American Conservative: Feith's Office was responsible for Habbush-Iraq Forgery

Thinkprogress has a report via the American Conservative that indicates that former Pentagon Official Douglas Feith (aka the Dumbest Fucking Guy on the Planet) was responsible for the forged Habbush letter falsely linking Iraq to 9-11.

From Phillip Giraldi at the AC:

An extremely reliable and well placed source in the intelligence community has informed me that Ron Suskind’s revelation that the White House ordered the preparation of a forged letter linking Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda and also to attempts made to obtain yellowcake uranium is correct but that a number of details are wrong.

The Suskind account states that two senior CIA officers Robert Richer and John Maguire supervised the preparation of the document under direct orders coming from Director George Tenet. Not so, says my source. Tenet is for once telling the truth when he states that he would not have undermined himself by preparing such a document while at the same time insisting publicly that there was no connection between Saddam and al-Qaeda. Richer and Maguire have both denied that they were involved with the forgery and it should also be noted that preparation of such a document to mislead the media is illegal and they could have wound up in jail.

That's right, if CIA had attempted to mislead the American people they would have been commiting a crime, but the same isn't true for Feith and the Pentagon which lends the story yet another layer of credibility.

Since the White House and Tenet have become a solid wall of denials, Suskind has begun releasing transcripts of his conversations with CIA Official Rob Richer - which as he mentioned on Olbermann - were recorded.

Rob: To characterize it right, I would say, right: it came to us, George had a raised eyebrow, and basically we passed it on–it was to–and passed this on into the organization. You know, it was: ‘Okay, we gotta do this, but make it go away.’ … It was: ‘This is unbelievable. This is just like all the other garbage we get about … I mean Mohammad Atta and links to al Qaeda. ‘Rob,’ you know, ‘do something with this.’ I think it was more like that than: ‘Get this done.’ […]

Rob: What I remember is George saying, ‘we got this from’–basically, from what George said was ‘downtown.’

Ron: Which is the White House?

Rob: Yes.

So apparently it did go away - all the way to the Pentagon and then eventually to Iraq.

From Thinkprogress, emphasis there's.

My source also notes that Dick Cheney, who was behind the forgery, hated and mistrusted the Agency and would not have used it for such a sensitive assignment. Instead, he went to Doug Feith’s Office of Special Plans and asked them to do the job. … It was Feith’s office that produced the letter and then surfaced it to the media in Iraq Unlike the [Central Intelligence] Agency, the Pentagon had no restrictions on it regarding the production of false information to mislead the public. Indeed, one might argue that Doug Feith’s office specialized in such activity.

That's putting it lightly.

According to the Pentagon's Inspector General the findings of Feith's "Office of Special Plans" that Iraq was an "imminent threat" were consistently at odds with the findings of the CIA, State Department and other intelligence agencies. They found his activities "inappropriate" but not illegal since the Pentagon isn't under the same restrictions that the CIA is.

Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld and Feith lied us into an unneccesary and deadly war of choice - they've commited the ultimate War Crime and need to be found accountable if not during this Administration, then under the next.

Vyan

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to The Who (VH1 Rock Honors)

So me and my wife Robin were on our way to see The Mother-Freaking Who at the Vh1 Rock Honors Taping at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA Campus last night. We're looking forward to a fun evening, with plenty of Foo Fighters, Incubus, Tenacious D, Pearl Jam and for some reason -Flaming Lips - listening to the latest King's X CD in the car we borrowed from my mom when the sound starts to cut out. It's like the CD has a scratch or is dirty or something, so I pull it out and take look. It's brand new, shining, immaculate, like a mirror.

Perfect.

They coulda used this thing on the Hubble.I put it back in and we skip back to where we were on Track 9. It plays fine, until it gets to the exact same point in the song, only now instead of stopping and starting, it starts to sound distorted and scratchy. We don't know what's up. Then the lights on the dash start to dim. Then the car starts to sputter. We're on the 405 headed North in medium heavy traffic, two lanes in - so I start waving at the nitwits behind us to let us over - cuz the power just completely shutoff and we've got no signal lights - and we're rapidly losing speed.

