Incredible read!! Newest BuZh-Cheney OUTRAGE !!

From today's Think Progress !!

Loyal Bushies Create Bush-Cheney Alumni Association Website To ‘Help Build A Lasting Legacy’»

Even before President Bush left office, he and his loyal Bushies were hard at work shaping his legacy, comparing him to Abraham Lincoln and claiming his failed policies were smashing successes. Work on his presidential library has also been increasing in recent months.

The newest installment of “George Bush is a wonderful person” is now online: the Bush-Cheney Alumni Association website. All Bush employees, appointees, interns, campaign donors, and volunteers are eligible to join. The site’s mission is to be “a forum in which alumni can stay connected and help build a lasting legacy for President George W. Bush and the Bush-Cheney Administration.”

The site contains a considerable amount of hagiography, with the highlighted “Bush Record Documents” compilations called:

– The Bush Record: Praise For President’s Accomplishments

– The Bush Record: More Praise For President’s Accomplishments

– The Bush Record: Praise Continues For President’s Accomplishments

Many of the articles were written by conservative columnists or former Bush aides. A look at the site:

These loyal Bushies have also set up several Facebook pages, including “Bush Cheney Alumni,” “Bush-Cheney Administration Alumni,” “White House Advance - Bush/Cheney 2001-2009,” and “Thank You President Bush.” Users on those sites have left comments such as: “Is it too soon to miss them?” and “Got a kiss from W yesterday at his farewell ceremony at Andrews :o(.”

Texas hearing on Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales indictment turns chaotic

02:12 PM CST on Friday, November 21, 2008
Associated Press

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas — A county prosecutor who brought indictments against Vice President Dick Cheney, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and others pounded his fist and shouted at the judge Friday about special treatment for high-profile defendants as a routine motions hearing descended into chaos.

Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra, who is accusing the public officials of culpability in the alleged abuse of prisoners in a federal detention center, asked Presiding Judge Manuel Banales to recuse himself. Guerra has complained about Banales' handling of the case.

Attorneys for the vice president and other defendants leapt to their feet in objection, as Guerra pounded the table and accused Banales of giving the defendants special treatment in allowing motions to quash the indictments to be heard before the defendants were arraigned.

"Now all of a sudden there is urgency," Guerra shouted. "Eighteen months you kept me indicted through the election." The charges against Guerra were dismissed in October. Guerra lost re-election in the March Democratic primary.

Banales called a recess to contact the chief justice of the state Supreme Court for suggestions on how to proceed, and ordered Guerra, who had slipped out once before in the hearing, to remain in the courthouse.

"I will not obey that order," Guerra said. When Banales implied he would take steps to keep Guerra in court, Guerra agreed to stay if the judge asked him respectfully.

Unlike the initial hearing Wednesday when Guerra was absent and media and attorneys for the indicted appeared in equal numbers, curious residents packed the well-worn pews of the Willacy County Courthouse's only courtroom Friday.

Half of the indictments returned Monday are linked to privately run federal detention centers in the sparsely populated southern Texas county. The other half target judges and special prosecutors who played a role in an earlier investigation of Guerra.

Banales appointed a special prosecutor to handle the local officials indicted along with Cheney, Gonzales and state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, because Guerra has sparred with them for years.

The vice president is the highest public official Guerra has pursued, but he made a nearly 20-year-career of passing over routine crimes in favor of public corruption before being defeated in the March Democratic primary election.

It was Guerra's interest in the contracts to build and run a federal detention center that led to some of his biggest successes _ three guilty pleas on bribery charges from former county commissioners in 2005. But he also believes it was the motivation for his own legal battles.

Guerra responded to his theft arrest by camping outside the courthouse with farm animals in protest. He continued working for more than a year while under indictment on charges of extorting money from a bail bond company and using his office for personal business until Banales dismissed the indictment last month.

Guerra ran the current investigation into alleged prisoner abuse with a siege mentality. He worked it from his home, dubbed it "Operation Goliath" and kept it secret from his staff, he said. He gave all the witnesses biblical pseudonyms - his was "David" - and sometimes gave false reasons for witnesses' appearances so as not to raise suspicion in a courthouse he believed to be filled with political enemies. A clerk and a judge who share the building were among those indicted Monday.

The grand jury also charged Lucio with illegally profiting from prison consulting fees.
The GEO Group Corp. was indicted on a murder charge for the death of an inmate at a federal prison.

"The indictment is the product of prosecutorial vindictiveness and is void on its face," defense attorney Tony Canales, who represents the private prison operator, wrote in a motion. Canales is also the legal representative for Cheney and Gonzales.

Another indictment alleges that Cheney's personal investment in the Vanguard Group, which invests in private prison companies, gives him culpability in alleged prisoner abuse.

Other indictments charge two district judges, two special prosecutors and the Willacy County district clerk with abusing their powers in investigating Guerra's office.

The defendants did need to appear in person Friday.

Cheney's lawyer files motion to quash indictment

By Lynn Brezosky and Peggy Fikac / San Antonio Express-News

RAYMONDVILLE - Some of the top names in South Texas legal defense converged at the Willacy County courthouse with briefcases and a sense of conviviality about indictments reaching as far as the White House.

Lawyers like J.A. "Tony" Canales, a former U.S. attorney who is representing Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, said they hoped to get a range of charges brought by embattled District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra quickly dismissed.

Guerra, a 53-year-old Rio Grande Valley prosecutor who drew national attention for suing counterparts in the county justice system and staging a protest with barnyard animals, long has alleged high-ranking corruption in the deals that brought the impoverished county a $60 million immigration detention center.

On Monday, he got a grand jury to sign off on a slew of indictments including an acceptance of honorarium charge against state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., and an engaging in organized criminal activity charge against Cheney and Gonzales.

Cheney is accused of contributing to the neglect of federal immigration detainees by contracting for-profit prisons.

“By working through corporations as prisons for profit, Defendant Richard Cheney has committed at least misdemeanor assaults of our inmates and/or detainees,” the indictment reads, adding that a “money trail” can be traced to Cheney's substantial investments in the Vanguard Group, which invests in privately run prisons.

This morning, Canales filed a motion to quash indictments "for prosecutorial vindictiveness and failure to allege an offense."

"In most of the indictments, the prosecutor identifies himself as the victim. The prosecutor has usurped for himself the role of prosecutor, judge, victim, and director of the grand jury. His conflict of interest and abuse of office require that he be stopped," Canales said.

Courthouse officials said Guerra had not been seen today.

A number of experts were shaking their heads at the indictment.

Shannon Edmonds of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, after reviewing a faxed copy of the indictment against Cheney and Gonzales, said he’d never seen one like it.

“It’s a creative indictment, but I don’t think it properly alleges any crime,” Edmonds said. “It’s more of just a rambling narrative … I think a court will find that it’s legally insufficient in that it fails to allege a crime.”

Chip B. Lewis, a prominent criminal defense lawyer in Houston whose clients have included former Enron chairman Ken Lay, said, “It’s a shame. I’m not a Cheney supporter by any means. I’m Democrat. But the misuse of our criminal justice system is apparent … It just smacks of partisanship and it’s a shame that credence can be lent to this type of charge because you have a grand jury indictment.”

Lewis said, “I don’t think he (Cheney) will ever spend a day in court.”

