US Recognizes Kosovo

By LARRY MARGASAK – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Monday hailed Kosovo's historic bid for statehood and the U.S. government extended formal recognition to it as "a sovereign and independent state."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement that Bush "has responded affirmatively" to Kosovo's request to establish diplomatic relations.

"The establishment of these relations will reaffirm the special ties of friendship that have linked together the people of the United States and Kosovo,:" the statement said.

Rice welcomed "the commitments Kosovo made in its declaration of independence" to implement a United Nations-backed plan, "to embrace multi-ethnicity as a fundamental principle of good governance, and to welcome a period of international supervision."

"The unusual combination of factors found in the Kosovo situation — including the context of Yugoslavia's breakup, the history of ethnic cleansing and crimes against civilians in Kosovo, and the extended period of U.N. administration — are not found elsewhere and therefore make Kosovo a special case," she said. "Kosovo cannot be seen as a precedent for any other situation in the world today. "

Earlier, Bush, touring Tanzania, declared that "the Kosovars are now independent."

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership announced its independence from Serbia over the weekend, and suspense gripped the province on Monday as its citizens awaited key backing from the United States and key European powers.

During an interview on NBC's "Today" show, Bush added, "It's something that I've advocated along with my government."

By sidestepping the U.N. and appealing directly to the U.S. and other nations for recognition, Kosovo's independence set up a showdown with Serbia — outraged at the imminent loss of its territory — and Russia, which warned it would set a dangerous precedent for separatist groups worldwide.

Serbia recalled its ambassador from Washington over the U.S. decision, and it has threatened to recall its envoys from all countries that establish diplomatic ties with Kosovo, though it said it would not sever relations.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, in a news conference, said, "The Russians aren't going to be surprised by our position."

"I do not expect any kind of crisis with the Russians over this," he added.

Burns said the nearly 17,000 NATO troops in Kosovo, including 1,600 U.S. forces, would remain in the country.

He also said that a donors conference would be held soon, and announced the United States was committing $334 million in 2008 in addition to the $77 million in U.S. assistance in 2007.

In her statement, Rice noted that nine years ago NATO acted to end attacks on the Kosovar Albanian population.

"This timely international intervention ended the violence, leading to a United Nations Security Council decision to suspend Belgrade's governance and place Kosovo under interim U.N. administration," the statement said.

"Since that time Kosovo has built its own democratic institutions separate from Belgrade's control," it said. "Last year, U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari developed a plan to build a democratic and multi-ethnic Kosovo and recommended Kosovo be independent, subject to a period of international supervision."

"In light of the conflicts of the 1990s," the statement said, "independence is the only viable option to promote stability in the region. The United States supports the Ahtisaari Plan and will work with its international partners to help implement it. "

Kosovo had formally remained a part of Serbia even though it has been administered by the U.N. and NATO since 1999, when NATO airstrikes ended former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists, which killed 10,000 people.

In April 2007, Ahtisaari recommended that Kosovo be granted internationally supervised independence. But talks that followed failed to yield an agreement between the ethnic Albanian leadership, which pushed for full statehood, and Serbia, which was willing to offer only autonomy.

Bush said Monday: "The Ahtisaari plan is our blueprint forward. We'll watch to see how the events unfold today. The Kosovars are now independent."

Serbia made clear it would never accept Kosovo's statehood. On Monday, Serbia said it would seek to block Kosovo from gaining diplomatic recognition and membership in the U.N. and other international organizations.

European Union nations have stood deeply divided over whether to recognize Kosovo's independence as their foreign ministers gathered in Brussels, Belgium, to try to forge a common stance. Britain, France, Germany and Ireland indicated they would push ahead with recognition. But Spain, which has struggled with its own separatist movement in the Basque region, called Kosovo's declaration illegal.

On Sunday, Bush said the U.S. would work to prevent violent clashes following the historic announcement.

"The United States will continue to work with our allies to do the very best we can to make sure there's no violence," Bush said several hours before Kosovo's parliament approved the declaration.