We get to the right lane, and through the red cones for the construction area where their widening the freeway. National Blvd is coming up, we coast down the ramp - stop at the curb. Stuck. I get out and push the 2001 Mustang around the corner, there's a parking lot - Ross Dress for Less - about 40 feet away. Getting up the driveway is a B.Y.T.C.H., but someone from a car behind us gets out and helps me get it up an into the lot. I'm yelling at my wife (cuz the windows are closed and electric) to turn the wheel further so we can get in the closest parking space as I feel my legs start to turn rubbery - she yells back, because she already *is* turning the wheel as far as she can, thank you very much for the power-steering with no power.

Another helpful person, a gal this time, offers to help us with a jump start and even has her own cables. (I forgot people in L.A. could be this decent, but then I remember - I'm in West L.A. and that's practically a different planet from the rest of town!!) We jump. It starts.

HOT DAMN!

We get halfway across the parking lot when a normal L.A. person jumps right out in front of the car and forces us to stop, it's stalls... then dies again. SHIT!

Nice lady with the jumper cables has already split. Hop out. PUSH. Push. Push. Turn turn - Fucking Power Steering again - into a spot. -- whew!

Ok, well this blows donkey nuts.

We had planned to meet two friends from the Foo Fighters Post Board in Westwood for some Sushi, so we call on my cell with the rapidly dying battery and let them know where we are. National and Sepulveda, Ross Dress for Less Lot.

I decide to walk around and see if I can find a Kragen or something to buy a new battery so we can get to the show, and hopefully home. Fortunately I've got some extra cash on me, enough for a battery - but not that much more.

My mom's gonna have a SHIT!!

Nothing. We got CVS, Vons, Shoes, Chicken/El Pollo Loco, McDonald's, Marie Callendars, Well's Fargo, but no auto parts places. I get desperate and check out the automotives sections at Von's (Vons? Yeah, right - What the H.E.Double-Fenders was *I* thinking. Desperation makes you Crazy!!). Motor Oil, Motor Oil, Motor Oil, Transmission Fluid, Motor Oils. FUCK! I try another store - same shit.

Back to the car, our friend Gaby isn't here yet. A trip to CVS across the street - bingo - Jumper Cables for $9.99. Now we're cookin'.

Gaby arrives. It's almost 7pm, we're all starved and the show start at 8pm. Gaby and her friend (ScreenName TaiFoo) paid over each $300 for floor seats -NO WAY is she missing the show. Neither are we. I needed to RockOut! We decide to head to Westwood and maybe see an autoplace along the way. Nothing. I try another call on the near-dead cell, 4-1-1, they tell me there's a Autozone on 1500 S. Sepulveda. We're at the Sushi place at Gayley at the 900 block or so. Six Blocks, give or take the Cemetary and the Federal Building. Do-able. I call. Answering Machine!

SHIT.

Fuck it, I need Sake! Lots.

We sit and eat. Try to talk music. Where did me and Robin, meet? How did we get into music (Is the car going be ok in the lot?) How long we've been married - I don't know I stopped counting the years at double-digits, but it only feels like a few months. Food's done. Sake was weak. I need a Beer!

Call Autozone again. Answering Machine. SHIT!

We head to the show, I suggest Gaby play a track from my Demo CD - that'll calm my nerves, but we're only 2 minutes from the venue. Track 4, "Wannabe" it's only 2 minutes long, almost like a punk song.

It finishes just as we pull up to Pauley Pavilion. Perfect.

We join the rest of the cows, mooing their way to the post-911 weapons screening and pat down. No Sir I don't have a gun, a knife, a digital tape recorder so I can make my own bootleg CD of the show or a camera. Except for the one in my slightly more almost-dead-like piece of shit super-slick and thin RaZor, that gets lousy reception - Thank You Very Much T-Immoble.

Inside.Find seat. Good view, except for giant TV Boom Crane right in front of us.
(Is it the Battery or the Alternator?) Show starts, David Duchovny opens things. Perfect choice, only guy who Rocks as hard as the Who with his new role on Showtime's Californication (Fuck the Peppers, he Fornicates very damn well on that show)

Foo's up first. Rocking Hard on "Young Man Blues" then "Bargain" Taylor sings lead on a bridge. Vocalist from Supergrass comes up with them and does a couple songs. Pretty good. (I"m thinking it's probably the Alternator, since we lost power while driving on the freeway) Foo's done. Too short.

