Free Internet Press Newsletter - Saturday November 4 2006 - (813)

Saturday November 4 2006 edition
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Neocons Turn On Bush For Incompetence On Iraq War 2006-11-04 00:05:23 Several prominent neoconservatives have turned on George Bush days before critical midterm elections, lambasting his administration for incompetence in the handling of the Iraq war and questioning the wisdom of the 2003 invasion they were instrumental in promoting. Richard Perle and Kenneth Adelman, who were both Pentagon advisers before the war, Michael Rubin, a former senior official in the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans, and David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter, were among the neoconservatives who recanted to Vanity Fair magazine in an article that could influence Tuesday's battle for the control of Congress. The Iraq war has been the dominant issue in the election. "I think the influence will be on morale [among Republicans]," said Steven Clemons, the head of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation. "I think they are confusing the right. What this is yielding is ambivalence, and people will stay at home." Perle, a member of the influential Defense Policy Board that advised the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, in the run-up to the war, is as outspoken in denouncing the conduct of the war as he was once bullish on the invasion. He blamed "dysfunction" in the Bush administration for the present quagmire. Read The Full Story Editorial: Blinding The Taxpayers On Iraq 2006-11-04 00:04:03 Intellpuke: The following editorial, from the November 4, 2006, edition of the New York Times, criticizes the GOP-led Congress for shutting down the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the "one effective oversight agency that has shown it could produce results". The Times editorial follows: Talk about arbitrary deadlines. Iraq is still an open-ended tragedy, and there is mounting evidence that without vigilant, independent monitoring, reconstruction contracts will waste American tax dollars without delivering the results that Iraqis have been promised. Still, the Republican-controlled Congress has voted to close down, as of next Oct. 1, the one effective oversight agency that has shown it could produce results. The deadline for ending the work of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction was included in the conference report on a huge military authorization bill - inserted at the last minute in the back room by the staff of Duncan Hunter, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. It should be promptly lifted by the new Congress to be elected next week. That ought to be possible even if the Republicans stay in charge, since neither the House nor the Senate included such a deadline in its original legislation. But if the Republicans do lose their House majority, Mr. Hunter will no longer be able carry out such mischief. Read The Full Story Anxious GOP Focuses On Not Losing Senate 2006-11-04 00:02:31 Republicans entered the campaign's final weekend Friday desperately trying to keep control of the Senate, with three or four tossup races likely to determine whether the GOP can cling to power there even as it sees its hold on the House eroding. Strong public opposition to the Iraq war continues to hurt Republicans in many key races, but the Bush administration struck a defiant tone, signaling that the election results will not influence its strategy. Tuesday's balloting might influence Congress, Vice President Cheney said in an interview with ABC News, "but the president's made clear what his objective is. It's victory in Iraq. And it's full speed ahead on that basis. And that's exactly what we're going to do." Cheney was responding in part to sharp criticism launched in a Vanity Fair article by two of the Iraq invasion's strongest advocates: Richard N. Perle of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee and former Pentagon official Kenneth Adelman. Perle said the administration's war policy had become dysfunctional, adding: "You have to hold the president responsible. ... I don't think he realized the extent of the opposition within his own administration, and the disloyalty." Read The Full Story Evangelical Leader Admits Buying Meth And Getting Massage From Gay Escort 2006-11-03 17:10:17 One of the nation's most influential conservative Christian leaders, the Rev. Ted Haggard, said Friday he bought methamphetamine and received a massage from a self-described male escort. But Haggard denied allegations by the man that he ever used the drug or had sex with him. Haggard, an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage, resigned Thursday as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and stepped down as leader of his Colorado mega-church. The association and church are investigating allegations by the male escort, Mike Jones, that he had a three-year relationship with Haggard. Jones has said in radio and television interviews that Haggard, who lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, paid him for sex about once a month during trips to Denver. "Generally, it