CIA hired Blackwater for assassination programme, sources say --Blackwater staff recruited in 2004 for secret plan 21 Aug 2009 The CIA enlisted the notorious security firm Blackwater in a secret programme to hunt and kill 'al-Qaida' leaders, US intelligence sources confirmed today. Blackwater staff, many of whom are former US special forces and CIA members, were recruited in 2004 as part of the programme, estimated to have costs millions of dollars. However, the New York Times, which broke the story, said it was unclear whether Blackwater had been engaged to carry out assassinations or simply to help with intelligence-gathering, planning and training.
In Obusha Land, *attorneys* are investigated -- while torturers get a free pass. Detainees Shown CIA Officers' Photos --Justice Dept. Looking Into Whether Attorneys Broke Law at Guantanamo 21 Aug 2009 The Justice Department recently questioned military defense attorneys at Guantanamo Bay about whether photographs of CIA personnel, including covert officers, were unlawfully provided to detainees prisoners charged with organizing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to sources familiar with the investigation. Investigators are looking into allegations that laws protecting classified information were breached when three lawyers showed their clients the photographs, the sources said. The lawyers were apparently attempting to identify CIA officers and contractors mercenaries involved in the agency's interrogation of suspected al-Qaeda terrorists in facilities outside the United States, where the agency employed harsh techniques torture... At a hearing in July, the audio feed was cut when a lawyer for Ramzi Binalshibh, one of the alleged Sept. 11 co-conspirators, mentioned sleep deprivation, one of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" used at the CIA's black sites.
'The CIA does not publicly discuss where facilities associated with its past detention program may or may not have been located.' Officials: Lithuania Hosted Secret CIA Prison to Get 'Our Ear' --CIA told ABC News that reporting location of now-closed prison was 'irresponsible' 20 Aug 2009 A third European country has been identified to ABC News as providing the CIA with facilities for a secret prison for high-value al Qaeda suspects: Lithuania, the former Soviet state. Former CIA officials directly involved or briefed on the highly classified program tell ABC News that Lithuanian officials provided the CIA with a building on the outskirts of Vilnius, the country's capital, where as many as eight suspects were held for more than a year, until late 2005 when they were moved because of public disclosures about the program. Flight logs viewed by ABC News confirm that CIA planes made repeated flights into Lithuania during that period.
Federal judge limits use of hearsay evidence in Guantanamo cases 20 Aug 2009 Judge Reggie Walton of the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling Wednesday that severely curtails the federal government's ability to use hearsay evidence in trials against Guantanamo Bay detainees prisoners... The government had argued that hearsay was broadly permitted by the US Supreme Court's 2004 decision in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld. In his opinion, Walton disagreed.
Bush admin pressured ex-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge to raise terror warnings pre-'election' --'Ashcroft strongly urged an increase in the threat level and was supported by Rumsfeld.' 20 Aug 2009 Top advisers to George W. Bush pressed for a politically-motivated terror alert a few days before the 2004 election, ex-Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge charges in a new book. In a chapter of "The Test Of Our Times" titled "The Politics of Terrorism," Ridge alleges ex-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and ex-Attorney General John Ashcroft argued for an Orange Alert -- or "high" threat -- because of an Oct. 29, 2004, video by 'Osama Bin Laden.'
Ridge reveals pressure to raise alert level before 2004 'election' --DHS pressured to connect homeland security to 'war on terror' 20 Aug 2009 Tom Ridge, President [sic] Bush's first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, is out with a new book next month... Ridge writes in The Test of Our Times that he "effectively thwarted a plan to raise the national security alert just before the 2004 election." He also writes that the DHS was pressured to connect homeland security to the international "war on terror" and says he lost in a turf battle over his attempt to integrate DHS with the FEMA disaster management before Hurricane Katrina.
German Party Calls for Plan for Removal of Troops From Afghanistan 21 Aug 2009 After ignoring the issue of Afghanistan for much of the federal election campaign so far, the Free Democrats, an opposition party that hopes to join Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives in the next government, have called for a plan to bring home the 4,500 German troops serving in the NATO force there. "The next government must formulate a precise plan that spells out how a pull-out of the German Army over the coming years would look," Jürgen Koppelin, a federal legislator and defense expert for the Free Democrats, said in a newspaper interview Wednesday.
