The Bush administration said yesterday that it plans to start using the nation’s most advanced spy technology for domestic purposes soon, rebuffing challenges by House Democrats over the idea’s legal authority.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department will activate his department’s new domestic satellite surveillance office in stages, starting as soon as possible with traditional scientific and homeland security activities — such as tracking hurricane damage, monitoring climate change and creating terrain maps.
On numerous occasions, Sen. Jay Rockefeller has claimed he was unable to do anything about any of the Bush administration’s illegal counter-terrorism programs (torture, warrantless eavesdropping, etc.) because “secrecy requirements” prevented him from speaking out publicly against the administration’s policies. Rockefeller’s, like Jane Harman’s, claims are simply flat out lies (see here).
Here is Rockefeller repeating his lies yesterday on CBS’s Face the Nation, when Bob Schieffer asks him about the Washington Post’s article yesterday exposing Rockefeller’s, and other Democrats, role supporting the Bush administration’s illegal torture policies.
Watch it:
Prior to Schieffer asking Rockefeller about the Post’s article, Schieffer asked him about the CIA destroying videotapes of the detainees’ interrogations. Rockefeller squirmed, had to search for answers, and when he had answers…well, they were at best answers-lite, to put it nicely. Video to follow soon.
In my last post on the WaPo’s article eviscerating Democratic leaders (Pelosi, Rockefeller Harman, et al.) for supporting/enabling the Bush administration’s torture-policies and program, with minor exceptions, I did not want to judge too quickly until more information is released. There’s always a story to follow The Story and thereby the potential for the unknowns to change the overall dynamics — negatively or positively. But there are a few areas that don’t require patience — full knee-jerk reaction is totally acceptable.
If taken at face value, the article is a damning indictment of Democratic leaders in Congress that may prove them to be as guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity as the Bush administration (Oval Office to the specific interrogator(s)). But, I’m confident more information will be forthcoming and not so confident that it will be vindicating for the Elite Democratic Beltway Establishment.
Regardless of what the news looks like in the future, there are two inescapable elements to this albatross: the crap that Harman and Rockefeller have been trying to pull by declaring themselves “helpless” because of secrecy requirements. No matter what revelations come forth (or not) in the future, they’ve already played their hand, and there is no returning to the game. If they firmly believed that pathetic storyline, they have no business being on an intelligence committee, much less holding office as a Senator or Representative. Voters in West Virginia and California need to throw the bums out when their respective terms expire. That of course presumes they manage to avoid criminal prosecution before reelection time.
Moreover, Jay Rockefeller needs to be removed immediately as Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. This complicit clown is going to lead an investigation into his own malfeasance? It’s ludicrous to even consider the notion of Rockefeller being privileged to intelligence committee information given his record (torture, FISA, etc.), much less allowing him to quietly sweep his own trash out the door just like he has for the Bush administration.
In general terms, a special prosecutor needs to be assigned. It has been well established the administration and their GOP water-carriers in Congress cannot be trusted, and without some immediate credible contradiction from Democratic leaders that have supported this torture fiasco all along, they can no longer be trusted either. As presented, they are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites, whose last resort may be someone exposing the WaPo’s article as actual Republican propaganda, which would not surprise me given the Post’s history and the way the article was written. It almost looks like a fill-in-the-blanks form from Karl Rove’s playbook.
On a bit of a side note, it’s rather interesting to see how Democratic presidential candidates have responded to the issues over the past week. John Edwards and Joe Biden seem to be the only candidates taking note of what’s happening inside the Beltway and responding accordingly.
I’m really surprised with the absence or inaccessibility of statements by Obama on important issues of the day. Either Obama does not have any statements on his campaign’s web site about emerging issues, or they are hidden quite well. Good luck trying to find anything that is not Oprah related.
As for Hillary, there are tons of releases but its just BS in the form of all-Hillary-all-the-time. Endorsements here, endorsements there, Hillary issues a plan to get Ken and Barbie back together, blah, blah, blah. A quick sample from Hillary’s site:
Hillary Clinton Newsroom - Partial Listing
12/9
Clinton Declares Need for “New Beginning” in New Iowa TV Ad
12/8
Congressman Dennis Cardoza (CA-18) Endorses Hillary
12/8
Clinton Proposes Agenda To Help Seniors And Their Families Afford Quality Long-Term Care
12/7
Iowan Among Former Ambassadors and Diplomats Highlighting Clinton’s Foreign Policy Experience
12/7
Diplomats Back Clinton’s Foreign Policy
12/7
Morning HUBdate: Memory Lane
12/7
State Senator Roger Stewart’s Statement Following Today’s NPR Debate in Iowa
12/7
Hillary Clinton Statement on Alliant Energy’s Plan to Build New Wind Turbine Farm in North-Central Iowa
12/7
Clinton Campaign Ramps Up Outreach To Women Of Iowa
12/7
Hillary Clinton’s Statement on the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali
12/7
Clinton to Bush: Get Congressional Approval Before Moving Forward on US-Iraq Security Agreement
12/7
Clinton Campaign Launches Nevada LGBT Leadership Council
12/6
NEA-NH Endorses Senator Hillary Clinton
Edwards and Biden stay on top of the issues and issue statements, with Edwards holding a slight edge. Their statements may be a bit boiler-plate, but at least they’ve taken a position and recognize something is happening in the world other than themselves.
