctional tribunals

June 5, 2007
The dysfunctional tribunals

The Bush administration could have saved itself a lot of grief, and the United States a lot of embarrassment, by adhering to the Geneva Convention and other treaties on the treatment of prisoners of war.

But, instead, the administration decided that prisoners taken in the war on terror, principally in Afghanistan, would be tried by a special process it threw together for that purpose. The first try was nothing but a kangaroo court. Since then, the system has been through several refinements and, five years later, it still doesn't work.

There has been only one conviction, and that a plea bargain leading to the defendant's serving a nine-month sentence in his native Australia.

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The Bush administration scales back climate science via satellites

June 4, 2007
The Bush administration scales back climate science via satellites

"Unfortunately, the recent loss of climate sensors ... places the overall climate program in serious jeopardy," NOAA and NASA scientists told the White House in the Dec. 11 report obtained by the AP.

The reduced system of four satellites will now focus on weather forecasting. Most of the climate instruments needed to collect more precise data over long periods are being eliminated.

Instead, the Pentagon and two partners — the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA — will rely on European satellites for most of the climate data.

But seven other separate climate sensors are still being eliminated or substantially downgraded by lower-quality equipment to save money, according to the report to the White House. Most of the satellites, which were scheduled to launch starting next year, have been delayed to between 2013 and 2026.

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Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Food Prices Increasing 7%

June 4, 2007
Food Prices Increasing 7%

Rising gasoline prices have been getting all the attention, but the cost of another, more-important staple is actually rising even more: food.

In the past year, food prices have increased 3.7 percent and are on track to jump by as much as 7 percent by year's end. The current increase is more than double the 1.8 percent jump seen the year before, according to the consumer price index.

Meanwhile, gas prices rose 2.9 percent. Only the cost of health care rose more, and then just slightly.

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Democrats plan a Capitol assault over Iraq

June 4, 2007
Democrats plan a Capitol assault over Iraq

"The debate on Iraq will continue," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said last week. Pelosi, who in March helped push Democrats to embrace a withdrawal of American combat forces, has pledged that the House will vote on numerous measures aimed at ending the war.


Tom Matzzie, campaign manager for Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, the leading coalition against the war, promised an equally unpleasant summer for Republicans whenever they return home.


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Two Guantanamo POWs' Cases Thrown Out

June 4, 2007
Two Guantanamo POWs' Cases Thrown Out

All Things Considered, June 4, 2007 · U.S. military judges have thrown out
terrorism-related charges against two prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The rulings could
jeopardize the Bush administration's efforts to mount war-crimes tribunals at the detention
camp.

The cases were dismissed as the government sought to arraign two Guantanamo detainees,
20-year-old Omar Khadr, charged with the murder of a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan, and Salin Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni national who the military says was a driver for Osama bin Laden.

Both trials quickly collapsed when two separate judges dismissed all charges against themen.


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U.S. terror system in limbo after Khadr ruling

June 5, 2007
U.S. terror system in limbo after Khadr ruling

A military judge dropped a legal bombshell by dismissing the charges against Omar Khadr,
leaving his future in limbo and rocking an already embattled terror system established by the U.S.
administration.

Monday's surprise ruling doesn't put 20-year-old Khadr any closer to a trial or release, but
the decision could derail the heavily criticized terror tribunals.

On Monday, the judge dismissed the charges against the Canadian native, who has been held at
Guantanamo Bay for five years, and the charges brought against Yemen's Salmi Ahmed Hamdam, who was accused of being al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's chauffeur.


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RNC hit with grass-roots donors' rebellion

May 31, 2007
RNC hit with grass-roots donors' rebellion

The Republican National Committee, hit by a grass-roots donors' rebellion over President Bush's immigration policy, has fired all 65 of its telephone solicitors, Ralph Z. Hallow will report Friday in The Washington Times.

Faced with an estimated 40 percent fall-off in small-donor contributions and aging phone-bank equipment that the RNC said would cost too much to update, Anne Hathaway, the committee's chief of staff, summoned the solicitations staff last week and told them they were out of work, effective immediately, the fired staffers told The Times.

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Anti-war Marine blasts military

June 4, 2007
Anti-war Marine blasts military

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - An Iraq war veteran accused the Marine Corps on Monday of causing a "disgusting waste of government resources" by holding a hearing about whether he should be punished for wearing his uniform during a war protest.

