Gates: 'No deadlines' on troop withdrawal --Afghanistan drawdown could take 2 to 3 years, defense secretary says 04 Dec 2009 The withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, scheduled to begin in July 2011, will "probably" take two or three years, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday, although he added that "there are no deadlines in terms of when our troops will all be out." The Pentagon, meanwhile, quietly acknowledged slippage on the front end of the 30,000-troop deployment that President Obama authorized for the first half of 2010. [There is no deadline on when the troops will be out, but hopefully there *will* be one on when this Administration is out. And that will be November 2012. We need an actual progressive to run for president in 2012. --LRP]
Obama's speech on Afghanistan: A compendium of lies By Alex Lantier 03 Dec 2009 In his December 1 speech at West Point announcing the deployment of 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan, President Barack Obama attempted to justify a major escalation of a deeply unpopular war on the basis of lies and distortions. That he had to resort to such falsifications reflects both the reactionary character of his policy and the fact that it is being imposed in violation of the popular will. To justify the escalation, Obama recycled the Bush administration’s myths about the "war on terror." He cynically presented the US as an altruistic power, forced into a global war for democracy by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. As he sought to frame US imperialist policy within the template of the "war on terror," however, his speech descended into utter incoherence. ['His speech descended into utter incoherence.' It began there. Then, it descended into deeper strata of incoherence.]
Hillary Clinton expects Nato Afghanistan troop pledges 04 Dec 2009 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she is confident Nato countries will pledge extra troops to help efforts in Afghanistan. "The response has been positive," Mrs Clinton said as she headed to Brussels, where she is joining Nato talks. Nato officials said on Thursday that more than 20 countries plan to send more troops following a US decision to deploy an extra 30,000 in Afghanistan. But several European nations have been reluctant to commit more forces.
C.I.A. Is Expanding Drone Assaults Inside Pakistan [So is Blackwater.] 04 Dec 2009 The White House has authorized an expansion of the C.I.A.’s [killer] drone program in Pakistan’s tribal areas, officials said this week, to parallel the president’s decision, announced Tuesday, to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. American officials are talking with Pakistan about the possibility of striking in Baluchistan for the first time... The drone program has enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress and was escalated by the Obama administration in January. More C.I.A. drone attacks have been conducted under President Obama than under President [sic] George W. Bush. The political consensus in support of the drone program, its antiseptic, high-tech appeal and its secrecy have obscured just how radical it is. For the first time in history, a civilian intelligence agency is using robots to carry out a military mission, selecting people for killing in a country where the United States is not officially at war.
Blackwater founder says he aided secret programs --CIA asset Erik Prince carried out secret missions as recently as two months ago 03 Dec 2009 The founder of Blackwater Worldwide acknowledged in an interview published Wednesday that he had helped the CIA with secret programs targeting top al-Qaeda leaders, a role he says was intended to give the agency "unattributable capability" in sensitive missions. Erik Prince, owner of the military contractor now known as Xe Services, told Vanity Fair magazine that he performed numerous "very risky missions" for the spy agency, some of which were improperly exposed in leaks to the news media. The magazine... said the former Navy SEAL had served a dual role for the CIA as both a contractor and an "asset," or spy, who carried out secret missions as recently as two months ago, when the Obama administration terminated his contract.
'It was designed to make punishment inevitable.' Military tribunals quietly resume at Guantanamo Bay 04 Dec 2009 Military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay, which President Obama suspended amid much fanfare immediately after taking office, quietly resumed this week with new signs of the legal complexities of the cases and the challenges for prosecutors. The military court had to grapple with determining where a defendant, Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi -- and by extension other detainees prisoners -- stand under the new military commissions law enacted in October to provide more due process for detainees. Under the old system, Qosi and other detainees were called "unlawful enemy combatants," but the new law refers to them as "alien unprivileged enemy belligerents," a moniker that military prosecutors said is more in line with the Geneva Conventions. [During the Bush regime, detainees were called "unlawful enemy combatants." Under Obama, the law refers to them as "alien unprivileged enemy belligerents." See? that's change we can believe in!]
