tagged w/ Bush Agenda
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A senior Obama campaign official shared with The Washington Note and Huffington Post that in July 2008, the McCain and Obama camps began to work secretly behind the scenes to assemble large rosters of potential personnel for the administration that only one of the candidates would lead.
Lists comprised of Democrats and Republicans were assembled, sorted into areas of policy expertise, so that the roster could be called on after the election by either the Obama or McCain transition teams.
This kind of out-of-sight coordination is rare between battling presidential camps and provides some indication that both Obama and McCain intended to draw expertise into their governments from both sides of the aisle -- or at least they wanted to appear interested in doing so if the information leaked out about the list development process.
Fascinating tidbit on cooperation behind battle lines.A senior Obama campaign official shared with The Washington Note and Huffington Post... more
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Where does Rahm Emanuel stand on Iraq war? I found this article and I think He states it clearly. Posted May 1, 2008 | 07:53 PM (EST)
Delivered on the House floor:
Madam Speaker, in 1993, when professional-baseball owners were deciding how to rehabilitate the reputation of baseball, after the player's strike, they debated whether to enact a wild-card rule to allow a second-place team into the playoffs. Only one owner at the time voted against this: Texas Rangers general partner George Bush.
When the rule passed 27-1, at the time the President said, "I made my arguments and went down in flames...History will prove me right." [Associated Press, 9/9/93]
Since then, nearly a third of World Series champions have been wild-card teams, including the 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.
The rule helped saved baseball as history has shown.
And just like his baseball predictions, President Bush sings a very similar tune about Iraq, he says, "History will prove whether I'm right. I think I'll be right..."[Whitehouse.gov, March 29, 2006]
Really?
Five years today since his speech on "Mission Accomplished," and let's take stock.
More than 4,000 lives have been lost.
Tens of thousands of American men and women have been injured.
We've spent over $475 billion in taxpayer dollars, with the price tag continually going up.
History will be the judge of whether once again George Bush's record and America's reputation will go down in flames.
At this rate he's going to be 0 for 2.Where does Rahm Emanuel stand on Iraq war? I found this article and I think He states... more
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Monday, November 24, 2008; Page A10
George W. Bush was the U.S. president at an economic summit here this weekend, but many foreign leaders were focused on President-elect Barack Obama instead.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper cautioned Obama against plans to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying it would worsen a global financial crisis. Chinese President Hu Jintao said he hopes Obama will recognize the importance of U.S.-China ties while treading carefully on the thorny issue of Taiwan.
And Mexican President Felipe Calderón, in an impassioned speech to delegates at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum Saturday, warned Obama that any tightening of trade restrictions would send a flood of illegal immigrants into the United States.
"The next U.S. administration must assume leadership in a very firm manner -- not just for Americans but for the whole world," Calderón said.
The stern words for Obama came during an annual APEC gathering dominated by fears over the ongoing financial crisis and underscored the difficult balance that Obama must strike if he intends to forge a new economic path for the United States.
Bush returned to Washington from Peru on Sunday after securing an agreement from the 21-member group to keep trade barriers low along the Pacific Rim as leaders fashion responses to the global financial storm. The APEC statement closely mirrors a pledge signed in Washington on Nov. 15 by leaders from the Group of 20 economic powers, nine of which were represented in Lima.
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The leaders said Sunday that they could overcome the financial crisis, which has the world on the edge of recession, within 18 months. But they provided few details on how they plan to do that.
Many delegates to the APEC summit said there was little point in considering additional actions until Obama gets involved. The president-elect did not send any representatives to APEC, although transition officials said Obama's team was briefed by the Bush administration before the summit.Monday, November 24, 2008; Page A10
George W. Bush was the U.S. president at an... more
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November 23, 2008
Hunt for Rashid Rauf that ended with hellfire
A British terror suspect was killed by US forces in Pakistan yesterday. MPs want to know: did they tell Britain first?