NIU shooter did stint in mental health center

Associated Press
February 18, 2008

DEKALB, Ill. — Steven Kazmierczak, at 27, looked like an average schoolboy — except that his arms were covered with disturbing tattoos, including a doll from the horror movie “Saw.”

Professors and students knew him as a bright, helpful scholar, but his past included a stint in a mental health center.

Many saw him as happy and stable, but he had developed a recent interest in guns and was involved in a troubled — possibly abusive — on-again, off-again relationship.

What people initially told police about the Northern Illinois shooter didn’t add up, and now investigators are searching for answers to what triggered Thursday’s bloody attack, in which five students were killed and 16 more injured before Kazmierczak committed suicide.

While searching for a motive, authorities questioned family and friends and tried to determine whether he had recently broken up with his longtime girlfriend.

Read entire article

Adults on hyperactive drugs hit record level

Laura Donnelly
UK Telegraph
February 17, 2008

Thousands of adults are being prescribed drugs designed to treat hyperactive children, new figures show.

A record number are taking medicines such as Ritalin - some for up to 20 years - after a childhood diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
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Experts are warning of a “timebomb”, with more than 140,000 prescriptions for such drugs issued to adults last year, despite fears about the long-term effects of medication which has been dubbed a “chemical cosh”.

Pills such as Ritalin, Concerta and Strattera are normally given to children diagnosed with ADHD - a label used to describe behavioural problems including hyperactivity, impulsive actions, and poor organisational skills. The “developmental” condition should diminish as youngsters approach adulthood, allowing teenagers to be weaned off the drugs.

Read entire article

'West suffers from moral degradation'

Press TV
Monday February 18, 2008

Iran's foreign minister says the West can no longer have things its own way by resorting to terror, military threats and economic pressure.

Manouchehr Mottaki made the remark Monday in a speech to the Scholarly Muslim Women's International Conference on Spirituality, Modesty and Family, being held in Tehran.

“Injustice in international relations and structural inefficiency of the corrupt global system are what we are talking about,” said Mottaki, noting that Iran bears no animosity toward other countries.

“Iran is talking about a world free from hatred and the moral, social and material deviations pervading the policies of various countries. Meanwhile, it is stressing the point that the US system of hegemony has failed,” he added.

Liberal democracy has encountered serious hurdles, Mottaki said, adding that not only are the social theories of Jean-Jacques Rousseau in sharp contrast with the realities of the contemporary world, but the absence of spirituality has led to a kind of moral confusion and lack of understanding which has erected a barrier in the way of resolving various issues.

The Iranian foreign minister also criticized the lack of family stability in Western countries and said basic social structures like the family have virtually lost all meaning, having been replaced by such morally reprehensible social bonding as seen among homosexuals.

Commenting on the role of Muslim women in their societies, Mottaki said it was incumbent upon the people and governments of Islamic states to provide every possible means for the full and constructive participation of women in all fields of social activity.

Female Christians Arrested and Sexually Abused

The Epoch Times
Monday February 18, 2008

According to reports by the China Aid Association (CAA) on February 14, 2008, two female followers from southwest China's Yunnan province were arrested by local police while handing out Christmas cards in their respective villages on February 2. They were threatened, strip-searched and then handcuffed and escorted to their homes.

The two females are Meng Xiulan, 55 years old from Sanjiangkou Village, Mouding County, Chuxiong Prefecture and Zhou Chengxiu, 53 years old from nearby Chenwan Village.

The police confiscated all flyers, CD's, bibles and hymns in their homes without any legal procedures.

The China Aid Association that has headquarters located in Midland, Texas reported earlier in the month that, Christian leader Bai Cheng who returned to China from the United States was arrested on January 29 for leading a bible study group. He was charged with "Suspected of Participating in Cult Activity". The police confiscated two computers and a car.

