World-News

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14565762.htm


Informant: NHNE

Middle East analyst Flynt Leverett, who served under President Bush on the National Security Council and is now a fellow at the New America Foundation, revealed today that the White House has been blocking the publication of an op-ed he wrote for the New York Times. The column is critical of the administration's refusal to engage Iran.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606G.shtml

Carne Ross wrestled with his conscience for three more months after he secretly submitted evidence to the Butler Committee about the use of pre-war intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Ross was back in the spotlight last month, following his revelation to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee that he had testified to Butler, and that he was prepared to share the information.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606F.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=weapons+of+mass+destruction

A few days after the September 11, 2001, attacks, the CIA station chief in Rome paid a visit to the head of Italy's military intelligence agency, Adm. Gianfranco Battelli, to float a proposal: Would the Italian secret services help the CIA kidnap terrorism suspects and fly them out of the country? This initial secret contact and others that followed, disclosed in newly released documents, show the speed and breadth with which the CIA applied in post-9/11 Europe a tactic it had long reserved for the Third World - "extraordinary rendition," the extrajudicial abduction of Islamic radicals overseas for interrogation in friendly countries.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606D.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=extraordinary+rendition
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=secret+prison+program

Incoming Democratic committee chairmen say they will hold a series of hearings and investigations early next year to build the case for their call for a phased withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and for possible action against defense contractors found to have wasted billions in federal funds.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606C.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=wiretap

Speaking to a reporter about the Iraq war and his run for the White House in 2008, Democratic senator Dennis Kucinich said, "People aren't looking for the Democrats to be better managers of the war, they want the Democrats to end the war and to bring our troops home."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606B.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Kucinich
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bring+troops+home

The White House has approved a $468.9 billion budget for the Pentagon in fiscal year 2008, a six percent increase over last year's request, according to a Defense Department document obtained by Reuters. It is also asking the Pentagon to cover some Army and Marine Corps war costs in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the regular budget, rather than through emergency budget requests. The 2008 budget request is $4.7 billion more than the level the Pentagon forecast in its 2007 budget documents.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606A.shtml

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,453906,00.html


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=dollar+drop

Bob Barr, who once represented Georgia in Congress, has left the Republican Party to join the Libertarian Party, the Libertarian National Committee announced.

http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewFreeUse.act?fuid=MjQ2MjQz


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=GOP

Two-thirds of Americans believe that the FBI and other federal agencies are intruding on privacy rights as part of terrorism investigations, but they remain divided over whether such tactics are justified, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released yesterday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/12/AR2006121201310_pf.html


From Information Clearing House

Washington will send more troops to Afghanistan if need be, Senator John McCain said Saturday, while urging European allies to send their troops to the country's restive south.

http://tinyurl.com/t9gmo



McCain's Character

As someone who has known McCain for 32 years, I can unequivocally state that he should be nowhere near the Oval Office.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/7/11/93801.shtml


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=McCain

President George W Bush is poised to increase troop numbers in Iraq as part of a dramatic new strategy designed to regain control of Baghdad and suffocate the Sunni insurgency.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/16/wirq116.xml



U.S. preparing surge of forces into Iraq?

The 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division is expected in Kuwait shortly after the new year, a senior Defense Department official told The Associated Press on Friday. The official requested anonymity because the plans had not yet been announced.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16234949/


From Information Clearing House

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Up to 50,000 Troops May Soon Be Sent to Iraq

Military planners and White House budget analysts have been asked to provide President Bush with options for increasing American forces in Iraq. Officials said that the options being considered included the deployment of upwards of 50,000 additional troops, but that the political, training and recruiting obstacles to an increase larger than 20,000 to 30,000 troops would be prohibitive.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606Y.shtml

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Joint Chiefs Oppose Bush Plan to Add Troops

The Joint Chiefs think the White House, after a month of talks, still does not have a defined mission and is latching on to the surge idea in part because of limited alternatives, despite warnings about the potential disadvantages for the military, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House review is not public.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121906B.shtml

By J.D. Suss

The Democratic tide in the recent elections is, potentially at least, a force to be reckoned with. Now, citizens-who-care can watch to see if these new members of Congress will squander their mandate in hopelessly fruitless witch hunts on the so-called “issues,” while the real culprit continues to bedevil them. That real culprit? – corpocracy[i] (rhymes with “hypocrisy”).

