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Justice drops defense of Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz

Josh Gerstein
Politico
Tue, 22 Feb 2011 20:17 UTC
Donald Rumsfeld
© AP
Justice has dropped its representation of Donald Rumsfeld in a suit by an Al Qaeda operative


The Justice Department under President Barack Obama has quietly dropped its legal representation of more than a dozen Bush-era Pentagon and administration officials - including former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and aide Paul Wolfowitz - in a lawsuit by Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla, who spent years behind bars without charges in conditions his lawyers compare to torture.

Charles Miller, a Justice Department spokesman, confirmed Tuesday that the government has agreed to retain private lawyers for the officials, at a cost of up to $200 per hour. Miller said "conflicts concerns" prompted the decision. He did not elaborate.

One private attorney involved in the case, who asked not to be named, said the Obama administration apparently concluded "its duty to represent the defendants zealously, which includes the duty to argue any and all defenses, can't be discharged for reasons of policy and other government interests."
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Vader

Libya Soldiers Killed for Not Killing Their Own, Hands Tied Behind Their Backs, Shot in the Head

MeddiTV
YouTube
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 19:36 UTC
Stop the Genocide happening in Libya

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Stormtrooper

Canada, U.S. agree to use each other's troops in civil emergencies

Ottawa Citizen
Canada.com
Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:02 UTC
Image
© Unknown

Canada and the U.S. have signed an agreement that paves the way for the militaries from either nation to send troops across each other's borders during an emergency, but some are questioning why the Harper government has kept silent on the deal.

Neither the Canadian government nor the Canadian Forces announced the new agreement, which was signed Feb. 14 in Texas.

The U.S. military's Northern Command, however, publicized the agreement with a statement outlining how its top officer, Gen. Gene Renuart, and Canadian Lt.-Gen. Marc Dumais, head of Canada Command, signed the plan, which allows the military from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation during a civil emergency.
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Vader

Al Arabiya: Thousands dead in Libya, mass graves, fleeing foreigners, Berlusconi says "there is no violence"


ANSA.IT
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:09 UTC
Online Translation:
mass graves, libya
© ANSA - Tutti i diritti riservati
Rome - According to Al Arabiya are about 10,000 deaths in Libya and over 50,000 are wounded. Gaddafi had ordered the bombing, but the wells and a pilot refused. The daughter of the Colonel was dismissed on the plane from Malta. The EU will coordinate the evacuation of Europeans and think about sanctions. Berlusconi: No to violence, but attention to the next. Ready to promote humanitarian channel. A video released by Onedayonearth shows were on the beach promenade of the capital. Oil in New York touched $100 a barrel for the first time since Oct. 2, 2008.

Sources of Malta, Aisha Gaddafi Dismissed on Air

There was Aisha Gaddafi, son of Libyan leader among the 14 people aboard a Libyan plane which was prevented from landing in Malta today. The control tower has been denied authorization and contacted the authorities and government representatives over the Libyan ambassador to Malta who went personally to the place where, in contact with the pilot, it's said on board his flight was in fact Aisha Gaddafi. The Maltese authorities have decided not to grant landing permission "to avoid creating a precedent," one learns from sources close to the government. At the conclusion of lengthy negotiations, the pilot decided to change course and return to Tripoli.

TV, Gaddafi, bombed Wells MA Pilot Refuses

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been planning to bomb the oil fields, but the driver refused. The company says the head of security of Tobruk, who joined the protesters, as reported by the Al Arabiya satellite television in the red stripe overlay of urgent news.
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MIB

Paintings showing MI6 over years add to mystery

John F Burns
New York Times
Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:12 UTC
Image
© Unknown
James Hart Dyke
The mysterious oil painting entitled Waiting in the Hotel Room sold for a relatively modest $28,200 last week on the opening night of an exhibition in the upscale Mayfair district of London. But for all the painting's ordinariness - a man in a dark suit viewed from behind as he looks out through the net curtains of a plush room, his hands clasped and his head slightly tilted - it attracted a lot of attention.

The artist, James Hart Dyke, has drawn favourable reviews for his past work, mainly his landscapes. But what put Hart Dyke in Britain's headlines was that the dozens of paintings and watercolours on display at the Mount Street Galleries offered unprecedented glimpses into the world of the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as SIS or MI6, which has never before permitted an outsider to make a graphic record of its hidden world.

Comment: We bet, there is something else missing from James Hart Dyke's works, and it's the depiction of MI6's "fine officers" participating in internment and torture of Palestinians, as just one example.