An article in the Washington Post today provides previously undisclosed information about when and who in Congress was briefed on the administration’s torture policies, and raises several questions congressional leaders need to address, especially Democratic leaders.
In September 2002, four members of Congress met in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. For more than an hour, the bipartisan group, which included current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was given a virtual tour of the CIA’s overseas detention sites and the harsh techniques interrogators had devised to try to make their prisoners talk.
Among the techniques described, said two officials present, was waterboarding, a practice that years later would be condemned as torture by Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill. But on that day, no objections were raised. Instead, at least two lawmakers in the room asked the CIA to push harder, two U.S. officials said.
“The briefer was specifically asked if the methods were tough enough,” said a U.S. official who witnessed the exchange.
A key issue is why lawmakers in oversight roles, “with one known exception,” did not renounce the torture techniques until two years and “about 30 private briefings” later. What could possibly justify lawmakers’ attitudes described as: “We don’t care what you do to those guys as long as you get the information you need to protect the American people.” Democrats with oversight responsibility during that period were Nancy Pelosi, Jane Harman, Bob Graham and Jay Rockefeller; however, “Graham said he has no memory of ever being told about waterboarding or other harsh tactics.”
An excuse Jane Harman provides is especially troubling. According to Harman:
When you serve on intelligence committee you sign a second oath — one of secrecy. I was briefed, but the information was closely held to just the Gang of Four. I was not free to disclose anything.
I do not know what provisions the supplemental oath may contain, but I find it hard to believe that it or any other committee-related oath takes precedence over their Congressional Oath. Last week I noted my concerns about committee members’ secrecy requirements supposedly preventing them from engaging activities that are detrimental to the nation and are contradictory to their Congressional Oath. Secrecy at the expense of the nation’s best interests is reprehensible.
Their solemn oaths withstanding, we do not know what the Bush administration presented to the leaders of the intelligence committees nor the context in which it may have been presented. Time-after-time the administration has made extravagant lies and employed extraordinary fear-mongering in order to achieve its objectives. And as the Post appropriately notes, the initial briefings “were closer to Sept. 11 and people were still in a panic.”
The initial torture-policies briefing was done in September 2002 – less than one month before George Bush delivered his infamous smoking gun, mushroom cloud speech. Did committee members allow fear to overtake them? Was the content and context of the briefings presented in a manner that the administration instilled fear at a level where the “do whatever it takes” approach was derived from the basic survival instinct? If just four months ago the administration would scare Congress with threats of imminent attacks – including on the Capitol – to get the Protect America Act passed, imagine what committee members were told in sworn secrecy before the invasion of Iraq.
Some may be inclined to grant Congress absolution for the wholesale acceptance of the Bush-Cheney administration’s prelude to invading Iraq – I do not – but no one in Congress can be excused for accepting bogus claims from the administration, regardless of the issue, a few months after the invasion of Iraq.
Lawmakers on the intelligence committees, especially Democratic lawmakers, need to explain their actions (or lack of) with respect to the administration’s torture policies. Furthermore, the matter of committee secrecy trumping lawmakers’ Congressional Oath – at the expense of the nation’s best interests – needs to addressed by Congress as a whole.
Update: Professor Michael Froomkin of the University of Miami School of Law deftly refutes Jane Harman’s (and others) claim, that a committee oath and secrecy agreements prohibited them from acting responsibly and exposing the Bush administration’s illegal torturing of detainees. This is the salient point of Prof. Froomkins argument, however I recommend reading the entire post.
Thanks to the Speech and Debate Clause there was a way for any Senator or Representative who wanted to blow the whistle to do so in a way that involved no risk of jail or fines – at worst they might have lost their security clearances (and even there the law is a little murky).
Article I, section 6 of the Constitution reads as follows,
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
(emphasis added)
The Speech and Debate clause has been interpreted to extend beyond floor speeches, e.g. to committee statements, but it unquestionably applies to floor statements. Thus, it would have been possible for Rep. Harman, or Senator Rockefeller, or the others allegedly briefed to go to the floor, either during the times when members may speak on topics of their choice, or under one of the extraordinary mechanism for privileged statements, and denounce the Bush administration’s determinate to torture helpless captives in secret offshore detention facilities.
Specifically referencing Harman’s second oath, Prof. Froomkin writes:
Serious people take oaths …seriously and are right to do so; but before they took that second oath, they took a first one upon taking office in which they promised to “preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States.” To the extent that the second oath allows the executive to muzzle members of Congress, it is unconstitutional under any theory.
Simply put, Harmans’ secrecy shield and tactics such as Jay Rockefeller’s handwritten note to Dick Cheney are pure rubbish.
When the story broke yesterday on destroying the CIA interrogation videotapes, why did Attorney General Michael Mukasey not issue an immediate preservation order, mandating that all federal government employees not destroy any evidence?
The administration has had two full days and now the entire weekend to rip, tear, and destroy to their heart’s content.