was $200," each visit, said Jones. Read The Full Story Ohio's Rep. Ney Resigns From Congress 2006-11-03 17:09:07 Rep. Bob Ney, of Ohio, who pleaded guilty last month in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling investigation resigned his seat in Congress on Friday. The Ohio Republican, who had been pressed to quit by fellow lawmakers, sent a letter of resignation to House Speaker Dennis Hastert,according to Ney's chief of staff, David Popp. "I can confirm the letter has been delivered to the speaker," Popp said in an electronic mail message to the Associated Press. The speaker's office would not confirm whether it had received the letter. Ney pleaded guilty Oct. 13 to conspiracy and making false statements, acknowledging taking trips, tickets, meals and campaign donations from disgraced lobbyist Abramoff in return for official actions on behalf of Abramoff clients. Read The Full Story 7 U.S. Soldiers Killed In Iraq 2006-11-03 17:07:15 Seven U.S. service members died yesterday in Iraq due to enemy action, the U.S. military said today. The deaths were announced as U.S. National Intelligence Director John Negroponte met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad to discuss security issues. The new fatalities follow one of the deadliest months for U.S. troops since the Iraq war began in March 2003. In October, 105 U.S. service members were killed, the most in a single month since January 2005. Read The Full Story Inside The Shocking HBO Film That Rocks The Voting Process 2006-11-03 17:06:02 Intellpuke: Thursday night, HBO aired a documentary - "Hacking Democracy" - about how easy it is for hackers to break into computerized voting machines and alter the outcome of elections. I watched the film and found it to be very well done and very, very troubling because I still believe in the people's right to choose their government representatives through a free and unfettered electoral process. The film shattered any remaining naivete I may have had on that topic. If you didn't see the documentary, I'm sure HBO will air again before Nov. 7th. In the interview below, TVGuide journalist Matt Webb Mitovich interview Bev Harris who is prominent in the film. The interview, which was conducted before the documentary aired, follows: HBO's Hacking Democracy tells the story of Bev Harris, a grandmother and writer who started investigating the subject of electronic voting in 2002 after questioning her county's switch to electronic touch-screen voting machines. Unsatisfied with their explanation, Harris set out to learn about electronic voting systems on her own, and in doing so stumbled upon shocking revelations about the vulnerability of the software and hardware. Harris, who went on to form the watchdog group BlackBoxVoting.org, recently spoke with TVGuide.com about her illuminating, though unsettling, journey. TVGuide.com: Have you read any of this week's news stories, about Diebold [a leading manufacturer of voting systems] asking HBO to slap a disclaimer on the documentary? Bev Harris: They haven't seen the real film at all. TVGuide.com: Apparently they are taking issue with, among other things, the hacking demonstration which shows how central tabulators can be tampered with by modifying a single memory card [on which a single machine's votes are recorded]. Harris: It's interesting they would bring that up because the State of California commissioned its own independent study, Diebold was ordered to cooperate with the study, and all of the scientists said, "The hack is real, and it is dangerous." And they found 16 additional vulnerabilities. You have to sort of decide who it is that has more credibility - a manufacturer that wants to sell a system, or six independent scientists commissioned by the State of California. Read The Full Story Plan To Establish Government Operated Slave Labor Camps In The US 2006-11-03 12:41:08   Earlier this week, we ran a story on the $385 million contract to Halliburton to build detainment facilities on domestic US military bases for an emergency influx of immigrants; to support the rapid development of new programs; in the event of other emergencies, such as natural disaster.  This was an update to previous stories throughout the year on the same plan.   In several stories over the last month, we've reviewed the "Military Commissions Act of 2006", which effectively does away with Habeas Corpus.  If you are considered to be an enemy of the state, through action or otherwise, you can and will be thrown in prison.  Lets not forget that the pseudo-trial that you may receive will have evidence of your own confessions given up during torture.  Well, not torture by the new definition.  You'll keep most of your limbs, and you may survive, but you'll be living a whole new life for what you were forced to say.  Now US Army Regulation 210-35 "Civilian Inmate Labor Program" been brought to our attention.  