A Shuttle Cock Up

Space Shuttle 'Discovery' Launch Set for Saturday

NASA test director Jeff Spaulding said the shuttle has no technical problems that would prevent a launch.

At a meeting two weeks before the expected launch, leaders with NASA's Office of the Chief Engineer and Office of Safety and Mission Assurance recommended that the shuttle not fly until further design changes had been made to the tank. NASA administrator Michael Griffin, however, favored flying without more changes

A top NASA engineer says he's been forced from his job.
[...]
In an e-mail to co-workers, Charlie Camarda praises colleagues for questioning the wisdom of going ahead with the launch and says he was reassigned.

The former chief of the engineering directorate did not say whether he believes the shuttle is safe to launch Saturday. Earlier this month, two top engineers recommended postponing the mission to do more work to prevent foam from breaking off during launch.

Camarda says he "refused to abandon" his position on the mission management team. His e-mail says he was moved to a different job after he said he'd "have to be fired from" his position if he wasn't allowed to work this mission.

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Friday Nano Shuffle

Baby Please Don't Go 5:39 Amboy Dukes

Breakdown 2:42 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Smooth Up In Ya 4:25 Bullet Boys

Fresh Air 5:18 Quicksilver Messenger Service

Come As You Are 3:39 Nirvana

Sailin Shoes 6:21 Little Feet

Prettiest Cop On The Block 3:13 Alice Cooper

What Is Hip 6:35 Tower of Power

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway 4:46 Genesis

War Pigs 7:56 Black Sabbath

Waiting 4:38 DavidBowie-LouReed

5 O'clock World 2:09 The Vogues

Hear My Train a Comin 3:04 Jimi Hendrix

Can't Find My Way Home 3:16 Steve Winwood

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So how's that whole War On Terror thing going?

U.S. isn't winning its war on terror, experts tell poll

More than eight in 10 American terrorism and national security experts don't agree with President Bush's claims that the U.S. is winning the fight against terrorism, and the Iraq war is the biggest reason why, according to a poll released Wednesday.

Corruption and coalition failures spur Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan

The United States and its allies have been forced to launch their biggest military operation of the war here because in the 55 months since ousting the Taliban movement from power, they neglected to establish minimal security or governance in the country's south, analysts say.
[...]
"If we had made efforts on this scale five years ago, we would be in a much stronger position than we are now," said James Dobbins, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan

Nato: Taliban's resurgence due to world focus on Iraq

British General David Richards said he was "optimistic" of defeating the movement, whose recent resurgence has led to the worst violence in Afghanistan since the Taliban were toppled by United States-led forces in late 2001.
[...]
"Why? Largely it's because people took their eye off this ball and a vacuum was allowed to develop and that vacuum was filled by the Taliban.

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Light Blogging by the Vidiot

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Some Things Are Just Too Dirty and Sticky for Teflon ... or ... The Formica Report

Pentagon Resists Ban on "Degrading Treatment"

The Pentagon is pushing to omit from new detainee policies a central principle of the Geneva Conventions that explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment". Critics say such a step that would mark a further shift away from strict adherence to international human rights standards.
[...]
The Formica report reviewed only three allegations of abuse by special operations forces, but found that Iraqi detainees were held for up to seven days at a time with their eyes taped shut in tiny box-like cells so small that they had to sit with their knees to their chests while loud music blared, and detainees were fed only bread and water for up to a week.
[...]
Formica concluded that overall conditions "did not comport with the spirit of the principles set forth in the Geneva Conventions", but dismissed allegations that prisoners were physically abused or humiliated.
[...]
Neither report recommended punishment of any military personnel.
[...]
Late last year, the U.S. Congress passed an anti-torture amendment championed by Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican who was held and tortured in a North Vietnamese prison for years. McCain, along South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham -- a former military judge -- pressed Congress to establish the Army Field Manual as the standard for treatment of all detainees.

The Bush administration initially opposed the amendment, but the measure passed and became law. However, in signing the law, Bush appended a statement saying, in effect, that he had the authority to override it under a variety of circumstances involving military necessity and national security.

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Who's That Tap, Tap, Tapping on My Phone*

US Plays Terror Card in Hearing on AT&T Wiretap Lawsuit

A lawsuit accusing AT&T of illegally collaborating in government electronic surveillance will help terrorists communicate "more securely and more efficiently'' unless it is promptly dismissed, a Bush administration lawyer argued in a packed San Francisco courtroom Friday.
[...]
An admission either way by AT&T would betray "a state secret of the highest order,'' he said.
[...]
Also, he said, a confirmation of AT&T's role in the program would "immediately heighten the risk that the company and its facilities would be subject to attack.''
[...]
President Bush acknowledged in December that the federal agency has eavesdropped on communications between Americans and alleged terrorists abroad without the court warrants required by a 1978 federal law. His claim that he has the constitutional power to authorize the surveillance is being challenged in another lawsuit in Michigan.
[...]
AT&T's argument for dismissal was that federal law protects communications companies from being sued for taking part in government intelligence programs.

