Sunday, April 29, 2007

Tenet Urged to Split Book Royalties With Wounded Troops and Families of Soldiers Killed in Iraq (8:43 pm)

Via Think Progress, in response to George Tenet’s self-aggrandizing book tour, Larry Johnson at No Quarter reports that a letter has been written by a group of former CIA and other intelligence officials, urging former CIA Director Tenet to share his new wealth with the soldiers who he helped send in to harm’s way, and the families of those who didn’t survive.

Dear Mr. Tenet:

We write to you on the occasion of the release of your book, At the Center of the Storm. You are on the record complaining about the “damage to your reputation”. In our view the damage to your reputation is inconsequential compared to the harm your actions have caused for the U.S. soldiers engaged in combat in Iraq and the national security of the United States. We believe you have a moral obligation to return the Medal of Freedom you received from President George Bush. We also call for you to dedicate a significant percentage of the royalties from your book to the U.S. soldiers and their families who have been killed and wounded in Iraq.

We agree with you that Vice President Dick Cheney and other Bush administration officials took the United States to war for flimsy reasons. We agree that the war of choice in Iraq was ill-advised and wrong headed. But your lament that you are a victim in a process you helped direct is self-serving, misleading and, as head of the intelligence community, an admission of failed leadership. You were not a victim. You were a willing participant in a poorly considered policy to start an unnecessary war and you share culpability with Dick Cheney and George Bush for the debacle in Iraq.

Full text of the letter here.

posted by Brian Zick | start the discussion

Stop the Bush FDA from Ruining Chocolate (2:00 pm)

Don’t Mess With Our Chocolate reports:

THE FDA CONSUMER COMMENT PERIOD HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL JUNE 25TH.

Here’s how to submit a comment to the FDA.

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Torture Case Against Rumsfeld Has Been Dropped by German Prosecutor; Case Will Be Refiled In Spain (1:31 pm)

UPI reports:

A German prosecutor has dropped a torture case against ex-U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
(…)
Attorneys for the plaintiffs said Friday that they are considering an appeal of the decision and may file similar cases in other countries, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York-based non-profit legal and education organization involved with the case.

“Fundamentally, this is a political and not a legal decision,” said CCR President Michael Ratner. “We will continue to pursue Rumsfeld, (U.S. Attorney General Alberto) Gonzales, and the others in the future — they should not feel they can travel outside the United States without risk. Our goal is no safe haven for torturers.”

Berlin attorney Wolfgang Kaleck filed the 400-page complaint against Rumsfeld, Gonzales, former CIA Director George Tenet and other high-ranking U.S. officials in November 2006.

The plaintiffs, who include 12 Iraqi citizens previously held in Abu Ghraib prison and a Saudi citizen currently detained at Guantanamo Bay and numerous international human rights groups, accused the defendants of torture and other war crimes committed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo.

In her decision, German Federal Prosecutor Monika Harms argued that the case does not confront crimes committed on German soil, nor involve victims or perpetrators with ties to Germany. Harms also stated that the investigation does not have a reasonable chance of succeeding.

The case was filed in Germany because of the country’s obligation under the German law of universal jurisdiction to try cases that deal with torture and other... read more

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Rice Still Lying About WMDs (9:01 am)

Condoleezza Rice appeared on CNN’s Late Edition, and falsely claimed that “the U.N weapons inspectors [thought] Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.”
Think Progress has a transcript and video clip, and datelined news reports (with links) that totally debunk Rice’s lie.

posted by Brian Zick | 1 comment

Purposeful Republican Policy: Ensuring Massive Government Failure (5:49 am)

John Solomon and Spencer S. Hsu for WaPo report “Most Katrina Aid From Overseas Went Unclaimed.”

Allies offered $854 million in cash and in oil that was to be sold for cash. But only $40 million has been used so far for disaster victims or reconstruction, according to U.S. officials and contractors. Most of the aid went uncollected, including $400 million worth of oil. Some offers were withdrawn or redirected to private groups such as the Red Cross. The rest has been delayed by red tape and bureaucratic limits on how it can be spent.

In addition, valuable supplies and services — such as cellphone systems, medicine and cruise ships — were delayed or declined because the government could not handle them. In some cases, supplies were wasted.

The struggle to apply foreign aid in the aftermath of the hurricane, which has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $125 billion so far, is another reminder of the federal government’s difficulty leading the recovery. Reports of government waste and delays or denials of assistance have surfaced repeatedly since hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck in 2005.
(…)
More than 10,000 pages of cables, telegraphs and e-mails from U.S. diplomats around the globe — released piecemeal since last fall under the Freedom of Information Act — provide a fuller account of problems that, at times, mystified generous allies and left U.S. representatives at a loss for an explanation. The documents were obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a public interest group, which provided them to The Washington Post.
(…)
Overall, the United States declined 54 of 77 recorded aid offers from three of its staunchest allies: Canada, Britain and Israel, according to a 40-page State Department table of the offers that had been received as of January 2006.
(…)
Of the $126 million in cash that has been received, most has not yet been used.

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Saturday, April 28, 2007

Getting a Mite Peeved (7:29 pm)

The editors of the NY Times are tired of the Bush administration stonewalling, well, everything.

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Frank Rich Piles On Broder (7:12 pm)

Atrios reports.

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The Parallel Between Alberto Gonzales and Henry Hill in “Goodfellas” (12:13 pm)

In the course of being interviewed by Bill Moyers, Jon Stewart compared Alberto Gonzales’ testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, followed by Bush’s expression of confidence in him, with the memorable scene in the movie Goodfellas, wherein the mob boss is favorably impressed by his gangster associate’s ability to “say nuthin’.”

Crooks and Liars has the clip.

The scene: Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) speaking to Henry Hill (Ray Liotta):

Jimmy Conway: I’m not mad, I’m proud of you. You took your first pinch like a man and you learn two great things in your life. Look at me, never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.