War cost in 2009 put at $US170bn 07 Feb 2008 Resent-Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 18:52:49 -0600 (CST) Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government 07 Feb 2008 http://www.legitgov.org/ All items are here: http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news War cost in 2009 put at $US170bn 08 Feb 2008 US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, pressed to estimate total war costs, has said that Iraq and Afghanistan operations could cost $US170 billion ($A190 billion) next year but warned that the figure was likely wrong. "I have no confidence in that figure," Mr Gates told the US Senate Armed Services Committee. Prosecutor sought for White House criminal probe 04 Feb 2008 An advocacy group Monday sought a criminal probe of the White House over millions of possibly missing e-mails, saying someone may have deliberately deleted them to conceal involvement in a potential crime. In a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said the White House also may have violated two federal record-keeping laws, including the Federal Records Act, which carries criminal sanctions for unlawful destruction. US censured for waterboarding 07 Feb 2008 The UN's chief torture investigator criticised the US government yesterday for defending the use of "waterboarding", an interrogation method often described as a form of torture. Manfred Nowak, the special rapporteur on torture, said: "This is absolutely unacceptable under international human rights law..." Mukasey says no criminal probe of waterboarding 07 Feb 2008 Attorney General Michael Mukasey told lawmakers Thursday he will not open a criminal investigation into the CIAs acknowledged use of waterboarding against terror suspects. In an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., asked Mukasey bluntly whether he was starting a criminal probe now that CIA chief Michael Hayden confirmed the use of waterboarding. Waterboarding is legal, White House says --The assertion stuns critics of widely condemned interrogation technique. 07 Feb 2008 The White House said Wednesday that the widely condemned interrogation technique known as waterboarding is legal and that President [sic] Bush could authorize the CIA to resume using the simulated-drowning method under extraordinary circumstances. US 'may' use waterboarding again 06 Feb 2008 US President [sic] George Bush might consider authorising the controversial interrogation torture method of waterboarding in future, the White House has said. White House Defends CIA's Use of Waterboarding in Interrogations 07 Feb 2008 The White House yesterday said that the interrogation technique known as waterboarding was legal and that President [sic] Bush could authorize the tactic in the future. White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the CIA could use waterboarding with Bush's approval... Independent legal experts have called the technique torture and said its use is barred by U.S. laws and treaties under all circumstances. New court can silence captives who tell secrets --A new court at Guantanamo would allow the U.S. military to keep its secrets by cutting off terror suspects' testimony from the ears of observers at the flick of a switch. 04 Feb 2008 On the eve of the resumption of its war crimes 'trials,' the military on Sunday unveiled a new state-of-the-art court capable of trying six alleged terrorists simultaneously -- and silencing them from the outside world, if they try to spill state secrets. C.I.A. Destroyed Tapes as Judge Sought Interrogation Data 07 Feb 2008 At the time that the Central Intelligence Agency destroyed videotapes of the interrogations of operatives of 'Al Qaeda,' a federal judge was still seeking information from Bush administration lawyers about the interrogation torture of one of those operatives, Abu Zubaydah, according to court documents made public on Wednesday. Moussaoui prosecutor kept CIA tapes secret 07 Feb 2008 The lead prosecutor in the terror case against Zacarias Moussaoui likely knew the CIA destroyed tapes of its interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects more than a year before the government acknowledged it to the court, newly unsealed documents show. UK orders Hamza's extradition to US 07 Feb 2008 The home secretary has signed the order for Abu Hamza to be extradited to the US to face terrorism charges. Hamza will be extradited within 28 days unless his lawyers appeal against the decision. Lawyers: Guantanamo detainee breaking down 07 Feb 2008 Confined alone in his Guantanamo cell nearly around the clock, Yemeni prisoner and former driver for Osama bin Laden [Salim Ahmed Hamdan] has begun to break down mentally and cannot focus on preparing for his upcoming war-crimes trial, his attorneys say. U.S. bans 10 over violence in Kenya 07 Feb 2008 The United States has barred 10 Kenyans suspected of being behind ethnic violence that has convulsed the country since President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election, officials said on Thursday. Suspect admits to German train bomb plot 07 Feb 2008 One of the main suspects in a plot to bomb a pair of German commuter trains in 2006 [Youssef Mohammed el-Hajdib] confessed his role in the plan Thursday but told the court another suspect was the ringleader. Intelligence services demand veto on use of bugging evidence 07 Feb 2008 The use of intercept evidence in court for the first time could be stalled by demands from the intelligence services for a right of veto over the use of the transcripts from their secret bugging operations. The CIA is also unhappy that its intercepted phone calls or conversations between suspected terrorists [over their employment] could be produced in British courts. Energy Dept. Funding Institutes with Iranian Ties 06 Feb 2008 The Energy Department is subsidizing