Added: June 09, 2008 (Less info) Iraq War: Senate Intel Report Phase II - War Crimes The Intelligence Report that defines the lies. http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3569580 -A day after Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked for and received his resignation June 5, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley gave this exclusive interview to [Defense News] Vago Muradian. 09 Jun 2008 Q. And that was where the problems occurred? Following the Minot incident, I would say more than 95 percent of my focus has been about getting this right, and we had a commander-directed inquiry. I commissioned Maj. Gen. [Polly] Peyer to conduct a blue ribbon review, which gave us 120 or so specific things to address. My fundamental tasking to her was, "Is there something bigger here? Is this just an isolated case of a human frailty or are there systemic bigger issues that we have to find and fix?" Q. So this was right after the Minot incident? A. I started it right after. The secretary went out there and General Welch did an overall study. So those 120, I believe, is a start at getting at where general officers should be. What is the echelon of responsibility?
Gates recommends Schwartz as next Air Force chief --Gates asks Bush to Allow Donley to Start as Air Force Secretary Without Senate Confirmation 09 Jun 2008 Defense Secretary Robert Gates recommended Monday that Gen. Norton Schwartz, a 35-year veteran with a background in Air Force special operations, be the next Air Force chief. In a sweeping shake up of the Air Force, Gates also formally sent former Air Force official Michael Donley's name to the White House to be the next secretary of the beleaguered service. Gates announced last Thursday that he was removing Air Force Gen. Michael Moseley from the chief's job and Michael Wynne as its top civilian. Gates asked Bush to designate Donley as the acting secretary effective June 21 -- a move that would allow him to begin work without waiting for Senate confirmation.
Gates seeks Air Force leadership on handling of nuclear weapons 09 Jun 2008 In his search for new leadership atop the Air Force, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is looking for a "new perspective" that will fix long-standing problems in the handling of nuclear weapons... Gates said at the time that his decision was based mainly on the damning conclusions of an internal report on the mistaken shipment to Taiwan of four Air Force fusing devices for ballistic missile nuclear warheads. And he linked the underlying causes of that slip-up to another startling incident: the North Dakota-to-Louisiana flight last August of a B-52 bomber that was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.
US Air Force shakeup may spur spending shifts 09 Jun 2008 The ouster of the Air Force's top two officials may spur even more Pentagon spending on equipment for current wars and end production of pricey F-22 jets designed for potential conflicts with countries such as China.
Iraq to sign deals with foreign oil firms this month: MEES 08 Jun 2008 Iraq intends to sign Technical Support Agreements with foreign oil majors by the end of June to add an eventual 500,000 barrels per day in output capacity, a specialist newsletter quoted the oil minister as saying. Five consortia are in talks with the Iraqi government for the two-year contracts, the Middle East Economic Survey said in its edition to appear on Monday. The agreements cover Kirkuk field (Shell), Rumaila (BP), Al-Zubair (ExxonMobil), West Qurna Phase I (Chevron and Total), Missan province development (Shell and BHP Billiton) and the Subba and Luhais fields (Anadarko, Vitol and the UAE's Dome), MEES said.
U.S. presence is Iraq's main problem: Iranian leader 09 Jun 2008 Iran's supreme leader told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday that the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq was the biggest obstacle to its development as a united country. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hit out at the "occupiers" in Iraq at a time when Baghdad is negotiating with the United States on a new agreement aimed at giving a legal basis for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq after December 31, when their U.N. mandate expires.
Prime Minister: Iraq will not be used to 'damage' Iran 08 Jun 2008 Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Sunday tried to allay Iranian fears over a planned U.S.-Iraq security pact, saying his government would not allow Iraq to become a launching pad for an attack on its neighbor. Earlier, Iran's state-run news agency IRNA quoted the Iraqi leader as saying that "Baghdad would not allow its soil to be used as a base to damage the security of the neighboring countries, including Iran."
Top security official: Iran ready to restore peace, stability in Iraq 09 Jun 2008 Iran's Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili said on Sunday that the Islamic Republic is ready to use all its experiences to help restore peace and stability to Iraq, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.
Meeting takes place between premiers of Iraq and Iran 08 Jun 2008 Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maleki has arrived in Iran to seek Tehran's assistance in restoring peace and stability. The Iraqi premier, heading a high ranking delegation, arrived at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran and was scheduled to meet President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to discuss the latest developments in Iraq.
