Thursday, April 19, 2007

Gates allays Israeli fears over U.S. arms to Saudis | Politics | Reuters

Gates allays Israeli fears over U.S. arms to Saudis | Politics | Reuters

Gates allays Israeli fears over U.S. arms to Saudis
Thu Apr 19, 2007 8:50AM EDT
By Andrew Gray

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates sought on Thursday to allay Israeli concerns about Washington's possible sale of advanced weaponry to Saudi Arabia, arguing that friendly Gulf states are a bulwark against Iran.

Israeli officials have raised objection to the planned transfer by the Bush administration of a major arms package to Riyadh. The New York Times reported that the sale would include precision-guided bombs of the kind already in Israel's arsenal.

Gates, who was on a two-day visit to Israel, said he had reaffirmed a long-standing U.S. commitment to maintaining Israel's military superiority in the region but suggested fears over Washington bolstering its Gulf Arab allies were misplaced.

"I thought they needed to look at the circumstances in terms of the overall strategic environment and in terms of the concerns of their neighbors, more with Iran perhaps, than with Israel," Gates told reporters after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

The United States and Israel say Iran's nuclear program is designed to produce bombs, a charge denied by Tehran.

The Bush administration is keen to reassure Sunni Arab allies, anxious that Shi'ite-dominated Iran is gaining influence in the region, that Washington will stand by them.

That spells possible complications for the U.S. alliance with Israel, a nation still formally shunned by most of the Arab world. But there have been signs of rapprochement given efforts by Riyadh to initiate a comprehensive Israeli-Arab peace deal.

Asked about the Saudi arms report, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz voiced confidence in Washington finding a solution.

"I have no doubt that the strategic understanding that exists between the United States and Israel will ultimately be the decisive factor," " he said after meeting Gates on Thursday.

Gates argued Israel might be best served with the United States, rather than an alternative power with perhaps weaker ties to Israel, arming Gulf Arabs.

"I am confident the Russians would be very happy to come sell weapons in the region and there probably are others as well," Gates said.

Israel, which is assumed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, has hinted it could resort to military force as a last-ditch means of preventing Iran from attaining the bomb.

Such actions would likely require U.S. acquiescence and risk alienating the Bush administration's Arab allies.

Gates reiterated a U.S. belief that recent U.N. Security Council sanctions designed to strip Tehran of nuclear technologies with bomb-making potential appeared to be working.

He also denied Israeli media reports that Israeli officials had asked him to discuss a joint military option against Iran.

"They did not raise that," he said. "I had the impression that, at this point, they also are comfortable with letting the diplomatic process go forward."

Al-Qaida-led insurgents announce an "Islamic Cabinet" for Iraq

ap
CAIRO, Egypt: A Sunni insurgent coalition announced an "Islamic Cabinet" for Iraq and named the head of al-Qaida in Iraq as "minister of war" in a Web video Thursday aimed at showing their strength in leading the fight against the Iraqi government.

The announcement appeared to have multiple aims. One was to present the Islamic State of Iraq coalition as a "legitimate" alternative to the U.S.-backed, Shiite-led administration of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — and to demonstrate that it was only growing in power despite the U.S. military push against insurgents.

It also likely sought to establish the coalition's dominance among insurgents after an embarassing public dispute with other Iraqi Sunni militants.

The message came after hours after another video from the group showing the execution of 20 men said to be members of the Iraqi military and security forces. It showed a masked gunmen walking down a row of the men, blindfolded and bound, shooting each in the back of the head.

The Islamic State of Iraq is a coalition of eight insurgent groups, the most poweful of them al-Qaida in Iraq. It was first announced in October, claiming to hold territory in the Sunni-dominated areas of western and central Iraq.

In the Cabinet announcement video, a man identified as a spokesman for the group appeared, with his face obscured, speaking from behind a desk with a flat-screen computer.

"It is the duty at our present stage to form this Cabinet, the first Islamic Cabinet, which has faith in God," said the spokesman, wearing robes and a red kafiyyah headdress.

He denounced Iraq's rulers for the past decades — including Saddam Hussein's Baath Party and the present government — saying they "spread corruption and ruined the country and its people, until God helped the mujahideen (holy warriors) bring torture upon them."

"Now the Islamic State emerges as a state for Islam and the mujahideen," he said.

He then listed a 10-member "Cabinet," including Abu Hamza al-Muhajer as "war minister." Al-Muhajer is the name announced as the successor of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, who was killed in the summer of 2006. The U.S. military and Iraqi government have identified him by another pseudonym, Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

The names listed by the spokesman were all pseudonyms and their real names were not known — though the pseudonyms included the names of some major Sunni Arab tribes.

The Islamic state is led by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who holds the title of "emir (prince) of the faithful."

Sheik Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Falahi was named as the emir's "first minister," the spokesman said. Other positions included ministers of information, "prisoners and martyrs," agriculture and health.

The video came on the heels of a rare public dispute between the coalition and other insurgent groups.

In past week, another Sunni insurgent group, the Islamic Army in Iraq, has issued statements accusing al-Qaida of killing its members and trying to force others to join its ranks. Al-Baghdadi tried to patch up the dispute by issuing a Web audiotape this week calling for unity and promising to punish any of his group's members who kill other insurgents.

Al-Qaida in Iraq is blamed for some of the deadliest suicide bombings against Shiite civilians, as well as numerous attacks on U.S. troops and Iraqi soldiers and police. The U.S. military has blamed it for a devastating bombing Wednesday in Baghdad's Sadriyah market, killing 127 people.

The execution video posted Thursday purported to show 20 Iraqi police and soldiers that the Islamic State in Iraq claimed six days earlier to have kidnapped northwest of Baghdad. It had threatened to kill them after 48 hours unless the government freed female prisoners and handed over police accused of rapes in the norther town of Tal Afar.

The Iraqi government has denied that 20 police and soldiers were kidnapped. Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said Thursday that the men in the video could not be identified and said the insurgents may have dressed up civilians to kill them.

"We checked with our commands then and all the troops were accounted for," Khalaf told The Associated Press. "They are immoral criminals. They have used all criminal methods and we don't rule out that they executed civilians who they dressed in military uniforms."

The video first showed the 20 men inside a room, lined up in three rows with black blindfolds over their eyes and their hands tied behind their backs. In front of a black Islamic State of Iraq flag, they wore blue police uniforms or military fatigues, and the camera focused on ID badges from the Defense or Interior Ministry on their chests. Some can be heard identifying themselves on the video and giving their positions in the military or security forces.

"I call upon the brothers in the national guards to agree to throw down their weapons and return to the path of God and Islam," said one after identifying himself as Mizher Jassem Mohammed Hussein, an engineer and army captain.

One of the men, wearing army fatigues, was seen shaking and swaying back and forth as he stood, then collapsing as his colleagues spoke.

The video then showed a masked gunman walking down the row of captives, kneeling in a clearing near trees. He shot them one by one, sending each tumbling forward as three other masked militants stood nearby, holding a black banner of the Islamic State of Iraq.

Wolfowitz Offers Changes at World Bank

washington post

WASHINGTON -- Fighting to keep his job, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is offering to make management changes at the institution, officials close to the situation said Thursday.

The overture _ which came during a meeting of bank vice presidents on Wednesday _ was made as Wolfowitz is facing mounting calls for his resignation. The controversy is over Wolfowitz's role in arranging a high-paying job for Shaha Riza, a bank employee who he has dated.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz listens during a news conference at the conclusion of the 2007 Spring meetings at IMF headquarters in Washington, Sunday, April 15, 2007. The controversy involving Wolfowitz and his involvement in a pay increase awarded to a close female friend has put his position in jeopardy but President Bush has stated his confidence in the embattled World Bank president. Wolfowitz a former deputy defense secretary and was one of the architects of Bush's Iraq war strategy.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz listens during a news conference at the conclusion of the 2007 Spring meetings at IMF headquarters in Washington, Sunday, April 15, 2007. The controversy involving Wolfowitz and his involvement in a pay increase awarded to a close female friend has put his position in jeopardy but President Bush has stated his confidence in the embattled World Bank president. Wolfowitz a former deputy defense secretary and was one of the architects of Bush's Iraq war strategy.