Update: The Justice Department and the CIA’s Inspector General announced Saturday that they had launched a joint preliminary investigation into the CIA’s destruction of the interrogation videotapes, but to my knowledge, Mukasey has yet to issue a preservation order.
It is becoming increasingly clear that Sgt. Schultz of Hogan’s Heroes fame occupies the Oval Office rather than an informed, knowledgeable, and in-command president. As you may recall, Sgt. Schultz became famous for frequently stating, “I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!” George Bush is rapidly adopting the bumbling sergeant’s mantra.
In today’s White House Press Briefing, reporters drilled Dana Perino over when the president was informed about the CIA’s destruction of the interrogation videos in 2005.
Q Thanks. On these CIA videotapes, did either the President or Vice President or Condoleezza Rice, when she was National Security Advisor, or Steve Hadley, see them before they were destroyed?
MS. PERINO: I spoke to the President, and so I will have to defer on the others. But I spoke to the President this morning about this. He has no recollection of being made aware of the tapes or their destruction before yesterday. He was briefed by General Hayden yesterday morning. And as to the others, I’ll have to — I’ll refer you to the Vice President’s office and I’ll see if I can get the others.
Interesting. The CIA allegedly informed a select group of Members of Congress about the destruction of the video tapes in November 2006, but doesn’t tell the President about it until yesterday.
And three days ago, the president declared he knew nothing about Iran stopping its nuclear weapons program until one week before the NIE was released. In fact, he wasn’t even sure who actually told him about the NIE findings.
I was made aware of the NIE last week. In August, I think it was Mike McConnell came in and said, we have some new information.
The Timesrevealed yesterday the CIA possessed and destroyed videotapes documenting their illegal torture of detainees and all of sudden Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is “really sick of this” and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) demands “this matter must be promptly and fully investigated.” Why didn’t these Highly Ethical Democratic Leaders get sick and demand an investigation when they first learned of the tapes and their destruction?
The Highly Ethical Democratic Leaders previously knew about the tapes but did nothing. Harman admitted knowing about the tapes In 2003 and allegedly was concerned they would be destroyed. Although Rockefeller did not specifically state he had knowledge of the tapes in 2003, at minimum he learned the tapes were destroyed in November 2006.
Rep. Jane Harman of California, then the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and one of only four members of Congress informed of the tapes’ existence, said she objected to the destruction when informed of it in 2003.
“I told the CIA that destroying videotapes of interrogations was a bad idea and urged them in writing not to do it,” Harman said. While key lawmakers were briefed on the CIA’s intention to destroy the tapes, they were not notified two years later when the spy agency went through with the plan. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said the committee only learned of the tapes’ destruction in November 2006.
Since Rockefeller was the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2003, it is hard to believe he was not one of the Members of Congress informed of their existence in 2003. In these statements, Rockefeller expresses concern that the tapes were destroyed without his prior knowledge or permission, but there is no denial he was not aware of their existence.
“They destroyed it without letting us know, without asking our permission, without consulting, without informing us in any way,” Rockefeller said. “They just did what the CIA likes to do.”
“…It’s a manipulation of the Congress — the use of two people of the Senate, two people out of the House, because nobody else can be told, including our committee. We can’t even talk to anybody, and they say, ‘Oh, they were briefed.’ ”
Of course there are laws prohibiting the release of classified information, which would amount to treason in certain cases, but surely there is a point when a Senator or Representative must adhere to their Oaths.
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
Where does it say these Highly Ethical Democratic Leaders must ignore their Oath when Dick Cheney, the Director of the CIA, and the Director of National Intelligence informs them of their illegal activities they have deemed classified for the sole purpose of protecting themselves from prosecution?
Update: Glenn Greenwald answering the question "what was Rockefeller and Harman supposed to do," gave this response.
There are countless mechanisms available to a U.S. Senator or Representative to do something about illegal behavior they discover. Anyone — not just someone in such a position — has mechanisms available to them under whistleblower laws to intiate proceedings to investigate illegal government conduct. Why couldn’t they have done that?
They could have also communicated much more aggressively within the government that unless the illegal behavior stopped, they would invoke those mechanisms. Why couldn’t they have done that?
They could also commence closed door investigations to exert oversight over these illegal intelligence activities. The whole point of the SECRET SELECT INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEES is to enable Congress to exercise oversight even over the most secretive governmental conduct, precisely in order to prevent illegal behavior of this sort.
I’m amazed that there are people willing to depict Rockefeller and Harman as some sort of helpless victims who were unable to act. They could have taken numerous steps to impede, if not stop and expose, the criminal conduct of which they became aware. Yet they didn’t — not because they couldn’t, but because they didn’t want to.
Glenn has litigated constitutional law; therefore, his statements reflect an applicable professional basis rather than a layperson’s opinion.
After months of George Bush and Dick Cheney’s logarithmic rhetoric firmly declaring Iran’s intent to build nuclear weapons, all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies have debunked their claims in a recent National Intelligence Estimate. But even when they get it wrong, and are proven so, they are still right as evidenced by the imbecilic ramblings of National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.
There comes a time when the question of whether George Bush or Dick Cheney is telling the truth on any topic no longer applies. That time has passed. Doubt is no longer necessary or even applicable. The pertinent question is: are George Bush and Dick Cheney capable of telling the truth?