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15924.htm

By Paul Krugman

It's the biggest untold economic story of our time: more of the nation's bounty held in fewer and fewer hands. And Bush's tax cuts are only making the problem worse.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15923.htm



More Americans hungry, homeless in 2006- mayors

By Lisa Lambert

More Americans went homeless and hungry in 2006 than the year before and children made up almost a quarter of those in emergency shelters, said a report released on Thursday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15919.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Paul+Krugman

Informant: Jack Topel

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View The Video - Sign The Petition
Support H.R. 4232: Introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA)

Click to view
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15920.htm

An organized, robust movement of active-duty US military personnel has publicly surfaced to oppose a war in which they are serving. Those involved plan to petition Congress to withdraw American troops from Iraq. Not since 1969, when some 1,300 active-duty military personnel signed an open letter in the New York Times opposing the war in Vietnam, has there been such a dramatic barometer of rising military dissent.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606Z.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=redress

A message from Linda

Original Message

I have just read and signed the petition: "SOS: Elephants are not 'Party Animals'"

Please take a moment to read about this important issue, and join me in signing the petition. It takes just 30 seconds, but can truly make a difference. Please sign here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/464562377

' Thanks!

Five Iraqi trade union federations have condemned federal oil law negotiations for being too corporation-friendly. The leaders of the five federations meeting in Amman released a statement Thursday, urging a pause in negotiations over a law to govern Iraq's 115 billion barrels of oil reserves, the third-largest in the world.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/121506LA.shtml

Two-thirds of the forests in the Congo River Basin could disappear within 50 years if logging and mineral exploitation continue at current rates, the environmental group WWF said in a report.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/121506EC.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Congo

"Many secretly perceive global warming to be an insoluble problem and respond by circling the family wagons and turning inward. Yet science shows that human beings are born with powerful tools for solving this quandary. We have the genetic smarts and the cultural smarts. We have the technological know-how. We even have the inclination," writes Julia Whitty.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/121506EB.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=global+warming

Former vice president Al Gore, who brought the message of a climate in crisis to the general public, carried the gospel back to those who gave him the data, urging more than 5,000 scientists studying the earth and its climate to vociferously educate the public to the graveness of global warming.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/121506EA.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gore
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=global+warming

Roughly 360 men have been released from the Guantanamo Bay detention center since it opened in January 2002. Hundreds of the detainees have been transferred from Guantanamo Bay to other countries. Once the detainees arrived in other countries, 205 of the 245 were either freed without being charged or were cleared of charges related to their detention at Guantanamo.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121506S.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Guantanamo
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gitmo
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=detention

Kelpie Wilson describes the controversial issue of carbon storage: "Non-governmental organizations that advocate for forests and indigenous people have worked hard to exclude the use of forestry credits to offset fossil fuel burning, and with good reason," writes Wilson. "The rural poor pay twice - once by suffering the effects of climate change caused by affluent countries, and again by having their land taken to offset the guilt of affluent people," says Wilson.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121506R.shtml

U.S. and Chinese leaders clashed publicly on the opening day of strategic economic talks, with Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. pushing China to revalue its currency and Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi saying Americans do not have a full understanding of the situation.

http://tinyurl.com/y8qpog



Lights, Cameras, Little Action at Talks

There was bullying, with several reminders from the Americans that the United States is China's No. 1 export customer -- the implication being that the wide-open U.S. market could slam shut if the Chinese aren't careful.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121500290.html


From Information Clearing House

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15914.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Mike+Whitney
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=baker+plan

President Bush is weighing whether to make a deeper American commitment in Iraq despite growing public unhappiness with the war, according to senior U.S. officials and former officials familiar with Bush's high-level review.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/nation/16241778.htm



Graham Says 20-Thousand More Troops Needed In Iraq

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham says about 20,000 more American troops are needed if Iraq is going to establish a working democracy.

http://www.abcnews4.com/news/stories/1206/380238.html



U.S. considers 35,000 more troops for Iraq

Senator John McCain said that U.S. military commanders were discussing the possibility of adding as many as 10 more U.S. combat brigades — a maximum of about 35,000 troops — to "bring the situation under control" while Iraq's divided political leaders seek solutions to the worsening bloodshed here.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/15/news/military.php



Despite Its $168 Billion Budget

The Army Faces a Cash Crunch: At a time when the war in Iraq is deepening, and debate over pulling out the troops is intensifying, the rising cost of waging the fight is outpacing even the Army's huge budget. The financial squeeze is leaving the Army short of equipment and key personnel.