If the company had a role, which it refuses to confirm or deny, it was merely a "passive instrument of the government,'' said AT&T lawyer Brad Berenson. He also told Walker that the company had no obligation to consider the legality of the program because it was solely the government's concern.

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Saturday Sailboat Blogging, Deluxe edition!

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Saturday Sailboat Blogging

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Logical

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Reason #2,356 Why GW Bush is Bad for Everybody

Excerpt: Julia suffered blurred vision and a loss of sensation in her limbs as the disease began to take hold of her body and she was forced to use a wheelchair.

In desperation she resorted to having cells from the umbilical cords of new-born babies injected into acupuncture points in her body.

The radical treatment, which took place in February at a Rotterdam clinic, is untried in this country but has seen Julia achieve incredible results.

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Breaking News! WMDs found in Iraq! ... or ... Sanction Santorum*

"Congressman Hoekstra and I are here today to say that we have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons," Santorum said.

Neither the military nor the White House nor the CIA considered the shells to be evidence of what was alleged by the Bush administration to be a current Iraqi program to make chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

Last night, intelligence officials reaffirmed that the shells were old and were not the suspected weapons of mass destruction sought in Iraq after the 2003 invasion.

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From the Department of Redundancy Department

The government agency charged with fighting identity theft said Thursday it had lost two government laptops containing sensitive personal data, the latest in a series of breaches encompassing millions of people.
[...]
The car theft occurred about 10 days ago and managers were immediately notified.
[...]
Winston said, noting that the FTC employees did not violate security procedures by storing the password-protected laptops in their cars.

- At the Agriculture Department, a hacker who broke into the computer system, obtaining names, Social Security numbers and photos of 26,000 Washington-area employees and contractors. Victims will be offered free credit monitoring for a year after the break-in in early June.

- At Health and Human Services, personal information for nearly 17,000 Medicare beneficiaries may have been compromised in April when an insurance company employee called up the data through a hotel computer and then failed to delete the file.

- At Energy, Social Security numbers and other data for nearly 1,500 people working for the National Nuclear Security Administration may have been compromised when a hacker gained entry to its computer system last fall. Officials said June 12 they had learned only recently of the breach.

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General Confusion and the Secretary of Defensiveness

U.S. commander predicts new reductions in troop levels in Iraq this year, but no firm timetable

"I'm confident that we'll be able to continue to take reductions over the course of this year," Army Gen. George Casey told a Pentagon news conference with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at his side.

Rumsfeld reiterates that U.S. plans no troop reductions in Iraq

After three days of congressional debate over possibly withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday that no reduction is planned and that the military force could even grow.

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I did not know this ...

The number of Iraqi civilian deaths at American checkpoints and in encounters with US convoys has fallen sharply, from as many as eight a week a year ago to one a week last month, the US military reported yesterday.

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The Timeline of TimeLying

White House Promises Full Disclosure Of Alleged Haditha Massacre

The Bush administration has promised full public disclosure of the results of a U.S. military investigation into the alleged killings of Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines last year.

Haditha report on Chiarelli's desk

A report into whether Camp Pendleton commanders covered up or failed to report the killing of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha last November is now on the Baghdad desk of Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, second in command of U.S. forces in Iraq.

The general charged with investigating whether Marinestried to cover up the killing of 24 civilians in Haditha has completed his report

The ACLU has to file a lawsuit suit to force the government to release the facts they said they were going to.

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We Heart HAVA, but Repubs Don't HAVA Heart*

House delays renewal of Voting Rights Act

House GOP leaders on Wednesday postponed the renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act under objections from Southern Republicans who complained during a private meeting that the legislation unfairly singles out their states for federal oversight, a leadership aide said.

One such measure, sponsored by Rep. Steve King (R-wackjob), would have stripped a provision that requires ballots to be printed in several languages and interpreters be provided in states and counties where large numbers of citizens speak limited English.

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OK.

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They want me!

Excerpt: The Army has again raised its age limit for active-duty and Army Reserve recruits in hopes of expanding its pool of potential soldiers.

The new maximum enlistment age is 42 for both components, Recruiting Command announced Wednesday.

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Oh, for heaven's sake!

Excerpt: Roberts didn't know what to think when he first saw the graffiti yesterday. Later, inspired by crime scene investigation TV shows and "The Da Vinci Code," Roberts researched the message using Internet searches and was bowled over by what he found. According to various Web sites, the graffiti traces back to a government conspiracy theory. The idea is that when the government wants to do something, such as start a war or pass a law, officials create a problem that causes the public to demand a war or a law.