At 10pm on Friday night the tribesmen in the villages of North Waziristan heard a sound they have learnt to fear. The hum of American reconnaissance planes high above the lawless tribal lands that span the Pakistan-Afghan border usually presages an imminent strike by Predator drones, targeting the Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters who shelter in their midst.
There have been more than 20 such attacks since August, but this time it appeared to be a false alarm. The locals were relieved when the sound faded at midnight.
Three hours later, however, they were woken by explosions in Khaisoor, as three Hellfire missiles from a Predator destroyed a mud-built bungalow in the village.
Inside, among the five people killed and six injured, were Rashid Rauf, the British militant alleged to have masterminded a plot to blow up transatlantic airliners in 2006, and two senior Al-Qaeda comrades, Abu Nasr Al-Misri and Abu Zubair Al-Masri, according to Pakistani intelligence sources.November 23, 2008
Hunt for Rashid Rauf that ended with hellfire
A British terror... more
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November 21, 2008, 22:45
(picture on site...)
Thousands of protestors against the U.S. presence in Iraq have burned an effigy of President George Bush in the same square where they toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein five years ago.
Most of the protestors were followers of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who view the American military as occupiers.
The demonstration comes after two days of heated protest in parliament by al-Sadr loyalists and other small parties arguing that the new security pact, which would ensure a U.S. presence in Iraq for three more years, was a "surrender to U.S. interests".
In a remarkable turn of events, the effigy, with a banner standing next to it reading "shame and humiliation", was placed on the very site where fallen dictator Saddam Hussein's statue stood. It was torn down by U.S. marines and Iraqis in one of the most iconic moments of the Iraq war.
Protestors stoned the effigy with water bottles and sandals. One man used his shoe to strike Bush's face. Eventually the image fell and was stamped on before being set alight. Crowds chanted and waved flags while the effigy burned.
Security was extremely tight, with Army snipers present and al-Sadr loyalists all around as well.
Al-Sadr's representative read a sermon calling the US "an enemy of Islam" and urging parliament not to pass the new security pact.
"The government must know that it is the people who help it in the good and the bad times. If it throws the occupier out, all the Iraqi people will stand by it," read the sermon.
Among the crowds were protestors holding banners reading "No, no to the agreement of humiliation".
If the pact passes through parliament it will go to the president and his two deputies for ratification.November 21, 2008, 22:45
(picture on site...)
Thousands of protestors against the... more
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This Friday Russian newspapers argue with Freedom House, describe the ‘Russian Avalanche’ in Cuba, explain why Warsaw is ready to let Russian military inspectors on the U.S. missile defense facility, publish secret documents of the Georgian army and explore how the U.S. media hint at the ‘devilish’ nature of Barack Obama.
NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA cont...
VREMYA NOVOSTEI reports that a ‘Russian Avalanche’ is expected on the island of Cuba. Correspondent Alexandr Aksenov writes from Havana that the year 2008 has become ‘the Russian year’ for Cuba. He presents an impressive list of bilateral events in politics, economic and business cooperation and culture that portrays a real renaissance of Russo-Cuban relations. A visit by President Medvedev expected later this month is seen in Cuba as Russia’s way of announcing to the World that bilateral relations with Cuba are receiving a new impulse and that Russia is going to strengthen its position on the island to a level unknown since Soviet times, writes Aksenov. He adds: this is only the beginning. The most interesting events in Russo-Cuban relations are still to come.
ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA explains that Poland’s unexpected readiness to accept Russian inspections of future U.S. missile defence facilities has been caused by direct pressure from Washington. In America, writes the paper, an understanding that missile defence is, first of all, a matter to be discussed with Russia, is winning over hearts and minds of the prospective members of the new administration. The paper also says that there is no way to predict now, in the middle of the world financial crisis, if the state budget can bear the expenses, and on top of that President Barack Obama himself is so far not convinced that the system would really work.
KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA has acquired top secret Georgian military documents – a series of orders to the 4th Rifle Brigade, the main unit of the Georgian army involved in the brutal attack on Tskhinval in August. cont..
