Bush unlikely to face showdown over 'surge'

san francisco chronicle

(01-09) 04:00 PST Washington -- President Bush will face the first stiff resistance from Congress to his Iraq war plans since the U.S. invasion nearly four years ago as more Republicans question his policy and newly empowered Democrats overwhelmingly oppose his expected call for 20,000 more troops.

Yet given the powers of the commander in chief, and the manifold risks of a U.S. defeat, Bush appears to have the authority -- despite congressional unease -- to make one last stab at stabilizing Iraq.

As the Republican president prepares to lay out his new war plan in a speech Wednesday night, Democrats considered Monday withholding funding for what they're calling an escalation of the war.

Still, congressional opposition, especially among Republicans vital to Bush's support, has not yet reached the tipping point that would force the president to back down.

Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., who declared last month that he was at the end of his rope on Iraq, said Bush told him and other GOP senators Monday at the White House that the new war plan was devised chiefly by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who presented it to Bush last month.

Smith said Bush appeared confident that al-Maliki would follow through on promises to commit Iraqi troops to quelling the violence in Baghdad and take aim at the Shiite militias led by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, on whom al-Maliki relies for political support.

"It is that belief that the president has, and the faith he has in Prime Minister Maliki, that leads him to tack into the winds of American public opinion," Smith said. "What this sets up is a classic war powers confrontation between the White House and the Congress.

"My dilemma, as for every member of Congress, is that we have only one commander in chief at a time, and he is ordering our troops into a certain posture that puts them in harm's way. Do we budget away their bullets?"

Bush has been meeting with members of Congress in preparation for his speech, now weeks in the making. Smith said the Cabinet-room meeting Monday was attended by Bush's top war counselors: Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, national security adviser Stephen Hadley and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten.

Democrats now in the majority in the House and Senate are discussing the possibility of withholding funds for added troops as well as other limits, such as a cap on troop levels or a new resolution authorizing the use of force.

"This is an escalation, and we ought to have a chance to have our say," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. "We ought to be able to vote on it before that occurs."

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., acknowledged, however, that it would be difficult to separate money for more troops from general funding for the war, especially if the so-called troop "surge" comes by extending the duty of troops already in Iraq or speeding up rotations of troops scheduled to go in. "So whether you can carve out and say, 'We're going to fund this, but not additional troops,' that's not clear," Obama said. "But those are the kinds of questions that I think are being asked right now."

Republicans also said they want to examine any new plan. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., who last fall called for a new war strategy while chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said, "The administration will state its case, and then I'll state mine."

Asked if Bush can expect full Republican support for his plan, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, replied bluntly, "No."

"I just think it's one of those subjects that's going to divide the Congress just as it's divided the country," Cornyn said. But he said the division is unlikely to affect Bush's ability to conduct the war as he sees fit.

"The only real effective tool that Congress has is the power of the purse, and I can't imagine we would cut off money to fund the troops," Cornyn said. Even cutting off money for additional troops, he said, would be a mistake because "it would guarantee failure" and risk creating a power vacuum in Iraq that could be exploited by terrorists, as in the case of Afghanistan before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Bush's plan, he said, is "our last, best chance at success."

Bush has money for now. The military spending bill was one of only two of the 11 required appropriations measures that Congress passed last year while still under Republican control. The administration is expected to make a large new request for more money soon to finance the war in separate legislation, called a supplemental appropriation. Estimates are that the new request could be about $100 billion -- on top of the estimated $450 billion already spent for the war in Iraq.

As commander in chief, the president has broad authority to conduct war, and Congress has only the blunt tool of withdrawing funding. Democrats have only a one-vote majority in the Senate, making it difficult to thwart the president.

Politically and legislatively, support from his fellow Republicans remains vital for Bush's Iraq policy. But it is rapidly weakening under Iraq's relentless disintegration despite every change in administration tactics, and the November midterm election that knocked Republicans from power on Capitol Hill.

The U.S. military has about 140,000 troops in Iraq. Several Republicans already have announced their opposition to increasing troop levels, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Rep. Heather Wilson, a New Mexico Republican and former National Security Council official who barely clung to her seat in November.

Wilson made a major speech in Washington Friday criticizing Bush for "mushy rhetoric" about the U.S. stake in a democratic Iraq.

Bush is getting strong support, however from several leading Republicans, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona. Joining them is independent former Democrat Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. They sharply warned their colleagues that failing to back Bush's effort would ensure failure in Iraq and all its consequences.

"Let's not compound the mistakes of the past by advocating withdrawal or redeployment," Graham said. "Because what would happen then? It would be, in my opinion, a declaration of losing a war not yet lost, that we can't afford to lose."

China's Massive Port Grab

Communists Positioning China To Dominate Trade in Americas

american free press

American Free Press has confirmed that the huge Chinese shipping conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. has a significant presence at the Lazaro Cardenas seaport in Mexico, as well as other Mexican ports. The company has had effective control of both ends of the Panama Canal for the last seven years.

The Mexican ports link to the budding Trans Texas Corridor (TTC) toll road network by way of railroad cargo lines that head from the ports across Mexico to the United States border, providing a conduit to bypass U.S. West Coast seaports and haul ever-more massive quantities of imports into the United States.

The TTC is part of a planned vast network of tollways that, unless derailed by a growing number of concerned citizens, will ripple through many parts of the United States, functioning as a delivery network for goods flooding into the United States from foreign factories, although it appears U.S.-made goods would be exported via the same system.

Hutchison Whampoa’s Pacific Port at Lazaro Cardenas, located in the Mexican state of Michoacan, is especially significant. As reported by AFP on Dec. 18, 2006, officials from Lazaro Cardenas met in March 2006 with Kansas City, Mo., officials to sign “an historic cooperative trade agreement to establish a new trans-Pacific trade corridor that will alleviate delays and congestion at [U.S.] West Coast ports.”

This is another way of saying that at least part of the stream of imported merchandise flowing into those West Coast ports such as the one in Long Beach, Calif., could be redirected to the Cardenas port so these goods can be hauled into the United States with even greater efficiency.

Kansas City, located about 1,000 miles from the U.S.- Mexican border, has been slated as a major trade hub and U.S. Customs inspection location. As noted by Kansas City SmartPort Inc. President Chris Gutierrez, who was interviewed in early December by AFP, Kansas City has the infrastructure, location and overall assets to serve this function well.

Critics charge that having a major U.S. inspection point so far inland may create huge gaps in monitoring exactly what kinds of things are being shipped into the United States—which doesn’t sit well with American trucker-support groups such as Owner-Operated Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA).

OOIDA warns that under-trained Mexican truck drivers, in their poorly inspected trucks, pose a danger on the highways and could help bring terrorist elements into the United States.

According to Hutchison Whampoa’s own web site, this shipping conglomerate has a single-berth terminal situated in the highly industrial, deep-water Lazaro Cardenas port and plans a second phase there, which “includes the development of an 85-hectare deep-water, green field site with 1,350 meters of berth.”