Cheney home after heart treatment

Olivier Knox, Agence France-Presse
Published: Wednesday, October 15, 2008

WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday underwent successful treatment for an irregular heartbeat that led him to cancel appearances at the White House and a political rally, his office said.

Cheney, who had his first heart attack at 37 and his fourth in 2000, returned home after a nearly two-hour hospital stay and was expected to be back at work as scheduled on Thursday, said spokeswoman Megan Mitchell.

Doctors had diagnosed a recurrence of atrial fibrillation, an abnormal rhythm involving the upper chambers of the heart, and recommended he undergo treatment for the second time in under a year."An electrical impulse was delivered to restore the heart to normal rhythm. The procedure went smoothly and without complication," Mitchell said in a statement. "The vice president is home and resumed his normal schedule."

The health issue forced Cheney, 67, to cancel a planned appearance at a campaign event in Illinois and instead telephone the reception to express his support, the spokeswoman said.

Cheney also missed a meeting of U.S. President George W. Bush's cabinet - the name card usually by his seat as well as a glass of water could be seen on a small side table - on the global financial meltdown.

Bush, who later traveled to Michigan for a political fundraiser, told reporters hours before the procedure that "the vice president is doing fine," and that Cheney had told him of his condition during their morning briefings.

"He came in and told me he was going to head back into the hospital to have his, you know, his heart checked, worked on," said Bush. "And he was confident, his doctors are confident, and therefore I'm confident."

Cheney, one of the most powerful and controversial vice presidents in US history, underwent an angioplasty weeks after taking the oath of office in January 2001 and had a pacemaker implanted that same year.

In September 2005 Cheney had an operation for blood clots behind each of his knees, and in January 2006 he was hospitalized for shortness of breath.

In November 2007, Cheney underwent treatment for the same irregular heartbeat, which required an electrical impulse to restore the upper chambers of the heart to normal rhythm.

And the vice president went on a course of blood thinners after doctors discovered a blood clot behind his left knee following a nine-day trip to Asia in March 2007.

© Agence France-Presse 2008

Committee To Prosecute Bush Revs Up

by Sherwood Ross

Massachusetts law school Dean Lawrence Velvel will chair a Steering Committee to pursue the prosecution for war crimes of President Bush and culpable high-ranking aides after they leave office Jan. 20th.

The Steering Committee was organized following a conference of leading legal authorities and scholars from the U.S. and abroad convened by Velvel on Sept. 13-14 in Andover, Mass., titled “The Justice Robert Jackson Conference On Planning For The Prosecution of High Level American War Criminals.”

“If Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and others are not prosecuted,” Velvel said, “the future could be threatened by additional examples of Executive lawlessness by leaders who need fear no personal consequences for their actions, including more illegal wars such as Iraq.”

Besides Velvel, members of the Steering Committee include:

Ben Davis, a law Professor at the University of Toledo College of Law, where he teaches Public International Law and International Business Transactions. He is the author of numerous articles on international and related domestic law.

Marjorie Cohn, a law Professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, Calif., and President of the National Lawyers Guild.

Chris Pyle, a Professor at Mount Holyoke College, where he teaches Constitutional law, Civil Liberties, Rights of Privacy, American Politics and American Political Thought, and is the author of many books and articles.

Elaine Scarry, the Walter M. Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and the General Theory of Value at Harvard University, and winner of the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism.

Peter Weiss, vice president of the Center For Constitutional Rights, of New York City, which was recently involved with war crimes complaints filed in Germany and Japan against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and others.

David Swanson, author, activist and founder of AfterDowningStreet.org/CensureBush.org coalition, of Charlottesville, Va.

Kristina Borjesson, an award-winning print and broadcast journalist for more than twenty years and editor of two recent books on the media.

Colleen Costello, Staff Attorney of Human Rights, USA, of Washington, D.C., and coordinator of its efforts involving torture by the American government.

Valeria Gheorghiu, attorney for Workers’ Rights Law Center.

Andy Worthington of Redress, a British historian and journalist and author of books dealing with human rights violations.

Initial actions considered by the Steering Committee, Velvel said, are as follows:

# Seeking prosecutions of high level officials, including George Bush, for the crimes they committed.

# Seeking disbarment of lawyers who were complicitous in facilitating torture.# Seeking termination from faculty positions of high officials who were complicitous in torture.

# Issuing a recent statement saying any attempt by Bush to pardon himself and aides for war crimes prior to leaving office will result in efforts to obtain impeachment even after they leave office.

# Convening a major conference on the state secret and executive privilege doctrines, which have been pushed to record levels during the Bush administration.

# Designation of an Information Repository Coordinator to gather in one place all available information involving the Bush Administration’s war crimes.

# Possible impeachment of 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jay Bybee for co-authoring the infamous “torture memo.”

POLITICS-US: Bush Had No Plan to Catch Bin Laden after 9/11

By Gareth Porter*

WASHINGTON, Sep 29 (IPS) - New evidence from former U.S. officials reveals that the George W. Bush administration failed to adopt any plan to block the retreat of Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders from Afghanistan to Pakistan in the first weeks after 9/11.

That failure was directly related to the fact that top administration officials gave priority to planning for war with Iraq over military action against al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

As a result, the United States had far too few troops and strategic airlift capacity in the theatre to cover the large number of possible exit routes through the border area when bin Laden escaped in late 2001.

Because it had not been directed to plan for that contingency, the U.S. military had to turn down an offer by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in late November 2001 to send 60,000 troops to the border passes to intercept them, according to accounts provided by former U.S. officials involved in the issue.

On Nov. 12, 2001, as Northern Alliance troops were marching on Kabul with little resistance, the CIA had intelligence that bin Laden was headed for a cave complex in the Tora Bora Mountains close to the Pakistani border.

The war had ended much more quickly than expected only days earlier. CENTCOM commander Tommy Franks, who was responsible for the war in Afghanistan, had no forces in position to block bin Laden's exit.

Franks asked Lt. Gen. Paul T. Mikolashek, commander of Army Central Command (ARCENT), whether his command could provide a blocking force between al Qaeda and the Pakistani border, according to David W. Lamm, who was then commander of ARCENT Kuwait.

Lamm, a retired Army colonel, recalled in an interview that there was no way to fulfill the CENTCOM commander's request, because ARCENT had neither the troops nor the strategic lift in Kuwait required to put such a force in place. "You looked at that request, and you just shook your head," recalled Lamm, now chief of staff of the Near East South Asia Centre for Strategic Studies at the National Defence University.

Franks apparently already realised that he would need Pakistani help in blocking the al Qaeda exit from Tora Bora. Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld told a National Security Council meeting that Franks "wants the [Pakistanis] to close the transit points between Afghanistan and Pakistan to seal what's going in and out", according to the National Security Council meeting transcript in Bob Woodward's book "Bush at War".

Bush responded that they would need to "press Musharraf to do that".

A few days later, Franks made an unannounced trip to Islamabad to ask Musharraf to deploy troops along the Pakistan-Afghan border near Tora Bora.

A deputy to Franks, Lt. Gen. Mike DeLong, later claimed that Musharraf had refused Franks's request for regular Pakistani troops to be repositioned from the north to the border near the Tora Bora area. DeLong wrote in his 2004 book "Inside Centcom" that Musharraf had said he "couldn't do that", because it would spark a "civil war" with a hostile tribal population.

