Murat Kurnaz Story

[Disco_Destroyer]

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government
30 Mar 2008
http://www.legitgov.org/

Syria says ready in case of US military action 30 Mar 2008 Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said on Sunday that Damascus was prepared for all scenarios in its worsening relationship with Washington, including the use of US military force. "A prudent person must make all his calculations, especially when we have to deal with an administration which knows how to strike but does not know how to withdraw," Muallem told reporters at the end of an Arab summit in Damascus.
US demands to see Swiss-Iran gas contract 30 Mar 2008 The U.S. has demanded to see a Swiss contract for natural gas supplies from Iran to see whether it violates an American sanctions law against Tehran, the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland said Sunday. [B*** me, Bush.]

Staff Alleges Abuses by Top Iraq Auditor --Employees tell grand jury, FBI of mismanagement in Inspector General’s Office --SIGIR oversees the tracking of fraud, waste and abuse of over $21 billion in Iraq ’reconstruction’ funds 30 Mar 2008 The FBI and U.S. attorneys have been investigating whether Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction chief Stuart W. Bowen Jr., and his top deputy, Ginger Cruz, improperly accessed staff e-mails in violation of federal law. Current and former SIGIR employees interviewed by the FBI and questioned before the grand jury have complained of mismanagement and abuse of authority, including retaliatory firing of staff members. On the basis of the grand jury questioning and testimony, several witnesses said they believe that the government has strong evidence against Bowen, a former White House associate counsel who heads the lead U.S. agency in charge of tracking fraud, waste and abuse of more than $21 billion in funds for Iraq reconstruction.

Sadr orders fighters off Iraq’s streets 30 Mar 2008 Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters off Iraq’s streets on Sunday in a move which Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki welcomed as a "step in the right direction" after several days of heavy fighting... Sadr took the decision as it was his "legitimate responsibility to stop the bleeding of Iraqis, to maintain the reputation of Iraqi people, the unity of land and people, to prepare for its independence and liberation from the dark forces and to quell the fire of division by the occupier and its followers."

’People have reached a point that they will sell their refrigerator to buy a rocket launcher to kill Americans.’ Under siege in Baghdad’s Mahdi army stronghold 30 Mar 2008 Iraq’s government said it began the offensive to wipe out Basra’s Shia militias and criminal gangs. ’They know the Sadrists will win the elections,’ Abu Mustafa al-Thahabi, adviser to the Mahdi army of Moqtada al-Sadr, said. ’So they are using the Americans against the Mahdi army. People have reached a point that they will sell their refrigerator to buy a rocket launcher to kill Americans.’ ...Suddenly, they heard mortar rounds being launched outside with a boom like the sound of a wrecking ball. ’This is to the Green Zone,’ said Abu Zainab al-Kabi. ’These are gifts to Maliki’s government.’ He and Abu Moussa al-Sadr both work for Iraq’s Ministry of Interior, which runs the police and is viewed as infiltrated by the Mahdi army. They said many police officers had defected and were now fighting with the Mahdi army.

U.S., British Widen Role in Iraqi Government’s Offensive in Basra 30 Mar 2008 American and British forces on Saturday boosted their support of an Iraqi military offensive in the southern city of Basra, as Moqtada al-Sadr accused Iraq’s government of acting like "a dictatorship" and told his supporters to ignore orders to disarm. Early Sunday, the U.S. military said American ground troops had joined Iraqi troops in battles in Basra against the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to Sadr.

British forces set up checkpoint near Basra 30 Mar 2008 British forces set up a checkpoint at a bridge outside Basra on Sunday, witnesses said... Witnesses said British troops in 8-10 armoured vehicles had set up the checkpoint at the Zubair bridge south of the city and were checking cars heading into Basra.

British army joins battle to control Basra 30 Mar 2008 British troops became involved in the intense fighting in Basra last night as clashes continued between Iraqi government forces and Shia militia. The army launched artillery shells at a mortar position of the Shia Mahdi Army, led by cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, in the al-Klalaf area in the north of the city that had been firing on Iraqi troops.

Roadside bomb kills 2 US soldiers in Baghdad 29 Mar 2008 The U.S. military says two American soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad. A statement says the Multi-National Division — Baghdad soldiers died at about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

U.S. soldier killed in bomb attack in Baghdad 29 Mar 2008 An American soldier died of wounds sustained from a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Saturday. The attack took place on Friday in south of the capital, a military statement said.

Remains ID’d in Iraq kidnapping 29 Mar 2008 The FBI on Friday identified the remains of an Austrian contractor who was kidnapped in Iraq with four Americans. FBI spokesman Richard Kolko confirmed the victim was Bert Nussbaumer, who was working for Crescent Security Group when he and the others were abducted in November 2006.