Next up Flaming Lips with some Tommy. Jack Black intro's them in full Elton John Pinball Getup. ReDonkulous. Singer's standing in a Giant Reservoir Tip, like John Travolta as the Boy in the Bubble. Isolated from the world like the Deaf, Dumb and Blind Boy Tommy. Clever. Kinda. He leans forwards and starts to crowd surf in the bubble. Kewl. Unfortunately he gets back on the stage, and his crew gets him out of the bubble.(If it's the Alternator, I'm going to have to still get a charge or a replacement battery and I have no idea of mom has Triple-A) Damn, I wanted him to do the whole set that way - would've taken my mind off the singing. Band is tight though. Good job.

The sound is a lot quieter than I'm used to at Rock Shows, probably because it's really a TV show taping in a small Arena. Sound re-enforcement is only a fraction of what I'm used to seeing. A few ceiling speakers, hmm, right in the path of the boom Camera - that could get ugly!

I still need a Beer, but when I went to the concession stand I didn't see any. I notice people with some yellowish fluid in their cups. Might there be BEER?! I head back to concessions, and it turns out the fluid - is RED BULL. Oh, that's what it looks like - eeww. No wonder I drink Sparks instead! Rock without Beer is just - just - InHUMAN. What's this world coming too, soon they'll start having Rock Shows without WEED! Back to me seat. Bummer. Too bad I don't smoke weed, but sometimes it's the thought that counts.

Incubus Next. "I can see for Miles" Kick Ass. Brandon can sing his hairy ass off.

Tenacious D does Squeeze Box. Funny shit. (Ok, so if Autozone is still open, I can buy a battery, get home and deal with the probable Alternator problem later, except we have to buy our groceries tomorrow. Ugh. If Autozone is close, or we have to go all the way to Santa Monica for Kragen, we're fuCked!)

Pearl Spam (Yeah, they got so pretentious they totally lost me after "Ten") shows up with a string section for "Love, Reign o'er Me" and "The Real Me". Thank God Eddie left his guitar at home, him timing and articulation sucks. You got two perfectly good guitar players already dude, why fuck it up? Sounds great. Nice screaming. A little freak-show but nice. PJ still got it, even if they've been hiding it in the closet for the last decade in a half.

Adam Sandler shows up and does one of his sing-re-song things, to intro the Big Boys using the tune of the song "Magic Bus" When did this guy learn to sing? I've seen "The Wedding Singer" - who stole Adam Sandlers crappy voice and replaced it with this? Oh, and his guitar play is nice too - subtle and evocative. I almost didn't notice what he was actually saying.

That's when The WHO just explode onto the Stage with "Baba O'Reilly", and remind everybody who invented more than half the shit people try to do these days. Everybody forgets that Hendrix burned his guitar because he was trying to Out Do Pete Townsend at Monterey Pop. Nobody outdoes Pete. Daltrey's still got it at 64. He aint dead, and he never got old. The songs flow by, one dazzling hit after another. All the CSI Songs - man, some of that stuff is cool.

Girl in the next seat over offers us some Weed - Ok, NOW I'm at a Rock Show. We say "No", but at least I know people are finally getting thier groove on.

And then halfway through "You Better, You Bet" - the band stops.

They Lost Power!

"Shit Happens" says Daltrey.

No shit. I don't think this part is getting on TV. They go back and restart the song from the beginning. (Maybe, I can use the jumper cable with Gaby's car and at least get the battery temporarily recharged enough to get us home... Hm, not likely) The set lasts until 10:30, pretty decent length considering they had Five opening acts.

Show ends, we head to meet Gaby at our designated rendezvous point. My pants vibrate. Cell phone. Text Message from Gaby, they're waiting for the Stars to exit near Door 10. I go scope it out since my wife has knee problem and is wearing a brace. It's on the complete other side of the arena. Crap. Walk back and get Robin, gingerly make our way over the where the red carpet remains are scattered about like a deer carcass after a lion feast.

Find crowd of autograph and photo people. A few of them have boxes and boxes of glossies with this star/celebrity or that one at thier fingertips for autographs. Wow. Stalk Much!