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They're mad I tell you MAD!

US activates missile defense amid N. Korea concern

The United States has activated its ground-based interceptor missile-defense system amid concerns over an expected North Korean missile launch, a U.S. defense official said on Tuesday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed a Washington Times report that the Pentagon has switched the multibillion-dollar system from test mode to operational, after being in the developmental stage for years.

"It's good to be ready," the official said.

In confirmation hearings, President George H.W. Bush's nominee for secretary of defense, John Tower, says, "I don't believe that we can devise a [ballistic missile defense] umbrella that can protect the entire American population from nuclear incineration. I think that's unrealistic."

An independent panel chaired by retired Gen. Larry Welch issues its report on the Pentagon's missile defense testing programs. The panel says that the ambitious programs amount to a "rush to failure." The report's authors, which include several defense experts, urge a longer development period for missile defense weapons.

In a rare move, the intelligence community revises its 1995 National Intelligence Estimate and finally gives Congress the worst-case scenario some lawmakers have been seeking. It adopts the Rumsfeld commission's standard for measuring the threat: instead of what was likely to happen, it considered what could happen.

The New York Times reports that "a former senior engineer at TRW, a top military contractor, has charged the company with faking tests and evaluations of a key component for the proposed $27 billion anti-missile system."

The third intercept test fails when the kill vehicle doesn't separate from its booster.

Following the failed July test, Philip Coyle, director of the Pentagon's Office of Test and Evaluation, issues a devastating 67-page critique of the proposed national missile defense system (download in PDF). It details how the tests had been simplified to ensure the perception of success. The report is delivered privately to the president, but the Pentagon refuses for eight months to release Coyle's report to the public.

The fourth NMD hit-to-kill test successfully demonstrates the system's interceptor capabilities. But during the final stages of the test, a software problem prevents the ground-based radar system from assessing the kill vehicle and whether or not it had hit the mock warhead.

Defense Daily reports that the MDA "has decided to classify details of the targets and countermeasures that will be used in all future [GMD] flight tests." Critics contend that the Pentagon is being unnecessarily secretive: "The devil is in the details," complains one congressman, "and the details are now classified."

The Washington Post reports that "in recent months, defense officials have exempted missile defense projects from the planning and reporting requirements normally applied to major acquisition programs. They have stopped providing Congress with detailed cost estimates and timetables for anti-missile systems."

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It's true!

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Austria is freer than we are.

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Are we to believe

Excerpt: In a statement, Merrill's relatives say they were - quote - "shocked at the news and found it very difficult to accept."

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If the state government violates the constitution what happens if you want to sue them?

Ironically, Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, who ran as "My Man Mitch" on a platform of halting the state outsourcing of jobs that could be done by Hoosiers, has done a full 180 by not only giving our Indiana toll road to a Spanish-Australian group for the next 70 years, but by attempting to further privatize other functions that were doing just fine. Case in point - jobs now done by the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) will be outsourced to one of two private companies. The first, Accenture, got an F for their poor performance in Texas. The second, ACS, formerly employed one Mitch Roob, who is now Daniels' FSSA director. Conflict? What conflict - they're all on the same page.

Lying, cronyism, outsourcing, privatization ... My Man Mitch learned well under Bush's tutelage in Washington.

The high court affirmed a St. Joseph County court ruling in May that labeled the action a public suit and required opponents of the highway plan to post a $1.9 billion bond within 30 days to continue the case -- something organizers said will not be possible.

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Even Iraq Thinks Bush Should Pull Out ...

Top Sunni asked Bush for pullout timeline
Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's vice president has asked President Bush for a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, the Iraqi president's office said.

Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, made the request during his meeting with Bush on Tuesday, when the U.S. president made a surprise visit to Iraq.

Bush rejects pullout plans
After surprise visit, president says setting timetable bad policy.'

President Bush, just back from Iraq, dismissed calls for a U.S. withdrawal as election-year politics and refused to give a timetable or benchmark for success that would allow troops to come home.

Snow says Iraqis asked U.S. not to leave
WASHINGTON, June 18 (UPI) -- White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said Sunday Iraqi officials have asked the United States not to leave Iraq.

Speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation," Snow said Shiite, Sunni and Kurd leaders all asked for U.S. forces to remain in Iraq to support the newly elected government.

President Bush said in an interview on Thursday that he would withdraw American forces from Iraq if the new government that is elected on Sunday asked him to do so

Powell Says Troops Would Leave Iraq if New Leaders Asked

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, joined by the foreign ministers of nations making key contributions of military forces in Iraq, emphatically said yesterday that if the incoming Iraqi interim government ordered the departure of foreign troops after July 1, they would pack up without protest.