But U.S. Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin, who accompanied Franks to the meeting with Musharraf, provided an account of the meeting to this writer that contradicts DeLong's claim.

Chamberlin, now president of the Middle East Institute in Washington, recalled that the Pakistani president told Franks that CENTCOM had vastly underestimated what was required to block bin Laden exit from Afghanistan. Musharraf said, "Look you are missing the point: there are 150 valleys through which al Qaeda are going to stream into Pakistan," according to Chamberlin.

Although Musharraf admitted that the Pakistani government had never exercised control over the border area, the former diplomat recalled, he said this was "a good time to begin". The Pakistani president offered to redeploy 60,000 troops to the area from the border with India but said his army would need airlift assistance from the United States to carry out the redeployment.

But the Pakistani redeployment never happened, according to Lamm, because it wasn't logistically feasible. Lamm recalled that it would have required an entire aviation brigade, including hundreds of helicopters, and hundreds of support troops to deliver that many combat troops to the border region -- far more than was available.

Lamm said the ARCENT had so few strategic lift resources that it had to use commercial aircraft at one point to move U.S. supplies in and out of Afghanistan.

Even if the helicopters had been available, however, they could not have operated with high effectiveness in the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border region near the Tora Bora caves, according to Lamm, because of the combination of high altitude and extreme weather.

Franks did manage to insert 1,200 Marines to Kandahar on Nov. 26 to establish control of the airbase there. They were carried to the base by helicopters from an aircraft carrier that had steamed into the Gulf from the Pacific, according to Lamm.

The marines patrolled roads in the Kandahar area hoping to intercept al Qaeda officials heading toward Pakistan. But DeLong, now retired from the Army, said in an interview that the Marines would not have been able to undertake the blocking mission at the border. "It wouldn't have worked -- even if we could have gotten them up there," he said. "There weren't enough to police 1,500 kilometres of border."

U.S. troops probably would also have faced armed resistance from the local tribal population in the border region, according to DeLong. The tribesmen in local villages near the border "liked bin Laden," he said "because he had given them millions of dollars."

Had the Bush administration's priority been to capture or kill the al Qaeda leadership, it would have deployed the necessary ground troops and airlift resources in the theatre over a period of months before the offensive in Afghanistan began.

"You could have moved American troops along the Pakistani border before you went into Afghanistan," said Lamm. But that would have meant waiting until spring 2002 to take the offensive against the Taliban, according to Lamm.

The views of Bush's key advisers, however, ruled out any such plan from the start. During the summer of 2001, Rumsfeld had refused to develop contingency plans for military action against al Qaeda in Afghanistan despite a National Security Presidential Directive adopted at the Deputies' Committee level in July and by the Principles on Sep. 4 that called for such planning, according to the 9/11 Commission report.

Rumsfeld and Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz resisted such planning for Afghanistan because they were hoping that the White House would move quickly on military intervention in Iraq. According to the 9/11 Commission, at four deputies' meetings on Iraq between May 31 and Jul. 26, 2001, Wolfowitz pushed his idea to have U.S. troops seize all the oil fields in southern Iraq.

Even after Sep. 11, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Vice President Dick Cheney continued to resist any military engagement in Afghanistan, because they were hoping for war against Iraq instead.

Bush's top secret order of Sep. 17 for war with Afghanistan also directed the Pentagon to begin planning for an invasion of Iraq, according to journalist James Bamford's book "Pretext for War".

Cheney and Rumsfeld pushed for a quick victory in Afghanistan in NSC meetings in October, as recounted by both Woodward and Undersecretary of Defence Douglas Feith. Lost in the eagerness to wrap up the Taliban and get on with the Iraq War was any possibility of preventing bin Laden's escape to Pakistan.

*Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specialising in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam", was published in 2006.

OVP Implicitly Claims Evidence of Illegal Activity Does Not Need To Be Retained

By testing - September 24, 2008, 1:20PM

Vice President Implicitly Admits To Not Fully Retaining All Legally Required Documents under Geneva, FISA

There's been some interesting give and take between the Vice President and Congress overs records retention. CREW attempted to review some documents, and OVP balked.The court essentially confirmed our suspicions: The OVP has parsed the legal language, as was done with Geneva, FISA and the Constitution, to justify hiding evidence of illegal activity. It will be interesting to compare the OVP records retention-compliance with the disclosures in the DoD emails.

Member of Congress Connection

Once Congress quickly moved on the financial issues this last week, Congress has a problem with Geneva:

The war crimes prosecutors could reasonably conclude Congress, in quickly responding to the US financial problems, showed the timeline it could work when faced with a significant legal problem. Members of Congress might be prosecuted for not similarly quickly moving on the Geneva violations.

Likely OVP Failure To Retain Evidence of Geneva Violations

The court noted the OVP view of their legal obligations was narrow, raising the prospect some documents have not been retained, as required:

Court: However, Defendants admit that they have interpreted the PRA in a narrow fashion and have only preserved documentary material in accordance with that narrow interpretation. As such, if Defendants’ interpretation is not correct as a matter of law, there is no question that documents that may be entitled to PRA protection will not receive the statute’s protections.During the negotiations, before the final court order, the OVP and plaintiff CREW attemted to arrive at an agreement. However, Of the court found OVP, in responding to the CREW proposals, parsed language to define their legal obligations and compliance:
Court: [T]he defendants’ declarations offer carefully parsed language establishing only that defendants are preserving two subsets of vice presidential records

These two subsets are:

Declaration: all the constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the Vice President fall within either

(a) the category of functions of the Vice President specially assigned to the Vice President by the President in the discharge of executive duties and responsibilities, or

(b) the category of the functions of the Vice President as President of the Senate.

Implicitly, the President would not have expressly "delegated" to the OVP the task of covering up war crimes, illegal FISA violations, POW abuse. The Libby Grand Jury testimony re Plame shows that the agreements were wink-wink, and not (necessarily) expressly assigned.

The problem is the OVP has been linked, in the DoD emails, with activities that fall outside these two subsets. There is no adequate information to know which other OVP activities, other than illegal domestic propoganda and FISA violations during wartime, also fall outside these two subsets. The OVP has essentially claimed that anything that is outside these two subsets is not subject to any legal requirement, oversight, review, or document retention requirement. This is a circular arguing to claim that evidence of illegal activity -- extending outside the law, and unrelated to the two subsets -- cannot be subject to any legal retention requirement. They're saying the National Archives cannot have access to evidence of unlawful OVP activity, which -- by their definition -- would fall outside the two subsets.

SECRECY NEWS update

SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2008, Issue No. 93
September 24, 2008

Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

** COURT ORDERS RELEASE OF DETAINEE ABUSE PHOTOGRAPHS
** COURT ORDERS PRESERVATION OF VICE PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS
** NEW LIGHT ON PRIVATE SECURITY CONTRACTORS IN IRAQ
** DEPT OF DEFENSE ROLE IN FOREIGN ASSISTANCE, AND MORE FROM CRS


COURT ORDERS RELEASE OF DETAINEE ABUSE PHOTOGRAPHS

A federal court of appeals this week affirmed that 21 photographs depicting abusive treatment of detainees by U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan must be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act.

"The public interest in disclosure of these photographs is strong," the Second Circuit panel concluded in a September 22 ruling in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union and other plaintiffs.