Who needs to pay for labor, when you can use the prison population for your slave labor. Read The Full Story News Blog: Documentary Film Turns Black Gold Into Black Death 2006-11-03 00:57:19 Intellpuke: The following news blog is by Guardian Unlimited correspondent Mark Oliver, reporting from the 13th International Documentary Film Festival held in Sheffield, England. In it, Mr. Oliver on a Swiss documentary titlled "A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash". His news blog begins here: "Oil is the excrement of the devil ... oil is the bloodstream of the world economy, oil is the blood of the dinosaurs, blood of the earth." This is from the opening of "A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash", a Swiss-made documentary, and one of the most frightening films you are ever likely to see. A parade of oil industry experts, politicians and academics outline in shocking detail just how badly life could be impacted after the world's oil reserves have peaked - and claim we are just about at the peak now. Standards of living - not just for the developing world but also for the West - could be forced to dramatically shrink. Read The Full Story Foreign Lobbies Take Guise Of Non-Profits 2006-11-03 00:56:07 Early last year, two little-known nonprofit groups paid for U.S. Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-California) and his 12-year-old daughter to travel to South Korea and Malaysia. Their last stop was the Berjaya Beach & Spa Resort on the Malaysian island of Langkawi, where they bunked at an oceanfront chalet staffed with a personal butler, got massages and rode water scooters on Burau Bay. Doolittle's junket, which cost $29,400, was among the most expensive privately sponsored trips by members of Congress in recent years. The two groups that split the bills were not ordinary nonprofits. They were fronts for vigorous lobbying campaigns bankrolled by foreign entities and were operated by a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm, Alexander Strategy Group, according to public records and people who worked with the firm. For five years beginning in 2001, the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council and the U.S.-Malaysia Exchange Association treated 12 members of Congress and 31 Capitol Hill staffers and their relatives to nearly $500,000 in trips that included stops at U.S. and overseas resorts, records show. Read The Full Story Poll: Allies Believe Bush More Dangerous Than Kim Jong-il 2006-11-03 00:54:36 America is now seen as a threat to world peace by its closest neighbors and allies, according to an international survey of public opinion published Friday that reveals just how far the country's reputation has fallen among former supporters since the invasion of Iraq. Carried out as U.S. voters prepare to go to the polls next week in an election dominated by the war, the research also shows that British voters see George Bush as a greater danger to world peace than either the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, or the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both countries were once cited by the U.S. president as part of an "axis of evil", but it is Bush who now alarms voters in countries with traditionally strong links to the U.S. The survey has been carried out by the Guardian in Britain and leading newspapers in Israel (Haaretz), Canada (La Presse and Toronto Star) and Mexico (Reforma), using professional local opinion polling in each country. Read The Full Story U.S. General: Iraq A 'Work Of Art In Progress' 2006-11-03 00:53:28 An American general in Baghdad called Iraq a "work of art" in progress Thursday in one of the most extraordinary attempts by the U.S. military leadership to put a positive spin on the worsening violence. On a day in which 49 people were killed or found dead around the country, Major General William Caldwell, the chief military spokesman, argued that Iraq was in transition, a process that was "not always a pleasant thing to watch. "Every great work of art goes through messy phases while it is in transition. A lump of clay can become a sculpture. Blobs of paint become paintings which inspire," Maj. Gen. Caldwell told journalists in Baghdad's fortified green zone. Read The Full Story	U.S. Seeks To Silence Detainees, Claims Interrogation Methods Are National Security 2006-11-04 00:04:44 The Bush administration has told a federal judge that terrorism suspects held in secret CIA prisons should not be allowed to reveal details of the "alternative interrogation methods" that their captors used to get them to talk. The government says in new court filings that those interrogation methods are now among the nation's most sensitive national security secrets and that their release - even to the detainees' own attorneys - "could reasonably be expected to cause extremely grave damage." Terrorists could use the information to train in counter-interrogation techniques and foil government efforts to elicit information about their methods and plots, according to government documents submitted to U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton on Oct. 26. The battle over legal rights for terrorism suspects detained for years in CIA prisons centers on Majid Khan, a 26-year-old former Catonsville resident who was one of 14 high-value detainees transferred in September from the "black" sites to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents many detainees at Guantanamo, is