Six weeks ago, our fear-mongering president alluded to Iran causing World War III, in a manner strikingly similar to his infamous October 7, 2002 warning: “We cannot wait for the final proof — the smoking gun — that could come in the form of a mushroom.” While many of Bush’s warnings are slightly nuanced, they are readily perceived as and intended to be declarative statements. Consider his World War III threat.
I believe that the Iranian — if Iran had a nuclear weapon, it would be a dangerous threat to world peace.
But this — we got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I’ve told people that if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon. I take the threat of Iran with a nuclear weapon very seriously.
But the same does not apply for the Vice President’s bamboozlement. When threats comes forth from the lips of Dick Cheney, it is a matter of fact. And not once has the Vice President been right — not even close to accurate. Iran is not an exception.
The Iranian regime’s efforts to destabilize the Middle East and to gain hegemonic power is a matter of record. And now, of course, we have the inescapable reality of Iran’s nuclear program; a program they claim is strictly for energy purposes, but which they have worked hard to conceal; a program carried out in complete defiance of the international community and resolutions of the U.N. Security Council. Iran is pursuing technology that could be used to develop nuclear weapons. The world knows this.
Pray tell, what was the basis for Cheney’s “inescapable reality” that existed only six weeks ago, when reality across the intelligence community was so vastly different?
A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains frozen, contradicting judgment two years ago that Tehran was working relentlessly toward building a nuclear bomb.
The new estimate says that enrichment program could still provide Iran with enough raw material to produce a nuclear weapon sometime by the middle of next decade, a timetable essentially unchanged from previous estimates….But the new estimate declares with “high confidence” that a military-run Iranian program intended to transform that raw material into a nuclear weapon has been shut down since 2003.
Americans should forget about all the bamboozling the administration has done and the fact that they were wrong. Instead, according to Stephen Hadley, Numskull Extraordinaire, this is good news. And by the way, there are still plenty of reasons to continue that all-important state of fear.
Today’s National Intelligence Estimate offers some positive news. It confirms that we were right to be worried about Iran seeking to develop nuclear weapons. It tells us that we have made progress in trying to ensure that this does not happen.
But the intelligence also tells us that the risk of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon remains a very serious problem.
In other words, don’t dismiss the fact that Cheney is still hell-bent on attacking Iran and Paul Wolfowitz, returning as Arms Control Adviser, can be the chief architect of the catastrophic plan, again.
“Senate Republicans” on Wednesday “rejected a bipartisan proposal to lengthen the home leaves of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, derailing a measure that war opponents viewed as one of the best chances to force President Bush to accelerate a redeployment of forces,” the Washington Post reports. “The proposal, sponsored by Sens. James Webb (D-Va.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), failed on a 56 to 44 vote, with 60 votes needed for passage — a tally that was virtually identical to a previous vote in July.” See TPC related post.
“A Republican filibuster in the Senate” on Wednesday “shot down a bipartisan effort to restore the right of terrorism suspects to contest in federal courts their detention and treatment, underscoring the Democratic-led Congress’s difficulty with terrorism issues,” the Washington Post reports. “The 56 to 43 vote fell short of the 60 needed to cut off debate and move to a final vote on the amendment to the Senate’s annual defense policy bill.” See TPC related post.
“The Food and Drug Administration would gain new authority to ensure the safety of prescription drugs, including the power to mandate label changes that warn of newly emerging risks, under a bill passed Wednesday by the House,” AP reports. “The bill, heralded as the most significant drug safety legislation in more than 40 years, passed on a 405-7 vote.”
“A bill to offer legal status to illegal immigrant students who have graduated from high school was revived this week in the Senate, the first effort to advance a piece of broad immigration legislation that failed in June,” the New York Times reports. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., “who is an author of the student measure, said Wednesday that he would try this week to offer it as an amendment to the military authorization bill under debate in the Senate.”
“The House on Wednesday passed a 15-year extension of a program to aid the insurance industry in the event of a terrorist attack,” AP reports. “The measure, passed 312-110, is aimed at ensuring that developers can get insurance against losses from potential attacks.”
“House Republican leaders will launch a new offensive in the fight over earmark reform” this morning, “seeking to expand earmark disclosure requirements to tax and authorization bills,” The Hill reports. “Currently, only earmarks in appropriations bills are subject to new transparency requirements.”
WASHINGTON
“President Bush said Wednesday he wants Congress to expand and make permanent a law that temporarily gives the government more power to eavesdrop without warrants on suspected foreign terrorists,” the Washington Post reports. “Without such action, Bush said, ‘our national security professionals will lose critical tools they need to protect our country.’” See TPC related post.
“U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns is expected to resign” today “to clear the way for a Senate campaign in 2008, giving Republicans a welcome dose of good political news,” the Washington Post reports. “President Bush plans a White House announcement” this morning “with Johanns, a senior administration official said Wednesday. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement has not been made, would not confirm that Johanns is resigning.”
“The Bush administration, acknowledging a moral obligation, intends to sharply increase the number of Iraqi refugees it will admit to the United States next year, a senior State Department official said Wednesday,” AP reports. “So far this year, 900 have been given refuge in this country, Ellen Sauerbrey, an assistant secretary of State, told the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom at a hearing on Capitol Hill.”
