'Others had unexplained gaps of up to three months in their CVs.' Did MI5 Recruit Al Qaeda Infiltrators? MI5 'mistakenly' recruited al Qaeda sympathisers who were trying to infiltrate the British secret service, it has been alleged. 01 Aug 2009 Conservative MP Patrick Mercer is demanding a probe into claims six Muslims were thrown out of MI5 because of concerns about their past. Two of the six allegedly attended al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan while the others had unexplained gaps of up to three months in their CVs. [!] Mr Mercer told the Daily Telegraph he was concerned that al Qaeda sympathisers who may have infiltrated the security services had not all been rooted out yet.
UK in Afghanistan for decades, says our man in Washington --Diplomat's warning comes as MPs say Britain has lost sight of its original 'security' objectives 02 Aug 2009 Britain must concentrate all its efforts on the military campaign to conquer the Taliban as its attempts to achieve a wide-ranging "rescue" of Afghanistan have failed miserably, an influential committee of MPs warns today. A report on the Afghan campaign from the Foreign Affairs Committee claims that British politicians have allowed "mission creep" to interfere with the original objectives set eight years ago, but they have still failed to pull off wider goals including stamping out the opium trade. [What *is* the mission in Afghanistan?]
More US troops die in Afghanistan 02 Aug 2009 Three American soldiers died on Sunday after coming under attack in eastern Afghanistan, the international peacekeeping force, Isaf, says. Six foreign soldiers were killed on Saturday, making it one of the worst weekends for foreign forces since the 'ousting' of the Taliban in 2001. The casualties come as concern grows over the aims of the Isaf 'mission.'
3 U.S. Soldiers Killed By Afghanistan Bomb --Toll Continues to Rise After Deadly July 02 Aug 2009 After the deadliest month yet for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, three American soldiers were killed Saturday in a bombing in a southern province, and a French soldier died in a separate attack north of Kabul.
Afghan war troop deaths surged in July 01 Aug 2009 The month began with a fatal roadside bombing and ended with word that an American had died of wounds suffered in a firefight. After nearly eight years of warfare in Afghanistan, July proved by far the deadliest month yet for U.S. troops and their foreign allies. Bombs and rocket attacks, ambushes and aviation accidents killed many of the 72 foreign troops, including 43 Americans, according to data at the website icasualties.org.
War effort is being hampered by troops too unfit to deploy --Leaked army memo reveals many British soldiers are so obese they cannot be sent to Helmand 02 Aug 2009 Britain's war effort is being hampered by the number of front-line troops who are too fat or unfit to be deployed to southern Afghanistan. A leaked memo sent to all army units and obtained by the Observer reveals that basic fitness policy "is not being carried out" and highlights concern among military commanders over a "worrying trend of obesity" that is limiting the number of soldiers fit enough to fight in Helmand.
'West sought to prompt color revolution after June vote' 02 Aug 2009 The Head of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Political Bureau, Brigadier General Yadollah Javani, says certain Western states are seeking to turn the ongoing political milieu in Iran to their advantage. In an exclusive interview with Press TV, he stated that the United States together with some Western countries are leaving no stone unturned to benefit enormously from the current political situation in Iran and kick up a velvet revolution in the country.
'Chemical attack planned during Iran unrest' 01 Aug 2009 Anti-Islamic Revolution groups had plans to plant numerous chemical bombs in different Iranian cities in the unrest that ensued the June election, says the country's minister of science and technology. Almost six weeks since the polls closed, Mohammad-Mehdi Zahedi said that Iran's intelligence forces had foiled a plot by anti-revolution groups to detonate 10 chemical bombs in different cities in the country.
Did British bomb attacks in Iran provoke hostage crisis? Abduction of computer expert and bodyguards in Iraq were an act of revenge by Tehran, source reveals 01 Aug 2009 The abduction of the British computer expert Peter Moore and his four bodyguards was carried out partly in revenge for deadly bomb attacks in south-west Iran which Iranian officials blamed on Britain, according to a well-placed source in Baghdad. The five men were abducted by an Iranian-backed group in 2007 and it is now believed four of them have been killed. The fate of Mr Moore remains unclear.