seeking emergency access to him. Read The Full Story Newspapers For Military Say 'Rumsfeld Must Go' 2006-11-04 00:03:16 Just days after President Bush publicly affirmed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's job security through the end of his term, a family of publications catering to the military will publish an editorial calling for the defense secretary's removal. The editorial, released to NBC News on Friday ahead of its Monday publication date, stated, "It is one thing for the majority of Americans to think Rumsfeld has failed. But when the nation's current military leaders start to break publicly with their defense secretary, then it is clear that he is losing control of the institution he ostensibly leads." The editorial will appear just one day before the midterm election, in which GOP candidates have been losing ground, according to recent polls. "This is not about the midterm elections," continued the editorial, which will appear in the Army Times, Air Force Times, Navy Times, and Marine Corps Times on Monday. "Regardless of which party wins Nov. 7, the time has come, Mr. President, to face the hard bruising truth: Donald Rumsfeld must go." Read The Full Story North Korea Wants Japan Out Of Nuke Talks 2006-11-04 00:01:45 North Korea lashed out at Japanese officials as "political imbeciles" on Saturday for saying they will not accept the communist nation as a nuclear power, and said Tokyo should not take part in revived talks on the North's atomic program. North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "there is no need for Japan to participate in (the talks) as a local delegate because it is no more than a state of the U.S. and it is enough for Tokyo just to be informed of the results of the talks by Washington." Japan is a common target for the North Korea's hostile rhetoric, stemming from Tokyo's imperial occupation of the Korean peninsula in the early 20th century. The North has called before for Japan to be excluded from the talks. Read The Full Story Bush Names Exxon Chief To Chart America's Energy Future 2006-11-03 17:09:40 Intellpuke: The following article is from bushgreenwatch.org , a website dedicated to keeping track of George W. Bush's "environmental misdeeds", to use the site's own words. The following article had merit and is well worth the read. It begins here: Even for an administration dedicated to putting industry lobbyists in charge of the very agencies they have devoted their careers to undermining (coal and oil lobbyist J. Stephen Griles as Deputy Secretary of the Interior is one of dozens of examples), President Bush has recently outdone himself. He has named Lee Raymond, the retired chief of ExxonMobil, to head a key study to help America chart a cleaner course for our energy needs. Raymond currently chairs the National Petroleum Council (NPC), one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman says the study will address the supply and demand of oil as well as “…assess the potential contribution of conservation, efficiency, alternative energy sources, and technology advances” and determine “the potential long term impact of alternative energies that are plentiful, affordable, reliable and transportable.” Energy Department Under Secretary David Garman, added that the NPC is “well qualified to provide a balanced and informed perspective on strategies and action affecting the energy future for both the U.S. and for every country on earth.” Read The Full Story Shia Militia Blamed For Latest Baghad Deaths, 56 Bodies Found In 24 Hours 2006-11-03 17:08:28 Sectarian death squads are being blamed for the torture and murder of 56 men whose bodies were found scattered around Baghdad over a 24-hour period, during Thursday and Friday. Baghdad police said that the victims, all men between around 20 and 45 years old, had been wearing civilian clothes and were bound at the wrists and ankles. Baghdad police lieutenant Mohammed Khayon said the bodies showed signs of having been tortured, a common practice among religious extremists who snatch people from their homes or cars and buses. Read The Full Story 'Don't Miss The Boat' Saudi Investment Chief Tells China 2006-11-03 17:06:33 China should invest in Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical sector or risk becoming a victim of the Gulf nation’s bid to use its energy reserves to become an industry leader. “Don’t’ miss the boat,” Amr Al-Dabbagh, governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), told Chinese investors at the closing session of the CEO Forum in Beijing Thursday. His speech on “Beyond the intent to performance” was a strong message to over 400 top global CEOs who took part in the event organized by Business Week. Dabbagh not only outlined the method by which SAGIA would position the Kingdom as one of the top 10 most competitive nations by 2010 (10x10 strategy), but also outlined the strategic possibilities between the Kingdom and one of the strongest economies. Read The Full Story Israeli Troops Open Fire On Women Outside Mosques 2006-11-03 17:04:40 Two Palestinian women were killed and another 10 were reported wounded when Israeli forces Friday opened fire on a group