Stolen antiquities found in U.S. returned to Iraq 09 Jun 2008 Iraq took delivery on Monday of several ancient artefacts seized by U.S. customs officers in Philadelphia after being looted from Baghdad's national museum during the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. At a ceremony in Baghdad, Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, handed over the recovered relics to the country's antiquities minister, Mohammed al-Uraibi.
Iraq suicide bomber kills U.S. soldier, wounds 18 08 Jun 2008 A vehicle driven by a suicide bomber blew up near a patrol base in Iraq on Sunday, killing one U.S. soldier and wounding 18 others, U.S. forces said. Two Iraqi mercenaries were also wounded in the attack in Kirkuk province, about 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement.
Israel tries to play down minister's warning of attack on Iran 09 Jun 2008 Israel yesterday attempted to play down a warning from a senior government minister that an attack on Iran was "unavoidable" if Tehran continued to develop nuclear weapons. The transportation minister, Shaul Mofaz, a key figure in Israel's dialogue with the US on Iran's nuclear programme, raised the prospect of a unilateral Israeli attack against Tehran on Friday, adding that international sanctions had been ineffective.
IAEA slams Mofaz remark that attack on Iran seems 'unavoidable' 08 Jun 2008 Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammed ElBaradei on Saturday rebuked remarks made by Transportation Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz, saying an attack against Iran seemed "unavoidable."
Iran Complains to UN Security Council about Israel's Threat 08 Jun 2008 Iran appealed to the United Nations Security Council on Saturday for protection from Israel after Transportation Minister Sha'ul Mofaz commented that Israel would move to end the nuclear threat if necessary. The former Defense Minister was quoted Friday in the Hebrew-language Yediot Acharonot newspaper as saying that military action might necessary in order to stop Iran's from achieving nuclear power.
Fearing Escalation, Pentagon Fought Cheney Iran Plan 06 Jun 2008 Pentagon officials firmly opposed a proposal by Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney last summer for airstrikes against Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bases by insisting that the administration would have to make clear decisions about how far the United States would go in escalating the conflict with Iran, according to a former George W. Bush administration official. J. Scott Carpenter, who was then deputy assistant secretary of state in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, recalled in an interview that senior Defence Department (DoD) officials and the Joint Chiefs used the escalation issue as the main argument against the Cheney proposal.
Suicide bomb takes British death toll in Afghanistan to 100 09 Jun 2008 The grim milestone was expected but poignant, nevertheless, and raised fresh questions about a seemingly unending war with a rising toll of lives. Three soldiers were killed yesterday in Afghanistan bringing the number of British fatalities to 100.
Canadian soldier killed in fall down a well in Afghanistan 08 Jun 2008 A Canadian soldier [Capt. Jonathan Sutherland Snyder] died yesterday after falling into a well while on a security patrol in Zhari District, west of Kandahar.
Afghan BBC journalist found dead in Afghanistan a day after he went missing 08 Jun 2008 An Afghan journalist working for the BBC World Service was found dead in southern Afghanistan with a gunshot wound to the head Sunday, the BBC and Afghan officials said. The British Broadcasting Corp. said Abdul Samad Rohani went missing in the town of Lashkar Gar in Helmand province on Saturday. His body was found in a cemetery the following day... A spokesman for Taliban militants, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said the Taliban was not behind Rohani's killing. Ahmadi said that the Taliban did not have any problem with Rohani's reporting and that he was upset about the reporter's death.
BBC Afghan journalist shot in head 08 Jun 2008 A missing Afghan journalist working for the BBC has been found shot dead. Abdul Samad Rohani disappeared from Lashkar Gah in the southern province of Helmand. The BBC said his corpse had now been found. He had been shot in the head. He was the second foreign BBC journalist to be killed over the weekend. Naftah Dahir Farah, 26, a freelancer who worked for the BBC and the Associated Press, was shot dead in Kismayo, southern Somalia, on Saturday.
America's Medicated Army --U.S. troops are going into battle with a different kind of weapon, one so stealthy that few Americans even know of its deployment. 05 Jun 2008 For the first time in history, a sizable and growing number of U.S. combat troops are taking daily doses of antidepressants to calm nerves strained by repeated and lengthy tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The medicines drugs are intended not only to help troops keep their cool but also to enable the already strapped Army to preserve its most precious resource: soldiers on the front lines. Data contained in the Army's fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report indicate that, according to an anonymous survey of U.S. troops taken last fall, about 12% of combat troops in Iraq and 17% of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope. Escalating violence in Afghanistan and the more isolated mission have driven troops to rely more on medication there than in Iraq, military officials say.