Gitmo judge denies request to expand case 03 Dec 2009 A judge in Guantanamo Bay's war crimes court has denied a request by military prosecutors to expand their case against a Sudanese detainee prisoner accused of being a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. Prosecutors wanted more specifications to be added to charges of conspiracy and providing support for terrorism against Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi, who was one of the first prisoners brought to Guantanamo in 2002.
Hoon 'banned armed forces from preparing for Iraq war' --Ministers wanted public kept in dark over likelihood of invasion, Lord Boyce says 04 Dec 2009 Geoff Hoon held back military preparations for the Iraq invasion when he was Defence Secretary, because he wanted to keep the plans secret from the public, his armed forces chief has revealed. Admiral Lord Boyce, the former Chief of the Defence Staff, said that he was blocked from ordering equipment and mobilising troops for several months in the run-up to the Iraq war. Instead, he was limited to top secret "high-level" planning within the Ministry of Defence, meaning he was left with "some very short timelines" in which to prepare troops for the invasion.
US 'did not believe Britain would refuse to send forces to Iraq' --Former defence chief tells Iraq inquiry that US generals believed Britain would commit troops even if there were no attempts to solve the crisis through the UN 03 Dec 2009 The US believed that Britain would take an active part in the Iraq war even if there were no attempts to solve the crisis through the UN, the inquiry into the conflict heard today. During the first evidence so far from senior military and defence ministry figures, Admiral Lord Boyce, the chief of the defence staff from 2001 to 2003, told the inquiry panel that US generals and America's then-defence secretary [war criminal], Donald Rumsfeld, seemingly refused to countenance the possibility that Britain would not commit troops.
Clare Short's post Iraq war staff 'told to do nothing' 03 Dec 2009 UK development experts were told to sit in their tents and "not do anything" in the aftermath of the Iraq war, former defence chief Lord Boyce has claimed. He told the Iraq inquiry soldiers did much of the reconstruction, with the international development department "particularly unco-operative". They were not sure the Iraqis "were poor enough to deserve aid", he said. International Development Secretary Clare Short quit in protest at the lack of UN involvement in Iraq.
Iraq violence kills eight, including senior anti-terror cop 03 Dec 2009 Attacks in Iraq on Thursday killed eight people, including a senior anti-terror officer who led a key fightback against 'Al-Qaeda' in his province, police said. Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed al-Fahel, the head of the Saleheddin province anti-terror squad, and at least three of his bodyguards were among five people killed by a suicide bomber in Tikrit.
U.S. falls short in bid to gain support for Israel's settlement freeze 12 Dec 2009 The United States fell short in its efforts to gain a declaration of international support for Israel's temporary settlement construction freeze. The Americans were hoping that its partners in the Quartet - Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - would agree to such a declaration, but Moscow expressed a series of reservations and foiled Washington's effort.
Homeland Security chief warns of threat from al-Qaeda sympathizers in U.S. 03 Dec 2009 Al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh] followers are inside the United States and would like to attack targets here and in other countries, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday night. The secretary's comments... came one day after President Bush Obama, in announcing his decision to send 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, warned that extremists have been "sent here from the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan to commit more acts of terror." "Home-based terrorism is here. And like violent extremism abroad, it will be part of the threat picture that we must now confront," Napolitano, addressing the American Israel Friendship League in New York, said. "Individuals sympathetic to al-Qaeda and its affiliates, as well as those inspired by the group's ideology, are present in the U.S., and would like to attack the homeland or plot overseas attacks."
U.S. likely to miss cargo deadline --Napolitano says officials will seek more time for screening systems 03 Dec 2009 The Department of Homeland Security is likely to miss a 2012 deadline to screen all cargo entering the United States by ship unless Congress devotes enormous new resources to the assignment, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told senators Wednesday. Concerns were raised after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that a nuclear device or other weapon of mass destruction could be smuggled into the country by sea. In response, Congress ordered that all cargo be screened before being placed on U.S.-bound ships.
Yahoo, Verizon: Our Spy Capabilities Would 'Shock', 'Confuse' Consumers By Kim Zetter 01 Dec 2009 Want to know how much phone companies and internet service providers charge to funnel your private communications or records to U.S. law enforcement and spy agencies? That’s the question muckraker and Indiana University graduate student Christopher Soghoian asked all agencies within the Department of Justice, under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed a few months ago. But before the agencies could provide the data, Verizon and Yahoo intervened and filed an objection on grounds that, among other things, they would be ridiculed and publicly shamed were their surveillance price sheets made public. Yahoo writes in its 12-page objection letter, that if its pricing information were disclosed to Soghoian, he would use it "to 'shame' Yahoo! and other companies -- and to 'shock' their customers."
