Three people, including the widow of 7 July bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan, have been released without charge after being questioned over the 2005 attacks.
Hasina Patel, 29, brother Arshad Patel, 30, and Imran Motala, 22, were held on 9 May in West Yorkshire and Birmingham.
Police have been granted a warrant to continue to detain Khalid Khaliq, 34, of Beeston, Leeds, until next Monday.
The four had been held in London on suspicion of commissioning, preparing or instigating acts of terrorism.
Last week's arrests followed an intelligence-led operation involving Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command.
Police searched seven addresses in Dewsbury, Batley and Beeston, all in West Yorkshire, and Birmingham.
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "In all operations some people may be released early without charge while others may remain in custody for further investigation.
"This is not unusual and is to be expected in large and complex criminal investigations."
Source: BBC News
To read the full story, please click on the source
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Israel Jerusalem policy condemned
The international Red Cross has privately accused Israel of reshaping Jerusalem to further its own interests, in violation of international law.
A leaked ICRC report says Israeli policy has far-reaching humanitarian consequences for Palestinians living under occupation in East Jerusalem.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967, and the territory is regarded as occupied land under international law.
But Israel rejects this, and says the report's premise is, therefore, wrong.
The report says Israel shows "general disregard" for its obligations under international humanitarian law and the law of military occupation in particular.
Violations that change the status of East Jerusalem include the West Bank barrier, an outer ring of Jewish settlements around the city and roads to connect Israeli districts and settlements, the report says.
An ICRC spokesman confirmed that leaked quotations in a US newspaper were from a confidential report transmitted in February 2007 to Israel and some other governments.
Source: BBC News
To read the full story, please click on the source
A leaked ICRC report says Israeli policy has far-reaching humanitarian consequences for Palestinians living under occupation in East Jerusalem.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967, and the territory is regarded as occupied land under international law.
But Israel rejects this, and says the report's premise is, therefore, wrong.
The report says Israel shows "general disregard" for its obligations under international humanitarian law and the law of military occupation in particular.
Violations that change the status of East Jerusalem include the West Bank barrier, an outer ring of Jewish settlements around the city and roads to connect Israeli districts and settlements, the report says.
An ICRC spokesman confirmed that leaked quotations in a US newspaper were from a confidential report transmitted in February 2007 to Israel and some other governments.
Source: BBC News
To read the full story, please click on the source
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Investigating Scientology
Shown last night - 8.30, Panorama went uncover to understand Scientology. The documentary showed how you shouldn't call Scientology a cult, they are a religion. The newscaster had been followed by Scientology members throughout his investigation, Tactics employed similar to secret service, and it seems that Scientology are above the law. They also use the Christian cross and have Church, but the culture of Scientology is nothing to do with Christian
BBC News Item
Past issues on Scientology issues, Tom Cruise and South Park
South Part Portion with what Scientology believe in
Keith Olbermann MSNBC news coverage
BBC News Item
Past issues on Scientology issues, Tom Cruise and South Park
South Part Portion with what Scientology believe in
Keith Olbermann MSNBC news coverage
Palestine - Civil War?
Rival Palestinian gunmen battled on the streets of Gaza on Tuesday despite a renewed pledge to curb the biggest surge of factional fighting in months.
Palestinian leaders were expected to renew their appeals for calm in speeches marking the annual "Naqba", or what Palestinians describe as the tragedy that befell them when Israel became a state in 1948.
No deaths were reported in the morning in the on-going fight for supremacy between power-sharing partners Hamas and Fatah. Ten people have been killed since a new round of violence, threatening their coalition government, erupted on Friday.
Masked gunmen ruled Gaza. Residents who risked leaving home darted across streets, shoulders hunched, to the crackle of volleys from automatic weapons.
Source: Reuters UK
To read the full story, please click on the source
Palestinian leaders were expected to renew their appeals for calm in speeches marking the annual "Naqba", or what Palestinians describe as the tragedy that befell them when Israel became a state in 1948.
No deaths were reported in the morning in the on-going fight for supremacy between power-sharing partners Hamas and Fatah. Ten people have been killed since a new round of violence, threatening their coalition government, erupted on Friday.