Marine Corps officials argue they are enforcing military codes in the case of Cpl. Adam Kokesh.

Kokesh, 25, participated in an anti-war demonstration in Washington in March. When he was identified in a photo caption in The Washington Post, a superior officer sent him an e-mail saying he might have violated a rule prohibiting troops from wearing uniforms without authorization. Kokesh responded with a letter that contained an obscenity.

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Commanders Say Surge Isn't Working

June 4, 2007
Commanders Say Surge Isn't Working

BAGHDAD, June 3 — Three months after the start of the Baghdad security plan that has added thousands of American and Iraqi troops to the capital, they control fewer than one-third of the city's neighborhoods, far short of the initial goal for the operation, according to some commanders and an internal military assessment.

The American assessment, completed in late May, found that American and Iraqi forces were able to "protect the population" and "maintain physical influence over" only 146 of the 457 Baghdad neighborhoods.

In the remaining 311 neighborhoods, troops have either not begun operations aimed at rooting out insurgents or still face "resistance," according to the one-page assessment, which was provided to The New York Times and summarized reports from brigade and battalion commanders in Baghdad.

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Gas Exceeds Food, Housing, Health Care and Entertainment

June 4, 2007
Gas Exceeds Food, Housing, Health Care and Entertainment

But for those living paycheck to paycheck, rising gasoline prices can mean the difference between being able to pay bills and going into debt.

On average, U.S. households spent 3.6% of their after-tax income on gasoline in 2005, the period of most recent data. That trails expenses for food, housing, health care and entertainment.

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Mercenary firms fear bloodbath in Iraq

June 3, 2007
Mercenary firms fear bloodbath in Iraq

MERCENARY chiefs are urgently reviewing rules dictating when they can use force in Iraq, amid growing fears that another confrontation between private security operators and police could explode into a bloodbath.

Now a confidential memo to the heads of almost 200 private security companies providing bodyguard services in Iraq has laid bare the tensions between local security forces and the growing army of 'hired guns' protecting foreigners involved in reconstruction.

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Ginsburg asserts conservative judges are making cecision based entirely on politics, not law

May 31, 2007
Ginsburg asserts conservative judges are making cecision based entirely on politics, not law

The oral dissent has not been, until now, Justice Ginsburg's style. She has gone years without delivering one, and never before in her 15 years on the court has she delivered two in one term. In her past dissents, both oral and written, she has been reluctant to breach the court's collegial norms. "What she is saying is that this is not law, it's politics," Pamela S. Karlan, a Stanford law professor, said of Justice Ginsburg's comment linking the outcome in the abortion case to the fact of the court's changed membership. "She is accusing the other side of making political claims, not legal claims."


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American General Orders Commanders to Seek Peace With Terrorists in Iraq

June 1, 2007
American General Orders Commanders to Seek Peace With Terrorists in Iraq

Odierno cited some progress in Iraq and said U.S. forces are negotiating cease-fires with local Sunni and Shiite insurgent groups that it considers "reconcilable" in an effort to reduce violence.

Odierno said he recently gave military commanders authority to strike such agreements with insurgent groups that have staged attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces. He said that he thinks 80 percent of the fighters -- including Sunni insurgents, Shiite militia such as the Mahdi Army, and possibly a small number of al-Qaeda in Iraq members -- are "reconcilable," meaning they could be persuaded to lay down their weapons.

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NASA: Earth Climate Is Reaching the 'Dangerous' Point

May 30, 2007
NASA: Earth Climate Is Reaching the 'Dangerous' Point

NASA and Columbia University Earth Institute research finds that human-made greenhouse gases have brought the Earth's climate close to critical tipping points, with potentially dangerous consequences for the planet.

From a combination of climate models, satellite data, and paleoclimate records the scientists conclude that the West Antarctic ice sheet, Arctic ice cover, and regions providing fresh water sources and species habitat are under threat from continued global warming. The research appears in the current issue of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

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Veterans group backs anti war marine

June 1, 2007
Veterans group backs anti war marine

WASHINGTON - The nation's largest combat veterans group on Friday urged the military to "exercise a little common sense" and call off its investigation of a group of
Iraq war veterans who wore their uniforms during anti-war protests.

"Trying to hush up and punish fellow Americans for exercising the same democratic right we're trying to instill in Iraq is not what we're all about," said Gary Kurpius, national commander of the 2.4 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars.