The ruling carefully analyzed and rejected several government arguments against disclosure.

Among other things, the government had contended that the photographs should be exempted from disclosure under FOIA exemption 7(F), which protects law enforcement records that "could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual." Government attorneys said that release of the photographs (which were gathered in the
course of an Army criminal investigation) could be used to incite violence against U.S. forces, coalition forces or civilians in Iraq or Afghanistan, and should therefore be withheld.

But even if potential incitement is a valid concern, the court said, it would not provide a basis for invoking FOIA exemption 7(F), which was intended to serve as "a shield against specific threats to particular individuals arising out of law enforcement investigations, never as a means of suppressing worldwide political violence." The exemption is not supposed to be "an all-purpose damper on global controversy."

In short, the court ruled, the cited FOIA exemption cannot be used as "an ersatz classification system" to bar access to these unclassified photographs.

Nor can the government legitimately invoke the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions that protect prisoners "against insults and public curiosity."

"Both of these treaties were designed to prevent the abuse of prisoners," the court explained. "Neither treaty is intended to curb those who seek information about prisoner abuse in an effort to help deter it."

At the end of World War II, the court noted, the government itself "widely disseminated photographs of prisoners in Japanese and German prison and concentration camps. These photographs of emaciated prisoners, corpses, and remains of prisoners depicted detainees in states of powerlessness and subjugation similar to those endured by the detainees depicted in the photographs at issue here. Yet the United States championed the use and dissemination of such photographs to hold perpetrators accountable."

In the same way, "Release of the photographs is likely to further the purposes of the Geneva Conventions by deterring future abuse of prisoners," the court concluded.

A copy of the 52 page ruling in ACLU et al v. Department of Defense et al is posted here:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/aclu092208.pdf

"These photographs demonstrate that the abuse of prisoners held in U.S. custody abroad was not aberrational and not confined to Abu Ghraib, but the result of policies adopted by high-ranking officials," said Amrit Singh, the ACLU attorney who argued the case.

"Their release is critical for bringing an end to the administration's torture policies and for deterring further prisoner abuse," Ms. Singh said.

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/36882prs20080922.html


COURT ORDERS PRESERVATION OF VICE PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS

In a rare judicial rebuff to the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney, a federal court issued a preliminary injunction requiring the preservation of Vice Presidential records over the objections of Administration attorneys.

A lawsuit brought by Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) along with historians and others alleged that the Office of Vice President had improperly limited the scope of records that it said would be preserved under the Presidential Records Act, and that records outside the scope of that definition were liable to be destroyed.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly agreed that there was no legal basis on the record for the Vice President's position. On September 20, she ordered the government to preserve all official Vice Presidential records "without regard to any limiting definitions that Defendants may believe are
appropriate."

http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/crew092008.pdf

"It's a pretty strong opinion," said Anne Weismann, chief counsel for CREW. "They will be prevented from destroying anything. It basically means they have to preserve everything in the broadest possible interpretation of what the law requires -- not their narrow interpretation."

http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/34245


NEW LIGHT ON PRIVATE SECURITY CONTRACTORS IN IRAQ

The use of thousands of private security contractors in Iraq represents a quantitatively new feature of U.S. military operations, but relatively little has been publicly disclosed about the contractual arrangements involved.

The war in Iraq "is apparently the first time that the United States has depended so extensively on contractors to provide security in a hostile environment," according to a recently updated Congressional Research Service report.

But "the use of armed contractors raises several concerns, including transparency and accountability," the CRS report said.

"The lack of public information on the terms of the contracts, including their costs and the standards governing hiring and performance, make evaluating their efficiency difficult. The apparent lack of a practical means to hold contractors accountable under U.S. law for abuses and other transgressions, and the possibility that they could be prosecuted by foreign courts, is also a source of concern," the CRS report said.

Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by David Isenberg of United Press International, new information is now available on the U.S. State Department's Worldwide Personal Protective Services (WPPS) contract, which provides security services throughout Iraq (as well as Afghanistan, Bosnia and Israel).

UPI obtained the WPPS contract specifications from the State Department and reported on the material in "Dogs of War: WPPS World" by David Isenberg, September 19:

http://www.metimes.com/Security/2008/09/19/dogs_of_war_wpps_world/51b1/

The newly disclosed contract material itself was posted by UPI here:

http://r.m.upi.com/other/12216818791223.pdf

Extensive background information on the issue is available from the Congressional Research Service in "Private Security Contractors in Iraq: Background, Legal Status, and Other Issues," updated August 25, 2008:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32419.pdf


DEPT OF DEFENSE ROLE IN FOREIGN ASSISTANCE, AND MORE FROM CRS

The structure, development and ramifications of growing U.S. Department of
Defense foreign assistance activities are described in a major new report
from the Congressional Research Service. See "The Department of Defense
Role in Foreign Assistance: Background, Major Issues, and Options for
Congress," August 25, 2008:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL34639.pdf

Other noteworthy new reports from CRS that have not been made readily
available to the public include the following.

"Pay-for-Performance: The National Security Personnel System," September
17, 2008:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL34673.pdf

"The Defense Base Act (DBA): The Federally Mandated Workers' Compensation
System for Overseas Government Contractors," September 15, 2008:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL34670.pdf

"The North Korean Economy: Leverage and Policy Analysis," updated August
26, 2008:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32493.pdf

"Presidential Claims of Executive Privilege: History, Law, Practice and
Recent Developments," updated August 21, 2008:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/secrecy/RL30319.pdf

"Periods of War," updated August 19, 2008:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS21405.pdf

"The Manhattan Project, the Apollo Program, and Federal Energy Technology
R&D Programs: A Comparative Analysis," September 3, 2008:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34645.pdf

CITIZEN'S UNITE!! defend the citizen's arrest warrants in DC !!!

September 23, 2008

CONTACT: Elliot Adams 518-441-2697, Ellen Barfield 410-948-8023, Tarak Kauff 845 249-9489

IRAQ AND VIETNAM WAR VETERANS OCCUPY NATIONAL ARCHIVES BUILDING

"Arresting Bush and Cheney for war crimes will honor our oath to the Constitution," vets say.

On Tuesday morning, September 23, 7:30am, at the front of the National Archives Building on Constitution Ave. in Washington, D.C., five military veterans will risk arrest as they climb a 9-foot retaining fence and occupy a 35-foot high ledge to raise a 22x8 foot banner stating, "DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!"

The group, which includes Vietnam and Iraq War veterans, has declared its intention to stay on the ledge, fasting for 24 hours

"in remembrance of those who have perished and those still suffering from the crimes of the Bush administration,"

according to a written statement. With a portable PA system, they will broadcast recorded statements from prominent Americans for the impeachment and/or arrest of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney.

"Citizens Arrest Warrants" will be distributed to people waiting in line to enter the National Archives.

The veterans emphasized they are taking this action because "Bush and Cheney's serial abuse of the Law of the Land clearly marks them as domestic enemies of the Constitution. They have illegally invaded and occupied Iraq, deliberately destroyed civilian infrastructure, authorized torture, and unlawfully detained prisoners. These actions clearly mark them as war criminals. Accountability extends beyond impeachment to prosecution for war crimes even after their terms of office expire."

