*Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government*
01 July 2009
*http://www.legitgov.org/* <http://www.legitgov.org/>
All items are here:
*http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news*<http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news>

*ACLU Says Government Used False
Confessions<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/01/AR200...>
* 02 Jul 2009 The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday accused the Obama
administration of using statements elicited through torture to justify the
confinement of a detainee it represents at the U.S. military prison in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The ACLU is asking a federal judge to throw out those
statements and others made by Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan who *may have been
as young as 12 when he was captured*. His attorney argued that Jawad was
abused in U.S. custody, threatened and subjected to intense sleep
deprivation. *"The government's continued reliance on evidence gained by
torture and other abuse violates centuries of U.S. law and suggests the
current administration is not really serious about breaking with the
past,"*said ACLU lawyer Jonathan Hafetz, who is representing Jawad in
a lawsuit
challenging his detention.

*U.S. again [third time] delays releasing CIA torture
report<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-07/02/content_11636678.htm>
* 02 Jul 2009 The U.S. government on Wednesday once again delayed the
release of a full report on CIA's controversial interrogation program. The
government had intended to complete its review of the 2004 report and
release it two weeks ago. But continued interagency debate about how much of
the secret report could be made public pushed back the deadline. [See: *US
wants to [again] delay release of CIA
report<http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hXpJ92oIG1vhQLz2TS1...>
* 26 Jun 2009 and *Delay in Releasing CIA Report Is
Sought<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/19/AR200...>
* 20 Jun 2009.]

*U.S. spy says just followed orders in Italy
kidnap<http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE55T3H420090630>
* 30 Jun 2009 A former U.S. spy at the center of a kidnapping trial in Italy
appeared to acknowledge a role in the abduction of a Muslim cleric but said
he was only following orders, according to a rare interview published on
Tuesday. Robert Seldon Lady is one of 26 Americans, almost all believed to
have been working for the CIA, who are accused along with Italian spies of
grabbing a terrorism suspect off the streets of Milan in 2003 and flying him
to Egypt. There, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr says he was tortured and held for
years without charge.

*Army faces 20 more torture and abuse claims from Iraqi
civilians<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/army-faces-20-more-abu...>--High
Court to hear cases against soldiers accused of shootings and
beatings* 01 Jul 2009 The British Army faces 20 fresh claims of torture and
abuse of Iraqi civilians in a series of damaging cases being prepared by
human rights lawyers in the High Court in London. These new claims lend
support to the accusation that the ill-treatment of scores of detainees in
Iraq in the first four years after the invasion was systemic rather than the
work of a few "rotten apple" soldiers.

*Iraq Approves BP-Led Bid to Develop Rumaila Oil
Field<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aCM_MuT5we5M>
* 01 Jul 2009 Iraq’s cabinet approved an offer by BP Plc and China National
Petroleum Corp. to develop the Rumaila oil field after the group was awarded
the contract yesterday, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said. The
government rejected all other bids made at an oil licensing round held in
Baghdad yesterday after companies seeking to develop deposits declined to
meet Iraq’s cost requirements, according to an e-mailed statement today.

*Oil and the Iraq
"withdrawal"<http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/pers-j30.shtml>
* By James Cogan 30 Jun 2009 It is fitting that today’s deadline for the
withdrawal of US troops from Iraq’s cities coincides with a meeting in
Baghdad to auction off some of the country’s largest oil fields to companies
such as ExxonMobil, Chevron and British Petroleum. It is a reminder of the
real motives for the 2003 invasion and in whose interests over one million
Iraqis and 4,634 American and other Western troops have been killed. The
Iraq war was, and continues to be, an imperialist war waged by the American
ruling elite for control of oil and geo-strategic advantage.

*Hussein Pointed to Iranian
Threat<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/01/AR200...>--The
former Iraqi president denounced Osama bin Laden as "a zealot" and
said he had no dealings with al-Qaeda*. 02 Jul 2009 Saddam Hussein told an
FBI interviewer before he was hanged that he allowed the world to believe he
had weapons of mass destruction because he was worried about appearing weak
to Iran, according to declassified accounts of the interviews released
yesterday. The former Iraqi president also denounced Osama bin Laden as "a
zealot" and said he had no dealings with al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh]. Hussein, in
fact, said he felt so vulnerable to the perceived threat from "fanatic"
leaders in Tehran that he would have been prepared to seek a "security
agreement with the United States to protect [Iraq] from threats in the
region."

*FEMA Administrator Meets Top Israeli Official to Discuss Emergency
Management Issues <http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=48950>* 30
Jun 2009 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig
Fugate met today with Maj. Gen. Yair Golan of the Israeli Defense Forces
Home Front Command (IDF/HFC), continuing to foster a working relationship
with Israel... Administrator Fugate and Maj. General Golan will serve as
co-chairs of an emergency management work group designed to discuss problems
and issues and to exchange information on a variety of topics... The IDF/HFC
partners with the Israeli National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) on
emergency management issues. IDF/HFC and NEMA work with FEMA under an
emergency management work stream workgroup established under a 2007
Memorandum of Understanding with DHS.

