US approves 13,000 troops for Afghan war 13 Oct 2009 Washington will send an additional 13,000 US troops to Afghanistan in addition to the 21,000 President Barack Obama announced publicly in March, a report says. The Washington Post reported on Monday the extra troops are primarily support forces, such as engineers, medical personnel, intelligence experts and military police, bringing the total buildup the president has approved to 34,000. "Obama authorized the whole thing. The only thing you saw announced in a press release was the 21,000," a defense official, familiar with the process, told the paper.
Kerry wary of sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan 13 Oct 2009 Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, who will travel to Afghanistan and Pakistan this week, said on Tuesday he was "very wary" of sending more American troops to the region. Minutes after getting off the phone to President Barack Obama about the issue, Kerry said neither of the two extremes -- a nationwide counterinsurgency and nation-building effort in Afghanistan nor "walking away from the place" -- were do-able. [Yeah, can't 'walk away' -- too many US contractors still need to be overpaid to rebuild that which they destroyed. See: The Obusha AfPak Money Pit: Unlike the 'public option,' Congress doesn't ask if funding the Taleban to blow up contractors' bridges will add to the US deficit By Lori Price 03 Oct 2009.]
MDR's Word of the Day 14 Oct 2009 "Nobelity." n. a quality that inheres in a person making him or her a likely recipient of a Nobel prize. Used in a sentence: "Barack Obama must have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize because of his supposed nobelity, as no other explanation can be found." --Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D.
Mission accomplished! Iraq on final stages to sign first oil deals 14 Oct 2009 The Iraqi government is on the final stages of negotiations to sign contracts left from the June energy auction after some giant oil companies agreed on fee terms put earlier by Iraqi Oil Ministry, an Iraqi top oil official said Tuesday. The consortium, made up of the Italian ENI, Occidental Petroleum Corporation of the United States, China Sinopec and Korea Gas Corporation of South Korea, is "qualified to take up the Zubair field and we will finalize the contract," Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani told a news conference in Baghdad.
Exxon, Lukoil submit competing bids for Iraq oilfield 13 Oct 2009 Competing consortiums led by US energy giant Exxon Mobil and Russia's Lukoil have submitted bids that meet conditions for a major southern Iraqi oilfield, the country's oil minister said on Tuesday. Both consortiums agreed to be paid 1.9 dollars per additional barrel they extract from West Qurna 1 on top of current production, Hussein al-Shahristani told reporters in Baghdad. Exxon Mobil's consortium is with Anglo-Dutch energy firm Shell, while Lukoil is partnering with ConocoPhillips.
Royal Navy will be allowed back to Iraq 14 Oct 2009 Iraq has passed legislation allowing the return of 100 British naval training personnel who were forced to leave the country earlier this year. The Royal Navy was excluded from Iraq at the end of May, forcing it to move a frigate, an auxiliary ship and crew out of Iraqi waters towards Kuwait after parliament failed to approve a military co-operation agreement with Britain. Trainers who were to help turn Iraq’s navy into a fighting force capable of protecting its oil terminals, also had to leave in what appeared to mark an embarrassing end to Britain’s five year military involvement in the country.
Iraq Allows 100 British Naval Trainers to Return --100 British naval trainers to protect oil terminals 13 Oct 2009 Iraq's parliament Tuesday signed a deal allowing up to 100 British Royal Navy trainers to return to Iraq to help the Iraqi navy protect oil platforms. British troops had withdrawn from southern Iraq to Kuwait after the Iraqi parliament repeatedly failed to pass an agreement that would have allowed some to remain. However, 100 British naval trainers were earmarked to help Iraq protect its southern oil terminals.
Ten killed in Iraq bombings 13 Oct 2009 A spate of bombings across Iraq on Tuesday killed 10 people, including two Iraqi soldiers and the leader of a Sunni Arab militia allied with the United States. Fourteen others were wounded in the attacks in the village of Buhruz, northeast of Baghdad, and the northern oil hub of Kirkuk, security and medical officials said. In the deadliest incident, a suicide bomber exploded a belt-full of explosives in a coffee shop in Buhruz, 15 kilometres south of Baquba in Diyala province, killing eight people and leaving 10 others injured.
Former world court chief joins UK Iraq inquiry 13 Oct 2009 Britain's official inquiry into the war in Iraq has appointed a former president of the International Court of Justice to help advise it on legal issues. The Iraq inquiry committee said Wednesday it had appointed former judge Rosalyn Higgins to assist its investigation. Higgins served as president of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, from 2006 until she stepped down early this year.
Blair should be tried for war crimes, say families of soldiers killed in Iraq 14 Oct 2009 Angry families of British servicemen killed in Iraq told members of the official inquiry into the conflict that Tony Blair must be held accountable for taking the nation to war. Many blamed the former prime minister for the deaths of their loved ones in an "illegal" conflict, and some even called for him to be prosecuted for war crimes. [Don't forget Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Betrayus, Gates, McChrystal, Gonzales, Yoo, and Addington.]
