Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government 12 Mar 2009 <http://www.legitgov.org/>http://www.legitgov.org/ All items are here: <http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news>http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
<http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/mar2009/watc-m12.shtml>FBI terrorist watch list hits 1 million entries By Patrick Martin 12 Mar 2009 The FBI's Terrorist Screening Center acknowledged this week that there are more than 1 million names on its official terrorist watch list, a number that suggests the vast scale of the police-state measures undertaken by the US government on the pretext of waging a "war on terror." ...The year-by-year increase has been staggering: 158,374 in June 2004, 288,000 in May 2005, 754,960 in May 2007 and an admitted 1,000,000 in March 2009, if not earlier. <http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/03/un-rapporteur-warns-rights-council-on.php>UN rapporteur warns rights council on US 'war on terror' policies 11 Mar 2009 UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism Martin Scheinin on Tuesday cited the case of Canadian citizen and former US detainee Maher Arar in presenting a <http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/10session/A.HRC.10.3.pdf>report critical of international counterterrorism practices to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. Scheinin flagged Arar's deportation from the US as an example of how intelligence sharing without "adequate safeguards" can lead to human rights violations. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/12/cia-kidnaps-terrorism-suspect-trial>Judges deal blow to CIA 'kidnap' trial --The constitutional court decided that in building their case against the US intelligence operatives and another eight defendants the prosecutors violated state secrecy. 12 Mar 2009 A trial in which 25 CIA agents are accused of kidnapping a terrorism suspect ran into serious difficulties last night when Italy's constitutional court upheld key objections raised by the Italian government. Prosecutors say the suspect - Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar - was snatched off the streets of Milan six years ago and flown to Egypt. There, he has claimed, he was tortured under interrogation. <http://www.nyunews.com/opinion/columnists/we_don_t_torture_..._right_now-1.1601665>'We don't torture' ... right now By Aaron Leonard 10 Mar 2009 The U.S. government most certainly has engaged in torture and depravity... So let's not play word games. Any AA member will tell you alcoholism doesn't end when you stop drinking. The U.S. tortures. Whether it can stay on the wagon is a matter up for debate... While Gitmo may close, the Bagram Theater Internment Facility in Afghanistan remains open and has plans to expand. Bagram is not nearly as well-known as Guantanamo, but by most accounts it is more brutal. According to The New Republic, Bagram's tactics routinely included "beatings, anal violation with sharp objects, blows to the genitals and 'peroneal' strikes [sharp blows to the leg with a baton or leg]." <http://www.minnpost.com/ericblackblog/2009/03/12/7344/the_cia_responds_to_seymour_hersh_via_minnpost>The CIA responds to Seymour Hersh By Eric Black 12 Mar 2009 "Utter nonsense," is the quote from CIA spokester George Little. I <http://www.minnpost.com/ericblackblog/2009/03/11/7310/investigative_reporter_seymour_hersh_describes_executive_assassination_ring>wrote yesterday about comments famed investigative reporter Seymour Hersh made Tuesday night at the U of M, which included a description of a story he is working on that he said would show that "the Central Intelligence Agency was very deeply involved in domestic activities against people they thought to be enemies of the state. Without any legal authority for it..." CIA spokester Little emailed me: "I saw your story on Seymour Hersh's recent allegations regarding CIA activities since 9/11. If you wish, you can attribute the quoted portion that follows to me, in name, as a CIA spokesman: 'This is utter nonsense.' " <http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/11/asia/AS-Afghanistan.php>Gunmen kill Afghan journalist once detained by US 12 Mar 2009 Gunmen in southern Afghanistan killed an Afghan journalist once held by the U.S. military in Afghanistan as an enemy combatant, officials said Wednesday. Attackers killed Jawed Ahmad, 23, also known as Jojo, in the southern city of Kandahar on Tuesday, said Zalmay Ayubi, the spokesman for Kandahar's provincial governor. [See: <http://www.minnpost.com/ericblackblog/2009/03/11/7310/investigative_reporter_seymour_hersh_describes_executive_assassination_ring>Bush 'executive assassination ring' reported directly to Cheney office: Seymour Hersh 11 Mar 2009 It's an executive assassination ring essentially, and it's been going on and on and on... Under President [sic] Bush's authority, they've been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That's been going on, in the name of all of us. It's complicated because the guys doing it are not murderers, and yet they are committing what we would normally call murder."] <http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6308426.html>National Guard called 'last resort' at border --Homeland Security official outlines plans for dealing with violence 12 Mar 2009 top Homeland Security official told Congress Thursday that National Guard troops will intervene on the U.S.