Secret Service agents could be fired for White House breach --3 agents placed on administrative leave 03 Dec 2009 Secret Service chief Mark Sullivan told a Congressional committee Thursday morning that the agents who admitted Tareq and Michaele Salahi through a White House checkpoint at last week's state dinner have been placed on administrative leave and could lose their jobs. Sullivan's testimony came during a hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee, at which he took full responsibility for the security failure. He said the agents face a range of disciplinary actions, including the possibility of being fired.
Nearly 800 in California hospitalized with H1N1 flu --It's the largest one-week total since flu cases began escalating this fall, state officials say. 04 Dec 2009 Nearly 800 people in California were hospitalized with the H1N1 flu last week, the largest one-week number of hospitalizations since flu cases began escalating this fall, state officials said Thursday. The number indicates that H1N1 flu, also known as swine flu, continues to be widespread throughout California and remains a significant threat to public health. Health experts have said there could be a second wave of cases in the coming months.
Third inmate dies of swine flu in Calif prisons 03 Dec 2009 Health officials say a central California inmate who died last week was the prison system's third death from swine flu. The first two inmates died in mid-November at prisons in central and Southern California. The third inmate died Nov. 27. The receiver in charge of prison medical care says tests show the H1N1 virus killed all three inmates.
Palin: Obama birth certificate 'a fair question' 03 Dec 2009 Speaking to the conservative talker Rusty Humphries today, Sarah Palin left the door open to speculation about President Obama's birth certificate. "Would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran?" she was asked. "I think the public rightfully is still making it an issue. I don't have a problem with that. I don't know if I would have to bother to make it an issue, because I think that members of the electorate still want answers," she replied. "Do you think it's a fair question to be looking at?" Humphries persisted. "I think it's a fair question, just like I think past association and past voting records -- all of that is fair game," Palin said.
GOP Senator blocks TSA confirmation over union dispute 03 Dec 2009 The nation's 50,000 airport baggage screeners - upgraded to "federal transportation officers" under the Bush administration - could get another title under the Obama administration: Union members. But not without a fight. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-Nuts-South Carolina, is blocking the confirmation of Erroll Southers to head the Transportation Security Administration, saying Southers would permit screeners to seek full union representation, a move DeMint says would weaken the effectiveness of the agency.
Watchdog Group Says Ties to Health Insurance Companies Make Sen. Joe Lieberman An 'Insurance Puppet' --Online advertising campaign in Connecticut and Washington, D.C. asks if health insurers are pulling the strings 02 Dec 2009 Public Campaign Action Fund, a national campaign finance watchdog group, named Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn. Israel) its second "Insurance Puppet" in an online advertising campaign targeting Connecticut and Washington, D.C. "Senator Lieberman has received $448,066 in campaign contributions from the health insurance industry during his time in Washington," said David Donnelly, Public Campaign Action Fund's national campaigns director. "With so much money from the industry filling his campaign coffers, it's not surprising that Lieberman has spent the last year parroting any and all insurance industry talking points he could find."
£850bn: official cost of the bank bailout (and still RBS is demanding another £1.5bn in bonuses) 04 Dec 2009 Government support for Britain's banks has reached a staggering £850bn and the eventual cost to taxpayers will not be known for years, the public spending watchdog says today. The National Audit Office (NAO) revealed that £107m will be paid to City advisers called in to work on the rescue because the Treasury was too "stretched" to cope with the sudden financial crisis which broke in the autumn of last year. [See: Britain faces return to Victorian levels of poverty 30 Nov 2009.]
Bernanke defends Fed's leadership before Senate 03 Dec 2009 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday defended his record at the helm of the U.S. central bank before a skeptical Senate that is considering stripping the institution of its regulatory powers. At a hearing on his nomination for a second term as Fed chief, Bernanke admitted to some lapses in oversight but said maintaining hands-on expertise on bank supervision was crucial to the Fed's role as a custodian of financial stability. [I was hoping for a treason trial.]