US Marine Corps drop charges against lance corporal over killings in Iraq 29 Mar 2008 29 Mar 2008 The US Marine Corps has dropped all charges against a lance corporal [Stephen Tatum] who was accused of involuntary manslaughter in the killing of 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha in 2005.

Bush set for Europe to rally support for Afghanistan 30 Mar 2008 George Bush heads to Europe on Monday to push NATO allies for more support in Afghanistan and to meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, probably for the last time ’president [sic] to president.’

Bush will not demand Germany send troops to Afghan south: report 29 Mar 2008 US President [sic] George W. Bush will not demand Germany boost its NATO troop numbers in Afghanistan with deployments in the south, he said in a German newspaper interview [Die Welt] partly released Saturday.

Ex-Afghanistan Detainee Alleges Torture by U.S. 29 Mar 2008 A resident of Germany who was imprisoned for two months at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan has told an interviewer that his interrogators hung him from a ceiling for five days and that several doctors periodically checked him before authorizing the torture to continue. "Every five or six hours they came and pulled me back down and the doctor came," Murat Kurnaz told CBS News, according to a transcript of the interview. "He looked into my eyes. He checked my heart and when he said ’okay,’ then they pulled me back up." A 2005 article in the New England Journal of Medicine asserted that other U.S. Army doctors had violated the Geneva Conventions by helping intelligence officers carry out abusive interrogations torture at military detention centers.

David Hicks wants to profit from Guantanamo story 31 Mar 2008 Former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks has told his supporters he should be able to profit from telling his story because he never committed a crime. Hicks -- a ’convicted’ terrorism supporter -- was allowed to talk publicly about his experiences for the first time after a US-imposed gag order expired yesterday, but he has remained tight-lipped.

Police arrest anti-war protester, 80, at mall 30 Mar 2008 (NY) An 80-year-old church deacon [Don Zirkel, of Bethpage] was removed from the Smith Haven Mall yesterday in a wheelchair and arrested by police for refusing to remove a T-shirt protesting the Iraq War.

UK group proposes boycott of Israeli academia 29 Mar 2008 The National Executive Committee of the University College Union, the union at the focus of the last year’s aborted call for a boycott of Israeli academia, has voted to submit a motion to its annual conference to revive the proposal. Last week, a motion to reconsider academic links to Israeli institutions was proposed by Brighton University lecturer and Socialist Worker Party activist Tom Hickey.

Vt. Supreme Court overturns felony marijuana conviction after invasion of airspace 29 Mar 2008 Vermont residents have a broad right to privacy "that ascends into the airspace above their homes and property," the Supreme Court ruled Friday in overturning a felony marijuana conviction based on an unconstitutional flyover by a military helicopter.

2 States in Jeopardy With Federal ID Law 29 Mar 2008 Starting in May, driver’s licenses issued in Maine and South Carolina may not be accepted as identification at airports and federal buildings unless the states work out a last-minute agreement with the federal Department of Homeland Security. The states are refusing to ask the agency to extend the deadline for applying new layers of security in their identification systems as required under the federal [fascist] Real ID Act.

Heathrow Terminal 5: British Airways to cancel flights all week 30 Mar 2008 British Airways is likely to cancel flights throughout the week as it struggles to recover from the chaotic opening of Heathrow’s Terminal 5.

Right-wing Christian group pays for Commons researchers --As the Prime Minister bows to church pressure on embryology legislation, Jane Merrick and Brian Brady investigate the long parliamentary reach of a pro-life group opposed to the Bill 30 Mar 2008 An evangelical Christian charity leading opposition to new laws on embryo research is funding interns in MPs’ offices, an investigation by The Independent on Sunday has discovered. Christian Action, Research and Education (Care) faces inquiries into its lobbying activities by the Charity Commission and the House of Commons standards watchdog after accessing Parliament at the highest levels.

Senior Democrats mull Al Gore’s nomination 30 Mar 2008 Plans for Al Gore to take the Democratic presidential nomination as the saviour of a bitterly divided party are being actively discussed by senior figures and aides to the former vice-president. Former Gore aides now believe he could emerge as a compromise candidate acceptable to both camps at the party’s convention in Denver during the last week of August.

Clinton Vows to Stay in Race to Convention --Senator Stresses Finding Solution On Michigan, Florida Votes 30 Mar 2008 In her most definitive comments to date on the subject, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton sought Saturday to put to rest any notion that she will drop out of the presidential race, pledging in an interview to not only compete in all the remaining primaries but also continue until there is a resolution of the disqualified results in Florida and Michigan.

Women push back in support of Clinton 30 Mar 2008 Debra Starks has heard the calls for Hillary Rodham Clinton to quit the presidential race, and she’s not happy about it. The 53-year old Wal-Mart clerk thinks sexism is playing a role in efforts to push the New York senator from the race. Starks wants Clinton to push back. ...Strategists are warning of damage to the party’s chances in November if women sense a mostly male party establishment is unfairly muscling Clinton out of the race.

