U.S. frees Guantanamo detainee seized when a 14-year-old 11 Jun 2009 An African prisoner held at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay since he was a teenager has been released without charge after more than seven years in captivity, his lawyers said on Thursday. Mohammed El Gharani, a Chadian citizen, was freed five months after a U.S. federal judge ordered him released having reviewed the evidence against him and ruled that there was nothing to suggest he was ever an "enemy combatant." Lawyers for Gharani said he was the youngest detainee to be released from Guantanamo, having been seized in 2001 when he was 14.
U.S. sends four Uighur detainees to Bermuda 11 Jun 2009 Four Chinese detainees from Guantanamo Bay arrived in Bermuda on Thursday after being freed by U.S. authorities in the Obama administration's latest move to close the controversial prison camp for terrorism suspects. Attorneys for the four Muslim men, who were held for seven years before being cleared by U.S. authorities as terrorism suspects, said they would take part in Bermuda's foreign guest worker program.
ACLU Sues CIA to Show White House Interrogation Link 11 Jun 2009 The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the CIA and other government agencies to get documents it says may show links between the Bush regime and a program of harsh interrogation techniques torture. The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in federal court in Manhattan. On Monday, CIA Director Leon Panetta said releasing documents about the agency's terror interrogations would gravely damage national security.
CIA says Osama bin Forgotten (now) hiding in... wait for it... it's good, right under the cover of a flu pandemic: CIA chief says bin Laden in Pakistan 11 Jun 2009 CIA Director Leon Panetta said on Thursday the U.S. intelligence agency believes al Qaeda [al-CIAduh] leader Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan and hopes joint operations with Pakistani forces will find him. [LOL!] Asked whether he was sure that bin Laden was in Pakistan, Panetta told reporters: "The last information we had, that's still the case."
Pentagon: Billions in U.S. terror aid to Pakistan diverted 06 Jun 2009 Pakistan diverted U.S. aid meant for fighting Taliban terrorists to bolster its conventional warfare capabilities against India, documents indicate. U.S. Defense Department documents accessed by the Press Trust of India reveal Islamabad secretly diverted a substantial portion of nearly $7 billion in foreign military financing and arms sales from the administration of former U.S. President [sic] George W. Bush to beef up its armed forces along the Indian border instead of fighting terrorists. PTI quoted the Pentagon documents as saying that a major portion of post-Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. military aid meant to counter advances made by the Taliban and al-Qaida in Pakistan's northwest was instead used to buy and refurbish eight P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, worth $474 million. [See: US Pledges Additional $200 Million in Aid to Pakistan 03 Jun 2009 U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke said the Obama administration is standing beside Pakistan in its fight to defeat create Islamic extremists. See: Billions in U.S. Aid to Pakistan Wasted, Officials Assert 24 Dec 2007; US Senate approves Pakistan aid worth $785m 20 Dec 2007.]
KBR Wasted Billions in Troop-Support Work, Panel Says 10 Jun 2009 KBR Inc. wasted billions of dollars through inefficiencies, lax oversight and poor management of its contract to support U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an independent, bipartisan panel. The contract -- to provide housing, food, laundry, mail delivery and fuel for U.S. troops -- was ultimately worth $31.7 billion, with most of the work being done in Iraq and Kuwait. "The services could have been delivered for billions of dollars less," the commission stated in a report released today at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform’s national security panel.
Contractor oversees security guards in Afghanistan --London-based Aegis was hired in January under a nearly $1 million deal to support the Armed Contractor Oversight Directorate. 10 Jun 2009 A major security contractor is running an office overseeing armed guards in Afghanistan, a situation at odds with the Pentagon's claim that military officers would be in charge of such sensitive work. A new report on wartime spending to be made public Wednesday at a congressional hearing says the contractor, Aegis Defense Services, has operated with limited U.S. government supervision. The company's responsibilities include working with Afghan authorities investigating "escalation-of-force" incidents involving for-hire security guards, the report by the independent Wartime Contracting Commission says. [In other words, the terrorists (Aegis) are in charge of investigating (their) terrorism.]
