Sen. Sessions Releases List of 20 Loopholes in the Senate Immigration Bill

Sen. Sessions senate.gov

Monday, June 4, 2007

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) released a list of 20 loopholes in the comprehensive immigration bill today which reveals that the bill is fatally flawed and will not establish a functioning immigration system in the future.

The list of loopholes includes flaws effecting border security, chain-migration and assimilation policies. The list exposes the lack of serious attention given to ensuring that the legislation fixes America’s failed immigration system.

“I am deeply concerned about the numerous loopholes we have found in this legislation. They are more than technical errors, but rather symptoms of a fundamentally flawed piece of legislation that stands no chance of actually fixing our broken immigration system,” Sessions said. “Many of the loopholes are indicative of a desire not to have the system work.”

For example, one loophole in the “enforcement trigger” fails to require the U.S. VISIT system – the biometric border check-in/check-out system established by Congress in 1996, but never implemented – to be fully functioning before new worker or amnesty programs begin. Without the system in place, the U.S. has no method of ensuring that workers and their families do not overstay their visas.

Another flaw in the legislation prevents the benefits of merit-based immigration from taking full effect until 2016. Until then, chain migration into the U.S. will actually triple, compared to a disproportionately low increase in skill-based immigration. As a result, the merit-based system in the bill is only a shell of what it should have been.

A third loophole in the bill allows immigrants to avoid demonstrating a proficiency in English for more than a decade. Illegal aliens are not required to learn English to receive full “probationary benefits” of citizenship. Passing a basic English test is only required for the third Z-visa renewal, twelve years after amnesty is granted.

Sessions will highlight many of the loopholes contained in the list this week during Senate debate on the immigration bill.

A full list of the 20 loopholes is attached.

20 Loopholes in the Senate Immigration Bill

• Loophole 1 – Legal Status Before Enforcement:

Amnesty benefits do not wait for the “enforcement trigger.” After filing an application and waiting 24 hours, illegal aliens will receive full “probationary benefits,” complete with the ability to legally live and work in the U.S., travel outside of the U.S. and return, and their own social security card. Astonishingly, if the trigger is never met and amnesty applications are therefore never “approved,” the probationary benefits granted to the illegal alien population never expire, and the new social security cards issued to the illegal alien population are not revoked. [See pp. 1, 290-291, & 315].

• Loophole 2 – U.S. VISIT Exit Not In Trigger:

The “enforcement trigger,” required to be met before the new temporary worker program begins, does not require that the exit portion of U.S. VISIT system – the biometric border check-in/check-out system first required by Congress in 1996 that is already well past its already postponed 2005 implementation due date – to be in place before new worker or amnesty programs begin. Without the U.S. VISIT exit portion, the U.S. has no method to ensure that workers (or their visiting families) do not overstay their visas. Our current illegal population contains 4 to 5.5 million visa overstays, therefore, we know that the U.S. VISIT exit component is key to a successful new temporary worker program. [See pp. 1-2].

• Loophole 3 – Trigger Requires No More Agents, Beds, or Fencing Than Current Law:

The “enforcement trigger” does not require the Department of Homeland Security to have detention space sufficient to end “catch and release” at the border and in the interior. Even after the adoption of amendment 1172, the trigger merely requires the addition of 4,000 detention beds, bringing DHS to a 31,500 bed capacity. This is far short of the 43,000 beds required under current law to be in place by the end of 2007, or the additional 20,000 beds required later in the bill. Additionally, the bill establishes a “catch, pay, and release” program. This policy will benefit illegal aliens from countries other than Mexico that are caught at the border, then can post a $5,000 bond, be released and never show up for deportation hearings. Annual failure to appear rates for 2005 and 2006, caused in part by lack of detention space, doubled the 2004 rate (106,000 – 110,000 compared with 54,000). Claims that the bill “expands fencing” are inaccurate. The bill only requires 370 miles of fencing to be completed, while current law already mandates that more than 700 miles be constructed [See pp. 1-2, & 10-11, and EOIR’s FY2006 Statistical Yearbook, p. H2, and The Secure Fence Act of 2004].

• Loophole 4 -- Three Additional Years Worth of Illegal Aliens Granted Status, Treated Preferentially To Legal Filers:

Aliens who broke into the country illegally a mere 5 months ago, are treated better than foreign nationals who legally applied to come to the U.S. more than two years ago. Aliens who can prove they were illegally in the U.S. on January 1, 2007, are immediately eligible to apply from inside the U.S. for amnesty benefits, while foreign nationals that filed applications to come to the U.S. after May 1, 2005 must start the application process over again from their home countries. Last year’s bill required illegal aliens to have been here before January 7, 2004 to qualify for permanent legal status. [See pp. 263, 282, & 306].

• Loophole 5 – Completion of Background Checks Not Required For Probationary Legal Status:

Legal status must be granted to illegal aliens 24 hours after they file an application, even if the aliens have not yet “passed all appropriate background checks.” (Last year’s bill gave DHS 90 days to check an alien’s background before any status was granted). No legal status should be given to any illegal alien until all appropriate background checks are complete. [See pp. 290].

• Loophole 6 – Some Child Molesters Are Still Eligible:

Some aggravated felons – those who have sexually abused a minor – are eligible for amnesty. A child molester who committed the crime before the bill is enacted is not barred from getting amnesty if their conviction document omitted the age of the victim. The bill corrects this loophole for future child molesters, but does not close the loophole for current or past convictions. [See p. 47: 30-33, & p. 48: 1-2]

• Loophole 7 – Terrorism Connections Allowed, Good Moral Character Not Required:

Illegal aliens with terrorism connections are not barred from getting amnesty. An illegal alien seeking most immigration benefits must show “good moral character.” Last year’s bill specifically barred aliens with terrorism connections from having “good moral character” and being eligible for amnesty. This year’s bill does neither. Additionally, bill drafters ignored the Administration’s request that changes be made to the asylum, cancellation of removal, and withholding of removal statutes in order to prevent aliens with terrorist connections from receiving relief. [Compare §204 in S. 2611 from the 109^th Congress with missing §204 on p. 48 of S.A. 1150, & see missing subsection (5) on p. 287 of S.A. 1150].

• Loophole 8 – Gang Members Are Eligible:

Instead of ensuring that members of violent gangs such as MS 13 are deported after coming out of the shadows to apply for amnesty, the bill will allow violent gang members to get amnesty as long as they “renounce” their gang membership on their application. [See p. 289: 34-36].

• Loophole 9 – Absconders Are Eligible:

Aliens who have already had their day in court – those subject to final orders of removal, voluntary departure orders, or reinstatement of their final orders of removal – are eligible for amnesty under the bill. The same is true for aliens who have made a false claim to citizenship or engaged in document fraud. More than 636,000 alien fugitives could be covered by this loophole. [See p. 285:19-22 which waives the following inadmissibility grounds: failure to attend a removal proceeding; final orders of removal for alien smuggling; aliens unlawfully present after previous immigration violations or deportation orders; and aliens previously removed. This appears to conflict with language on p. 283:40-41. When a direct conflict appears in a statute, the statue is interpreted by the courts to the benefit of the alien.].

• Loophole 10 – Learning English Not Required For A Decade:

Illegal aliens are not required to demonstrate any proficiency in English for more than a decade after they are granted amnesty. Learning English is not required for an illegal alien to receive probationary benefits, the first 4-year Z visa, or the second 4-year Z visa. The first Z visa renewal (the second 4-year Z visa) requires only that the alien demonstrate an “attempt” to learn English by being “on a waiting list for English classes.” Passing a basic English test is required only for a second Z visa renewal (the third 4-year Z visa), and even then the alien only has to pass the test “prior to the expiration of the second extension of Z status” (12 years down the road). [See pp. 295-296].