The World Bank's 24-member board is expected to meet behind closed doors on Thursday to discuss the matter. It is not clear what action, if any, the board might take. Wolfowitz has said he made a mistake and has apologized.

At Wednesday's meeting, Wolfowitz stated anew that he did not intend to step down, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not permitted to speak on behalf of the bank. They said Wolfowitz spoke in general terms for the need to improve the bank's management, including that of his inner office, and to soften his management style. He also invited recommendations.

The United States _ the bank's largest shareholder _ has been standing by Wolfowitz. "As we've said before, the president has confidence in Paul Wolfowitz," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Thursday in a fresh statement of support. She also said it is appropriate to let the board's review process take place.

Although they have not said so publicly, some European governments would like to see Wolfowitz go but do not want to provoke a fight with the United States over the issue.

Under an informal agreement, the United States names the head of the World Bank and the Europeans chose the leader of its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund. The controversy over Wolfowitz could bring this informal arrangement into question if he resigns or is fired.

Documents released last week showed that Wolfowitz had a direct hand in securing a State Department job for Riza in September 2005 that pays her $193,590. Before the transfer, Riza was earning close to $133,000 as a communications adviser in the bank's Middle East department.

Riza remains on the World Bank's payroll even though she left the State Department job in 2006 and now works for Foundation for the Future, an international organization that gets some money from the department. "I have now been victimized" for agreeing to the arrangement, Riza said in a memo to the bank last week.

The bank's staff association, which accounts for around 7,000 of the bank's 10,000 employees worldwide, wants Wolfowitz to resign, saying his actions have tarnished the reputation of the bank. "His conduct to date does not reflect respect for good governance," said Alison Cave, head of the staff association.

Bea Edwards, international director of the Government Accountability Project, a watchdog group, said: "Wolfowitz has shown himself to be a poor leader, guilty of misjudgment if nothing else."

Gates Reassures Israel About Arms Sales in Gulf

ny times
TEL AVIV, April 19 — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today that he had reassured Israel about a planned major American arms sale to Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries, saying that the sale would not threaten Israel’s military superiority and that it is necessary to counter the threat from Iran.

Speaking to reporters after talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other top Israeli officials, Mr. Gates said that he stressed the point that Israel faced a greater threat from Iran than from the Arab countries that are to receive the sophisticated American weaponry.

Though the arms package has not been described publicly by American officials, they said that Israel expressed the most concern about one element of the package, satellite-guided munitions that are to be sold to Saudi Arabia for the first time. Israel has received the highly accurate bombs from the United States for years.

Mr. Gates said he made clear that the United States would help Israel maintain its military advantage over its Arab neighbors, and urged Israel not to oppose the proposed sale, which the Bush Administration sees as a way to counter Iran’s growing strength.

He said he told Israeli officials that they “needed to take into consideration the overall strategic environment” in the Middle East.

Israeli officials are themselves worried about Iran, especially because of its nuclear program. They have pressed Mr. Gates during his two-day visit here on the need to halt Iran’s progress toward building a nuclear weapon.

Mr. Gates said after meeting on Wednesday with the Israeli defense minister, Amir Peretz, that they were in agreement that diplomatic pressure to halt the Iranian nuclear program was working

But Mr. Peretz took a harder stance, saying that Iran’s leaders want “to destroy Israel.” While Mr. Gates pointedly emphasized the diplomatic path, Mr. Peretz said Israel could not rule out other options, an apparent allusion to possible military action against Iran.

“The diplomatic track is preferable, and it must be exhausted, but it is still not able to remove other options from the table,” Mr. Peretz told reporters at a joint news conference with Mr Gates. Mr. Peretz added, “We expect that the U.S. and the world will stand by us regarding the Iran nuclear issue.”

Israeli officials say it is vital to end the Iranian nuclear program this year or next, before it has a viable nuclear weapon.

The Bush administration has not ruled out military action against Iran, either, but Mr. Gates’s comments in Israel were his most direct explanation of his reluctance to consider a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Mr. Gates said that he did not discuss military options with Israel. “Clearly, if you think that the program is further away from being irreversible or containable, you have more time for the diplomatic process to work,” he said. “I had the impression that at this point they are comfortable with letting the diplomatic process work out.”

Regarding the planned arms sale to Saudi Arabia and other Arab gulf states, Mr. Gates said he told Israel that if the United States did not make such sales, Russia and other countries could.

Bush administration officials said they are worried that Israel may turn to its allies in Congress to block the planned sale, though so far Israel has registered its opposition fairly quietly.

Mr. Gates’ visit to Israel was the first by an American defense secretary since the Clinton Administration.

US tells Iraq to act on sectarianism after bombs kill 191

fairfaxdigital
AS A SERIES of bombings rocked Baghdad, killing 191 people, the US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, called on the Iraqi Government to make "faster progress" on Sunni-Shiite reconciliation, but said the attacks would not derail the administration's Iraq strategy.

Mr Gates said Wednesday's attacks, in mostly Shiite areas of Baghdad, were an attempt to incite reprisals by Shiite militias and derail the Bush Administration's new push to secure Baghdad.

"The insurgency and others would attempt to increase the violence in order to make the plan a failure or to make the people of Iraq believe the plan is a failure," he said. "We intend to persist to show that it is not."

Even before the latest bombings, senior US officials said the Iraqi Government had not been moving fast enough on steps it had promised to take as part of the new security strategy, which is aimed at defusing sectarian tensions and reducing Sunni support for the insurgency.

During a stop in Cairo before travelling to Israel, Mr Gates said: "I believe that faster progress can be made in the political reconciliation process."

His remarks came at a luncheon speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo after he met Egypt's President, Hosni Mubarak.

Mr Gates also appealed to Egypt for help in stabilising Iraq, arguing that if the rising sectarian violence was not controlled it could spread across the Middle East.

"The first and secondary effects of a collapse in Iraq - with all of its economic, religious, security and geopolitical implications - will be felt in capitals and communities of the Middle East well before they are felt in Washington and in New York," he said.

"The forces that would be unleashed - of sectarian strife, of an emboldened extremist movement with access to sanctuaries - do not recognise or respect national boundaries."

Although Mr Gates has avoided direct criticism of the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, US officials are increasingly worried about Mr Maliki's failure to complete even basic reconciliation measures.

The result of the inaction, the officials say, is that bombings such as those on Wednesday have even more impact.

In January, Bush Administration officials said that in response to the President's decision to send nearly 30,000 additional US troops to Baghdad, the Iraqi Government would have to make progress on reconciliation. Although that threat is no longer being heard, Administration officials are privately warning Iraqis not to misread how much time they have.

The New York Times, Los Angeles Times

Too few, too late?

Even if UN forces are at last let into Darfur, will they be able to save it?
economist
AFTER months of huffy hesitation and evasion, Sudan's government at last agreed this week to let some 3,000 UN peacekeepers, replete with helicopter gunships, into its ravaged western region of Darfur. The UN's blue helmets are to bolster an ineffectual force of 7,000 troops now on the ground under the aegis of the African Union (AU). The UN's secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, says he hopes the Sudanese government in Khartoum may yet allow the peacekeeping mission to be beefed up a lot more, bringing its strength up to 22,000 soldiers and police under a “hybrid” UN and AU command. But Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, shows no sign of agreeing to such an increase.
EPA On the move, again, in Darfur

This week's deal will have no immediate impact on the misery in Darfur, where at least 200,000 have been killed and 2m displaced since 2003 in fighting that has ranged over scrubland the size of France. But it is a start. If a small but robust UN force proves more effective, pressure may grow on Mr Bashir to let in a bigger force.