http://tinyurl.com/yyr2w5



Democrats Expected to Increase U.S. Military Spending

This year's Pentagon budget is $436 billion. That amount does not include more than $140 billion that's being spent this year alone on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/143817/1/


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=McCain

The Iraqi Red Crescent accused U.S. forces on Friday of carrying out a spate of attacks on its offices over the last three years during operations to flush out suspected militants.

http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=IBO549337


From Information Clearing House

By Charles Sullivan

The booming credit card business is one of the most profitable and destructive industries to ever emerge from the inventive capitalist mind. Citibank is raking in more money than Microsoft and Wal-Mart. Obscene profits are realized without lifting a finger to perform any physical work. In 2004 a single credit card company—the MBNA—realized 1.5 times the profits of fast food industry giant McDonald’s. Collecting on credit card debt is a very lucrative business.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15910.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Charles+Sullivan

BY Con Coughlin

The hard core of detainees held at America's Guantanamo Bay detention camp will be held indefinitely even if there is insufficient evidence to bring them to trial, a senior Bush administration official said.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15911.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Guantanamo
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=detention
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture

By John Grant

What makes this case so insidious is that, according to a psychiatrist who examined him over a 22-hour period, the treatment Padilla received in the South Carolina brig was such that he now "lacks the capacity to assist in his own defense." In other words, a U.S. citizen was secretly worked over for 21 months to the point he is unable to think well enough to engage with his lawyer.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15909.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Padilla
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture

By Mike Wwhitney

Muqtada al-Sadr is the most powerful man in the country, the de-facto sovereign of Iraq. He oversees the 60,000 man Mahdi Army which currently poses no threat to US forces. If Bush turns on him, the occupation will become virtually untenable overnight.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15915.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Mike+Whitney

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should be held accountable for the torture and abuse of detainees in U.S. military custody. That was the argument made last week by the ACLU and Human Rights First before a federal court.

The hearing marked the first time a federal court has considered whether top U.S. officials can be held legally accountable for the torture scandal in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“There must be legal accountability in a court of law for high-ranking government officials who order or allow torture in violation of the most fundamental legal norms that govern our society,” said ACLU attorney Lucas Guttentag, who is lead counsel in the case. “Torture is universally prohibited but Secretary Rumsfeld and the other defendants have not been held responsible for the orders they gave and the abuse they permitted.”

The groundbreaking lawsuit was filed on behalf of nine innocent civilians who were detained by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. While in U.S. custody, the men were subjected to abuse, torture and other cruel and degrading treatment, including severe and repeated beatings, cutting with knives, sexual humiliation and assault, mock executions, death threats, and restraint in contorted and excruciating positions. All of the men were released without charge.

Retired military officers and military legal experts have filed a legal brief in support of the lawsuit. According to the military law experts, “It was the essence of Secretary Rumsfeld and other defendants’ scope of employment to educate and train those within their command responsibility to adhere to domestic and international standards and to do everything within their power to prevent and punish deviations from them.” The experts urged that allowing the federal case to proceed would not intrude into matters of military decision-making, but would reinforce the military’s interest in command responsibility.

Read legal briefs filed in the case, as well as information on the former detainees, online.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=jW0D0uwWtZ1mF9PxUx-EKA..



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=ACLU
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Rumsfeld
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=detention

Let's Gather Signatures on Impeachment Weekend

It's impeachment weekend - let's gather signatures on our impeachment petition: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/petition

Last weekend we organized over 60 successful impeachment events around the country, thanks to your outstanding efforts.

Even FOX News noticed! On Monday, our own David Swanson and former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman went into the lion's den to argue for impeachment on Hannity & Colmes: http://www.democrats.com/node/11407

We're having an impact - Bush's polls are dropping to record lows near 30%. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 when his approval fell to 24%.

But we're not waiting for Bush beat Nixon in a race to the bottom. Congressional Democrats should begin impeachment hearings right after they complete their 100 hour agenda in early January.

If you haven't already, please sign our Ten Reasons to Impeach Bush and Cheney Petition online: http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/88

Then print this PDF version of our petition, make copies, and collect signatures from friends and neighbors.

One good place to collect names is right in front of your Representative's office, if there is passing foot traffic. You should bring a big sign so your Representative (and staff) can't miss it. Other good locations are busy malls, libraries, and post offices. Be creative! You can also go door-to-door in your neighborhood and bring your petition to work or church.