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Now, I know Chavez is not perfect.

Excerpt: Venezuela has launched a new social mission aiming to reverse deforestation, according to a June 4 Venezuelan Presidential Press Office statement. Mission Tree aims to plant 100 million trees within five years.

Launching the mission, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that capitalism was responsible for the destruction of many flora and fauna species and that socialism would help to change this trend by making human needs -- rather than private profit -- the priority.

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As the article states,

Excerpt: Some big companies are boosting their share of campaign contributions to Democrats this year, a sign that executives may be starting to hedge their political bets after a decade of supporting congressional Republicans.

Excerpt: The next Democrat, whether it's me or Sen. Clinton or John Kerry, whomever -- the Democratic nominee -- they'd better be able to ante up right in front of the American people two things: security and faith," he said.

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Best memo ever

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Fathers ... can't live with them and wouldn't be alive without them

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Saturday Sailboat Blogging

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This guy is so going down ...

DHS aide bashed Bush online

In Internet and phone chats with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl, a Department of Homeland Security press aide talked about underage sex, boasted about his job and called President Bush a "liar,"
[...]
The transcripts also quote Doyle as saying he met Bush, adding, "nice guy but not a good president ... he is not very bright and it is evident ... bush is a liar ... there were NO weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. total lie to go to war."

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The Postman always rings twice ... or ... Who dat knocking on my door?

Police don't have to knock, justices say

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A split Supreme Court ruled Thursday that drug evidence seized in a home search can be used against a suspect even though police failed to knock on the door and wait a "reasonable" amount of time before entering.

The 5-4 decision continues a string of rulings since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that in general give law enforcement greater discretion to carry out search-and-seizure warrants.

President Bush's nominees to the high court, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, notably sided with the government.

Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said disallowing evidence from every "knock-and-announce violation" by officers would lead to the "grave adverse consequence" of a flood of appeals by accused criminals seeking dismissal of their cases.

The justices have ruled in the past that police should announce their presence, then normally wait 15 to 20 seconds before bursting into a home.

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote a lengthy dissent, saying, "Our Fourth Amendment traditions place a high value upon protecting privacy in the home." A centerpiece of those protections, he said, includes the "exclusionary rule," under which evidence seized in illegal searches should be suppressed at trial.

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Nano Technology - retro edition

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AMAzing!

The American Medical Assn. has also stepped into the Guantanamo controversy in an effort to address an ethical dilemma created by new Pentagon rules authorizing military doctors to take part in prisoner interrogations.

At a meeting in Chicago on Monday, the AMA's House of Delegates adopted guidelines that make it unethical for physicians — AMA members or not — to use their medical knowledge to interrogate prisoners, deeming all such operations inherently coercive and adversarial.

The AMA's ruling counters guidance issued last week by the assistant Defense secretary for health affairs, William Winkenwerder, who found no ethical obstacle to military medical personnel questioning prisoners or disclosing confidential medical information to other interrogators.

The AMA action came after decisions by the American Psychiatric Assn. and the World Medical Assn. explicitly prohibiting physicians from assisting in interrogations.

"The new AMA policy goes a long way toward protecting the ethical commitments and integrity of all military medical personnel," said Leonard Rubenstein, executive director of Physicians for Human Rights.

Also supporting the AMA's position at the Chicago meeting were the surgeons general of the armed forces. Combined with the association's swift rebuke of Winkenwerder's statements, the opposition highlighted an apparent rift between medical professionals and civilian strategists in the war on terrorism at the Defense Department.

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How Conveeeeenient!

Captured papers show weakening insurgency

A document purportedly captured in an al-Qaida hideout portrays the insurgency in Iraq as being in "bleak" shape, saying that it is losing strength and proposing ways to stir up trouble between the U.S. and Iran to divert American attention.

There was no way to confirm the authenticity of the information attributed to al-Qaida, and U.S. and Iraqi officials offered conflicting accounts of when and where it was seized.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office said Iraqi forces found the document in al-Zarqawi's hideout after the June 7 U.S. airstrike that killed him.

However, U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the document had been taken from a computer in a raid during the three-week operation to track down al-Zarqawi.

The al-Qaida document said its insurgency was being hurt by an increase in U.S.-trained Iraqi forces, by widespread arrests and seizures of weapons, and by a crackdown on financial outlets. [ED: Aren't those phrases lifted directly from RNC Talking Points?]

According to a translation provided by National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie, the document said the best way to overcome the "current bleak situation" would be to involve U.S. forces in a "war against another country" or hostile group.

The way to do this, the document said, "is to try and inflame the situation between America and Iran" or between the U.S. and followers of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric.