A key factor in persuading him to relent was an apparent change in the attitude of China, which had hitherto prevented any real pressure being put on Sudan; most of Sudan's oil goes to China, which provides Sudan's government with most of its arms and much of its sorely needed investment in infrastructure. The Chinese government may have been rattled by a campaign launched in America calling for a boycott of next year's Beijing Olympic Games and dubbing them “the Genocide Olympics”.

China has blithely ignored accusations that it is indirectly to blame for letting the Darfur carnage continue. But when the Olympics are brought into the equation, it becomes twitchier. A letter to China's authorities from Steven Spielberg, the American film director, urging them to help alleviate the suffering in Darfur may have forced the issue. Mr Spielberg is advising on the Olympic ceremonies, heralded as China's coming-out party. He may have feared being labelled a hard-hearted propagandist, much as Leni Riefenstahl was damned for her photographic choreography of the Nazis' Berlin Olympics of 1936.

Whether or not his letter had an effect, China's president, Hu Jintao, promptly sent a senior official to Sudan—and a deal was struck. No one is confident that Mr Bashir will stick to it. He has often wriggled out of agreements before. The American administration remains particularly sceptical. Its relations with Khartoum will improve, it says, only when things in Darfur improve. President Bush said this week he would press for sterner sanctions if Sudan failed to co-operate fully. But Mr Bashir is banking on America's bark being worse than its bite, because he knows he is still valued, if only by the CIA, as an American ally in the so-called war on terror.

It is unclear, in any case, how much difference the dispatch of 3,000 UN troops to Darfur will make. For a start, they are not due to arrive until October—or later, if the Sudanese drag their feet again. It is even less certain that Mr Bashir will let the much bigger hybrid UN-AU force be built up. And even if he did, there is no knowing if it would be effective.

Few countries are willing or able to provide the right sort of troops for the job: special forces and paratroops, as well as medical units and engineers. Fewer still, apart from the United States, have the needed airlift capacity. Sudan insists that the UN force must have an African face. But few African countries have the military clout; the best are overstretched. By the by, if the AU were persuaded to bolster its force in Sudan, that would probably end any serious effort to stiffen the backbone of its under-sized force now struggling against the odds to keep the peace in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.

Even if peacekeepers do eventually reach Darfur in meaningful force, the region may be overwhelmed by problems of nature. The recent carnage apart, the number of people and cattle has risen much faster than their ability to sustain themselves, even in peacetime. Aid agencies now feed almost half the population. Over the years, as rainfall has declined and crops have become less bountiful, a gross dependency has set in. It is uncertain whether the people of Darfur will ever be able to look after themselves again.

MyFox Washington DC | Jesuits Closing Boston Church That Serves Many Gays

MyFox Washington DC | Jesuits Closing Boston Church That Serves Many Gays

Jesuits Closing Boston Church That Serves Many Gays

Last Edited: Monday, 16 Apr 2007, 7:23 AM EDT
Created: Monday, 16 Apr 2007, 7:23 AM EDT

MyFox Faith By The Associated Press


BOSTON -- The Jesuits are closing a Boston church that serves a largely gay congregation and putting the building up for sale because they can no longer afford to keep it open, the order's leader say.

The Jesuit Urban Center in the city's South End will close at the end of July, said the Rev. Thomas Regan, the superior of the New England Jesuits.

The sexual orientation of many in the congregation did not play a role in the decision, and there was no pressure from the Vatican or the Boston Archdiocese to shutter the church, Regan said.

The Roman Catholic religious order has become financially reliant on salaries paid to members who teach at Boston College, College of the Holy Cross, and Fairfield University -- all Jesuit schools -- but as they retire or die, the order is being forced to cut back on its activities, he said.

About one-third of the order's 342 priests in New England are retired.

"A lot of people are still in the church because of the Jesuits," Regan said. "We do not want to abandon these people. But there's a spirit among this group, and I think that's going to be lost, and that's very sad."

Worshippers informed of the planned closing after Mass on Sunday reacted with disappointment and anger.

"I, and my friends, while not surprised, were saddened," said Dr. Juan Jaime de Zengotita. "This comes after a few years of rough times for gay Catholics, with Vatican and local Episcopal declarations that have not been so friendly. I don't know what will be the future of gay ministry."

The Jesuit Urban Center costs the order about $350,000 a year to support, and its only significant remaining activity is a weekly Mass attended by 150 to 200 people who generate weekly collections of about $2,400, Regan said. The building, the Church of the Immaculate Conception, was dedicated in 1861 and needs $4 million to $8 million in renovations, he said.

Jesuits would continue to welcome gays and lesbians to worship at St. Ignatius of Loyola, the parish they oversee adjacent to Boston College on the Brighton-Newton line, Regan said.

Regan noted there are two other downtown congregations that have been reaching out to gay Catholics -- the Paulist Center on Beacon Hill and St. Anthony Shrine, operated by the Franciscans, near Downtown Crossing.

------

Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/globe

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

FOXNews.com - Administration Picks New Nuclear Warhead Design - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum

FOXNews.com - Administration Picks New Nuclear Warhead Design - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum

Administration Picks New Nuclear Warhead Design
Friday , March 02, 2007



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WASHINGTON —

The Bush administration selected a design Friday for a new generation of atomic warheads, taking a major step toward building the first new nuclear weapon since the end of the Cold War nearly two decades ago.

The military and the Energy Department selected a design developed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California over a competing design by the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

The decision to move ahead with the warhead, which eventually would replace the existing arsenal of weapons, has been criticized as sending the wrong signal to the world at a time when the United States is assailing attempts at nuclear weapons development in North Korea and Iran and striving to contain them.

But military and Energy Department officials said the new U.S. warhead will not add to the nuclear arsenal, but replace existing warheads with ones that are safer and more reliable.

"This is not about starting a new arms race," said Thomas P. D'Agostino, acting head of the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nuclear weapons programs.

D'Agostino said that both the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore designs were contingent on not requiring nuclear testing. If tests were required in a design, "We were not going to go forward," he said.

D'Agostino said that engineers over the next year will focus on developing cost estimates and defining the scope of the program and a schedule for its development. After that, decisions will be made on actually building the warhead.

The warhead has been the focus of an intense competition between Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore, the government's two premier nuclear weapons labs.

The two facilities submitted separate designs nearly a year ago. Lawrence Livermore's design is based on a warhead actually tested in an underground detonation in the 1980s. Los Alamos had a design based on a fresh approach that has not undergone testing.

One of the assurances given by defense officials to Congress is that the new warhead will not have to undergo actual testing. Once developed, it would be used in the Trident missiles on submarines and eventually would replace warheads on the Air Force's missile arsenal, officials said.

Administration officials, including the military, have argued that today's aging warheads are harder to maintain and as they age it will become more difficult to ensure their reliability.

The new design is advertised as being more robust with additional features to safeguard them against possible theft or misuse.

Of overriding concern to members of Congress has been that the warhead be developed without the need for underground tests. The administration has sought to assure Congress that the design would not require such testing.

The administration also argues that a phasing out of current warheads with the more modern design will allow additional reductions in the number of warheads that will be needed.

The decision Friday establishes a clear blueprint for designing the new warhead, officials said. A final go ahead is expected to be made by the president within two years, with the first warheads to be completed by 2012.

It has not been determined how much the program will cost. The administration asked Congress for $119 million for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 to push ahead with further design work.