US Used Communications Companies In '03 Cyberwar Against Iraq 02 Aug 2009 Although a plan for a large-scale digital attack on Iraq’s financial system was not carried out, the American military and its partners in the intelligence agencies did receive approval to cripple Iraq’s military and government communications systems in the early hours of the war in 2003. Besides blowing up cellphone towers and communications grids, the offensive included electronic jamming and digital attacks against Iraq’s telephone networks. American officials also contacted international communications companies that provided satellite phone and cellphone coverage to Iraq to alert them to possible jamming and to ask their assistance in turning off certain channels. While the Bush regime seriously studied computer-network attacks, the Obama administration is the first to elevate cybersecurity -- both defending American computer networks and attacking those of adversaries -- to the level of a White House director, whose appointment is expected in coming weeks.
Iraq: Nine women face imminent execution --One of condemned women says she was tortured into falsely confessing 23 July 2009 Amnesty International is warning that at least nine women in Iraq are facing imminent execution after recently having their death sentences confirmed. Amnesty has learnt that Iraq's Presidential Council has ratified death sentences against the women and that a number of women prisoners have recently been transferred to the 5th section (al-Shu'ba al-Khamisa) of Baghdad's al-Kadhimiya Prison, where condemned prisoners are usually held immediately before execution. At least three women have already been executed since early June. [The US-installed ExxonMobil/Monsanto government in Iraq needs to be removed. The 'mainstream' media only covers arrests (of US-backed disruptors) in Iran - but rarely cover the imprisonment, torture and executions carried out by the regime in *Iraq.* --LRP]
Death toll rises to 7 in western Iraq car bombing 02 Aug 2009 The death toll from a car bomb explosion at a marketplace in western Iraq's Anbar province on Sunday rose to seven, a local police source said. "The latest reports said that seven people were killed and 20 others injured by the blast" in the town of Haditha, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Did Israel play a role in 1979 South Africa nuclear test? 02 Aug 2009 Nearly 30 years later there still is no certainty that a flash detected by the sensors of an American satellite indeed signaled a nuclear test that, according to foreign publications, involved Israel. In September 1979, a United States intelligence nuclear detonation detection source, a Vela type satellite, which covered the Indian Ocean, detected a flash several hundred kilometers off South Africa's coast.
Israeli settlers 'are wrecking peace process' 02 Aug 2009 Britain has accused Israel of allowing extremist Jewish settlers to disrupt attempts at relaunching the peace process after police evicted more than 50 Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem. As Jewish settlers moved into the Palestinian homes, the British consulate said it was appalled by the evictions, which took place a few hundred yards from the diplomatic mission, after an Israeli court decided in favour of the settlers. "Israel’s claim that the imposition of extremist Jewish settlers into this ancient Arab neighbourhood is a matter for the courts or the municipality is entirely unacceptable," the consulate said in a statement.
National Guard Job: 31E - Internment / Resettlement Specialist 01 Aug 2009 Internment / Resettlement Specialists in the Army are primarily responsible for day-to-day operations in a military confinement/correctional facility or detention/internment facility. Internment / Resettlement Specialists... provide custody, control, supervision and security to internees within a detention/internment facility; conduct inspections; prepare written reports; coordinate activities of prisoners/internees and staff personnel... As an advanced level Internment / Resettlement Specialist, you may be: Responsible for all personnel working in the confinement/correctional facility, including security, logistical, and administrative management of the prisoner/internee population... Conducting stand-alone operations, providing command and control, staff planning, administration and logistical services, and custody/control for the operation of a displaced civilian (DC) resettlement facility.
MedImmune Ramps Up H1N1 Vaccine --Injection will use live virus instead of dead one 01 Aug 2009 MedImmune said it is producing more vaccine for the H1N1 flu virus than it originally predicted and expects to have more than 200 million doses by the end of the year. MedImmune, part of global drugmaker AstraZeneca, is one of five companies with a contract to sell a vaccine for the H1N1 virus to the federal government. MedImmune's flu vaccine differs from the others in two major ways: It is delivered via nasal spray instead of an injection and is made with a live but weakened virus instead of a dead one.