It suggests carrying out a range of terrorist acts for which it will falsely implicate Iran, including bombings in the West and kidnappings. It also recommends declaring the existence of a relationship between Iran and terrorist groups, and disseminating bogus confessions showing that Iran has weapons of mass destruction.

Vice President Dick Cheney said the document, if authenticated, shows the terrorists know they are losing the war.

The words "are fascinating because they do reveal - obviously whoever wrote them, assuming they are authentic - somebody who believes they are on the losing end of the engagement," Cheney said on the Sean Hannity radio show.

try and inflame the situation between America and Iraq

declaring the existence of a relationship between Iraq and terrorist groups

disseminate bogus confessions showing that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.

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Oy.

Excerpt: The Safe Drinking Water Act makes it voluntary for plumbing companies to comply with national standards. If your water is tainted with lead, there isn't much you can do about it. The manufacturer probably won't be liable and probably can't be sued.

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I have to recommend

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Bush's Foreign Policy

Excerpt: But there is something else worth remembering about Lopez Obrador's record of managing Mexico City, that teeming metropolis of almost 20 million people. When he resigned as mayor in 2005 to run for president, his approval rating was at 80 per cent. It was not just that he gave money to the poor but also that he managed to enter into a conversation with them and arouse their passions. Even detractors will admit that in the capital, Lopez Obrador became a phenomenon who could motivate millions to march in the streets when he needed their support. Now he is casting himself as the champion of Mexico's vast lower class, while painting his rivals as representatives of a privileged and corrupt old guard.

Excerpt: Iran's National Oil Company signed a declaration allowing Russia's Lukoil oil producer to launch talks on further exploitation of the Azar oilfield in western Iran, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported Thursday.

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Me LOVES this.

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Who runs things over there?

Excerpt: Convicted former Congressman Randall "Duke" Cunningham urged the Department of Homeland Security to give a $21.1 million contract to a controversial Washington limousine company, but the letter has mysteriously disappeared from DHS files, members of Congress were told Thursday.

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Second verse, same as the first.

Excerpt: Moreover, sources say that the Iranian Directorate is staffed with many of the same people, including OSP’s former director Abram Shulsky, and receives expert analysis from such controversial figures as Project for the New American Century member Reuel Marc Gerecht, who by all accounts was a failure as a CIA field officer. It also includes military personnel such as Ladan Archin, who appears to be serving in the Larry Franklin analyst role among a sea of think-tank operatives and neoconservative war hawks.

and

A recent trip by Michael Ledeen to Rome has raised red flags among those concerned about a potential war with Iran. Some believe that Ledeen -- a long-time advocate of Iranian regime change -- was involved in the Niger forgeries scandal.

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You know

Excerpt: Unfortunately, spying on those who pose a threat is not easily separated from spying on everyone else, and no one is watching the Bush administration with equal attentiveness. Despite lots of rhetoric, Congress has offered little to fulfill its duty to act as a check on the executive branch.

Excerpt: I do not believe that the President, Vice President, or any members of his cabinet have acted in any manner that deserves impeachment. President Bush and his administration have had extremely difficult decisions to make in light of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and I feel that the Administration has done a good job in leading the country in the War on Terrorism.

Additionally, it is important to remember that within the Constitution of the United States, a system of checks and balances was established to limit the powers of the federal government by dividing the authority of government among the three branches. Therefore, Congress and the Supreme Court provide oversight to what the President and his cabinet members decide to do. These checks and balances have served our republic well over the last 230 years.

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2500

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Git mo Blues ... coda

Pentagon Orders U.S. Reporters to Exit Guantanamo

In the aftermath of the three suicides at the controversial Guantanamo prison facility in Cuba last Saturday, reporters with the Los Angeles Times and the Miami Herald were ordered by the office of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to leave the island today.
[...]
A curt e-mail to reporters Carol Rosenberg of the Herald (who spoke to E&P about the expulsion) and Carol Williams of the L.A. Times mentioned a directive from the office of Rumsfeld, and stated: "Media currently on the island will depart on Wednesday, 14 June 2006 at 10:00 a.m. Please be prepared to depart the CBQ [quarters] at 8:00 a.m.''
[...]
The Pentagon spokesman told E&P that Rumsfeld's office was overruling any of the permissions from military at the base.
[...]
Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, issued a statement today declaring, “If the United States wants to restore its credibility as a democracy in the eyes of the world, it should be inviting journalists in, not kicking them out. Our government insists it has nothing to hide, but its actions show otherwise."

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Git mo Blues ... development

Guards tighten security to prevent more deaths
Human rights groups, defense lawyers call for investigation of 3 men's suicides in military prison

Even as demands grew for an independent investigation into the weekend suicides at Guantanamo Bay, military leaders inside the prison began cracking down on inmates to prevent more deaths.
[...]
"Right now, we are at ground zero," an emotional prison commander, Col. Mike Bumgarner told his officers at his morning staff meeting.

