Indignation Grows in U.S. Over British WAR DOC'S...

Indignation Grows in U.S. Over British Prewar Documents --Reports in the British press this month based on documents indicating that Dictator Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair had conditionally agreed by July 2002 to invade Iraq appear to have blown over quickly in Britain. But in the United States, where the reports at first received scant attention, there has been growing indignation among critics of the Bush White House, who say the documents help prove that the leaders made a secret decision to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein nearly a year before launching their attack, shaped intelligence to that aim and never seriously intended to avert the war through diplomacy.

Gee, the PentaPost *finally* does its job, and reports on a story CLG covered... *twelve days ago,* LOL! British Intelligence Warned Blair of War --Prime Minister Was Told of White House's Resolve to Use Military --Seven months before the invasion of Iraq, the head of British foreign intelligence reported to Prime Minister Tony Blair that pResident Bush wanted to topple Saddam Hussein by military action and warned that in Washington intelligence was "being fixed around the policy," according to notes of a July 23, 2002, meeting with Blair at No. 10 Downing Street. [The secret Downing Street memo SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL - UK EYES ONLY -- David Manning From: Matthew Rycroft Date: 23 July 2002 S 195 /02 --Iraq: Prime Minister's Meeting, 23 JULY]

Bush Approves $82 Billion in Supplemental War Funding --Dictator Bush signed into law on May 11 legislation that provides $82 billion in supplemental funding, most of it for Halliburton ['to help cover the cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.']

Bush's Baghdad: It's just pure hell. (Newsweek) "The Pentagon secretly keeps track of many grim statistics in Iraq. The numbers are not encouraging... An accidentally declassified Pentagon report about a killing on the road to Baghdad airport at the beginning of March shows quite clearly how much worse the overall situation is than the Bush administration would like us, or even its allies in the Coalition [Occupation] forces, to believe... 'From July 2004 to late March 2005,' says the document, 'there were 15,527 attacks against Coalition Forces throughout Iraq.' Then comes one of several paragraphs marked S//NF (secret, not for distribution to foreign nationals): 'From 1 November 2004 to 12 March 2005 there were 3306 attacks in the Baghdad area. Of these, 2400 were directed against Coalition Forces.' In a span of four and a half months, which included the election [sic] turning point, that’s not only a hell of a lot of hits in the capital city, it's just pure hell."

Two US helicopter gunships reportedly downed in Qaim --Iraqi insurgents downed two US helicopter gunships near the town of Qaim on the Syrian border on Thursday, the Al-Jazeera TV channel reported quoting the head of the city post office.

Iraq Car Bombings Kill 21, Injure 90 --A car bomb exploded in a jammed commercial district Thursday, turning the sky gray as shops and restaurants caught fire in the most deadly of a string of attacks that killed 21, including a general and colonel who were assassinated. Iraqis expressed growing fury at the relentless bloodshed, throwing stones at police and U.S. forces who came to the scene of the bombing. More than 90 were also wounded in Thursday's violence.

14 Are Killed in Baghdad as Insurgents Press Their Offensive -- In the Marine-led offensive near the Syrian border, two more Americans were killed and 14 were wounded when a military vehicle struck a roadside bomb Wednesday, the Second Marine Division said in a statement today. This morning, a suicide car bomber exploded his vehicle on a busy main street in the New Baghdad district, killing at least 12 civilians and wounding 80, an Interior Ministry official said. Thirteen cars were set ablaze and many shops were damaged.

Three U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq attacks --Three U.S. soldiers were killed in separate bomb attacks in Iraq on Thursday, the U.S. military said in statements.

Seventeen U.S. soldiers killed since Saturday --The U.S. military is reeling from escalating casualties in Iraq. Since last Saturday at least 15 troops have died in combat in Iraq, mostly from explosions. Another two died in action in Afghanistan.

Jordan considers Iraqi request to pardon Chalabi --Jordan is considering a request by Iraq to pardon former Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi but would insist on the return of millions of dollars he was convicted of embezzling in a bank scandal, officials said on Thursday.

What Is Depleted Uranium? Crawford, TX - The Lone Star Iconoclast last week conducted a test by asking 20 Texans, representing all walks of life and from different territories of the state, “What are your views on depleted uranium?” Nineteen had no clue what the interviewer was talking about... None knew that depleted uranium (DU) is radioactive material being used in military ammunition and none knew that the U.S. military is utilizing weapons to launch these nuclear DU projectiles in Iraq.

Sailor Who Refused to Ship Out for the Persian Gulf Sentenced to Hard Labor --A U.S. sailor was sentenced to three months of hard labor Thursday for refusing to ship out for the Persian Gulf in a protest against the war in Iraq.