Hutchison Whampoa, which controls 12% of all container port capacity in the world and employs 200,000 people, has long been alleged to be either an arm of the Chinese military or beholden to the communist regime—which considers the United States an adversary. This situation has troubled prominent Americans, such as the now deceased Adm. Thomas H Moorer, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who pointed out some years ago that Hutchison Whampoa already controls the Atlantic and Pacific seaports of the Panama Canal—that century-old American-made commercial waterway connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific that has a military function and is arguably one of the most strategic chokepoints on the globe.

So, against the backdrop of China’s current massive military build-up, the communist nation’s presence in various Western Hemisphere ports should be watched very carefully. This buildup, as repeatedly emphasized by Gus Stelzer, a retired General Motors executive, author and trade analyst, is funded to a large extent by the huge profits China makes selling goods tariff-free in the United States.

Meanwhile, the United States continues to run gargantuan trade deficits with China. As a proposed remedy, Stelzer advocates levying tariffs against China and other nations whose merchandise floods America while American industries, undercut by the onslaught, are forced to downsize, close or go offshore in order to survive.

Rarely, if ever, are American goods allowed to be sold in these nations anywhere near the extent that their goods are sold in the United States, says Stelzer.

OTHER VENTURES

Notably, Hutchison Whampoa—a company whose affiliates delve into the cruise ship business, telecommunications, real estate, hotels, PARKnSHOP grocery stores, Fortress electronics and housewares, along with energy, infrastructure, etc.—has a number of other Western Hemisphere port operations.

Hutchison Whampoa has the Ensenada International Terminal (EIT), “strategically situated 110 kilometers south of the U.S.-Mexico border along the Pacific Ocean,” Hutchison Whampoa literature states. It adds that EIT has undergone extensive redevelopment involving construction, dredging and new equipment purchases.

Another port maintained by Hutchison Whampoa is the Terminal Internacional de Manzanillo (TIMSA), which started its operations in 1999 and is “aimed at developing the container market on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Located at the Mexican port of Manzanillo, TIMSA is ideally situated for Asian trade with Mexico City and Guadalajara, as well as nearby industrialized states,” according to Hutchison Whampoa’s web site.

Hutchison Whampoa’s Panama Ports Company (PPC) operates the ports of Cristobal and Balboa located at each end of the Panama Canal (large expansion projects are proceeding at both ports).

The shipping company—which has 15 mainland China operations—also runs a Western Hemisphere port in Buenos Aires, consisting of a state-of-the-art terminal with two ship berths, a container freight station and a logistics center; as well as in the Bahamas, where Hutchison Whampoa’s Freeport Container Port, a deepwater operation, provides “a transhipment center for the eastern seaboard of the Americas and the principal East/West line haul routes throughout the region,” according to company literature.

COMMUNIST CONNECTIONS

Hutchison Whampoa’s top executives include Li Tzar Kuoi, aged 41, who has been an executive director since 1995 and deputy chairman since 1999. Kuoi also sits on what is called the “Standing Committee of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference of the People’s Republic of China.”

The top Hutchison Whampoa executive, Li Ka Shing, is considered the wealthiest Chinese individual in the world. Kuoi, named above, is Li Ka Shing’s eldest son.

According to the Internet encyclopedia, Wikipedia, “Li was invited by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping to become a member of the board of directors of the China International Trust and Investment Corp. (CITIC) to support the economic reform initiatives that Deng was attempting to develop.

CITIC is China’s largest conglomerate and is 42% owned by the government of China. It serves as the chief investment arm of China’s central government and holds ministry status on the Chinese State Council. Li served only one year on CITIC’s board before resigning his directorship. For many years, he served as vice chairman of the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank (HSBC).”

Various reports over the last few years, including a NewsMax.com report of June 13, 2001, note that Hutchison Whampoa’s subsidiary, HIT, has “business ventures with the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) which is owned by the People’s Liberation Army.” HIT stands for Hutchison International Terminals.

COSCO, which failed in a notorious Clinton administration- backed attempt to lease the former U.S. naval base in Long Beach, Calif., has been criticized for shipping Chinese missiles, missile components, jet fighters and other weapons technologies to nations such as Libya, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan, NewsMax reported in 2001.

Mysterious gas odor in NYC and Jersey City

abc

PATH train service suspended btn. 33rd Street and Journal Square and 33rd Street and Hoboken; Bergen Co. schools shuts all doors & windows

New York-WABC, January 8, 2007) - The odor of natural gas was reported across Midtown Manhattan, prompting hundreds of calls to emergency workers.

Eyewitness News is told the smell was first reported in the vicinity of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street around 9:00 a.m.
Hundreds of calls poured into city emergency officials. Apparently the calls are coming from Chelsea, Battery Park west, Madison Square Park, and there are also reports of the gas smell outside of our studio on 66th Street and Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side. A very similar smell was also reported in Downtown Jersey City.

Con Edison officials said they are investigating the source of the leak. PSE&G and Con Edison says all systems are normal.

The NYPD says there is no gas main break in the city. The NYPD has taken air quality tests and determined that the air is not hazardous.

The NYPD says Con Ed has told them that there has been no drop in pressure in the City.

Eyewitness News has also learned that some eastern Bergen County schools were closing for the day..

A report from Jersey City's mayor says they have pinpointed the smell to West 10th and Bleeker Street in Manhattan. Apparently, at the address of 191 West 10th Street at the corner of Bleeker, there is construction going on and firefighters have apparently been in that area at least twice today to check things out. They have not pinpointed any problem at that site.

"The smell was very strong. It was very scary," said Yolanda Van Gemd, an administrator at ASA, a business school near the Empire State Building that was evacuated as a precaution. In August, seven people were treated at hospitals after a gaseous smell in the boroughs of Queens and Staten Island.

No injuries were immediately reported as a result of the leak. The office of emergency management was investigating.

This smell of gas seems to have permeated the city due to the winds. Bill Evans says there are two factors involved:


The Southwest Wind: The wind is light and out of the south but it is out of the southwest at about 6 to 10 mph. So you've got a wind pattern that is running from the southwest and across the northeast and the city. The wind pattern is running right up the west side and right across Central Park.

The Low Ceiling: The ceiling of the clouds is right at the top of the buildings and so that is capping that gas as it comes out of the ground and up. That's why the smell is permeating so widely across the area because the southwest wind is blowing it into the cloud cover and is really catching the particles of gas and holding it. As the ceiling continues to let up the gas smell will continue to dissipate.
Transportation Affected:



The NYC Transit Authority is telling us the F station at W. 23rd St and 6th Ave has been evacuated as a precaution. This station is shared with the PATH line  and as we've reported, PATH train service has been temporarily suspended between 33rd Street and Journal Square and 33rd Street and Hoboken due to emergency activity.

NJ TRANSIT is cross honoring PATH tickets until further notice and will continue service into New York City.

There is normal service from New Jersey to the World Trade Center station.
Schools:

Bergen County schools will not close. OEM tells Eyewitness News that the schools are going to a "shelter in place" policy. This means that all windows and doors must be shut and no outside activities are to take place.

Officials: Air quality OK after dozens of dead birds found in Austin

usatoday

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Police shut down 10 blocks of businesses in the heart of downtown early Monday after dozens of birds were found dead in the streets, but officials said preliminary tests showed no dangerous chemicals in the air.