Oh, well - I've waited hours sometimes for bands I really dig - and consquently met them and in a few cases became friends, but at the same time I've never been a celebrity chaser. I grew up in L.A., and sometimes you have to watch where you step around here or you mind have your foot in some A or B-lister on the way out of the mall. I've seen most of the people from the original 90210 show in Tex/Mex Bars or buying gossip magazines about thier co-stars as they giggle.

They're all just people, people.

Dave Grohl's already gone, somebody says. Taylor swings through in a blur. Townsends already gone. We hang out. Rent-a-Security tries to intimidate everyone. "Get Back. Everybody Clear Out" We don't move. He gives up. Mike McCready of the Spam goes by. Man! He's short. Eventually Jack Irons and Stone Gossard. Ament sprints past with a wave. Roger Daltrey shows up with some cool looking shades and signs autographs. Man, he's short! (Ok, so can we leave the car out there overnight without it getting towed, if I can't get it started? How much are towing fees these days... gotta be a shitload. Crap, how's long is this going to take?)

Brandon Boyd comes through and signs everything. I go up and mention the first time I saw the 'bus opening 13 years ago at HOB for 24-7 Spyz. Weird evening. I was there with Oscar Jordan (see my Top Friends), and he actually walked out during the Spyz set, largely because they had gotten back with their original singer P. Fluid and he was sounding like crap. Eventually he voice gave out completely and guitarist Jimi Hazel took over and did a ton of tracks from their "Strength In Numbers" CD. It was like somebody finally tuned on the light switch. Hallelujah - I can SEE again!

Anyway...

Eventually Eddie (The Billy Goat Immitator) Vedder finally comes by, with his security barking orders at the fans. "ONLY ONE ITEM, NO PICTURES!" Geez, that's like pathetic he has to have protection like that. Some people really need to calm down, he's just a singer - ok? Eddie was real nice, but I got nothing to say to him and don't care about pics or autographs.

The crowd breaks up, we head back to the car with Robin limping along. Back to National and Sepulveda, where I try to jump the 'Stang again. It takes me a good 15 minutes to find the connectors on Gaby's Audi-Suv in the dark. We even break out the owners manual. Eventually I start use my cell as a lightsource - well at least this thing is good for *something*. Hook it up. Try to start.

Bzzzzzt! Shit!

Let it run awhile, try again....

Bzzzzzt! SHIT!

Ok, fine. I give up. That's it I'm done. I've been through a LOT, and I do mean a LOT of dead battery situations. This shit is over. Finito. "It's Dead, Jim". I tried my best, and it simply wasn't gonna happen. Gaby offers to give us a lift home. Thanks. I let her keep the CD. We leave the car, hoping that it'll still be there in the morning. This'll be fun to explain to Mom. We get home at about 1:30am. No point in waking her up now, nothing we can do.

I wake up about 9am, call my uncle who pretty mechanical - he stops by. Mom's up (Oh Shit!) We finally tell us what's up.

"WHAT!!!!!!!!!!???"

Yeah... it's like that. We head back up to West L.A., I'm just hoping and praying the car isn't on blocks or something - but being West L.A, it's more likely to be decorated with bright puce bows or something.

We arrive. It's fine. All it's fenders and hub-caps are still intact. FuCk YES!

Mom's still pissed. Figures.

We pop the hood and almost immediately my uncle spots the massive corrosion on the Alternator wire.

"Well, there's your problem, right there!"

Yep, we need a new Alternator. Oh, and as it turns out Mom DOES have Triple-A, with "Plus" so the car can be towed all the way home (about 25 miles) FOR FREE!!!!

OH, CRAP. I spent all night, all night - only half-enjoying a Once-In-A-LifeTime CONCERT worrying about how much things were going to cost to get the car home and running when we could have had it TOWED FOR FREE!

Never. not once. not a single time did she ever mention she had Triple-A. We borrow that car every week, we've had flat tires in it - we've had dead batteries before. Fixed it ourselves every time. Every. Single. Time.

...and she's got Triple-A the whole time and didn't tell us.

Ok, fine. I"m not mad - I just finished putting in the New Alternator before I began writing this, but unfortunately we need to recharge the battery. Groceries are post-poned. I still need a Beer, and now I'm going to Frackin' Get ONE!

"Shit Happens." Yes, it does Roger - yes it does.