Ron Paul Establishes Freedom March Exploratory Committee

Jake Morphonios
Nolan Chart
Monday February 18, 2008

Ron Paul sent a jolt of electricity into his grassroots base this past week by calling for a grand march on Washington DC in advance of the Republican National Convention.

Supporters have gone into overdrive, blogging, speculating and yes, even bickering over how this event should be organized. Chief among concerns is the date on which the march should take place.

One website, www.revolutionmarch.com, is calling on visitors to vote for either July 4th or Memorial Day, based on remarks that Dr. Paul made on the Alex Jones radio show. Another popular date being circulated is June 21st, a Saturday, and the date that the US Constitution went into effect.

Yesterday, Ron Paul 2008 announced that it has formed a March Exploratory Committee to give "careful thought to the best date, specific format, and other details of the upcoming Ron Paul freedom march."

The campaign has also created a new email address for the committee for anyone wishing to share ideas, suggestions or ask questions about the march. The email address is freedommarch@ronpaul2008.com

For more information on the Ron Paul march, please visit:

Dr. Ron Paul's Historic March on Washington D.C.

Kristol: Fear 'is a pretty good argument for McCain'

Nick Langewis and David Edwards
Raw Story
Monday February 18, 2008

In a "national security election," pundit Bill Kristol predicts a presidential faceoff between Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL).

"We have terrorists to fear," says Kristol. "And we have people who want to kill Americans to fear, and people who want to totally destabilize the Middle East to fear."

"And," Kristol concludes, "I think that's a pretty good argument for McCain to make against Obama."

Fellow panel member Juan Williams disagrees, calling advocating the continued occupation of Iraq and green-lighting the continued spying on Americans part of the "politics of fear."

The entire exchange, broadcast on today's Fox News Sunday, is available below.

Transcript Of Plot To Kill JFK Discovered?

Media reports on "movie script" yet completely ignored bombshell revelations of E. Howard Hunt

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Monday, February 18th, 2008

A cache of JFK-related memorabilia discovered by the Dallas County District Attorney's Office includes a transcript of an alleged meeting between Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald two months before Kennedy was killed.

The documents were discovered in an old safe on the 10th floor of the county courthouse, according to an AP report.

The AP report goes to great lengths to cast doubt on the veracity of the documents, quoting Sixth Floor Museum curator Gary Mack in dismissing the transcript as "a bad B movie," and speculating that the files were actually part of a movie script being written by former DA Henry Wade, the prosecutor in the Jack Ruby trial.

Most of the attention is bound to focus on the transcript between Ruby and Oswald, who supposedly met at Ruby's nightclub on Oct. 4, 1963, less than two months before the Nov. 22 assassination. In it, they talked of killing the president because the mafia wanted to "get rid of" his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

Says Oswald in the transcript, "I can still do it, all I need is my rifle and a tall building; but it will take time, maybe six months to find the right place; but I'll have to have some money to live on while I do the planning."

The transcript resembles one published in a report by the Warren Commission, which investigated Kennedy's assassination and determined that Oswald was the lone gunman. The FBI determined that conversation — again between Oswald and Ruby, but this time about killing the governor — was definitely fake.

Whether the transcript is a fake or not, the fact that a CIA team was hired to kill Kennedy is documented, but the report obviously fails to mention that somewhat important caveat.

Last year, the son of one of the perpetrators, ex-Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt, released a tape of his father admitting his role as a "bench-warmer" in a wider Agency plot to assassinate JFK.

Hunt was photographed in Dealy Plaza along with other members of the hit team on the day of the assassination.

JFK Conspirator E.Howard Hunt.

The bombshell revelations were completely ignored by the establishment media save one Rolling Stone article.

The press was also disinterested when Barr McClellan, father of former White House press secretary Scott McClellan and a partner in the Austin law firm that represented Lyndon Baines Johnson, wrote in his 2003 book that LBJ was a key player in the organization of the assassination and its cover-up. McClellan's revelations were the subject of a subsequent History Channel documentary called The Guilty Men.