“The Bush administration on Wednesday appointed two senior officials to clear bureaucratic roadblocks blamed by Washington for the painfully slow pace of admitting Iraqi refugees to the United States,” Reuters reports.
IRAQ
“In another sign of U.S. struggles in Iraq, the target date for putting Iraqi authorities in charge of security in all 18 provinces has slipped yet again, to at least July,” AP reports. “The delay, noted in a Pentagon report to Congress on progress and problems in Iraq, highlights the difficulties in developing Iraqi police forces and the slow pace of economic and political progress in some areas. ”
“Violence in Iraq has fallen to its lowest level since before a 2006 mosque attack which unleashed reprisal sectarian killings, the number two commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said” today, Reuters reports. “Lieutenant-General Raymond Odierno said attacks in Baghdad had also fallen about 50 percent since January, just before Washington began pouring 30,000 extra troops into Iraq to try to drag the nation back from the brink of civil war.”
“A suicide car bomber blew himself up Wednesday and wounded four civilians while trying to hit an Iraqi army base in the northern city of Mosul, an Iraqi army officer said,” AP reports.
“Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki proposed on Wednesday forming a cabinet of technocrats to replace his splintering national unity government and called for greater powers to push through his nominations,” Reuters reports. “Maliki’s 16-month-old government, which included Sunni and Shi’ite Arabs, Kurds, Islamists and secularists, has unravelled since a dozen Sunni and Shi’ite ministers quit.”
“The United States and Iraq will form a joint commission to look into allegations that private guards protecting American diplomats killed Iraqi civilians and to review the U.S. Embassy’s security practices,” AP reports. “The size and composition of the commission have yet to be determined but its members are charged with assessing the results of both U.S. and Iraqi investigations of Sunday’s incident.”
“The shooting incident involving private security guards in Baghdad on Sunday that left at least eight Iraqis dead has revealed large gaps in the laws applying to such armed contractors,” the New York Times reports. “Early in the period when Iraq was still under American administration, the United States government unilaterally exempted its employees and contractors from Iraqi law… thus the thousands of heavily armed private soldiers in Iraq operate with virtual immunity from Iraqi and American law.”
“U.S. soldiers detained an Iranian” today “who was part of a commercial delegation visiting the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniya, an Iraqi government official in Baghdad said,” Reuters reports. “The official said U.S. forces detained the man at his hotel in Sulaimaniya, a city in Iraq’s largely autonomous region of Kurdistan.”
NATION
“Leaders of the agency responsible for protecting consumers from faulty products said Wednesday that Congress should increase their budget and power in the wake of huge recalls of lead-contaminated toys,” AP reports. “The testimony from Consumer Product Safety Commission officials came as Mattel Inc., producer of 1.5 million of the 13.2 million toys recalled in the past month, said its tests found lead levels in paint in recalled toys as high as 200 times the accepted safety ceiling.”
“Federal authorities are expected to file civil charges against current or former employees at several brokerage firms in connection to a years-long investigation into abusive stock lending, people familiar with the matter said,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The civil complaint by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which also may involve the filing of criminal fraud charges, could come as soon as today, these people said.”
“Spurred by the Internet and a popular disc jockey’s nationwide urban radio program, tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on a sleepy rural Louisiana town to protest what they say are excessive criminal charges against six black teenagers involved in a schoolyard brawl,” the Washington Post reports. “About 500 tour buses bearing thousands of riders were scheduled to depart from cities across the United States in the wee hours today for Jena, La., about 230 miles northwest of New Orleans.”
“At the close of a two-day hearing on charges that Special Forces soldiers murdered an Afghan man near his home last October, it is increasingly evident that the Army is also examining itself and how it is fighting the war in Afghanistan,” the New York Times reports. “A Special Forces colonel presiding over the hearing must determine whether sufficient evidence exists to recommend courts-martial for the two soldiers accused of killing the man, Nawab Buntangyar, who had been identified as an ‘enemy combatant,’ while he walked unarmed outside his home near the Pakistan border. ”
WORLD
“Palestinian leaders sought details” today “from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about the goals of what they hope will be a breakthrough Mideast peace conference, but the talks were overshadowed by Israel’s declaration of Hamas-run Gaza as ‘hostile territory,’” AP reports. “The Palestinians want the conference, tentatively set for November, to yield an outline for a peace deal, complete with timetable, while Israel wants a vaguer declaration of intent.”
“A powerful car bomb in a Christian neighborhood just east of Beirut killed a Christian lawmaker from the governing coalition and six others Wednesday evening,” the New York Times reports. “It was the latest in a deadly string of bombings that have rocked Lebanon’s teetering political order as the country prepares to select a new president.”
“President Gen. Pervez Musharraf will seek a new five-year term in a presidential election set for Oct. 6, officials said” today, “even as opponents urged the courts to stop him from running and vowed to quit Parliament in protest,” AP reports. “After the U.S.-allied leader signaled his plan to resign as army chief if re-elected, the Election Commission announced that the ballot by federal and provincial lawmakers would be held Oct. 6.”
