Is the Taliban on the U.S. Gov. Payroll? --Source: Taliban takes as much as 20% of development aid awarded to contractors 03 Sep 2009 A portion of American taxpayer dollars slated for development projects in Afghanistan is alleged to end up in the hands of the Taliban, the GlobalPost reports. The United States Agency for International Development is investigating if its funds are being used by contractors to pay the Taliban for protection – from itself. GlobalPost reporter Jean MacKenzie writes, "the Taliban allegedly receives kickbacks from almost every major contract that comes into the country. The arrangements are at times highly formalized and, as GlobalPost spelled out, the Taliban actually keeps an office in Kabul to review major deals, determine percentages and conduct negotiations."
Clinton outraged by guards' sexual misconduct 03 Sep 2009 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is "genuinely offended" by reports of misconduct by private guards mercenaries working for the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, a State Department spokesman said Thursday... ArmorGroup was awarded the $189 million security contract in March 2007 and has been repeatedly warned of performance deficiencies. [Then why does the US keep renewing their contract?]
Gates Open to Troop Increase --Meanwhile, Army Will Extend Tours In Afghanistan 04 Sep 2009 Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates indicated Thursday that he is open to increasing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, voicing a shift in his position as the administration ponders a military assessment expected to lead to a formal request for additional forces. Gates, in a briefing at the Pentagon, also defended the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, rebutting suggestions that it is time to pull out. His remarks came just hours before the Army announced that it will extend the tours of about 3,000 soldiers in Afghanistan for between two weeks and two months amid an intensifying Taliban 'insurgency.'
Obama Urged to Rally Support for War 04 Sep 2009 The White House is facing mounting pressure from lawmakers to work harder to rally flagging public support for the war in Afghanistan. With casualties rising, the administration is struggling to persuade voters that the war can be won or is worth the human and financial costs. Afghanistan is President Barack Obama's top foreign-policy priority, but recent polls show that a majority of voters oppose the war for the first time since the conflict began eight years ago.
NATO air raid kills '100 civilians' in Afghanistan 04 Sep 2009 More than one hundred people, mostly civilians, have reportedly been killed and scores of others injured after US-led warplanes targeted fuel tankers in an area of northern Afghanistan The NATO alliance on Friday confirmed the lethal incident in Kunduz province, hinting that the air raid had targeted two fuel tankers allegedly hijacked by 'Taliban linked militants.'
UK soldier killed in Afghanistan 03 Sep 2009 A soldier from 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment has been killed in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. The soldier, operating with The Light Dragoons Battle Group, died as a result of a gunshot wound on Thursday. He was shot while on a foot patrol in the Babaji district, Helmand province.
'The magnitude of these crimes demands that they be addressed immediately by the international community.' Iraq PM asks for UN inquiry into Baghdad bombings 03 Sep 2009 Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has formally asked the U.N. Security Council to launch an inquiry into a series of [Xe?] explosions that killed 95 people in Baghdad last month. More than 1,000 people were also wounded on Aug. 19, Iraq's bloodiest day this year, when at least six blasts struck near government ministries and other targets. In an Aug. 30 letter forwarded to the Security Council on Thursday by the office of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Maliki asked for an independent international commission of inquiry to be set up.
Two U.S. soldiers die in vehicle accident in Iraq 03 Sep 2009 Two U.S. soldiers died and five injured in a vehicle accident in northern Iraq, the U.S. military said on Thursday. The two soldiers, assigned to Multi-National Division-North, were killed on Wednesday in a vehicle roll-over accident in the province of Diyala, a military statement said without giving further details.
Israeli tanks invade Gaza, meet resistance 03 Sep 2009 Israeli tanks and bulldozers have invaded the eastern border areas of the Gaza Strip, destroying cultivated agricultural Palestinian land. Palestinian fighters retaliated by firing home-made shells at the invading forces. No injuries were reported from either side in the Thursday attack, the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC) reported.
