Homeland Security Nominee Withdraws Amid Questions About Torture 06 Jun 2009 President Obama’s nominee to be U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis withdrew his name from consideration Friday after it became clear lawmakers would question his involvement in interrogation and detainee policies under President [sic] George W. Bush. Philip Mudd, currently a top official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said he was bowing out. Democrats on Capitol Hill had signaled their intention to probe Mudd’s knowledge of and role in approving brutal interrogation techniques — some of which qualify under international law as torture — used by CIA officials against prisoners.
Afghanistan to ‘try criminal foreign troops’ for war crimes –Nearly 150 civilians were killed when US warplanes dropped bombs last month on two villages. 06 Jun 2009 Afghanistan’s Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of parliament, has accused foreign troops based in the country of war crimes, urging a trial for the criminals. Wolesi Jirga secretary Abdul Sattar Khawaasi told reporters that 73 members of parliament are collecting documents regarding foreign troops’ crimes and offences in Afghanistan. “The foreign troops came to the country claiming to bring security, but the crimes perpetrated by the them are not pardonable,” he said. Khawaasi added that foreign troops based in Afghanistan have violated the Constitution as well as international agreements in more than 20 instances. In May, the Afghan parliament slammed the brutal bombardment of civilian areas by US-led forces, demanding legal restrictions on the activities of foreign forces.
‘The Taliban have been winning hands down.’ –Architect of Canada’s new strategy slams West’s failure to grasp Afghans 07 Jun 2009 International forces have failed to quash the insurgency in Afghanistan because they have failed to understand the Taliban’s common-touch campaign, a key architect of Canada’s bold new “model village” strategy said Sunday. At its heart, Prof. Thomas Johnson said, the counter-insurgency is “essentially an information war” the Taliban have been winning hands down. “We need a change in strategy,” said Johnson, the director of the Program for Culture and Conflict studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.
Fighting intensified in Afghanistan as over 80 killed in one week 07 Jun 2009 Taliban-linked ‘insurgency’ and conflicts are going up in Afghanistan as over 80 people and seven foreign soldiers have been killed since beginning of June. In the latest wave of violence, Taliban militants ambushed the motorcade of officials in Paktika province east of Afghanistan Sunday killing a senior police officer and injuring a district chief, spokesman of provincial administration said.
Pentagon: Billions in U.S. terror aid to Pakistan diverted 06 Jun 2009 Pakistan diverted U.S. aid meant for fighting Taliban terrorists to bolster its conventional warfare capabilities against India, documents indicate. U.S. Defense Department documents accessed by the Press Trust of India reveal Islamabad secretly diverted a substantial portion of nearly $7 billion in foreign military financing and arms sales from the administration of former U.S. President [sic] George W. Bush to beef up its armed forces along the Indian border instead of fighting terrorists. PTI quoted the Pentagon documents as saying that a major portion of post-Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. military aid meant to counter advances made by the Taliban and al-Qaida [al-CIAduh] in Pakistan’s northwest was instead used to buy and refurbish eight P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, worth $474 million. [And yet, Obusha gives Pakistan millions! US Pledges Additional $200 Million in Aid to Pakistan 03 Jun 2009 U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke said the Obama administration is standing beside Pakistan in its fight to defeat create Islamic extremists. See: Billions in U.S. Aid to Pakistan Wasted, Officials Assert 24 Dec 2007 and US Senate approves Pakistan aid worth $785m 20 Dec 2007.]
Israel facing hundreds of war crime lawsuits 07 Jun 2009 Israel could soon be charged with hundreds of war crimes as Palestinian lawyers file 936 lawsuits against the Israeli military five months after its three week war on Gaza. Head of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) Iyad al-Alami, says the cases will soon be heard in Spain’s National Court under universal jurisdiction, the pro-Israeli magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.
Israeli ordnance kill in Gaza 06 Jun 2009 The remains of Israeli ordnance has killed a Palestinian and wounded another in the southern town of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources say. The explosion, which was caused by unexploded munitions on Saturday afternoon, killed a 50-year-old man in a farm in Khan Yunis, Ynet reported.
Left-wing activists evacuated from tent built opposite outpost –Dozens of left-wing, Palestinian activists erect tent opposite Jewish outpost on lands claimed by Palestinian family, later removed from the area by IDF troops 06 Jun 2009 IDF troops forcibly removed dozens of left-wing and Palestinian activists who were trying to erect a tent in South Mt. Hebron with a Palestinian family claiming ownership of the land. The family says that it owns the land near the Susya settlement on which an illegal outpost has been built. Settlers called the outpost Givat Hadegel.
Don’t ever call me Nazi –Settlers who refer to IDF troops as Nazis to provoke civil war By Yoram Kaniuk 06 Jun 2009 The word “Nazi,” which is being hurled at both Jews and non-Jews these days, must be banned by law. Referring to someone as “Nazi” is an act that should prompt a long prison term. The Jewish people cannot bear with the curses uttered by Judea and Samaria residents, who hurl the word “Nazi” at police officers and soldiers, as well as any other person, regardless of whether he is Jewish, German, or Arab… They should learn that those who refer to a Jewish policeman or soldier as “Nazi” are similar to those who deny the Holocaust. [No, they are not. For example, I agree that the Holocaust took place and still feel that the word 'Nazi' is an appropriate term not only or many IDF troops but also for some Israeli government officials; US unelected dictators (Bush, Cheney); and CIA/mercenary torturers. --LRP]
Xe killing off the competition? Iraq detaines five U.S. contractors in the killing of another –The names of the suspects and the company they work for were not released. 06 Jun 2009 Five American mercenaries were detained in connection with the killing of another American contractor last month inside Baghdad’s Green Zone, sources with knowledge of the investigation told CNN Saturday. Iraqi and U.S. personnel took the five into custody in an operation inside the Green Zone before dawn on Friday, according to an Iraqi official involved in the investigation into the killing of James Kitterman. The troops also confiscated weapons during the raid on the suspects’ firm at about 4 a.m. (11 a.m. ET), said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Kitterman was found bound, blindfolded and fatally stabbed in a car in the district, formally known as the International Zone, on May 22. The Houston, Texas, resident owned a construction company that operated in Iraq.
FBI ‘Assists’ Iraqi Officials in Investigation of U.S. Contractor’s Death 07 Jun 2009 The Federal Bureau of Investigation is ‘assisting’ Iraqi forces with their investigation into the killing of an American mercenary last month in Baghdad’s Green Zone, FOX News confirms. Iraqi forces detained five U.S. mercenaries in connection with the murder of fellow American contractor James Kitterman. [WHY are US taxpayers funding the whitewashing of an investigation into homicides committed by taxpayer-funded sociopaths, terrorists and murderers operating on foreign soil?]
DARPA, Army fund ‘telepathy’ research –Goals include “user-to-user communication on the battlefield without the use of vocalized speech through analysis of neural signals.” By Steve Hammons 17 May 2009 A research program to develop mind-to-mind communication among U.S. military personnel will receive $4 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), according to published reports. The “Silent Talk” project seeks to create technologies that can read the “pre-speech” brain waves of individuals, interpret them and communicate them to other individuals. The new DARPA funding is in addition to a previous $4 million the Army provided to the University of California for what they call “computer-mediated telepathy.”
Bank No. 37 Closed; Bank of Lincolnwood Seized by Regulators 05 Jun 2009 Bank of Lincolnwood, Lincolnwood, Illinois, was closed today by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Banking, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. The total number of bank failures now stands at 37 for the year.