For the sake of my son, why I refused to shake Blair's blood-covered hands 12 Oct 2009 ...Peter Brierley's family and friends were quite shocked to think of him marching up to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, refusing to shake his hand, tearing a couple of strips off him, then turning on his heel and stalking away. Famously the master of self-possession and quick to reach for a snippet of handy phrasemaking, by all accounts Mr Blair was left ashen and speechless by the encounter with the straight-talking 59-year-old from Batley. Mr Brierley had often thought about what he might say if he ever came eyeball-to-eyeball with the man who took the country into the war in which his 28-year-old son Shaun died, but when the meeting came, it was not how he would ever have planned it.
Iraq vets exposed to deadly chemical asked to get exam 13 Oct 2009 Six years after nearly 1,200 U.S. soldiers in Iraq were potentially exposed [by KBR] to a sometimes deadly chemical [sodium dichromate] linked to cancer, the military and Veterans Affairs Department have been tracking them down and asking them to get a medical exam. The troops were protecting or in the area of workers hired by a subsidiary of the contractor, KBR Inc., based in Houston, to rebuild the Iraqi water treatment plant Qarmat Ali near Basra, Iraq.
Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to let soldiers speak to tribunal 13 Oct 2009 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted Israel will not cooperate with an international war-crimes tribunal, set up to investigate the army assault on militants in the Gaza Strip ten months ago. The PM has told the Knesset that he would never allow soldiers and war-time leaders to go before the UN war crimes panel.
NORAD Exercise Planned for East Coast, New England 13 Oct 2009 The Continental United States NORAD Region, a geographical component of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, will conduct a three-day homeland defense exercise, Falcon Dart, beginning Oct. 14 along the eastern seaboard and in New England. This exercise is designed to train CONRs intercept and identification operations and will involve fighters out of Barnes Air National Guard Base, Mass., Jacksonville ANG, Fla., Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla., and aircraft from other federal agencies.
Army considers middle-school JROTC program 12 Oct 2009 The U.S. Army wants middle school students. The Wichita school district in south-central Kansas is one of a few nationwide offering middle school programs based on the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps curriculum. Top Army officials are studying its programs to see if they could be a model for others nationwide. The Army is collaborating with the National Association of School Boards to develop a so-called JROTC-plus program that would use the high school JROTC curriculum as a basis for a middle school program, Army JROTC director Col. John Vanderbleek said.
Gag on Guardian reporting MP's Trafigura question lifted --The question from Paul Farrelly MP which was subject to a gagging order related to the Trafigura toxic waste scandal 13 Oct 2009 The existence of a previously secret injunction against the media by oil traders Trafigura can now be revealed. Within the past hour Trafigura's legal firm, Carter-Ruck, has withdrawn its opposition to the Guardian reporting proceedings in parliament that revealed its existence. Labour MP Paul Farrelly put down a question yesterday to the justice secretary, Jack Straw. It asked about the injunction obtained by "Trafigura and Carter-Ruck solicitors on 11 September 2009 on the publication of the Minton Report on the alleged dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast, commissioned by Trafigura".
Guardian gagged from reporting parliament 12 Oct 2009 The Guardian has been prevented from reporting parliamentary proceedings on legal grounds which appear to call into question privileges guaranteeing free speech established under the 1688 Bill of Rights. Today's published Commons order papers contain a question to be answered by a minister later this week. The Guardian is prevented from identifying the MP who has asked the question, what the question is, which minister might answer it, or where the question is to be found. The Guardian is also forbidden from telling its readers why the paper is prevented – for the first time in memory – from reporting parliament. Legal obstacles, which cannot be identified, involve proceedings, which cannot be mentioned, on behalf of a client who must remain secret.
Secret Service Investigates Swastika, Obama Name Carved Into Golf Course 13 Oct 2009 (MA) Police along with the Secret Service are investigating after a local country club discovered a symbol resembling a swastika carved into the green. Lakeville County Club workers discovered the vandalism early Monday morning. Carved into the green on the 18th hole was a swastika look-a-like next to President Barack Obama's name.
The looming threat of terror that comes from the far right --The threat comes not from jihadis but 'neo-Nazis' out to kill black people, Jews and gays By Johann Hari 14 Oct 2009 Britain is facing the real risk today of a bombing campaign that targets random civilians for death – but it is being virtually ignored. When its supporters step closer every day to mass murder, nobody notices. When its perpetrators are caught, there is (at best) a little flick of information in News in Brief... The campaign I am talking about is not being planned by jihadis or fringe Irish nationalists but by white "neo-Nazis" who want to murder Asians, black people, Jews and gays in the bizarre belief it will trigger a "race war".
Mandatory Flu Vaccination for N.Y. Health Workers Is Criticized --Regulation affects 500,000 health care workers and volunteers statewide 14 Oct 2009 The New York Civil Liberties Union demanded on Tuesday that the state health commissioner withdraw a new regulation requiring hundreds of thousands of health care workers to get both seasonal and swine flu vaccinations. In testimony before several State Assembly committees in Lower Manhattan, Donna Lieberman, executive director of the civil liberties union, said that the requirement violated the constitutional right of health care workers to control their bodies and their medical treatment.