Afghan Vote's Reports of Low Turnout May Hurt Karzai's Chances 21 Aug 2009 Voters in Afghanistan’s presidential 'election' may have failed to deliver the increased turnout sought by Afghan and U.S. officials, hindering efforts to win a broader mandate for the government as it battles Taliban militants.
Over 50 killed on Afghan election day 21 Aug 2009 More than 50 people have been killed throughout Afghanistan, as voters went to the polls to 'elect' a new president to lead the country out of militant-related violence. Nine policemen and nine civilians died and 14 law officers and 13 other people were wounded in the polling violence on Thursday, Interior Minister Hanif Atmar said, DPA reported.
Va. soldier dies after being shot in Afghanistan 20 Aug 2009 A soldier from Virginia has been fatally shot in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense said yesterday that Army Sgt. 1st Class William B. Woods Jr., 31, of Chesapeake died Sunday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany. The department said Woods had been taken to Germany after being shot two days earlier while on patrol in Ghazni, Afghanistan.
Three killed in US drone attack on Pakistan 21 Aug 2009 A missile fired from an un-manned US drone has killed at least three people in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border, officials say. "A missile hit a house at 3:50 a.m. on Friday (2150 GMT Thursday). It was a drone attack. The missile targeted a house in Dandey Darda Khel," a security official told AFP.
At least 30 killed, nearly 200 injured in another spate of bombings in Iraq 20 Aug 2009 string of bombings Thursday south of Baghdad killed at least 30 people and wounded nearly 200. Iraqi officials sought to get Baghdad under control Thursday, heightening security and arresting 11 police and military officers as part of an investigation into how insurgents [Xe terrorists] managed to park truck bombs in front of two government ministries Wednesday in attacks that killed 95 people and wounded as many as 1,203.
Blast kills 2, wounds 10 in Baghdad 20 Aug 2009 A bomb planted on a bicycle has exploded at a market in central Baghdad, killing two people and wounding 10 others a day after twin fatal blasts in the capital. Security and medical officials said that the blast hit the commercial area of Hafiz al-Qazi at the al-Rasheed street in central Baghdad, causing damages to several nearby shops and buildings on Thursday.
Israeli troops brutally attack cameraman filming raid 20 Aug 2009 Israeli soldiers brutally attack a number of peace activists, who were documenting an overnight raid on a Palestinian house in the West Bank town of Bil'in. The incident happened in the early hours of Thursday as 25 Israeli soldiers, with their faces painted black, were raiding the house of Mohammad Abu Rahma -- a member of the village's Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements.
Was Freed Lockerbie Bomber a Patsy? By Robert Schlesinger 20 Aug 2009 Scotland today released terminally ill Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of blowing up Pan Am 103 on December 21, 1988. The decision was made on the grounds of compassion... But there are some who believe that al-Megrahi should never have been convicted in the first place, that he was, to use the Lee Harvey Oswald-ism, a patsy. Journalist Nathan Thrall laid out the case here in January, a few days after the 20th anniversary of the bombing.
Crown fights to keep 48 pieces of Lockerbie trial evidence secret 19 Feb 2009 Prosecutors are trying to keep secret 48 pieces of evidence relating to the Lockerbie trial, including a secret fax that could discredit a key Crown witness. Lawyers for Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the man convicted of the 1988 bombing, yesterday began a challenge over material they believe will free their terminally ill client. But the Crown Office and the UK Advocate General are fighting against disclosure, claiming that in some cases the evidence does not exist. The Herald can today reveal that the first item on the list is a fax which, the Libyan's defence team claims, places a fundamental question mark against the original trial testimony of Tony Gauci, who sold clothes later found in the wreckage of PanAm 103 at Lockerbie.
Suit filed over mass arrest during DNC 20 Aug 2009 Eight people who were arrested on the second day of the Democratic National Convention during a mass protest filed a lawsuit against the City and County of Denver last night alleging wrongful arrest. The plaintiffs who filed their case in Denver District Court - are represented by lawyers for the ACLU of Colorado and include a legal observer for the People's Law Project, a journalist, students documenting the protest and onlookers along 15th Street and Cleveland Place on Aug. 25.