Masked gunmen ruled Gaza. Residents who risked leaving home darted across streets, shoulders hunched, to the crackle of volleys from automatic weapons.
Source: Reuters UK
To read the full story, please click on the source
Today a Terrorist Talks in London
Today there will be a celebration of 40 years of Occupation of Jerusalem, with the guest speaker Moshe Arens who left America as a young man to join the Zionist terror group the Irgun (see 1st source) which carried out terrorist attacks against Arab civilians and the British authorities in Palestine. Its most infamous attack was the King David Hotel Bombing which killed 91 people. After the Nakba the Irgun terrorists joined the 'Israeli Defence Force' and Moshe Arens went on to hold top posts in the Israeli government, including Minister of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Ambassador to the United States. And tonight he is speaking to assembled guests in North London, to celebrate the dispossession and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians of Jerusalem.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshe_Arens
http://www.zionist.org.uk/Event/posterpage.php?evid=174
Poster:
Yet all mainstream media are not showing this event. The question you have to ask is why?
Monday, May 14, 2007
EU boycotts 'provocative' Israeli anniversary party
Ambassadors from European Union states are to boycott celebrations of the 40th anniversary of Israel's conquest of Arab East Jerusalem this week - in the opening shot of what promises to be a challenging summer for Israeli diplomacy.
The United States ambassador, Richard Jones, is also expected to join the Europeans in snubbing the celebrations .
What Israelis commemorate as the "reunification" of their historic Jewish capital is seen by most of the international community, not to mention the Palestinians, as a unilateral attempt to pre-empt a key issue in any peaceful solution. One-third of the city's 725,000 residents are Palestinians, who have opted to reject offers of Israeli citizenship. Along with most other countries, the Europeans keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian parliament, yesterday welcomed the European boycott as a blow for international law and peace. "The Israelis," she said, "cannot get away with creating facts on the ground and then forcing everybody to fall in line".
Foreign diplomats are likely to be equally wary of celebrating the anniversary of the 1967 June war. Most Israelis cherish it as a glorious victory, but left-wing demonstrators reminded them last week that it heralded 40 years of occupation of Palestinian and Syrian lands.
On the Europeans' behalf, Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the 27-member union, rejected invitations to a Jerusalem Day event at Israel's parliament on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the European Commission said: "... we do not recognise the Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem. We believe that the future of Jerusalem should be settled by negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians".
The British embassy confirmed that Tom Phillips, the ambassador, would not attend the event. "We think it is not appropriate," a spokeswoman explained, "because Jerusalem is one of the unsettled final-status issues."
The Israeli reaction was calculatedly low-key. It is not spoiling for a fight over Jerusalem at this stage. Mark Regev, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: "We are disappointed and unhappy that not all governments will be sending representatives."
He reiterated Israel's long-standing policy: "We have agreed that the issue of Jerusalem is part of final-status talks. We will bring our position to the table. The Palestinians will bring [theirs]. But our position is that Jerusalem will remain the united capital of the Jewish state."
The Israeli cabinet, which met yesterday in the Menachem Begin Heritage Centre overlooking the Old City, approved a 5.75 billion-shekel (£7m) package designed to strengthen Israel's hold on Jerusalem over the next five years. It includes tax relief for charities, hospitals and educational institutions; and transferring more government offices to the city.
Ehud Olmert, the Prime Minister, said the measures would "advance and encourage Jerusalem". But Mohammed Baradeh, an Arab member of the Israeli parliament, protested: "Holding the government meeting across from the walls of the Old City, celebrating the occupation, is a provocation. There will be no peace without two capital cities in Jerusalem."