As many as 60 dead pigeons, sparrows and grackles were found overnight along Congress Avenue, a main route through downtown. No human injuries or illnesses were reported.

"We do not feel there is a threat to the public health," said Adolfo Valadez, the medical director for Austin and Travis County Health and Human Services. He said preliminary air-quality tests showed no dangerous chemicals and the area should reopen around noon.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said officials had no credible information to suggest any imminent threat to the city.

On Congress Avenue, just outside the state Capitol, emergency workers donned yellow hazardous-material suits Monday morning, and dozens of fire trucks and ambulances were parked nearby.

Workers were testing for any sort of environmental contaminant or gas or chlorine leaks that might have cause the bird deaths, said police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz. At least one bird carcass was being tested locally for other possible causes, and other carcasses were shipped to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Texas A&M University.

Valadez said the tests on the dead birds would likely take several days and look for signs of poisoning or viral infections, though he said officials do not think bird flu is involved.

A 10-block stretch of Congress Avenue, several side streets and all buildings in the area were shut down and declared off-limits as a precaution, Chovanetz said.

The street closure stretched from just outside the Capitol to a section of the Colorado River known as Town Lake. The Capitol opened on schedule Monday, the day before the legislative session was to begin.

On the East Coast, New York City also had a scare Monday morning when a mysterious gas odor moved across Manhattan. It wasn't immediately clear what had caused the odor, and it dissipated fairly quickly. No injuries or damage to wildlife was immediately reported.

Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran

london telegraph

ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons.

Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military sources.

The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb.

Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open “tunnels” into the targets. “Mini-nukes” would then immediately be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive fallout.

“As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished,” said one of the sources.

The plans, disclosed to The Sunday Times last week, have been prompted in part by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad’s assessment that Iran is on the verge of producing enough enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons within two years.

Israeli military commanders believe conventional strikes may no longer be enough to annihilate increasingly well-defended enrichment facilities. Several have been built beneath at least 70ft of concrete and rock. However, the nuclear-tipped bunker-busters would be used only if a conventional attack was ruled out and if the United States declined to intervene, senior sources said.

Israeli and American officials have met several times to consider military action. Military analysts said the disclosure of the plans could be intended to put pressure on Tehran to halt enrichment, cajole America into action or soften up world opinion in advance of an Israeli attack.

Some analysts warned that Iranian retaliation for such a strike could range from disruption of oil supplies to the West to terrorist attacks against Jewish targets around the world.

Israel has identified three prime targets south of Tehran which are believed to be involved in Iran’s nuclear programme:

# Natanz, where thousands of centrifuges are being installed for uranium enrichment

# A uranium conversion facility near Isfahan where, according to a statement by an Iranian vice-president last week, 250 tons of gas for the enrichment process have been stored in tunnels

# A heavy water reactor at Arak, which may in future produce enough plutonium for a bomb

Israeli officials believe that destroying all three sites would delay Iran’s nuclear programme indefinitely and prevent them from having to live in fear of a “second Holocaust”.

The Israeli government has warned repeatedly that it will never allow nuclear weapons to be made in Iran, whose president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has declared that “Israel must be wiped off the map”.

Robert Gates, the new US defence secretary, has described military action against Iran as a “last resort”, leading Israeli officials to conclude that it will be left to them to strike.

Israeli pilots have flown to Gibraltar in recent weeks to train for the 2,000-mile round trip to the Iranian targets. Three possible routes have been mapped out, including one over Turkey.

Air force squadrons based at Hatzerim in the Negev desert and Tel Nof, south of Tel Aviv, have trained to use Israel’s tactical nuclear weapons on the mission. The preparations have been overseen by Major General Eliezer Shkedi, commander of the Israeli air force.

Sources close to the Pentagon said the United States was highly unlikely to give approval for tactical nuclear weapons to be used. One source said Israel would have to seek approval “after the event”, as it did when it crippled Iraq’s nuclear reactor at Osirak with airstrikes in 1981.

Scientists have calculated that although contamination from the bunker-busters could be limited, tons of radioactive uranium compounds would be released.

The Israelis believe that Iran’s retaliation would be constrained by fear of a second strike if it were to launch its Shehab-3 ballistic missiles at Israel.

However, American experts warned of repercussions, including widespread protests that could destabilise parts of the Islamic world friendly to the West.

Colonel Sam Gardiner, a Pentagon adviser, said Iran could try to close the Strait of Hormuz, the route for 20% of the world’s oil.

Some sources in Washington said they doubted if Israel would have the nerve to attack Iran. However, Dr Ephraim Sneh, the deputy Israeli defence minister, said last month: “The time is approaching when Israel and the international community will have to decide whether to take military action against Iran.”

Keep it in the Fam! Editorial from Newsweek's The Gaggle

Around The House We Call Chelsea "46"

Contributed by Eleanor Clift - Posted: January 5, 2007 3:45:52 PM

Democrats in Washington have found a subtle new way to annoy Republicans: Every chance they get, they're starting to refer to Bill Clinton as "42." The idea is clear enough--that Hillary Clinton will be "44," a wink at the way the Bushes have long referred to George H.W. as "41" and W. as "43." The new Clinton nickname is spreading "like a wave," says Democratic strategist Mark Siegel, who says he casually drops the reference into conversations with Republicans and then waits for the reaction. Usually, he says, it's a blank stare. "Then a look of understanding, and then a look of anger." Makes us crack up every time. And people say Washington doesn't have a sense of humor.

Newsweek reader comment from this Post sums it up best:

Posted By: Confused about Democracy (1/6/2007 at 1:01:40 PM)
Comment: Out of a country with 300 million people, do we honestly think that the most capable leadership for 32 consecutive years must come from either the Bush or Clinton family? This is a monarchy, not a democracy

Moscow Slams U.S. Sanctions on Its Military Firms

January 6, 2007
Moscow Slams U.S. Sanctions on Its Military Firms
By REUTERS
Filed at 8:52 a.m. ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia accused the United States on Saturday of illegally imposing sanctions on some Russian military firms which Washington says were cooperating with Iran and Syria.

``This is by far not the first time the U.S. resorts to illegal attempts to spread its internal legislation on foreign companies and force them to abide by the U.S. rules,'' Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It said the U.S. decision was taken on Friday against several private individuals and companies in Russia, including state arms trader Rosoboronexport.

Rosoboronexport, one of the world's biggest arms traders, has recently won control of the Russian firm VSMPO-Avisma, the world's largest titanium producer. It is a key supplier of titanium parts to U.S. aviation giant Boeing and Europe's EADS.

In August Washington slapped sanctions on Rosoboronexport and warplane maker Sukhoi under a U.S. law which penalizes companies for working with Iran in the sphere of weapons of mass destruction.

In November, Washington formally lifted the sanctions against Sukhoi, which is developing the Russian Regional Jet (RRJ) with Boeing.

Moscow said the latest U.S. sanctions against its arms firms were again ``groundless'' and added: ``And yet once again, the United States is embarking on this vicious circle.