Colleges Warned About Fall Flu Outbreaks on Campus 20 Aug 2009 Federal officials said Thursday that colleges should consider suspending classes this fall if the H1N1 flu virus begins to cause severe illness in a significantly larger share of students than last spring. A guidance document released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stresses "self-isolation" of sick students and employees until a full day after fever subsides.
Doctors warn: swine flu vaccine poses too many risks 20 Aug 2009 MARK COLVIN: The country's top infectious diseases body has written to the Government to warn that the swine flu vaccine is being distributed too hastily, with too many risks for the public. The Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases says the vaccine will come in multi-dose vials. It says these have been shown to transmit infection, spread HIV and hepatitis and even cause death. The Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon says the Government expects to receive two million doses by the end of next week, and a widespread immunisation program could start by mid-September. But the infectious diseases doctors say the swine flu threat has now passed, and there's no need for urgent mass vaccination.
Infectious disease risk in swine flu jabs 21 Aug 2009 Leading infectious disease experts have called on the Federal Government to abandon its mass swine-flu vaccination plan because of fears the vaccine is a contamination risk that could spread blood-borne diseases. Health Minister Nicola Roxon yesterday announced that the Government would start deploying its first batch of swine-flu vaccine in coming weeks. But in a letter sent to Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer Jim Bishop, the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases expresses deep concern about CSL's use of multi-dose vials for the vaccine and urged the Government to abandon its plan until it had single-dose vials.
Two million shots for most at risk of swine flu 20 Aug 2009 Millions of Australians will be vaccinated 'against' the deadly swine flu within weeks... Federal health authorities are still awaiting safety data from vaccine manufacturer CSL before approving the massive vaccination program, which will be closely watched overseas. It is believed the Government is not fully satisfied with initial information provided by the company.
Quarantine threat to non-immunised kids 20 Aug 2009 The Ministry of Health says non-immunised children may be quarantined at home to contain the spread of measles. It is renewing calls for parents to get their children immunised against the disease, or risk having well children sent home from school.
Police face calls to scrap thousands of DNA files --Ministers are under pressure to delete the records of at least 850,000 people who have never been convicted of an offence. 20 Aug 2009 The DNA records of hundreds of thousands of innocent people should be deleted from the national database, said Damian Green, a Tory MP, after he won a battle with police to have his profile removed. Mr Green, the shadow immigration minister, demanded that his details be erased after no charges were brought against him following his arrest over Whitehall leaks last year.
U.S.'s 'Cash for Clunkers' Program Ending Monday 21 Aug 2009 The government, acknowledging that the "Cash for Clunkers" program was running out of money, declared it a success Thursday and killed it off, effective 8 p.m. Monday. After just a week, the program, which began July 24 and was expected to last until Nov. 1, ran out of the $1 billion originally appropriated by Congress. An additional $2 billion was approved two weeks ago, and it was supposed to last until Labor Day. Now that's almost gone, too.
Previous lead stories: C.I.A. Sought Blackwater's Help in Its Assassination Plans 20 Aug 2009 The Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired outside contractors mercenaries from the private security contractor Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate [alleged] top operatives of 'Al Qaeda,' according to current and former government officials. Executives from Blackwater, which has generated controversy because of its aggressive tactics in Iraq, helped the spy agency with planning, training and surveillance. The C.I.A. spent several million dollars on the program, which did not capture or kill any terrorist suspects. The fact that the C.I.A. used an outside company for the program was a major reason that Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A.'s director, became alarmed and called an emergency meeting in June to tell Congress that the agency had withheld details of the program for seven years, the officials said.
FBI: Arm Boston Police With M-16s to Prepare for Terror Attack 18 Aug 2009 An FBI official said Boston police officers should be armed with assault rifles to make the city more prepared for a terrorist attack. Warren Bamford, the special agent in charge of the FBI in Boston, said Tuesday that he is baffled by opposition to a proposal to give some neighborhood police officers the semiautomatic weapons. In May, Boston Mayor Tom Menino criticized a proposal to arm up to 200 officers with M-16s that the police department had ordered from the U.S. military. Menino said only specially trained units should have the guns.
