Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government
13 Sep 2010http://www.legitgov.orgAll links are here:
http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
MoD probes claim that soldiers are smuggling heroin from
Afghanistan<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1311360/Militar
y-police-investigate-claims-British-troops-Afghanistan-involved-heroin-traffi
cking.html> 12 Sep 2010 Soldiers returning from Afghanistan are
being subjected to rigorous security checks amid claims that some
are involved in heroin trafficking. The Ministry of Defence confirmed
last night that military police were investigating a tip-off alleging
that soldiers sent to fight the Taliban were buying drugs from
Afghan dealers and shipping them back to Britain. The claim is that
heroin and other drugs are being smuggled in by a handful of the
hundreds of soldiers returning each week to RAF Brize Norton in
Oxfordshire. [Right, the CIA handles the rest. On the bright side,
the heroin-smuggling takes a back seat to the body-part hoarding
and the finger
trophies<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/travelnews/article-1310540/Twelve-US
-soldiers-face-trial-Afghan-civilians-killed-sport--whistle-blower-originally
-ignored.html>. --LRP]
U.S. trying to track missing weapons issued to Afghan
police<http://www.stripes.com/news/u-s-trying-to-track-missing-weapons-issued
-to-afghan-police-1.117821> --The Department of Defense procured
more than 72,400 AK-47s, as well as heavy machine guns and RPG
launchers for Afghan police [and insurgents]. 13 Sep 2010 A massive
hunt is on for tens of thousands of rifles, machine guns and
rocket-propelled grenade launchers that the U.S. government procured
for the Afghan National Police but are unaccounted for, according
to the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan. "There have been
discrepancies in the number of weapons the Afghans say they have
and the number of weapons issued," U.S. Air Force Maj. Lindsay
Logsdon, a public affairs officer with NTM-A, said in an e-mail
Wednesday.
Soldier's father: Army was warned of murder
plot<http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ifw7ZiXQ5YR3y3cPAiHa_M
KJSXSAD9I4NB680> 10 Sep 2010 The father of a U.S. soldier serving
in Afghanistan says he tried nearly a half dozen times to pass an
urgent message from his son to the Army: Troops in his unit had
murdered an Afghan civilian, planned more killings and threatened
him to keep quiet about it. By the time officials arrested suspects
months later, two more Afghans were dead. And much to Christopher
Winfield's horror, his son Adam was among the five Fort Lewis-based
soldiers charged in the killings.
Twelve U.S. soldiers face trial after Afghan civilians 'were killed
for sport and their fingers collected as
trophies'<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/travelnews/article-1310540/Twelve-U
S-soldiers-face-trial-Afghan-civilians-killed-sport--whistle-blower-originall
y-ignored.html> 10 Sep 2010 A dozen US soldiers are facing trail
accused of being part of a 'kill team' that allegedly killed Afghan
civilians in an arbitrary fashion - and they even collected their
victims' fingers as trophies of war. Five soldiers have been charged
with the killing three Afghan men 'for sport'. And seven more are
accused of covering up the murders. In one of the most serious
accusations of war crimes to come out of the Afghan war, the deaths
are alleged to have been carried out by members of a Stryker infantry
brigade based in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan.
3 Afghans Die in Protest Over Koran
Burning<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/world/asia/13afghan.html> 13
Sep 2010 Two Afghans died in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan
on Sunday when the police fired into a crowd protesting the planned
burning of the Koran in Florida, a day after the burning had been
called off. The deaths bring to three the number of Afghans killed
in demonstrations tied to the threat made by Terry Jones, a Florida
pastor, to burn the Koran on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks
on Sept. 11.
5 killed in US drone strike in
Pakistan<http://www.presstv.ir/detail/142168.html> 12 Sep 2010 At
least five people have been killed in a fresh US drone strike in
Pakistan's northwestern tribal regions, Pakistani officials say.
The drone targeted a house owned by a local tribesman, Mohammad
Khalid, in Newey Adda, a village in North Waziristan tribal district,
the officials said.
