A collection of stories on Iraq, Torture and Beyond

[Disco_Destroyer]

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government
31 Oct 2007
http://www.legitgov.org/

US accused of torture 31 Oct 2007 The United States's willingness to resort to harsh interrogation techniques in its so-called war on terror undermined human rights and the international ban on torture, a United Nations spokesman says. Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on torture, said the US's standing and importance meant it was a model to other countries which queried why they were subject to scrutiny when the US resorted to measures witnessed at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prison.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/us-accused-of-torture/2007/10/30/1193 618879492.html

CIA chief backs rendition flights 31 Oct 2007 The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, General Michael Hayden, has defended the methods torture it uses to interrogate terror suspects. Gen Hayden said programmes such as extraordinary rendition produced what he said was irreplaceable intelligence.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7070483.stm

Italy CIA kidnap trial adjourned until March 12 31 Oct 2007 An Italian judge adjourned until March 12 the trial of U.S. and Italian spies accused of kidnapping a terrorism suspect in Milan, giving a higher court more time to decide whether the case breaks state secrecy rules.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071031/ts_nm/italy_usa_kidnap_dc_1

Mukasey Refuses to Offer Waterboarding Opinion --Bush Nominee Unsure If Waterboarding Breaks Torture Law 31 Oct 2007 Attorney general nominee Michael B. Mukasey told Senate Democrats yesterday that a kind of simulated drowning known as waterboarding is "repugnant to me," but he said he does not know whether the interrogation tactic violates U.S. laws against torture. [Well, waterboard him to get him to decide.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/30/AR2007 103001481.html

To Implement Policy, Bush to Turn to Administrative Orders 31 Oct 2007 The White House plans to try implementing as much new policy as it can by administrative order dictatorship while stepping up its confrontational rhetoric with Congress after concluding that President [sic] Bush cannot do much business with the Democratic leadership, administration officials said. White House aides say the only way Bush seems to be able to influence overturn the process is by vetoing legislation or by issuing 'administrative orders,' as he has in recent weeks... They say they expect Bush to issue more of such orders in the next several months.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/30/AR2007 103000558.html

Kucinich: Time to question Bush's mental health 30 Oct 2007 Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D. Ohio) suggested today that President [sic] Bush's comment about a nuclear Iran precipitating "World War III" is a sign of mental instability. "I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health," presidential candidate Kucinich said in an interview with The Inquirer's editorial board.
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/10892891.html

Immunity for Blackwater mercenaries provokes anger 31 Oct 2007 Democrats have criticised the Bush regime for giving partial immunity to bodyguards from the Blackwater private security firm. They say the move equates to a failure to hold the contractors responsible for the killing of 17 civilians in Iraq last month.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3112825.ece

Iraq cancels Blackwater immunity 31 Oct 2007 The Iraqi government has approved a law which lifts immunity for foreign security companies, including Blackwater. Security companies in Iraq have been operating under immunity, after a decree was imposed more than three years ago by a U.S. official who ran the country after the American-led invasion.
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=295865

U.S. Military Will 'Oversee' Contractors 31 Oct 2007 All State Department security convoys in Iraq will now fall under military control, the latest step taken by government officials to bring Blackwater Worldwide and other armed contractors under tighter supervision... Three law enforcement officials confirmed Tuesday that State Department investigators did take statements from Blackwater employees [terrorists] after offering them immunity, though they had no authority to do so.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/washington/31contractor.html

'Journalists continue to be killed in Iraq at an alarming rate.' Editor of Baghdad weekly paper murdered 30 Oct 2007 The editor of a Baghdad weekly newspaper [Shehab Mohammed al-Hiti] was murdered at the weekend, Iraq's Journalistic Freedoms Observatory said on Tuesday. Many journalists in Iraq have faced threats from Sunni Arab militants and Shi'ite militias. Others have been killed by U.S. forces while reporting in the country. [Blackwater terrorists are busy little bees!]
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL3065194720071030

Iraqi dam burst 'would drown 500,000' 31 Oct 2007 A catastrophic failure of the largest dam in Iraq would send a wave 65ft high hurtling down the valley of the river Tigris, killing up to 500,000 people, US engineers warned yesterday. The frantic debate within the US and Iraqi governments over the failing dam was kept secret for months to avoid public panic and attracting the attention of insurgents Blackwater and KBR terrorists.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article3112828.ece

Illness pulls more troops from battle than wounds --Of more than 36,000 U.S. troops evacuated from Iraq, over 77 percent were for illnesses or noncombat injuries. 30 Oct 2007 From the invasion in March 2003 through Oct. 1, 2007, more than 36,000 U.S. troops were evacuated from Iraq. More than 77 percent of those were for illnesses or noncombat injuries, according to data from the Department of Defense, Deployment Health Support Directorate.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/story/289132.html

Sources: U.S. spy planes watching Iraqi-Turkish border 31 Oct 2007 American U2 reconnaissance planes have been flying over the Turkey-Iraq border to observe military movements, said three U.S. military sources Wednesday.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/10/31/iraq.turkey/