The media's eagerness to do an extensive write-up on what they subsequently dismiss as a probable movie script in comparison to their deliberate blackballing of one of the most important JFK stories in decades underscores an institutionalized bias in scoffing at anything that doesn't conform to the official story as outlined in the Warren Commission, the accuracy of which is doubted by the vast majority of Americans according to polls conducted in recent years.

CIA Created “Bogus” Front Companies to “Penetrate” Islamic Organizations

AFP
February 16, 2008

Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, the US Central Intelligence Agency set up 12 bogus companies in Europe and other parts of the world in the hope of penetrating Islamic organizations, The Los Angeles Times reported on its website late Saturday.

But citing current and former CIA officials, the newspaper said the agency had now shut down all but two of them after concluding they were ill-conceived.

The firms were part of an ambitious plan to increase the number of CIA case officers sent overseas under what is known as “nonofficial cover” in order to increase the agency’s potential for penetrating Islamic networks, the report said.

According to the paper, the agents posed as employees of investment banks, consulting firms or other fictitious enterprises with no apparent ties to the US government.

Read entire article

Bernanke: “You are all Dead Ducks”

Mike Whitney
Information Clearing House
February 16, 2008

Even veteran Fed-watchers were caught off-guard by Chairman Bernanke’s performance before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. Bernanke was expected to make routine comments on the state of the economy but, instead, delivered a 45 minute sermon detailing the afflictions of the foundering financial system. The Senate chamber was stone-silent throughout. The gravity of the situation is finally beginning to sink in.

For the most part, the pedantic Bernanke looked uneasy; alternately biting his lower lip or staring ahead blankly like a man who just watched his poodle get run over by a Mack truck. As it turns out, Bernanke has plenty to worry about, too. Consumer confidence has dropped to levels not seen since the 1970s recession, real estate has gone off a cliff, credit-brushfires are breaking out everywhere, and the stock market continues to gyrate erratically. No wonder the Fed-chief looked more like a deck-hand on the Lusitania than the monetary-czar of the most powerful country on earth.

Bernanke’s prepared remarks were delivered with the solemnity of a priest performing Vespers. But he was clear, unlike his predecessor, Greenspan, who loved speaking in hieroglyphics.

Bernanke: “As you know, financial markets in the United States and in a number of other industrialized countries have been under considerable strain since late last summer. Heightened investor concerns about the credit quality of mortgages, especially subprime mortgages with adjustable interest rates, triggered the financial turmoil. However, other factors, including a broader retrenchment in the willingness of investors to bear risk, difficulties in valuing complex or illiquid financial products, uncertainties about the exposures of major financial institutions to credit losses, and concerns about the weaker outlook for the economy, have also roiled the financial markets in recent months.”

Yes, of course. The banks are ailing from their subprime investments while Europe is sinking fast from $500 billion in unsellable asset-backed garbage. The whole system is clogged with crappy paper and deteriorating collateral. Now there are problems popping up in auction rate sales and the normally-safe municipal bonds. The whole financial Tower of Babel is cracking at the foundation.

Bernanke continues: “Money center banks and other large financial institutions have come under significant pressure to take onto their own balance sheets the assets of some of the off-balance-sheet investment vehicles that they had sponsored. Bank balance sheets have swollen further as a consequence of the sharp reduction in investor willingness to buy securitized credits, which has forced banks to retain a substantially higher share of previously committed and new loans in their own portfolios. Banks have also reported large losses, reflecting marked declines in the market prices of mortgages and other assets that they hold. Recently, deterioration in the financial condition of some bond insurers has led some commercial and investment banks to take further markdowns and has added to strains in the financial markets.”

