TOP STORY
- Tony Blair to be star witness as Iraq inquiry launched.
Tony Blair was yesterday confirmed as one of the witnesses who will appear before Britain's long awaited inquiry into the Iraq war as it was launched with a promise to level criticism where necessary.
The former prime minister is likely to be joined by Gordon Brown among those called to give evidence.
Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot said his committee would look at the period from the summer of 2001 to the end of July 2009, covering the run-up to the conflict, the military action and the aftermath. This is the widest scope ever for a government inquiry.
"We are determined to be thorough, rigorous, fair and frank to enable us to form impartial and evidence-based judgements on all aspects of the issues, including the arguments about the legality of the conflict... ."
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WAR NEWS
- 6 years ago, Bush spurned Iran Offers to Turn Over bin Laden's Son.
It may have been a case of hitting the target but missing the opportunity. Reports last week said Saad bin Laden, Osama bin Laden's fourth son and a midranking al-Qaeda operative, was killed by a recent CIA Predator strike. But six years ago, the U.S. had an opportunity to get him alive — and lost it when the Bush Administration decided to pull away from cooperation with Iran.
- Iraqi government officials may have colluded in British hostages' kidnap. (video report at link)
An investigation into the kidnapping of five British men in Iraq has uncovered evidence of possible collusion by Iraqi government officials in their abduction, and a possible motive – to keep secret the whereabouts of billions of dollars in embezzled funds.
A former high-level Iraqi intelligence operative and a current senior government minister, who has been negotiating directly with the hostage takers, have told the Guardian that the kidnapping of IT specialist Peter Moore and his four bodyguards in 2007 was not a simple snatch by a band of militants but a sophisticated operation, almost certainly with inside help. Only Moore is thought still to be alive.
- Afghan, Pakistani conflicts spilling into Central Asian states? Tajikistan blames recent attacks at home on fighters fleeing anti-Taliban offensives.
A spate of militant clashes in Tajikistan may indicate that the conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan are spilling beyond their borders – a top concern for neighboring Central Asian nations and Russia.
The rise in violence comes as Pakistan wraps up an assault on militants in the north and Western forces intensify a campaign against insurgents in Afghanistan ahead of an Aug. 20 election. The offensives may be pushing foreigners fighting in either country to flee the conflict and return home.
- U.S. Adviser’s Blunt Memo on Iraq: Time 'to Go Home'.
A senior American military adviser in Baghdad has concluded in an unusually blunt memo that the Iraqi forces suffer from deeply entrenched deficiencies but are now capable of protecting the Iraqi government, and that it is time "for the U.S. to declare victory and go home."
Prepared by Col. Timothy R. Reese, an adviser to the Iraqi military’s Baghdad command, the memorandum asserts that the Iraqi forces have an array of problems, including corruption, poor management and the inability to resist political pressure from Shiite political parties.
For all of these problems, however, Colonel Reese argues that Iraqi forces are competent enough to hold off Sunni insurgents, Shiite militias and other internal threats to the Iraqi government. Extending the American military presence in Iraq beyond 2010, he argues, will do little to improve the Iraqis’ military performance while fueling a growing resentment.
- Child Rapist Police Bigger Threat Than Taliban.
The strategy of the major U.S. and British military offensive in Afghanistan's Helmand province aimed at wresting it from the Taliban is based on bringing back Afghan army and police to maintain permanent control of the population, so the foreign forces can move on to another insurgent stronghold.
But that strategy poses an acute problem: The police in the province, who are linked to the local warlord, have committed systematic abuses against the population, including the abduction and rape of pre-teen boys, according to village elders who met with British officers.
Anger over those police abuses runs so high that the elders in Babaji just north of Laskgar Gah warned the British that they would support the Taliban to get rid of them if the national police were allowed to return to the area, according to a Jul. 12 report by Reuters correspondent Peter Graff.
Associated Press reporters Jason Straziuso and David Guttenfelder, who accompanied U.S. troops in Northern Helmand, reported Jul. 13 that villagers in Aynak were equally angry about police depredations. Within hours of the arrival of U.S. troops in the village, they wrote, bands of villagers began complaining the local police force was "a bigger problem than the Taliban".