Wired Iraqi prisoner photo done in jest: lawyer --A U.S. Army reservist accused of attaching wires to a hooded Iraqi prisoner did so in a joke shared with the prisoner, her lawyer said at the start of a court-martial said on Thursday. Spc. Sabrina Harman is accused of posing before a pyramid of naked Iraqi prisoners and photographing them as they were forced to masturbate. She is also charged with placing wires on an Iraqi detainee dubbed Gilligan by guards and telling him he would be electrocuted if he stepped off a box in a picture seen worldwide. [So, the lawyer would OK 'wiring' Bush and Cheney, since it's done in 'jest?']

US soldier pleads not guilty to wiring Iraqi --A U.S. Army reservist charged with attaching wires to a hooded Iraqi prisoner in a picture seen around the world pleaded not guilty on Thursday in the second Abu Ghraib case to go to trial.

Terror Suspects Sent to Egypt by the Dozens, Panel Reports --The United States and other countries have forcibly sent dozens of terror suspects to Egypt, according to a report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch. The rights group and the State Department have both said Egypt regularly uses extreme interrogation methods on detainees. ['Extreme interrogation methods.' Uh, that would be *torture.*]

Afghan election candidate killed in rebel ambush --Taliban rebels ambushed a candidate for Afghanistan's September parliamentary election, killing him and his driver, a provincial governor said on Thursday.

Anti-U.S. Protests Spread in Afghanistan and Pakistan --Anti-American violence [No, the violence was perpetrated by the American occupiers] spread across Afghanistan and into Pakistan today in the third day of demonstrations and clashes with the police. A provincial office of CARE International was ransacked and four protesters were killed in a continuation of the most widespread protests against the American presence since the fall of the Taliban regime more than three years ago.

MPs demand parliamentary inquiry into voting reform --Tony Blair faced a direct challenge on his mandate to govern without a majority of votes as MPs called for a parliamentary inquiry to examine the case for voting reform. [Oh, like Bush has done, since 2000?]

Russia Accuses U.S., Other Foreign Agencies of Spying --Russia's security chief accused U.S. and other foreign intelligence services Thursday of using non-governmental organizations that promote democracy to spy on Russia and bring about political upheaval in former Soviet republics.

Blix criticizes U.S. nuke policy, Bolton --Washington isn't taking "the common bargain" of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty as seriously as it once did, and that's dimming global support for the U.S. campaign to shut down the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs, the former chief U.N. weapons inspector said.

British legislator to testify in Senate --A British lawmaker and fierce critic of the Iraq war said yesterday that he will travel to Washington next week to rebut claims by a Senate committee that he was bribed by Iraqi president Saddam Hussein through the U.N. oil-for-food program.

US senators will get 'good hiding' pledges Galloway --George Galloway pledged that he would give a "bloody good hiding" to a US Senate committee over accusations that he was granted allocations for millions of barrels of oil from Saddam Hussein's government.

Protesters take to the streets in Uzbekistan --Thousands of protesters surged through the streets of an eastern Uzbekistani city on Friday, enraged by the government's decision to jail 23 Muslim businessmen on charges of religious extremism. An armed crowd took over the high-security jail in Andijon shortly after midnight and released as many as several thousand prisoners. [*Awesome!!* That's a few less thousand prisoners that the Bush terror team (and its perverted ally, Uzbekistan) can *boil to death.* See: Uzbekistan: Six-Year Jail Demand For Mother of Boiled Muslim 12 February 2004 and US looks away as new ally tortures Islamists - Uzbekistan's president steps up repression of opponents 26 May 2003]

Corpses seen on streets in Uzbek town --At least three corpses lay on the streets in the Uzbek town of Andizhan and several buildings were ablaze on Friday after an apparent jail break, Reuters correspondent Shamil Baigin said.

Ex-marine claims nuclear weapons stored at Nfld. base --An American veteran who says he guarded a secret stash of nuclear weapons in Newfoundland claims his government would rather see him dead than admit to violations of international law.

Muslims Report 50% Increase in Bias Crimes --Reported hate crimes against Muslims in the United States increased by more than 50 percent last year, with New York State ranking second nationally in the number of bias cases, according to a study released yesterday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an Islamic advocacy group in Washington.

Bush pressured to drop UN choice --Dictator George W Bush is coming under increasing pressure to withdraw his nomination of outspoken conservative John Bolton for UN ambassador. A leading Democratic senator, Joe Biden, told the BBC the time had come for Mr Bush to think again about his choice.