Maine Lawmaker Looks to Ban Vaccine Mandates 13 Oct 2009 In an effort to make sure you decide whether or not you or your children get a flu shot, state representative Doug Thomas has introduced a bill that would forbid mandatory vaccinations. Maine's top health official Dr. Dora Anne Mills says she's surprised by the bill adding that there is no current statute in Maine requiring mandatory vaccines, therefore she says there's no reason to codify the law. Rep. Thomas is standing behind his bill. [Petition against mandatory vaccines -6150 signatures]
'The mandate was irrational and are not going along with it.' Nurses to protest forced flu shots 13 Oct 2009 (NY) Four Albany Medical Center Hospital emergency room nurses are in the process of filing a lawsuit against the state for mandating all hospital workers get vaccinated with the H1N1 flu shot and seasonal flu shot by November. To gain support on the issue, the nurses have organized a rally for Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Capitol’s East Park, said Terry Kindlon, the nurses’ attorney.
NW Ind. work-release center locked down over flu 13 Oct 2009 Officials in northwestern Indiana's Lake County confined about 160 inmates at a work-release center after one inmate was hospitalized with severe flu symptoms. Lake County Community Corrections director Kellie Bittorf says the illness wasn't immediately confirmed as swine flu but that the staff was taking 'necessary' precautions. Inmates serving their sentences in the Crown Point center have been barred from leaving for work or receiving visitors since Saturday.
Boy, 6, Faces Reform School for Carrying Camping Utensil to School 13 Oct 2009 A Delaware mother whose 6-year-old son was suspended for 45 days for carrying a camping utensil to school is speaking out against the suspension and saying he should not have to face reform school as a consequence. Debbie Christie's son Zachary, a first-grader at Downes Elementary School in Newark, Del., was suspended for carrying a camping utensil that contained a spoon, fork, bottle opener and knife to school.
Senate Panel Clears Health Bill With One G.O.P. Vote 14 Oct 2009 The Senate Finance Committee voted on Tuesday to approve legislation that would reshape the American health care system and provide subsidies to help millions of people [forced to] buy [overpriced] insurance, as Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine, joined all 13 Democrats on the panel in support of the landmark bill. The vote was 14 to 9, with all of the other Republicans opposed.
Health insurance lobby attacks reforms 12 Oct 2009 The White House and the health insurance industry on Monday descended into open conflict on the eve of a critical Senate vote that could determine the fortunes of Barack Obama’s healthcare reform plans. Supporters of President Obama accused the health insurance industry of attempted "sabotage" after it issued a report by PwC, which estimated that premiums would rise much faster under the proposed 'reforms' than they would have done otherwise.
Previous lead stories: German soldiers to get different flu vaccine than civil population: Report 12 Oct 2009 The armed forces, according to a newspaper report, has ordered a different vaccine against the swine influenza for Germany's 250,000 soldiers. The vaccine is different than the serum which will be used to inoculate the civil population as a protection against the swine flu. The more acceptable vaccine for the soldiers contains neither controversial additives nor mercury-containing preservatives, reports the Bielefelder 'Westphalian's sheet,' according to armed forces circles. It concerns the Serum Celvapan from the pharmaceutical manufacturer Baxter. [Note: Above is a rough translation of the German article. Also, see: Baxter working on vaccine to stop swine flu, though admitted sending live pandemic flu viruses to subcontractor By Lori Price 26 Apr 2009.]
Mass. House approves bill allowing quarantines --Senate version includes placing restrictions on right to public assembly, allowing arrest of individuals without warrant, mandatory vaccinations, and isolation orders issued to anyone who refused to be vaccinated 08 Oct 2009 Public health officials would have the power to isolate individuals and order quarantines to contain the outbreak of serious contagious diseases under a bill approved by the Massachusetts House [113-36] on Thursday. One of the most contentious parts of the bill would give public health officials the authority to force individuals or groups into isolation or quarantine when there is "reasonable cause to believe that a disease or condition dangerous to the public health exists or may exist or that there is an immediate risk of an outbreak."
'There are still a few good apples in there but there's been a few bad ones and we've got a rotten barrel.' Ex-officer alleges 'hundreds of' Iraq cover-ups 11 Oct 2009 British soldiers in Iraq were involved in hundreds of incidents in which civilians died or were seriously injured but which were covered up or inadequately investigated, a former military police officer claimed today. "If you were to look back at all the serious allegations arising out of operations in Iraq, there's a catalogue of blunders, mistakes, ineptitude and the course of investigations being bent to serve the real or perceived interests of the chain of command of the army," the ex-officer said. He said he had "absolutely no trust and confidence in anyone in the army who is saying that the number of incidents are low". He continued: "The documentary evidence that I have seen suggests that there were hundreds of incidents over the last six or seven years and that it's of great concern that among those hundreds there will have been undoubtedly some very suspicious deaths and serious injuries that were never properly investigated."