"The trust level is gone. They have shown time and time again that we can't trust them any farther than we can throw them.

There is not a trustworthy son of a ... in the entire bunch."

With that, Bumgarner, a Kings Mountain native, ordered his staff to assess and curtail existing policies on detainee clothing, meals, recreation time, prison lighting and discipline.

The suicides occurred early Saturday morning in three cells on the same block. The detainees, a Yemeni and two Saudis, hanged themselves with strips of knotted cloth taken from clothing and sheets. They used pillows and blankets to make it appear they were sleeping in their beds. They left suicide notes in Arabic. And Bumgarner said each had a ball of cloth in their mouth either for choking or muffling their voices.

Harris' characterization of the suicides as acts of "asymmetrical warfare" and a State Department official's assertion that the first deaths among Guantanamo inmates were "a good P.R. move" brought renewed outrage in the Muslim world as well as among European allies.

But Cmdr. Robert T. Durand, spokesman for the prison and interrogation compound, said the admiral in command of the detention operations here stood by his view that the deaths "were not acts of despair but coordinated efforts by three committed combatants."
[...]
Bumgarner ordered a high suicide alert for "the brothers," the term used by the military personnel to describe the detainees. "Brother" also is a term of Muslim endearment the inmates use among themselves.
[...]
Mid-afternoon, Senior Petty Officer Mac King walked into the colonel's office to discuss how to handle "The General," whom Bumgarner called the leader of the detainees' military wing.

King, of Spartanburg, said The General had refused to exchange his brown prison suit for an orange one, signifying he was moving to a more restricted status.

Bumgarner put his face in his hands. "Why does this brother do this to me," he said.

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Git mo Blues ... exposition

Lawyers Protest Delayed Notification of Guantanamo Deaths

Attorneys for detainees who committed suicide at the "war on terror" detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba said the military failed to notify them of their clients' deaths for three days, calling the delay unacceptable.
[...]
In a news conference Saturday, General Bantz Craddock*, head of the US Southern Command, and Rear Admiral Harry Harris, the commander at Guantanamo, would not identify the detainees but said none of them were represented by outside lawyers.
[...]
A spokeswoman for CCR said Ahmed and Utaybi were represented by the civil rights group and private lawyers.

She said Zahrani also was represented by CCR because he fell under a habeas petition filed on behalf of all prisoners at Guantanamo whose names had not been disclosed by the Department of Defense (DoD)
[...]
"This is indicative of the DoD's inability to know who they are or identify them properly," said Gitanjali Gutierrez, a lawyer with CCR.

"Its claims that Guantanamo provides good intelligence is belied by the fact that the DoD doesn't know who is there," she said.
[...]
Earlier, the Pentagon Tuesday rebuffed calls by human rights groups for an outside investigation into the suicides.

"I wouldn't expect that," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman. "The United States is very capable of reviewing its own procedures to determine whether or not any changes need to be made."

He said the incident "will be looked into appropriately."

"If there is one thing the United States military does very well, it is review with a critical eye all its processes and procedures when significant events occur," he said.

*Miller would have been the highest-ranking officer to face discipline for detainee abuses so far, but Gen. Bantz Craddock, head of the U.S. Southern Command, declined to follow the recommendation.

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King of the Bungle

"my wife lives here with me, and I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, she's at far greater risk being a civilian in Washington, D.C. than an average civilian in Iraq."

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, left, and White House Counselor Dan Barlett, ride in a military helicopter wearing helmets and flak jackets for a trip from Baghdad International Airport to U.S. Embassy

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Lost in translation

When he said:"we will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to exercise our right of selfdefense by acting preemptively"

What he meant:"Strength lies not in defense, but in attack."

When he said:"My message to the Iraqi people is this: Seize the moment"

What he meant: "Bring it on"

When he said:"Rumsfeld said that many U.S. troops have already been brought home."

What he meant: many U.S. troops have already been brought home ... in transfer tubes.

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Feel safer yet?

Homeland Security accepts fake ID

The Department of Homeland Security allowed a man to enter its headquarters last week using a fake Matricula Consular card as identification, despite federal rules that say the Mexican-issued card is not valid ID at government buildings.

Bruce DeCell, a retired New York City police officer, used his phony card -- which lists his place of birth as "Tijuana, B.C." and his address as "123 Fraud Blvd." on an incorrectly spelled "Staton Island, N.Y." -- to enter the building Wednesday for a meeting with DHS officials.

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Update to The Vidiot's post: Up is down, red is blue ...

US Disavows Guantanamo Suicide Comment

The Bush administration distanced itself Monday from a remark by a senior U.S. official calling the suicide of three prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center a public relations move. The State Department said the choice of words was unfortunate.