Refusing vaccination labels you a "criminal", so says WHO By Marti Oakley 30 Jul 2009 The World Health Organization determined in 2005 it has the authority to dissolve sovereign governments and take control should there be a "pandemic". This applies to any country signed onto WHO….which of course we are... From the WHO 2005 declaration: (excerpted) "Under special pandemic plans enacted around the world including the USA, in 2005, national governments are to be dissolved in the event of a pandemic emergency and replaced by special crisis committees, which take charge of the health and security infrastructure of a country, and which are answerable to the WHO and EU in Europe and to the WHO and UN in North America." If the Model Emergency Health Powers Act is implemented on the instructions of WHO, it will be a criminal offence for Americans to refuse the vaccine. Police are allowed to use deadly force against "criminal" suspects." [See: Refuse and Resist Mandatory Flu Vaccines (Petition) and CLG Pandemic Action Alerts.]
Pandemic Pusher$ and Profiteer$ --Canadian pandemic flu leaflet to download and distribute! 01 Aug 2009 "And advanced forms of biological warfare that can trigger specific 'genotypes' can transform biological warfare from the realm of terror into a politically useful tool." Project for a New American Century, (PNAC) 'Rebuilding America's Defenses', (Rumsfeld, Cheney, etc. 9/2000) On June 17, 1996, the U.S. Air Force released 'Air Force 2025'. In the unclassified study, The College of Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education put forth several "fictional representations of future scenarios". In Chapter five, the authors present a timeline representing a plausible history in which in 2009 influenza will kill 30,000,000 people and it is not "determined if the virus was a natural mutation or bioengineered. Many feared the latter."
Pentagon, Eyeing Iran, Wants to Rush 30,000-Pound Bomb Program 31 Jul 2009 The U.S. Defense Department wants to accelerate by three years the deployment of a 30,000-pound bunker-buster bomb, a request that reflects growing unease over 'nuclear threats' from Iran and North Korea. Comptroller Robert Hale, in a formal request to the four congressional defense committees earlier this month, asked permission to shift about $68 million in the Pentagon’s budget to this program to ensure the first four bombs could be mounted on stealthy B-2 bombers by July 2010.
Journalists criticize Iraq bill 'protecting' media 31 Jul 2009 Iraq announced on Friday a law to protect journalists' rights, but the country's journalists' syndicate said the bill was too vague and left them open to government interference... But some passages were deemed problematic by Iraq's journalists' body, including protection for anonymous sources unless "the law requires the source is revealed" and a guarantee of freedom of the press that can be waived if publications "threaten citizens or make provocative or aggressive statements." What is published also cannot "serve enemies of the state," the bill read, without defining "enemies of the state" or what constitutes an aggressive or provocative statement.
Suspect arrested in LaGuardia bomb scare 01 Aug 2009 Authorities evacuated LaGuardia Airport's Central Terminal for several hours Saturday after a man with a bag containing wires and a battery entered the airport, a Port Authority spokesman said. The man is in custody, and authorities have allowed passengers back into the terminal, Port Authority spokesman John Kelly said. Authorities identified the man as Scott McGann, 32, of New York. McGann faces three charges: Placing a false bomb or hazardous substance, in the first degree; making terrorist threats; and placing a false bomb or hazardous substance in a transportation facility, said Meris Campbell, a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney's office.
NY airport terminal evacuated due to suspicious bag 01 Aug 2009 Authorities closed one of the terminals at New York's LaGuardia Airport on Saturday and took a man into custody after discovering a suspicious bag, a television station reported. A police bomb squad was called in to check out the man's bag, NBC's New York affiliate said. A spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the airport's main terminal was evacuated about 5:30 a.m./(0930 GMT) There was no indication when the terminal would be reopened.
Lobbying Firm Employee Forged Climate Bill Letters 01 Aug 2009 An employee of a Washington lobbying firm forged a letter from a Latino social-service group to Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.), urging Perriello to make changes in a bill capping greenhouse-gas emissions, the Latino group said Friday. The letter used the letterhead of Creciendo Juntos, a Charlottesville-based group. It asked Perriello, whose district includes Charlottesville, to work to add "pro-consumer" changes to the bill. "We are concerned about our electric bills," the letter read in part.