Vyan

Torture Hearings : Conyers vs Yoo and Addington

This Youtube clip shows the questions asked off John Yoo and David Addington by Rep John Conyers - and it's not pretty.

Questions asked:

Can the President order that a suspects child be tortured?

Is there anything that the President could not order to be done to a suspect, if he believed it neccesary for national defense?

Can the President order that someone be buried alive?

Was there a Principles meeting to approve interrogations techniques?

Do you believe that the Unitary Executive Theory allows the President to violate the law?

Questions answered:

None.

These guys know they have to dance and dance hard to avoid what might be serious culpability for advising the violation of hundreds of federal laws.

As I've written about previous, it appears based on the reporting of the LA Times that various and sundry Yoo Memo's of infamy, which along with Jay Bybee's memos it was stated that torture isn't "torture" until someone is about die were written after such practices had already been implimented and performed on persons such as Abu Zubaydah.

... Yoo's account of how and why the torture memos were crafted may not hold up. Congress is preparing hearings into the subject, and they have invited Yoo to testify. International law scholar Philippe Sands and other writers have punched holes in Yoo's claims about the facts. It increasingly appears that the Bush interrogation program was already being used before Yoo was asked to write an opinion. He may therefore have provided after-the-fact legal cover. That would help explain why Yoo strained to take so many implausible positions in the memos.

And that is largely why his testimony today made essentially no sense. Now it's clear that John Conyers was being more than a little rough with both Yoo and Addington - but to understand why maybe we need to listen to a bit from Law Professor Phillip Sands.

Sands: From these conversations it became clear to me that the Administration has spun a narrative that is false. It claims that the impetous for the new interrogation techniques came from the "bottom up
". That is not true, the abuse was the result of pressures and actions driven from the very highest levels of the administration. The administration claims that it simply followed the law. My investigation indicated that the administration, driven by ideology, consciously sought legal advice to set aside international constrainst on detainee interroragations. The administration relied on a small number of political appointees, lawyers with no real background on military law, with extreme view on executive power and an overriding contempt for international rules, such as the Geneva Conventions. These are rules that the United States has done more than any other country to promote and put in place.

As a result of these actions War Crimes Were Committed I have no doubt that Common Article III of Geneva was violated, as long as various conventions of the 1984 Convention Prohibiting Torture.

What Sands describes is an Ideological Cabal imbedded deep in the White House intent of bending and twisting definitions of the law to allow for the use of torture and the commission of War Crimes, which - if the subject dies - is punishable by the Death Penalty.

So read several of the 44 US military autopsy reports on the ACLU website -evidence of extensive abuse of US detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan 2002 through 2004. Anthony Romero, Executive Director of ACLU stated, "There is no question that US interrogations have resulted in deaths." ACLU attorney Amrit Sing adds, "These documents present irrefutable evidence that US operatives tortured detainees to death during interrogations."

It's no wonder that they will now then do everything they can to try and GET AWAY WITH IT.

So far at least 24 detainees - are likely far more - have died in custody as a result of mistreatment and abuse - much of that stemming from interrogation techniques that were legally justified and excused by Yoo and Addington.

They are War Criminals.

And tough hard questioning by Conyers is the least they deserve.

Vyan

Rove is Outraged that NYT Dared to Name a CIA Agent?!

Yes, it may be too ironic to believe - but here it is in black, white and Youtube.

Rove: [T]hey’ve got a very callous view about our nation’s security and interests.

...

Well, I read their explanation. And basically, it sounded to me like they were saying we put his name out there because we decided we could. And I mean, they didn’t have a good explanation for it.

Bad Grand Ole' Lady - Bad Bad!

So just who was this agent and why did they name him? Details over the flip.

In this article describing the interrogation methods used on Khallid Sheik Mohammad, the New York Times takes the extraordinary step of daring to name the interrogator - Deuce Martinez.

WASHINGTON — In a makeshift prison in the north of Poland, Al Qaeda’s engineer of mass murder faced off against his Central Intelligence Agency interrogator. It was 18 months after the 9/11 attacks, and the invasion of Iraq was giving Muslim extremists new motives for havoc. If anyone knew about the next plot, it was Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

The interrogator, Deuce Martinez, a soft-spoken analyst who spoke no Arabic, had turned down a C.I.A. offer to be trained in waterboarding. He chose to leave the infliction of pain and panic to others, the gung-ho paramilitary types whom the more cerebral interrogators called "knuckledraggers."