Bernanke sounds more like an Old Testament prophet reading passages from the Book of Revelations than a Central Banker. But what he says is true; even without the hair-shirt. The humongous losses at the investment banks have forced them to go trolling for capital in Asia and the Middle East just to stay afloat. And, when they succeed, they’re forced to pay excessively high rates of interest. The true cost of capital is skyrocketing. That’s why the banks are protecting their liquidity and cutting back on new loans. Most of the banks have also tightened lending standards which is slowing down the issuance of credit and threatens to push the economy into a deep recession. When banks cramp-up; the overall economy shrinks. It’s just that simple; no credit, no growth. Credit is the lubricant that keeps the capitalist locomotive chugging-along. When it dwindles, the system screeches to a halt.

“DOWNSIDE RISKS TO GROWTH HAVE INCREASED”

Bernanke again: “In part as the result of the developments in financial markets, the outlook for the economy has worsened in recent months, and the downside risks to growth have increased. To date, the largest economic effects of the financial turmoil appear to have been on the housing market, which, as you know, has deteriorated significantly over the past two years or so. The virtual shutdown of the subprime mortgage market and a widening of spreads on jumbo mortgage loans have further reduced the demand for housing, while foreclosures are adding to the already-elevated inventory of unsold homes. Further cuts in homebuilding and in related activities are likely…..Conditions in the labor market have also softened. Payroll employment, after increasing about 95,000 per month on average in the fourth quarter, declined by an estimated 17,000 jobs in January. Employment in the construction and manufacturing sectors has continued to fall, while the pace of job gains in the services industries has slowed. The softer labor market, together with factors including higher energy prices, lower equity prices, and declining home values, seem likely to weigh on consumer spending in the near term.”

So, let’s summarize. The banks are battered by their massive subprime liabilities. Housing is in the tank. Manufacturing is down. Food and energy are up. Unemployment is rising. And consumer spending has shriveled to the size of an acorn. All that’s missing is a trumpet blast and the arrival of the Four Horseman.

How is it that Bernanke’s economic post-mortem never made its way into the major media? Is there some reason the real state of the economy is being concealed from ‘we the people’?

Bernanke continues: “On the inflation front, a key development over the past year has been the steep run-up in the price of oil. Last year, food prices also increased exceptionally rapidly by recent standards, and the foreign exchange value of the dollar weakened. …(If) inflation expectations to become unmoored or for the Fed’s inflation-fighting credibility to be eroded could greatly complicate the task of sustaining price stability and reduce the central bank’s policy flexibility to counter shortfalls in growth in the future.”

Right. So, if the Fed’s rate-cutting strategy doesn’t work and the economic troubles persist (and prices continue to go through the roof) then we’re S.O.L. (sh** out of luck) because the Fed has no more arrows in its quiver. It’s rate cuts or death. Great. So, we can expect Bernanke to hack away at rates until they’re down to 1% or lower (duplicating the downturn in Japan) hoping that the economy shows some sign of life before it takes two full wheelbarrows of greenbacks to buy a quart of milk and a few seed-potatoes.

Sounds like a plan!

We don’t blame Bernanke. He’s been remarkably straightforward from the very beginning and deserves credit. He’s simply left with the thankless task of mopping up the ocean of red ink left behind by Greenspan. It’s not his fault. He should be applauded for dispelling the decades-long illusion that a nation can borrow its way to prosperity or that chronic indebtedness is the same as real wealth. It’s not; and the bill has finally come due.

Of course, now that the low-interest speculative orgy is over; there’s bound to be a painful unwind of hyper-inflated assets, falling home prices, tumbling stock markets, increased unemployment, and a generalized credit-contraction throughout the real economy. Ouch. Who said it was going to be easy?

Bernanke’s summation:

“At present, my baseline outlook involves a period of sluggish growth, followed by a somewhat stronger pace of growth starting later this year as the effects of monetary and fiscal stimulus begin to be felt….It is important to recognize that downside risks to growth remain, including the possibilities that the housing market or the labor market may deteriorate to an extent beyond that currently anticipated, or that credit conditions may tighten substantially further.”

(Editor’s translation) “Discount everything I’ve said here today if the economy blows up—as I fully-expect it will—from decades of regulatory neglect and the myriad multi-trillion dollar Ponzi-schemes which have put the entire financial system at risk of a major heart attack”.