Source: The Independent UK
Israelis confess to killing Palestinian-police
Israeli police arrested on Monday two Israelis who said they had murdered a Palestinian found dead in Tel Aviv, a police spokesman said. Police spotted the men, aged 21 and 25 and also citizens of France, walking in the city with blood-stained hands, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. The men told the officers they had killed a man and led them to an apartment, where a body was found. Police then arrested them. The man was identified as a 35-year-old taxi driver and an Arab resident of East Jerusalem, Rosenfeld said. "The murder was carried out on a nationalistic level," Rosenfeld said. "Police are continuing the investigation." Israeli media said the Palestinian had been stabbed in the neck. Rosenfeld said he could not elaborate on how the man was killed but said he suffered several wounds.
Source: Reuters
Source: Reuters
Rice rejects 'new Cold War' talk
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has dismissed talk of a new Cold War between Russia and the US, at the start of a visit to Moscow.
Ms Rice said "I think the parallels just frankly have no basis whatsoever", while acknowledging that "it's not an easy time" for Russian-US relations.
The Kremlin has expressed strong opposition to US plans to deploy a missile defence shield in Europe.
Washington's backing for Kosovo's independence has also been attacked.
Source: BBC News
To read the full story, please click on the source
How Much Power does the state of Israel have over the free world
Dutch Documentary: Israel Lobby
Does The Israel Lobby Stifle Free Speech? - BBC chatback
Does The Israel Lobby Stifle Free Speech? - BBC chatback
China launches Nigerian satellite
China has successfully launched a communications satellite for Nigeria.
The official Xinhua news agency says it is the first time that a foreign buyer has purchased both a Chinese satellite and its launching service.
The Nigerian Communication Satellite NIGCOMSAT-1 is expected to offer broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband internet services for Africa.
Source: BBC News
To read the full story, please click on the source
Friday, May 11, 2007
"Smart cameras" to tackle abandoned luggage alarms
A suitcase lies abandoned in a busy airport terminal. Was it planted by a bomber, or carelessly left for a couple of minutes while the owner went to buy coffee?
One of the commonest headaches facing security staff may soon be remedied with the help of "intelligent security cameras" developed by European scientists.
A newly concluded research project relies on formulae known as algorithms to enable computers to analyze video images and spot potential threats, from abandoned baggage to people loitering suspiciously.
"It's (about) developing solutions so that computers can detect abnormal behavior," said project coordinator Jean-Marc Suchier of French group Sagem Defense Securite, a unit of Safran.
For security staff at airports or railway stations, often monitoring images from dozens of surveillance cameras at once, the new technology offers the promise of picking out dangers that might otherwise be missed.
"The idea is to automatically analyze and intelligently filter all of that video, but also to add a next level of intelligence," said James Ferryman, a specialist in 'computational vision' at the University of Reading in England.
"We're talking about smart cameras which go to the next level of proactive detection."
Source: Reuters
To read the full story please click on the source
Edit: Added by Peter
Make up your own minds by what is mentioned by intelligently filter?
One of the commonest headaches facing security staff may soon be remedied with the help of "intelligent security cameras" developed by European scientists.
A newly concluded research project relies on formulae known as algorithms to enable computers to analyze video images and spot potential threats, from abandoned baggage to people loitering suspiciously.
"It's (about) developing solutions so that computers can detect abnormal behavior," said project coordinator Jean-Marc Suchier of French group Sagem Defense Securite, a unit of Safran.
For security staff at airports or railway stations, often monitoring images from dozens of surveillance cameras at once, the new technology offers the promise of picking out dangers that might otherwise be missed.
"The idea is to automatically analyze and intelligently filter all of that video, but also to add a next level of intelligence," said James Ferryman, a specialist in 'computational vision' at the University of Reading in England.
"We're talking about smart cameras which go to the next level of proactive detection."
Source: Reuters
To read the full story please click on the source
Edit: Added by Peter
Make up your own minds by what is mentioned by intelligently filter?
Rumsfeld Keeps Ghastly 9/11 Souvenirs
The Justice Department investigation that criticized FBI agents for taking souvenirs from the World Trade Center site also found that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and a high-ranking FBI official kept items from the Sept. 11 attack scenes.
To read the full story, please click on the following link: TruthEra
I was very surprised to read the following, I do find this disrespectful to the victims of 9-11.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
ID card costs rise above £5bn
The official cost of the controversial ID card scheme has risen to £5.31bn.