Mr. Martinez came in after the rough stuff, the ultimate good cop with the classic skills: an unimposing presence, inexhaustible patience and a willingness to listen to the gripes and musings of a pitiless killer in rambling, imperfect English. He achieved a rapport with Mr. Mohammed that astonished his fellow C.I.A. officers.

So here we have an agent, who didn't use "extreme interrogation" methods who low and behold - actualy produced results, contrary to everything the Bush Administation has been claiming is possible.

No wonder Rove is PO'd, people like Mr. Martinez - who are capable of building a rapport with a vicious killer and convincing him to provide information willingly - aren't supposed to exist.

But they do.

Now why exactly did the New York Times give this man's name? This is their explanation.

The Central Intelligence Agency asked The New York Times not to publish the name of Deuce Martinez, an interrogator who questioned Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and other high-level Al Qaeda prisoners, saying that to identify Mr. Martinez would invade his privacy and put him at risk of retaliation from terrorists or harassment from critics of the agency.

After discussion with agency officials and a lawyer for Mr. Martinez, the newspaper declined the request, noting that Mr. Martinez had never worked under cover and that others involved in the campaign against Al Qaeda have been named in news stories and books. The editors judged that the name was necessary for the credibility and completeness of the article.

Let me re-emphasize that Mr. Martinez never worked undercover and hence was not covered by the IIPA, unlike Valerie Plame Wilson who was covered by the Act.

It is fair to argue that publishing his name might put Mr. Martinez under negative scrutiny, and to emphasize this I will point out that when his name was published in 1998, Richard Clarke became a named target of Al Qeada and subsequently received Secret Service Training and was issued a personal firearm for protection.

To this date, Valerie Plame Wilson has received no such training and has not been issued her own fiream.

Since all three of these people, and their families might be in danger, it isn't unreasonable to ask that all three of them be afforded some level of protection - even if they have to implement that protection on their own.

But then again, to quote a rather fantastical fowl, "they knew the job was dangerous when they took it". No point in crying about it now.

Besides that, what Martinez has accomplished is frankly Heroic. He should be praised for what he's done, not hidden in the shadows where Rove and his Torture-Pornaseur Ilk would like to keep him. This guys deserves a medal. In fact, he deserves the medal that Bush gave to George Tenet.

No, not the same kind - THE SAME ONE! At least this guy earned it.

And just for those of us who are somewhat fact and history challenged, or have completely missed everything being currently said by Scott McClennan, the reason Rove's phony outrage over this is functionally ridiculous is the fact that Rove himself confirmed Plame's status as a CIA employee to two different reporters as noted by Thinkprogress

– Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper said, "Karl Rove told me about Valerie Plame’s identity on July 11, 2003. I called him because Ambassador Wilson [Plame’s husband] was in the news that week. I didn’t know Ambassador Wilson even had a wife until I talked to Karl Rove."

– A week prior to publishing his column which outed Plame, Robert Novak spoke with Rove. Novak brought up Plame’s role at the CIA, and Rove confirmed that Plame worked at the CIA: "I heard that too," said Rove.

Rove acted as Novak's confirmation source (on special double-secret background) after he had initially heard about Plame from Richard Armitage. (And Armitage wouldn't have known about her either if Scooter Libby hadn't been poking around asking his deputy questions about her which ultimately resulted in the INR report which - inaccurately - mentions her involvement in recruiting Joe Wilson for a trip to Niger)

It's frankly amazing to me that Rove can sit there on National TV and claim to be so annoyed with the New York Times because it was the New York Times that initially refused to publish Judith Miller's Story - as told to her by Libby - about Wilson and his Wife. Robert Novak published that story even though the CIA told him not to.

And he did it because of Karl Rove - Hypocrite Extraordinaire.

Vyan

McCain Thinks:"More Terrorism Is Good for Me!"

Following the reported comments by McCain Senior adviser Charlie Black to Fortune Magazine that another terrorist attack would be a "Big Advantage" for the McCain Campaign, Thinkprogress has uncovered that contrary to McCain recent denials of Black's statements...

McCain: If he said that, and I do not know the context, I strenuously disagree."