Advocates for the warhead say it would give military commanders greater assurance of reliability and could speed the reduction of the deployed number of nuclear warheads from 6,000 to fewer than 2,000 by 2012.

FOXNews.com - Southern California Opens 'Fusion' Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Center - Crime | Murder | Illegal Drugs | Missing Kids | Illegal Aliens

FOXNews.com - Southern California Opens 'Fusion' Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Center - Crime | Murder | Illegal Drugs | Missing Kids | Illegal Aliens

Southern California Opens 'Fusion' Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Center
Thursday , July 27, 2006

By Michael Paranac


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To defend Southern California more effectively from terrorist attacks, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies on Thursday launched the area's first "fusion" command center.

The Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Center (JRIC), based in Norwalk, Calif., is designed to provide a common information and intelligence-sharing network for local police and federal agents in seven counties working to infiltrate or expose terrorist operations. It will combine information from the Los Angeles Police Department, FBI and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Homeland Security Center.

"It brought all of our capabilities and expertise together instead of doing it through telephone calls and e-mails," said Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Robert Fox.

"It's really unique that we have so many players coming together," Willie T. Hulon, FBI executive assistant director, said at the center's opening Thursday. "This will be a model for the rest of the country."

Memex is the Virginia-based company that created the search software used by the new L.A. fusion center. It allows the JRIC to gather, collate, track, analyze and disseminate intelligence information in real time, including counterterrorism tips and leads.

"One of the primary things we’ve done with the multi-agency approach is collecting all tips and leads into a single center to provide searching and cross-referencing with other databases within the whole system," Mike Himley, western general manager of Memex, told FOXNews.com. "Instead of the old manual processes, everything's more automated."

Memex has been in business for 20 years. Scotland Yard has been using its technology for more than a decade, and some other U.S. agencies are also utilizing it. The company hopes to put its software to use in other cities' fusion centers in the future.

"We're enthusiastic to try to share information," Himley said.

The Memex system works to reduce search time by allowing investigators to research and locate an entity by clicking through one unifying intelligence system. Agencies can share leads and are able to conduct more efficient searches when trying to locate or apprehend a suspect.

Without this search capability, Himley said, the investigator may have to make phone calls to various other agencies or sift through mounds of paper documents. A search concerning a suspicious rental truck can be completed in seconds instead of hours, Himley continued.

"The mission here is to look at counter-terrorism operations. [The system] significantly speeds up intel reports, it helps them move faster," he said.

While similar centers exist in other areas around the country, the Los Angeles center is staffed by 62 personnel from more than 15 other agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security. The center will be responsible for a region spanning seven counties which is also home to some 18 million residents. Roughly $6 million has been invested in the operation.

"No place is going to be better prepared to defend against terrorism," Los Angeles police Chief William Bratton said.

In related news, DHS announced on Thursday that analysts from the Office of Intelligence Analysis will work with state and local authorities on fusion centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Reisterstown, Md., and Baton Rouge, La. to help facilitate the fast-flow of information and intelligence on all types of hazards.

"One of the the department's top priorities is to work with state and local authorities and share information that helps to connect the dots on emerging threats," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement. "There is no more effective way to connect the dots than by having our personnel sitting in a chair next to their local counterparts, providing them with information they need to make timely and informed decisions on how best to protect their community."

Thirty-eight fusion centers can be found around the country. DHS has so far provided $380 million to state and local governments to support the facilities.

FOXNews.com - Sept. 11 Autopsy Guidelines Abandoned by Federal Government - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

FOXNews.com - Sept. 11 Autopsy Guidelines Abandoned by Federal Government - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

Sept. 11 Autopsy Guidelines Abandoned by Federal Government
Saturday , November 18, 2006



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NEW YORK —

An effort to create standardized autopsy guidelines that could document the link between toxic air at ground zero and the later deaths of Sept. 11 rescue workers was abandoned by the federal government over concerns that the information collected could be misinterpreted.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, in a note posted Friday on its web site, said the agency "instead will pursue other avenues for documenting long-term health effects from exposure to air contaminants from the World Trade Center disaster."

The proposal for standard autopsy guidelines was laid out by the institute in a Sept. 15 draft document that was subsequently reviewed by medical experts outside the federal government. The decision to scratch the autopsy plan came after the experts raised questions about whether the plan would work.

"This study has many insurmountable barriers to overcome," wrote Dr. David J. Prezant, chief medical officer for the city Fire Department. Prezant, whose review was also posted on the institute web site, said one of those barriers was the "politics of causality," a reference to pending lawsuits filed against the city by injured workers. Autopsy results are often used in civil suits.

The institute said reviewers had raised several questions about the program, including concerns that "the draft document could be misinterpreted or misapplied, hindering rather than furthering progress in addressing WTC health concerns." The independent reviews were complete on Oct. 31, according to the institute.

The draft had proposed examining specific sections of the lungs, along with the creation of a "tissue bank" to preserve certain organs and bodily fluids for later testing. But the agency ultimately decided to look for another method to reduce "uncertainties in assessing WTC health effects."

The five-paragraph web site statement contained no specific alternatives.

The collapse of the twin towers sent thick plumes of concrete dust, fiberglass, asbestos and lead into the air in lower Manhattan. The tainted air was taken in by thousands of ground zero workers in the weeks after the terrorist attack that killed 2,749 people.

The guidelines were intended to be used nationwide in cases like the death of New York City police detective James Zadroga, who died last January. Zadroga spent 470 hours working amid the toxic fumes, and fell ill within weeks.

An autopsy found the 34-year-old detective died as a result of ground zero exposure, finding that there was material "consistent with dust" found in his lungs.

Swiss journalists acquitted in case of leaked secret CIA prisons fax - International Herald Tribune

Swiss journalists acquitted in case of leaked secret CIA prisons fax - International Herald Tribune

Swiss journalists acquitted in case of leaked secret CIA prisons fax

The Associated Press
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
ST. GALLEN, Switzerland: Three journalists were acquitted Tuesday of breaking Swiss military secrecy laws by publishing classified intelligence material about alleged secret CIA prisons in Europe.

A military tribunal ruled that SonntagsBlick reporters Sandro Brotz, Beat Jost and the weekly's former editor-in-chief, Christoph Grenacher, had not revealed military secrets when they published a purported Egyptian government fax intercepted by the Swiss foreign intelligence agency.

The journalists said the document was discovered on a train.

The fax, details of which were published in the Zurich-based weekly in January 2006, alleged that the United States detained 23 Iraqi and Afghan terror suspects at a base in Romania.

SonntagsBlick said the fax was sent by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to its embassy in London and contained allegations about similar U.S. detention centers in Ukraine, Kosovo, Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Swiss media rights groups and lawmakers had protested against the trial of the journalists before a court martial, arguing that civilians — particularly members of the media — should not be subject to military secrecy laws.

Reacting to the verdict, the newspaper's current editor-in-chief said the journalists had acted correctly and in the public interest.

"Civilians and particularly journalists must never again be put before a military tribunal," Marc Walder said in a statement.

The newspaper said it would continue to work toward changing the Swiss law, first passed in 1927, which allows for civilians to be put on trial before a court martial if they reveal military secrets, commit sabotage or obstruct the army's work.

Prosecutors had demanded a fine of 39,600 Swiss francs (US$32,700; €24,100) for Grenacher and 12,600 francs (US$9,900; €7,300) for Brotz and Jost, arguing the journalists had compromised the neutral country's intelligence-gathering operations.

Prosecutor Beat Hirt told the tribunal the men had displayed a reckless attitude to national security.

Defense lawyer Matthias Schwaibold asked the tribunal to acquit the men of all charges on the grounds that the publication did not harm the intelligence agency's work and details of the purported detention centers had already been widely publicized.