30,000 prisoners in Iraq without trial:
Amnesty<http://www.hindustantimes.com/30-000-prisoners-in-Iraq-without-trial-
Amnesty/Article1-599439.aspx> --The report alleged that prisoners
were beaten with electric cables and tortured with electric shocks
and drills. 13 Sep 2010 Iraqi authorities are holding some 30,000
people without trial and denying them access to lawyers, leaving
them at risk of torture, the leading human rights organisation
Amnesty International said Monday in a report. Secret prisons are
allegedly being used to house detainees. The report - entitled 'New
Order, Same Abuses: Unlawful detentions and torture in
Iraq<http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_20724.pdf>' -
also charged that some prisoners had died from maltreatment while
in custody.
[Operation Iraqi Freedom: Dictatorship, electric shocks, depleted
uranium, BP, and Monsanto. Saddam Hussein: Clearly, the better
deal.]
Torture and abuse rife in Iraq jails, Amnesty report
says<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/13/torture-abuse-iraq-jails-amn
esty> --Study finds prisoners, many detained by US forces, being
held without rights by Iraqi security forces 13 Sep 2010 Up to
30,000 prisoners, including many veterans of the US detention system,
are being held without rights in Iraq and are frequently tortured
or abused according to a
report<http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_20724.pdf>
by Amnesty International. The study has found that the human rights
situation remains dire in Iraq, with arbitrary arrests and secret
detention common, as well as a lack of accountability throughout
the security forces.
3 dead in Baghdad
violence<http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/09/13/iraq.violence/> 13
Sep 2010 At least three people were killed during the past day in
Baghdad, officials said late Monday. A bomb attached to the vehicle
of an Iraqi intelligence officer detonated in western Baghdad Monday
afternoon killing him, an Interior Ministry official told CNN.
According to the official, the bomb was attached to the car of Capt.
Muthanna Ahmed and exploded in the al-Ghazaliya neighborhood.
Five killed in central Iraq
violence<http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5js3bF2VYISyKr1Rlq
7ZatFf8xJEw> 12 Sep 2010 Bomb attacks and firefights on Sunday in
the restive central Iraqi province of Diyala killed five people,
including two soldiers and a policeman, security officials said.
One Iraqi soldier and a policeman were killed in a gunfight with
insurgents in the agricultural village of Al-Hudaid, according to
Major Mohammed al-Karkhi, spokesman for police in Diyala, north of
Baghdad. Three insurgents were also killed and 10 people wounded
in the shooting, which began Saturday night as armed groups sought
to take control of Al-Hudaid, west of the provincial capital Baquba.
Blackwater murder trial set to
open<http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/09/13/Blackwater-murder-trial-set-to
-open/UPI-76911284401283/> 13 Sep 2010 Two former Blackwater security
employees mercenaries facing trial for killing two Afghan civilians
in Kabul say they readily admit they opened fire on them in May
2009. In a trial set to begin Tuesday, a jury will have to determine
if the former firearms instructors fired in self-defense or in
violation of the law, firing intentionally "with extreme disregard
for human life," The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported. Christopher
Drotleff, 29, of Virginia Beach and Justin Cannon, 28, of Corpus
Christi, Texas, are charged with murder in the shooting deaths of
two Afghan nationals in the capital of Kabul.
Md. judge: Military contractors can be
sued<http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7199245.html> 13 Sep
2010 Military contractors can be sued by soldiers and others who
allege they were harmed by improper waste disposal while serving
in Iraq and Afghanistan, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District
Judge Roger W. Titus ruled in Maryland last week that Houston-based
military contractors Halliburton Co. and KBR are subject to lawsuits
alleging the contractors exposed soldiers to toxic emissions and
contaminated water when they burned waste in open pits without
proper safety controls. Titus is overseeing 43 lawsuits filed in
42 states on the issue.
NATO eyes missile system in
Europe<http://www.presstv.ir/detail/142250.html> 12 Sep 2010 NATO
Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has proposed to develop a
US-backed missile system around the Europe with Russia's cooperation.
Rasmussen said that it would be necessary to ensure Russia's
cooperation in the 200-million-euro ($253 million) project, because
"we would have a NATO system alongside a Russian system," the
Telegraph reported.