It appears that John McCain himself said the exact same thing about President Bush's 2004 campaign.

U.S. Sen. John McCain, campaigning in southwestern Connecticut on Saturday, said Osama bin Laden’s video message to Americans will likely energize President Bush’s re-election campaign.

"I think it’s very helpful to President Bush," said McCain, R-Ariz., while stumping in Stamford for U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays. "It focuses America’s attention on the war on terrorism. I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but I think it does have an effect." [AP, 10/30/04]

Ruh roh!

But wait, it gets worse.

Much more recently McCain has also echoed Black (or was it the reverse) when he stated to CNN's Dana Bash that the terrorist assasination of Pakistani Politician Benazir Bhutto would help him
politically.

From CNN's Situation Room:

BASH: I was actually with Sen. McCain the very day that Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. ... He really did understand from that moment that this was something that he thought could help him in the race at that point to be the Republican nominee. In fact, at that event that very day I asked Sen. McCain if he thought it would help his political campaign and he said pretty much "Yes." ... So it’s not a secret that back then that Sen. McCain and his campaign thought it would help.

Again, contrary to McCain's claim that he "Couldn't imagine" why Black would say anything like this, it appears that Black was simply Repeating McCain's Thinking.

Now, it's not that McCain thought or said that a terrorism would be good for the country, obviously it wouldn't be - but it's also absolutely clear that the strategy of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) is at the heart of his campaign - not simply a random idea expressed by one staffer on an off night. They just don't know when to stop playing the Terror Card even when the deck is warn and faceless. This is not what his Pastor has said, this is not like Bitter-gate, this is the Real John McCain.

Maybe we should make sure most of the nation begins to understand the priorities of a man who would claim the highest office in the Western World?

Vyan

DC Court of Appeals to Bush: No More "Enemy Combatants"?

The DC Court of Appeals just handed Bush a major smackdown on his terrorism policy - they (may have laid the groundwork for) establishing that there's no such thing as an "Enemy Combatant"

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court, in the first case it reviewed, has overturned the Pentagon's classification of a Guantanamo detainee as an enemy combatant.

...

The court rejected the Bush administration's argument that the president has the power to detain people who never took up arms against the U.S.

This decision probably won't affect insurgent fighters captured on the field of battle, but it could affect non-combatants those captured via informants or surveillance, and following the Supreme Court's recent restoration of Habaeus Corpus, it seems unlikely that they would overturn and reverse this decision - and if taken to it's ultimate conclusion, the implications to the Bush Administration could be devastating.

Ever since 2002 the Bush Administration has used the classification "Enemy Combatant" to deny Geneva Conventions to detainees captured in the War on Terror. They used it to justify "Extraordinary Rendition", secret "Black Site" prisons and to practice Torture in direct violation of War Crimes Provision of U.S. Law. Some of these detainees have been children, while others were literally sold to us by informants - like slaves bought on the auction block. More raw materials for CIA Contractors to "process".

A McClatchy investigation has revealed that an amazing number of these detainees - contrary to claims made by the President, and basically every other Republican including John McCain - are just plain innocent.

The McClatchy investigation found that top Bush administration officials knew within months of opening the Guantanamo detention center that many of the prisoners there weren't "the worst of the worst." From the moment that Guantanamo opened in early 2002, former Secretary of the Army Thomas White said, it was obvious that at least a third of the population didn't belong there.

Of the 66 detainees whom McClatchy interviewed, the evidence indicates that 34 of them, about 52 percent, had connections with militant groups or activities. At least 23 of those 34, however, were Taliban foot soldiers, conscripts, low-level volunteers or adventure-seekers who knew nothing about global terrorism.

Only seven of the 66 were in positions to have had any ties to al Qaida's leadership, and it isn't clear that any of them knew any terrorists of consequence.

When members of the FBI nearly arrested CIA Interrogators for their treatment of prisoners, the excuse used to keep the FBI at bay was - these are "Enemy Combatants", normal rules of justice and law need not apply.

If this decision is upheld, the Bush Administration will have essentially run out of wiggle room. The entire Military Commissions Process, which was established after the Supreme Court decided in Hamdan v Rumsfeld that the Geneva Conventions essentially apply to everyone involved in a war, will now be in shambles. The hundreds of detainees held at Gitmo and tens of thousands of others being held around the world at placed like Abu Ghraib and Bagram AFB will now either have to be declared Prisoners of War and tried via a Court Martial or charged in Criminal Cases and tried as Civilians.