• Loophole 11 – Earned Income Tax Credit Will Cost Taxpayers Billions In Just 10 Years:

Current illegal aliens and new guest workers will be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, a refundable tax credit designed to encourage American citizens and legal permanent residents to work. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this loophole will cost the U.S. taxpayer up to $20 billion dollars in just the first 10 years after the bill’s enactment. To be consistent with the intent of the 1996 welfare reforms – which limited new immigrants from receiving public benefits until they had been legal permanent residents for five years – the bill should withhold EITC eligibility from amnestied aliens until they become legal permanent residents. Closing this loophole will save the taxpayers billions of dollars. [See p. 293 after S.A. 1190 was adopted, p. 307, p. 315, §606. All that is required for EITC eligibility is a social security number and resident alien status. Nothing in the bill’s tax provisions limit EITC eligibility. The issuance of social security numbers to aliens as soon as they apply for amnesty will ensure they are able to qualify for the EITC.]

• Loophole 12 – Affidavits From Friends Accepted As Evidence:

Records from day-labor centers, labor unions, and “sworn declarations” from any non-relative (acquaintances, friends, coworkers, etc) are to be accepted as evidence that the illegal alien has satisfied the bill’s amnesty requirements. This low burden of proof will invite fraud and more illegal immigration – even aliens who are not yet in the U.S. will likely meet this burden of proof. DHS will not have the resources to examine whether the claims contained in the “sworn declarations” of the alien’s friends (that the alien was here prior to January 1, 2007 and is currently employed) are actually valid. [See p. 293: 13-16].

• Loophole 13 – Taxpayer Funded Legal Counsel and Arbitration:

Free legal counsel and the fees and expenses of arbitrators will be provided to aliens that have been working illegally in agriculture. The U.S. taxpayer will fund the attorneys that help these individuals fill out their amnesty applications. Additionally, if these individuals have a dispute with their employer over whether they were fired for “just cause,” DHS will “pay the fee and expenses of the arbitrator.” [See p. 339:37-41, & p. 332: 37-38.]

• Loophole 14 – In-State Tuition and Student Loans:

In-state tuition and other higher education benefits, such as Stafford Loans, will be made available to current illegal aliens that are granted initial “probationary” status, even if the same in-state tuition rates are not offered to all U.S. citizens. This would normally violate current law (8 U.S.C. §1623) which mandates that educational institutions give citizens the same postsecondary education benefits they offer to illegal aliens. [See p. 321: 8-31].

• Loophole 15 – Inadequacy of the Merit System:

The “merit system,” designed to shift the U.S. green card distribution system to attract higher skilled workers that benefit the national interest, is only a shell of what it should have been. Though the merit system begins immediately, it will not increase the percentage of high skilled immigrants coming to the United States until 2016, 8 years after enactment. Of the 247,000 green cards dedicated to the merit based system each year for the first 5 years, 100,000 green cards will be reserved for low-skilled guest workers (10,000) and for clearing the current employment based green card backlog (90,000). From 2013 to 2015, the number of merit based green cards drops to 140,000, and of that number, 100,000 green cards are still reserved each year for low-skilled guest workers (10,000) and for clearing the current employment based green card backlog (90,000). Even after 2015, when the merit system really begins (in 2016) by having 380,000 green cards annually, 10,00 green cards will be reserved specifically for low skilled workers, and points will be given for many characteristics that are not considered “high-skilled.” For example, 16 points will be given for aliens in “high demand occupations” which includes janitors, maids, food preparation workers, and groundskeepers. [See p.260: 25 – p. 261: 20, p. 262, & The Department of Labor’s list of “occupations with the largest job growth” available at www.bls.gov/emp/emptab3.htm].

• Loophole 16 – Visas For Individuals That Plan To Overstay:

The new “parent” visa contained in the bill which allows parents of citizens, and the spouses and children of new temporary workers, to visit a worker in the United States is not only a misnomer, but also an invitation for high rates of visa overstays. This new visa specifically allows the spouse and children of new temporary workers who intend to abandon their residence in a foreign country, to qualify to come to the U.S. to “visit.” The visa requires only a $1,000 bond, which will be forfeited when, not if, family members of new temporary workers decide to overstay their 30 day visit. Workers should travel to their home countries to visit their families, not the other way around. [See p. 277:1 – 33, and p. 276: 38-43].

• Loophole 17 – Chain Migration Tippled Before Being Eliminated:

Though the bill will eventually eliminate chain migration (relatives other than spouses and children of citizens and legal permanent residents), it will not have full effect until 2016. Until then, chain migration into the U.S. will actually triple, from approximately 138,000 chain migrants a year (equal to 14% of the 1 million green cards the U.S. currently distributes on an annual basis) to approximately 440,000 chain migrants a year (equal to 45% of the 1 million green cards the U.S. currently distributes on an annual basis). [See pp. 260:13, p. 270: 29 – pp. 271: 17]

• Loophole 18 – Back Taxes Not Required:

Last year’s bill required illegal aliens to prove they had paid three of their last five years of taxes to get amnesty. This year, payment of back taxes is not required for amnesty. The bill requires taxes to be paid at the time of application for a green card, but at that time, only proof of payment of Federal taxes (not state and local) is required for the years the alien worked on a Z visa, not the years the alien has already worked illegally in the United States. Though Senator McCain’s S.A. 1190, adopted by voice vote, claimed to “require undocumented immigrants receiving legal status to pay owed back taxes,” the amendment actually only required proof of payment of taxes for “any year during the period of employment required by subparagraph (D)(i).” Since the bill does not contain a subparagraph (D)(i), nor require any past years of employment as a prerequisite for amnesty, the amendment essentially only requires proof of payment of taxes for future work in the U.S., not payment of “back taxes.” [See p. 307, and p. 293 as altered by S.A. 1190, amendment p. 2: 19-20.]

• Loophole 19 – Social Security Credits Allowed For Some Illegal Work Histories:

Aliens who came to the U.S. on legal visas, but overstayed their visas and have been working in the U.S. for years, as well as illegal aliens who apply for Z visa status but do not qualify, will be able to collect social security credits for the years they worked illegally. Under the bill, if an alien was ever issued a social security account number – all work-authorized aliens who originally came on legal visas receive these – the alien will receive Social Security credits for any “quarters of coverage” the alien worked after receiving their social security account number. Because the bill requires social security account numbers to be issued “promptly” to illegal aliens as soon as they are granted “any probationary benefits based upon application [for Z status]” (these benefits are granted 24 hours after the application is filed), an illegal alien who is denied Z visa status but continues to work illegally in the U.S. will accumulate Social Security credits. [See pp. 316:8 – 16, and pp. 315: 32-39]

• Loophole 20 – Criminal Fines Not Proportional To Conduct:

The criminal fines an illegal alien is required to pay to receive amnesty are less than the bill’s criminal fines for paperwork violations committed by U.S. citizens, and can be paid by installment. Under the bill, an illegal alien must pay a $1,000 criminal fine to apply for a Z visa, and a $4,000 fine to apply for a green card. Eighty percent of those fines can be paid on an installment plan. Under the bill’s confidentiality provisions, someone who improperly handles or uses information on an alien’s amnesty application can be fined $10,000. Administration officials suggest that the bill’s “criminal fines are proportionate to the criminal conduct.” Why, then, is the fine for illegally entering, using false documents to work, and live one-tenth the fine for a paperwork violation committed by a government official? [See p. 287: 34, p. 317: 9, p. 315:6-8, & remarks made by Secretary Gutierrez on Your World with Neil Cavuto, 4:00 May 31, 2007]

Abbas appoints new Palestinian PM

Hamas fighters have taken over many Fatah strongholds Enlarge Image

bbc
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has appointed a new prime minister, a day after dissolving the Hamas-led coalition, officials say.