US prepares to approve $60bn arms deal with Saudi
Arabia<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/13/us-arms-deal-saudi-arabia>
--Deal could be biggest in US history as fear of a nuclear Iran
overrides concerns about human rights in Saudi Arabia 13 Sep 2010
The US Congress is poised to give its approval to the biggest arms
deal in US history when it signs off on weapons sales to Saudi
Arabia worth an estimated $60bn (#39bn).
The sale, under negotiation since 2007, is aimed mainly at bolstering
Saudi defences against Iran... The transfer of advanced technology,
mainly planes, is to provide Saudi Arabia with air superiority over
Iran.
Israeli tank kills 91-year old farmer and
grandson<http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=684140> 13 Sep 2010
Israeli shelling has killed Palestinians working in the fields in
a Gaza farm village.
The farmers died while working in the fields of Beit Hanoun, in an
Israeli barrage which was a counter attack following rocket fire
from Gaza. A 91 year old farm caretaker was killed along with a 20
year old worker. The teenage grandson of the farm holder also died
of wounds sustained in the incident, which occurred close to the
Gaza-Israel border
US Air Force enlists predatory
birds<http://www.presstv.ir/detail/142038.html> 11 Sep 2010 Jet and
Peach are 2 Harris hawks with a straightforward mission:
to scare local birds away from runways at Manas International Airport
outside of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Employed by the US Air Force, the
operator of the Manas Transit Center, the hawks are a key component
in the BASH (Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard) program, designed to stop
birds from colliding with aircraft on takeoff or landing.
'Military dictatorship part of US
tradition'<http://www.presstv.ir/detail/142238.html> 12 Sep 2010
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has denounced anti-Iran remarks
made by the US secretary of state, saying "military dictatorship"
is a part of the American tradition. Last week Hillary Clinton said
"Iran is morphing into a military dictatorship with a ... sort of
religious-ideological veneer," and the US tries to support opposition
forces in the country "in a way that does not undermine or endanger
them." "Military dictatorship is the essential trait of traditional
thought in the US... they not only violate the international laws
by military attacks on other countries... but also disregard
international organizations and institutions in their attempt to
achieve their ominous objectives," Mottaki said on Sunday.
Untangling the Bizarre CIA Links to the Ground Zero
Mosque<http://www.observer.com/2010/politics/untangling-new-intrigue-behind-g
round-zero-mosque> By Mark Ames 10 Sep 2010 ...[L]inks between the
group behind the controversial mosque, the CIA and U.S. military
establishment have gone unacknowledged... From 2006 to 2008, R.
Leslie Deak worked as a "business consultant" to this super-secretive
security contractor with ties to the CIA and counterterrorism forces,
and in those same three years he also donated nearly $100,000 in
seed money to the foundation now advocating the construction of the
so-called Ground Zero Mosque. [The CIA *should* rebuild Ground Zero
-- they created it.]
Belgians begin explosion
investigation<http://www.cphpost.dk/news/national/49963-belgians-begin-explos
ion-investigation-.html> --Danish police continue to remain mum
about bombers identity, possible target 12 Sep 2010 Belgian officials
have opened an investigation into the identity of the man arrested
in Copenhagen on Friday in connection with a minor explosion, reports
public broadcaster DR. The man, who has refused to give his identity,
was reportedly carrying papers from two foreign countries. Danish
police have not stated the names of the countries, but according
to Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, the suspect was carrying a
passport from that country with a false name.
Suspected bomber arrested<http://www.cphpost.dk/news/national/49961.html>
--Motive, identity of suspected bomber remain unknown 10 Sep 2010
Police in Copenhagen have arrested a man in connection with what
appears to be a botched bombing. The man was apprehended shortly
after a minor explosion at about 1:30pm in the bathroom of Hotel
Jxrgensen, located near Nxrreport Station, the capitals busiest
commuter railway hub. Police arrested the man, reportedly carrying
identification from two foreign countries, in nearby H.C. Xrsted
Park with a bag attached to his waist.
Man Charged With Trying to Blow Up Detroit-bound Plane Fires Lawyers,
Discusses Possible
Plea<http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/wireStory?id=11620351> 13 Sep
2010 A Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up an international
flight near Detroit on Christmas fired his lawyers Monday and
suggested he wants to plead guilty to some of six charges against
him. U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds advised Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
not to get rid of his attorneys, but he insisted. In February, law
enforcement officials said he had turned against Anwar al-Awlaki,
the U.S.-born Yemeni radical who claims to be his teacher, and had
helped the U.S. hunt for him.