"We take this action as a last resort," their statement added. "For years we have pursued every avenue open to good, vigilant citizens to bring these men to justice, to re-establish the rule of law, and to restore the balance of power described in our Constitution. We are not disturbing the peace; we are attempting to restore the peace. We are not conducting ourselves in a disorderly manner; our action is well-ordered and well-considered. We are not trespassing; we have come to the home of our Constitution to honor our oath to defend it."

Those participating are all members of Veterans For Peace and include Elliott Adams: 61, NY, VFP President and former Army paratrooper in Viet Nam; Ellen Barfield: 52, MD, former U.S. Army Sgt., full-time peace and justice advocate; Kim Carlyle: 61, NC, mountain homesteader, former Army Spec 5, 828-626-2572; Diane Wilson: 59, TX, shrimp boat captain, former Army medic, 361-785-4680; Doug Zachary: 58, TX, VFP staff, former USMC LCpl discharged as a conscientious objector, 512-791-9824; and Tarak Kauff (ground support) 67, NY, painting contractor, former U.S. Army Airborne.

Founded in 1985, VFP has 120 chapters throughout the country and has actively protested the Afghanistan and Iraq wars since their inception. Membership includes men and women veterans of all eras and duty stations spanning the Spanish Civil War, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq. VFP is an official Non Governmental Organization (NGO) represented at
the UN.

##

---

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 213-251-1025
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311

Cheney's secrecy - coming to an end ??? HAHAHAHA

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge on Saturday ordered Dick Cheney to preserve a wide range of the records from his time as vice president.

Dick Cheney and the Bush administration were sued to ensure that presidential records are not destroyed.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly is a setback for the Bush administration in its effort to promote a narrow definition of materials that must be safeguarded under by the Presidential Records Act.

The Bush administration's legal position "heightens the court's concern" that some records may not be preserved, said the judge.

A private group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, is suing Cheney and the Executive Office of the President in an effort to ensure that no presidential records are destroyed or handled in a way that makes them unavailable to the public.

In a 22-page opinion, the judge revealed that in recent days, lawyers for the Bush administration balked at a proposed agreement between the two sides on how to proceed with the case.

Cheney and the other defendants in the case "were only willing to agree to a preservation order that tracked their narrowed interpretation" of the Presidential Records Act, wrote Kollar-Kotelly.

Don't Miss

• Read the opinion (PDF)
• Read the order (PDF)

The administration, said the judge, wanted any court order on what records are at issue in the case to cover only the office of the vice president, not Cheney or the other defendants in the lawsuit.

The other defendants are the Executive Office of the President and the National Archives.

The lawsuit stems from Cheney's position that his office is not part of the executive branch of government.

This summer, Cheney chief of staff David Addington told Congress that the vice president belongs to neither the executive nor legislative branch of government but rather is attached by the Constitution to Congress. The vice president presides over the Senate.

The lawsuit alleges that the Bush administration's actions over the past 7½ years raise questions over whether the White House will turn over records created by Cheney and his staff to the National Archives in January.

In 2003, Cheney asserted that the office of the vice president is not an entity within the executive branch.

Two historians and three groups of historians and archivists joined CREW in filing the suit two weeks ago.

Military Judge Finds Political Manipulation in Gitmo, Again: Scott Horton

By Scott Horton

The proceedings in the Guantánamo military commissions continue, and the professional participants continue to grapple with the poorly disguised efforts of the Bush Administration to fix the outcome. JAG attorneys active in the commissions have frequently cited Thomas W. Hartmann as the source of their concerns. Hartmann, whose civilian job is general counsel to Mxenergy Holdings Inc., the Stamford, Connecticut gas producer and distributor, was handpicked and brought out of the JAG reserves to serve as the Bush Administration’s stage manager for the Guantánamo productions. His formal position is as “legal advisor” to Susan J. Crawford, the convening authority. Crawford, a retired military judge, previously worked for Dick Cheney and is known as a crony of David Addington.

In concept, Hartmann plays a supervisory role over the process in an administrative sense. He is also supposed to review decisions of the commissions and make a recommendation to Crawford before he passes them on to her for finalization and approval. However, according to testimony taken in the Gitmo proceedings, Hartmann played his hand crudely from the outset. He appeared before a Senate committee suggesting repeatedly his belief that torture-induced evidence could be used, and denying that waterboarding was torture. His highly evasive performance caused Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to express disgust.

When the first charges were announced, Hartmann appeared on national television brandishing harsh labels and prejudging cases on which he was slated to exercise an appellate review function—raising questions under professional ethics rules which later fueled challenges against him.

As the cases proceeded, accounts of Hartmann’s bullying and intimidation of other lawyers participating in the process circulated. In the Salim Hamdan case, his involvement drew a challenge, and after the court heard evidence of Hartmann’s improper conduct that included specific allegations that he was jockeying to have cases publicized and tried “before the elections,” he was banned from involvement in the case. Hartmann refused to resign, and protested that he was doing precisely what was called for by his job description.

In the last week, Hartmann faced a second challenge in another case. The former chief prosecutor, Colonel Moe Davis, testified that Hartmann had lobbied hard for the prosecution of an Afghan detainee named Mohammed Jawad, apparently because Hartmann felt the case would play well to an American television audience. Davis was followed by Gen. Gregory Zanetti, who testified that Hartmann routinely bullied other attorneys and was inappropriately aggressive in pushing for prosecution of certain cases that he felt had media value. Zanetti concluded that Hartmann’s behavior was “abusive, bullying and unprofessional. . . pretty much across the board.” Consistent with his public remarks, Hartmann’s actions reflected a particular bias in favor of aggressive prosecution of cases which he feels could be exploited politically to the advantage of the Bush Administration.

The current chief prosecutor, Col. Lawrence Morris, defended Hartmann, stating that the issues raised reflected nothing more than “a superficial personality conflict.” Morris is Hartmann’s direct subordinate. Interestingly, this is the same defense that Hartmann adopted when his conduct became the subject of an internal Defense Department probe.

Now a second military judge, Col. Steve Henley, has ordered Hartmann’s removal from the proceedings, sustaining the accusations raised against him. In an order handed down on Friday, Hartmann was banned from participation in the case, and the defense counsel were advised that they could make submissions in their quest for access to exculpatory evidence directly to Crawford, bypassing Hartmann.

For an attorney to be formally admonished and removed from legal proceedings twice for unprofessional conduct is an extraordinary matter. However, Hartmann is defiant, insisting that his actions are proper. One wonders if the disciplinary authorities of the Connecticut bar are following these developments.

Update: Readers advise me over the weekend that Hartmann is not a member of the bar in the state in which he most recently practiced, Connecticut, but he is admitted in Illinois and Missouri.

IS IT, IS IT, WWWIII ????

The Chessboard

"In life it is always so much easier to understand the game, if you know the rules, " the British will inform people of a lesser flag, and, as usual they are quite correct in their advice.

There seems to be a great deal of excitement over what is going on in the nation state of Georgia, with break away provinces and now Russians getting into the fight. What people do not understand in their zeal of not liking what is occurring is it doesn't matter who started this as it is started.

What matters are the relevant facts.

Fact 1: The world just witnessed a "tell". Vladamir Putin is quite adept at the chess game when he has time to sort out moves. He can use Polonium 210 to nuke a British subject and can counter George W. Bush feinting about putting missile shields in Poland and the Czech Republic by talking about landing nuclear bombers in Cuba, but when the big punch comes, Vladamir Putin does not think. He reacts and does so very badly which bring us to Fact 2.