IZVESTIA publishes an article by its veteran correspondent Malor Sturua who now lives in Minneapolis. Sturua writes that the growing online media campaign portraying Barack Obama as the Antichrist may look funny to the Russian eye but it isn’t as lightheartedly dismissed in the United States. When a man who lives in the state that Obama represents in the Senate comes forward with a winning state lottery ticket numbered 666, the number of the Beast, many see it as a revelation. Sturua says – what else to expect if apart from amateur Judgment Day and Antichrist watchers the Catholic Church itself, through Cardinal Stafford, bemoans Obama’s ‘post-modernist, aggressive, ruinous apocalyptic rhetoric.’ The Cardinal means, says Sturua, that Obama supports abortion rights, stem sell research and gay/lesbian marriages.This Friday Russian newspapers argue with Freedom House, describe the ‘Russian... more
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by: William Glaberson, The New York Times
A federal judge ruled Thursday that five Algerian men were held unlawfully for nearly seven years at Guantánamo Bay, and ordered their release. (Photo: Linsley / AP)
In the first hearing on the government's justification for holding detainees at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, a federal judge ruled Thursday that five Algerian men were held unlawfully for nearly seven years and ordered their release.
The judge, Richard J. Leon of Federal District Court in Washington, also ruled that a sixth Algerian man was being lawfully detained because he had provided support to the terrorist group Al Qaeda.
The case was an important test of the Bush administration's detention policies, which critics have long argued swept up innocent men and low-level foot soldiers along with high-level and hardened terrorists.
The six men are among a group of Guantánamo inmates who won a Supreme Court ruling that the detainees have constitutional rights and can seek release in federal court. The 5-4 decision said a 2006 law unconstitutionally stripped the prisoners of their right to contest their imprisonment in habeas corpus lawsuits.
The hearings for the Algerian men, in which all of the evidence was heard in proceedings that were closed to the public, were the first in which the Justice Department presented its full justification for holding specific detainees since the Supreme Court ruling in June.
Judge Leon, in a ruling from the bench, said that the information gathered on the men had been sufficient to hold them for intelligence purposes, but was not strong enough in court.
"To rest on so thin a reed would be inconsistent with this court's obligation," he said. He directed that the five men be released "forthwith" and urged the government not to appeal.
Judge Leon, who was appointed by President Bush, had been expected to be sympathetic to the government. In 2005, he ruled that the men had no habeas corpus rights.
Lawyers said the decision was likely to be seen as a repudiation of the Bush administration's effort to use the detention center at the American naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as a way to avoid scrutiny by American judges. President-elect Barack Obama has promised to close the prison.»
by: William Glaberson, The New York Times
A federal judge ruled... more
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16. The Moscow apartment bombings
Former GRU officer Aleksey Galkin and former FSB officer the late Alexander Litvinenko (who was killed with Polonium-210 in London in November 2006) and other whistle-blowers from the Russian government and security services have asserted that the 1999 Russian apartment bombings were operations perpetrated by the FSB, the successor to the KGB, to justify the second Russian war against Chechnya.
17. Black or unmarked helicopters
The concept became popular in the American militia movement, and in associated political circles, in the 1990s as an alleged symbol and warning sign of a military takeover of part or all of the United States. Rumours would circulate that, for instance, the United Nations patrolled the US with black helicopters, or that federal agents used black helicopters to enforce wildlife laws.
19. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
Despite being utterly discredited for at least 100 years, belief in this document has proved remarkably resilient on the internet.
20. The peak oil conspiracy
The peak oil conspiracy theorists believe that peak oil is a fraud concocted by the oil industries to increase prices amid concerns about future supplies. The oil industry is aware of vast reserves of untapped oil, but does not utilise them in order to maintain the illusion of scarcity, they claim.
21. Pearl Harbor was allowed to happen
Theorists believe that President Franklin Roosevelt provoked the Japanese attack on the US naval base in Hawaii in December 1942, knew about it in advance and covered up his failure to warn his fleet commanders.
23. Pan Am Flight 103
24. Fluoridation
Fluoride is commonly added to drinking water as a way to reduce tooth decay. However, there has been some evidence that there could be some harmful side effects from fluoride and conspiracy theorists believe that this information is known and recognised by those responsible for adding the fluoride, but that they continue the practice regardless.
25. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
A popular theory in the Muslim world is that the tsunami could have been caused by an Indian nuclear experiment in which Israeli and American nuclear experts participated.
26. Plastic coffins and concentration camps
Just outside Atlanta, Georgia, beside a major road are approximately 500,000 plastic coffins. Stacked neatly and in full view, the coffins are allegedly owned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).
27. HAARP
28. The Aids virus was created in a laboratory
29. Global warming is a hoax
30. Chemtrails
read full article for details...16. The Moscow apartment bombings
Former GRU officer Aleksey Galkin and former FSB... more
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1. September 11, 2001/ 9-11
Thanks to the power of the web and live broadcasts on television, the conspiracy theories surrounding the events of 9/11 - when terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre in New York
and the Pentagon in Washington - have surpassed those of Roswell and JFK in traction. Despite repeated claims by al-Qaeda that it planned, organised and orchestrated the attacks, several official and unofficial investigations into the collapse of the Twin Towers which concluded that structural failure was responsible and footage of the events themselves, the conspiracy theories continue to grow in strength.
At the milder end of the spectrum are the theorists who believe that the US government had prior warning of the attacks but did not do enough to stop them. Others believe that the Bush administration deliberately turned a blind eye to those warnings because it wanted a pretext to launch wars in the Middle East to usher in another century of American hegemony.
2. The assassination of John F Kennedy
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3. A flying saucer crashed at Roswell in 1947
The event that kick-started more than a half century of conspiracy theories surrounding unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Something did crash at Roswell, New Mexico, sometime before July 7, 1947 and - at first - the US authorities stated explicitly that this was a flying saucer or disk -
4. Nasa faked the moon landings
People who think that the Apollo moon landings were not all that they seemed at the time but belief in them - particularly on the web - persists.
5. The Illuminati and the New World Order
A conspiracy in which powerful and secretive groups (the Illuminati, the Bilderberg Group and other shadowy cabals) are plotting to rule mankind with a single world government.
6. The Jesus conspiracy
The theory that launched a blockbusting novel (The Da Vinci Code), a film of the same name and a plagiarism battle in the courts (with the authors of the Holy Blood and holy grail). Those who believe in this - and they seem to number in their millions -
8. Elvis Presley faked his own death
What can we say? A persistent belief is that "the King" did not die in 1977.
9. Operation Northwoods
A genuine conspiracy involving a plan by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to launch a fake Cuban terror campaign on American soil to persuade the US public to support an invasion against Castro.
10. MK-ULTRA
The code name for a covert mind-control and chemical interrogation research programme, run by the Office of Scientific Intelligence. , to be a test site for MK-ULTRA medical experiments.
11. North American Union
The North American Union (NAU) is a theoretical regional union of Canada, Mexico and the United States similar in structure to the European Union, sometimes including a common currency called the amero.
12. Shakespeare was somebody else
Theorists believe there is a lack of evidence proving that the actor and businessman sometimes known as Shaksper of Stratford was responsible for the body of works that bear his name. Very little biographical information exists about Shakespeare.
13. The disappearance of Shergar
On February 8, 1983, a group of men wearing balaclavas and armed with guns turned up at the Ballymany Stud Farm in Co Kildare, Ireland and took a hostage – Jim Fitzgerald, the stud's head groom.
14. Paul is dead
“Paul is dead” is an urban legend alleging that Paul McCartney died in a car crash 1966 and was replaced by a look-alike and sound-alike.
15. The July 7, 2005 Tube bombings
One of the supposed mysteries surrounding the 7/7 attacks is this image, used by several news outlets, of the bombers entering Luton station on their way to London at around 7.20am on July 7.
cont. to read full story1. September 11, 2001/ 9-11
Thanks to the power of the web and live broadcasts on... more
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Dick Cheney and former attorney general Alberto Gonzales have been indicted by a Texas jury Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
A grand jury in south Texas indicted Mr Cheney and Alberto Gonzales, the former Attorney General, on state charges that they blocked an investigation into the mistreatment of prisoners.