The figures were released as Tony Blair announced his departure, leading to claims from the opposition that the government was "burying bad news".
The Tories and Lib Dems also claimed that the Home Office broke the law by releasing the updated figures a month later than they should have.
The Home Office put the £400m increased costs down to extra staff carrying out vetting and extra anti-fraud measures.
To read the full story, please click here: BBC News
Blair names the day he'll step down: June 27
After months of coy hints and fevered speculation, Prime Minister Tony Blair announced on Thursday that he would leave office on June 27 after a decade in power in which he sacrificed his popularity to the war in Iraq and struggled at home to improve schools, policing and hospitals.
With stirring oratory cast as a personal testament, he declared: "I ask you to accept one thing. Hand on heart I did what I thought was right. I may have been wrong. That's your call.
"But believe one thing: I did what I thought was right for our country.
"I have been prime minister of the country for just over 10 years," he said. "In this job, in the world today, I think that is long enough for me, but more especially for the country.
"Sometimes the only way you conquer the pull of power is to set it down.To read the full article, please click here
Hamas TV slips kids Mickey to teach hate - Investigation
By now you would have seen the following video, which can be easily seen on YourTube
I have thought to investigate who this company MEMRITV.ORG is. Before you believe everything a newspaper tells you, try searching on the company that provided that bit of video - Memri:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,773258,00.html
Actually, I will quote some bits:
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1511
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Media_Research_Institute
Taken from http://www.upstartactivist.com/, Upstart Activist educates about Israel. We develop and deliver unique media-rich presentations, effective leadership training seminars and creative educational resources that draw upon deep knowledge of Israel and decades of proven activist experience in N. America.
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=605
There are loads more, but the simple fact is the MEMRI distorts/mistranslates the language spoken and reedits them.
I have thought to investigate who this company MEMRITV.ORG is. Before you believe everything a newspaper tells you, try searching on the company that provided that bit of video - Memri:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,773258,00.html
Actually, I will quote some bits:
| Quote: |
| The reason for Memri's air of secrecy becomes clearer when we look at the people behind it. The co-founder and president of Memri, and the registered owner of its website, is an Israeli called Yigal Carmon. Mr - or rather, Colonel - Carmon spent 22 years in Israeli military intelligence and later served as counter-terrorism adviser to two Israeli prime ministers, Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin. |
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1511
| Quote: |
| Others, however, see a darker side to MEMRI's work, arguing that the organization "cherry picks" the items it decides to translate, revealing a clear pro-Israel, neoconservative-inclined bias. A case in point came in mid-June 2006, when discussions over the fate of Iran's nuclear program were reaching fever pitch in Washington. MEMRI held an event on Capitol Hill titled "Must See Iran TV II." The event, cosponsored by then-Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), was aimed at raising congressional awareness of Iran's threatening posture toward the United States and its allies in the Middle East. The MEMRI presentation included translated clips from Iranian television that highlighted "themes associated with Iran's nuclear aspirations, its acquisition of offensive weapons, anti-Americanism, and statements by leading Iranian government officials, including President [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad," according to an article in the New York Sun written by MEMRI Executive Director Steven Stalinsky (June 14, 2006). |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Media_Research_Institute
Taken from http://www.upstartactivist.com/, Upstart Activist educates about Israel. We develop and deliver unique media-rich presentations, effective leadership training seminars and creative educational resources that draw upon deep knowledge of Israel and decades of proven activist experience in N. America.
| Quote: |
| Find organizations like Camera, Media Watch, Memri, Israel Foreign Ministry, ADL that can help in yourstruggle to expose anti Israel biases. They are usually ready to assist with some pretty potent ideas and information |
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=605
| Quote: |
| How MEMRI presents itself [From the MEMRI website:] The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) explores the Middle East through the region's media. MEMRI bridges the language gap which exists between the West and the Middle East, providing timely translations of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East. Founded in February 1998 to inform the debate over U.S. policy in the Middle East, MEMRI is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501 (c)3 organization. The truth about MEMRI MEMRI is a main arm of Israeli propaganda. Although widely used in the mainstream media as a source of information on the Arab world, it is as trustworthy as Julius Streicher's Der Sturmer was on the Jewish world. The evidence MEMRI recently posted what it alleged was an interview I did with Lebanese television on the Nazi holocaust. The MEMRI posting was designed to prove that I was a Holocaust denier. Below I juxtapose the MEMRI version of my interview (both the actual broadcast version as well as the transcript it prepared) against what I actually said in the interview. |
There are loads more, but the simple fact is the MEMRI distorts/mistranslates the language spoken and reedits them.