Allegations about secret CIA prisons in Europe had previously appeared in American newspapers, but the leak of the intercepted fax embarrassed the Swiss government.

A report by the European Parliament published in February named a number of countries that allegedly allowed the CIA to use their territory to transport terrorism suspects, in contravention of human rights standards. In September, U.S. President George W. Bush acknowledged that terrorism suspects have been held in CIA-run prisons overseas, but did not say where.

MySpace looks at getting into news - U.S. Business - MSNBC.com

MySpace looks at getting into news - U.S. Business - MSNBC.com



MySpace looks at getting into news
Social networking site to test service that scours Web for news stories
The Associated Press
Updated: 9:58 a.m. ET April 19, 2007
NEW YORK - News Corp.’s MySpace social network plans to test a service on Thursday that scours the Web for news stories and lets users rate them, aiming to attract more advertisers to the Rupert Murdoch-controlled company.

The service, called MySpace News, resembles a mix of Google Inc.’s Google News, which collects stories and arranges them based on thematic similarities and Digg.com, which displays stories suggested by its readers and displays them according to their popularity ranking, executives said.

MySpace News is an attempt by the company to keep its more than 100 million unique visitors, according to comScore Network’s March figures, on the popular social network site longer.

The service adds a social element to traditional news consumption by giving readers the ability to determine what becomes the top news on MySpace.

The launch is also part of News Corp.’s efforts to aggressively court entertainment and other types of content from other media sources as it seeks to bolster a leading position on the Internet, executives have said. News Corp. expects to generate over $500 million in revenue from its digital businesses this fiscal year.

Before the launch, MySpace users would have to leave the service to read news on the Internet. MySpace users on average spend about 10 minutes per visit in the United States and visit the site about 19 times per month, according to comScore.

The news service, long rumored, will have 25 main topics and about 300 sub-categories ranging from celebrities and gossip to autos and fashion.

“Many advertisers have expressed interest in the service, which allows them to target the MySpace community in a more direct way,” Brian Norgard, co-founder of Newroo, a company purchased by News Corp. last year, which created MySpace News’ technology, said in an interview.

Executives also said its service would draw from a wider collection of news sources than Google News. Google News draws from about 4,500 sources, according to its site. News Corp.’s Fox Interactive Media executives declined to specify the news outlets.

The technology scans thousands of news sources and displays them on the site based on how popular the stories are to its readers who can vote on them.

But services such as Google News, which displays brief excerpts of stories and photos from other companies on its site, has angered some news organizations seeking to build their own Internet businesses. Google recently settled a closely watched copyright dispute with Agence France-Presse.

The deal now clears the way for Google to continue displaying text excerpts and photos from the agency.

News publishers can ask to have their news feed removed from the MySpace service.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18198333/

What are these companies saying about you? - Personal Finance - MSNBC.com

What are these companies saying about you? - Personal Finance - MSNBC.com

What are these companies saying about you?
Consumers now get free peek at 'specialty' reporting agencies
By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
Updated: 4:55 p.m. ET Dec 8, 2004
Consumers worried about companies that track their lives in cryptic databases have an important new tool -- but apparently, most people don't realize it.

For years, companies have used such databases to make hiring decisions, reject personal checks, or set insurance rates -- but consumers generally had little notion what information was kept on them. Now, a new federal law gives Americans the right to see their own data for free once a year, giving them an opportunity to correct maddening, and potentially damaging, data mistakes.

The law will turn some people into digital sleuths, experts say -- an exercise worth the effort if your data contains errors that might lead to higher insurance rates or employment denials. That possibility, experts say, is magnified in an era of high identity theft rates.

Liz Weston, author of "Your Credit Score," and personal finance columnist for MSN.com, says consumers should not hesitate to use the new tools.

"The information in these other databases can be used to deny you a job, apartment, insurance or bank account, so you definitely want to see what they're saying about you and correct any errors," Weston says.

More than just credit reports
Last week, a Web site named AnnualCreditReport.com opened its doors, offering consumers a peek at their financial histories, as logged by the nation's credit reporting agencies.

But the federal law which permits that peek is actually far broader than financial credit reports. Consumers are now entitled to see records kept by a wide swath of so-called "specialty consumer reporting agencies." Some medical records, tenant histories, and employment backgrounds fall into the broadly-defined category, and are now open for an annual review by consumers.

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Report mandates that any company which maintains permanent files on a consumer, and sells that file to other firms for business decision purposes, make the information available for inspection once a year.

While the nation's credit reporting agencies are generally giving consumers ability to scan the information on a Web site, most specialty reporting agencies require requests to come via a toll-free number. They'll mail the report after a request is filed.

But the good news is, free specialty consumer reports became available to consumers nationwide, starting Dec. 1. Free Credit reports are only available to residents in 13 western states at the moment -- the rest of the country gets its crack at credit reports next year.

Experts hope free annual reports will make consumers much more aware of the data that's kept on them.

While nearly every adult consumer in the United States has a record on file with the credit bureaus, not everyone has records with the specialty bureaus. The market is also more splintered, with many more firms offering background checks to corporations, meaning consumers will have to do extra legwork in their quest to do a full investigation of their own data.

"I don't think there is anyplace that has a (complete) list of these companies," said Peggy Twohig, assistant director in the Federal Trade Commission's division of financial practices. Such companies are not required to register with the FTC, and face no formal licensing procedure, she said, making it nearly impossible for any consumer to track them all down.

Previously, consumers could obtain the reports for free -- but only after they were denied insurance or faced some other "adverse action," as a result of a database record. The reports could be purchased too, but many consumers had no idea where to ask or what to ask for. Most don't learn the name of a reporting agency until it's too late, until they've received a notice of adverse action when denied insurance or employment, Twohig said.

The most comprehensive list is maintained by privacy advocacy group The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.


The place to start
Still, as in credit reports, there are major players in the arena, and they offer consumers a good starting point.

The first stop should be ChoiceTrust.com, the consumer arm of ChoicePoint Inc. The firm maintains a series of databases consumers can check in on: a list of recent insurance claims, pre-employment screening information, and tenant history.

"The most pertinent advice is it doesn't hurt to check to see what information is available in the public realm," said ChoicePoint spokesman Chuck Jones.

Starting Dec. 1, the firm included on its Web site instructions for obtaining a variety of background records. Surprisingly, Jones said, traffic to the site has been light.

"Volume is less than we expected," he said.

ChoicePoint's C.L.U.E. database -- the acronym stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange report -- includes a list of claims against auto and homeowners insurance. Entries in the database can cause higher premiums, or even rejection for insurance.

"I can't say how many consumers are in there, but if someone hasn't made a claim in the past five years, they won't be," Jones said.

ChoicePoint's pre-employment screening data includes attempts to verify education, employment history and criminal background checks. Consumers will only have a record on file with ChoicePoint if a prospective employer used ChoicePoint to perform a screening. Many firms offer similar services. The best way to find out which one to ask is to talk with the employer, and ask which firm it uses for background checks. Employers, however, are not required by federal law to answer the question.

Consumers can also order a tenant history report from ChoicePoint.

Medical history available
Another critical database for consumers to check is maintained by the MIB Group Inc. Also known as the Medical Information Bureau, the firm's database includes a list of consumers' medical conditions that may affect their life or longevity, said MIB general counsel Jim Corbett. Entries in the database could cause a consumer to be rejected for life or health insurance.

"Only if a person applied for insurance and have been found to have a condition," are they in the database, Corbett said.

Corbett said 16 million consumers have a file in MIB's database. Information on how to check those records can be found at the firm's Web site.