``As a result of its politicized actions, the American state also denies itself and U.S. firms the right to cooperate with our advanced companies,'' Russia's Foreign Ministry said. ``In business language, this is called 'lost opportunities'.''

Moscow and Washington have repeatedly clashed over trade policy and Iran in the past few years, with U.S. officials angering Russian President Vladimir Putin over criticism of his democratic record and foreign and energy policy.

Washington maintains Iran is using its civilian nuclear program as cover to develop atomic weapons. It has accused Syria of being a destabilising influence in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon.


http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-russia-us-sanctions.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

Leading Academic: Neo-Nazis Have Signed Us Onto WWIII

Destroying World Order: Analysing the war In Iraq and the middle east with Dr Franics A Boyle

INFOWARS

Alex Jones was joined on air this week by eminent American Professor, Dr Francis A Boyle, to discuss the current situation in Iraq, the wider implications for International Relations and the ruthless mentality of the Straussian neoconservatives that have seized global power in the twenty first century.

Boyle is a leading American professor, practitioner and advocate of international law. He was responsible for drafting the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, the American implementing legislation for the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. He served on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International (1988-1992), and represented Bosnia- Herzegovina at the World Court. Professor Boyle teaches international law at the University of Illinois, Champaign. He holds a Doctor of Law Magna Cum Laude as well as a Ph.D. in Political Science, both from Harvard University.

Dr Boyle began by referring to the event that has shaken up the case for escalation of the war in Iraq and disgusted a great deal of the international community, the execution of Saddam Hussein.

Dr Boyle stressed that he believes that execution was very carefully staged managed with the intention to deliberately stir up sectarian violence and thus vindicate the Bush strategy of escalation.
"We have to understand that this entire show trial was organised directly out of the White House. It had already been reported, even in the New York Times, that there was a lawyer on the White House staff who was in charge of running the whole thing. They were running this whole show, it was all paid for by the United States." said Boyle.

"The Death Penalty for him came down just before the November elections, the execution itself, the hanging, lynching, I don't know what else you'd call it, was designed for political reasons. His execution under these circumstances violated the third Geneva convention of 1949. We had originally designated him as a prisoner of war, which the convention prohibited, setting up this kangaroo court proceeding that was run out of the White House."

The trial was strictly controlled because had it not been mountains of evidence would have poured forth detailing how criminal elements within the US government brought Saddam to power, maintained him in office, underwrote his tyranny, and rewarded his aggression.

Dr Boyle suggested that the timing of the execution served two purposes, first it was a good way to try and get out of the press the fact that the 3000th dead US soldier in Iraq was fast approaching. Executing Saddam was orchestrated to try and distract public attention according to the Professor.

Secondly Dr Boyle believes the execution was rushed forward in order to intentionally stir up violence in the region and thus provide a pretext to send more troops into the middle east:

"There is the other factor of deliberately stirring up animosity between the Shia and the and the Sunni, which this lynching was also designed to do." Boyle said.

Dr Boyle went on to say that National Security Advisors and leading Neocon hawks Elliott Abrams and Stephen Hadley gave the green light to deliberately stir up sectarian tensions, not only in Iraq between the Shia and the Sunni, but also in the Muslim world. So they picked the holiest day, Eid al-Adha, giving the go ahead to lynch Saddam knowing full well that it would stir up tensions all across the middle east.

"If you look at the wire services today you will see that they have now turned Saddam Hussein into a martyr. Now I've done a lot of work in the Arab and Muslim world and prior to this everyone I knew just thought Saddam Hussein was pretty much a butcher. But now they have turned him into a martyr and this is fine as far as the Neoconservative is concerned." Boyle stated.

He pointed out that the same philosophy is being used today as was used by the United States during the Iran/Iraq war, as Henry Kissinger said, 'we want them all to kill each other off'.

The globalist power mongers do not want a stable Arab and Muslim world because it would provide for a significant challenge to Western dominance of energy supplies and also diminish the arms industry greatly.

Dr Boyle has intimate knowledge of the mentality of those now running the show as he went through the same PhD program at Harvard as Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski, and had the same International Relations teacher, Hans Morgenthau, whom many consider to be the father of International Relations as an independent discipline. Dr Boyle stated that when he was 21 years old Morgenthau offered to call up Kissinger and get Boyle a job on his White House Staff, which he declined. Dr Boyle also went to university at the same time as Wolfowitz, Ashcroft and other leading Neocons.

"You have to understand the neocon mentality, as I was saying, I went to the university of Chicago, the home of the neocons, I entered there in 1968 as an undergraduate. Their founder Leo Strauss had just retired from the political science department, but i was trained by his foremost student and protege, co-author and literary executor Joseph Cropsey. So I went right through the entire Neocon Program." Dr Boyle asserted.

"They are still going forward with their plans to re-carve up the middle east and re-make it in the neoconservative image. They encouraged the Israel "war", massacre, whatever you want to call it against Lebanon and Israel's war massacre against the Palestinians, both this Summer. And now they are planning for a war against Iran, a bombing campaign that very well could turn into world war three. And that would not bother them at all these Neoconservatives, indeed from their perspective how else are they going to retrieve this situation?"

Dr Boyle described the heritage that the neocon elite are carrying on. Basically put they follow the doctrine of Chicago University political stalwart Leo Strauss. Strauss's mentor in Germany, before he emigrated to the United States, was Carl Schmitt. Carl Schmitt went on to become the most notorious Nazi law professor of that era, justifying every hideous atrocity that the Nazis inflicted on anyone.

Boyle continued,

"The Neocons, through Strauss, and there is a book here if you are interested by Professor Shadia Drury... the Neocons have been thoroughly schooled in Straussian and Schmittian theory, which is basically Nazi, and these people really are neo-nazis. We have to understand that, and I think people have a difficult time coming to grips with it because it seems so alien to our tradition.

I spent seven years at Harvard getting three degrees after the university of Chicago, and again going through this exact same program that produced Kissinger and Brzezinski, because I wanted to be trained exactly like these people, and think like them, know what they're up to and hopefully come out and turn it against them."

The professor believes that what we are seeing now is the endgame, the 'go for broke' strategy. These neo-nazis, the neocons from Chicago, and President Bush, who at one point publicly bragged that he had appointed at least twenty Straussian neocons to his administration, are going for world domination and control.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were pre-planned for quite some time, by the Israelis and by the Pentagon. They have been executed to seize and steal at least two thirds of the world's energy resources, which the power elite plan to hold on to. According to Dr Boyle, this is the future of the world economy, they are not going to give it up.

They understood that if they made this major grab for world power, by launching brutal aggression against Iraq and Afghanistan and perhaps now Iran, if we don't stop them, and Syria, that there would be massive resistance by the American people.

Dr Boyle compared the current situation to that of the Vietnam war, encouraging peaceful non-violent civil resistance in order to expose the criminals that wish to escalate war purely to make money and gain more power to do as they will.

"Harvard has learned nothing from the Vietnam war, they still train major war criminals and warmongers such as Kissinger, at Harvard today as we speak.

The Strategy all along was to destroy Iraq as a viable nation state, because, if you read Huntington's Clash Of Civilizations, as he pointed out, Iraq was probably the only Arab nation state that could have provided leadership to the Arab world in a confrontation with the West over the energy supplies. So Iraq had to be destroyed." Boyle urged.