Former Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, an independent, has been asked to take over and form an emergency government.

It comes amid political upheaval in Gaza, where Hamas has forcibly taken control from its Fatah rivals.

But Ismail Haniya, of Hamas, said he was still prime minister, while Hamas denounced Mr Abbas' move as illegal.

Hamas' exiled political chief, Khaled Meshaal, meanwhile said his movement will work with Mr Abbas.

"He is an elected president, and we will co-operate with him for the sake of national interest," he said.

Pledge of support

A former World Bank executive, Mr Fayyad is a well-respected figure internationally.

In recent months, foreign governments have chosen to deal with him directly as a means of bypassing Hamas, but Hamas swiftly rejected the appointment, saying it viewed the entire interim administration as illegal.

"It is a coup against legitimacy and a transgression of all the laws," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told the AFP news agency.

SALAM FAYYAD Born in 1952 near West Bank city of Tulkarm Holds a PhD in economics from the University of Texas Worked at the World Bank in Washington from 1987-1995 IMF representative to Palestine until 2001 Finance minister under the Fatah-controlled administration from 2002-2005 Credited with cracking down on official corruption Profile: Salam Fayyad Q&A: Gaza chaos How Hamas took over

The group of Middle East mediators known as the Quartet - the US, UN, EU and Russia - pledged their "full support" for Mr Abbas, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, said.

Arab foreign ministers are holding an emergency meeting in Cairo, while Egypt has pulled its envoys out of Gaza in protest at Hamas' takeover.

An uneasy calm has returned to the Strip after a week of fierce fighting between members of Mr Abbas's Fatah movement and Hamas, which claimed at least 100 lives.

Vehicles returned to the roads and shops were open in Gaza. Few armed men were visible on the streets and there were reports of only sporadic gunfire.

However, outbreaks of looting at former Fatah strongholds were reported, while the home of Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan was stripped bare.

Masked Hamas gunmen ransacked Mr Abbas' seafront offices on Friday, discarding portraits of the Palestinian Authority President and his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, on the floor, their glass frames in pieces.

As Hamas consolidated its grip on power, the group said it had released several top Fatah military commanders seized during the violence under a prisoner "amnesty".

Hamas' military wing called for the immediate release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston, abducted in Gaza in March.

They said his continued detention was unacceptable and Hamas TV reported on Friday night that "practical steps" were being taken to bring about Mr Johnston's freedom.

Meanwhile, about 200 Fatah officials from Gaza have sought refuge in Egypt since Thursday.

A further 3,000 Palestinian civilians are now stranded on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing which is closed. Rafah provides the people of Gaza with their only point of access to the outside world.

Hamas has said it intends to take control of the crossing point. However, it is not certain that Israel, Egypt and the European monitors who operated the facility will allow that.

Rule by decree

President Abbas dismissed the three-month-old unity government on Thursday and declared a state of emergency.

He has said he will rule by presidential decree until the conditions are right for early elections.

Reaction in quotes Gazans tell of fears Images: Abbas office stormed

Under the Palestinian Basic Law, essentially the Palestinian constitution, the president can rule by decree for 30 days. This can be extended with the approval of the parliament.

The BBC's Matthew Price in Jerusalem says this may be an irrelevance, as Mr Abbas appears to no longer have any influence in Gaza.

Our correspondent says the West Bank and Gaza Strip will now effectively be split from one another - Gaza run by Hamas and the West Bank by Fatah.

There are also fears that violence will spread to the West Bank, where Fatah is dominant.

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With Gaza lost, Abbas wins international support

Nidal al-Mughrabi
Reuters
Friday June 15, 2007

Western powers rallied behind Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday after Hamas Islamists routed his forces in the Gaza Strip and began imposing a new order in the enclave after days of bloody civil war.

Despite his mandate effectively being reduced to the West Bank, Abbas named a new prime minister after firing the Hamas-led government and declaring a state of emergency.

The United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- the Quartet of Middle East mediators -- gave a "clear message of support" to Abbas.

Washington, Europe and Israel prepared to throw open the taps on financial aid to Abbas that was cut off a year ago when Iranian-backed Hamas used its popularity in impoverished Gaza to defeat Abbas's more secular Fatah in a parliamentary election.

Abbas named Salam Fayyad, a technocrat who won respect in the West as finance minister, to replace Ismail Haniyeh as prime minister, three months after Hamas brought Fatah members into a "unity" government.

But in Gaza, all but divorced now from the larger West Bank in a blow to Palestinians' hopes for a united state, Hamas leader Haniyeh refused to accept his dismissal. He set about restoring order after six days of battles that ended in revenge killings and looting at Abbas's compound.

In the West Bank, Fatah militants torched Hamas offices and warned of more reprisals if comrades were harmed in Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and EU officials held an hour-long teleconference.

"There was a clear message of support to President Abbas especially in this difficult time of forming an emergency government," an EU spokeswoman said in Brussels.

A senior Israeli official expected U.S. efforts to "throw full-fledged support behind (Abbas) and build him up in the West Bank". Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said: "We are going to keep this strategy of a dialogue with the moderates and to send some hope for those who support their vision."

RESTRAINT

While some Islamists heaped scorn on Abbas, others were more conciliatory. Some of the 4 million Palestinians, divided by 45 km (30 miles) of Israel, worried that schism would wreck their hopes of founding a state and ending international isolation.

Anxious to demonstrate a statesmanlike authority, Haniyeh took a conciliatory tone after violence that killed well over 100 people. The body of at least one "executed" Fatah militant leader was dragged through the streets on Thursday.

"I demand that all our people show calm and self-restraint," he said after freeing Fatah chiefs accused of plotting a coup.

Hamas said it was in advanced negotiations on the release of Alan Johnston, a British reporter whose March 12 abduction prompted a flight of foreign press from Gaza. A little-known group, Army of Islam, has said it is holding the BBC's Johnston.

Haniyeh said foreign powers should respect the result of last year's parliamentary election. "No internal formula in the Palestinian territories will hold without national agreement and without respecting the legitimacy of the election," he said.

Haniyeh ally Khalil al-Hayya appealed to Abbas: "We hope you remain president of all the Palestinian people ... We will never accept the separation of Gaza from the West Bank."

Borders with Israel and Egypt along the 40-km (25-mile) strip of coast remained effectively sealed although dozens of Fatah fighters fled to Egypt aboard a fishing boat.

Haniyeh ordered the police, largely absent during the faction fighting, to ensure the rule of law in a territory long racked by complex clan rivalries where Islamist fringe groups inspired by al Qaeda have recently become active.

At dawn, Hamas fighters and civilian looters ransacked the blood-spattered presidential compound in Gaza, taking vehicles and weapons and hauling out fridges, televisions, even doors.

Hamas fighters showed reporters pools of blood where they said two of Abbas's guards had shot themselves rather than surrender. A Fatah official said they had been killed.

"Hello, Condoleezza Rice?" one masked gunman joked into the president's telephone. "You have me to deal with now."