Turkey: Fighting with Kurds will surge 30 Oct 2007 Turkey's prime minister said Tuesday increased military action against separatist Kurdish rebels was "unavoidable" and pressed the United States for a crackdown on guerrilla bases in northern Iraq.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071030/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_iraq

Zogby Poll: 52% Support U.S. Military Strike Against Iran 29 Oct 2007 A majority of likely voters - 52% - would support a U.S. military strike to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, and 53% believe it is likely that the U.S. will be involved in a military strike against Iran before the next presidential election, a new Zogby America telephone poll shows.
http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1379

Israel's measures against Gaza unacceptable: UN chief 31 Oct 2007 UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday slammed Israel's punitive measures against the Gaza Strip as unacceptable and urged the government to reconsider its actions.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=156135

Suicide Bomber Strikes Within a Mile of Musharraf 31 Oct 2007 A suicide bomber set off explosives about one mile from the military offices of Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in this garrison town near Islamabad on Tuesday, killing seven people, including himself, and wounding 14 others, according to police officials and the Interior Ministry.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/world/asia/31pakistan.html

Accused Madrid Bomb Mastermind Acquitted 31 Oct 2007 An Egyptian who allegedly bragged that he masterminded the 2004 Madrid terror bombings that killed 191 people was acquitted of all charges along with six other lesser suspects Wednesday. Three other lead defendants were convicted of murder by the Spanish court, culminating a divisive trial over Europe's worst Islamic Bush-Aznar militant attack, which also wounded more than 1,800.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hiFLdVj_mF9xdLdLzDfaPDGdtt9AD8SK8E3 O0

7 acquitted in Madrid bombings 31 Oct 2007 Spain's National Court handed down sentences Wednesday stretching to tens of thousands of years to three men for killing 191 people and wounding more than 1,800 others in the March 11, 2004, bombing of Madrid commuter trains.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/31/europe/31spain.3.php

Azerbaijan uncovers terror plot against U.S. embassy 30 Oct 2007 Azerbaijan's security forces recently thwarted a terror plot schemed by a group of militant Islamists against the U.S. embassy in the capital, Baku, media reports said Monday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-10/30/content_6973845.htm

1 Convicted of Hiding Nuke-Plant Problem 30 Oct 2007 A federal jury found a former nuclear plant worker guilty Tuesday of concealing the worst corrosion ever found at a U.S. reactor. A second defendant was acquitted. David Geisen, the Davis-Besse plant's former engineering design manager, was accused of misleading regulators into believing the plant along Lake Erie was safe.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gDVFlznRWrSY1kc-ralPjy-xTOZwD8SJON1 O1

Practice Bomb Dropped On Virginia Beach 30 Oct 2007 The Navy said a small, inert 'training' bomb fell Tuesday from an fighter jet that was heading to Oceana Naval Air Station. The Navy said the bomb landed near a warehouse in the resort city of Virginia Beach. Minimal damage was reported. [Instead of Virginia Beach, why didn't they drop it on the White House?]
http://www.wbaltv.com/news/14462908/detail.html

Small boats seen as a terror threat 31 Oct 2007 The nation's 17 million small boats are facing increased scrutiny from the Homeland Security Department, which fears they could be used in a nuclear attack or a lethal explosion at a U.S. port.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-10-30-boatterror_N.htm

$43.5 Billion Spying Budget for Year, Not Including Military 31 Oct 2007 Congress authorized spending of $43.5 billion over the past year to operate spy satellites, remote surveillance stations and C.I.A. outposts overseas, according to a budget figure released Tuesday by Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence. The number released Tuesday does not include the billions of dollars that military services spend annually on intelligence operations. The total spying budget for the last fiscal year, including this Pentagon spending, is said to have been in excess of $50 billion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/washington/31intel.html

Local agencies ask for help fighting terrorism --Law enforcement officials say they are working to prevent homegrown extremists but want additional federal resources and cooperation to help combat [foment] the threat. 31 Oct 2007 Local law enforcement agencies are working to prevent individuals in their communities from acting on extremist views but are calling for additional federal resources to help combat the threat of terrorism, a Senate panel [Chaired by Senator LieberBush] was told Tuesday.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-terror31oct31, 1,5109868.story

Man pleads guilty in Fort Dix plot case 31 Oct 2007 A man [Agron Abdullahu] pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to provide weapons to a group of men accused of plotting an attack on soldiers at Fort Dix.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071031/ap_on_re_us/fort_dix_plot_5

Terrorism charges being considered 31 Oct 2007 ONE News understands the Solicitor-General is considering terrorism charges against 12 of the 17 people arrested in nationwide raids two weeks ago.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1423285

Stay of execution granted by U.S Supreme Court 31 Oct 2007 Moments before death-row inmate Earl Wesley Berry was due to be executed on Tuesday evening, the U.S Supreme Court granted a stay of execution. Berry had eaten his last meal and was ready to be taken into the execution chamber when the Supreme Court ruled.
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=295863

Longtime Bush adviser leaving State 31 Oct 2007 Karen Hughes, who led efforts to improve [worsen] the U.S. image abroad and was one of President [sic] Bush's last remaining advisers from the close circle of Texas aides, will leave the government at the end of the year.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071031/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/karen_hughes_9