Guardsmen overrun at the Border

AZCENTRAL

A U.S. Border Patrol entry Identification Team site was overrun Wednesday night along Arizona's border with Mexico.

According to the Border Patrol, an unknown number of gunmen attacked the site in the state's West Desert Region around 11 p.m. The site is manned by National Guardsmen. Those guardsmen were forced to retreat.

The Border Patrol will not say whether shots were fired. However, no Guardsmen were injured in the incident.

The Border Patrol says the incident occurred somewhere along the 120 mile section of the border between Nogales and Lukeville. The area is known as a drug corridor. Last year, 124-thousand pounds of illegal drugs were confiscated in this area.

The Border patrol says the attackers quickly retreated back into Mexico.

U.S. OR ISRAELI ATTACK ON IRAN COULD CONTAMINATE MIDDLE EAST

INFOWARS.COM

If the U.S. or Israel attack Iranian nuclear power facilities "huge amounts
of radioactive material will be lofted into the air to contaminate the
people of Iran and surrounding countries," an eminent international
authority on nuclear weapons warns.

"This fallout will induce cancers, leukemia, and genetic disease in these
populations for years to come, both a medical catastrophe and a war crime of
immense proportions," Dr. Helen Caldicott writes in her new book, "Nuclear
Power Is Not The Answer," published by The New Press.

Dr. Caldicott said the Pentagon has met with its Israeli counterparts "to
discuss the participation of Israel in plans to attack Iran" even though
President Bush said "this notion that the United States is getting ready to
attack Iran is simply ridiculous."

Citing the accidental meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the
Ukraine in April, 1986, as an example of what can happen when radioactivity
is released, she termed it a "medical catastrophe (that) will continue to
plague much of Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine, and Europe for the rest of
time." Between 5,000 and 10,000 people have died prematurely to date, she
said.

Between 1986 and 2001, Belarus suffered 8,358 cases of thyroid cancer as a
result of the Chernobyl meltdown, and most of the afflicted have had their
thyroids surgically removed, leaving them dependent on thyroid medications
for the rest of their lives, said Dr. Caldicott, a physician and
anti-nuclear activist. She writes the areas of Europe, and its populations,
afflicted by the Chernobyl accident will suffer from its impact "for
thousands of years."

Dr. Caldicott noted Israel, along with Pakistan and India, are "rogue
nations, outlaws who choose not to abide by international law" for their
refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT). "Understandably,
the Arab states resent the IAEA's intrusions on Iran, as the United States
accuses it of a covert but un-proven nuclear weapons program, whereas
Israel, also a covert nuclear state but a close U.S. ally, receives no such
scrutiny."

"It is unwise and dangerous for Israel to possess a nuclear arsenal," she
pointed out, as "such weapons are highly provocative for Israel's Arab
neighbors" and their presence "actively encourages Arab states to build
their own."

One or two nuclear bombs landing on the tiny Israeli nation would obliterate
it," Dr. Caldicott said. "Or, conversely, if a large conventional weapon
landed on Dimona (the Negev Nuclear Research Center), the ensuing meltdown
would kill millions of people."

Dr. Caldicott said "the Bush administration has adopted some very
provocative and dangerous policies --- all of them in direct violation of
the Non-Proliferation Treaty---which inevitably have led and will continue
to lead to the proliferation of nuclear weapons in other countries."

She charged Bush has drafted a revised plan allowing military commanders to
request presidential approval to use nuclear weapons to preempt an attack by
a nation or terrorist group deemed to be planning to use WMD.

"The 'revised plan' reflects a preemptive nuclear strategy first enunciated
by the White House in 2002. Had this strategy been in place before the
invasion of Iraq, a nuclear attack could have been justified to 'take out'
Iraq's imaginary WMD," Dr. Caldicott wrote.

Under the NPT, Dr. Caldicott said, Iran is "perfectly entitled to pursue a
uranium enrichment program for peaceful purposes" and she noted in the past
"Iran was actively encouraged by the United States to develop its own
nuclear power program."

She quoted Tony Benn, a former British M.P., stating that when he was
secretary of state for energy "enormous pressure was put on me...to agree to
sell nuclear power stations" to the Shah of Iran, "who had been put on the
throne by the U.S." Benn said the pressure came from the Atomic Energy
Authority and U.S. manufacturer Westinghouse, "who were anxious to promote
their own design of reactor."

Dr. Caldicott said, "Having initially encouraged Iran to develop nuclear
capabilities, the United States now has plans to bomb Iran with nuclear
weapons for doing so."

Dr. Caldicott not only opposes development, stockpiling, and deployment of
nuclear weapons but the use of nuclear plants for supplying energy as well
on grounds they are inherently dangerous -- as meltdowns at Chernobyl and
Three Mile Island in the U.S. on March 28, 1979, demonstrated.

Additionally, she contends the extraction of the world's dwindling supply of
uranium ore for reactors is very costly and contributes greatly to the
greenhouse effect, just the opposite of the nuclear power industry's
contention nuclear plants are environmentally friendly.

Selassie on freedom

JAMAICA GLEANER

It is known that 'You can't please all of the people all of the time', so I was prepared for the fact that my advice "Forgive slavery, forget reparations" would not be welcomed in all quarters.

I was thankful for the positive discussion that resulted, yet I was very surprised at the abusive, negative response from one source, especially since when I had asked this person to work with me for reparations, he publicly declined.

The main reason for my realisation that the fight for reparations is a lost cause is that in my experience, while many people talk about it, no one is interested in funding the work necessary to acquire it.

Using my own limited personal resources and efforts for the past five years have been an act of service that has made many objectives unattainable, both for the cause and especially for myself.

I have tried unsuccessfully for the past five years to obtain other resources from both prominent, wealthy members of the Rasta community, as well as Government sources, with all showing disinterest in keeping the work going. The general public showed less interest, as the various conferences and meetings I organised for the Jamaica Reparations Movement were poorly attended. I had to ask myself: Who is really interested in reparations?

This being the reality, I found myself unable to continue this solitary hardship, so I realised it was best to leave the matter to others and move on, resigning in August from the chair of the Reparations Sub-Committee of the JNHT bicentenary committee.

Selassie on freedom

Months later, thinking about the implications of slavery that would be forefront in 2007, I read these words of Emperor Haile Selassie on freedom: "We must put to the best use the rich heritage of our past for, in that way, and in that way alone can we live to the highest standard set by our forefathers. We hope the future generations will realise the magnitude of sacrifices that were required to accomplish all the works, so that they may preserve it as gain.

"Africa has been reborn as a free continent and Africans have been reborn as free men. The blood that was shed and the sufferings that were endured, are today Africa's advocates for freedom and unity. The glories and advantages of freedom cannot be purchased with all the world's material wealth."

The thought came to me that instead of us seeking "the world's material wealth", a powerful act of forgiveness by a people so wronged could stir a global response that could result in us achieving all the goals of reparations.

Along with this thought came the realisation that the faith I believe in requires forgiveness as I pray it each day in the Lords Prayer.