*McKinney still held on ship of activists detained by
Israel<http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2009/07/01/mcki...>
* 01 Jul 2009 Israel on Wednesday reportedly sent home two of the 21 people
taken aboard a ship that attempted to break through a blockade and deliver
supplies to Gaza. Authorities released an American filmmaker and a Danish
human rights activist, according to freegaza.org, the web site of the Free
Gaza Movement, which organized the voyage opposing the blockade. The other
passengers remain in Israeli custody, among them former Georgia
congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, and 1977 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mairead
Maguire, who co-founded a group that worked for peace in Northern Ireland.

*CLG News and Action Alert: IDF Seizes Gaza Aid
Ship<http://www.legitgov.org/action_idf_seizes_gaza_ship_010709.html>
* Posted by Lori Price 01 Jul 2009 Israeli forces have boarded a ship trying
to carry aid and pro-Palestinian activists to the Gaza Strip in defiance of
Israel's blockade of the territory. The 20 passengers include former US
congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Nobel Prize winner Mairead Maguire. [*Can
you *imagine* what would happen if *Iran* intercepted a vessel with a former
congressperson and Nobel Prize winner? It makes my head *spin* to think of
how fast the US missiles would be flying! Click
here<http://www.legitgov.org/action_idf_seizes_gaza_ship_010709.html>for
news and actions you can take - demonstrations, petitions.
*] *(Updated with new Boston 02 July IAC action info)*

*UN: Israel does not deny running spy ring in
Lebanon<http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1096992.html>
* 01 Jul 2009 Israel does not deny accusations that dozens of men arrested
recently in Lebanon were spying on its behalf, according to a report
published by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Lebanese
authorities in recent months claimed to have detained dozens of suspects in
an espionage investigation, including several senior military officials.

*'Interpol hunting for witness of Neda's
death'<http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=99571§ionid=351020101>
* 01 Jul 2009 Iran's Police Chief, Brig. Gen. Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam, says
Interpol is searching for a man who witnessed the death of Neda Agha-soltan.
Neda was shot dead in a central Tehran street on June 20, amid the
post-election unrest in the capital city and her death has turned into a
controversial issue. Iranian authorities say that security forces have not
fired at protesters, adding that the incident was "a premeditated scenario"
to defame Iran.

*U.S. Marines Launch Major Operation in
Afghanistan*<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/01/AR200...>
*--Poppies grown in this region account for half the world's supply of opium
*. 01 Jul 2009 Thousands of U.S. Marines descended upon the volatile Helmand
River valley in helicopters and armored convoys early Thursday morning,
mounting an operation that represents the first large-scale test of the U.S.
military's new counter-insurgency 'strategy' in Afghanistan. The operation
will involve about 4,000 troops from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade,
which was dispatched to Afghanistan this year by President Obama to combat a
growing Taliban insurgency in Helmand and other southern provinces. [*Obama
has to keep Bush's opium routes and gas pipelines flowing*. See: *U.S.-built
bridge is windfall -- for illegal Afghan drug
trade<http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/70849.html>
* 28 Jun 2009.]

*US seeks European funds, troops for
Afghanistan<http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gHK39MfhHLqsvxv0O8...>
* 01 Jul 2009 Europe must commit more funds and troops to stabilise
Afghanistan after the August presidential elections or risk staying in the
country indefinitely, the US envoy to NATO Ivo Daalder said Wednesday.
Daalder said the United States estimated 17 billion dollars was needed to
train and equip the Afghan army and two billion dollars per year to sustain
it.

*UK Afghan civilian death
payments<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8129775.stm>
* 01 Jul 2009 The government has paid or is assessing compensation over 104
civilian deaths allegedly caused by the Army during operations in
Afghanistan. Figures revealed after a Freedom of Information request by
Channel 4 News show $200,000 (£120,000) compensation was paid in the last 18
months. Payouts range from $210 (£127) for a woman's death to $39,752
(£24,155) for a "multiple fatality" incident.

*Pakistan elder killed by
gunmen<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8128371.stm>
* 01 Jul 2009 A key pro-government tribal elder has been shot dead along
with two of his guards in Pakistan's tribal region of Khyber, officials say.
They say that Malik Gali Khan was travelling in the Jamrud area when he was
attacked by gunmen. The tribal leader was seriously wounded and died on his
way to the hospital. As news of his death spread, incensed local tribesmen
closed down the markets and also the Pakistan-Afghanistan highway through
Torkham.