By evening, calm had largely returned. Medics said three people were killed in scattered shooting. Some Gazans said they were anxious about the prospect of a reinforcement of religious rule.

"Our people are poor," said Hana, an engineer. "Will Hamas ... be able to feed them? What if (Abbas) stops sending money to Gaza ..? It looks like Somalia to me."

The western aid embargo was imposed after Hamas came to power in March 2006 because it failed to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept interim peace deals.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi and Wafa Amr in Ramallah, Mark John in Brussels and Adam Entous, Dan Williams and Alastair Macdonald in Jerusalem)

O'Reilly: Reporting Iraq news is what the terrorists want us to do

RawStory | June 13, 2007

David Edwards and Muriel Kane

On Tuesday, Bill O'Reilly defended Fox News against charges that it devotes too little coverage to the Iraq War.

The Fox pundit said that "on my program, I don't do a lot of Iraq reporting because we don't know what's happening. We can't find out."

"We don't highlight every terrorist attack, because we learn nothing from that, and that's exactly what the terrorists want us to do," O'Reilly explained. "CNN and especially MSNBC delight in showing Iraqi violence because they want Americans to think badly of President Bush, and that strategy has succeeded."

"If the war in Iraq is indeed a mess," he concluded, "there's little news value in broadcasting daily bombings. By the way, Fox News continues to crush CNN and MSNBC in the ratings, as the folks know news when they see it."

According to O'Reilly, that's "because we bring you stuff that is new, that is relevant to your life, and I'm not gonna cover every bomb that goes off in Tikrit, because it's meaningless."

Click Here to view the video from Fox's O'Reilly Factor , broadcast on June 12.

Guardsmen on border accused of running smuggling ring

AP | June 13, 2007
ALICIA A. CALDWELL

LAREDO, Texas -- Three National Guardsmen assigned to the Texas-Mexico border were accused of running an immigrant smuggling ring after 24 immigrants were found inside a van that one of them was driving, a U.S. attorney said Monday.

The three, arrested late Thursday and Friday, were arraigned Monday on a federal charge of conspiring to transport illegal immigrants.

Pfc. Jose Rodrigo Torres, 26, and Sgt. Julio Cesar Pacheco, 25, both of Laredo, and Sgt. Clarence Hodge Jr., 36, of Fort Worth, were arrested near Laredo.

A Border Patrol agent found 24 illegal immigrants inside a van Torres was driving along Interstate 35 near Cotulla, Texas, about 68 miles north of the border, prosecutors said. Torres was in uniform at the time of his arrest Thursday.

The van was leased by the National Guard, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Prosecutors accused Hodge of helping Torres pass through a Border Patrol checkpoint on the highway by making it look like the two were conducting Guard business.

Pacheco was accused of recruiting soldiers to transport the migrants for $1,000 to $3,500 a trip. He and Hodge were arrested Friday.

All three soldiers are assigned to border duties as part of Operation Jumpstart, President Bush's initiative to place Guard troops at the border to help local and federal authorities with immigration enforcement. All the soldiers are volunteers.

The three soldiers used cell phone text messaging to negotiate the details, price and number of people who would be smuggled north, according to a complaint filed in court Monday.

"tell them ill only do 1 run @ no more than 20 people @ $150 a person and i want 2 leave @ 1930 hrs and ill go 2 San Anto if they want," Torres typed to Hodge hours before Torres was arrested, according to the complaint.

A message later that day from Pacheco instructed Torres that a trip was a go, with a promised payment of $3,500 for the delivery of 24 illegal immigrants, the document said.

"24 will b tuff 2 fit but ill try," Torres wrote in response, the complaint said.

Torres told federal investigators that it was his seventh immigrant smuggling trip. Torres implicated Hodge as the soldier who waved his van through the checkpoint, the complaint said.

Investigators say Hodge pointed to Pacheco as the man who recruited and paid him. Hodge told investigators that he had been paid for helping smuggle a load of immigrants in May but that the men had not worked out payment for the most recent load.

Texas Adjutant General Lt. Gen. Chuck Rodriguez said he was extremely disappointed to learn of the arrests.

"Our military service members have an affirmative obligation to be actively supportive of our law enforcement partners at every level of government," Rodriguez said. "This is our duty. Any breach of the public's trust and military law by our soldiers will be thoroughly investigated."

The soldiers are each being held by civilian law enforcement authorities on $75,000 bond.

Texas military forces will determine whether the men will be charged under military justice, as well, according to a statement issued by the Texas National Guard.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 19 in Laredo.

It was unclear whether the men had hired lawyers. A man who answered the phone at Pacheco's house said no one would talk to reporters. Calls to telephone listings for the other two men were not successful.

Pacheco, in an interview a year ago with The Associated Press when he was first moved to the border, said he was eager for the assignment in his hometown of Laredo.

"That's why we're here, to help them out," said Pacheco, who has served in Iraq and Europe. "I'm very lucky because they're (fellow soldiers in Europe) going back to Iraq, and I get to serve here in my hometown."

UN chief 'bans free speech'

Press Esc | June 14, 2007

United Nations staff expressed their anger at an order by the Secretary General prohibiting them from speaking to the press following the leaking of a confidential document related to Middle East which pained the the United States in negative light.

But Ban Ki-moon's office denied that he was treading on the freedom of speech of UN staff, and claimed that the prohibitions applied to specific cases.

"Once there are policy decisions that are taken from these policy papers, then you are made aware of it," Michèle Montas, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General told journalists referring to the de Soto report. "You are told about them. But there is a process of decision-making, which is not part of the public domain, which is normal."

But a reporter pointed out that the Secretary General's note only stated "staff should refrain from giving sensitive information to the press," and made no mention of any specific documents.

When asked whether or not the Secretary-General believes that on these issues of public interest the press has no right to know what's being discussed, and angry spokesperson shouted at the reporter that Ban Ki-moon does believe in free speech.

"Well, of course the press has a right to know what's being discussed," she said. "The press has a right to know what is being decided, essentially."

But UN staff member, who can speak only under the condition of anonymity given the Secretary-General's new directive, told Press Esc that they were not happy about the way Ban Ki-moon is trying to gag them, and promised to keep leaking news to the press.

"He's a pathetic lackey of the US who is dancing to the tune of the Bush administration," the staff member said. "He knows we are not happy about the situation, so he's trying to gag us. But don't worry. We'll keep leaking information to the press. We'll not stop blowing the whistle."

Senate leaders revive immigration bill

Donna Smith
Reuters
Friday June 15, 2007

Senate leaders agreed on Thursday to revive a stalled immigration overhaul after lawmakers worked out a plan to overcome conservatives' objections to a bill that would legalize millions of immigrants.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said in a joint statement the Senate would reconsider the legislation after completing work on an energy bill some time next week.

"We met this evening with several of the senators involved in the immigration bill negotiations," the two leaders said in a statement.

"Based on that discussion, the immigration bill will return to the Senate floor after completion of the energy bill."

The new agreement would limit the number of amendments and include a measure to ensure funding for tighter border security measures, something sought by conservatives, lawmakers and aides said.

The bill, which ties tough border security and enforcement of workplace rules to a temporary worker program and a plan to legalize most of the 12 million illegal immigrants, was shelved last week after failing to win the 60 votes it needed to advance in the 100-member Senate.

The proposal, which also would create a new merit-based system for future immigration, has created tremendous political heat far in advance of the November 2008 presidential election. Conservatives argue it would give amnesty to people who broke U.S. laws, and unions say its temporary worker program would create an underclass of cheap laborers.