Fact 2: This is not George Bush, neocons or Zionists. This is George Bush and Dick Cheney being allowed to set up a strategy for the guys peaking from behind Jacob Rothschild and David Rockefeller, namely a President Barack Obama of this week and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, so they can initiate Bishop Brzezinski's opus rectus.

As the British say, "It is so much easier if you know the players."

Fact 3: In one day, little children in the Warsaw Pact who had Russian Soviets raping their mothers and sisters for 50 years were reminded what life with Russia is like. In one day, every Muslim is remembering the difference between war with America and war with Russia in Afghanistan and Chechnya. In one day, every little child from England to the Ukraine is remembering Putin's tantrum one cold winter's night in cutting off oil and gas.

No one is remembering America being aggressive. Everyone is looking at those Russian tanks rolling into Georgian lands.

Fact 4: Georgia and the Ukraine got exactly the reaction they desired in exposing Russian aggression. Jacob Rothschild and David Rockefeller got exactly what they wanted in exposing Russian aggression herding the rest of the world to be afraid of them, and, Zbigniew Brzezinski got exactly what he wanted in positioning Russia for the Caspian Gambit and now in this Georgian Feint, Russia if it acts out again in a few months will be deemed by the world the evil empire again.
Check.

As noted in this blog a week ago when everyone was claiming that America had screwed up and lost the Caspian Basin oil and gas fields, it was pointed out that the west had no intention of those fields for now or for the reason of building a pipeline from them.

Russia can develop them now like bio fuels are being allowed to be developed for the purpose of the cartel taking over them later, but the Caspian is a gambit which now has Russia and China lured into a region it will be forced to defend as front in a war.

Different groups have different reasons. George Bush's sect which is Sec. Robert Gates line with John McCain want a Eurasian war fought in the Caspian as it is less populated for civilian deaths.
Zbigniew Brzezinski personally as it was exposed here wants the Caspian line as it will draw off one of Russia's spears meant for Europe in war which will leave his native Poland untouched in that war.

The Rothschilds desire the Caspian as they had it, Putin took it from them and booted them out and they want it developed for free before they take it back and rub probably his corpse's nose in it.

Georgia is a brilliant feint and the profile of Vladamir Putin showed he would react and did as he was expected to do when called out of bed by his generals telling him in hysteria that Georgia was blowing the berussian out of Russians.

Vladamir Putin of course is going to be furious over this, not because of what Georgia or the cartel did, but because he got suckered by his worst enemy in himself. Of course, the profile also will on Mr. Putin relate what this son of Japeth will do when the next gambit occurs.

This is what Georgia is immediately about. China is having terrorists problems from Islamic Chinese and Turkmenistan separatists. They seeing Russia now being embarrassed and remembering not so fondly Tibet's press in their murderous overture will not be so keen on acting out for the Persian communists.

China after all as it beats Christians and imprisons citizens has that glow of the Olympics and it likes looking like pretty Peking girl in the window again and does not want to loose the Peking tart.

Russia, of course, will now look at an allied battle group steaming into the Persian Gulf to stop shipments of refinery chemicals to Iran as something if it reacts on will have the entire world knowing the 2000 pound Siberian bear is chewing up the world again, and, see it's military option gone.

It is accepted that Vladamir Putin will not react this time, but sit on his hands fuming as leverage against the Islamocommunists of Iran brings the Iranian people out against the Persian communists.

While it is easy to see the obvious which was being warned here of people not to be building companies and investing in that region, unless of course it was a Rockefeller, Rothschild or Soros project, the future in this Biblical proportions board do take some God given insight.

Vladamir Putin now has himself to blame for reacting into this which he was profiled to do, and, why it was done now. He will now have this inside of him simmering to a boil.

If he reacts again, then the central Europeans will get exactly what they want in a reformed empire led by Germany, Italy and Greece.

If he does not react, the Persian communist regime will be toppled and the Russians and Chinese will have another front on the Caspian to contend with as this projects north into the "stans" which in the Caspian Gambit will have this turmoil fomenting within their borders.

Of course, the Russian GRU and Chinese PLA will crush internal opposition and it will crush them as the civilians revolt.

So the Russians and Chinese both understand time is short. They will in due time as they recover have to react and march their troops out and start the third World War.

There are Chicoms now sitting in Peking having the dawn of understanding come upon them. They went to bed drunk with euphoria over wedding Russia in their gambit to force America out of the region and in time spoil her of Alaska and make the west vassal states.
Now though in the faint light of what Vladamir Putin just did, they are seeing they married the 300 pound ugly girl in the sack dress and they are stuck as she has the oil and the munitions which China either keeps cuddling or they will be turned upon her.

Granted, it is much easier if one knows the rules of the game, but before people start thinking a lost Caspian is a loss, they should remember this is world chess and a game played by the elite.

I will repeat, this is a game of the elite they amuse themselves with it for centuries while they wait for the real prize this has been all about all along.

It is not the gold of David Rockefeller, but they worship it for the alchemy it brings for the sign on Jacob Rothschild's piece.

This is a game, so there is no need to be excited about it, but to only enjoy the tacticians moves as they play as that is what they really desire.

The real prize is what the Rothschilds hold in that simple drawing and it is why they hold it.


agtG

Posted by Lame Cherry

must read on Georgia-Russia war scenario

9.08.2008

Save the little nation from the annihilation!

Stop the genocide of the Ossetians!

The nationalistic and fascist government of Georgia from the year 1989 support the policy of the annihilation and the impression of the aboriginal Ossetian population from the territory that they occupy. From 1991 as a consequence of repeated military actions that were undertaken by the criminal authorities of Georgia against the small nations and the national purge murdered thousands of people –Ossetians, Abkhazians, Armenians, Russians. At the same time the scale of the genocide passed over the silence by mass media. The atrocity of the Georgian fascists, the tortures surpassed the one of the German fascists during the World War II.

The Georgian nation is sick, the ideas of the national oneness, justifying the territorial claims are warmed up by the Georgian mass media. The government of Georgia is financed by the USA, having it's own geopolitical interests in the region. Now the tragedy is developed, the Ossetian people are systematically shot in own houses, perish under blockages of the destroyed houses. The Georgian fascists have destroyed, have wiped about Ossetian villages, the city of Tskhinval is in ruins. It's impossible to count up the quantity of victims, that were buried under blockages of the houses destroyed by fire of the Georgian aggressors, the account goes on thousand. Groans of people from under blockages are audible. The Republic hospital where had helped to the wounded man was destroyed by the Georgian artillery, under blockages were wounded men and medical workers who could not be released under heavy fire of the opponent. Thus the Georgian party cynically declares the constitutional order prompting, one for another offers insinuations to accuse the Russian or Ossetian parts in the conflict. The people of Abkhazia will be the following victims of the Georgian extremism. We ask for the help, solidarity, and if it is possible with an exit on the international sites. Let the world knows the truth, instead of presented by the Georgian masters of falsifications lie.