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Up is down, red is blue,

Excerpt: "They have no regard for human life," he said. "Neither ours nor their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation but an act of asymmetric warfare against us."

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Saturday Sailboat Blogging

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Friday (non)Random 10

Sing Sing Sing 8:41 Benny Goodman Gene Krupa
What'll I Do 3:12 Alison Krauss
Cry Me a River 5:03 Diana Krall
Guess Who I Saw Today 3:25 Nancy Wilson
Under My Skin.mp3 6:10 Diana Krall
Fly me to the moon 1:56 Count Basie and Keely Smith
The Way You Look Tonight 3:13 Benny Goodman w/ Peggy Lee
Danny Boy 5:26 Diana Krall & The Chieftains
Fever 3:19 Peggy Lee Jazz Vocal
Beyond the Sea 2:56 Bobby Darin
The Boy From Ipanema 2:37 Julie London

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Deja Vu all over again ...

[Katherine] Harris' chief of staff quits

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Irony. They should look it up.

Excerpt: But Bush added: "It's going to take awhile. Sometimes leaders show up who do a great disservice to the traditions and people of a country."

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You back? Ok, let's compare, shall we?

“Venezuela has achieved substantial improvements in the fight against poverty. The statistical evidence that we have compiled shows that from 1995 to 2005 the number of homes under the poverty line has decreased,� stated the World Bank.

The organization said that in these years the number of homes in poverty decreased from more than 40% to 30%

George:

(You know, I couldn't pick just one story on how much "disservice" he's done, so I'm just linking to my 6/6/6 blog entry that has a lot of links in it. )

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And speaking of shoving it down their throats ...

Pentagon Endorses Force-Feeding Hunger Strikers

A Pentagon document setting rules for medical professionals in detainee operations endorses force-feeding hunger strikers, a practice criticized by rights activists, U.S. officials said on Monday.
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Critics note that ethical codes endorsed by the American Medical Association, including a declaration by the World Medical Association, state that if a doctor considers a hunger striker "capable of forming an unimpaired and rational judgment concerning the consequences of such voluntary refusal of nourishment, he or she shall not be fed artificially."

A senior general told reporters some detainees subsequently decided taking part in the hunger strike had become "too much of a hassle."

"The hunger strike technique is consistent with al Qaeda practice and reflects detainee attempts to elicit media attention to bring international pressure on the United States to release them back to the battlefield," a military statement said.

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Winning their hearts ... and mines (sic)

'U.S. Military Hides Many More Hadithas'

An Iraqi doctor who was in Haditha during a deadly U.S. raid last year says there are many more stories like that in Haditha that are yet untold.

The Pentagon admitted last week that U.S. Marines killed 24 civilians -- including a 66-year-old woman and a four-year-old boy -- in the Western Iraqi town last November. Before that, the military had maintained the civilians were killed by a roadside bomb. [...] "The hospital has been attacked three times. In November 2005 the hospital was occupied by the American and Iraqi Army for seven days, which is a severe breach of the Geneva Conventions," he said.

Joseph Hatcher served in the western Iraqi town of Dawr from February 2004 until March last year. He said his cultural training before deployment consisted of a three-hour class and a pamphlet he was given. [ED: Hmm, same as the Ethics Classes, what a coincidence.] [...] "We would use very little language at all in house raids," he said.. "You point a barrel of a gun at somebody and pull them to the ground. It's fairly standard. There's no way to know if you're getting anyone of value.. You just arbitrarily raid an entire block."

The Washington Post reported Monday that Marines went to the home of a 52-year-old disabled Iraqi, took him outside and shot him four times in the face.

US Troops Accused of New Murders in Iraq

US troops faced fresh accusations of unlawful killings of civilians in Iraq as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered the release of 2,500 detainees in a gesture to promote national reconciliation. [...] "On May 13, US forces launched an air assault on a civilian car in Latifiyah and killed six people," Juburi told reporters.

"On the same day US aircraft attacked the house of a civilian, Saadun Mohsen Hassan, and killed seven members of his family," he added.

Juburi said US forces carried out another air strike the next day on the house of Sheikh Yassin Saleh Shallal in Yusifiyah, "killing 13 people -- including women and children."

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Oxymoron of the day

Several religious leaders joined Allard to argue that the [Gay Marriage] ban is needed to counteract an array of social ills, from rising divorce rates to out-of-wedlock births.

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For years now,

Excerpt: n the wake of Billygate and the Bulgarian Connection, Ledeen allegedly began to play a role as a behind-the-scenes operative with the ascendant Reagan-Bush team. According to Mission Italy, by former ambassador to Italy Richard Gardner, after Reagan's victory, but while Jimmy Carter was still president, "Ledeen and Pazienza set themselves up as the preferred channel between Italian political leaders and members of the new administration."