*North Korea Shows No Sign of Imminent Missile Launch, U.S.
Says<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ayH8X5fJeVGA>
* 02 Jul 2009 The U.S. doesn't see any indication North Korea is poised to
test-launch a long-range ballistic missile capable of landing near the
Hawaiian Islands, according to four government officials. The officials, who
are privy to information about North Korean launch preparations, said there
are no signs of the work necessary to launch a long-range missile during the
U.S. July 4 Independence Day celebration.

*Does the US back the Honduran
coup?*<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jul/01/hondur...>
* The Obama administration's condemnation of the coup in Honduras has been
lukewarm compared to the rest of the world* By Mark Weisbrot 01 July 2009
The military coup<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/28/honduras-zelaya-coup-chavez>that
overthrew Honduras's elected president, Manuel Zelaya, brought
unanimous international condemnation. But some country's responses have been
more reluctant than others, and Washington's ambivalence has begun to raise
suspicions about what the US government is really trying to accomplish in
this situation.

*1,500 National Guard Troops to
Border<http://www.ktsm.com/news/1500-national-guard-troops-to-border>
* 30 Jun 2009 1,500 National Guard volunteers will be used to support the
existing 'counter'-drug program on the border with Mexico. That includes in
Texas and New Mexico. The plan is being finalized between the Defense
Department and Homeland Security. The program would use guardsmen for
surveillance, intelligence analysis, and aviation support. They would also
supply ground troops who help at border crossings.

*Swine flu cases reach over 77,000 worldwide:
WHO<http://www.smh.com.au/world/swine-flu-cases-reach-over-77000-worldwid...>
* 02 Jul 2009 About 77,201 people worldwide have caught swine flu, with 332
having died from it, latest statistics posted on Wednesday by the World
Health Organisation show. The data indicates that 6308 new A(H1N1) cases
were reported, including 21 deaths, since the last bulletin on Monday. The
largest increase in caseload was reported by the United Kingdom, with 2288
new infections including two deaths, bringing its total to 6538 infections
including three deaths.

*WHO working on formulas to model swine flu
spread<http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hG6zmXnY6v5La-llZ8q...>
* 01 Jul 2009 The World Health Organization said Wednesday it is working to
mathematically model the spread of swine flu in an attempt to better
understand how the outbreak developed from a handful of cases to a global
epidemic in less than two months. WHO brought together over 20 independent
experts beginning Wednesday for the three-day meeting in Geneva. The meeting
comes as it becomes clearer that actual case numbers may be far higher than
the agency's tally of officially diagnosed infections. [See: *Pandemic
planning: Protect police forces from being hurt in civil
disturbances*<http://www.legitgov.org/protect_police_forces_in_flu_pandemic_290609....>
* *29 Jun 2009.]

*Former Marine Claims Illness From Mystery
Vaccine<http://www.wlwt.com/news/13271378/detail.html>--Military
Source Believes Experimental Shots May Have Been Given
* 08 May 2007 Clermont County, OH) Target 5 has discovered that an alarming
number of U.S. troops are having severe reactions to some of the vaccines
they receive in preparation for going overseas. "This is the worst cover-up
in the history of the military," said an unidentified military health
officer who fears for his job. A shot from a syringe is leaving some U.S.
servicemen and women on the brink of death. "When the issue, I believe, of
the use of the vaccine comes out, I believe it will make the Walter Reed
scandal pale in comparison," said the health officer.

*'This is the worst cover-up in the history of the military.' **Target 5:
Secret Shots <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7M_TZpQiIY> **--'The shot was
never listed in his records... Suddenly, 'flu vaccine' appears on his
record.'* (wlwttv) 16 Jul 2007 All military personnel who are headed to
combat are required to take vaccinations. Are these shots leaving some
soldiers deathly ill? 'But a case of friendly fire, in the form of a
syringe, would forever change his life. On November 28th of 2005, David's
unit was lined up for what he says was an undisclosed shot... Three weeks
later, Private Fey was back in Clermont County on his death bed at Clinton
Memorial Hospital. His kidneys were failing... *'The people [sic] who
administered the shot never told us what it was.'* (YouTube video of NBC
Target 5 report)

*Rangel: Drug firms have been
'stealing'<http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jz5A2P_B0bmq291fqqN...>
* 01 Jul 2009 One of the principal authors of health care legislation taking
shape in the House accused drug companies and other medical providers
Wednesday of stealing, and said they are now offering concessions in the
hopes the bill that emerges will not demand too much of them. "Everyone
knows that people around the table are stealing, but they don't want to turn
each other in if they're going to have to pay the full penalty," said Rep.
Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Asked in an
interview on MSNBC what he meant by stealing, the New York Democrat replied,
"I mean stealing."