two Russian nuclear institutes that are building key parts of Irans Bushehr reactor even though the United States has spent years trying to shut it down, according to a House committee. U.S. commander says Iran not involved in hostilities in Iraq 06 Feb 2008 The U.S. commander in Iraqs central province of Diyala has said he has witnessed no hostile act from the Iranian side in the region over the past 10 months, a French weekly reported on Monday. Nato 'at risk over Afghanistan' 07 Feb 2008 US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has warned the future of Nato is at risk due to differences over Afghanistan and that it may become a two-tier alliance. Rice and Miliband go to Afghanistan 07 Feb 2008 U.S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her British counterpart David Miliband have paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan, amid increasing rifts amongst the NATO member states over the alliance mission in the country. Suicide Bombing Wounds Three Soldiers in Eastern Afghanistan 07 Feb 2008 A suicide bombing has wounded three NATO soldiers in eastern Afghanistan. NATO's International Security Assistance Force says a suicide car bomb detonated near their convoy in Khost province Thursday. Brawny New Bunker Buster: 'Divine Thunderbolt' By David Hambling 04 Feb 2008 The latest addition to the Air Force's arsenal of bunker busters is a 5,000lb weapon with formidable penetrating power... And that means the BLU-122. Mounting social distress among returning US troops By Naomi Spencer 7 Feb 2008 A number of recent reports shed further light on the growing social and public health crisis among US veterans. After serving tours in occupied Iraq and Afghanistan, thousands of troops are returning wounded and psychologically traumatized from the experience. With their needs frequently ill met by the military medical system and confronted with a collapsing economy, data suggest the most disturbed are committing suicide and violent crimes, and suffering homelessness, addiction, and mental illness in record numbers. Berlusconi gets his way 07 Feb 2008 Italy has set snap elections in April that will probably return Reichwing media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi to power after he torpedoed efforts to overhaul the country's unpopular voting system. Danbury Approves Plan to Let Police Partner With INS 07 Feb 2008 (CT) The Danbury City Council approved a plan Wednesday night that will let local police work with immigration agents. Council members voted to recommend that police chief be given the authorization to enter into a training agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to crack down on illegal immigrants. 'Mysterious' bird flu baffles Indonesian scientists 06 Feb 2008 Indonesian scientists and officials said they were baffled by the "mysterious" behaviour of the [US Army] bird flu virus here, which has already claimed nine lives this year in the world's worst-hit nation. Indonesia has reported 126 cases of H5N1 bird flu, 103 of them fatal, since 2005. Shell bids over $105 mln for one Arctic oil tract 06 Feb 2008 Oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc bid $105.3 million for a single exploration block in the [illegal] U.S. government's sale of drilling rights in federal waters of the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwestern coast. [Some hope 'insurgents' far and wide will do to their drilling equipment what Blackwater does to Baghdad's mosques, pet markets and electrical grids. They can blame 'al-Qaeda,' so no questions will ever be asked. --LRP] Protesters will don polar bear masks 06 Feb 2008 Protesters will don polar bear masks and hoist signs at a south Minneapolis intersection today to object to a federal effort to expand oil and natural gas drilling in Alaska. Scientists Ignored on Pitfalls of Arctic Oil Leasing 05 Feb 2008 The Interior Department is hastening to stop the flow of internal e-mails from its own scientists that undermine the legality of its offshore oil and gas lease sales in federal Arctic waters, according to correspondence released Monday by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, PEER. During the past three weeks, PEER has released a series of internal e-mails from current and former Interior scientists raising questions about how badly environmental assessments of Arctic offshore oil development were skewed. The e-mails are contrary to Bush administration claims that environmental risks were adequately considered prior to offering tracts for lease in the Chukchi, Beaufort and Bering Seas for oil exploration. Polar bears threatened by new drilling rights 07 Feb 2008 The sale of licences to drill for oil and gas rights in Alaska will threaten the future of the region's polar bears, conservationists warned today. The oil and gas rights to drill in 29.4m acres in the Chukchi sea, which were made available by the US government's Minerals Management Service (MMS) yesterday, have attracted record bids of $2.66bn from the likes of Shell and ConocoPhillips. Arctic Oil Lease Sale Could Spell Disaster for Polar Bears, WWF Says 06 Feb 2008 World Wildlife Fund (WWF) condemns Lease Sale 193 by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) in Alaska on February 6 that opens nearly 30 million acres of the pristine Chukchi Sea to oil and gas activities, putting at risk the future of people, polar bears and the magnificent Arctic. NM Dem Caucus: This Reeks (Democracy for New Mexico) 06 Feb 2007 Kate Nash reports that as of about 5:00 PM, counting of about 16,000 provisional ballots hadn't yet begun because representatives from all sides are negotiating the ground rules. The process is ongoing at the REDW firm in Albuquerque. Also, Gov. Richardson released a statement about the Caucus and the problems surrounding it. Another GOPedophile