“Al Qaeda’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri urged Sudanese Muslims in a video posted” today “to fight a force of African Union and U.N. peacekeepers set to deploy to Sudan’s volatile western region of Darfur,” Reuters reports. “In an 80-minute compilation video that touched on a several conflicts, Zawahri criticised Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s decision to accept a U.N. resolution that lays the ground for a 26,000-strong joint AU-U.N. operation.”
SCANDALS
“Besieged Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) is expected to announce as early as today that he is retiring from Congress, weeks after a Chicago newspaper exposed potentially questionable land deals in Central America,” Roll Call (sub. req.) reports. “Republican sources confirmed late Wednesday that Weller will not seek an eighth term but were uncertain as to when he would announce his decision…Earlier this month, the Chicago Tribune published an investigation into Weller’s Nicaraguan land deals, suggesting that Weller has bought and sold several beachfront properties that he did not disclose on his financial disclosure forms. Weller was a strong advocate of the Central America Free Trade Agreement, which critics note provides protections to land investors in Central America — including Weller.”
“The House Ethics Committee announced an investigation Wednesday of” California Rep. Bob Filner’s (D) “run-in with a baggage worker at Dulles International Airport last month,” AP reports. “The incident resulted in misdemeanor assault and battery charges against the congressman.”
President Bush said Wednesday he wants Congress to expand and make permanent a law [FISA] that temporarily gives the government more power to eavesdrop without warrants on suspected foreign terrorists.
Without such action, Bush said, “our national security professionals will lose critical tools they need to protect our country.”
“It will be harder to figure out what our enemies are doing to train, recruit and infiltrate operatives into America,” the president said during a visit to the super-secret National Security Agency’s headquarters. “Without these tools, our country will be much more vulnerable to attack.”
“Howard J. Krongard, the State Department’s inspector general, has repeatedly thwarted investigations into contracting fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan, including construction of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and censored reports that might prove politically embarrassing to the Bush administration, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform charged” on Tuesday “in a 13-page letter,” the Washington Post reports. See TPC related post.
“The National Security Agency has not conducted wiretapping without warrants on the telephones of any Americans since at least February, the nation’s top intelligence officer told Congress on Tuesday,” the New York Times reports. “Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told the House Judiciary Committee that since he took office that month, the government has conducted electronic surveillance only after seeking court-approved warrants.” See TPC related post.
“President Bush, cheered on by Iraq war veterans and their familieson the White House’s South Lawn, urged lawmakers Tuesday to back his plan to withdraw some troops from Iraq but keep at least 130,000 through next summer or longer,” AP reports. “‘I ask the United States Congress to support the troop levels and the strategies I have embraced,’ Bush said, to loud cheers and chants of ‘USA! USA!’”
“President Bush defended himself Tuesday defended himself from criticism by former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who said Bush has not been a good shepherd of the economy,” according to a FOX News interview with the president. “Our fiscal record is admirable and good. After all, the deficit as a percentage of GDP is low relative to the 30-year average. It’s about 1.5 percent of GDP which is good, and we submitted a budget that shows we can get to balance.” See TPC related post.
“Internal discord in the office of U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose has led to an investigation of complaints that she retaliated against dissenters,” the Star-Tribune reports. “The internal upheaval that roiled the upper ranks of the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota last spring has prompted an investigation by an independent federal agency that looks into whistleblower and discrimination complaints involving federal employees.” TPC reported on Ms. Paulrose back in April as the DOJ scandal was unfolding.
CONGRESS
“Unable to garner enough Republican support, Senate Democratic leaders said” on Tuesday “that they are abandoning a bipartisan effort to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq by next spring,” the Washington Post reports. Instead, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid, D-Nev., “will again push for a firm deadline, this time June 2008, along with a stronger effort at cutting off war funding.” See TPC related post.
“Four new Senate Republicans signaled Tuesday that they may vote for a Democratic amendment aimed at giving U.S. troops in Iraq more time at home between deployments, helping Democrats inch closer to a rare victory on the conduct of the Iraq war,” The Hill reports. “The talks came amid tense backroom negotiations over the terms of the Iraq debate in the Senate, which is expected to dominate the floor schedule during the next two weeks. ”
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., “and 11 other members of Congress have been subpoenaed to testify in the trial of a defense contractor charged with bribing jailed” former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif.,, USA Today reports. “All of the lawmakers said they do not intend to comply with the subpoenas.”
“Even as Senate Democrats on Tuesday softened demands that the White House provide thousands of documents in advance of a hearing to confirm Michael Mukasey as attorney general, they warned that it remained highly improbable that a vote on his installation would occur before the October recess,” Roll Call (sub. req.) reports. “The White House has asked Democrats to complete the confirmation process by Oct. 8 — a date on which Democrats said they are unlikely to meet.”
The House Federal Workforce Subcommittee split along party lines yesterday “over proposed legislation that would ban discrimination against federal employees and job applicants based on sexual orientation.” the Washington Post reports. “Republicans asked for a roll call, and Democrats, as the majority party, prevailed, 5 to 3.
“Twelve years after conservative Republicans in Congress were blamed for shutting down the government, they are introducing legislation to ensure that government continues to function no matter what,” The Hill reports. “Anticipating a showdown with Democrats that could force government offices to close, President Bush is backing the legislation.”