*Lieberman: I Stand With The Small Minority of Americans Who Oppose Public
Option<http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/lieberman-i-stand-with-the...>
* By Brian Beutler 01 Jul 2009 The surfeit of polling data showing broad
public support for the public option hasn't swayed Connecticut Sen. Joe
Lieberman [R-Israel], who's joining conservative Democrats and moderate
Republicans in staunch opposition. Check out this
video<http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/07/post_459.php>from
Paul Bass at the New Haven
*Independent*.

*It Came from Wasilla*<http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/08/sarah-palin200908>
* --As John McCain's top campaign officials talk more candidly than ever
before about the meltdown of his vice-presidential pick, the author tracks
the signs--political and personal--that Sarah Palin was big trouble, and
checks the forecast for her future*. By Todd S. Purdum August 2009 As Palin
has piled misstep on top of misstep, the senior members of McCain’s campaign
team have undergone a painful odyssey of their own. In recent rounds of long
conversations, most made it clear that they suffer a kind of survivor’s
guilt: they can’t quite believe that for two frantic months last fall,
caught in a Bermuda Triangle of a campaign, they worked their tails off to
try to elect as vice president of the United States someone who, by
mid-October, they believed for certain was nowhere near ready for the job,
and might never be.

*CIA-Trained Blogger Disbursing Money to
"Progressives"<http://truth-about-kos.blogspot.com/2009/05/cia-trained-blogger-disbu...>
* By Francis L. Holland 30 May 2009 Some of us have wondered what Markos C.
Alberto Moulitsas Zúñiga (MAMZ) learned at the CIA during his two-year
"training" period
there<http://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive/06/06-06zuniga-audio.html>.
SourceWatch.Org covers Markos C.A. Moulitsas Zuñiga's (MAMZ) connections to
the CIA<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Markos_Moulitsas_Z%C3%BAniga>.
Well, now it's more clear than ever that his mission is to increase his
influence and build "assets" in the "progressive" blogger community, the
better to prevent blogging from getting out of control of the Government.

*California taking rest of US on its way
down<http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=99548§ionid=3510203>
* [*Thanks to Enron troll, Arnold Schwarzenegger*] 01 Jul 2009 The
aftershocks of the recession-induced paralysis in California's economy have
started ripping through other states across the US. The flagging financial
system of California, the world's eighth biggest economy, has affected
Illinois and Pennsylvania whose economies are irreversibly interlaced to
that of California. Despite rushing frenetically, neither of the states
managed to meet the June 30 deadline to pass the budgets for the new fiscal
year that ended on the day.

*'I'll pay back': Schwarzenegger issues
IOUs<http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/02/2614579.htm>--California
has about $4 billion of obligations that it cannot meet
*. 02 Jul 2009 The US state of California is in an economic state of
emergency, and tomorrow it will begin issuing IOUs to pay its debt. The
state is suffering huge declines in revenues because of the recession and
the crash of the real estate market. As well, the Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger (R-Installed) and his legislature cannot come up with a
balanced budget to address the crisis.

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Previous lead stories: *Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu
pandemic?<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/did-leak-from-a-laboratory-...>Same
strain of influenza was released 'by accident' three decades ago
* 30 Jun 2009 It has swept across the world killing at least 300 people and
infecting thousands more. Yet the swine flu pandemic might not have happened
had it not been for the 'accidental' release of the same strain of influenza
virus from a research laboratory in the late 1970s, according to a new
study. Scientists investigating the genetic make-up of flu viruses have
concluded there is a high probability that the H1N1 strain of influenza "A"
behind the current pandemic might never have been re-introduced into the
human population were it not for an accidental leak from a laboratory working
on the same strain <http://www.legitgov.org/flu_oddities.html> in 1977.

              *At least 29 killed unlawfully by Israeli drones in Gaza,
report says<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article661157...>
* 30 Jun 2009 At least 29 Palestinian civilians were unlawfully killed by
missile-firing Israeli drones during its offensive in the Gaza Strip, a US
human rights group said. A report by Human Rights Watch, published six
months after the operation, said that Israel had failed to exercise proper
caution "as required by the laws of war" in their use of drones. Mrac
Galasco, a senior military analyst for Human Rights Watch, said that
although 29 cases had been highlighted in the report, as many as 87
civilians could have been killed in drone attacks.

*US withdrawal from cities brings joy to
Iraq<http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=99396§ionid=351020201>
* 30 Jun 2009 Iraq is filled with joy as American troops hand security
duties over to Iraqi forces and end their presence on the streets of the
country's towns and cities. Tens of thousands of Iraqi people rushed to the
streets and held giant parties on Monday and Tuesday to mark the withdrawal
of US soldiers. [*Too bad the US doesn't withdraw from all the other
countries it illegally occupies.*]

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CLG Managing Editor: Lori Price. Copyright © 2009, Citizens For Legitimate
Government ® All rights reserved.