Hold on to your hats! Minot AFB Activates B52 Squadron 03 Sep 2009 This will make the most powerful base in the world, stronger. That's how the commander of a new squadron of B-52 bombers describes Minot Air Force Base. Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Notari made the comments today as he assumed command of the newly-reactivated 69th Bomb Squadron at Minot's base. The addition of the 69th gives Minot Air Force Base two active B-52 squadrons. The commander of the 8th Air Force says having four B-52 squadrons - two in Minot and two at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana - gives him more flexibility in carrying out the bombers' mission. And it will keep the bomber active for decades.
Obama to spend another $2.7 bln to fight H1N1 02 Sep 2009 The Obama administration will spend an additional $2.7 billion to buy swine flu drugs and vaccines, just days after White House science advisers called the pandemic "a serious threat to our nation." The money is on top of $1.8 billion the administration earmarked in July for tackling the virus. Obama said the $2.7 billion would go toward buying new vaccines, antiviral drugs and preparing for a vaccination [propaganda] campaign. [The 'serious threat to our nation' is the bioterrorists who synthesized the virus and the pharma-terrorists (one and the same) who are profiting from it. --LRP]
UI Health Care makes flu shots mandatory 02 Sep 2009 (IA) Flu shots are no longer optional for anyone associated with UI Health Care: It is a condition of employment. "People who do not comply will not be eligible to continue their positions at UI Health Care," said UI spokesman Tom Moore. Staff members were notified about the policy change in an e-mail sent early Tuesday morning.
Swine Flu Vaccinations May Be Delayed by U.S. Ingredient Choice 03 Sep 2009 The U.S. decision to use a swine flu vaccine without an ingredient that boosts response may mean shots will require two doses instead of one to grant immunity, health officials said. A two-dose vaccine is more likely to be required by a vaccine that doesn’t include adjuvant, an ingredient added to some shots to boost the immune response, said Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease 'Control and Prevention' in a conference call in Atlanta.
Md. Gov. Calls Seasonal Flu Shots a 'Patriotic Duty' --Health Sec'y likened Maryland's share of upcoming mass swine-flu vaccination campaign to a 'military operation' 02 Sep 2009 Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-Insane) on Wednesday said it was residents' "patriotic duty" to get seasonal flu shots in coming weeks to make it easier for health officials to determine if outbreaks are related to H1N1, or swine flu. "You'll be doing your patriotic duty to get your seasonal flu shot this year," O'Malley said. John M. Colmers, secretary of Health & Mental Hygiene, likened Maryland's share of the upcoming mass swine-flu vaccination campaign to a "military operation," and said much remains unknown about exactly how the state will carry it out. [Petition against mandatory vaccines - 4400 signatures]
H1N1 flu hits State Fair; 120 kids sent home 03 Sep 2009 The H1N1 flu has hit the Minnesota State Fair, prompting 4-H officials to send about 120 children home after four tested positive for the disease. The four cases were detected "during the past 40 hours," prompting program officials to call parents this morning telling them to pick up their kids, said 4-H superintendent Brad Rugg.
Training Officers On Counter-Terrorism --100 officers from Eastern District of Arkansas expected to attend 03 Sep 2009 The Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council is sponsoring a training for law enforcement personnel on Defending Our Homeland: Defeating the Global Jihad Threat. David Harel, from the security consulting company, ASERO, will conduct the presentation at the Jacksonville Community Center Thursday. Harel has over 23 years of worldwide operational counter-terrorism and protective security experience with the Israeli Security Agency and Israeli Defense Force.
Pay cuts we can believe in: Obama cuts pay raise for federal workers By Tom Eley 03 Sep 2009 Invoking the state of "national emergency" declared soon after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President Barack Obama on Monday issued a letter to congress reducing statutory 2010 pay increases for 1.3 million workers employed by the federal government. Obama reduced scheduled pay increases to 2 percent across-the-board from a contractually-required minimum increase of 2.4 percent... Adding gratuitous insult to injury, Obama copied, virtually verbatim, an order issued in the name of George W. Bush in 2007 blocking pay increases for federal workers in 2008.
Planned Obama speech to students sparks protest 04 Sep 2009 Some schools won't show President Obama's online speech to the nation's students Tuesday because of the objections of [racist] administrators and parents. Independence, Mo., School District Superintendent Jim Hinson says he's gotten "more calls than we've ever had on an issue," some from parents who will keep their children home Tuesday.