US Reconsiders Sonic Blasters for China 06 Jun 2008 With the Olympics fast approaching, the US is suddenly concerned about American-made products being used against human rights demonstrators. Of particular concern is a sonic blaster that so far has not been considered a weapon.
Iraq war commander named head of Canada's military By Keith Jones 09 Jun 2008 Canada?s Conservative government has announced that a Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) officer who helped direct the US-British occupation of Iraq for a year, beginning in January 2004, will become the next head of the Canadian Armed Forces. While seconded to the US Army?s Third Corps, Lieutenant-General Walter Natynczyk served first as the Deputy Director of Strategy, Policy and Plans and then as the Deputy Commanding General of the Multinational Corps--"the tactical unit responsible for command and control of operations" of the US military and its allies "throughout Iraq."
Jailers at Guantanamo urged to destroy interrogation notes: lawyer --US interrogators may have "routinely destroyed evidence" that might have been used to defend prisoners 08 Jun 2008 US interrogators of "war on terror" prisoners were instructed to destroy handwritten notes that might have exposed harsh or even illegal questioning methods at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a lawyer for one of the prisoners said Sunday. Navy Lieutenant Commander Bill Kuebler said in a statement sent to reporters he considers the notes crucial to the defense of his client, Canadian Omar Khadr, during his upcoming 'trial' by a special military tribunal at the US naval base. Kuebler said the instructions were handed down to interrogators from the US Department of Defense as part of a standard operating procedure or "SOP" directive that he obtained from prosecutors last week.
Lawyer: Gitmo Interrogators Told to Trash Notes --Defense lawyer: US urged interrogators at Gitmo to destroy notes in case they had to testify 08 Jun 2008 The Pentagon urged interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to destroy handwritten notes in case they were called to testify about potentially harsh treatment torture of prisoners, a military defense lawyer said Sunday. The lawyer for Toronto-born Omar Khadr, Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, said the instructions were included in an operations manual shown to him by prosecutors and suggest the U.S. deliberately thwarted evidence that could help terror suspects defend themselves at trial.
Detailed notes from Khadr interviews destroyed 08 Jun 2008 A formerly secret document shows the Pentagon allowed its Guantanamo Bay interrogators to destroy notes they took of interrogations - a policy Omar Khadr's lawyers say denies them the chance to challenge the legitimacy of any "confessions" he made. Navy Lt.-Cmdr. Bill Kuebler, Khadr's lead military attorney, stumbled over the interrogation directive as he reviewed prosecution-held documents at the prosecution office of the Pentagon's war crimes commissions.
Terror laws: Police voice concerns over 42-day detention 09 Jun 2008 Senior police officers have expressed concern that Gordon Brown's plans to increase detention without charge for terror suspects to 42 days could make their jobs more difficult. Four senior members of the Association of Chief Police Officers, including Rob Beckley, deputy chief constable of Avon and Somerset, have raised concerns that the likely damage to relations with the Muslim community will prove detrimental to intelligence gathering.
MI5 has not called for 42 day detention, Jacqui Smith admits 09 Jun 2008 Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, has admitted that MI5 does not support Government proposals to increase the period terror suspects can be held without charge to 42 days. The admission that the security services have not called for the increased detention limit will add to pressure on Gordon Brown and Miss Smith who face a crunch vote on the issue on Wednesday.
Security chiefs offer late boost to plans for 42-day detention 08 Jun 2008 Gordon Brown's plans to hold terror suspects for 42 days without charge received a late boost yesterday when some of Britain's top police and security officers said the controversial proposals were "workable". The Government is still struggling to convince several of its own backbenchers that the extension from 28 days is a proportionate response to the terror threat facing the nation.
Identity cards 'could be used to spy on people' 08 Jun 2008 Britain is in danger of becoming a "surveillance society" and new safeguards are needed to protect people's privacy, an influen
Broadcast Legend Bill Moyers on Media Reform: ?Democracy Only Works When Ordinary People Claim It as Their Own?More than 3,500 people gathered in Minneapolis this weekend for the fourth annual... more