Earlier on Thursday, President George W. Bush told a group of contractors that he backed the measure that would ensure some $4.4 billion would be provided for additional fencing and other measures to beef up border security.

Bush is anxious for Congress to approve what would be a significant legislative achievement in his second term in office, as he struggles with low approval ratings, chaos in Iraq and the new Democratic majority on Capitol Hill.

He endorsed the amendment two days after making a rare visit to Congress to lobby for the bill, which was halted last week by opposition from within his own Republican Party.

"I call on the senators to pass this amendment and show the American people that we're going to do our jobs of securing this border once and for all," Bush said in a speech to the Associated Builders and Contractors.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said later that the administration welcomed the Senate move to reconsider the bill.

Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican who helped write the amendment along with Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said it would help ease concerns in the party that the enforcement measures in the bill would be properly funded.

Such an amendment "hopefully will make people feel much more comfortable about the way (the legislation) will actually work," Kyl said.

(Additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky)

Galloway on the Lie Ahmadinejad Called for Israel to be “Wiped Off the Map”

Kurt Nimmo
Thursday June 14, 2007

Even though the out-going poodle, Tony Blair, has called for a “journalism regulator” in the UK, i.e., he demands a censor be appointed, and he considers alternative news sources “more pernicious and less balanced” than the government script-reading corporate media, there seems to be a bit of freedom left to tell the truth in Britain, that is until the country slides into total dictatorship, a process well underway thanks to Blair.

For instance, George Galloway, member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow, on his talkSPORT program, broadcast over the largest commercial radio station in Britain, continues to get the truth out. Indeed, Galloway’s program, according to UTV, has pulled in record call numbers and the highest ever ratings for its weekend slots, even pulling in more than the station’s Football First program.

In the United States, Galloway would never be allowed near a radio microphone, especially not on a large corporate station. Instead, here in America, the large stations are dominated by neocon tools such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and the “liberal” stooge Alan Colmes. In America, Galloway would never be allowed to get away with telling the truth, namely: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, never called for Israel to be wiped off the map, a lie repeated almost daily by a corporate media serving dutifully as a warmongering handmaiden for the neocons, who want to attack the country and slaughter thousands of Muslims before the decider and Commander Guy Bush leaves office.

UK al-Qaeda cell members jailed

The defendants formed a cell led by Dhiren Barot (bottom right)

BBC
Seven men have been jailed for up to 26 years over an al-Qaeda-linked plot to kill thousands in the UK and US.

Woolwich Crown Court heard they were in a "sleeper cell" led by Dhiren Barot, who is already serving a life sentence.

Barot planned attacks including blowing apart a London Underground tunnel and bombings using an explosives-packed limousine and a dirty radiation device.

Six of the men admitted conspiracy to cause explosions and a seventh was found guilty of conspiracy to murder.

Counter-surveillance

In the plot, countered by police in Operation Rhyme, the men played supporting roles to Barot whom prosecutors say had devised multiple bombing operations. These resembled professional business plans in their complexity and detail.

He also researched blowing apart a London Underground tunnel beneath the River Thames to drown hundreds of commuters.

Prosecutors said that Barot presented his meticulous plans to al-Qaeda figures hiding in Pakistan. He submitted detailed funding requirements and explained how the campaign would benefit their cause.

In pictures: Terror plans

Back in the UK, the seven men were vital for Barot to push ahead with the plots in the summer of 2004, playing roles as couriers, drivers and taking counter-surveillance measures in an attempt to throw the security services off the scent.

Barot sub-contracted key parts of his plotting to other members of his team, utilising their skills in devising false identities, as minders and researchers, prosecutors said.

The men who pleaded guilty admitted roles mostly confined to plotting against UK targets.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, said that although the seven did not instigate the planned attacks, Barot needed their help and expertise.

He added: "Dhiren Barot and his gang were determined terrorists who planned bombings on both sides of the Atlantic.

"The plans for a series of co-ordinated attacks in the United Kingdom included packing three limousines with gas cylinders and explosives before setting them off in underground car parks. This could have caused huge loss of life.

"The plans to set off a dirty bomb in this country would have caused fear, panic and widespread disruption."

Mr Clarke said the men were skilled in anti-surveillance techniques, with Feroze and Jalil having travelled hundreds of miles to use an internet cafe.

'Terrorist planning'

Each one of you was recruited by Barot and assisted him at his request Mr Justice Butterfield

Mohammed Naveed Bhatti, 27, of Harrow in north London, was jailed for 20 years; Junade Feroze, 31, of Blackburn, received 22 years and Zia Ul Haq, 28, of Wembley in north London, got 18 years.

Abdul Aziz Jalil, 24, of Luton, was jailed for 26 years; Omar Abdur Rehman, 23 of Bushey in Hertfordshire, was jailed for 15 years and Nadeem Tarmohamed, 29 also of Wembley, received 20 years. Qaisar Shaffi, 28, of Willesden, north-west London, was sentenced to 15 years.

Sentencing the seven, Mr Justice Butterfield said anyone who participates in such a plan "will receive little sympathy from the courts"

He added: "Barot was the instigator of this terrorist planning, he was by some considerable distance the principal participant in the conspiracy.

"Each one of you was recruited by Barot and assisted him at his request."

The judge told the men the pain caused to their families as a result of their imprisonment "is but a tiny fraction of the suffering that would have been experienced had your plans been translated into reality".

Woolwich Crown Court was told that Bhatti used his first-class degree in engineering to research how the bombs could work. Feroze acted as a driver and led counter-surveillance checks - but also researched bomb parts in catalogues.

Ul Haq had a degree in architecture and acted as a "consultant" on the best way to bring down buildings. Jalil rented a safe-house for the men and researched radioactivity.

Rehman is said to have studied how to disable electronic security and fire control systems.

Shaffi was the only man to plead not guilty. He joined Barot on his US reconnaissance trip, although he was replaced by Tarmohamed in the States after falling ill.

Home Secretary John Reid said: "The outcome of this trial once again shows the extent of the very real and serious threat the UK faces from terrorism."

Clintons sell off stock holdings

BBC
Bill and Hillary Clinton have sold the stocks held in their blind trust to avoid any conflict of interest as she runs for the US presidency, aides say.

The Clintons would not reinvest the proceeds, valued from $5m (£2.54m) to $25m (£12.6m), US media reported.

Documents show the Clintons amassed most of this money since leaving the White House through investments made on their behalf and without their input.

In addition, Mr Clinton earned about $10m (£5m) from speeches in 2006.

Blind trusts are devices which place the management of a person's assets into the hands of experts who decide how those funds are invested.

The Clintons' trust was set up in 1993 after Mr Clinton took office and then registered as a Senate blind trust when Mrs Clinton was elected as a senator.

They were advised by federal ethics officials that they would need to reorganise the trust to comply with the rules for presidential candidates, which differ from those for senators.

Mrs Clinton, who is bidding to be the Democratic candidate in the 2008 election, and her husband decided instead to dissolve the trust.

Their stocks were converted to cash in April to avoid any questions about possible conflicts of interest, their legal and financial advisers said.

Documents show the trust had included investments in oil and drug companies, and companies based overseas.

Presidential candidates are often questioned about their investments, especially those in sectors which might be at odds with their stated positions or policies, correspondents say.

Speeches

The Clintons' decision to cash in their holdings was a reminder of the couple's previous history with investments that haunted them politically, the New York Times says.