Collect and submit names anytime, but especially on Impeachment Weekend, December 16-17, 2006.

If you'd prefer to collect petitions with a group, join your local Impeachment Committee: http://democrats.com/cdic-find or help us organize one: http://www.democrats.com/cdic


Collecting Petitions on the Street

It's not easy to get the attention of passing strangers, so here is the 5-second pitch we use as passersby come into earshot:

"Would you sign our petition to impeach Bush and Cheney?"

If they agree, you hand them the clipboard and they sign, and while they are signing you can say:

"We will deliver this petition to our Congressman, Joe Blow. You can have even more impact if you send an email to him directly, so if you don't mind we will email you with the link to our online petition. And if you have a few extra minutes right now, we have paper so you can send a handwritten letter, which is the best of all - and we'll deliver it personally.

Thank you so much for your support!"


Put a graphic link to the petition on your website with this link: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/petition


Urge House Democrats to Begin Impeachment in the First 100 Hours

Impeachment is not on the Democrats' priority list, but you can write it in: http://www.dccc.org/100hours/survey


Forward this message to everyone you know!



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=impeach
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,236796,00.html


Informant: ranger116



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Disney

http://tinyurl.com/y64qhe

http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/1215-02.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Maher+Arar
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=rendition

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1215-25.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=impeach
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1215-30.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+Study+Group

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1215-21.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Heather+Wokusch

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1215-27.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Katrina+vanden+Heuvel

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1215-20.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pierre+Tristam

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1215-10.htm

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U.S. Subpoenas ACLU to Confiscate Document, ACLU Fights Back

The ACLU went to court this week to fight off a government subpoena demanding that we turn over to the FBI “any and all copies” of a December 2005 government document in our possession.

"The government's attempt to suppress information using the grand jury process is truly chilling and is unprecedented in law and in the ACLU's history," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "This subpoena serves no legitimate investigative purpose and tramples on fundamental First Amendment rights. We recognize this maneuver for what it is: a patent attempt to intimidate and impede the work of human rights advocates like the ACLU who seek to expose government wrongdoing."

The three-and-a-half page document, issued in December 2005, is marked "Secret" and apparently is classified. The ACLU received the document, unsolicited, on October 23, 2006.

While release of the document might be "mildly embarrassing" to the government, the ACLU's possession of it is legal and its release could in no way threaten national security. To the contrary, the designation of the generally unremarkable document as "Secret" "appears to be a striking, yet typical, example of overclassification."

"No official secrets act has yet been signed into law, and the grand jury's subpoena power cannot be used to create one," said ACLU Legal Director Steven R. Shapiro. "The most significant thing about this case is not the content of the document but the government's unprecedented effort to suppress it."

If the government can enforce a subpoena in this way, it could just as easily have subpoenaed the Pentagon Papers from The New York Times and The Washington Post. The effect of the subpoena is no different than a prior restraint and it is equally unconstitutional.

We recognize this maneuver for what it is, as I'm sure you do. It's a patent attempt to intimidate and impede the work of human rights advocates like the ACLU who seek to expose government wrongdoing.

Many of the most important news articles of the past year (such as those concerning NSA eavesdropping, rendition of foreign prisoners of our nation to other nations, and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's views on the deteriorating situation in Iraq) have been based on classified documents leaked to reporters, which could not be prepared and published as they have been were the government allowed to use subpoenas to confiscate 'any and all' copies of classified documents it learns are in the hands of journalists and other public advocates and critics.

Although the subpoena refers to the Espionage Act, the ACLU has been told that it is not a target of the investigation. "The ACLU is not a target for investigation because we have done nothing wrong," said Romero. "It is the government that is in the wrong when it abuses its power and attempts to silence its critics."

Read the ACLU’s Motion to Quash online.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=bsTZFhINdKkQFnk5bnYQbw..

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Subpoena seen as a bid by U.S. administration to stop leaks

Federal prosecutors are trying to force the American Civil Liberties Union to turn over copies of a classified document it received from a source, using what legal experts called a new extension of the Bush administration's efforts to protect national-security secrets.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/14/news/leak.php


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=ACLU
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=subpoena

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1215-02.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=impeach
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1215-03.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Watada

http://www.lewrockwell.com/chartier/chartier50.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/chartier

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/mccarthy1.html

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We Were All Children Then
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1215-22.htm