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Gear

'Egypt's military commanders are under influence of CIA, Mossad'


Tehran Times
Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:12 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Mohammad-Javad Larijani
Secretary General of the High Council for Human Rights Mohammad-Javad Larijani has said senior Egyptian military commanders are under the influence of CIA and Mossad.

The Egyptian military officials do not dare to make any problem for the United States and this is why Washington insists on empowerment the Egyptian military, Larijani told IRIB Channel 2 Sunday night.

Larijani's remarks came following the downfall of the Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak on Friday.

After 18 days of protests and demonstrations by millions of Egyptians who called for the departure of Mubarak and the establishment of a democratic government, on Friday Mubarak decided to step aside and transfer power to the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces.

"The U.S. scenario is to stabilize its power over the (Egyptian) military ...and create limited news coverage," the Berkeley-educated mathematician noted.
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Dollar

Lehman Brothers $11billion case against Barclays fails


BBC
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 09:44 UTC
Image
© AFP
Barclays takeover over Lehman's US operations was one of the most significant events of the global crisis
Barclays' takeover of much of Lehman Brothers' US operations in 2008 was flawed but fair, a judge in New York has ruled.

Lehman had sued Barclays for $11bn (£6.8bn) in damages, claiming the bank was given special treatment.

However, while the judge said the sale process was "imperfect", it was still "adequate" under the circumstances.

Barclays bought Lehman's US operations in a hastily-arranged sale at the peak of the credit crisis in September 2008.

Averting 'calamity'

Lehman agreed to sell its US investment banking and broking arm for $1.85bn five days after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

That, and the fact Lehman was the highest profile bank to be allowed to fail, was one of the most significant events of the global crisis.
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Heart - Black

Italy says 1,000 killed in Libya unrest


Reuters
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 08:30 UTC
Image
© unk
Tripoli - Muammar Gaddafi's increasingly desperate attempts to crush a revolt against his four-decade rule have killed as many as 1,000 people and split Libya, Italy's Foreign Minister said on Wednesday.

As countries with strong business ties to Africa's third largest oil producer scrambled to evacuate their citizens, and fear of pro-Gaddafi gunmen emptied the streets of the capital Tripoli, France became the first state to call for sanctions.

"I would like the suspension of economic, commercial and financial relations with Libya until further notice," President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
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MIB

US gives fresh details of CIA agent who killed two men in Pakistan shootout

Declan Walsh
Guardian UK
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 06:18 UTC
Image
© Reuters
Raymond Davis, held in Pakistan on double murder charges for a shooting in Lahore last month, is employed by the CIA as a contractor.
US reveals that CIA agent Raymond Davis worked for private security firm Xe, formerly known as Blackwater

US officials have provided fresh details about Raymond Davis, the CIA agent at the centre of a diplomatic stand-off in Pakistan, including confirmation that he had worked for the private security contractor Xe, formerly known as Blackwater. They also disclosed for the first time that he had been providing security for a CIA team tracking militants.

Davis was attached to the CIA's Global Response Staff, whose duties include protecting case officers when they meet with sources. He was familiarising himself with a sensitive area of Lahore on the day he shot dead two Pakistanis.
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MIB

MI5 cropped 7/7 bomber out of picture shown to key informant

Esther Addley & Richard Norton-Taylor
The Guardian
Mon, 21 Feb 2011 04:58 UTC
Unrecognisable version of photograph taken by agent a year before London attacks was sent to US supergrass.

MI5 photo of 7/7
© Press Association
The photo of Shehzad Tanweer and Mohammad Siddique Khan at a service station in 2004 and, right, the versions sent to a US informant.
Crucial surveillance photographs clearly identifying two of the 7 July bombers more than a year before the atrocity were cropped by intelligence officials in such a "speedy" manner as to render them unrecognisable to a key supergrass.

The inquests into the 52 victims of the attacks heard from a top MI5 officer that in April 2004 a photo that originally had Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer in it was shown to the informant Mohammed Junaid Babar, described as "one of the most significant sources the intelligence services had at that time". The pair were returning from meeting a known bomb plotter.

But instead of the original colour photograph, in which both men are clearly identifiable, an intelligence officer edited the photo to render Tanweer unrecognisable and crop out Khan altogether, and forwarded it to the US where Babar was in custody. The version was also converted to black and white. Babar had previously met Khan at a terrorist training camp in Pakistan but the photograph of Khan was not forwarded to the informant.

In uncharacteristically frank language, Hugo Keith, counsel to the inquests, told the MI5 officer: "I think one of my children could have done a better job of cropping out that photograph."

Comment: Smoke and Mirrors. When it comes to the London Bombings, the Facts Speak for Themselves

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