Iraq says frees 3 of 5 arrested U.S. contractors 11 Jun 2009 Three of five U.S. security contractors arrested in Baghdad as part of an investigation into the killing of a fellow American contractor have been freed, Iraq's government spokesman said Thursday. An Interior Ministry official said the men were ordered released on bail, and that they were still suspects in the case.
Guantanamo 'suicide' had been prisoners' representative --Detainee had been held in prison's psychiatric ward 11 Jun 2009 Almost five months before he was found dead at Guantanamo Bay, a detainee volunteered to represent prisoners in talks with the military and left his jailhouse for a meeting with the detention camp's most senior commanders. But he never returned --- from then on, he was held in the prison's psychiatric ward, a former detainee recalled. Mohammad Ahmed Abdullah Saleh Al Hanashi died in the ward this month in what the military has called an apparent suicide -- the fifth since the prison opened and the first on President Barack Obama's watch.
US Marines out of Iraq in 2010 11 Jun 2009 US Marines will withdraw from Iraq in the spring of 2010, General James Conway says, signaling the end of a mission amid resurgence of violence in the country. "We think that in the spring of 2010 we'll close the door and turn out the lights to Marine Corps presence in Iraq," said General James Conway in a speech at the National Press Club.
Rand says US unlikely to contain Iran 12 Jun 2009 A US think-tank has warned that a US-led containment of Iran is 'unlikely' to be sustainable among the Persian Gulf states. The Rand Corporation has said in a report that the Persian Gulf states desire to maintain their cordial ties with Iran, if not active political and economic engagement.
Petraeus: Afghan violence at highest levels 12 Jun 2009 Violence in Afghanistan last week reached its highest level since the US overthrow of the Taliban government in 2001, General David Petraeus says. Petraeus stressed that it was vital that the US and other NATO troops be perceived as increasing local security and not harming civilians. "This is the graveyard of empires ... It is a place that has never taken kindly to would-be conquerors," he said. [Right, so get out *now.*]
British troops at mercy of Taliban surge --Average of 12 attacks a day by insurgents in Helmand, new figures show 12 Jun 2009 British troops fighting the Taliban are facing three times as many attacks as any other Nato force in Afghanistan amid spiralling violence across the country which has seen 'insurgent' bombings and shootings rise by 73 per cent. Official Nato figures reveal that fatalities among the international force, including British, have risen by 78 per cent while the targeting of officials serving the beleaguered Afghan government has increased by 64 per cent.
California Soldier Dies In Afghanistan 11 Jun 2009 Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff for a 25-year-old Greenfield soldier who died while serving in Afghanistan. Spc. Eduardo S. Silva died Tuesday at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan in a non-combat-related incident.
AP Source: Pyongyang may be prepping nuclear test 11 Jun 2009 North Korea may be preparing for its third nuclear test, a show of defiance as the United Nations considers new sanctions on the government for conducting an underground nuclear explosion in May, according to a U.S. government official. North Korea conducted an underground explosion on May 25, its first since a 2006 atomic test. The official, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the unreleased information, would not provide details regarding the assessment.
Heads up! Nuclear weapons stewardship mission to expand at Minot AFB 11 Jun 2009 Senators Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan and Congressman Earl Pomeroy announced today that the Air Force will establish a unit at Minot AFB to oversee the maintenance and sustainment of nuclear weapons at all of the nation's Minuteman ICBM bases. This will bring a new nuclear mission to Minot. "Minot supports both bombers and a missile wing. It makes great sense for Minot to host the group that would oversee the upkeep of many of our nation's nuclear weapons," the delegation said. The unit will be officially established this summer and will assume command of munitions squadrons at Vandeburg Air Force Base, CA; F.E. Warren Air Force Base, WY; Malmstrom Air Force Base, MT; and Minot Air Force Base.
'I think mental torture is worse than physical torture.' Detention in Britain 'mental torture' 12 Jun 2009 One of the Pakistani students deported from Britain described his detention in prison there on charges of terrorism, as 'mental torture'. The students were released after British authorities failed to produce any evidence to back up the terror charges against them and instead deported them.