- British army surgeons call in US help as casualties rise.
British surgeons operating in the army's main field hospital in Afghanistan have become so exhausted during the conflict's bloodiest month that they have had to call in an American surgical team to help them cope with the surge in casualties.
As the Ministry of Defence released figures showing that the number of British soldiers wounded in southern Afghanistan was at the highest since the conflict began, senior military medics today suggested surgeons at the Camp Bastion hospital were operating at a frantic pace.
- Many dead as Iraqi forces storm Iranian exiles' camp.
Iraqi security forces have largely gained control of an Iranian exiles' camp in Iraq after fighting which left as many as eight dead and 400 wounded.
The assault on Camp Ashraf, 80 miles north of Baghdad, is the latest episode in the strange history of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), a cult-like organisation that has in the past been allied both to Saddam Hussein and the US in its long battle with Tehran's Islamic government.
CIVIL RIGHTS, DISCRIMINATION & HATE NEWS
- Army spying could violate federal law: Fort Lewis civilian infiltrated group.
A Yale Law School faculty member and military law expert said he is disturbed by allegations that Fort Lewis employed a civilian who spied on an Olympia-based anti-war organization.
Eugene R. Fidell, a former judge advocate for the Coast Guard and the president of the National Institute of Military Justice, said such a practice appeared to violate the Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law that prohibits the use of the Army for conventional law enforcement activities against civilians.
Last week, members of Olympia Port Militarization Resistance presented evidence that John J. Towery, a civilian employee of Fort Lewis Force Protection, infiltrated the group using an assumed name and conducted surveillance of its members for about two years.
For more cases of military spying on political groups, see The Military Spies on Anarchists in Olympia.
- Canadians Moon Protest US Corporation's Border Surveillance Balloons.
More than 70 people say they will participate in a "moon the balloon" demonstration Aug. 15 by dropping their drawers to protest a high-tech surveillance balloon and camera monitoring the international border at Sarnia.
City police said Thursday they plan to turn a blind eye to the cheeky protest in Centennial Park, but Sarnia's mayor has asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper to get involved in what he calls an assault on Canadian privacy.
In a letter to the PM Thursday, Mike Bradley said the camera hovering over Port Huron, Mich. is scanning Sarnia’s waterfront, which includes many homes, private businesses and government offices.
"There was absolutely no consultation with the local community and I am not aware if there has been at the national level about this particular initiative," he said.
The surveillance balloon based on Port Huron's waterfront is equipped with a $1-million camera and is being tested on the international border.
- License-Plate Scanners: Fighting Crime or Invading Privacy?
Automated license-plate-recognition systems (ALPRs) mounted in patrol cars are capable of processing 1,500 license plates a minute, capturing a vast amount of data about the movements of both criminals and law-abiding citizens. For police, ALPRs allow them to solve auto-theft cases, pick up wanted felons or monitor the movements of sexual predators. But privacy advocates fear the collected data may be mined for other purposes. For example, one side of a divorce case could potentially look through toll-plaza records for circumstantial evidence of adultery.
- Despite Promises, Some Rape Victims Stuck Paying Exam Bills.
When a woman is raped, police turn to scientific evidence — semen, blood and tissue samples — to identify her attacker. The evidence is collected through a medical exam of the victim, who is not supposed to pay for this crime-solving process.
But 15 years after Congress passed a law to ensure that rape victims would never see a bill, loopholes and bureaucratic tangles still leave some victims paying for hospital expenses and exams, which can cost up to $1,200.
WORLD NEWS
- Is Darfur still a genocide? White House isn't sure.
The Obama administration's internal debate about whether or not the term "genocide" still applies to conditions in Sudan's Darfur region has spilled into public view.
President Obama's special envoy to Sudan, Gen. Scott Gration (USAF, retd.), told senators Thursday that the "genocide" label is no longer accurate or helpful.
"There's significant difference between what happened in 2004 and 2003, which we characterized as a genocide, and what is happening today," General Gration said in testimony.