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UN Inspector: Iranian War Supporters Are "New Crazies"

May 31, 2007
UN Inspector: Iranian War Supporters Are "New Crazies"

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog has given one of his sternest warnings against using military action to halt Iran's uranium enrichment programme.

Dr Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, described those wanting to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities as "new crazies".

After Iraq, Dr ElBaradei said he did not want to see "another war".

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Report accuses GSA chief of illegal politicking for GOP

May 24, 2007
Report accuses GSA chief of illegal politicking for GOP

WASHINGTON — Federal investigators have written a sharply worded critique of the beleaguered chief of the General Services Administration, Lurita Alexis Doan, accusing her of violating the law by improperly attempting to use her agency to help Republican political candidates.

"The GSA administrator displayed no reservations in her willingness to commit GSA resources, including its human capital, to the Republican Party," the report says. "Her actions constitute an obvious misuse of her official authority and were made for the purpose of affecting the result of an election."

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General Sanchez: US can’t win in Iraq

June 4, 2007
General Sanchez: US can’t win in Iraq

SAN ANTONIO: The man who led coalition forces in Iraq during the first year of the occupation says the US can forget about winning the war.

"I think if we do the right things politically and economically with the right Iraqi leadership we could still salvage at least a stalemate, if you will — not a stalemate but at least stave off defeat," retired Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez said in an interview.

Sanchez, in his first interview since he retired last year, is the highest-ranking former military leader yet to suggest the Bush administration fell short in Iraq. "I am absolutely convinced that America has a crisis in leadership at this time," Sanchez said after a recent speech in San Antonio, Texas.


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Taliban warn civilians of big Afghan offensive

June 3, 2007
Taliban warn civilians of big Afghan offensive

KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban will stage a "massive" operation against Western troops in Afghanistan and civilians must stay away from them in order to avoid casualties, a spokesman for the group said on Sunday.

After the traditional winter lull, followed by last year's bloodiest fighting since the Taliban's ouster in 2001, the militants have stepped up their attacks in recent months against Afghan and foreign troops led by NATO and the U.S. military.

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Amnesty possible for Iraq insurgents: US ambassador

June 3, 2007
Amnesty possible for Iraq insurgents: US ambassador

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Washington's ambassador to Iraq hinted Sunday that the United States was open to granting amnesty to former Al-Qaeda insurgents who fought against it in the blood-soaked country.

"As part of a political reconciliation process, amnesty can be very important," Ambassador Ryan Crocker told Fox News television, speaking from Baghdad.

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Sunday, June 03, 2007

Damage from climate change could cost Alaska $10 billion

May 29, 2007
Damage from climate change could cost Alaska $10 billion

BELIZE CITY — Collapsing bridges, bursting sewer pipes and crumbling roads caused by global warming could cost Alaska up to $10 billion over the next few decades, researchers said.

Atmospheric temperatures in the northernmost U.S. state have risen by more than 3ºF over the past five decades, Peter Larsen, a resource economist at the University of Alaska Anchorage, told a climate change conference in the Central American country of Belize.

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Marine vet faces hearing over anti war protest

May 31, 2007
Marine vet faces hearing over anti war protest

After Kokesh was identified in a photo cutline in The Washington Post, a superior officer sent him a letter saying he might have violated a rule prohibiting troops from wearing uniforms without authorization.

Kokesh, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, responded with an obscenity.

Now, a military panel has been scheduled to meet with Kokesh on Monday to decide whether his discharge status should be changed from "honorable" to "other than honorable."

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US Iraq embassy plans put on net

June 1, 2007
US Iraq embassy plans put on net

Plans for the new US embassy in Baghdad have been posted online by the architects, but had to be removed amid fears they could compromise security.

The State Department ordered that the architects remove the drawings, but not before they had been copied by blogs.

Ten images appeared showing the overall layout plus individual buildings.

They included computer-generated pictures of office annexes, a swimming pool, recreation centre, and the ambassador's residence.

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White House Counselor Bartlett Resigning

May 29, 2007
White House Counselor Bartlett Resigning

Bartlett, 36, told reporters at the White House he has no immediate plans but would "see what type of opportunities are there for me with, obviously, the experiences I've had working at the highest levels of government."

Bartlett joins several top Bush administration officials, including Sara Taylor, the White House political director, and deputy national security advisers J.D. Crouch and Meghan O'Sullivan, all of whom departed last month.