The Clinton presidency was dogged by the Whitewater real estate scandal that questioned the couple's involvement in an Arkansas land deal dating back to 1978. They were only cleared of wrongdoing in 2000.

Since leaving office, Mr Clinton has earned more than $40m with speeches and other public activities.

The couple have assets of at least $10m (£5m) and as much as $50m (£25.3m), with no liabilities, according to Mrs Clinton's Senate financial disclosure report published on Thursday.

Other House and Senate members also filed disclosure reports outlining their finances on Thursday.

NKorea warns against U.S. missile plan

A man talks on a mobile phone in front of the headquarter of Banco Delta Asia in Macau, in this Friday, March 16, 2007 file photo. More than US$20 million (euro15.05 million) in disputed North Korean funds was transferred from a blacklisted Macau bank Thursday, June 14, 2007, an official said, possibly clearing the way for the North to start shutting down its nuclear reactor. The money dispute has dragged on for nearly two years between Pyongyang and Washington, which accused the bank of helping the North launder money. The funds were frozen in the troubled lender, Banco Delta Asia, prompting the North to storm out of talks to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, FILE) Kin Cheung: AP

By BURT HERMAN Associated Press Writer

© 2007 The Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Friday warned it may strengthen its "self-defense deterrent," a term it usually uses to refer to its nuclear program, despite news that millions in frozen funds the country had sought as a condition to disarm was en route to its accounts.

The comments came in a statement from the communist regime criticizing U.S. efforts to build a missile defense system.

"The U.S. is claiming that it is building a global missile defense system to protect against missile attacks from our nation and Iran. This is a childish pretext," the North Korean foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

"We cannot but further strengthen our self-defense deterrent if arms race intensifies because of the U.S. maneuvers," it said.

The U.S. and its allies have urged North Korea to act on its pledge to start dismantling its nuclear program now that the money issue had appeared resolved.

The money has reached Moscow from a Macau bank and was awaiting deposit in North Korean accounts, a South Korean official said Friday on condition of anonymity due to the subject's sensitivity. Officials knowledgeable about the transfer have said more than $23 million of the disputed $25 million was involved in the transfer, though the exact amount remains unclear.

The North has not commented directly on the money transfer.

Despite the key demand apparently being met, other sides involved in the protracted six-nation arms talks with North Korea had acknowledged that progress still would be slow.

"Even though the fund transfer problem is resolved, North Korea could come up with more demands," Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said in Tokyo. "There is no guarantee we can resume the six-party talks right away."

Some $25 million in North Korean accounts had been frozen at Macau's Banco Delta Asia since 2005, when the U.S. blacklisted the bank for allegedly helping the regime pass fake $100 bills and launder money from weapons sales.

The North made the money's release its main condition for disarmament and boycotted international nuclear talks for more than a year, during which it conducted its first-ever atomic bomb test in October.

But to win the North's promise to start dismantling its nuclear program, the U.S. agreed to allow the money to be freed and said it would happen within 30 days. The transfer instead has taken more than four months as the North insisted that it be sent electronically to another bank, apparently to prove the money is now clean.

Macau's Monetary Authority spokeswoman Wendy Au refused Friday to give details on the exact amount transferred, citing bank secrecy laws, and the Russian Central Bank declined to comment.

An official in Hong Kong who has been following the case closely said, "It's my understanding that some of the money has been left in the bank."

The official, who asked not to be identified because of the issue's sensitivity, said some of the funds were in accounts opened by Macau businessmen who deposited the money for North Koreans and wanted to keep the money in the Chinese territory.

Several media reports have said the money would be sent through the U.S. Federal Reserve branch in New York before arriving in North Korean accounts in Russia's Far East.

"The transfer is in progress," said South Korea's nuclear envoy Chun Yung-woo. "Let's wait and see how long it takes for North Korea to confirm it."

Regardless of the financial issue, the U.S. and Japan urged Pyongyang to start dismantling its nuclear weapons. The countries are part of arms negotiations that also include China, Russia and the two Koreas where the North promised in a Feb. 13 agreement to stop making nuclear weapons in exchange for aid and political concessions.

"North Korea must take concrete actions to implement steps that had been agreed by the six-party framework," Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday.

"If and when transfer does take place, we expect the North Koreans to live up to the provisions of the Feb. 13 agreement," White House spokesman Tony Snow said in Washington.

Cleric blames US for shrine explosion

Press TV
Friday June 15, 2007

Related: Iraqis Accuse U.S. Of Bombing Shrine

Related: U.S. official: Samarra attack may have been inside job

Lebanon's senior cleric has said the explosions in Iraq's revered Shia shrine in Samarra are part of US conspiracies against Iraq.

According to Iran's Al-Alam news channel, Allameh Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah said Thursday that it is essential for all Muslim leaders, whether Sunni or Shia, to denounce the savage crime and bring dishonor on Salafi Takfiri groups as well as the occupation forces.

Referring to more than four years of US-led occupation of Iraq, he stressed, "Without doubt, the occupiers are providing the grounds for Salafi Takfiri groups and intelligence agencies to pillage the country."

Allameh Fadlallah then called upon all Muslims to remain vigilant more than ever before vis-à-vis the US-Zionist plots aimed at fomenting discord among the Islamic nation.

Samarra witnessed further destruction of the shrine of two of the most revered Shia Imams on Wednesday. On February 22, 2006, the holy site came under attack by alleged al-Qaeda militants. Since then the shrine has been heavily guarded by Iraqi forces.

Disgraced UN chief and Nazi war criminal Waldheim, dies aged 88

Robert Fisk
London Independent
Friday June 15, 2007

So the old rogue is dead. That is all I could say when I heard yesterday that Kurt Waldheim had reached the end of his days at 88.I spent months, years, investigating his dark past in what we now call Bosnia, when he - let us not be coy about this - was part of the Bosnien-Kampfgruppen of Wehrmacht Army Group E of General Löhr, fighting "terroristen" (yes, indeed, the Nazis called them terrorists, just as they talked about the "RAF Terroristenfliegen") in the Balkans. Waldheim had been secretary general of the UN, had lectured UN officers in Lebanon on the lessons of "terrorism" and, well - as was later to ruminate - he knew about that, didn't he?

I remember, when Waldheim was President of Austria - stamps were issued, heaven spare us; no mention of course of 1943 or 1944 or 1945 - how he turned up in Jordan where the Plucky Little King Mark One (King Hussein, who liked to rule a British Jordan) met him on the apron. I was at Amman airport when this outrageous little man snapped to attention in front of the Jordanian guard of honour, clicked his heels just a little too quickly, I thought, much as he must have done when he saluted his masters in Yugoslavia during the Second World War.

Waldheim - how his friends would prefer that they didn't read these words this morning - was based at a town called Banja Luka, a market town where Serbs and Jews and communist Croatians were murdered en masse, hanged like thrushes from mass gallows or raped to death in the nearby Jasenovac extermination camp. Waldheim would have us believe that he knew nothing of all this, that he was a mere intelligence officer for Army Group E of the Wehrmacht, whose commander, Löhr, just happened to be tried for war crimes after the Second World War.

It was an Austrian journalist who alerted me to Waldheim, a reporter whose father had fought in the Wehrmacht, who had survived the evacuation of north Africa ("I do hope I didn't kill him," the "Enigma" cryptologist said to me when I told her of his attempt to escape by air - his plane got through the Allied net). "Look for the letter W," the Austrian journalist said, the letter W after each debriefing, each Allied commando captured by the Gestapo, each prisoner to be extinguished by "nacht und nebel" - by night and fog.

