Pentagon institute calls Iraq war 'a major debacle'

April 17, 2008
Pentagon institute calls Iraq war 'a major debacle'

WASHINGTON — The war in Iraq has become "a major debacle" and the outcome "is in doubt" despite improvements in security from the buildup in U.S. forces, according to a highly critical study published Thursday by the Pentagon's premier military educational institute.

The report released by the National Defense University raises fresh doubts about President Bush 's projections of a U.S. victory in Iraq just a week after Bush announced that he was suspending U.S. troop reductions.

The report carries considerable weight because it was written by Joseph Collins, a former senior Pentagon official, and was based in part on interviews with other former senior defense and intelligence officials who played roles in prewar preparations.

Workers Get Fewer Hours, Deepening the Downturn

April 18, 2008
Workers Get Fewer Hours, Deepening the Downturn

Throughout the country, businesses grappling with declining fortunes are cutting hours for those on their payrolls. Self-employed people are suffering a drop in demand for their services, like music lessons, catering and management consulting. Growing numbers of people are settling for part-time work out of a failure to secure a full-time position.

The gradual erosion of the paycheck has become a stealth force driving the American economic downturn. Most of the attention has focused on the loss of jobs and the risk of layoffs. But the less-noticeable shrinking of hours and pay for millions of workers around the country appears to be a bigger contributor to the decline, which has already spread from housing and finance to other important areas of the economy.

Pope criticises US for shunning Iraq diplomacy

April 21, 2008
Pope criticises US for shunning Iraq diplomacy

In a carefully-worded speech at the United Nations, Benedict underlined the need for diplomacy.

"Multilateral consensus continues to be in crisis because it is still subordinated to the decisions of a few, whereas the world's problems call for interventions in the form of collective action," he said, adding that international rules must be "binding".

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican representative at the UN, said Benedict wanted to attack "the false notion that might makes right".

Across Globe, Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger

April 18, 2008
Across Globe, Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger

That anger is palpable across the globe. The food crisis is not only being felt among the poor but is also eroding the gains of the working and middle classes, sowing volatile levels of discontent and putting new pressures on fragile governments.

In Cairo, the military is being put to work baking bread as rising food prices threaten to become the spark that ignites wider anger at a repressive government. In Burkina Faso and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, food riots are breaking out as never before. In reasonably prosperous Malaysia, the ruling coalition was nearly ousted by voters who cited food and fuel price increases as their main concerns.

Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand

April 18, 2008
Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand

To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as "military analysts" whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world.

Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration's wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.

The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.

Top US general 'hoodwinked' on torture

April 18, 2008
Top US general 'hoodwinked' on torture

• Senior figures in the Bush administration pushed through previously outlawed measures with the help of unqualified and inexperienced military officials at Guantánamo.

• Myers believes he was a victim of "intrigue" by top lawyers at the department of justice, the office of the vice president, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld's defence department.

• Myers wrongly believed interrogation techniques had been taken from the army's field manual.

Military medical errors, malpractice immune to redress

April 20, 2008
Military medical errors, malpractice immune to redress

Medical personnel at David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base screamed at one another. A double dose of a powerful stimulant was mistakenly administered. When a breathing tube was finally inserted, it was misdirected. By the time a breathing tube finally was inserted correctly, Witt had devastating brain damage. Three months later, he was removed from life support and died. Witt, who grew up in Oroville, Calif., left behind a wife and two children, including a 4-month-old son.

Despite the report's harsh criticism of Witt's medical care, the bereaved family could not sue for malpractice, because Witt was an active-duty airman. Under limits stemming from an obscure Supreme Court ruling nearly 60 years old, military hospitals and their staffs are immune from malpractice claims - even for the most egregious lapses - if the victim is an enlisted man or woman on active duty.

Nine Years Ago, Oil Was Projected to Fall to Five Dollars

April 21, 2008
Nine Years Ago, Oil Was Projected to Fall to Five Dollars

Nine years ago The Economist ran a big story on oil, which was then selling for $10 a barrel. The magazine warned that this might not last. Instead, it suggested, oil might well fall to $5 a barrel.

In any case, The Economist asserted, the world faced “the prospect of cheap, plentiful oil for the foreseeable future."

Last week, oil hit $117.

Rezko friend: Rove was asked to dump Fitzgerald

April 23, 2008
Rezko friend: Rove was asked to dump Fitzgerald

As a federal probe into Gov. Blagojevich's administration heated up in late 2004, there were discussions between GOP powerbroker Robert Kjellander and Bush White House insider Karl Rove to oust corruption-busting U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald from his job, according to a man whom prosecutors want to testify at Tony Rezko's trial.