IRAQ
“The top two American military and diplomatic officials in Iraq sought to play down differences over Iraq policy as they met with senior British officials on Tuesday, at a time of mounting pressure here for the withdrawal of Britain’s remaining 5,200 soldiers from southern Iraq,” the New York Times reports. “At a news conference with Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, Gen. David H. Petraeussought to ease strains that developed this month when British commanders withdrew the 500-man contingent that comprised their last remaining troops in central Basra.”
“The U.S. military has introduced ‘religious enlightenment’ and other education programs for Iraqi detainees, some of whom are as young as 11, Marine Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, the commander of U.S. detention facilities in Iraq, said yesterday, the Washington Post reports. “Stone said such efforts, aimed mainly at Iraqis who have been held for more than a year, are intended to “bend them back to our will” and are part of waging war in what he called ‘the battlefield of the mind.’ ”
“A preliminary Iraqi report on a shooting involving an American diplomatic motorcade said Tuesday that Blackwater security guards were not ambushed, as the company reported, but instead fired at a car when it did not heed a policeman’s call to stop, killing a couple and their infant,” the New York Times reports. “The report, by the Ministry of Interior, was presented to the Iraqi cabinet and, though unverified, seemed to contradict an account offered by Blackwater USA that the guards were responding to gunfire by militants.”
“A vast internal migration is radically reshaping Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian landscape, according to new data collected by thousands of relief workers, but displacement in the most populous and mixed areas is surprisingly complex, suggesting that partitioning the country into semiautonomous Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish enclaves would not be easy,” the New York Times reports. “In Baghdad alone there are now nearly 170,000 families, accounting for almost a million people, that have fled their homes.”
NATION
“About 1,000 highly skilled legal immigrants, carrying placards and wearing T-shirts emblazoned with American flags, rallied Tuesday at the Capitol to protest long delays and vast bureaucratic backlogs in the immigration system,” the New York Times reports. “The immigrants, including doctors, medical technicians and computer engineers from India and China, came from as far as California and Washington State to call on Congress to provide more permanent visas for highly educated immigrants and more resources for the overburdened immigration system.”
“Video of police Tasering a persistent questioner of Sen. John Kerry became an Internet and TV sensation Tuesday, generating fierce debate about free speech and the motives of the college student involved — a known prankster who often posts practical jokes online,” AP reports. “University of Florida President Bernie Machen said Monday’s takedown, in which the student loudly yelled, ‘Don’t Tase me, bro’ was ‘regretful.’”
“Advocacy groups sued the FBI and the Department of Justice on Tuesday for failing to turn over records they requested on surveillance in the Muslim-American community,” AP reports. “The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Muslim groups, alleges that the FBI has turned over only four pages of documents to community leaders, despite a Freedom of Information Act request filed more than a year ago. The documents were not related to surveillance.”
WORLD
“U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice scolded the U.N.’s atomic watchdog agency” today “over its Iran strategy and called for diplomacy with ‘teeth’ to end Tehran’s nuclear plans,” Reuters reports. “While repeating the U.S. stand that ‘all options’ remained on the table — a reference to military action against Tehran — Rice sought to ease fresh concerns over talk of war.”
“A multinational force commanded and led by British troops has launched a major offensive against the Taleban in the southern Afghan province of Helmand,” BBC News reports. “The operation involves about 700 men, mostly infantry and engineers. ”
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan “refused on Tuesday to rule out the possibility of military operations into northern Iraq to root out armed Kurdish separatist groups that he said had taken refuge in the border region,” the New York Times reports. “Mr. Erdogan also criticized some Western countries for what he called their increasingly hawkish stance against Iran.”
“Pro-Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan attacked a military checkpost” today “and captured seven paramilitary soldiers,” Reuters reports. “The raid was the latest in a series of bloody militant attacks on security forces and abductions of soldiers since July, when a pact with militants broke down and commandos stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad.”
Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee today, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said that out of the billions of telephone conversations and emails intercepted abroad, only a “very small number” of Americans have been spied on.
The first issue is, define “small,” which McConnell did not do when questioned by Chairman John Conyers (D-MI).
Furthermore, McConnell said that no there have been no Americans wiretapped without a court order.
“Two Senate Democrats warned Monday that the Judiciary Committee would delay confirmation of President Bush’s choice for attorney general unless the White House turned over documents that the panel was seeking for several investigations,” the New York Times reports. “Mr. Bush announced the selection of Michael B. Mukasey, a retired federal judge from New York who has presided over several high-profile terrorism trials, during a morning Rose Garden ceremony.”
“The White House on Monday rejected demands by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that the administration release thousands of documents related to the U.S. attorneys scandal and other Justice Department controversies before hearings begin on” Bush’s nomination of Mukasey, Roll Call (sub. req.) reports. “A showdown between Leahy and President Bush over largely procedural matters could turn what is widely seen as a relatively noncontroversial nomination into a political lightning rod for both parties.”
“The White House in recent days told nearly a dozen Cabinet secretaries to send letters to Capitol Hill rejecting Democrats’ proposed new funds for their agencies, escalating a confrontation between lawmakers and President Bush over domestic spending priorities,” the Washington Post reports. “The Democratic Congress is considering 2008 spending bills that increase funding for politically popular programs including health care for veterans, education, medical research and infrastructure improvements.”