No, Waldheim didn't order their deaths. He didn't even interview the captured British commandoes, or so he said, but merely "collated" their reports. His junior officers did the interviewing (let us not contemplate what that meant). Then the British prisoners disappeared into night and fog.

I recall finding the German interrogation papers of a young Briton who had been caught trying to escape from Yugoslavia during the war. They lay in the files of the Public Record Office at Kew (now known as the National Archives) and they were pitiful proof of what the Nazis could do. Yes, he admitted he was a British agent, yes he was wearing British uniform, and yes - there it was, in all its symmetry, the "W" - he was interviewed by Waldheim. And then he was taken away and executed, and Waldheim - whose colleagues (no secretary generals, they) had saved the lives of British prisoners - didn't give a fig about their souls.

I remember how I visited Bosnia in 1990 to investigate Waldheim's past. He had written a PhD thesis, he told the world, in the last years of the war; he knew nothing of the Nazi subjugation of the Balkans. He had been wounded on the Russian front. But there was a certain manipulation of the truth. He had been sent to Yugoslavia. He was an intelligence officer for Army Group E. He was based at Banja Luka and - years before the town became the Bosnian Serb capital in the outrageous war between Muslims and Christians - I visited his former headquarters, where the Serbs showed me his files, still cloaked in the see-through parchment of the Wehrmacht.

I even visited his interrogation office, next to an execution pit wherein Serbs and Jews were massacred daily. Did the rifle shots not disturb Kurt Waldheim's concentration? Oh, what it must have been to have the peace and quiet of the UN headquarters on the East River.

Monty Woodhouse was the top man for SOE - Special Operations Executive - in Greece during the war, and he pursued Waldheim for years afterwards, along with an immensely brave Jewish academic. Waldheim published a "White Book" claiming to prove his innocence of war crimes (he was later based in the Hotel Angleterre in Athens). He didn't know, he said. And his friends noted quietly that it was his wife who was the Nazi party member in Austria in the 1930, not himself; that Waldheim was merely a civil servant, one who - in the damning words of the Jewish academic - "helped to give the wheel a push."

So what memories did Waldheim carry with him to the grave? During the war, Woodhouse's Greek partisans captured a Gypsy who was spying on his comrades for the Italians. Woodhouse decided that he should be hanged.

I asked him what it felt like to do such a thing - to commit what, I suppose, we would call a war crime, were it Waldheim whom it had been proved had done it. Woodhouse replied to me - and I have his words in my own handwriting as I write this: "It was terrible - I felt terrible. I still bring the scene back to me from time to time. He was a wretched youth. He didn't say anything really - he was so shaken. He was a sort of halfwit. I was at the hanging. He was hanged from a tree. They simply pulled a chair from beneath his feet. I don't think it took long for him to die. I don't know exactly how long. We were only a hundred men or so - it was the early days of the occupation. If we had let him go, he would have told the Italians... After that, I told Zervas not to take any prisoners."

When I left Bosnia in the summer of 1988 in the aftermath of my Waldheim investigations, I called my foreign news editor, Ivan Barnes of the The Times, to tell him that I saw so many parallels in modern-day Yugoslavia with Lebanon on the eve of conflict in 1975 that I believed a civil war would break out in Bosnia in the near future. The local Serbs even abused me for driving to Waldheim's ex-headquarters with a Croatian driver. "We'll report it if it happens," Barnes roared down the phone at me. In 1992, I did report the Bosnian war - for The Independent.

And what of Waldheim? The Austrian state defended him. He appeared on postage stamps. He went to the opera. He was forbidden entry to the United States - long after he ever needed to go there. He produced a "White Book", supposedly proving he knew nothing of war crimes.

His former United Nations colleagues clucked and re-clucked over his hypocrisy. And I well remember his number two at the UN telling me how he always knew that "KW" was a "crook" - this just three days before I came across a second-hand copy of Waldheim's memoirs in Waterstone's bookshop in Piccadilly with the very same man's warm appraisal of Waldheim as a "man of principle" in the frontispiece.

In 1987, King Hussein took Waldheim to the heights of Um Queiss to overlook the Israeli-occupied West Bank and awarded him the Hussein bin Ali medal - named after Hussein's grandfather. The Plucky Little King praised Waldheim for his patriotism, integrity, wisdom and "noble human values". General Löhr, I should add - Waldheim's superior officer in Yugoslavia - was hanged as a war criminal.

NSA 'spy room' at AT&T exposed

Iain Thomson
vnunet.com
Friday June 15, 2007

Documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) claim to show that US telco AT&T allowed the National Security Agency (NSA) to set up a 'secret room' in its offices to monitor internet traffic.

The documents were handed over as part of an EFF legal case against AT&T for alleged violation of user privacy. The US government has asked the courts to dismiss the case, claiming that the lawsuit could expose state secrets.

"The district court rejected the government's attempt to sweep this case under the rug," said EFF senior staff attorney Kurt Opsahl.

"This country has a long tradition of open court proceedings, and we are pleased that, as we present our case to the Court of Appeals, the millions of affected AT&T customers will be able to see our arguments and evidence and judge for themselves."

The room, described as secret and secure, houses surveillance equipment used to spy on AT&T customers. Investigations could include web use, email and voice communications.

"This is critical evidence supporting our claim that AT&T is cooperating with the NSA in the illegal dragnet surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans," said EFF legal director Cindy Cohn.

"This surveillance is under debate in Congress and across the nation, as well as in the courts.

"The public has a right to see these important documents, the declarations from our witnesses and our legal arguments, and we are very pleased to release them."

US occupiers complicit in Sammara blast

Press TV
Friday June 15, 2007

Related: Iraqis Accuse U.S. Of Bombing Shrine

Related: U.S. official: Samarra attack may have been inside job

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution has said the bombing of the holy Shia shrines in Samarra is aimed at provoking sectarian violence.

In a message on the recent bombing of the shrines of the two revered Shia Imams in the Iraqi town of Samarra, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei blamed the intelligence services of the Zionist regime and the occupation forces in Iraq for the bombing, saying such terrorist acts are meant to intensify sectarian violence in the Muslim world.

The Leader urged the Muslims particularly the Iraqi people to remain vigilant in the face of the plots hatched to create sectarian strife between Shias and Sunnis.

He noted the holy shrines of the two revered Shia Imams in the Sunni town of Samarra, had been respected throughout history, whereas the recent event marks the second desecration of these holy sites since the invasion of Iraq by foreign troops.

He emphasized that the occupying forces are instigating insecurity in Iraq and leaving enough space for terrorist movements in order to justify the ongoing illegitimate occupation of the country and to debilitate the government of Iraq.

Calling for Sunni scholars to condemn the sacrilege of the holy sites and Shias to remain calm, Ayatollah Khamenei said our Shia and Sunni brothers in Iraq should beware of the conspiracy against the Muslim unity.

No proof of Iran supplying weapons to Taliban - Gates contradicts Burns

Press Esc
Friday June 15, 2007

There's no proof that Iranian government is supplying weapons to Taliban, US Defense Secretary was forced to admit today, contradicting a statement by State Department official who accused the Iranian government of transferring the weapons.

"I have seen analysis suggesting a considerable flow of weapons and support from Iran," Gates Robert Gates told reporters in Brussels. "And I have not seen information that would directly tie it to approval by the government of Iran."

Defense Secretary's statement comes in stark contrast to accusations made by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns.