FOX News Tries To Link John Kerry To 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists
FOX News tried to paint Senator John Kerry as a 9/11 conspiracy theorist last night (5/9/07). Based on a brief statement Kerry made about the controlled demolition of a wall at one of the World Trade Center buildings, FOX tried to make the case that the 9/11 conspiracy theorists had bonded with him. With video.
At the beginning of the show, a chyron read, “The crazies love him” as Sean Hannity announced the upcoming Kerry segment.
To read the full story on News Hounds, please click here
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Blair denies MI5 failures and rejects call for 7/7 inquiry
Tony Blair today ruled out demands for a new inquiry into the July 7 bombings, denying claims that MI5 overlooked crucial evidence which could have prevented the attacks
In the Commons, the Prime Minister said a fresh inquiry would be a "mistake" and would undermine support for the security services in the fight against terrorism.
His comments came amid reports that MI5 did not show surveillance photographs of the bombers' ringleader Mohammed Sidique Khan to the original inquiry by the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC).
The BBC reported that although MI5 had six photographs of Khan taken during the investigation of another terror plot, only one was shown to the ISC.
To read the full story, please click here
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Newly disclosed documents show U.S. Defense Department tracked anti-Iraq war activities
An anti-terrorist database used by the Defense Department in an effort to prevent attacks on military installations included intelligence tips about antiwar planning meetings held at churches, libraries, college campuses and other locations, newly disclosed documents show.
One tip in the database in February 2005, for instance, noted that "a church service for peace" would be held in the New York City area the next month. Another entry noted that antiwar protesters would be holding "nonviolence training" sessions at unidentified churches in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The Defense Department said it tightened its procedures this year to ensure that only material related to actual terrorist threats - and not peaceable First Amendment activity - was included in the database.
The head of the office that runs the database, known as Talon, said Monday that material on antiwar protests should not have been collected in the first place. "I don't want it, we shouldn't have had it, not interested in it," said Daniel Baur, acting director of the counterintelligence field-activity unit, which runs the Talon program at the Defense Department. "I don't want to deal with it."
Source: International Herald Tribune
To read the full story please click on the source
One tip in the database in February 2005, for instance, noted that "a church service for peace" would be held in the New York City area the next month. Another entry noted that antiwar protesters would be holding "nonviolence training" sessions at unidentified churches in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The Defense Department said it tightened its procedures this year to ensure that only material related to actual terrorist threats - and not peaceable First Amendment activity - was included in the database.
The head of the office that runs the database, known as Talon, said Monday that material on antiwar protests should not have been collected in the first place. "I don't want it, we shouldn't have had it, not interested in it," said Daniel Baur, acting director of the counterintelligence field-activity unit, which runs the Talon program at the Defense Department. "I don't want to deal with it."
Source: International Herald Tribune
To read the full story please click on the source
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Cheney calls 'water-boarding' a valuable interrogation tool
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney has confirmed that U.S. interrogators subjected captured senior al Qaeda suspects to a controversial interrogation technique called ''water-boarding,'' which creates a sensation of drowning.
Cheney indicated that the Bush administration doesn't regard water-boarding as torture and allows the CIA to use it. ''It's a no-brainer for me,'' Cheney said at one point in an interview.
Cheney's comments, in a White House interview on Tuesday with a conservative radio talk show host, appeared to reflect the Bush administration's view that the president has the constitutional power to do whatever he deems necessary to fight terrorism.