“The top U.S. intelligence official is asking Congress for even more changes to a law that he says limited the government’s ability to eavesdrop, not just on terrorists but also on more traditional potential adversaries,” AP reports. “Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, says China and Russia are aggressively spying on sensitive U.S. facilities, intelligence systems and development projects, and their efforts are approaching Cold War levels.”
“The White House threatened on Monday to veto a bill that would add 15 years to a post-Sept. 11 government insurance program that supporters say is critical for major projects like the new World Trade Center,” the New York Times reports. “The legislation, known as the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, was originally passed by Congress after the 2001 attacks. It is due to expire this year, and the House had planned to vote this week on a 15-year extension.”
CONGRESS
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday “unveiled a proposal to provide health insurance to all Americans, placing herself at the center of an issue that provided perhaps the greatest setback of her political career,” the Washington Post reports. “In a speech in Des Moines, the Democratic front-runner said she would expand insurance to the 47 million people who do not already have coverage and would attempt to reduce costs for others without spawning a massive new bureaucracy.”
“Key lawmakers in the House and Senate negotiated into the night” on Monday “on a deal that would expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program by $35 billion over the next five years,” the Washington Post reports. “That would set up a clash with President Bush, who has promised to veto such a plan.”
“Three senators who are considered potential swing votes on war policy said Monday that a weekend visit to Iraq left them discouraged about prospects for political reconciliation there and convinced that the United States must quickly shift more responsibility for security to the Iraqi Army,” the New York Times reports. “‘We must take decisive action to force the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people to secure the peace for Iraq,’ said Senator Ken Salazar, Democrat of Colorado, as the Senate opened a pivotal debate on the war.”
“Sens. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) are among the biggest winners in the 2008 Appropriations defense bill, according to data gathered by The Hill and the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS),” The Hill reports. “Senate appropriators disclosed about 936 earmarks worth a combined $5.1 billion in the 2008 defense-spending bill, with top committee members in both parties securing the highest dollar amounts.”
IRAQ
“At least 12 people were killed and 37 wounded today after Baghdad was hit by two parked car bombs and two roadside bombs, police said,” the Guardian reports. “A car bomb blew up in the centre of the Iraqi capital at 9.30am in a car park near the health ministry and the so-called Medical City complex of buildings, which includes several hospitals and a forensic institute.”
“Blackwater USA, an American contractor that provides security to some of the top American officials in Iraq, has been banned from working in the country by the Iraqi government after a shooting that left eight Iraqis dead and involved an American diplomatic convoy,” the New York Times reports. “A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, said Monday that authorities had canceled the company’s license and that the government would prosecute the participants.”
“Despite efforts by U.S. forces to recruit and train women for jobs in the Iraqi security forces, just over 1,000 have been trained, many have quit and those who remain say they are struggling for acceptance,” the LA Times reports. “We’re in our posts because the Americans are here,” the army commander said. “Once they leave, we will all be out.”
NATION
“As the government’s signature terrorism-financing trial moved toward a close here Monday, federal prosecutors reaffirmed their charge that the largest Muslim charity in the United States was not simply trying to help poor Palestinians but was in fact an arm of the radical Islamic group Hamas,” the New York Times reports. “The charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, and five of its officers have been on trial here since July 16, charged with conspiracy, money laundering and providing financial support to a foreign terrorist organization.”
“National foreclosure filings in August were up 36 percent from July and 115 percent from August 2006, according to a market forecast out today,” the Boston Globe reports. “Nevada, California, and Florida posted the top state foreclosure rates in August, and Massachusetts was ranked 12th, said RealtyTrac, which defines foreclosure filings as default notices, auction sale notices, and bank repossessions.”
WORLD
“In a controversial step, election officials Monday announced a rule change under which President Pervez Musharraf would be allowed to stand for reelection whilestill serving as head of Pakistan’s military,” the LA Times reports. “At the same time, though, the Supreme Court began hearing legal challenges to Musharraf’s plan to remain army chief as he seeks reelection by lawmakers as head of state early next month.”
“France’s foreign minister,Bernard Kouchner, sought Monday to tone down remarks he made in a radio and television interview the day before that the world had to prepare for possible war against Iran,” the New York Times reports. “Attacked verbally by Iran and quietly criticized within his own government, Mr. Kouchner shifted the focus away from the threat of war and back to a call for hard negotiations as the way to force Iran to abandon key nuclear activities.”
“Every effort should be made to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but failing that, the world could live with a nuclear-armed regime in Tehran, a recently retired commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said Monday,” AP reports. “John Abizaid, the retired Army general who headed Central Command for nearly four years, said he was confident that if Iran gained nuclear arms, the United States could deter it from using them.”
“The Sept. 6 attack by Israeli warplanes inside Syria struck what Israeli intelligence believes was a nuclear-related facility that North Korea was helping to equip, according to current and former American and Israeli officials,” the New York Times reports. “Details about the Israeli assessment emerged as China abruptly canceled planned diplomatic talks in Beijing that were to set a schedule to disband nuclear facilities in North Korea.”