Those alleged efforts were disclosed in federal court this morning, as prosecutors sought to have them introduced into the corruption trial of Rezko, who is accused of seeking kickbacks and campaign contributions to Blagojevich from companies seeking state business.

"With respect to Mr. Ata, what I anticipate Mr. Ata would testify to would be that he did actually have direct conversations with Mr. Rezko about the fact that ... Mr. Kjellander was working with Karl Rove to have Mr. Fitzgerald removed," Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie E. Hamilton told St. Eve.

Falling Wages and Health Care Are Top Issues

April 22, 2008
Falling Wages and Health Care Are Top Issues

The top workplace-related issues for the 2008 presidential election are improving wages, keeping jobs in the country and providing universal health care, according to a recent poll of U.S. workers conducted by the Employment Law Alliance (ELA).

According to the poll results, the top issue among workers is improving wages and the earning potential for all workers. A large majority (87 percent) of the respondents would like to see the next president work on increasing the proportion of U.S. workers who earn at least a living wage, and 86 percent thought the president needed to focus on reducing the number of U.S. jobs that are outsourced overseas. A surprising 83 percent of the respondents said that providing health care coverage for all U.S. citizens should be one of the next president's top priorities.

More convicted felons allowed to enlist in Army, Marines

April 21, 2008
More convicted felons allowed to enlist in Army, Marines

WASHINGTON - Under pressure to meet combat needs, the Army and Marine Corps brought in significantly more recruits with felony convictions last year than in 2006, including some with manslaughter and sex crime convictions.

Data released by a congressional committee shows the number of soldiers admitted to the Army with felony records jumped from 249 in 2006 to 511 in 2007. And the number of Marines with felonies rose from 208 to 350.

Those numbers represent a fraction of the more than 180,000 recruits brought in by the active duty Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2007. But they highlight a trend that has raised concerns both within the military and on Capitol Hill.

Injured Iraq war vets sue VA

April 21, 2008
Injured Iraq war vets sue VA

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Frustrated by delays in health care, a coalition of injured Iraq war veterans is accusing VA Secretary Jim Nicholson of breaking the law by denying them disability pay and mental health treatment.

The class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, filed Monday in federal court in San Francisco, seeks broad change in the agency as it struggles to meet growing demands from veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Former Justice Department official charged in Jack Abramoff lobbying probe

April 21, 2008
Former Justice Department official charged in Jack Abramoff lobbying probe

WASHINGTON - A former high-ranking Justice Department official was accused Monday of criminal conflict of interest in the latest case stemming from the investigation of disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Robert Coughlin was deputy chief of staff of the Justice Department's criminal division — the same division handling the Abramoff probe — before resigning a year ago, citing personal reasons. He was due in federal court in Washington on Tuesday for a plea hearing.

VA Hid Suicide Risk, Internal E-Mails Show

April 12, 2008
VA Hid Suicide Risk, Internal E-Mails Show

(CBS) The Department of Veterans Affairs came under fire again Monday, this time in California federal court where it's facing a national lawsuit by veterans rights groups accusing the agency of not doing enough to stem a looming mental health crisis among veterans. As part of the lawsuit, internal e-mails raise questions as to whether top officials deliberately deceived the American public about the number of veterans attempting and committing suicide. CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports.

In San Francisco federal court Monday, attorneys for veterans' rights groups accused the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs of nothing less than a cover-up - deliberately concealing the real risk of suicide among veterans.

Disapproval of Bush breaks record

April 12, 2008
Disapproval of Bush breaks record

WASHINGTON — President Bush has set a record he'd presumably prefer to avoid: the highest disapproval rating of any president in the 70-year history of the Gallup Poll.

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, 28% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing; 69% disapprove. The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt.

US posts record breaking deficit

April 11, 2008
US posts record breaking deficit

WASHINGTON—The US government turned in a $48.14-billion budget deficit for March and a record deficit for the first six months of the fiscal year despite record receipts for the month, the US Treasury said on Thursday.

The March deficit compared with a year-earlier deficit of $96.27 billion and with the $71.0-billion deficit forecast by economists polled by Reuters.

For the first six months of the fiscal year, the Department of Treasury saw a record $311.4-billion deficit which broke the previous record of a mid-year budget gap of $302.9 billion set in fiscal year 2006.