Bernanke’s candor is admirable, but it is little relief for the people who will have to soldier-on through the hard times ahead. Perhaps, next time he could spare us all the lengthly oratory and just forward a brief cablegram to Congress saying something like this:

“We are deeply sorry, but we have totally fu**ed up your economy with our monetary hanky-panky. You are all in very deep Doo-doo. Prepare for the worst.”

our sincerest regrets,

the Fed

This is What A Police State Looks Like

Google Video

Vicente Fox Seeks Interdependent North America and Emerging World Government

Aaron Dykes
JonesReport.com
February 16, 2008

Vicente Fox on Larry King Live
Vicente Fox on the Daily Show

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox indicated that he would favor the emergence of a world government and also reaffirmed his support for a North American Union during a conversation with WeAreChange.org.

Fox told cameras, "I would love to see the process [of World Government] adapted to the local situation."

Fox played down concerns that sovereignty would be compromised under NAFTA– asserting claims that Germany and Great Britain had lost no sovereignty under the EU.

He indicated that the ‘original agreement’ under the SPP (Security & Prosperity Partnership) had not moved forward at the pace that he had desired, but that progress was underway. Fox stated looks forward to the next U.S. administration’s opportunity to reassess and further the agreement.

Fox made the statements during a question and answer session at a joint event by the National Endowment for Democracy and the Foreign Policy Association. (CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO OF SPEECH) Incredibly, after the speech, it was Fox who approached reporter Luke Rudkowski, who had already asked a question for further discussion.

Fox denied that plans for the Trans-Texas Corridor and the NAFTA super-highway were being advanced in any official capacity– making clear that the highways were "not a government project" but that he "welcomed" the link between the nations.

Fox also called the United States "a very selfish country," clearly bolstering support for any aid or benefit to Mexico and making clear his favorable opinion of globalization. Vicente Fox instead urged "solidarity" between the nations.

Along these lines, a White House proposal has recently surfaced that would grant $1.4 billion to ’secure’ Mexico’s borders. Current Mexican President Felipe Calderon recently called for U.S. to continue to welcome migrants, stating that the two nations’ economies were already ‘interdependent.’

Fox previously discussed the possibility of a unified currency with Larry King, indicating that a "trade union for all of the Americas" (ALCA) had been proposed by he and President Bush. Fox then clarified, "Well, that would be long, long term. I think the processes to go, first step into is trading agreement. And then further on, a new vision, like we are trying to do with NAFTA."

Fox commented on the Daily Show that globalization and NAFTA had "absolutely" benefited both the U.S. and Mexico. He said that he favored a ‘long term’ approach towards a North American Union.

Kristol Finds It “Unbelievable” Neocons are not Allowed to Trash Fourth Amendment

Think Progress
February 17, 2008

Today on Fox News Sunday, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol mourned that an “emboldened” Congress refused to give telecommunications companies retroactive immunity for cooperating with the administration’s warrantless wiretapping.

Kristol said it was “unbelievable” for lawmakers to question the judgment of administration officials. Instead, he argued, Congress should just give them the “benefit of the doubt”:

I think it’s kind of unbelievable, frankly. It’s a judgment call. We don’t know. Not to give the administration the benefit of the doubt when they have career people, military people, intelligence people like Mike McConnell and Mike Hayden, and the attorney general, Mike Mukasey — I mean, these are not political hacks. These are not ideological people.

When they say this is important for our national security, the Congress — to block this legislation I find pretty amazing.

The Bush administration secretly conducted spying in violation of the Constitution and the law for four years before The New York Times disclosed it in 2005. For years, the White House lied about these activities to the American public. For example, in 2004, Bush claimed that “a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way.” At least one telco refused to comply with the Bush administration’s request because it knew the actions were illegal.