“It’s certainly coming from the government of Iran,” Burns said in a June 13 interview on CNN. “It’s coming from the Iranian revolutionary guard corps command, which is a basic unit of the Iranian government.”

Gates also declined to comment on whether NATO has actually intercepted some of these shipments saying " I would rather not go into that."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack also said on June 13 that there is a “shift” in the policy of the Iranian government “from either benign, neutral, to somewhat helpful in Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of 2001, 2002, to something quite different that does not promote stability in Afghanistan.” adding that the behavior would mark a direct effort by Iran to undermine the Afghan government’s efforts to defeat Taliban insurgents in an effort to extend its authority throughout the country.

But McCormack also quickly pointed out that he could not draw a “hard link … between an Iranian government approved program and the transfer of those arms,” but said it is “hard to believe that they're not.”

Gates also speculated that Iranian government was aware of what is going on.

" That said, as I indicated, I think that it's -- the quantity that we're seeing makes it difficult to believe that the Iranian government doesn't have some indication or some knowledge of it," he said.

The Takeover Boom, About to Go Bust

Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post | June 13, 2007

To understand why there's a credit bubble, how it's inflating the price of stocks and what it will mean for you when it bursts, let's consider the acquisition of Avaya, a large telecommunications equipment maker, announced last week by two private-equity firms, Texas Pacific Group and Silver Lake Partners.

Avaya is expected to post revenue of about $5.4 billion this year. It has virtually no debt and has $825 million in the bank. Operating earnings -- profit before counting things like interest payments, taxes, depreciation and amortization -- are expected to reach $700 million. And if that's correct, it means the price being paid for Avaya, $8.2 billion, is 12 times operating profit, making it one of this season's richest deals.

What's driving such high valuations is cheap debt, and plenty of it. We don't know yet how the all-cash purchase of Avaya will be financed, but if it follows the pattern of other recent buyouts, the new owners will take on at least $6 billion in debt. Given the junk-bond rating that has already been assigned to the deal, that is likely to work out to an average interest rate of about 8 percent, along with the obligation to pay back 1 percent of principal every year. Add it all together, and the new, improved Avaya will have to pay about $540 million more a year in debt service than it does now.

Can the company handle that? Well, consider that only three years ago, Standard & Poor's calculated that operating profits for companies involved in leveraged buyouts were typically 3.4 times debt service. Last year, the number fell to 2.4. So far this year, it is 1.7.

And the Avaya deal? It's 1.3 to 1, which, if you think about it, isn't much of a cushion if revenue suddenly falls or expenses rise more than expected. Nor would there be much cash left over for the company to increase its investment in research or pay for new plant and equipment.

In other words, a deal like this would never get financed in normal times. Bank lenders and bondholders would demand that the new owners use more of their own money and take on less debt. Or they would demand interest rates so high that the company, as presently configured, wouldn't be able to generate enough cash to cover debt service. Either way, the buyers would never have agreed to pay $8.2 billion.

But these are not normal times, and overpriced and over-leveraged deals like Avaya have been getting financed in record numbers. Back in 2004, about $275 billion in loans were issued for such highly leveraged transactions. By last year, that had risen to $490 billion. And in just the first five months of 2007, that record was broken.

At some point sanity will be restored, triggered by any number of events. A high-profile acquisition could collapse because the new owners could not secure financing. Or a deal could blow up after it is discovered that there's really not enough cash to meet the debt payments. Or interest rates could suddenly rise from their current low level, threatening the viability of recently acquired companies and making it unlikely that the new owners will be able to sell for anything close to what they paid.

In fact, over the past several weeks, all those things have begun to happen.

On the bond market, yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bill have increased from just under 4.5 percent to more than 5.25 percent -- a three-quarters-of-a-point jump without any action by the Federal Reserve.

And just last week, William Gross, one of the country's leading bond investors, recanted on his prediction that interest rates were headed down, warning instead that yields on 10-year Treasurys could reach 6.5 percent over the next several years.

Syndicated loans used to finance the recent purchases of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Linens 'n Things and Freescale, a semiconductor maker, are trading at significant discounts only months after the deals were closed, after the companies reported disappointing earnings or cash flow.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that after a period in which lenders were throwing money at leveraged buyouts with few if any conditions, several private-equity buyers are having more trouble financing their deals. Those include KKR's $26 billion acquisition of First Data and Texas Pacific's purchase of JVC, the struggling consumer electronics giant.

It is impossible to predict when the magic moment will be reached and everyone finally realizes that the prices being paid for these companies, and the debt taken on to support the acquisitions, are unsustainable. When that happens, it won't be pretty. Across the board, stock prices and company valuations will fall. Banks will announce painful write-offs, some hedge funds will close their doors, and private-equity funds will report disappointing returns. Some companies will be forced into bankruptcy or restructuring.

But the damage won't be limited to Wall Street and its investors. For if we've learned one thing in the past 20 years, it is that what happens on financial markets, in booms and in busts, can have a big impact on the rest of the economy.

Without the billions of dollars flowing each year to financiers and corporate executives, there will be less money to trickle down to car salesmen, yacht makers, real estate agents, third-home builders and busboys at luxury resorts.

Falling stock prices will cause companies to reduce their hiring and capital spending while governments will be forced to raise taxes or reduce services, as revenue from capital gains taxes declines.

And the combination of reduced wealth and higher interest rates will finally cause consumers to pull back on their debt-financed consumption.

It happened after the junk-bond and savings-and-loan collapses of the late 1980s. It happened after the tech and telecom bust of the late '90s. And it will happen this time.

The recent decline in home prices and the meltdown in the market for subprime mortgages are the first signs that the air is coming out of the credit bubble. Already, those factors have shaved half a percentage point off the economic growth rate. And you can be sure that there will be a much larger impact on jobs and incomes from a broad decline in stock and bond prices, a sharp tightening of credit and the turmoil that both of those will create in the murky derivatives markets.

Steven Pearlstein will host a Web discussion today at 11 a.m. at washingtonpost.com. He can be reached atpearlsteins@washpost.com.

DNA of 100 under-10s on government database

Staff and agencies
Thursday June 14, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

The DNA fingerprints of more than 100 children aged under 10 are stored on a government database despite their being younger than the age of criminal responsibility, it emerged today.

In addition to the 108 under-10s, there are 883,888 records of people aged between 10 and 17 and 46 records of people aged over 90.

The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Nick Clegg, obtained the figures via a parliamentary question.

The DNA database has repeatedly been the subject of criticism by children's campaigners. Last month, activists said DNA records were turning thousands of children into lifelong suspects.

Mr Clegg said the figures showed the government saw no limits to its "invasion of privacy".

"Worse still, by harvesting the data of many people who are not even charged with an offence, let alone convicted, the fundamental principle that we are innocent until proven guilty is further undermined," he added.

"Why should anyone be on this database if they are entirely innocent of any wrongdoing?"

The shadow home secretary, David Davis, demanded the government justified the collection of DNA from young children.

"This is the latest in a long line of sinister developments associated with this database," he said.

"It is bad enough that DNA samples from a large number of innocent adults are being added by stealth. Now we find that children who, by law, cannot be held criminally responsible for a crime are on this database."

Police can take a DNA sample without consent from anyone they arrest, and can keep the record whether that person is charged with a crime or not.

The genetic "fingerprint" is then added to the database and can be cross-referenced with criminal records held on the police national computer.

The Home Office has said the national DNA database is an "invaluable intelligence tool" which has revolutionised the way in which the police can protect the public.