Author: Alejandro

Bush asks Iraq to surrender its fig leaf sovereignty by giving the US wider discretion on military operations and legal immunity to American contractors: U.S. Asking Iraq for Wide Rights on War (New York Times) Turkey’s Islamic-oriented movement acts as the country’s liberalizing vanguard by seeking to ease restrictions on free speech and religious liberty:…

The Padilla trial’s lesson is that the government has omnipotent power as long as it’s the military violating Americans’ Constitutional rights: The Ominous Message in Padilla (Future of Freedom Foundation) Appeals court orders resentencing of convicted “paintball 11” member finding his non-violent crimes did not justify a “terrorism enhancement”: Appeals Court Tosses Va. Terror Sentence…

After being stonewalled by FBI, Justice Department and Congressional officials into her allegations of national security breaches by Turkish and Israeli agents, FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds tells her story: Found in Translation (American Conservative Magazine) Study by two journalism organizations count 935 false statements on Iraq in the lead up to the war, with “at…

Federal prosecutors seek to put Padilla and co-defendants behind bars for life for their dangerous intentions, not violent actions, but all get no more than 17 years: Padilla Sentence: Does Terror Training Merit Life? (Christian Science Monitor) Padilla Gets 17 Years, 4 Months (Miami Herald) Failure of Ahmedinejad’s policies forces Supreme Leader Khamenei to side…

Times of London confirms national security whistleblower Sibel Edmonds’ recent allegation that the FBI covered up Israeli and Turkish theft of US nuclear secrets: FBI Denies File Exposing Nuclear Secrets Theft (The Times) US-led economic sanctions against Iran hurt small businesses and lower income consumers, but fail to affect hardliners in power: Iran Sanctions Ripple…

Canada backtracks on its who’s who list of torturers after coming under pressure from the US and Israel: Canada FM Regrets ‘Torture List’ (BBC News) Israeli blockade of Gaza may force its only power plant to shut down during a peak winter demand for electricity: Israeli Closure ‘Hits Gaza Power’ (BBC News) Building projects like…

SecDef Gates begins seeking input from top military brass on the best way to exit Iraq: Gates Seeks Troop Estimates (New York Times) DHS gets slammed for wasting $90m on a redundant and ineffective counterterrorism information-sharing network: DHS to Replace ‘Duplicative’ Anti-Terrorism Data Network (Washington Post) Mistreatment of Gitmo detainees earns the US a spot…

The feds go after a Christian former Congressman in order to take down another Islamic charity: Ex-Congressman Indicted In Terrorism-Funding Case (Washington Post) Independent government report finds sanctions against Iran are not working: GAO Report Challenges Effect of Longtime U.S. Sanctions on Iran (Washington Post) In a sign of weakening morale, Pakistani soldiers abandon a…

CIA spy ops chief Jose Rodriguez says he made the order to destroy the torture tapes because the White House’s silence on the matter gave him tacit consent: Station Chief Made Appeal To Destroy CIA Tapes (Washington Post) Human Rights First alleges “…unwillingness or inability to systematically investigate or prosecute” possible crimes hold back the…

Judge expresses concern that federal prosecutors now try to focus on motive in order to get life sentences after “great pains to not have motive in the trial“: Life in Prison for Padilla? (Christian Science Monitor) Like Dr. Frankenstein, who suffered the consequences of creating a monster, Pakistan and its intelligence service suffer the consequences…