The U.S. Army, senior Republican lawmakers, human rights experts and many experts on the laws of war, however, consider water-boarding cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment that is banned by U.S. law and by international treaties that prohibit torture. Some intelligence professionals argue that it often provides false or misleading information because many subjects will tell their interrogators what they think they want to hear to make the water-boarding stop.
GOP SENATORS FIGHT IT
Republican Sens. John Warner of Virginia, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have said that a law Bush signed last month prohibits water-boarding. The three are the sponsors of the Military Commissions Act, which authorized the administration to continue its interrogations of enemy combatants.
Graham, a military lawyer who serves in the Air Force Reserve, reaffirmed that view in an interview last week with McClatchy Newspapers.
''Water-boarding, in my opinion, would cause extreme physical and psychological pain and suffering, and it very much could run afoul of the War Crimes Act,'' he said, referring to a 1996 law. ``It could very much open people up to prosecution under the War Crimes Act, as well as be a violation of the Detainees Treatment Act.''
A revised U.S. Army Field Manual published last month bans water-boarding as ``cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.''
''There is a disconnect between the president and the vice president and on the other side leading proponents from their own party and leading experts on the laws of war,'' said Neal Sonnett, the chairman of the American Bar Association's Task Force on Enemy Combatants.
CHENEY INTERVIEWED
The radio interview Tuesday was the first time that a senior Bush administration official has confirmed that U.S. interrogators used water-boarding against important al Qaeda suspects, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged chief architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Mohammed was captured in Pakistan on March 1, 2003, and turned over to the CIA.
Water-boarding involves holding a person's head under water or pouring water on cloth or cellophane placed over the nose and mouth to simulate drowning until the subject agrees to talk or confess.
Lee Ann McBride, a spokeswoman for Cheney, denied that Cheney confirmed that U.S. interrogators used water-boarding or endorsed the technique.
''What the vice president was referring to was an interrogation program without torture,'' she said. ``The vice president never goes into what may or may not be techniques or methods of questioning.''
`A VALUABLE TOOL'
In the interview on Tuesday, Scott Hennen of WDAY Radio in Fargo, N.D., told Cheney that listeners had asked him to ``let the vice president know that if it takes dunking a terrorist in water, we're all for it, if it saves American lives.''
''Again, this debate seems a little silly given the threat we face, would you agree?'' Hennen said.
''I do agree,'' Cheney replied, according to a transcript of the interview released Wednesday. ``And I think the terrorist threat, for example, with respect to our ability to interrogate high-value detainees like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, that's been a very important tool that we've had to be able to secure the nation.''
Cheney added that Mohammed had provided ``enormously valuable information about how many [al Qaeda members] there are, about how they plan, what their training processes are and so forth. We've learned a lot. We need to be able to continue that.''
''Would you agree that a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?'' asked Hennen.
'It's a no-brainer for me, but for a while there, I was criticized as being the vice president `for torture.' We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in,'' Cheney replied. ``We live up to our obligations in international treaties that we're party to and so forth. But the fact is, you can have a fairly robust interrogation program without torture, and we need to be able to do that.''
CIA spokeswoman Michelle Neff said, ``While we do not discuss specific interrogation methods, the techniques we use have been reviewed by the Department of Justice and are in keeping with our laws and treaty obligations. We neither conduct nor condone torture.''
McClatchy Washington Bureau correspondents James Rosen and Marisa Taylor contributed to this report.
Cheney indicated that the Bush administration doesn't regard water-boarding as torture and allows the CIA to use it. ''It's a no-brainer for me,'' Cheney said at one point in an interview.
Cheney's comments, in a White House interview on Tuesday with a conservative radio talk show host, appeared to reflect the Bush administration's view that the president has the constitutional power to do whatever he deems necessary to fight terrorism.
The U.S. Army, senior Republican lawmakers, human rights experts and many experts on the laws of war, however, consider water-boarding cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment that is banned by U.S. law and by international treaties that prohibit torture. Some intelligence professionals argue that it often provides false or misleading information because many subjects will tell their interrogators what they think they want to hear to make the water-boarding stop.