House votes to clamp limits on Wall Street bonuses 31 Jul 2009 Bowing to populist anger, the House voted Friday to prohibit pay and bonus packages that encourage bankers and traders to take risks so big they could bring down the entire economy. Passage of the bill on a 237-185 vote followed the disclosure a day earlier that nine of the nation's biggest banks, which are receiving billions of dollars in federal bailout aid, paid individual bonuses of $1 million or more to nearly 5,000 employees.
Health Insurer Cigna's Second-Quarter Profit Surges By 60%; Tops Analysts' Estimates 30 Jul 2009 Health insurer Cigna Corp. will remain in the spotlight on Thursday in healthcare sector after the firm posted a 60 percent rise in profit in the second quarter that topped estimates. Net income in the second-quarter increased to $435 million, or $1.58 a share, compared to $272 million, or 96 cents a share, in the year earlier period.
GOP Congressmen: No One Has a Right to Health Care Except US --The new 'Harry and Louise' ad that is set to start Monday features Harry killing Louise because under Obama's socialized medicine plan, doctors are forced to tell Louise how to commit suicide. By R J Shulman 01 Aug 2009 Saying that they will fight to the death to stop any reform of America's health care system, Republican senators and representatives have stepped up their attacks on every health care reform bill. "There is nothing in the Bill of Rights that says a citizen has a right to be alive, let alone be healthy," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky. "And since the first ten amendments to the Constitution were written by God, anyone who wants to propose a bill that changes any rights hates Jesus." (Satire)
Regulators shut down banks in five states 01 Aug 2009 Regulators on Friday shut down banks in Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma and Illinois, boosting to 69 the number of federally insured banks to fail this year amid the pressures of the weak economy and mounting loan defaults. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the five banks.
Voices From Above Silence a Cable TV Feud 01 Aug 2009 On June 2, Bill O’Reilly made the extraordinary claim that "federal authorities have developed information about General Electric doing business with Iran, deadly business" and published Mr. Immelt’s e-mail address and mailing address, repeating it slowly for emphasis. Then the attacks mostly stopped. Shortly after, Phil Griffin, the MSNBC president, told producers that he wanted the channel’s other programs to follow Keith Olbermann's lead and restrain from criticizing Fox directly, according to two employees.
California public union OKs strike authorization 01 Aug 2009 California's largest state employees' union voted on Saturday to approve a strike authorization measure to protest furloughs of state workers and pressure state officials to ratify its labor contract. A spokesman for Service Employees International Union Local 1000 said a strike was not imminent but that the vote authorized union officers to initiate certain job actions, including a strike if necessary.
Previous lead stories: Pandemic Police State: U.S. to provide $1 billion to hire cops --Grants will be awarded to 1,046 law enforcement agencies 28 Jul 2009 The federal government will give $1 billion in grants to law enforcement agencies in every state to pay for the hiring and rehiring of law enforcement officers, Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday. The money comes from the stimulus bill -- the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 -- the officials said. The Department of Justice received more than 7,200 applications for more than 39,000 officer positions, representing a total of $8.3 billion in requested funding.
Vaccine for swine flu may be unsafe warns WHO 27 Jul 2009 Plans to fast-track the swine flu vaccine in Britain came under fire from World Health Organisation chiefs today. More than 132million doses have been ordered with the first batch due to arrive next month. However, Dr Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's flu chief, today warned about the potential dangers of the untested vaccine: "There are certain areas where you simply do not try to make any economies. One of the things which cannot be compromised is the safety of vaccines." The European Medicines Agency, the drug regulatory body for the EU, is accelerating the approval process for the vaccine, allowing firms to bypass large-scale human trials and instead test a vaccine based on bird flu.
Iraq in throes of environmental catastrophe, experts say 30 Jul 2009 Decades of [US] war and mismanagement, compounded by two years of drought, are wreaking havoc on Iraq's ecosystem, drying up riverbeds and marshes, turning arable land into desert, killing trees and plants, and generally transforming what was once the region's most fertile area into a wasteland. Falling agricultural production means that Iraq, once a food exporter, will this year have to import nearly 80% of its food, spending money that is urgently needed for reconstruction projects. "We're talking about something that's making the breadbasket of Iraq look like the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma in the early part of the 20th century," said Adam L. Silverman, a social scientist with the U.S. military who served south of Baghdad in 2008.