preparing to act as a human shield for militants in a Gaza mosque. Dozens of women were gathering outside the mosque in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip this morning after an appeal on a local radio station. More than 30 gunmen had taken refuge in the building after the Israeli army began its largest Gaza offensive in months in an attempt to stop militants launching rocket attacks on nearby Jewish settlements over the border. Television pictures showed at least 50 women making their way along a pavement when shots could be heard ringing out. They started to flee in terror and at least two women were left lying on the ground. Witnesses said two women, both aged about 40, were killed, and 10 others were wounded. The Israeli army said troops spotted two militants hiding in the crowd of women and opened fire. Read The Full Story Congress Tells Auditor In Iraq To Close Office 2006-11-03 00:57:46 Investigations led by a Republican lawyer named Stuart W. Bowen, Jr., in Iraq have sent American occupation officials to jail on bribery and conspiracy charges, exposed disastrously poor construction work by well-connected companies like Halliburton and Parsons, and discovered that the military did not properly track hundreds of thousands of weapons it shipped to Iraqi security forces. And tucked away in a huge military authorization bill that President Bush signed two weeks ago is what some of  Bowen’s supporters believe is his reward for repeatedly embarrassing the administration: a pink slip. The order comes in the form of an obscure provision that terminates his federal oversight agency, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, on Oct. 1, 2007. The clause was inserted by the Republican side of the House Armed Services Committee over the objections of Democratic counterparts during a closed-door conference, and it has generated surprise and some outrage among lawmakers who say they had no idea it was in the final legislation. Read The Full Story U.S. Web Archive Said To Reveal How To Build Atomic Bomb 2006-11-03 00:56:49 Last March, the federal government set up a Web site to make public a vast archive of Iraqi documents captured during the war. The Bush administration did so under pressure from Congressional Republicans who had said they hoped to “leverage the Internet” to find new evidence of the prewar dangers posed by Saddam Hussein.  But in recent weeks, the site has posted some documents that weapons experts say are a danger themselves: detailed accounts of Iraq'ssecret nuclear research before the 1991 Persian Gulf war. The documents, the experts say, constitute a basic guide to building an atom bomb. Last night, the government shut down the Web site after the New York Times asked about complaints from weapons experts and arms-control officials. A spokesman for the director of national intelligence said access to the site had been suspended “pending a review to ensure its content is appropriate for public viewing.” Read The Full Story Democrats Predict Voter I.D. Problems 2006-11-03 00:55:20 On Indiana's primary day, U.S. Rep. Julia Carson shoved her congressional identification card in a pocket, ran out of her house and raced down the street to be at her polling site when it opened at 6 a.m. The Democrat, seeking to represent Indianapolis for a sixth term, showed the card to a poll worker, who told her it was unacceptable under a new state law that requires every voter to show proof of identity. The law compels voters to show an I.D., issued by Indiana or the federal government, with a photograph and an expiration date. Carson's card was for the 109th Congress, but did not say when the session ends. "I just thought I was carrying the right thing - if you have a card that has a picture and shows it is current," she said. In the end, the poll worker telephoned a boss, and Carson was allowed to vote for herself in the five-way primary. But her close call in the light turnout of the May primary, she and other Democrats say, foreshadows turmoil and votes that are not counted when the nation goes to the polls for Tuesday's midterm elections. Read The Full Story Accused Of Gay Liaison, Head Of National Evangelical Group Resigns 2006-11-03 00:53:57 The Rev. Ted Haggard, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals and one of the nation’s most influential Christian leaders, resigned on Thursday, one day after a former male prostitute in Denver, Colorado,  said in television and radio interviews that he had had a three-year sexual relationship with Haggard. Haggard, who is married and has five children, has denied the accusation, saying in a television interview: “I am steady with my wife. I’m faithful to my wife.” He also said he had never met the man making the accusation. In addition to resigning from his post with the association, which represents millions of Christians from 60 denominations, Haggard said he was temporarily stepping down as head pastor of his 14,000-member Colorado Springs megachurch, New Life. He said he did not want his work to be hampered by the independent inquiry the church was starting. Read The Full Story
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