Even now, the administration continues to lie about the consequences of the Protect America Act expiration. Just yesterday, Bush stated that it will now “be harder for our government to keep you safe from terrorist attack.” But as an expert from the Cato Institute admits, this statement isn’t true: “There’s no reason to think our nation will be in any more danger in 2008 than it was in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, or 2006.”

Transcript:

WALLACE: Well, let’s talk about the politics of this fight, because it seems to me it represents the strongest challenge so far by the congressional Democrats since they have gotten the majority in Congress to President Bush’s national security policy.

In the past, they’ve huffed and puffed and generally caved in to what the president wanted. This time they didn’t. They allowed the law to expire and went home.

Bill Kristol, what’s different this time?

KRISTOL: Well, they’re emboldened, I guess, and they seem to believe that the director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, a career military man, career intelligence guy, director of the National Security Agency under Bill Clinton for the first half of the 1990s — that he is not telling the truth.

That’s what Ted Kennedy said, that the DNI’s statements, the director of national intelligence’s statements, are shameless on the part of the administration.

President Bush says he’s following his recommendations. They need this liability protection for the telecommunications companies to make sure they have robust private sector cooperation across the board, not just on eavesdropping or, I think, for our spying efforts, our eavesdropping efforts.

They say this has stopped threats. McConnell says that the Al Qaida is reconstituting itself in safe havens, unfortunately, in the northwest side of Pakistan.

I think it’s kind of unbelievable, frankly. It’s a judgment call. We don’t know. Not to give the administration the benefit of the doubt when they have career people, military people, intelligence people like Mike McConnell and Mike Hayden, and the attorney general, Mike Mukasey — I mean, these are not political hacks. These are not ideological people.

When they say this is important for our national security, the Congress — to block this legislation I find pretty amazing.

Al-Fayed addresses Diana inquest

Al-Fayed addresses Diana inquest

Father of princess' companion presents his claims of a murder conspiracy

Reuters

updated 7:01 a.m. ET, Mon., Feb. 18, 2008

LONDON - Luxury storeowner Mohamed al-Fayed accused the British royal family on Monday of wanting to "get rid" of Princess Diana, who died in a 1997 Paris car crash along with his son.

Giving evidence at an inquest into Dodi's and Diana's death, the owner of London's Harrods store, al-Fayed directed accusations at the princess's former husband Prince Charles, and at her former father-in-law and husband to Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip.

"(Princess Diana) told me personally both before and during the holiday we shared in July 1997 of her fears," al-Fayed said in a written statement to the court. "She told me that she knew Philip and Prince Charles wanted to get rid of her."

Diana, 36, Dodi, 42, and driver Henri Paul, an al-Fayed employee, were killed when their Mercedes limousine crashed in a road tunnel in August 1997 as they sped away from the Ritz Hotel in Paris with paparazzi in hot pursuit.

Under British law, an inquest is needed to determine the cause of death when someone dies unnaturally.

Official probes: Deaths were accidents
French and British police investigations both concluded the deaths were tragic accidents caused by their speeding chauffeur who was found to be drunk. Both police probes rejected al-Fayed's conspiracy theories.

But al-Fayed insisted in his statement that French and British security and intelligence services had colluded in the killing of his son and Diana, and in a subsequent coverup.

"French intelligence helped the British intelligence to execute their murder," he said. "Princess Diana told me she had proof her life was in danger."

Strong words
Al-Fayed has said in the past he believes Diana's killing was ordered because the royal family did not want the mother of the future king having a child with his son.

He told the inquest on Monday that Diana had confided in him that she was pregnant, and that she and his son were about to announce their engagement.

"Diana told me on the telephone she was pregnant. I am the only person they told. They told me they were engaged and would announce their engagement on Monday morning (three days after the crash)."

Al-Fayed, whose claims have been dismissed by inquiries and contradicted by many other witnesses at the inquest, also alleges that Diana's body was embalmed to cover up evidence she was expecting a baby.

Copyright 2008 Reuters. Click for restrictions.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23201961/