bites the dust: Lieberman No Longer a Super Delegate 06 Feb 2008 Thanks to Zell Miller, there is a rule to deal with Joe LieberBush. Lieberman's endorsement of Republican John McCain disqualifies him as a super-delegate to the Democratic National Convention under what is informally known as the Zell Miller rule, according to Democratic State Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo. Still another GOPedophile bites the dust: Romney exits presidential race --Fears a fight to the convention would make Democratic victory more likely 07 Feb 2008 Mitt Romney suspended his faltering presidential campaign on Thursday, effectively sealing the Republican presidential nomination for John McCain. "I must now stand aside, for our party and our country," Romney told conservatives. Top Cop Says McCain Was Never Tortured --Former Vietnam vet with top secret clearance - Republican frontrunner is "a lying skunk" 07 Feb 2008 A former Vietnam veteran with top secret clearance says he has personally spoken to numerous POW's who dispute John McCain's claim that he refused to provide information after he was captured and tortured in Hanoi, saying that in fact McCain's code-name was "Songbird" because of his willingness to tell all to avoid torture. Obama Has Much Yet to Prove By Ron Fournier 07 Feb 2008 Writer Amid the poetry and promise of Barack Obama's election-night address came this hard truth: "There will be setbacks," he said, "and we will make mistakes..." Obama still has much to prove. The potential for setbacks and mistakes is high. Bush keeps US borders wide open for the corpora-terrorists: White House Moves to Ease Guest Worker Program 07 Feb 2008 The Bush regime announced plans on Wednesday to overhaul the notoriously inefficient federal guest worker program for agriculture, seeking to provide more legal workers to American farmers who now rely primarily on illegal immigrants. Since legislation to give legal status to illegal immigrant farm workers failed last year in Congress, the administration is now taking action that does not require Congressional approval to streamline the existing guest worker program. Senate Approves $168 Billion 'Stimulus' Plan 07 Feb 2008 The Senate overwhelmingly approved a $168 billion economic stimulus program on Thursday afternoon, sending it to the House for final passage on Thursday evening so that it can be sent quickly to President [sic] Bushs desk. Republicans block Senate plan to boost economy 06 Feb 2008 Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a Democratic-backed $157 billion economic stimulus plan that would have provided benefits for the long-term unemployed and expanded proposed tax rebates to include retirees and disabled veterans. Merck to Pay $671 Million in Settlement 07 Feb 2008 Merck & Company has agreed to pay $671 million to settle claims that it overcharged Medicaid programs for four drugs, including Vioxx and Zocor, and to resolve allegations of improper marketing to doctors, federal prosecutors and company officials announced Thursday. Floating rubbish dump 'bigger than US' 04 Feb 2008 Mega sludge ... the world's largest rubbish dump, or the Pacific plastic soup, is twice as big as the US continent, and is starting to alarm scientists. 68! High Temperature Shatters Old Record 06 Feb 2008 The National Weather Service reported the high temperature in Central Park Wednesday was 68 degrees, destroying the previous record high of 58 set in 1991. Record highs were also set in Newark, which reached 69 degrees and at John F. Kennedy Airport where it was 65 degrees. The normal for this time of year is 39 degrees. CLG needs your support. http://www.legitgov.org/#contribute Or, please mail a check or money order to the CLG: Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG) P.O. Box 1142 Bristol, CT 06011-1142 Contributions to CLG are not tax deductible. [Previous lead stories:] AP Confirms Secret Camp Inside Guantanamo 06 Feb 2008 Somewhere amid the cactus-studded hills on this sprawling Navy base, separate from the cells where hundreds of men suspected of links to 'al-Qaida' and the Taliban have been locked up for years, is a place even more closely guarded - a jailhouse so protected [hidden from human rights organizations] that its very location is top secret. For the first time, the top commander of detention operations at Guantanamo has confirmed the existence of the mysterious Camp 7. Bush approved CIA dislosure on waterboarding 06 Feb 2008 U.S. President [sic] George W. Bush authorized the CIA to give its most detailed public account of its use of a widely condemned interrogation torture technique known as waterboarding, the White House said on Wednesday. 'The evidence therefore suggests that we are looking at a coordinated program of undersea cable sabotage by an actor, or actors, on the international stage with an anti-Muslim bias.' Connecting the Many Undersea Cut Cable Dots - 9 Or More? By Richard Sauder, PhD 05 Feb 2008 The last week has seen a spate of unexplained, cut, undersea communications cables that has severely disrupted communications in many countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. As I shall show, the total numbers of cut cables remain in question, but likely number as many as eight, and maybe nine or more. Please forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested. Those who'd like to be added to the list can go here: http://www.legitgov.org/#subscribe_clg and add your name. Those who wish to be removed from the list can access the same link and click 'unsubscribe.' Please write to: signup@legitgov.org for inquiries/issues/concerns with your subscription. CLG Newsletter editor: Lori Price, Manager. Copyright ) 2008, Citizens For Legitimate Government . All rights reserved. CLG Founder and Chair is Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D.