Students tell of humiliation by British police --After the charges were dropped for lack of evidence, the students were kept in detention on the grounds that they constituted a national threat. 11 Jun 2009 Pakistani students detained in a well-publicized April terror crackdown in northwest England say they were imprisoned with criminals charged with murder. Tariq Rehman, apparently the first to be sent home, told reporters in brief comments at the Islamabad airport that he had suffered "mental torture" and humiliation in a British prison. He added that his fellow detainees, who were also accused of extremism, were also treated like hardened criminals in British detention.
Air France Jet 'Disintegrated In Mid-Air' 11 Jun 2009 Two pieces of new evidence have suggested that the stricken Air France jet broke up over a number of minutes, rather than in one catastrophic incident. Firstly, bodies from Flight 447 had been picked up from locations more than 50 miles apart, the Brazilian Air Force revealed. And secondly, a re-analysis of the plane's last automatic transmissions indicated many parts had malfunctioned before it plunged into the Atlantic... Meanwhile, two 'terror suspects' who died alongside 226 other passengers on the stricken jet have been ruled out as a cause of the disaster.
NYC to Gas 2,000 Geese In Bid to Protect Aircraft --Hunt At Dozens of Locations Near JFK, LaGuardia Planned to Avoid Bird Strikes 11 Jun 2009 New York City plans to trap and kill up to 2,000 Canada Geese this summer in an [insane] attempt to avoid the type of collision that caused an airliner to ditch in the Hudson River last winter. The hunt will take place on dozens of city properties located within five miles of Kennedy and LaGuardia airports.
Reichwing sociopaths, Glenn Beck and Jabba the Hutt aka Rush Limbaugh, links one of their terrorist trolls, James W. von Brunn, with the 9/11 truth movement: Glenn Beck's Outrageous Lie: Racist Von Brunn is "Hero of 9/11 Truthers" By Kurt Nimmo 10 Jun 2009 There should be absolutely no doubt Glenn Beck is a government disinfo operative tasked with taking down the 9/11 truth and patriot movements. In fact, Fox News -- as a primary fount of Operation Mockingbird -- is tasked with attacking not only the 9/11 truth movement but the pro-liberty and Constitution movements as well. "Our country is now vulnerable," the operative Beck declares. "Those people who would like to destroy us -- our enemies like Al Qaeda. They’d like to destroy us, and they will work with anyone. There are also people like white supremacists or 9/11 truthers that would also like to destroy the country..." [**** me, Beck. I am a *proud* 9/11 truth member and I do not share the views of Reichwing terrorists. --LRP]
Holocaust Museum Shooting Suspect's Murder and Firearms Criminal Charges --U.S. v. James Wenneker von Brunn 11 Jun 2009 James W. Von Brunn, an acknowledged white supremacist, was charged with first degree murder and using a firearm in a federal facility, after he fired and killed a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. on June 10, 2009. You can read von Brunn’s murder and firearms charges here.
Museums Reassess Security --Museum officials pondering armed presence and checkpoints 12 Jun 2009 Almost every museum in Washington yesterday increased the visibility of its security force and began evaluating whether its current procedures are enough. The task is a complicated one because, in general, Washington museums are well protected and greatly improved their procedures after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
WHO: World at start of N1H1 pandemic 11 Jun 2009 The world is at the beginning of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, the World Health Organization director general said in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday. "We are in the earliest days of the pandemic," Dr. Margaret Chan said in announcing the pandemic alert level was raised from Phase 5 to Phase 6, the highest level. WHO statistics indicate 28,774 H1N1 cases and 144 deaths have been confirmed in 74 countries as of Thursday. [See: Killer flu recreated in the lab 07 Oct 2004 Scientists have shown that tiny changes to modern flu viruses could render them as deadly as the 1918 strain which killed millions. A US team added two genes from a sample of the 1918 virus to a modern strain known to have no effect on mice. See: Flu 'Oddities'.]
Australia: emergency talks, flu pandemic declared 11 Jun 2009 Australia is considering raising its swine flu alert level after a global pandemic was declared, as the prime minister admitted Asia-Pacific's worst-hit country faced "challenges" from the virus. Just hours after the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced the first pandemic in 40 years, health officials went into emergency talks on moving from the "contain" to the "sustain" alert phase.