There is no evidence to support the inclusion of Sudan on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism, he added. That designation only hinders the international community's ability to help rebuild the war-torn county and to help thousands of uprooted families living in camps.
- Police use batons and tear gas at Neda Soltan ceremony. (video at link)
It was meant to be a solemn religious ceremony in a cemetery where countless Islamic revolutionaries and martyrs are buried. Instead, the security forces turned the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery near Tehran into a battlefield yesterday, attacking hundreds of mourners with batons and teargas and driving opposition leaders away before they could even offer their prayers.
The occasion was the end of the 40-day mourning period for Neda Soltan, the student who became an icon of the opposition movement when she was killed in one of the protests after the disputed re-election of President Ahmadinejad.
- Israel says investigating 100 Gaza war complaints.
Israel said Thursday it was investigating 100 complaints of misconduct by its forces in a Gaza offensive this year and admitted its troops had fired white phosphorous munitions but not in violation of international law.
A 163-page government statement issued in anticipation of a United Nations war crimes investigation headed for completion next month defended the 22-day as a "necessary and proportionate" response to Hamas rocket fire at Israel.
Some 1,400 Palestinians, many of them civilians, and 13 Israelis were killed in the Dec. 27-Jan. 18 operation and Israel has repeatedly rebuffed war crimes charges by several human rights groups.
- Pakistan judge says won't try Musharraf for treason.
Musharraf was forced to quit as president almost a year ago to avoid impeachment and has been living in London for the past two months.
Hamid Khan, a lawyer who was at the forefront of a movement to oust Musharraf, asked a panel of 14 judges led by Chaudhry to begin treason proceedings on grounds that the general had seized power in a coup in 1999 and violated the constitution to extend his rule in 2007.
Musharraf declared emergency rule in November 2007 and purged the Supreme Court of judges, including chief justice Chaudhry, who might have ruled illegal his re-election while still army chief.
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
Climate Change
- Global poll finds 73% want higher priority for climate change...except for Americans.
A majority of peoples around the world want their governments to put action on climate change at the top of the political agenda, a new global public opinion poll suggests.
Unfortunately for Barack Obama though, who has put energy reform at the top of his White House to-do list, Americans are not necessarily among them.
Only 44% of Americans thought climate change should be a major preoccupation for the Obama administration... .
- Californians' global warming concern cools: poll.
The tough economy has undermined the environmental enthusiasm of Californians, hitting the U.S. state that pioneered climate change legislation just as the federal government is taking on the issue, a survey showed on Wednesday.
The poll by the Public Policy Institute of California shows support for urgent action on climate change has split on political lines, with a third of respondents from the more conservative Republican Party now saying global warming will never happen.
Total support for the state's climate change law, a model for federal bills being debated, dropped to 66 percent from 73 percent last year.
...But last year's 57 percent majority who favored immediate implementation of the state's global warming law has now eroded to 48 percent. Almost as many say the state should wait until the budget situation improves.
- Efficiency Drive Could Cut Energy Use 23% by 2020, Study Finds.
The biggest opportunity to improve the nation’s energy situation is a major investment program to make homes and businesses more efficient, according to a study released Wednesday by the consulting firm McKinsey. An investment of $520 billion in improvements like sealing ducts and replacing inefficient appliances could produce $1.2 trillion in savings on energy bills through 2020, the study found.
The report said such a program, if carried out over the next decade, could cut the country’s projected energy use in 2020 by about 23 percent, a savings that would be "greater than the total of energy consumption of Canada... ." It would also more than offset the growth in energy use that would be expected otherwise.
- Community-wide solar cuts costs: Collective solar groups help entire neighborhoods use clean energy.
One of the first neighborhood-wide solar installations in the world was at the master-planned community of Drake Landing in the town of Okotoks in Alberta. The entire community is heated by a "borehole thermal energy" system designed to store abundant solar energy underground during the summer and distribute it to each home as needed for space heating throughout the winter. The system, which launched in June 2007, now fulfills some 90 percent of each home’s space heating needs, with any slack taken up by fossil fuels.
- Thinning cloud cover over oceans speeds global warming, study finds.