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Guardsmen train with wrong equipment

May 29, 2007

Guardsmen train with wrong equipment


For example, Wayt said some Army Guard troops will begin three weeks of training starting June 9 using standard-issue M-16 rifles when they would be using shorter, lighter M-4 rifles in the field.


The soldiers also can't train with the type of night-vision goggles or armored vehicles they would use in combat, the Guard said.


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Amputee Soldiers Return to Active Duty

May 29, 2007
Amputee Soldiers Return to Active Duty

In an about-face by the Pentagon, the military is putting many more amputees back on active duty — even back into combat, in some cases.

Williamson, a 30-year-old Chicago native who is missing his left leg below the knee and three toes on the other foot, acknowledged that some will be skeptical of a maimed soldier back in uniform.

"But I let my job show for itself," he said. "At this point, I'm done proving. I just get out there and do it."

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Dems Wimp Out on Bush & Prewar Intelligence

May 29, 2007
Dems Wimp Out on Bush & Prewar Intelligence

As the committee's report notes, before the war the top intelligence analysts of the United States government concluded that creating a stable democratic government in Iraq would be a difficult and "turbulent" challenge, that sectarian conflict could erupt in a post-invasion Iraq, that al Qaeda would view a US invasion of Iraq as an opportunity to increase and enhance its terrorist attacks, that a heightened terrorist threat would exist for several years, that the US occupation of Iraq would probably cause a rise of Islamic fundamentalism and a boost in funding for terrorist groups, and that Iran's role in the region would enlarge.

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Iraq's bloodiest month for US troops since Fallujah invasion

May 31, 2007
Iraq's bloodiest month for US troops since Fallujah invasion

Six more US soldiers have been killed in Iraq, the military announced on Thursday, confirming that May has become the deadliest month for American forces in two-and-a-half years.

The number two US commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno admitted to reporters Thursday that violence was on the rise in Iraq, particularly in Baghdad, despite recent increases in US troop levels.

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U.N. EXPERT VOICES CONCERN ON U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS AFTER VISIT

June 1, 2007
U.N. EXPERT VOICES CONCERN ON U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS AFTER VISIT

In a world community which has adopted global measures to counter terrorism, the United States is a leader. This position carries with it a special responsibility also to take leadership in the protection of human rights while countering terrorism. The example of the United States will have its followers, in good and in bad. The Special Rapporteur has a deep respect for the long traditions in the United States of respect for individual rights, the rule of law, and a strong level of judicial protection. Despite the existence of a tradition in the United States of respect for the rule of law, and the presence of self-correcting mechanisms under the United States Constitution, it is most regretful that a number of important mechanisms for the protection of rights have been removed or obfuscated under law and practice since the events of 11 September, including under the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and under Executive Orders and classified programs.

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U.S. ranks low, just above Iran on new peace index

May 30, 2007
U.S. ranks low, just above Iran on new peace index

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is among the least peaceful nations in the world, ranking 96th between Yemen and Iran, according to a new index released on Wednesday that evaluates 121 nations based on their peacefulness.

According to the Global Peace Index, created by The Economist Intelligence Unit, Norway is the most peaceful nation in the world and Iraq is the least, just after Russia, Israel and Sudan.

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Gitmo suicide was Saudi veteran

May 29, 2007
Gitmo suicide was Saudi veteran

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The detainee who died at Guantanamo Bay in an apparent suicide was identified Thursday as a Saudi military veteran and self-described Islamic holy warrior who denied he ever intended to kill Americans.

The military and Saudi Arabia identified the detainee as Abdul Rahman Maadha al-Amry. Though it gave no details about him, U.S. records say he was 34 and had been held without charges at the prison at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in southeastern Cuba since February 2002.

Al-Amry had no attorney of record, although the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights has filed a blanket legal challenge on behalf of all Guantanamo detainees. Lawyers say many detainees have little faith in the American legal system but others simply do not understand it.

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DOJ Expands Attorney Firing Investigation

May 31, 2007
DOJ Expands Attorney Firing Investigation

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department said Wednesday it has expanded its internal inquiry on the firing of U.S. attorneys into whether politics played a part in hiring career prosecutors.

In a rare note updating lawmakers on its investigation, the department said it also was looking into hiring practices within its Civil Rights Division. Lawmakers have questioned whether the division has hired prosecutors with strong political resumes but little civil rights experience.

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