All this inspired me to write that article and suggest we look forward, not backwards, and work to make Jamaica greater.

Time will tell if my article was just the rantings of a misguided old lady and a reason for my demise, as some 'diehards' believe. but, as Observer columnist Geof Brown wrote in his comments on the article: "Such may fail to see that pride in one's race and concern for its well-being do not exclude mutual dependency for mutual benefit."

This year is observed in Ethiopia as Year 2000, the Millenium Year. Those who live by the teachings of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie I can do no better than to heed his words. One love.

I am, etc.,

BARBARA MAKEDA

Bin Laden´s top aide urges Somalis to attack Ethiopia

CCTV INTERNATIONAL

Osama bin Laden's top aide has urged Somali Islamists to launch an Iraq-style guerrilla campaign of suicide attacks and ambushes against Ethiopian forces in Somalia.

This, in an audio tape posted on the Internet on Friday.

Al Qaeda's deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, said in the tape that the world's strongest power was defeated by the campaigns of the Mujahideen troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And in similar fashion, he says Ethiopian forces will be defeated in the Muslim land of Somalia.

Cindy Sheehan protests the Democrats

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Cindy Sheehan, the "peace activist" who famously besieged President Bush at Prairie Chapel Ranch, yesterday routed the leaders of the new House Democratic majority from their press conference where they attempted to present their legislative agenda.

Chants of "de-escalate, investigate, troops home now," drowned out the new majority leaders, including Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the chairman of the Democratic House Caucus.

The flustered lawmakers retreated to a room behind closed doors, and surrendered the field to Mrs. Sheehan, whose son, an Army soldier, was killed in Iraq in 2004.

With her quarry in full retreat, she scolded Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi for abandoning the war issue in the agenda for the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress, which convenes today. The agenda focuses on other promises from last year's campaigns, including raising the minimum wage, stricter ethics rules and cutting student loan interest rates.

[Visit a post in the Editor's Blog related to this article.]

"Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic leadership can no longer tell us what is on the table," Mrs. Sheehan said. "We are the ones that put them in power and they are not including the peace movement. ... It needs to be at least included in the discussion."

She demanded the elimination of funding for the war, an investigation and impeachment of President Bush for what she called "lies" to justify the war.

Mrs. Sheehan was leading about 75 others lobbying congressional offices when they happened upon the press conference. The Democrats were there to present new ethics proposals as part of the 100-hour agenda with which they plan to begin the House majority today.

"Iraq is a high priority for Democrats," said Pelosi spokeswoman Jennifer Crider, and a legislative agenda was not the place to address the war issue.

She said the call last year from Rep. John P. Murtha, Pennsylvania Democrat, for troop withdrawal "changed the course of the debate [and] sent a signal that Democrats will stand up and hold the administration accountable."

Mrs. Pelosi did not attend the press conference.

After the interruption by the Sheehan-led activists, Mr. Emanuel and other top Democrats returned to the microphone and, in response to reporters' questions, addressed some of Mrs. Sheehan's demands.

"Well, we're going to do the one thing that's been missing ... and that's oversight," Mr. Emanuel said. "We have had a policy where the Congress -- from resources to strategy -- has abdicated its responsibility of overseeing an administration's foreign policy in that area. And the American people, both in blood, treasure, and prestige, is now paying the price for a Congress that abdicated its responsibility."

Mr. Emanuel promised hearings on the war that would answer the types of questions Mrs. Sheehan and the voters are asking.

"That is the most important thing to do, because when you have questions asked, you do not get a Congress that just rubber-stamps the policy," he said. "Now you see the consequence of a rubber-stamp policy, which is what we have in Iraq."

After the press conference, Mrs. Sheehan told reporters that Democrats had abandoned the party's grass-roots anti-war supporters as soon as the election was over.

"I'm disappointed to see that they are talking about giving the president more money for the war," she said. "I'm disappointed to hear that impeachment is off the table. We are here to let them know that we are setting the table now."

Most analysts credited the Iraq war issue with fueling anti-Republican sentiment that propelled Democrats to a congressional majority for the first time in 12 years.

Bush says feds can open mail without warrants

usatoday

President Bush has "quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant," the New York Daily News writes this morning.

When he put his signature on a postal reform bill on Dec. 20, the newspaper notes, the president added a "signing statement" that "declared his right to open people's mail under emergency conditions."

The key phrase in that statement:

"The executive branch shall construe subsection 404(c) of title 39, as enacted by subsection 1010(e) of the Act, which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection, in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances, such as to protect human life and safety against hazardous materials, and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection."

According to the Daily News, legal experts say the president's claim is "contrary to existing law and contradicted the bill he had just signed."

White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore, though, told the Daily News that "in certain circumstances -- such as with the proverbial 'ticking bomb' -- the Constitution does not require warrants for reasonable searches."

Word of Bush's action follows revelations last year about the National Security Agency's so-called warrantless eavesdropping on telephone and Internet communications.

While the president's signing statement went mostly unnoticed at first, a few bloggers and websites did make note of it just before New Year's:

• Care2 News Network -- according to an IceRocket search -- may have been first, on Dec. 28.

• My Cigar Experience called the statement "particularly alarming" on Dec. 29.

• Justin Gardner at Donklephant said Dec. 30 that "Bush has created hundreds of de facto "laws" that nobody has to approve and few even know about. This ... just seems flat out wrong."

Sat Nav for Mexicans illegally entering US

London Telegraph

Illegal immigrants planning to cross the desert and enter the US on foot are to be given hand-held satellite devices by the Mexican authorities to ensure they arrive safely.

A young Mexican man jumps over a fence
A young Mexican man jumps over a fence on his way to the US

Those who get lost or fall sick during the dangerous four-day crossing will be able to activate the device, to alert frontier police on both sides of the border.

The satellite tracking service will require would-be illegals to register their intentions before setting off — a paradoxical move, given that secrecy is necessary for success — but Mexican authorities are predicting that about 200,000 devices will be handed out when the project is launched formally in the coming year.

"Our intention is to save lives," said Jaime Obregon, the co-ordinator for the state commission for migrants in Puebla, the Mexican state which is behind the project. "There are lots of people looking to cross and we are working with the US authorities to make sure they do not die on the way."

Between 20 and 30 migrants succumb to hellish temperatures and insect bites while attempting to cross into Arizona every year. Heat exhaustion sometimes causes short-term memory loss, with trekkers wandering aimlessly into the desert.
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The route into Arizona, known as the Sasave Pass, is both the most common and the most dangerous way into the US. According to Mexican state migrant authorities, up to 75,000 attempt the crossing every month, of whom between 50,000 and 60,000 are caught by US border patrols and sent back.

The chance of success depends greatly on the knowledge of the guide, known as a "coyote" or "desert fox". They charge between $2,000 and $10,000 per person (£1,025-£5,100).

Coyotes are merciless if a member of their pack lags behind. "If you cannot keep up they will abandon you." said Mr Obregon. "Alone, you have about 36 hours to live. It is in this period the satellite device makes a difference."

A spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection said: "We do not have any information about the Mexican government providing satellite trackers to people, but we strongly discourage encouragement to people who are attempting to cross illegally into the US."

Rockefeller 'Troubled' by Negroponte's Switch to State Department

(CNSNews.com) - A top Democrat said Thursday he was "troubled" by the timing of the news that National Intelligence Director John Negroponte will assume the number two post at the State Department.

Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it was unacceptable for top two posts in the intelligence community to be vacant at the same time. He cited the departure last May of Gen. Michael Hayden, Negroponte's then deputy, who left to head up the CIA.

Rockefeller said the leadership of the intelligence community was "too important."

He would work with Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), incoming head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to plan confirmation hearings for Negroponte and Hayden's replacements, while making sure Negroponte does not leave his post prior to his successor's confirmation, Rockefeller said in a statement.

"Director Negroponte deserves credit for building the office from scratch and starting the process of creating a true intelligence community. His successor will need to accelerate that process in order to realize the vision of the intelligence reform legislation passed two years ago," he said.

Retired Adm. Mike McConnell - senior vice president at strategy consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and director of the National Security Agency from 1992 to 1996 - is reportedly being considered as Negroponte's replacement.

Rockefeller called McConnell "a career intelligence professional" and said he looked forward to meeting with him soon.

Negroponte is considered "a disaster" by people in the intelligence community, an unnamed government official told Fox News.

"He's a foreign service officer to the bone," the official said, saying Negroponte feels more at home in a State Department setting.

"Everyone knows he's not doing well," the official was quoted as saying. "Nothing's gone on since he got there but another layer of bureaucracy. He did nothing to revive the intelligence agencies."

But another official, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters, painted a different picture.

"John Negroponte's done a great job. He is also somebody who is a career diplomat who is going to be able to continue to use those skills in the No. 2 position at State," the official said.

"This is something where the president went to John and asked him to take the job because it was that important," the official added.

President Bush is expected to nominate Negroponte on Friday to deputy secretary of state, serving under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and will likely nominate McConnell as his replacement.

UN Child Sex Slave Scandals Continue

Full article + more links @ infowars.com

The UN is to investigate itself again after it was revealed by the London Telegraph today that more than twenty different cases of child sex slavery involving UN staff have been reported in southern Sudan.

The Telegraph reports that it has learned of dozens of victims' accounts claiming that some peacekeeping and civilian staff based in the town are regularly picking up young children in their UN vehicles and forcing them to have sex. The Telegraph states that it is thought that hundreds of children may have been abused.

The UN has up to 10,000 military personnel in the region, of all nationalities and the allegations involve peacekeepers, military police and civilian staff.

The Telegraph also states that the Sudanese government, which is deeply opposed to the deployment of UN troops to Darfur, has evidence of child sex slavery, including video footage of Bangladeshi UN workers allegedly having sex with three young girls.

Stating that such events are ultimately the work of "a few bad apples", a UN spokesperson promised that they will be thoroughly investigated.

Over the past few years, however, there seems to have been a hell of a lot of rotting fruit in the UN barrel.

Last November a BBC Investigation found that children as young as 11 have been subjected to rape and prostitution by United Nations peacekeepers in Haiti and Liberia. A previous BBC investigation in Liberia discovered systematic abuse, involving food being given out to teenage refugees in return for sex. In both instances the UN promised to investigate.

In 2003 the AP reported that UN officials were identified as using a ship charted for 'peacekeepers' to traffick young girls from Thailand to East Timor as prostitutes.

In the same year it was also revealed that UN staff were guilty of raping women on a systematic scale in Sierra Leone.

Previous to this, in early 2002 a massive pedophilia scandal within the UN was uncovered involving sexual abuse against West African refugee children in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. UPI reported that Senior U.N. officials knew of the widespread pedophilia and not only did they not take action against the perpetrators, they covered up the atrocities.

It was later reported that after The UN's' investigating arm had cleared several U.N. workers of charges of sexual abuse against West African refugee children, it substantiated 10 new cases against aid workers.

Damning cases involving workers making home porn movies and so called weapons inspectors having bizarre sadomasochistic, pansexual and leather fetishes also emerged at this time.

In 2004 The New York Post reported that the UN was trying to block the publication of a book by three United Nations fieldworkers that detailed sex, drugs and corruption inside multiple U.N. missions. "Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story from Hell on Earth" chronicles the experiences of a doctor, a human-rights official and a secretary in U.N. operations in Cambodia, Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Liberia and Bosnia. It also alleged that the UN knowingly hired freed criminals to serve as peacemakers.

We have also previously reported on the intimate involvement of Dyncorp, the contractors of the international police force, in such sex scandals. One Dyncorp employee, Kathryn Bolkovac, was sacked for detailing UN workers' involvement in the sex trade in Bosnia. Bolkovac was sacked after disclosing that UN peacekeepers went to nightclubs where girls as young as 15 were forced to dance naked and have sex with customers, and that UN personnel and international aid workers were linked to prostitution rings in the Balkans.

Dyncorp was ordered to pay Kathryn Bolkovac £110,000 by an employment tribunal, yet both the British and the US governments as well as the UN continue to contract Dyncorp.

It was later revealed by the Chicago Tribune that Halliburton subsidiary KBR and Dyncorp lobbyists are working in tandem with the Pentagon to stall legislation that would specifically ban trafficking in humans for forced labor and prostitution by U.S. contractors.

On March 11th 2005, Representative Cynthia McKinney grilled Secretary Rumsfeld and General Myers on the Dyncorp scandal.

"Mr. Secretary, I watched President Bush deliver a moving speech at the United Nations in September 2003, in which he mentioned the crisis of the sex trade. The President called for the punishment of those involved in this horrible business. But at the very moment of that speech, Dyncorp was exposed for having been involved in the buying and selling of young women and children. While all of this was going on, Dyncorp kept the Pentagon contract to administer the smallpox and anthrax vaccines, and is now working on a plague vaccine through the Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program. Mr. Secretary, is it [the] policy of the U.S. Government to reward companies that traffic in women and little girls?"

The response and McKinney's comeback was as follows.

Rumsfeld: "Thank you, Representative. First, the answer to your first question is, is, no, absolutely not, the policy of the United States Government is clear, unambiguous, and opposed to the activities that you described. The second question."

McKinney: "Well how do you explain the fact that Dyncorp and its successor companies have received and continue to receive government contracts?"

Rumsfeld: "I would have to go and find the facts, but there are laws and rules and regulations with respect to government contracts, and there are times that corporations do things they should not do, in which case they tend to be suspended for some period; there are times then that the - under the laws and the rules and regulations for the - passed by the Congress and implemented by the Executive branch - that corporations can get off of - out of the penalty box if you will, and be permitted to engage in contracts with the government. They're generally not barred in perpetuity."

McKinney: "This contract - this company - was never in the penalty box."

Rumsfeld: "I'm advised by DR. Chu that it was not the corporation that was engaged in the activities you characterized but I'm told it was an employee of the corporation, and it was some years ago in the Balkans that that took place."

Watch the video here .