The indictment cites a "money trail" relating to Mr Cheney's financial stake in prison-related businesses, including the Vanguard Group, which has an interest in privately-run federal jails in the region.
According to a grand jury in Willacy County, Mr Cheney is "is "profiteering from depriving human beings of their liberty".
It also accuses him of a conflict of interest and of "at least misdemeanour assaults" on inmates because of his links to the prison companies.
Mr Gonzales is accused of using his position to "stop the investigations as to the wrong doings" in county prisons.
The grand jury wrote that it made its decision "with great sadness" but said it had no other choice but to indict the pair "because we love our country".
The indictment – which is being overseen by Juan Guerra, the local district attorney – has not been seen by a judge, who could dismiss it.
Juan Guerra has a history of launching eccentric court and political battles, and critics accused him of trying to settle old scores in his final weeks in office.
However, he insisted the decision to bring charges was made by the grand jury not by him.
He said the prison-related charges against the pair were a national issue and experts from across the US testified to the grand jury.
cont...
..............................................................Dick Cheney and former attorney general Alberto Gonzales have been indicted by a Texas... more
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November 19, 2008
A grand jury in Texas indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
Does this mean America will finally have justice.....or if they screw this up can he legally be indicted for the same stuff again?November 19, 2008
A grand jury in Texas indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and... more
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The truth about South Ossetian war should be revealed - Berlusconi
The West should know the truth about the war in South Ossetia, said the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi after talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow. Solutions to tackling the global financial crisis were another important issue on the agenda between the two.
During the talks the sides agreed that a new financial architecture with collective decision-making should be a proper response to the global financial crisis.
Dmitry Medvedev said: "Certainly, we spoke of the global financial crisis as well. Here we are unanimous in our view: we all need a new financial architecture. The one that exists today is not meeting its goals. The result of it is the capital planetary financial-economic disruption which occurred and which is still continuing today."
"The main thing is to adopt proper collective mechanisms and to establish joint responsibility for the circulation, for the operation of global finance."
Another important issue was Russia-EU relations after the war in South Ossetia in August.
Medvedev said the conflict in the Caucuses should not affect the cooperation between Russia and the European Union.
Silvio Berlusconi replied that he also sees no obstacles for signing the new Russia-EU deal.
The Italian PM stressed that the West should be told the truth about the war in South Ossetia.
He said: “I thank President Medvedev for appreciating Italy’s position concerning the Ossetian conflict. This position was based on knowledge of the facts. And I think these facts should help the international community understand what really happened and overcome the disinformation that took opinion far from reality.”
The sides also discussed the current U.S. elections and the victory of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
"We hope the new U.S. president will be a successful leader capable of building proper domestic and foreign policy and lay solid foundations for relations between Russia and the U.S.," Dmitry Medvedev said.
Meanwhile the Italian PM described Obama as “young, handsome,” and with a “good tan”.The truth about South Ossetian war should be revealed - Berlusconi
The West should... more
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev believes theres a good chance to fully restore relations with the US under Barack Obama. He made the comment at a meeting of the US Council on Foreign Relations, which was held separately from the G20 meeting in Washington.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev believes theres a good chance to fully restore... more
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BAGHDAD, 17 November 2008 (IRIN) - Local NGOs are concerned about the rights of detainees in US military custody due to be transferred to the Iraqi authorities in 2009 in line with a draft US-Iraqi security pact.
“There are fears among human rights activists, NGOs and parliamentarians about what the situation of these detainees will look like when they are transferred to the Iraqi authorities,” Iraqi activist Basil al-Azawi said.
“As parliament represents the Iraqi people, it should act in line with the interests of Iraqis... Absolute justice must be achieved and Iraqi and international laws must be implemented when dealing with those detainees in Iraqi prisons,” he told IRIN.
Al-Azawi, who heads the Baghdad-based Commission for Civil Society Enterprises, an umbrella group of over 1,000 NGOs, urged parliament to amend the agreement to ensure the rights of the detainees.