Consumers can also see if there record of bounced checks or other banking troubles kept in files by companies who advise retailers whether to accept or reject a personal check for payment. ChexSystems, the largest player in the space, offers simple instructions on its Web site for checking the data. Other firms have been slower to enumerate consumer FACT act rights, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

Weston says consumers might be confused by all the paperwork they need to file to get their various records -- and by the fact that not all specialty reporting agencies have records on all consumers. Still, at least some are already enjoying the new right.

"It's still a lot of checking around to do," she said. "Still, (people) seem to eat it up; everybody wants to know what someone else is saying about them."

Consumers who find errors must dispute them one at a time with individual companies, in writing. Firms which receive disputes, under the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and its recent amendment, have up to 45 days to reinvestigate the incident and report back to the consumer. But if the firm that supplied the negative data stands by it, consumers have little recourse outside suing the firms involved.

Bob Sullivan is author of Your Evil Twin: Behind the Identity Theft Epidemic

© 2007 MSNBC Interactive
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6678137/

CBSNews.com: Print This Story

Spy Chief Seeks More Surveillance Power

Spy Chief Seeks More Surveillance Power

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(AP) President Bush's spy chief is pushing to expand the government's surveillance authority at the same time the administration is under attack for stretching its domestic eavesdropping powers.

National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell has circulated a draft bill that would expand the government's powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, liberalizing how that law can be used.

Known as "FISA," the 1978 law was passed to allow surveillance in espionage and other foreign intelligence investigations, but still allow federal judges on a secretive panel to ensure protections for U.S. citizens — at home or abroad — and other permanent U.S. residents.

The changes McConnell is seeking mostly affect a cloak-and-dagger category of warrants used to investigate suspected spies, terrorists and other national security threats. The court-approved surveillance could include planting listening devices and hidden cameras, searching luggage and breaking into homes to make copies of computer hard drives.

McConnell, who took over the 16 U.S. spy agencies and their 100,000 employees less than three months ago, is signaling a more aggressive posture for his office and will lay out his broad priorities on Wednesday as part of a 100-day plan.

The retired Navy vice admiral recently met with leaders at the National Security Agency, Justice Department and other agencies to learn more about the rules they operate under and what ties their hands, according to officials familiar with the discussions and McConnell's proposals. The officials described them on condition that they not be identified because the plans are still being developed.

According to officials familiar with the draft changes to FISA, McConnell wants to:


Give the NSA the power to monitor foreigners without seeking FISA court approval, even if the surveillance is conducted by tapping phones and e-mail accounts in the United States. "Determinations about whether a court order is required should be based on considerations about the target of the surveillance, rather than the particular means of communication or the location from which the surveillance is being conducted," NSA Director Keith Alexander told the Senate last year.


Clarify the standards the FBI and NSA must use to get court orders for basic information about calls and e-mails — such as the number dialed, e-mail address, or time and date of the communications. Civil liberties advocates contend the change will make it too easy for the government to access this information.


Triple the life span of a FISA warrant for a non-U.S. citizen from 120 days to one year, allowing the government to monitor much longer without checking back in with a judge.


Give telecommunications companies immunity from civil liability for their cooperation with the government's terrorist surveillance program. Pending lawsuits against companies such as Verizon and AT&T allege they violated privacy laws by giving phone records to the NSA for the program.


Extend from 72 hours to one week the amount of time the government can conduct surveillance without a court order in emergencies.

McConnell, Alexander and a senior Justice Department official will appear at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on April 17 to discuss whether to amend the FISA law. Chad Kolton, McConnell's spokesman, declined to comment on the director's proposals.

Government officials have been publicly and privately discussing changes to FISA since last year. A senior intelligence official said the goal is to update the law to ensure Americans' constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure, while improving use of government resources to pursue threats against U.S. interests.

Critics question whether the changes are needed and worry about what the Bush administration has in store, given a rash of allegations about domestic surveillance and abuse of power. "Congress should certainly be very skeptical about proposals to give this government greater powers to spy on its own citizens," said Caroline Fredrickson, the Washington legislative office director for the American Civil Liberties Union.

The proposed changes to domestic surveillance would be so broad that "you have basically done away with the protections of the FISA," said Kate Martin, head of the Center for National Security Studies.

Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., who unsuccessfully sponsored legislation last year to update FISA, said Congress must act because current court orders bolstering the president's terrorist surveillance program are legally shaky. She wants the law to be rewritten to ensure the NSA can continue the program.

Mr. Bush has faced months of criticism for his 2001 decision to order the NSA to monitor the international calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens when terrorism is suspected. More recently, the Justice Department and FBI have been sharply rebuked for bad bookkeeping and other mistakes involving their powers under the USA Patriot Act to secretly demand Americans' e-mail, financial and other personal records through so-called national security letters. Top government officials have tried to dampen the outrage by promising accountability and have argued that the letters are essential tools to protect against terror threats.

McConnell hinted at his discomfort with current laws last week during a speech before an audience of government executives, saying he worries that current laws and regulations prevent intelligence agencies from using all of their capabilities to protect the nation.

"That's the big challenge going forward," he said, acknowledging changes would require significant congressional debate.

Stocks Fall in Asia, Europe on China Rate Concern; Yen Rises

April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks dropped in Asia and Europe on concern China will raise interest rates in response to faster- than-forecast economic expansion.

China Vanke Co., the Asian country's biggest developer, and BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, fell. The Morgan Stanley Capital International World Index, a global equity gauge, slid from an all-time high. The yen and U.S. Treasuries gained.

Economic growth in China reached 11.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier and inflation accelerated to 3.3 percent, the fastest pace in more than two years. Today's stock slump raised concern after China sparked a rout on Feb. 27 that ended up wiping $3.3 trillion from equity market values worldwide.

``Expansion at this speed raises fears the government will introduce measures to cool the economy, reigniting concerns about the health of the global economy,'' said Bo Lundstroem, an equity strategist at SEB Enskilda in Stockholm. ``The stocks that have benefited the most recently from robust demand from Asia, such as basic-resource companies and exporters, are taking the biggest hit today.''

The MSCI World lost 0.5 percent to 1568.86 at 12:16 p.m. in London. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index dropped 1.4 percent to 147.22. The benchmark also climbed to a record yesterday, recovering from the slump that began in February.

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index declined 0.9 percent to 382.58, the most since March 14.

U.S. Futures

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in June sank 7.9 to 1472.4. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 65 to 12,793. Nasdaq-100 Index futures slid 12.25 to 1836. The Dow average closed at a record yesterday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported earnings that beat analyst estimates.

The data on China's growth follows a report two days ago that showed inflation in the U.K. unexpectedly accelerated to the fastest pace in a decade. That fueled speculation borrowing costs may rise in Europe's second-largest economy and triggered a decline in shares.

Stocks have more than recovered from the February rout as mergers and acquisitions outweighed concern that global growth will slow. The MSCI World as of yesterday had gained 8.9 percent from its low for the year reached on March 5.

China's benchmark CSI 300 Index tumbled 4.7 percent today, the most in seven weeks, before the government released the report on gross domestic product.

China Vanke slid 1.32 yuan, or 7 percent, to 17.44. Citic Securities Co., China's biggest publicly traded brokerage, dropped 1.99 yuan, or 4 percent, to 47.48.

`Concrete' Risk

``The Chinese economy is growing too much and the risk that the government will take measures to stop it overheating is concrete now,'' said Mario Menendez-Mato, director of brokerage Orient Finance in Paris. ``The bull market was very strong in China and was highly driven by speculation, so the risks of a correction are big.''

China's first-quarter growth report had been delayed until after the close of stock trading in Shanghai. The median estimate of 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for expansion of 10.4 percent, the same as in the previous quarter.