No. 2 House Republican compares Obama to Putin 11 Jun 2009 The No. 2 Republican in the House on Thursday compared President Barack Obama's plans for the auto industry to the policies of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, saying the White House has stripped credit holders of rights and given them to Democratic allies. "They said, 'Set aside the rule of law, let's strip secured creditors, bondholders, of their rights. Take them away outside of the bankruptcy process and give them to the political cronies and the auto workers' unions," Rep. Eric Cantor, R-[Deranged]Va., said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It's almost like looking at Putin's Russia," added Cantor, the GOP's House whip.
Lawmakers Invested in Bailed-Out Firms --Conflict-of-Interest Questions Arise 11 Jun 2009 Top House lawmakers had considerable holdings in major financial institutions that took billions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts at the end of last year, according to annual financial disclosure reports released yesterday. From stock holdings to retirement funds to mortgages, more than 20 House leaders and members of the House Financial Services Committee had large personal stakes in the Wall Street powerhouses whose collapse last year led to an unprecedented government intervention in the marketplace.
May foreclosures third highest on record 11 Jun 2009 U.S. foreclosure activity for May ebbed from April's record, but mortgages still failed at a staggering pace as President Barack Obama's rescue programs had not had time to fully take root, RealtyTrac said on Thursday. Foreclosure filings dipped 6 percent in the month but increased 18 percent from May 2008, marking the third highest month on record.
Schwarzenegger threatens to shut down state government 11 Jun 2009 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Installed) vowed Wednesday to let California government come to a "grinding halt" rather than agree to a high-interest loan to keep the state afloat if he and the Legislature do not close the yawning budget gap in coming weeks. At the same time, the governor reversed himself on a proposal to end health insurance for families of police officers and firefighters who died in the line of duty.
Senators who opposed tobacco bill received top dollar from industry 11 Jun 2009 Among the 17 senators who voted against allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco are some of the top recipients of campaign contributions from the tobacco industry, which has donated millions of dollars to lawmakers in the past several campaign cycles. Over the course of his nearly quarter-century Senate career, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell [R-Nutjob], who hails from the tobacco-rich state of Kentucky, has received $419,025 from the tobacco industry, more than any other member of Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that analyzes the influence of money on politics and policy.
Bill Would Give FDA Broad Powers to Regulate Tobacco --Legislation comes 50 years after surgeon general first warned of health effects of tobacco 11 Jun 2009 The Senate approved landmark legislation today that would give the government sweeping new power to oversee tobacco, a product used by 20 percent of Americans yet largely unregulated in this country. The bipartisan measure, approved by a margin of 79 to 17, largely mirrors a measure passed by the House last month. The House will now review the Senate's version before a bill is sent to President Obama, a smoker who has struggled to quit and who has said he is eager to sign the bill into law.
Senate rejects challenge to FDA tobacco bill 09 Jun 2009 The Senate on Tuesday rejected the main challenge to legislation giving the Food and Drug Administration sweeping controls over tobacco products, easing the way for passage of the measure this week. The alternative was offered by the two senators from North Carolina, the nation's biggest tobacco grower. It was defeated 60-36.
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Previous lead stories: 19 U.S. airports to be quarantine sites in pandemic --In the event of a pandemic, flights would be rerouted to Miami International Airport and 18 other major U.S. airports, according to plans by the CDC. 10 Jun 2009 Miami International Airport and 18 other major American airports have been lined up to handle a future pandemic that could require them to quarantine international flights. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has set up stand-by quarantine/screening facilities at the 19 airports to which all flights from affected countries would be diverted. In the event of the highest-level alert, all flights to Fort Lauderdale from pandemic-affected countries could be rerouted to Miami, Atlanta, Houston or somewhere else.
Lawsuit: Blackwater/Xe is operating illegally in Iraq 10 Jun 2009 The latest in a series of war-crimes lawsuits against Blackwater and its affiliated companies alleges that they continue to operate illegally in Iraq a month after the expiration of their lucrative security contract with the U.S. State Department. The new lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, says Blackwater is still providing armed protection services in Iraq under the name Greystone Ltd. for the International Republican Institute, a nonprofit [terrorist] organization funded by the U.S. government.