GOP SENATORS FIGHT IT
Republican Sens. John Warner of Virginia, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have said that a law Bush signed last month prohibits water-boarding. The three are the sponsors of the Military Commissions Act, which authorized the administration to continue its interrogations of enemy combatants.
Graham, a military lawyer who serves in the Air Force Reserve, reaffirmed that view in an interview last week with McClatchy Newspapers.
''Water-boarding, in my opinion, would cause extreme physical and psychological pain and suffering, and it very much could run afoul of the War Crimes Act,'' he said, referring to a 1996 law. ``It could very much open people up to prosecution under the War Crimes Act, as well as be a violation of the Detainees Treatment Act.''
A revised U.S. Army Field Manual published last month bans water-boarding as ``cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.''
''There is a disconnect between the president and the vice president and on the other side leading proponents from their own party and leading experts on the laws of war,'' said Neal Sonnett, the chairman of the American Bar Association's Task Force on Enemy Combatants.
CHENEY INTERVIEWED
The radio interview Tuesday was the first time that a senior Bush administration official has confirmed that U.S. interrogators used water-boarding against important al Qaeda suspects, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged chief architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Mohammed was captured in Pakistan on March 1, 2003, and turned over to the CIA.
Water-boarding involves holding a person's head under water or pouring water on cloth or cellophane placed over the nose and mouth to simulate drowning until the subject agrees to talk or confess.
Lee Ann McBride, a spokeswoman for Cheney, denied that Cheney confirmed that U.S. interrogators used water-boarding or endorsed the technique.
''What the vice president was referring to was an interrogation program without torture,'' she said. ``The vice president never goes into what may or may not be techniques or methods of questioning.''
`A VALUABLE TOOL'
In the interview on Tuesday, Scott Hennen of WDAY Radio in Fargo, N.D., told Cheney that listeners had asked him to ``let the vice president know that if it takes dunking a terrorist in water, we're all for it, if it saves American lives.''
''Again, this debate seems a little silly given the threat we face, would you agree?'' Hennen said.
''I do agree,'' Cheney replied, according to a transcript of the interview released Wednesday. ``And I think the terrorist threat, for example, with respect to our ability to interrogate high-value detainees like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, that's been a very important tool that we've had to be able to secure the nation.''
Cheney added that Mohammed had provided ``enormously valuable information about how many [al Qaeda members] there are, about how they plan, what their training processes are and so forth. We've learned a lot. We need to be able to continue that.''
''Would you agree that a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?'' asked Hennen.
'It's a no-brainer for me, but for a while there, I was criticized as being the vice president `for torture.' We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in,'' Cheney replied. ``We live up to our obligations in international treaties that we're party to and so forth. But the fact is, you can have a fairly robust interrogation program without torture, and we need to be able to do that.''
CIA spokeswoman Michelle Neff said, ``While we do not discuss specific interrogation methods, the techniques we use have been reviewed by the Department of Justice and are in keeping with our laws and treaty obligations. We neither conduct nor condone torture.''
McClatchy Washington Bureau correspondents James Rosen and Marisa Taylor contributed to this report.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Olbermann slams GOP for imitating terror tactics
From an month to two month out, we are finally back reporting on news around the world.. Today Olbermann slams GOP for imitating terror tactics:
Republicans are using terror tactics in an attempt to gain votes, says Keith Olbermann. A new political advertisement sponsored by the Republican National Committee hopes that voters' fear will increase votes for Republican Candidates. The advertisement shows images of Osama bin Laden with only the sounds of a ticking time bomb.
In his commentary, Olbermann's explains how Republicans use propaganda of fear in a way that imitates the propaganda video releases from terrorists organizations
Republicans are using terror tactics in an attempt to gain votes, says Keith Olbermann. A new political advertisement sponsored by the Republican National Committee hopes that voters' fear will increase votes for Republican Candidates. The advertisement shows images of Osama bin Laden with only the sounds of a ticking time bomb.
In his commentary, Olbermann's explains how Republicans use propaganda of fear in a way that imitates the propaganda video releases from terrorists organizations
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