Panel Sends Bolton Nomination to Senate --John R. Bolton, Dictator Bush's sharp-elbowed nominee to become U.N. ambassador, survived a cliffhanger Senate committee vote Thursday after renewed criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, leaving the final confirmation decision to the full Senate.

Republican rips Bolton, but nomination still on course --'Serious deficiencies,' Voinovich says; but 3 GOP fence-sitters now back U.N. nominee --A key Republican senator on Thursday questioned John Bolton's qualifications to be Dictator Bush's U.N. ambassador, citing "serious deficiencies." Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, who had earlier stunned Republican peers by saying he wanted to review allegations against Bolton, portrayed the nominee as "arrogant" and "bullying." ..."John Bolton is the poster child of what someone in the diplomatic corps should not be," Voinovich said, adding that Bolton would be fired if he was in private business.

Voinovich Slams Bolton but OKs Senate Vote --In a tense atmosphere, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee debated John Bolton's fitness to be United Nations ambassador on Thursday. A critical Republican senator, George Voinovich of Ohio, agreed to let the nomination go to the full Senate but he called the diplomat "arrogant" and "bullying."

9/11 test flip-flop EPA to check 30 buildings for debris --Pressured by residents and lawmakers, the federal government reversed itself yesterday and will start testing for World Trade Center-related debris in Brooklyn. But the Environmental Protection Agency plans to test only 30 buildings in the borough. "That's just a fig leaf to say that they're doing something," blasted City Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn Heights). "That's not going to give a picture of the contamination in Brooklyn."

Officials Weighed Shooting Down Errant Plane --As a wayward Cessna flew deep in restricted airspace, national security officials were on the phone discussing whether to implement the last line of defense: shooting it down. It was a close call. One senior Bush regime counter[sic]terrorism official said it was "a real finger-biting period because they came very close to ordering a shot against a general aircraft." [Well, Rumsfeld had Flight 93 shot down over Shanksville, PA on 9/11 - so it would not be the first time. See: Rumsfeld says 9-11 plane 'shot down' in Pennsylvania --During surprise Christmas Eve trip, defense secretary contradicts official story (27 December 2004)]

Cessna pilot in White House scare campaigned for Bush Lancaster, PA - Local pilots panic capitol --Fighter jets intercept small Cessna --The pilot, Hayden "Jim" Sheaffer Jr., 69, of Lititz, and his passenger, Troy D. Martin, 36, of Akron, were taken into federal custody and questioned for several hours before being released. No charges were filed against the two men after Secret Service agents determined they simply got lost on their way to an air show in North Carolina. ...Sue Youmans, 54, a neighbor of Sheaffer Jr., said that Sheaffer is a Republican and campaigned for President [sic] Bush. "He's a big President Bush supporter," she said.

Was it just a test and/or Weapon of Mass (Comments on terror 'alert' system in yesterday's news cycle, UAL's pension default) Distraction? D.C. Scare Puts Alert System to the Test --Washington's Terror Alert System Put to the Test by Plane Scare; Ridge Praises Quick Response --The terror alert system in the nation's capital was put to the test by a small plane that flew within three miles of the White House, leading to the frantic evacuation of government buildings. Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Thursday praised security officials for quick, appropriate response as the lost pilot was being diverted away from Washington.

Iris Scanning to Begin At Orlando International Airport --Florida's busiest airport will begin using high-tech iris-scanning technology to filter out possible 'terrorists' and add an additional layer of security, according to Local 6 News. Workers and other people at Orlando International Airport will have both irises scanned at special computers to determine their identity. [They don't recognize the workers, after say, six years of employment?]

California border police proposed --Ballot initiative would establish new agency to enforce immigration law --A proposed ballot measure in California would establish a new California border police to enforce federal immigration law.

Border Patrol Takes Fire From Across Border --Border Patrol agents come under automatic weapons fire from across the Rio Grande after 'finding a truck being loaded with drugs' [Yeah, right!] at the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge south of Alamo.

Border Patrol told to stand down in Arizona --U.S. Border Patrol agents have been ordered not to arrest illegal aliens along the section of the Arizona border where protesters patrolled last month because an increase in apprehensions there would prove the effectiveness of Minuteman volunteers, The Washington Times has learned.

FBI Nabs Troops, Officers in Drug Sting --FBI agents posing as cocaine traffickers in Arizona caught 16 current and former U.S. soldiers and law enforcement personnel who took about $220,000 in bribes to help move the drugs through checkpoints, Justice Department officials said Thursday.

Reid cites FBI file on judicial pick --Minority Leader Harry Reid strayed from his prepared remarks on the Senate floor yesterday and promised to continue opposing one of pResident Bush's judicial nominees based on "a problem" he said is in the nominee's "confidential report from the FBI.