Thinning clouds over the ocean exacerbate global warming by leading to more rapid temperature increases, according to the results of a new study, published today.
The research combined data, collected by observers on ships and satellites, going back over a century.
- Deforestation emissions on the rise.
Carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation in the Amazon are increasing as loggers and land developers move deeper into dense regions of the forest, a new study suggests.
Researchers have analyzed Brazilian deforestation data from 2001–2007 in an effort to quantify emissions as deforestation moves from the forest outskirts to the interior, where more carbon is bound up in plants and soil. Areas that are not formally protected, and thus are most likely to be cleared in the future, contain roughly 25 percent more carbon than areas cleared in 2001, according to the study.
- Jellyfish May Help Keep Planet Cool.
Jellyfish and other related creatures may be helping to reduce the effects of climate change by stirring up the oceans, according to a new study in this week's issue of the journal Nature.
The finding is the latest in a decades-old debate over whether swimming animals can contribute significantly to ocean mixing, the process by which warm water on the surface combines with the cold water far below. Mixing plays a role in global climate change because carbon dioxide in the air above oceans dissolves in the surface water. Through mixing, it can get pulled into the depths and stored there for long periods.
The process is also a key regulator of the Earth's temperature and the ocean's nutrients.
Water & Natural Resources
- War and drought place Iraq in throes of environmental catastrophe, experts say.
Now-frequent dust storms are just one sign of the man-made damage that has taken the country from Middle East breadbasket to dust bowl, they say.
...Decades of war and mismanagement, compounded by two years of drought, are wreaking havoc on Iraq's ecosystem, drying up riverbeds and marshes, turning arable land into desert, killing trees and plants, and generally transforming what was once the region's most fertile area into a wasteland.
Falling agricultural production means that Iraq, once a food exporter, will this year have to import nearly 80% of its food, spending money that is urgently needed for reconstruction projects.
- New, cheaper method for extracting clean water.
A mobile pilot system could make preliminary feasibility tests for desalination easier and cheaper for developing countries.
The system — known as 'M3' — can test whether fresh water can be extracted from almost any water source, say a team from the US-based University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
It harnesses a popular desalination technique known as reverse osmosis, a filtration process that forces water through a membrane, filtering out impurities.
Desalination is often costly but the M3 system can cut costs. Normally, a new static pilot plant must be constructed at every potential water source both to test water quality and to assess strategies for pretreating water.
- Rich Nations Vulnerable to Water Disasters.
The growing shortage of water - a perennial problem in the world's poorer nations - is expected to eventually reach the rich nations in the Western world.
The United States, Spain, Australia and the Netherlands are likely to face the consequences of climate change resulting in water-related disasters, including droughts, floods, hurricanes and sea-level rise.
"Even the world's richest nations are not immune," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Tuesday.
Citing official U.S. figures, he said the state of California, the world's fifth largest economy, "could see prime farmland reduced to a dustbowl, and major cities running out of water by the end of the century".
- Beach Closing Days Nationwide Top 20,000 for Fourth Consecutive Year.
The water at American beaches was seriously polluted and jeopardized the health of swimmers last year with the number of closing and advisory days at ocean, bay and Great Lakes beaches reaching more than 20,000 for the fourth consecutive year, according to the 19th annual beachwater quality report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
"Pollution from dirty stormwater runoff and sewage overflows continues to make its way to our beaches. This not only makes swimmers sick – it hurts coastal economies," said Nancy Stoner, NRDC Water Program Co-Director. "Americans should not suffer the consequences of contaminated beachwater. From contracting the flu or pink eye, to jeopardizing millions of jobs and billions of dollars that rely on clean coasts, there are serious costs to inaction."
See also, Congress considers legislation for quicker testing of water pollution so public alerted to beach contamination within hours of sampling.
Wildlife & Endangered Species
- Fish stocks recover as conservation measures take effect, analysis shows.
Global efforts to combat overfishing are starting to turn the tide to allow some fish stocks to recover, new analysis shows. Research from an international team of scientists shows that a handful of major fisheries across the world have managed to reduce the rate at which fish are exploited.