IА “Рес”

. . . »»»

Inal Pliev: "It's necessary to suppress emphatically these volley plants, the armor-piercing techniques and all those instruments of murder that shoot at the peace town" At this moment the massed, intense, extremely cruel shelling of the housing estate of Tskhinval from the howitzers, mortars, artillery, IFV, tanks with using the system of the volley fire "Grad" from the direction of the Georgian villages continues. The bombardment goes on with the persistent volleys with the intervals under one second. This information was supplemented with the chief of the information department of the South Ossetian part of the Control Committee Inal Pliev. Here is the entire text. There are the hits to the houses that are situated in the immediate region of the boundary. There is fire and smoke around of us. Continues the intimidation and the oppression of the peaceful population. I suppose that the number of the victims will increase badly. But I have no idea about the number of victims, because we are in the shelters. Just now Saakashvily have declared by the radio that "gained a victory over the Russian Federation and Georgian troops are in the zone of the conflict and control Tskhinval totally and the Ossetian separatists will be obliterated". He also made the number of victims of the Ossetian part public (1500 persons). "I don't fight against the peaceful population, but with the gangsters". But in such a small nation can't exist 1500 gangsters. It's obviously that it is done to receive any political dividends. This war don't directed at the political victory, it is directed at total destruction of the peaceful nation. Now it is known that in the villages that have been occupied and that are released now the Georgians have taken away the Ossetian hostages. On the side of Georgia fight the international terrorists that had taken part in the war in Chechnya. It's especially discomposedly that the Georgian part hide the huge number of hostages from the Ossetian villages. This signify that they will be meanly killed as it was done earlier during the previous conflicts. I think that it was wise of Russia to provide safety of civilian population, by talking with the Georgians their native war language. The Russian collaboration is not enough, because the Georgians used heavy artillery against Tskhinval yesterday and today too. It`s necessary to destroy that artillery, because our people are dying, owr town is practically broken to pieses, otherwise South Osetia will be totally destroyed. Inal Pliev, the chief of the information department of the South Ossetian part of the Control Committee. . . . »»»

People of the Republic of South Ossetia apply for the government of the Russian Federation and for the people of Russia! The International Community that has been hypnotized with the crying misinformation of the government of Georgia and the cynical insinuations of Saakashvily doesn't undertake any measures to cut off the military actions of the Georgian part. On the contrary, they make different attempts to deprive the people of the South Ossetia of the peacemaking support and, in that way, doom them to the absolute destruction with the Georgian fascists. Meanwhile, the Georgian nationalists achieve their aims annihilating nearly one and a half thousand people of the South Ossetia and depriving the roofs and making the potential refugees the others. The irrepressible national ambitions and the territorial pretensions are warm up with the Georgian mass media, the supporting of the USA – the world-wide predominant force that has it's own interests in the region. When in April of 1989 in Tbilisi in the result of the dispersal of the unapproved antistate and nationalistic meeting perished 20 Georgian women, the Georgian part demonstrated the national hysteria with the involving of the universal mass media. Though, there is the data that those events also were the skilled insinuation of the Georgian "masters of the theatrical genre". And now, when thousands of people die, the Georgian nation triumphs, approving of the actions of their fascist government. The West is deaf. To live as a part of the fascist state is impossible. We ask for the juridical and legal help for recognizing the independence of the South Ossetia. And we ask for the help in the reducing the truth about the tragedy to the International Community, the RF and the common people. Читать на русском . . . »»»

Tskhinval is under the most frightful fire Innocent Ossetian civilians and Russian citizens killed: exact numbers cannot be established A massive and intensive shelling of the South Ossetian capital Tskhinval continues today as the city endures it's the worst attacks so far in the upsurge of violence in the Caucasus. While much of the civilian population in the capital are sheltering in their houses, many cannot take refuge from the bombs as their homes have been destroyed. There are still many women, children and elderly residents remaining in the city and, according to the latest information available, the city continues to resist the incursion of Georgian troops and has still not been captured. Georgian armed formations and heavy artillery have been accused of doing everything in their power to raze Ossetia with no regard to the safety of the civilian population. читать на русском . . . »»»

8.08.2008 - 11:52 Georgian SU-25 planes dropped bombs on civilians. In these minutes Georgian SU-25 planes dropped bombs on the peaceful citizens of the Republic of South Ossetia. SU-25 also strikes at ossetian village Kvernet, and bypass road,Zar, the only road, which links South Ossetia with the North. Perfidious massive bombardment of Tskhinval by the morning became more intense. In the city and its environs are fighting with heavy weapons. The people of South Ossetia requests assistance from the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev and the Government of Russian Federation to take urgent measures to protect the residents of South Ossetia, which are citizens of the Russian Federation and to do everything to stop the genocide of the Ossetian people. According to preliminary data, in the city killed more than 15 civilians. The Georgian convoy of tanks and infantry is moving towards Tshinval. Already devastated a large part of the town. Several buildings in the center of the city burn. Parliament House RYUO burned, the government buildings complex is damaged. High-rise housing and other residential buildings are burning. Читать на русском . . . »»»

Eduard Kokoity: «Situation is extremely deteriorated by the Georgian side» South Ossetia intended to take resolute measures on the facts of shelling of Ossetian settlements by the Georgian side. This was stated by the President of the Republic of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity. «Presently the situation is very serious. At the height above Nuli village Georgians are constructing another post. We will take most tough decisions in this regard, for this are band formations and they are shelling our villages. The situation is aggravating from the Georgian side»-claimed Eduard Kokoity. . . . »»»

Georgian militaries fired funeral procession Georgian armed formations fired the funeral procession in Mugut village, Znaur region of RSO. As the Minister of Interior informed IA «Res» correspondent there was a funeral of RSO law enforcement organs serviceman Anatoly Kabisov killed during the firing of RSO MIA post in Velit village on the night from 1 to 2 August. . . . »»»

Georgian militaries fired funeral procession Georgian armed formations fired the funeral procession in Mugut village, Znaur region of RSO. As the Minister of Interior informed IA «Res» correspondent there was a funeral of RSO law enforcement organs serviceman Anatoly Kabisov killed during the firing of RSO MIA post in Velit village on the night from 1 to 2 August. . . . »»»

4.08.2008 - 17:09

Eduard Kokoity: «It is a meanness to shoot innocent people with sniper weapons, to hide behind the churches and to build fortifications at the cemeteries»

The President of the Republic of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity received the delegation from North Ossetia. They discussed the situation created over South Ossetia last days. All the participants mentioned the complexity of situation. Eduard Kokoity emphasized that the people should not yield to the provocations organized by the Georgian side, whatever tragic and grave as it may be.

. . . »»»

Cheney's still out and about

Dick Cheney, Still Rested and Ready for Duty

July 11, 2008 11:20 AM ET | Paul Bedard | Permanent Link

Give Vice President Dick Cheney credit for sticking to his heart healthy diet. Just look at this great picture of the fit veep. This was taken at a Maryland pony camp he was visiting this month. We have a story about the visit in the upcoming Washington Whispers column that goes live on the Web late Friday. While at the camp, lots of kids and parents approached him for snapshots and he stayed until everybody got their picture. Here he's with Katie and Morgan Coley, two very cute twins. "It's quite nice to see that he is just like us sometimes," says mom Jeanne Coley.

Books of note: Standard Operating Procedure

INTELLIGENCE
Abu Ghraib: The Back Story

How the United States took an infamous Iraqi prison and made it even more notorious.