It's either option A (Military), option B (Civilian) or option C - let those people go. There will soon be no more other options left.

The problem with this is naturally, that coerced confessions are not allowed in Criminal or Military Cases. Confessions obtained under duress are not admissable. The claims that former Gitmo prisoners have come back to fight us again the battle field, is Largely a Myth! In a real court - not this made-up Kangaroo Fiasco we currently have at Gitmo - defendants must be arraigned in a timely manner, you can not hold them indefinitely without charges, the innocent are proctected from the overreach of the state. Oh and Deliberate Abuse - as the President has admitted to authorizing under his "Enhanced Interrogation" Program - is Punishable as a War Crime, particularly when the subject doesn't just feel like their dying in a "simulated" way - at least two dozen of them have actually died (PDF) as a result of these horrifically flawed U.S. policies.

Someone tell McCain that this isn't about making money for Trial Lawyers, all the attorney's at Gitmo - like Former Lt. Cmd Swift who was Sacked for Winning in before the Supreme Court on Hamdan - are in the Military, and most Civilian Attorneys are willing to work on cases like these Pro Bono.

It's called following the Constitution, maybe we should try it again. We just might finally turn back from being a ruthless rogue state to a nation of laws yet.

Read much much more on this ongoing tragedy from the ACLU's Freedom of Information Files.

Vyan

Update: As Some have noted in the comments this decision may only apply to this particular detainee, or "non-violent" combatants, but since some of the decision remains currently classified exactly what it's full ramifications will be are currently unclear, however what matters is ultimate what the SCOTUS decides and that isn't strictly limited by the DC Appeals ruling. Hamdan only applied to Hamdan (pre SCOTUS), until it didn't (After SCOTUS).

P.S. Bush can't Pardon Himself.

Obama Jumps Ahead in Florida

As reported last night by Keith Olbermann, Barack Obama has been increasing and extending his Electoral lead over John McCain by leaps and bounds.



Just look at this map from Electoral Vote.com.



That's 344 Electoral Votes for Obama to 194 for McCain. Things are looking up, but what is becoming inceasingly clear is that this electoral lead is built on some rather short stilts.

Since my last diary on this when Obama had a 304 to 221 Electoral Lead, he's broken the tie that existed in Virginia and pulled ahead in Florida which has created the following upward trend.



If that was good news then, this picture should make us ecstatic. Even Poblana's numbers over at fivethirtyeight.com are starting to look ridiculously rosey with Obama likely hood of winning up to 74%



However the problem is with all of this are those barely Democratic State states where Obama is now leading. The margins are wafer thin.

Nevada Down by 2 - Obama 42% - McCain 44% (Mason-Dixon June 11)

New Mexico is Tied - Obama 44% - McCain 44% (Survey USA May 18)

Missouri Up by 1 - Obama 43% - McCain 42% (Rasmussen June 03)

Virginia Up by 1 - Obama 45% - McCain 44% (Rasmussen June 12)

Michigan Up by 3 - Obama 45% - McCain 42% (Rasmussen June 09)

Ohio Up by 6 - Obama 48% - McCain 42% (Quinnipiac June 16)

Florida Up by 5 - Obama 49% - McCain 44% (ARG June 17)

With races this tight in this many states what were really seeing on my day by day electoral chart may only be the high-point of a treachorous roller coaster ride that will last for the next five months.

As Gallup's daily tracking on candidate popularity indicates, we've finally left the hunnymoon stage and things have begun to stabilize with Obama in a slight lead.



We simply are not seeing the same kind of ballistic trajectory in support for Obama that the Electoral Map seems to indicate, so although I was quite enthusiastic about this when Obama took Michigan - I'm more cautious now. What I don't see is him extending his lead in this crucial states, turning all the Light Blue states in to Royal and eventually a nice Dark Navy. That might happen and it might not, but at this rate we're going to need a couple more Dark Navy states before November - or we could be in for a big scary fall.

Vyan

Gore Endoreses Obama - We Need Change

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Pa-Rvm1Yn8&feature=related


Part2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwimang6lFQ