Obama tells business leaders they are key to job growth 03 Dec 2009 President Obama kicked off a much-anticipated jobs summit Thursday, telling 130 business leaders and others summoned to the White House for the afternoon-long session that private business, not government, holds the key to future job growth. "Ultimately, true economic recovery is only going to come from the private sector," Obama said. Obama is hosting the forum amid increasing calls from lawmakers of his own party to develop a plan to combat the nation's highest unemployment rate in 26 years.
House votes to keep current estate tax rate 04 Dec 2009 The House approved a measure Thursday that would make the current estate tax rate permanent, setting it at 45 percent for individual estates worth more than $3.5 million. The bill passed 225 to 200, with 26 Democrats joining all Republicans present in voting no. If Congress does not act, the estate tax will disappear in 2010, then return in 2011 under the higher rates -- 55 percent and a $1 million exemption -- that existed before President [sic] George W. Bush took office.
Judge ends Enron shareholder lawsuit against banks 03 Dec 2009 Exactly eight years after Enron Corp filed for bankruptcy protection, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by investors against banks they accused of helping the energy company commit fraud. U.S. Wednesday's dismissal by U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon in Houston federal court came after Enron investors had already obtained $7.2 billion of settlements, a record for U.S. class-action litigation according to Cornerstone Research.
Copenhagen targets not tough enough, says Al Gore 04 Dec 2009 Even if a deal is reached at the UN climate change talks in Copenhagen next week it will only be the first step towards the far more radical cuts that are needed in global carbon emissions, Al Gore, the former US Vice-President, told The Times last night. Mr Gore said that to avoid the worst ravages of climate change world leaders would have to come together again to set more drastic reductions than those now planned.
Copenhagen climate change talks must fail, says top scientist --World's leading climate change expert says summit talks so flawed that deal would be a disaster 02 Dec 2009 The scientist who convinced the world to take notice of the looming danger of global warming says it would be better for the planet and for future generations if next week's Copenhagen climate change summit ended in collapse. In an interview with the Guardian, James Hansen, the world's pre-eminent climate scientist, said any agreement likely to emerge from the negotiations would be so deeply flawed that it would be better to start again from scratch. "I would rather it not happen if people accept that as being the right track because it's a disaster track," said Hansen, who heads the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.
President Obama's Secret: Only 100 al Qaeda Now in Afghanistan --With New Surge, One Thousand U.S. Soldiers and $300 Million for Every One al Qaeda Fighter 02 Dec 2009 As he justified sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan at a cost of $30 billion a year, President Barack Obama's description Tuesday of the al Qaeda "cancer" in that country left out one key fact: U.S. intelligence officials have concluded there are only about 100 al Qaeda [al-CIAduh] fighters in the entire country. A senior U.S. intelligence official told ABCNews.com the approximate estimate of 100 al Qaeda members left in Afghanistan reflects the conclusion of American intelligence agencies and the Defense Department. The relatively small number was part of the intelligence passed on to the White House as President Obama conducted his deliberations. [The *real* cancer is Blackwater and KBR.]
Taliban vow to resist US surge in Afghanistan 02 Dec 2009 The Taliban vows to boost attacks against the US forces in Afghanistan, following Barack Obama's pledge to deploy thousands more troops to the war-torn country. Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahamdi said in a statement on Wednesday that such moves would "provoke stronger resistance." "Obama will witness lots of coffins heading to America from Afghanistan," AFP quoted Ahamdi as saying. The statement also emphasized that the Americans would face the same fate as the Soviet troops when they retreated in defeat in the 1980s. "This is a colonizing strategy which is securing the colonizing interests of American investors, and it shows that America has dirty plans not only for Afghanistan but for the region," the statement read. [You know you're in trouble when... you realize that the Taliban makes much more sense than the US Government. --LRP]
Out-Bushing Bush: US to increase troops in Afghanistan by 40% 02 Dec 2009 The US president has decided to raise the number of American troops in Afghanistan by some 40 percent, a move that would see Washington deploy another 30,000 soldiers. In a live televised speech at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York on Tuesday, Barack Obama said the troops would be deployed in the first part of 2010. "As commander in chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan," he told the cadets.