“A suitable life inside the prisons must be guaranteed according to the Iraqi constitution and law. More visits to Iraqi prisons must be allowed by international and local human rights activists, and the treatment [of prisoners] must not be based on their sectarian background,” he said.
On 16 November, the Iraqi government concluded nearly seven months of negotiations with the US government on a 30-article draft agreement which sets the dates for the gradual handover of sovereignty to Iraqis, the withdrawal of all US forces from Iraqi cities by the end of June 2009, and their withdrawal from the entire country by January 2012.
Parliament is expected to start discussions on the agreement on 17 November and vote on it. If approved by parliament, it will be sent to Iraq’s three-man presidential council to be ratified.
It is due to come into force on 1 January 2009 as the UN mandate for the US-led troops in Iraq expires on 31 December.BAGHDAD, 17 November 2008 (IRIN) - Local NGOs are concerned about the rights of... more
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BAGHDAD, 16 November 2008 (IRIN) - Fears are growing in the northern province of Ninevah, about 400km north of Baghdad, of a leak and contamination from a former possible radiation nuclear plant.
According to two local officials, the plant - which was built in the early 1980s by a group of European and Russian companies for the government of former president Saddam Hussein - is suspected of causing a number of cancers and deformities among babies and adults.
“The province’s health authorities have registered a number of deformities among newborns as well as a number of cancers among adults. The health authorities suspect that a radiation leak and contamination from a former nuclear plant is the cause of the deformities and cancers,” Governor Duraid Kashmola said.
About four years ago, the abandoned Edayah nuclear plant, about 35km west of Ninevah’s provincial capital, Mosul, was looted by locals; some of its radiation-contaminated materials were sold in the local market as scrap, according to Kashmola.
He said that on 23 September Iraqi teams fenced off the nuclear site and started dumping all its recovered materials there. “We expect to finish the work soon and thereby stop any possible radiation,” Kashmola told IRIN.BAGHDAD, 16 November 2008 (IRIN) - Fears are growing in the northern province of... more
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Though President George W. Bush extended the invitation, the problem is that the world leaders would prefer to discuss the future with President-elect Barack Obama, not with the current lame-duck occupant of the White House.
News analyst Pepe Escobar interviews Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, about what the summit might hold.
Understandable the world leaders are upset with Bush over the economic crisis and his failure to follow advice by the world leaders as Russia advised.
But, hell whose not!Though President George W. Bush extended the invitation, the problem is that the world... more
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Ex-employees tell ABC News the firm used dog food sacks to smuggle unauthorized weapons to Iraq.
A federal grand jury in North Carolina is investigating allegations the controversial private security firm Blackwater illegally shipped assault weapons and silencers to Iraq, hidden in large sacks of dog food, ABCNews.com has learned.
Under State Department rules, Blackwater is prohibited from using certain assault weapons and silencers in Iraq because they are considered "offensive" weapons inappropriate for Blackwater's role as a private security firm protecting US diplomatic missions.
"The only reason you need a silencer is if you want to assassinate someone," said former CIA intelligence officer John Kiriakou, an ABC News consultant.Ex-employees tell ABC News the firm used dog food sacks to smuggle unauthorized... more
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Osama bin Laden is planning an attack against the United States that will "outdo by far" September 11, 2001, an Arab newspaper in London has reported.
And, a former senior Yemeni al-Qaeda operative said, the terrorist organisation has entered a "positive phase", reinforcing specific training camps around the world that will lead the next "wave of action" against the West.
The warning, on the front page of an Arabic newspaper published in London, Al-Quds Al-Arabi - and reported widely in the major Italian papers - quotes a person described as being "very close to al-Qaeda" in Yemen.
The paper is edited by Abdel al-Bari Atwan, who is said to have been the last journalist to interview bin Laden, in 1996.
Bin Laden is himself closely following preparations for an attack against the US and aims to "change the face of world politics and economics", the report says.