The experts say their study offers hope that overfishing can be brought under control, but they warn that fishermen in Ireland and the North Sea are still catching too many fish to allow stocks to recover. Some 63% of assessed fish stocks worldwide still require rebuilding, the scientists report.
TORTURE AND PROSECUTION NEWS
- Clinton moved to halt disclosure of CIA torture evidence, court told.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, personally intervened to suppress evidence of CIA collusion in the torture of a British resident, the high court heard today.
...In a written statement proposing a gagging order, Miliband told the court that she "indicated" that the disclosure of CIA evidence "would affect intelligence sharing". Pressed repeatedly by the judges on the claim yesterday, Karen Steyn, Miliband's counsel, insisted that Clinton was indeed saying that if the seven-paragraph summary of CIA material was disclosed, the US would "reassess" its intelligence relationship with the UK, a move that "would put lives at risk".
See also, British Foreign Secretary: Clinton threatened to cut-off intelligence-sharing if torture evidence is disclosed.
- Judge Orders Young Gitmo Detainee's Release.
A judge has ruled that a detinee who has been at Guantanamo Bay since he was a juvenile is being held illegally and must be released.
U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle's order Thursday does not end the case of Mohammed Jawad, however. Government attorneys told the judge while the United States is negotiating with his home country of Afghanistan for his return next month, they are also pursuing a criminal investigation.
... In the last hearing earlier this month, Huvelle criticized the government's case as an "outrage" that's "full of holes." She encouraged Jawad's release and declined to put off the case even though the government lawyer said she had vacation plans.
- U.S. says it's willing to send young Afghan home.
The Obama administration on Wednesday said that it was willing to send a young Guantánamo detainee home to Afghanistan after military and civilian judges banned almost all evidence against him as tainted by torture.
In a court filing, government attorneys, however, reserved the right to file new charges against Mohammed Jawad if they find evidence against him before he is released.
The Justice Department asked U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle to grant them 22 days to release Jawad — seven days to notify Congress of the release plans, as current law requires, and then 15 days till a cooling off period mandated by law expires.
If no new charges are filed during that time, the government said it would promptly release Jawad and send him back to Afghanistan.
POLITICAL NEWS
- Liberal Democrats threaten to reject House healthcare deal -- Dozens say they'll vote against a plan that includes concessions to Blue Dogs.
After months of marching in line as senior Democrats worked with the White House to develop healthcare legislation, liberal lawmakers from solidly Democratic districts are threatening a revolt that could doom President Obama's bid to sign a major bill this year.
In the House, liberals are furious at their leaders for striking a deal with conservative Democrats that would weaken the proposal to create a government insurance program, a dream long cherished on the left.
Today, 57 of these liberals sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) warning that they would vote against any bill that contained the terms of the deal.
"We have compromised and we can compromise no more," an angry Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma) said at a raucous news conference outside the Capitol.
- Orlando Newspaper Asks Bill Posey to Withdraw the 'Birther Bill'.
Mr. Posey should know that birth certificates don’t put out fires. Candidate Obama produced one. But Mr. Posey said he couldn’t swear on a stack of Bibles whether that meant Mr. Obama really was a natural-born U.S. citizen.
Mr. Posey should withdraw the bill, unless his real intent is to fire up opposition to Mr. Obama.
- Officers Run Background Check On Obama; Placed On Leave.
Two DeKalb County police officers have been placed on paid administrative leave after an investigation revealed they ran a background check on President Barack Obama.
...Officials said Obama’s name was typed into a computer inside a DeKalb County police car on July 20 and ran through the National Crime Information Center.
The secret service was immediately notified and contacted the DeKalb County Police Department.
- Rove Played Greater Role in Prosecutor Firings Than Previously Known.
Political adviser Karl Rove and other high-ranking figures in the Bush White House played a greater role than previously understood in the firing of federal prosecutors almost three years ago, according to e-mails obtained by The Washington Post, in a scandal that led to mass Justice Department resignations and an ongoing criminal probe.