Reviewed by Douglas Brinkley
Sunday, July 13, 2008; Page BW04

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

By Philip Gourevitch and Errol Morris
This Story

*
COVER REVIEW: Collateral Damage
*
Tuesday, July 15, 3 p.m. ET: Book World: 'The Dark Side'
*
INTELLIGENCE: Abu Ghraib: The Back Story

Penguin Press. 286 pp. $25.95

Even before the U.S. government seized control of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the correctional facility 20 miles from Baghdad had been a factory of torture and annihilation. Under Saddam Hussein's demented administration, the prison was a death house where beatings and hangings were commonplace. Constructed in the mid-'60s by British engineers with American blueprints, the campus-like penal colony was where Saddam denied human rights with the sadistic flare of Goebbels. Prisoners were subjected to dungeons, electric shocks, sleep deprivation and castration. Arms and hands were chopped off as punishment. Saddam's son, Qusay, acting as chief of the secret police, is said to have ordered mass executions for his own carnival-like amusement.

But in October 2002 the reign of terror at Abu Ghraib abruptly ended. President George W. Bush, brimming with post-9/11 indignation and hubris, threatened to go to war with Iraq, convinced by intelligence reports that Saddam was hiding weapons of mass destruction. The mere threat of U.S. intervention had a salubrious effect at Abu Ghraib: Nearly 10,000 Iraqis descended on the penal camp as if storming the Bastille. Saddam quickly ordered all prisoners released, realizing he couldn't afford widespread anarchy while warring with the Great Satan. Oddly, the fleeing convicts, instead of indulging in pro-American chants, shouted, "Our blood, our souls, we'll sacrifice for you, oh Saddam."

The mass release of Saddam's prisoners is where Philip Gourevitch (editor of the Paris Review and longtime staff writer for the New Yorker) and Errol Morris (Academy Award-winning director of "The Fog of War") begin Standard Operating Procedure, their deeply haunting and brilliantly researched saga of good intentions gone awry. Their project started with Morris interviewing participants in the Abu Ghraib saga for a documentary film, also called "Standard Operating Procedure," which came out earlier this year. Gourevitch then drew on more than 200 hours of Morris's interviews to write the book.

Beginning with the back story of how the U.S. government sent two former directors of the Utah Department of Corrections to establish new prisons in Iraq following Operation Iraqi Freedom, Gourevitch -- with stylistic echoes of Norman Mailer's nonfiction novels on Gary Gilmore and Lee Harvey Oswald -- coolly recounts how America suddenly found itself repopulating Saddam's old dungeons. Writing with a spooky combination of mature historical reflection and a cinematic sense of doom, he amplifies the pioneering reporting of the New Yorker's Seymour Hersh and CBS's "60 Minutes," which broke the Abu Ghraib story almost simultaneously in 2004.

Even though Abu Ghraib had a god-awful reputation during the Saddam years, the U.S. government, unwilling to wait two years to rebuild a new prison, gave the cursed facility a face-lift and went into the incarceration business. The huge Saddam portrait was replaced by a banner in both English and Arabic that read: "America is the friend of all Iraqi people."

Everybody from Ambassador Paul Bremer to Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz failed to understand the atrocious symbolism of Abu Ghraib. They scoffed at officials from Amnesty International and the United Nations who wanted the detention center closed. The absence of an Iraqi government had turned U.S. policymakers into daredevil narcissists, gloating over the fact that Saddam's palace on the Tigris River had become an American garrison.

Meanwhile, workers were ordered to speed up the remodeling of Abu Ghraib, and a huge new tented compound named Camp Ganci (named after a New York firefighter killed on 9/11) was erected on Abu Ghraib's grounds. American troops started picking up prisoners in sweeps, and they needed somewhere to put them. The Bush administration's sanctioned interrogations about the al-Qaeda menace were underway. Ignoring concerns that the United States wasn't adhering to the Geneva Conventions, Vice President Cheney told NBC's Tim Russert that America sometimes had to work "the dark side."

Overseeing this anti-Geneva Conventions attitude was then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Rory Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, made an outstanding documentary in 2007, titled "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib," which strongly suggests that officials well up the chain of command had approved the rough hazing of prisoners. Although Gourevitch and Morris don't focus on Rumsfeld, his indifference to Iraqi culture -- and his inability to shift gears after the U.S. invasion to keeping order and halting a budding insurgency -- hover over the events in this book; bad things happened on his watch.

Anybody looking for a red-white-and-blue "Band of Brothers" lift should not read this book. There isn't a single old-timey patriotic page in Standard Operating Procedure. Members of the Army's 372nd Military Police Company started engaging in jailhouse humiliations at Abu Ghraib, acting without conscience. Inmates were hooded and stripped, forced into sexual acts, repeatedly kicked in the groin. Ferocious dogs barked at them from only one or two feet away, a "black blur of muscle and jaw," in Gourevitch's words. Compounding the tales of horror in Standard Operating Procedure, the U.S. military ultimately found that three out of four Abu Ghraib prisoners had not committed any crime. Even President Bush deemed the prison abuses unacceptable.

Although much of Standard Operating Procedure is about the ghastly photographs taken at Abu Ghraib -- who can forget the hooded prisoner balancing on top of a box with electrical wires connected to his outstretched arms? -- there is not a single image in the book. While I think the lack of pictures was a publishing mistake, it's understandable why Gourevitch and Morris refrained from showing naked Iraqi prisoners being forced to form a flesh pyramid or Sgt. Ivan Fredrick sitting on a prisoner sandwiched between two stretchers. Would our understanding of Abu Ghraib really be enhanced by seeing soldiers Charles Graner and Lynndie England pointing fingers at naked Iraqis' penises? "The photographs have a place in the story," Gourevitch writes, "but they are not the story, and it would be untruthful here to submit once again to their frame."

There are three or four extraordinary set pieces in Standard Operating Procedure. Supreme among them is the story of Sgt. Ken Davis, an MP whose Christian idealism about helping Iraqis turned to hatred for Arabs after his convoy was blown up by an IED. Tasked with driving VIPs to the Baghdad airport and shuttling prisoners out of Abu Ghraib for court hearings, Davis tried to ingratiate himself with the Iraqi villagers by handing out candy and stuffed toys. But that roadside bomb turned him into a monster of rage. "I was in this black, black place," he said. "I wanted to kill. I wanted so bad to pay back."

Sgt. Davis, instead of taking out his frustration on the Iraqi people, turned hostile toward Bush administration policies that placed U.S. soldiers in a "war zone that had been classified as mission accomplished." One afternoon, he watched in frustration as four Iraqi prisoners at Camp Ganci were killed in a riot because guards ran out of non-lethal rounds and opened up with live ammunition. That evening he called his father to say, "Dad, I can't take this. I can't take innocent lives being destroyed by American bullets. I can't do it."

Standard Operating Procedure is a devastating critique of the Bush administration. It inspires outrage at everything and everyone from the Bush Doctrine to former attorney general Alberto Gonzales to the CIA. Yet, Gourevitch laments, "the stain is ours, because whatever else the Iraq War was about, it was always, above all, about America -- about the projection of America's force and America's image into the world. Iraq was the stage, and Iraqis would suffer for that, enduring some fifty deaths for every American life lost: in this, and by every other measure of devastation, it was very much their war." ·

Douglas Brinkley is professor of history and fellow at the Baker Institute at Rice University. His recent books include "The Great Deluge" and "The Reagan Diaries."