China has increased borrowing costs three times to cool the world's fastest-growing major economy and curb an inflation rate that rose to the highest in more than two years in March.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks the so- called H Shares of 41 mainland companies, dropped 3.2 percent in Hong Kong. China Mobile Ltd., the world's largest mobile-phone operator by users, slid 4.1 percent to HK$72.50.

Canon, Toyota

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 295.36, or 1.7 percent, to 17,371.97, its biggest drop since March 14. Shares of Japan's largest companies such as Canon Inc. and Toyota Motor Corp. declined.

In London, BHP lost 1.2 percent to 1113 pence. Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-largest mining company, retreated 1.8 percent to 3063 pence.

The yen climbed as investors sought a haven from stocks, and on speculation the Bank of Japan will raise its key interest rate, the lowest among major economies. Investors take advantage of Japan's 0.5 percent overnight rate to conduct so-called carry trades in which they borrow funds to invest in higher-yielding assets in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

China's stock slump ``may lead to risk aversion again, which caused the global downturn in stocks in February,'' said Takashi Miyachi, a senior currency dealer in Tokyo at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. ``Investors are wary of the unwinding of yen carry trades.''

Yen, Treasuries

The yen rose to 117.78 after reaching 117.61, the strongest since April 2, compared with 118.68 in New York yesterday. It climbed to 160.09 per euro from 161.51 yesterday and a record low of 162.43 on April 16.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell 2 basis points to 4.63 percent, according to New York-based bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. The price of the 4 5/8 percent security due in February 2017 rose 5/32, or $1.56 per $1,000 face amount, to 99 30/32. The yield, which moves inversely to the price, has fallen a combined 13 basis points this week.

CIA recruiting at Virginia Tech

truth will set you free

"The single shooter was unusally effective at killing, almost as if he had been trained to do so." --mparent7777

From November 2005 . . .

For the second time this year, the Central Intelligence Agency will be coming to Virginia Tech to recruit students.

And for the second time this year, they will be met with protests from students who view the CIA as an immoral organization that engages in torture and murder.

Nicholas Kiersey organized a protest last spring when the CIA came to campus. He released the following statement Monday about the CIA's trip to Torgeson 3100 Thursday at 7 p.m.:

"Blacksburg, VA November 13, 2005 - A coalition of concerned graduate students and campus organizations at Virginia Tech are this Thursday staging a 'teach in' to protest CIA recruitment on campus. Planned events also include the protest of a 'career information' session to be held by the CIA later that evening.

On November 2nd, 2005 the Washington Post published an article entitled “CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons”. The article reported that the CIA has set up a covert network of secret prisons and interrogation centers, known as “black sites”, in several countries around the world, including several democracies in Eastern Europe and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Prisoners at these facilities are held indefinitely and often in isolation, without due process of the law. Moreover, CIA interrogators working at these sites are permitted to use the CIA's approved "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques," some of which are prohibited by the U.N. convention and by U.S. military law. Among the tactics approved for use are "waterboarding", intended to induce in prisoners the idea that they are drowning.

While intelligence officials defend the unrestricted operation of these sites as necessary for the successful defense of the country, it should be noted that both the sites and the suspected practices carried out at them would be illegal if operated within the USA, which is a signatory to the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Importantly, the same is true for the democratic host states in Eastern Europe where some of these sites are located.

The 'Teach In' will take place on Thursday, Nov. 17, 5-6.30pm, in Torgerson 3100. The event will feature talks by Virginia Tech instructors and the presentation of a draft letter to President Steger's office, signed by a number of concerned Virginia Tech faculty and students.

The letter will request that Virginia Tech place a moratorium on all CIA activities on Virginia Tech's campus until such time as a thorough and independent investigation certifies that the organization has been thoroughly reformed and no longer engages in practices that contravene international law and basic standards of human rights.

The CIA's scheduled 'career information' session will take place at 7pm in the same location.

Sponsoring campus organizations include: The International Club and Amnesty International at Virginia Tech."

Gunman Sent Photos, Video and Writings to NBC


NY TIMES Scroll down for cell phone video of police shooting outside the building, and Gunman Manifesto video.

“I didn’t have to do this. I could have left. I could have fled. But no, I will no longer run.”

Those were some of the words of Cho Seung-Hui, the gunman responsible for the shootings at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute who mailed photographs, video and writings to NBC News, apparently sending off the material between the two attacks on campus that killed 33 people, including himself.

NBC released excerpts of the video footage and photos of Mr. Cho today, saying the materials were received at the network’s New York City office Tuesday afternoon but not opened until Wednesday morning. One photo shows him wearing a vest with pockets and baseball cap on backwards as he grips two guns, one in each gloved hand, and scowls into the camera. Another shows him with a white T-shirt and pointing one of the handguns directly into the lens. (Video Video: Gunman’s Manifesto)

In rambling statements, Mr. Cho appeared to address unidentified tormenters, and evoked the names of the killers in the Columbine High School shooting, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

His voice is at times soft, and at other times forceful. He appeared at times in front of a cinderblock wall, at times in a car. He wore several different outfits, and NBC reported that he began to compile the materials at least six days before the shootings.

It was not clear if he made the videos and took the pictures himself, or if someone else had.

“You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today,” he said. “But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off.”

NBC said it received 29 pictures, showing some of Mr. Cho, his hair cropped close, looking stern in most, and smiling in a few.

“You just loved crucifying me,” Mr. Cho said in one video clip. “You loved inducing cancer in my head, terrorizing my heart and ripping my soul all the time.”

He also railed against the wealth, materialism and privilege of others.

“Do you know what it feels like to be torched alive? Do you know what it feels like to be humiliated?” he asked.

“You had everything you wanted. Your Mercedes wasn’t enough. Your vodka and cognac wasn’t enough. Your trust fund wasn’t enough. All your debaucheries weren’t enough.”

“When the time came I did it, I had to,” he said in one video clip.

NBC, which turned the material over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, described receiving a “disturbing, rambling multi-page statement,” along with the video and photos that went on for many single-spaced pages.

“This may be a very new critical component of this investigation,” said Col. W. Steven Flaherty, the superintendent of the Virginia State Police, at a news conference. Authorities are now in the process of evaluating its worth, he said.

The Express Mail package had a postal stamp showing it had been received at a Virginia post office at 9:01 a.m. on Monday, about an hour and 45 minutes after a 911 call was made saying that a shooting had occurred at West Ambler Johnston residence hall, where two students were killed. It was about 45 minutes before Mr. Cho shot 30 people dead at Norris Hall.

“We probably would have received the mail earlier had it not been that he had the wrong address and ZIP code,” said Steve Capus, the president of NBC News. The package had a return address saying “Ismail” and was sent to “Rockefeller Ave.” instead of Rockefeller Plaza. Among the materials are 23 QuickTime video files showing Mr. Cho talking directly to the camera about his hatred of the wealthy, Mr. Capus said. In one instance, he makes a reference to the massacre, saying “This didn’t have to happen.’”

Mr. Cho had used two handguns, a 9-millimeter and a .22-caliber, to shoot dozens of rounds, leaving even those who survived with multiple bullet wounds, officials said.

In addition, more information was disclosed today about Cho Seung-Hui’s state of mind more than a year before the killing rampage. The police said today two female students complained to them about him in 2005.

General District Court records show that a Montgomery County magistrate ordered Mr. Cho, 23, to undergo a mental evaluation in December 2005. The magistrate found probable cause that Mr. Cho was “mentally ill” and an “imminent danger to self and others” or is so seriously mentally ill as to be substantially unable to care for himself.

It directed the order to any authorized officer of the Virginia Tech police department.

The new information raises questions about whether warning signs about Mr. Cho’s behavior and problems were handled effectively by police and the university.

Asked about the court document, the associate vice president for university relations, Larry Hincker said: “That is total news to me.”

