SCOTT BROWN'S IGNOMINIOUS STUMBLES.... Maybe the Senate Armed Services Committee isn't the right place for Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.). US Senator Scott Brown is retracting statements he made earlier today, when he told several news outlets that he had seen photos of Osama bin Laden's dead body as part of an official briefing. Brown made that assertion in an interview with NECN today to bolster his argument that the photos should not be released to the public. [...] The Massachusetts senator apparently saw doctored photos that were circulating on the Internet, and assumed they were true. They weren't. When he told reporters, "I have seen the photos and, in fact, we've received the briefing and we'll continue to get the briefings," the clear implication was that the images were part of the briefings. That wasn't true, either.
US Senator Scott Brown is retracting statements he made earlier today, when he told several news outlets that he had seen photos of Osama bin Laden's dead body as part of an official briefing. Brown made that assertion in an interview with NECN today to bolster his argument that the photos should not be released to the public. [...] The Massachusetts senator apparently saw doctored photos that were circulating on the Internet, and assumed they were true. They weren't. When he told reporters, "I have seen the photos and, in fact, we've received the briefing and we'll continue to get the briefings," the clear implication was that the images were part of the briefings. That wasn't true, either.
Brown made that assertion in an interview with NECN today to bolster his argument that the photos should not be released to the public. [...]
The Massachusetts senator apparently saw doctored photos that were circulating on the Internet, and assumed they were true. They weren't. When he told reporters, "I have seen the photos and, in fact, we've received the briefing and we'll continue to get the briefings," the clear implication was that the images were part of the briefings. That wasn't true, either.
The killing of Osama bin Laden provoked a host of reactions from Americans: celebration, triumph, relief, closure and renewed grief. One reaction, however, was both cynical and disturbing: crowing by the apologists and practitioners of torture that Bin Laden’s death vindicated their immoral and illegal behavior after after the Sept. 11 attacks. [...] There is no final answer to whether any of the prisoners tortured in President George W. Bush’s illegal camps gave up information that eventually proved useful in finding Bin Laden. A detailed account in The Times on Wednesday by Scott Shane and Charlie Savage concluded that torture “played a small role at most” in the years and years of painstaking intelligence and detective work that led a Navy Seals team to Bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan. That squares with the frequent testimony over the past decade from many other interrogators and officials. They have said repeatedly, and said again this week, that the best information came from prisoners who were not tortured. The Times article said Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times, fed false information to his captors during torture. [...] No matter what Mr. Yoo and friends may claim, the real lesson of the Bin Laden operation is that it demonstrated what can be done with focused intelligence work and persistence.
There is no final answer to whether any of the prisoners tortured in President George W. Bush’s illegal camps gave up information that eventually proved useful in finding Bin Laden. A detailed account in The Times on Wednesday by Scott Shane and Charlie Savage concluded that torture “played a small role at most” in the years and years of painstaking intelligence and detective work that led a Navy Seals team to Bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan.
That squares with the frequent testimony over the past decade from many other interrogators and officials. They have said repeatedly, and said again this week, that the best information came from prisoners who were not tortured. The Times article said Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times, fed false information to his captors during torture. [...]
No matter what Mr. Yoo and friends may claim, the real lesson of the Bin Laden operation is that it demonstrated what can be done with focused intelligence work and persistence.
After all he's done for Israel, Mike Huckabee does not appreciate being criticized for comparing American debt to the Holocaust. Thus on Tuesday, when the Anti-Defamation League's Abraham Foxman chastised him for doing just that, he responded with anger and a hint of menace, saying, "Israel and Jewish people need to make friends, not insult the ones they have." Worse, Huckabee then asked for Abe Foxman to retract the criticism and apologize to Huckabee for daring to question his remarks. It's a fascinating perspective -- the former governor believes he's a friend of Israel, which effectively gives him free rein to say what he pleases, even if that means equating the Holocaust the debt.
After all he's done for Israel, Mike Huckabee does not appreciate being criticized for comparing American debt to the Holocaust. Thus on Tuesday, when the Anti-Defamation League's Abraham Foxman chastised him for doing just that, he responded with anger and a hint of menace, saying, "Israel and Jewish people need to make friends, not insult the ones they have."
Worse, Huckabee then asked for Abe Foxman to retract the criticism and apologize to Huckabee for daring to question his remarks.
It's a fascinating perspective -- the former governor believes he's a friend of Israel, which effectively gives him free rein to say what he pleases, even if that means equating the Holocaust the debt.
Monica Marie Goodling, the key figure in the controversy about the political hiring and firing of U.S. Attorneys during the Bush Administration, has received a public reprimand from the Virginia State Bar. A VSB subcommittee concluded that Goodling, a member of the VSB since 1999, had violated ethics rules by committing "a criminal or deliberately wrongful act" that reflected adversely on her "honesty, trustworthiness or fitness to practice law." The subcommittee's reprimand, to which Goodling agreed, was handed down in March and made public late yesterday
A VSB subcommittee concluded that Goodling, a member of the VSB since 1999, had violated ethics rules by committing "a criminal or deliberately wrongful act" that reflected adversely on her "honesty, trustworthiness or fitness to practice law." The subcommittee's reprimand, to which Goodling agreed, was handed down in March and made public late yesterday
Seattle journalists are banding together to try to secure the release of a former Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist who is being held in Syria. Dorothy Parvaz, 39, who now works for Al Jazeera, disappeared on Friday after arriving in Damascus. On Wednesday, Syrian authorities confirmed that they had her. "When I found out, it was like the floor went out beneath me," said Melanie McFarland, a former coworker of Parvaz's at the Post-Intelligencer. "Obviously that's a very scary situation until she's home, but it is better than not knowing where she it at all, which is where we were 24 hours ago."
Dorothy Parvaz, 39, who now works for Al Jazeera, disappeared on Friday after arriving in Damascus. On Wednesday, Syrian authorities confirmed that they had her.
"When I found out, it was like the floor went out beneath me," said Melanie McFarland, a former coworker of Parvaz's at the Post-Intelligencer. "Obviously that's a very scary situation until she's home, but it is better than not knowing where she it at all, which is where we were 24 hours ago."
Emergent Biosolutions has announced that the federal government has extended a contract with the company to continue to produce anthrax vaccines.
Of course they're not exactly fighting off competitors:
Emergent’s vaccine, BioThrax, is the only federally approved anthrax vaccine.
Claude Stanley Choules, the last known combat veteran of World War I, died on Thursday in a nursing home in Western Australia. He was 110. His death was confirmed by his 84-year-old daughter, Daphne Edinger.
His death was confirmed by his 84-year-old daughter, Daphne Edinger.