Obama gets most of the Texas caucus delegates 30 Mar 2008 Apportionment of presidential caucus delegates to the Texas Democratic state convention based on reports from Saturday’s county and senate district conventions: A total of about 7,300 delegates were expected to be selected in this stage of the caucus process, according to the Texas Democratic Party. Results are from 145 of about 280 conventions: Clinton: 1,509 delegates, or 40 percent; Obama: 2,234 delegates, or 60 percent.

Fact check: Obama and Oil 28 Mar 2008 The Clinton campaign today accused the Obama campaign of "false advertising," claiming that a recent ad Obama released in Pennsylvania was disingenuous because Obama has been the recipient of more than $200,000 from the oil and gas industry. Obama has taken $213,884 from the oil and gas industry as of Feb. 29th, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Sen. Hillary Clinton has taken $306,813 in that same period.

Exxon Mobil takes over from PetroChina as largest company in the world 27 Mar 2008 The title of the world’s largest is now held by a U.S. firm, rather than a Chinese one. Exxon Mobil Corp. has taken over from PetroChina Co. as the leader of that select club.

Venezuela diverts Exxon oil to China 29 Mar 2008 Venezuela is sending to China all the oil it previously shipped to a US refinery jointly owned with Exxon Mobil amid a legal battle between the OPEC nation and the US oil giant, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Friday. ’’With respect to the shipments, we put them at China’s disposal,’’ Ramirez told reporters. ’’All of it.’’

In Treasury Plan, a Reluctant Eye Over Wall Street 30 Mar 2008 The Bush regime is proposing the broadest overhaul of Wall Street regulation since the Great Depression. But the plan, to be unveiled on Monday, has its genesis in a yearlong effort to limit Washington’s role in the market. And that DNA is unmistakably evident in the fine print. Although the proposal would impose the first regulation of hedge funds and private equity funds, that oversight would have a light touch, enabling the government to do little beyond collecting information -- except in times of crisis.

Chase mortgage memo pushes ’Cheats & Tricks’ --The bank says it never backed the strategies, which detail how to get an iffy loan approved 27 Mar 2008 A newly surfaced memo from banking giant JPMorgan Chase provides a rare glimpse into the mentality that fueled the mortgage crisis. The memo’s title says it all: "Zippy Cheats & Tricks." It is a primer on how to get risky mortgage loans approved by Zippy, Chase’s in-house automated loan underwriting system.

Zippy Cheats & Tricks memo 28 Mar 2008 The Oregonian wrote this week about a newly surfaced memo from banking giant JPMorgan Chase that provided a rare glimpse into the mentality that fueled the mortgage crisis. The memo’s title: "Zippy Cheats & Tricks." And it originated in Oregon.

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[Previous lead stories:] Kadhafi warns US allies could suffer Saddam’s fate 29 Mar 2008 Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi warned Arab allies of the United States that they could meet the same fate as former Iraq president Saddam Hussein, hanged in 2006 three years after the US-led invasion. "A foreign force occupied an Arab country and hanged its president and we stood by and watched," he told an Arab summit in the Syrian capital. Saddam was hanged in December 2006 after being sentenced to death for crimes against humanity over the mass killing of Shiites in the 1980s. "How can they execute a prisoner of war and the president of a member of the Arab League?" Kadhafi asked. He said Saddam had been a friend of the United States during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s "before they turned against him and executed him." "You could all suffer the same fate," he warned. "Even you, even we, who are considered friends of America, one day (America) can give the green light for our own hanging," said the Libyan leader.

’Sadr has told us not to surrender our arms except to a state that can throw out the (US) occupation.’ Sadr orders militia to reject PM’s call to surrender arms 29 Mar 2008 Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday ordered his followers to reject Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s call to surrender their arms as clashes with troops raged for a fifth straight day. "Sadr has told us not to surrender our arms except to a state that can throw out the (US) occupation," Haider al-Jabari of the Sadr movement’s political bureau told AFP in the holy city of Najaf, home to the cleric’s main office.

Iraqi Police Surrender Weapons to al-Sadr Sheik in Sadr City 29 Mar 2008 Sheik Salman al-Feraiji, right, Muqtada al-Sadr’s chief representative in Sadr City, takes weapons from a group of Iraqi policemen in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 29, 2008. Some 40 policemen in Sadr City handed over their weapons to al-Sadr’s local office Saturday. (photo)

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CLG Newsletter editor: Lori Price, Manager. Copyright © 2008, Citizens For Legitimate Government ® All rights reserved. CLG Founder and Chair is Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D.

[Disco_Destroyer]

[outsider]

Read Murat Kurnaz' book: 'Five Years of My Life'; like Moazzam Begg's 'Enemy Combatant', it tells a part of the real horror of these camps the War Criminal US regime has imposed on the world.