“Shouldn’t the university have known that?” a reporter shouted as he left the room.

The two students complained to authorities about the behavior of Mr. Cho when he contacted them in separate incidents in 2005. Police questioned Mr. Cho and he was sent to a mental health facility, but no charges were filed against him.

Also in 2005, Lucinda Roy, an English professor, shared her concerns about Mr. Cho with the Virginia Tech police, but no official report was filed. The writings did not express threatening intentions, or allude to criminal activity, the police said today.

In the incidents involving the female students, the police said that in late November 2005, Mr. Cho contacted a fellow female student, by phone and in person, and she notified the campus police. She later declined to press charges, but officers spoke with Mr. Cho, who was referred to the University’s disciplinary system.

On December 12, 2005, a second female student complained to the police about an instant message Mr. Cho sent to her by computer. The police then spoke with Mr. Cho and asked him to have no further contact with the student. The police said the message was not threatening, and the student characterized it as “annoying.”

The police spoke with acquaintances of Mr. Cho’s and became concerned that Mr. Cho might be suicidal. Officers suggested to Mr. Cho that he speak to a counselor and he did so. He went voluntarily to the police department and, based on his meeting with the counselor, a temporary detention order was obtained and Mr. Cho was taken to a mental health facility, Carilion Saint Albans Behavioral Health Center.

Neither of the female students who complained about Mr. Cho were among the shooting victims, and the police said they did not know if they were in the vicinity of the shootings.

There were no further referrals to the police before Mr. Cho was named on Tuesday in connection with the deaths of the students and teachers on the sprawling campus.
////////////////////
Here is a video of the police shooting at the building the gunman was inside. Wonder if they hit anything, considering the gunman killed himself. At the end of the video you hear a gunshot right by the camera man.



Manifesto of Gunman(Cho Seung-Hui)
Virginia Tech
Here is some of the footage that was sent to NBC, at least this was what they released.

I have no idea what he is talking about, nor do I understand who he is talking to. I got a few ideas though.



The truth will come out eventually. This smells.

FBI wined, dined influential senator during sting

AP
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The FBI wined and dined an influential state senator on a three-day trip to Miami before he agreed to work for a company at the center of a statewide corruption investigation, a federal court witness said Tuesday.

L.C. McNiel, an undercover FBI agent, said the government paid for the trip while trying to determine if then-Sen. John Ford would take bribes to help a company called E-Cycle Management change state law.

Ford, 64, is on trial on bribery and extortion charges, and McNiel testified for a second day under cross examination by defense attorney Michael Scholl who contends his client was set up by the FBI.

McNiel said he did not know how much the FBI spent putting Ford up in a fancy Miami hotel, taking him out to eat at expensive restaurants and sponsoring an evening in a nightclub's VIP room.

"This investigation required money to be spent," McNiel said.

At the end of the trip in July 2004, Ford agreed to work with E-Cycle, which supposedly was seeking legislation for a business advantage over competitors.

E-Cycle turned out to be a fake company created by the FBI for a statewide corruption investigation called Tennessee Waltz. Ford is one of five current or former state lawmakers charged with taking E-Cycle bribes. He resigned from the Senate shortly after his indictment in May 2005.

Ford's trial began April 9 and is expected to last up to a month.

Prosecutors have played clips from dozens of secretly recorded audio and video tapes on which Ford promises to help E-Cycle or can be seen taking stacks of cash from McNiel.

Ford, a Memphis Democrat, is charged with taking $55,000 in bribes from E-Cycle and also is accused of threatening a federal witness.

The FBI says Ford came looking for handouts when E-Cycle first introduced itself to state lawmakers with a dinner in Nashville in April 2004.

But Scholl contends Ford, a part-time lawmaker and full-time business consultant, thought he was drawing legitimate payments from E-Cycle for his legislative advice.

Ford's first payments from E-Cycle began after the Miami trip where he met with company officers aboard a yacht, which turned out to be FBI property from a drug seizure.

McNiel and other agents made hundreds of hours of audio and video recordings during Tennessee Waltz, but Scholl questioned why none was made aboard the yacht or during Ford's government-sponsored nights on the town in Miami.

McNiel said the nightclubs were too noisy, while at quieter locations, "these were not pertinent conversations."

McNiel said he recorded a talk with Ford while driving him to the Miami airport for a flight back to Memphis.

"How can you fit in best with us?" McNiel asks during the rambling conversation.

Ford says he can help by "contacting people ... putting together the deal, you know."

Throughout his cross examination, Scholl questioned McNiel about continuously lying to Ford, about business and personal matters.

"I was playing a role," McNiel said several times.

Using parts of FBI tapes not presented to the jury by prosecutors, Scholl focused on recorded conversations in which McNiel talked about his success as a music and movie-soundtrack producer, none of which was truthful.

Scholl also played a tape of a telephone call to Ford in which McNiel, who pretended to be a single father with a 9-year-old son in Chicago, asked for advice in keeping the boy focused on his school work.

"None of that is true is it?" Scholl asked.

"No sir," McNiel replied.

Overall, the Tennessee Waltz investigation has led to indictments against 11 defendants, including several local officials in Memphis and Chattanooga.

One other lawmaker, former Sen. Roscoe Dixon, D-Memphis, has been to trial. He was convicted in November and sentenced to five years in prison.

Former Rep. Chris Newton, R-Cleveland, pleaded guilty to bribery and served a nine-month sentence. Sen. Ward Crutchfield, D-Chattanooga, and former Sen. Kathryn Bowers, D-Memphis, are awaiting trials.

Israeli Defence Minister Discusses Iran, Syria with US Counterpart

By Israel TV Channel 1, Jerusalem, in Hebrew 1800 18 Apr 07
BBC Monitoring Middle East
04/19/2007
ARTICLE

Text of report by Israel TV on 18 April

The US secretary of defence launched his brief but important visit to Israel with a meeting with his battered counterpart, Amir Peretz. The meeting addressed several issues, the main being naturally the Iranian nuclear programme, an issue of great concern to both sides.

[Begin Peretz recording] 2007 is a critical year for diplomatic efforts aiming to thwart Iran's nuclear plan. I applaud the United States on the successful endorsement of UN resolutions designed to impose tighter sanctions on Iran. [end recording]

No US defence secretary has visited Israel in eight years. Gates's predecessor Rumsfeld had furiously called off a planned visit after an Israeli arms deal with China was exposed. Gates used the Israeli podium to send a very firm message to Syria of all countries, possibly in reaction to the war declarations Damascus made in the past two days.

[Begin Gates recording, in English] The United States has diplomatic relations with the Government of Syria. That doesn't mean we approve of much of anything that they do. [end recording]

Despite the firm message and the report on constructive discussions with Peretz, the truly sensitive matters will be presumably clinched in meetings Gates will hold tomorrow - first with Foreign Minister Livni, and then with Prime Minister Olmert.

[A similar 1614 gmt report by Doron Nahum in NRG Ma'ariv in Hebrew, website of Ma'ariv daily, adds: "Minister Peretz pointed out that 'Iran is a threat to the entire free world, not to Israel alone.' 'This problem concerns everyone, and we are sure that the free world will not stand idly by,' he added. Peretz stressed that although the diplomatic track is preferable, other options cannot be ruled out."

[Peretz is further quoted as saying that 'the United States may be geographically far away from Israel, but we are close in our hearts.'"

[The report goes on to say: "The US defence secretary referred to the fact that such meeting had not been held in a long time: 'I was surprised that I am the first US defence secretary to visit Israel in eight years.' He added that the talk was favourable and constructive: 'We discussed Syria and Iran. I presented my position, which is that the Iranian issue has to be tackled through diplomatic channels, and that their programme should be respected.'"]