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Requiem

(1970) Let It Be -- including "Get Back"
(1970) All Things Must Pass (George Harrison)
(1971) Sticky Fingers (Rolling Stones)
(1971) The Concert for Bangla Desh (George Harrison And Friends)
(1971) There's a Riot Goin' On (Sly & the Family Stone)
(1972) Exile on Main Street (Rolling Stones)
(1973) Goats Head Soup (Rolling Stones)
(1974) It's Only Rock'n Roll (Rolling Stones)
(1975) Blood on the Tracks (Bob Dylan)
(1975) "You Are So Beautiful" (Joe Cocker's biggest hit)
(1976) Black and Blue (Rolling Stones)

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Why this day isn't different than any other.

So, if you're sitting at home thinking "Ooo. Scary day. I think I'll stay home." Don't worry. Whatever happens CAN'T be worse than the Bush administration.

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So if you don't tell the troops it's a war crime ...

Army Manual to Skip Geneva Detainee Rule

The Pentagon has decided to omit from new detainee policies a key tenet of the Geneva Convention that explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment," according to knowledgeable military officials, a step that would mark a further, potentially permanent, shift away from strict adherence to international human rights standards.
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For more than a year, the Pentagon has been redrawing its policies on detainees, and intends to issue a new Army Field Manual on interrogation, which, along with accompanying directives, represents core instructions to U.S. soldiers worldwide.
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The directive on interrogation, a senior defense official said, is being rewritten to create safeguards so that all detainees are treated humanely but can still be questioned effectively.
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For decades, it had been the official policy of the U.S. military to follow the minimum standards for treating all detainees as laid out in the Geneva Convention. But, in 2002, Bush suspended portions of the Geneva Convention for captured Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Bush's order superseded military policy at the time, touching off a wide debate over U.S. obligations under the Geneva accord, a debate that intensified after reports of detainee abuses at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
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The move to restore U.S. adherence to Article 3 was opposed by officials from Vice President Dick Cheney's office and by the Pentagon's intelligence arm, government sources said. David S. Addington, Cheney's chief of staff, and Stephen A. Cambone, Defense undersecretary for intelligence, said it would restrict the United States' ability to question detainees.
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The military has long applied Article 3 to conflicts — including civil wars — using it as a minimum standard of conduct, even during peacekeeping operations. The old version of the U.S. directive on detainees says the military will "comply with the principles, spirit and intent" of the Geneva Convention.

But top Pentagon officials now believe common Article 3 creates an "unintentional sanctuary" that could allow Al Qaeda members to keep information from interrogators.

Common Article 3 was originally written to cover civil wars, when one side of the conflict was not a state and therefore could not have signed the Geneva Convention.
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But top administration officials contend that after the Sept. 11 attacks, old customs do not apply, especially to a fight against terrorists or insurgents who never play by the rules.[...]

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Stupid Amendment

It occurred to me this morning (around 5:30 am) that if Bush really believed in the holiness of marriage between a man and a woman, and that those marriages were the foundation of our country, he should go all the way and promote an amendment that would outlaw the one thing that's most destructive to marriage--Divorce. What's the divorce rate now? More than 50% I think. That means there would be twice as many marriages if divorce were outlawed, twice as much sanctity. Of course, the murder rate and abuse crimes would probably more than double too, but on the other hand, think of the money that would be saved in alimony, which could be used in other ways, would probably help the economy. Many lawyers would need new jobs. There would be no broken families. There would be none of those weddings where people have to worry about inviting former in-laws. And best of all, gays and lesbians would see so many people living in bad marriages that they won't want to get married any more.

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Saturday Sailboat Blogging

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My Lai, Me Lie Again, Me Constantly Lie

Troops cleared in Ishaqi raid
A military investigation into allegations that U.S. troops intentionally killed Iraqi civilians in a March 15 raid in a village north of Baghdad has cleared the troops of misconduct, two defense officials said Friday.

The investigation concluded that the U.S. troops followed normal procedures in raising the level of force as they came under attack upon approaching a building where they believed an al-Qaida terrorist was hiding
[...]
The Army’s Criminal Investigation Division reviewed the results of the investigation and found no reason to probe further, the officials said.

One defense official said the investigation into the circumstances of the Ishaqi attack found that four people in the building were killed by U.S. forces, including two women and a child. The main target of the attack, said by U.S. intelligence to be an al-Qaida figure, ran from the building but was later captured, the official said.

video shot by an AP Television News cameraman at the time and aired on March 15 shows at least five children dead. The video shows at least one adult male and four young children with obvious entry wounds to the head. One child has an obvious entry wound to the side caused by a bullet.

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