Broun warns of dictatorship 03 Sep 2009 (GA) U.S. Rep. Paul Broun is again raising the specter of Democrats turning the United States into a totalitarian state. Broun, [R-Fascist]Athens, apparently has not changed his belief that President Obama may be a fascist since he made similar remarks in Augusta in November and then in an Associated Press interview. He told a meeting of the Morgan County Republicans on Wednesday night that Obama already has or will have the three things he needs to make himself a dictator: a national police force, gun control and control over the press.
Inhofe blasts Obama at Grove town hall 02 Sep 2009 Right-thinking Americans can only hope the country will survive the next 16 months of the Obama administration until Republicans can regain control of Congress, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe [R-Racist] said Wednesday. "I never dreamed I would see an administration try to disavow all the things that have made this country different from all others," Inhofe told more than 300 people at a town hall meeting in the Grove Community Center. "I have never seen so many things happening at one time so disheartening to America."
Tempe pastor reiterates wish for President Obama's death 01 Sep 2009 The United State Secret Service is speaking out about an East Valley pastor who is praying for President Barack Obama's death. Spokesperson Darrin Blackford said Monday, "We are aware of Pastor Anderson's comments and an appropriate follow up will be conducted." Parishioners leaving the Faithful Word Baptist Church Sunday carried not just their Bibles, but guns as well. On August 16th, Pastor Steven Anderson delivered a sermon titled "Why I Hate Barack Obama."
The Secret's Over and Out: Bush Chemical Exposure Rule Killed By Mike Hall 02 Sep 2009 The Bush administration’s clandestine move to loosen the rules on how much toxin or dangerous chemicals to which workers can be exposed--and to make it more difficult to issue new worker protection rules--is now officially dead. The U.S. Department of Labor announced this week that the proposed rule was unnecessary and withdrew it. The rule came to be known as the secret rule because of the Bush administration’s attempt to keep it off the public’s and media’s radar screen last year.
Quick action! Help Stop the International Polar Bear Trade 03 Sep 2009 In some countries, collectors can still buy polar bear skin rugs, claws, skulls and other parts of these animals -- even as these beloved bears struggle for survival in a warming world. The U.S. can strengthen protections for polar bears under international law by proposing to restrict trade in polar bear products -- a move that could save the lives of hundreds of polar bears each year. But officials need to hear from you. Take action now -- Urge the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to propose an international ban on the trade of polar bear products. Please take action today -- the deadline for comments is Friday, 11 September.
Fall colors fade in U.S. west as aspen trees die 03 Sep 2009 The American West is losing its autumn colors as global warming begins to bite and there is far more at stake than iconic scenery. Aspen, the white-barked trees with golden leaves that gave their name to the famed Colorado ski resort, have been dying off across the Rocky Mountain states. The die-off is puzzling but some foresters point to climate change.
Previous lead stories: CIA in human experimentation row --Watchdog says US interrogation doctors may have committed unlawful experimentation 02 Sep 2009 Doctors and psychologists the CIA employed to monitor its "enhanced interrogation" of terror suspects came close to, and may even have committed, unlawful human experimentation, a medical ethics watchdog has alleged. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a not-for-profit group that has investigated the role of medical personnel in alleged incidents of torture at Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram and other US detention sites, accuses doctors of being far more involved than hitherto understood. PHR says health professionals participated at every stage in the development, implementation and legal justification of what it calls the CIA's secret "torture programme".
Killers-for-hire we can believe in: Obama to increase use of mercenaries in Afghanistan --Support units will be replaced by up to 14,000 'trigger-pullers,' and noncombat posts will be contracted out, Defense officials say. 02 Sep 2009 U.S. officials are planning to add as many as 14,000 combat troops to the American force in Afghanistan by sending home support units and replacing them with "trigger-pullers," Defense officials say. Many of the noncombat jobs are likely be filled by private contractors terrorists, who have proved to be a source of controversy in Iraq and a growing issue in Afghanistan.