... The documents and interviews provide new information about efforts by political aides in the Bush White House, for example, to push a former colleague as a favored candidate for one of the U.S. attorney posts. They also reflect the intensity of efforts by lawmakers and party officials in New Mexico to unseat the top prosecutor there. Rove described himself as merely passing along complaints by senators and state party officials to White House lawyers.
See also, Rove Says His Role in Prosecutor Firings Was Small.
- Axelrod Holding Private Messaging Session With House Dems On Selling Reform.
In another sign that the White House will play a very hands-on role during the looming Congressional health care wars of August, senior Obama adviser David Axelrod is set to hold a private messaging session with House Dems tomorrow on the Hill, I’m told.
With a House Dem bill closer to reality, the battle will shift to a new phase: Selling it. And according to an email to House Dems that was sent over by a source, Axelrod and top White House health care adviser Nancy DeParle will be attending a breakfast with members to discuss "health care reform messaging."
- Flipside Of Those Polls: GOP Taking It On The Chin On Health Care, Too.
* Only 28% view the GOP favorably, the lowest since at least 2005.
* A huge majority wants major changes to the health care system, and a plurality says Obama is reforming health care at "the right pace." The public wants change now, meaning voters will probably extract a major price if it doesn’t get done.
* Voters blame Republicans, and not Obama, for obstructionism: Fifty nine percent say Obama is working with the GOP on health care reform, versus only 33% who say Republicans are working with the president.
* Fifty five percent says Obama has the right ideas for health care reform, versus only 26% — barely more than one-fourth — who say the GOP does.
- Obama's emergency escape plan leaked online.
SENSITIVE documents including plans for the emergency evacuation of US President Barack Obama and motorcade routes have been leaked on a file-sharing network, authorities say.
Chairman of the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Edolphus Towns said the documents had been discovered with file-sharing program LimeWire.
Other sensitive documents found with the peer-to-peer program included FBI files, medical records and social security numbers.
Mr Town used evidence of the leaks to argue for the regulation of file-sharing programs.
- Busy senate schedule and health care delay means card check maybe next year.
Senators involved said the pause is due not to an impasse but to scheduling issues and the heavy focus on healthcare reform by all stakeholders. The group agreed weeks ago to drop from their proposal the card-check portion of the bill in a bid to pick up votes, aides said.
...But the halt reflects the dwindling chance the bill will get a vote this year, Senate aides said. Senior Democratic aides played down chances the talks will lead to legislation on the floor this year, noting that health care, appropriations, and climate change will consume the fall and possibly the rest of 2009.
NATIONAL NEWS
- Military planning for possible H1N1 outbreak.
The U.S. military wants to establish regional teams of military personnel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials.
...Civilian authorities would lead any relief efforts in the event of a major outbreak, the official said. The military, as they would for a natural disaster or other significant emergency situation, could provide support and fulfill any tasks that civilian authorities could not, such as air transport or testing of large numbers of viral samples from infected patients.
- Study: Bank Bonuses Far Exceeded Profits.
Several financial giants that received federal bailout money in the last year paid out bonuses to employees in 2008 that greatly exceeded the amount of profit generated by the banks, according to a study on executive compensation released by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Thursday.
Despite claims by bank executives that bonuses are tied to the company's performance, the report states that "there is no clear rhyme or reason to how the banks compensate or reward their employees."
- Recession shrinks racial unemployment gap because jobless rates for older white males so bad.
These men from the Columbus, Ohio, area are the unusual new faces of joblessness in this groundbreaking recession: older men cut loose from employment at the peak of their earning power and work experience.
... Jobless rates for men and women older than 55 are at their highest level since the Great Depression, government data show. White men over 55 had a record 6.5% unemployment rate in the second quarter, far above the previous post-Depression high of 5.4% in 1983. The jobless rate for older black men was higher — 10.5% — but more than a percentage point below its 1983 peak.
The most remarkable change is in the unemployment rate for black women: 12.2%, far below the historic peak of 20% in 1983. Hispanic unemployment is about 6 percentage points below historic highs, too.
In other words, this recession has shrunk the racial gap in unemployment, largely because white men are doing so much worse than usual.