Rumsfeld's effort to shift the blame away from the hierarchy at Dyncorp and onto the Dyncorp employees was a blatant attempt to hide the fact that human trafficking and sex slavery is a practice condoned by companies like Dyncorp and Halliburton subsidiaries like KBR.

Why should the UN be continually allowed to investigate itself and, those that it contracts, on these issues? The UN has an abysmal track record on this issue and a long history of covering up such cases. It is time for a thorough independent inquiry of the UN and its agencies and affiliates to be carried out.

Do something!

William Cooper was Assassinated in 2001. In this speech, William Cooper attempted to motive his audience to spread the truth. Its so very important that we tell the truth in this time. Go create a newspaper, Film/documentary, radio show, blog, music, painting, comic book, novel, article, flyers, pamplets, i mean, it doesnt matter... Just create something and spread the truth! If more people become aware of whats happening, we can slow down or even stop these globalists from their corporate takeover! I'm not trying to scare you, thats the farthest thing in the world from what im trying to do. This is my attempt at helping, but I need you to help me. We're in this together! Lets all draw the universal sword of truth and cut down the New World Order!

Fed housing fears rattle market

ARTICLE

WASHINGTON -- Minutes of the Federal Reserve interest rate committee's last meeting, released Wednesday, suggest policymakers might be more worried about the housing slump than previously thought.

The bleak assessment unnerved investors who were betting that the sector's problems wouldn't necessarily spill over into other portions of the economy and sapped strength from the market on a day that had seen triple-digit gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average surged more than 117 points, but then pulled back sharply to close at 12,474.52, up just 11.37 points.

"The concern is that the Fed was seeing something at their last meeting that suggested potentially more pronounced weakness than we had all been anticipating in the economy," said Drew Matus, senior economist at Lehman Brothers Inc.

Policymakers kept interest rates steady at the December meeting. But the central bank left open a possible rate increase, if needed, to thwart inflation.

"All members agreed that the risk that inflation would fail to moderate as desired remained the predominant concern," the minutes said.

But one Fed member, who is not identified in the minutes of the meeting, thought the Fed should have held out the possibility of a rate cut as well.

In its Dec. 12 policy statement, however, the Fed did not speculate about a rate cut. Rather, the policymakers hewed to previous language about the possibility of a rate increase, which most economists think unlikely.

The wording on possible interest rate moves that was suggested by the Fed member might be viewed by some investors "as a first step toward changing the forward-looking language, a sentiment with which we do not entirely disagree," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital.

At the December meeting, Fed policymakers said economic growth had slowed over the course of 2006, partly reflecting a "substantial cooling" of the housing market. That description went beyond the Fed's previous assessment in late October and suggested a sharper slump in housing.

Policymakers cited the need to stay alert for signs that weakness in the housing sector could seriously infect the rest of the economy.

"Considerable uncertainty regarding the ultimate extent of the housing market correction meant that spillovers to consumption could become more evident, especially if house prices were to decline significantly," the minutes said.

Policymakers left their key interest rate unchanged at 5.25 percent at the December meeting. It was the fourth straight meeting without a rate change.

Many economists believe the Fed will do the same at its next meeting, Jan. 30-31, and further into the new year. Many analysts and investors predict an interest rate cut later in 2007

Skepticism from the Military on an Iraq Surge

Without a broader new political and economic strategy, many officers at the Pentagon worry Bush's idea of sending 30,000 additional troops to Baghdad won't change anything

time/cnn

When President Bush dumped Donald Rumsfeld after the midterm elections in November, many officers in the Pentagon were elated to be rid of the domineering Secretary of Defense. They looked forward to a day when their views on such crucial issues as the Iraq War might carry more weight with the White House. But as the Administration prepares to announce its latest new Iraq strategy, those same officers may no longer be so optimistic. Bush is widely expected to call for the so-called surge option: injecting some 30,000 new soldiers and Marines into Iraq. But many officers at the Pentagon, including some of the most senior, aren't sure such an increase in the force is a good idea.

The head of the Marine Corps has openly questioned the wisdom of the move without an overarching strategy. "We would fully support, I think, as the Joint Chiefs, the idea of putting more troops into Iraq if there is a solid military reason for doing that, if there is something to be gained," Gen. James Conway, who became Commandant of the Marine Corps six weeks ago, said to reporters recently. "We do not believe that just adding numbers for the sake of adding numbers — just thickening the mix — is necessarily the way to go."

Now other members of the military's top brass are quietly questioning the lack of a clear-cut strategy. "What is the objective? Does the President want Iraq to look like Iowa?" asks one retired senior officer. "What has finally put some backbone in the Joint Chiefs is that, to date, there has not been a realistic endstate identified that matches the reality on the ground. They still don't get it. Tactics without a strategy are a recipe for disaster."

A recent report overseen by former Army Major General John Batiste, who headed the 1st Infantry Division and has been a vocal critic of the Administration's handling of the war, says the choice Bush faces in Iraq is stark: "We have reached the point where we need to ask the question whether it is more important to preserve the country of Iraq with its façade of democratic government, or protect our own national security interests."

Virtually every expert who has followed Iraq for the last four years says a military surge without accompanying political and economic progress would be a waste. They believe some essential steps need to be taken first: the U.S. should openly declare it has no long-term intention of staying in Iraq, the Iraqi government should soon announce provincial elections, and the U.S. should back a large-scale jobs program. They also advocate putting more pressure on the Iraqi government for a political reconciliation schedule, as well as a serious discussion of sharing oil revenues among the different ethnic regions.

But for a surge of new troops to make a real difference, change has to come in Washington, not just in Baghdad, argues retired Gen. Tony Zinni. Like many other active duty and retired officers, Zinni has been disappointed in the failure of other government agencies like State, Justice and Energy to devote resources to the reconstruction effort. "Washington needs almost as much work as Iraq does," Zinni says. "First and foremost, it needs to establish a viable interagency structure. Doing more of the same — either in Iraq or Washington — won't work. There have never been enough troops, but if there is a new strategy which includes political reconciliation and economic development, then more U.S. troops could gain some momentum so those programs could take hold." Zinni estimates it will take five to seven more years to achieve "a reasonably stable" Iraq.

And like the Iraq Study Group, which called for reaching out to Iran and Syria, Zinni and other officers believe that diplomacy is key to any turnaround in Iraq. "I think we have lost ground in the region. Potential allies have been burned. But we need to work at getting them and the rest of the international community back. The Administration has to work every angle. You've got to light 1,000 fires out there and hope something takes."

Regardless of what Bush decides, he will very likely have two new men to implement his plan, to be announced later this month. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is currently interviewing candidates to replace Army Gen. John Abizaid, who has headed the U.S. military's Central Command since July, 2003, and Army Gen. George Casey, the commander in Iraq since 2004. Although Pacific Command Chief Adm. William Fallon and Marine Lt. Gen. James Mattis are in the running, some retired senior officers, as well as active duty officers who have served in Iraq, believe that the frontrunners are two Army Lieut. Generals, Dave Petreaus and Peter Chiarelli. "The Army has run the Iraq war since before it was launched," says a senior officer, who points out that every senior position has been held by an Army general - no one from the Marines, Navy or Air Force "Perhaps it's time for a fresh look."