The former operative is quoted as saying that "this will be shown by the fact that we now control a major part of the south of Somalia".
He says he remains in contact with current chiefs of the organisation in Yemen and that, only six months ago, bin Laden sent a message to all jihad cells in the Arab world, asking them not to interact with their governments or local political parties and to deny any request for mediation or formal talks.
The source also said that, during the next few days, the terrorist organisation might send a sign of its violent intentions.
The warning has emerged at the same time as publication of a report leaked to London's Telegraph newspaper, which reveals that a document drawn up by the intelligence branch of the Ministry of Defence says that thousands of extremists are active in Britain.
The document says the operatives are predominantly British-born and aged between 18 and 30. Many are believed to have been trained in overseas terrorist camps.
Security officials are convinced al-Qaeda cells will attempt another "spectacular" inside Britain with major transport centres, such as airports and train stations, the most likely targets, the Telegraph reports.
Other targets include the Houses of Parliament, Whitehall and Buckingham and St James' palaces, with the threat level described as "severe".Osama bin Laden is planning an attack against the United States that will "outdo... more
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TEHRAN: Iran has strongly condemned recent US attacks in Syria and Pakistan, and called for the next White House resident to correct the damaged US image worldwide.
Addressing a press conference along with visiting former Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki said on Tuesday that the recent US attacks in Pakistan and Syria had killed innocent people in both countries.
The minister’s comments came in the backdrop of a US drone attack in South Waziristan that killed at least 20 people on Monday night, making it the 70th violation of the country’s territory by US and NATO forces. Also, American troops from Iraq on Sunday launched an assault on a residential area in the Syrian village of Al-Sukkiraya, killing eight civilians in the attack.
“Every intellectual now believes that the world has become more insecure after the so-called fight against terrorism,” said Mottaki. Criticising the outgoing government of President George Bush, the Iranian minister said it appeared that White House officials were trying to ‘register the last days of their administration with more blood and aggression.’ nniTEHRAN: Iran has strongly condemned recent US attacks in Syria and Pakistan, and... more
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistani neurologist Dr Aafia Siddiqui – ‘who is now in the hands of her abusers’ – was shot by the American military in a situation that even a Hollywood scriptwriter would find difficult to concoct, British journalist and peace activist Yvonne Ridley said on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference along with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, the British journalist deplored the circumstances in which Dr Aafia was arrested while reportedly ‘attacking two armed US soldiers in Kabul’.
“I find it deplorable that having been shot by the American military in a scenario that even a Hollywood script writer would find difficult to concoct ... Dr Aafia is now in the hands of her abusers,” said Ridley. Ridley is of the view that Dr Aafia has been ‘continuously abused’ over the five-year period since she and her children were ‘kidnapped’.
“This is not the way to treat a victim ... you do not return a victim to her tormentors,” she said. “The retired general (Musharraf) is now out of office, but what is the new man (Zardari) doing to liberate our sisters?” She called for the Pakistani government to demand that Dr Aafia be returned to ‘what’s left of her family’, to allow the search for her missing children to begin.
Prisoner 650: Ridley also expressed doubt over the identity of Prisoner 650 – who was earlier believed to be Dr Aafia Siddiqui. “I have now more news about Prisoner 650 ... I can tell you categorically Prisoner 650 is not Dr Aafia,” said Ridley, citing American statements that this particular prisoner was repatriated to her country of origin in 2005. The Briton claimed that Prisoner 650 was not the only Muslim woman to have had been held in Bagram. “When the Americans are asked if more women are being held in Bagram ... they say ‘no’,” she said, and called the US administration ‘liars’.
She said if the Americans had nothing to hide, they should have told her by now the number of Muslim women they were holding as ‘female enemy combatants’. Ridley also claimed that the Pakistani military had ‘played a part’ in this shocking episode. PTI chief Imran Khan demanded that the government expedite efforts for the release of Dr Aafia. Criticising government policies, he said they had complicated the situation in the Tribal Areas. tahir niazISLAMABAD: Pakistani neurologist Dr Aafia Siddiqui – ‘who is now in the... more
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