Hamden Muslim family's home
vandalized<http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/hamden-muslim-family%27
s-home-vandalized> 12 Sep 2010 A prominent member of the Muslim
community in Southern Connecticut says his home was vandalized over
the weekend. Dr.
Abdul-Majid Karim Hasan and his wife have lived on Dest Street for
over 20 years. They were stunned to see the graffiti on their house
Saturday morning.
"They didn't write much, but they did write something and what they
wrote was not very nice words," Dr. Hasan said.
Sarkozy accused of using Watergate-style tricks to muzzle the French
press<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/sarkozy-accused-of-using
-watergatestyle-tricks-to-muzzle-the-french-press-2078452.html>
--'Le Monde' launches legal action against President, claiming he
used security services to find insider who leaked information to
paper 14 Sep 2010 In a scandal having many parallels with the
Watergate affair, President Nicolas Sarkozy was accused by France's
most prestigious newspaper yesterday of illegally using the
counter-intelligence service to muzzle the press. Le Monde said
that the President's office had deployed France's equivalent of MI5
like a "cabinet noir", or dirty-tricks operation, to uncover the
source of leaks in the L'Orial family feud and political financing
scandal. The newspaper said that it had started a legal action
against "persons unknown" at the Elysie Palace for breaking a
century-old French law which guarantees the secrecy of journalistic
sources.
Homeland Security to test iris
scanners<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2010-09-13-1Airis13_S
T_N.htm> --DHS will test cameras that take photos from 3 or 4 feet
away, including one that works on people as they walk by. 13 Sep
2010 The Homeland Security Department plans to test futuristic iris
scan technology that stores digital images of people's eyes in a
database... The department will run a two-week test in October of
commercially sold iris scanners at a Border Patrol station in
McAllen, Texas, where they will be used on illegal immigrants, said
Arun Vemury, program manager at the department's Science and
Technology branch.
Flu Shot May Become Mandatory for Healthcare
Workers<http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ColdandFlu/flu-vaccine-healthcare-worker
s-aap/story?id=11596769> 11 Sep 2010 All healthcare personnel should
be required to get vaccinated against with their influenza, according
to a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The authors, from the AAP's Committee on Infectious Diseases, said
that influenza vaccination is needed to protect patients, and that
healthcare personnel have an ethical and professional obligation
to be immunized. [The reason these maggots are making the vaccines
mandatory is because no one -- *especially* health care workers --
wants their poisonous squalene-laden sh*t. Sign petition: Refuse
and Resist Mandatory Flu
Vaccines<http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/refuse-and-resist-mandatory-flu-vac
cine/>.]
PG&E ordered to inspect gas pipeline system after
blast<http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6890O120100913> 13 Sep
2010 California regulators have ordered utility PG&E Corp to inspect
its natural gas pipeline system following an explosion that destroyed
a neighborhood in a San Francisco suburb last week, killing four
people. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) asked
PG&E to immediately conduct an integrity assessment of its natural
gas pipeline system. The regulators want the utility to survey all
natural gas lines, particularly those that carry gas at higher
pressure and those in areas of highest population density.
Scientists Find Thick Layer of Oil On
Seafloor<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129782098>
--Professor: Layers of oily material -- in some places more than 2
inches thick -- covering bottom of seafloor 10 Sep 2010 Scientists
on a research vessel in the Gulf of Mexico are finding a substantial
layer of oily sediment stretching for dozens of miles in all
directions. Their discovery suggests that a lot of oil from the
Deepwater Horizon didn't simply evaporate or dissipate into the
water -- it has settled to the seafloor.
Senate Republicans firm on tax cuts for
rich<http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68B1SH20100913> 13 Sep
2010 Senate Republicans have enough votes to block President Barack
Obama's plan to extend tax cuts for the middle class while allowing
those for the rich to expire, a spokesman for the Senate Republican
leader said on Monday. Republicans on Monday scrambled to regroup
on the tax issue ahead of November 2 congressional elections after
House of Representatives Republican Leader John Boehner appeared
to open the door for a possible compromise.