More deadly, uninspected products are surely on the way, thanks to Bush bin Laden's corpora-terrorist cronies: Carlyle in talks to sell %9.9 management stake to Chinese 31 Oct 2007 Carlyle Group is in talks to sell up to 9.9 per cent of itself to China's Social Security Fund in a move that would make it the latest American buyout firm to sell a stake in its management company to the Chinese.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/bankin g_and_finance/article2767153.ece

Oil Hits $94 After 'Inventories Fall' 31 Oct 2007 Energy futures surged Wednesday to a new record of $94 a barrel after the government reported an 'unexpected drop in crude oil inventories' for the second week in a row.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i5TtajgUpSm7KY5jf-lCJGHBB-tAD8SKAGR 81

Opec 'not to blame' for oil price 30 Oct 2007 Oil exporters have said record high prices are not their fault as they have no power to control many of the factors pushing the market up. "Please don't blame us for $93 oil," Abdullah al-Attiyah, Qatar's oil minister, said at an international energy conference in London. [We don't. We blame Cheney Halliburton's secret Energy Task Force and Bush bin Laden. --LRP]
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3F1F814D-71D5-41BB-80A5-73D1096 2E183.htm

Fed cuts key rate by quarter-point to 4.50% --Growth likely to slow as housing correction intensifies, FOMC says 31 Oct 2007 The Federal Reserve gave the economy another shot Wednesday, cutting short-term interest rates by a quarter-point to bring them to the lowest level in the tenure of new Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. The reduction in the federal funds rate to 4.50% is meant to spur the economy through lower borrowing costs.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/fed-cuts-us-interest-rates/story .aspx?guid=%7BB866D453%2D9D41%2D4081%2D8D61%2D5FB15C1EFAB1%7D

Fed adds $5.5 bln temporary reserves via overnight repo 31 Oct 2007 The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it added $5.5 billion of temporary reserves to the banking system through an overnight repurchase agreement.
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSNYG00082120071031

US may ground British Airways plan for routes from Europe to New York 31 Oct 2007 Plans by British Airways to launch a new airline between Europe and New York have been thrown into disarray after American aviation authorities threatened to veto any increase of air traffic into the chronically congested John F. Kennedy airport.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transp ort/article2774481.ece

Moderate earthquake hits Northern California 31 Oct 2007 A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck in a rural area about 9 miles (15 km) northeast of San Jose, California, Silicon Valley's biggest city, on Tuesday night, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSN3043573920071031

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[Previous lead stories:] Iraqi Dam Seen In Danger of Deadly Collapse --The most catastrophic collapse of the dam could kill 500,000 people 30 Oct 2007 The largest dam in Iraq is in serious danger of an imminent collapse that could unleash a trillion-gallon wave of water, possibly killing thousands of people and flooding two of the largest cities in the country, according to new assessments by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other U.S. officials. A catastrophic failure of the Mosul Dam has alarmed American officials, who have concluded that it could lead to as many as 500,000 civilian deaths by drowning Mosul under 65 feet of water and parts of Baghdad under 15 feet, said Abdulkhalik Thanoon Ayoub, the dam manager... A U.S. reconstruction project to help shore up the dam in northern Iraq has been marred by incompetence and mismanagement, according to Iraqi officials and a report by a U.S. oversight agency to be released Tuesday. Note: Under the Law of Land Warfare http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/27-10/in dex.html , the occupying power (Bush's corpora-terrorists) is responsible for the dam. Regardless, would KBR get millions http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/news/hurricane_katrina.html to 'rebuild' that which they destroyed, much like the blown New Orleans levees? http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12647 Halliburton got $500M for that job. http://www.halliburton.com/default/main/halliburton/eng/news/source_fi les/news.jsp?newsurl=/default/main/halliburton/eng/news/source_files/p ress_release/2005/kbrnws_020105.html --LRP]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/29/AR2007 102902193.html

Secret move to upgrade air base for Iran attack plans 29 Oct 2007 The US is secretly upgrading special stealth bomber hangars on the British island protectorate of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, according to military sources. The improvement of the B1 Spirit jet infrastructure coincides with an "urgent operational need" request for £44m to fit racks to the long-range aircraft. That would allow them to carry experimental 15-ton Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/mopping-up-the-usas-30000-pound-bo mb-03172/ bombs designed to smash underground bunkers buried as much as 200ft beneath the surface through reinforced concrete.
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/foreign/display.var.1792035.0.0.php


US: Iran seeks nuclear weapons 30 Oct 2007 The United States on Monday brushed aside the UN nuclear watchdog agency chief's warning that there was no proof Iran seeks atomic weapons, and invited him to stay out of diplomacy with Tehran. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told CNN Sunday that he had no evidence Iran was building nuclear weapons and accused US leaders of adding "fuel to the fire" with their warlike rhetoric.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jBcgm2O2MKETEJ71ZHC4spasvoIw

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CLG Newsletter editor: Lori Price, Manager. Copyright © 2007, Citizens For Legitimate Government ® All rights reserved. CLG Founder and Chair is Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D.