Lieberman Favors Extension of Bush-Era Tax
Rates<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/us/politics/14cong.html>
14 Sep 2010 With the focus now shifting to the Senate over a potential
compromise on the expiring Bush-era income-tax cuts, Senator Joseph
I. Lieberman, the Connecticut independent who is aligned with the
Democrats, said on Monday that he favored maintaining the lower
rates for everyone, including the wealthiest Americans, for at least
one more year. At least a dozen House DemocRATs and four Senate
Democrats, in addition to Mr. Lieberman, have expressed concerns
about raising taxes -- even on the richest 2 percent of taxpayers.
Study links CEOs' pay to
layoffs<http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201009120245/BUSIN
ESS09/9120351> 12 Sep 2010 It's been a decade of business scandals
and volatility. Yet through all of that uncertainty, Corporate
America clings to at least two of its core values: Rewarding CEOs
with hefty (some may choose the word "bloated," or even "obese")
multimillion-dollar pay packages. Cutting massive numbers of jobs
during times of economic strain. Is there a link here?
The Institute for Policy Studies -- a self-described progressive,
multi-issue think tank in Washington -- thinks so.
US poverty on track to post record gain in
2009<http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hrI16Lcca0yq7kpyqoCVEC
FHnjIQD9I5PQJ80> --Anticipated poverty rate increase is from 13.2
percent to about 15 percent 11 Sep 2010 The number of people in the
U.S. who are in poverty is on track for a record increase on President
Barack Obama's watch [thanks to Bush/the GOP], with the ranks of
working-age poor approaching 1960s levels that led to the national
war on poverty. Census figures for 2009 -- the recession-ravaged
first year of the Democrat's presidency -- are to be released in
the coming week, and demographers expect grim findings.
Nissan LEAF: Polar Bear<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNeEVkhTutY>
Posted by nissanusa 09 Sep 2010 Seeing its arctic home melting away,
a lone polar bear sets out on a great journey to thank someone who
is trying to help. (Video of Nissan LEAF ad)
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Previous lead stories: US troops took body parts, 'kept finger
trophies'<http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/09/10/us-troops-kept-
finger-trophies-115875-22550314/> 10 Sep 2010 American soldiers
murdered Afghan civilians and took body parts as trophies, it was
alleged last night.
Shocking documents show five soldiers have been charged with killing
innocent Afghans in January, February and May this year after forming
a secret "kill team". In charge sheets obtained from the US Army,
Staff Sgt Calvin Gibbs, Cpl Jeremy Morlock, Pte First Class Andrew
Holmes, Specialist Michael Wagnon and Specialist Adam Winfield are
accused of the crimes. [They don't 'hate us for our freedoms.' They
hate us because we're *sociopaths.*]
Pentagon Plan: Buying Then Destroying Books to Keep
Secrets<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/us/10books.html> --DoD
officials are negotiating to buy and destroy all 10,000 copies of
the first printing of an Afghan war memoir. 10 Sep 2010 Defense
Department officials are negotiating to buy and destroy all 10,000
copies of the first printing of an Afghan war memoir they say
contains intelligence secrets, according to two people familiar
with the dispute. The publication of "Operation Dark Heart," by
Anthony A. Shaffer, a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer
and a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, has divided military
security reviewers and highlighted the uncertainty about what
information poses a genuine threat to security. Veterans of the
publishing industry and intelligence agencies could not recall
another case in which an agency sought to dispose of a book that
had already been printed.
Court Sides With C.I.A. on Seizure of Terror
Suspects<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/us/09secrets.html> --The
ruling handed a major victory to the Obama administration in its
effort to advance a sweeping view of executive secrecy power. 09
Sep 2010 A sharply divided federal appeals court on Wednesday
dismissed a lawsuit involving the Central Intelligence Agencys
practice of seizing terrorism suspects and transferring them to
other countries for imprisonment and interrogation [and torture].
By a six-to-five vote, the United States Court of Appeals for the
Ninth Circuit, reversing an earlier decision, dismissed a lawsuit
against Jeppesen Dataplan Inc., a Boeing subsidiary accused of
arranging flights for the C.I.A.'s "extraordinary rendition" program,
as it is known.
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