-Mexico border only as a "last resort" to combat drug violence. Roger T. Rufe Jr., the Homeland Security Department's head of operations, outlined still evolving contingency plans for dealing with the violence, one day after President Barack Obama said "we're going to examine whether and if National Guard deployment would make sense." <http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/12/obama-considering-deploying-troops-mexico-border/>Obama Considering Deploying Troops to U.S.-Mexico Border 12 Mar 2009 President Obama says he's considering whether to deploy National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, after Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) made an urgent call fort 1,000 more "boots on the ground" to deal with the growing violence. The president weighed the option during a meeting with regional reporters Wednesday afternoon. <http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h_lxdamGL72UQyZnOAx07zCcjhiwD96SJHKG1>Mexico violence prompts new look at US gun laws 12 Mar 2009 A gun control expert says the administration can help control drug violence in Mexico by enforcing already existing laws. Expert Tom Diaz says that imports of certain semiautomatic rifles were regulated under the first Bush and Clinton administrations. But he told a House panel Wednesday the import rules were relaxed under the most recent Bush administration. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/11/AR2009031104308.html>Intelligence Pick Blames 'Israel Lobby' For Withdrawal 12 Mar 2009 The withdrawal of a senior intelligence adviser after an online campaign to prevent him from taking office has ignited a debate over whether powerful pro-Israel lobbying interests are exercising outsize influence over who serves in the Obama administration. When Charles W. Freeman Jr. stepped away Tuesday from an appointment to chair the National Intelligence Council, he decried in an e-mail "the barrage of libelous distortions of my record [that] would not cease upon my entry into office," and he was blunt about whom he considers responsible. <http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/11/content_10994574.htm>Car bomb kills 4 Iraqis in N Iraq 11 Mar 2009 A car bomb explosion killed three soldiers and a civilians and wounded 13 people in the city of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province on Wednesday, a provincial police source said. A booby-trapped car parked at a road detonated when an Iraqi Army patrol passed by in the Shifaa neighborhood in western Mosul, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraqi-shoethrower-sentenced-to-three-years-for-assault-on-bush-1643975.html>Iraqi shoe-thrower sentenced to three years for 'assault' on Bush 13 Mar 2009 An Iraqi reporter acclaimed as a hero across much of the Middle East [the planet] after he threw his shoes at President [sic] Bush was sentenced in Baghdad to three years in prison yesterday. "What I did was a natural response to the occupation," said Muntadhar al-Zaidi to the three-judge panel. As the sentence was read out he shouted "Long live Iraq" while others in the courtroom were removed by police for yelling "Down with Bush". [He *should* be sentenced - for wasting a good throw. <g>] <http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD96R8BLG1>Bomb kills 4 civilians in southern Afghanistan 10 Mar 2009 A roadside blast ripped through a civilian vehicle in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing four people and wounding six others, a government spokesman said. The bomb exploded in Nad Ali district of Helmand province on a road also used by government drug-eradication forces, said Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for Helmand's governor. <http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hpeUgalkmDYBA01AqyemJ0xKtIQwD96SMBUG3>Army fired 11 soldiers in Jan. as openly gay 12 Mar 2009 The Army fired 11 soldiers in January for violating the military's policy that gay service members must keep their sexuality hidden, according to a Virginia congressman. Democratic Rep. Jim Moran said he has requested monthly updates from the Pentagon on the impact of the policy until it is repealed. <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=acSE1WbV3D10>U.K. Targets Port-Smuggling Risks After Mumbai Terror Attacks 12 Mar 2009 From his harbormaster's office, Neil Clarke can see every boat sailing into Penzance Harbor on Britain's southwestern tip. "We've got a long coastline with a small amount of people trying to keep an eye on it," Clarke said. "Attacks like Mumbai do give us cause for concern." <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090311.wterror11/BNStory/International/>Blocking terror on Web 'counterproductive' 11 Mar 2009 Governments who seek to block terrorist propaganda on the Internet will find that purely technological solutions are "crude, expensive and counterproductive," a new <http://icsr.info/publications/papers/1236643028ICSROnlineRadicalisationReport.pdf>report concludes. The London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence calls on governments to do more than simply "pull the plug" on websites that promote extremist messages, urging them to attack the problem at its root. <http://www.infowars.com/secret-state-police-report-ron-paul-bob-barr-chuck-baldwin-libertarians-are-terrorists/>Secret State Police Report: Ron Paul, Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, Libertarians are Terrorists By Kurt Nimmo 11 Mar 2009 Alex Jones has received a secret report distributed by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) entitled "The Modern Militia Movement" and dated February 20, 2009. A footer on the document indicates it is "unclassified" but "law enforcement sensitive," in other words not for public consumption. A copy of the report was sent to Jones by an anonymous Missouri police officer. The MIAC report specifically describes supporters of presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr as "militia" influenced terrorists and instructs the Missouri police to be on the lookout for supporters displaying bumper stickers and other paraphernalia associated with the Constitutional, Campaign for Liberty, and Libertarian parties. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/12/AR2009031201426.html>D.C. Tech Official Is Accused of Bribery 13 Mar 2009 A D.C. government official [Yusuf Acar] and a business executive [Sushil Bansal] were arrested yesterday on bribery charges involving city technology contracts that included "ghost" workers and kickbacks, federal authorities said. Raiding offices in the hunt for documents, FBI agents carted away boxes and envelopes throughout the day from the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, the center of the alleged fraud. <http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2009/03/tsa_probing_vit.php>TSA Probing Vitter Incident 11 Mar 2009 The Transportation Security Administration is examining Sen. David Vitter's <http://www.rollcall.com/issues/54_100/hoh/33055-1.html>much-reported decision to open the closed gateway door to his plane -- even though he was warned against it by an airline worker. "We will be reviewing the alleged incident," Lauren Gaches, a TSA spokeswoman, told On Call this evening. <http://www.rollcall.com/issues/54_100/hoh/33055-1.html>Heard on the Hill: Vitter Goes From Hookergate to Gate-Crashing 11 Mar 2009 ...Sen. David Vitter on Thursday joined what we've dubbed the "Mile-Low Club" by going ballistic on an airline worker after missing a flight from Washington's Dulles airport to New Orleans. According to an HOH tipster who witnessed the scene, the Louisiana Republican arrived Thursday evening at his United Airlines gate 20 minutes before the plane was scheduled to depart, only to find the gate had already been closed. Undeterred, Vitter opened the door, setting off a security alarm and prompting an airline worker to warn him that entering the gate was forbidden. Vitter, our spy said, gave the airline worker an earful, employing the timeworn "do-you-know-who-I-am" tirade that apparently grew quite heated... <http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Greek-terror-group-Citibank-apf-14614109.html>Greek 'terror' group: Citibank attacked over crisis --Greek 'terror' group says Citibank attacks over financial crisis, promises more bombings 12 Mar 2009 A Greek militant group threatened in a statement published Thursday to continue its bombing campaign, saying recent attacks against Citibank were in response to the international financial crisis. The Pontiki weekly newspaper published a statement from the Revolutionary Struggle group, which claimed responsibility for a failed car-bomb attack Feb. 18 on Citibank offices in Athens and a bomb attack Monday on a suburban Citibank branch that caused damage but no injuries. <http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-03-11-state-jobless_N.htm>Unemployment 'is now a national emergency' 11 Mar 2009 More than 1-in-10 workers were unemployed in four U.S. states in January, the government said Wednesday in a report that pointed to a rapid deterioration in the job market. The unemployment rate in Michigan was 11.6%, up 4.3 percentage points from a year earlier and the highest for any state, the Labor Department said. <http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE52B1KM20090312>U.S. unemployment to near 10 percent as rout worsens 12 Mar 2009 U.S. unemployment will approach 10 percent as the country endures its worst recession since World War Two, leaving more than 13 million Americans jobless, according to a Reuters poll of economists. The economy will level out in the third quarter, the results showed, but the poll painted a bleaker picture than a survey conducted just a month ago. <http://www.usnews.com/blogs/the-home-front/2009/3/10/half-of-americans-are-two-paychecks-away-from-delinquency.html>Half of Americans Are Two Paychecks Away from Hardship 10 Mar 2009 The eroding labor market is expected to trigger additional pain for banks as job losses undercut consumers' ability to make their mortgage payments... A recent <http://www.metlife.com/about/press-room/us-press-releases/index.html?compID=12452>study by MetLife indicates that consumers don't have nearly enough of a financial cushion to keep them afloat should a job loss occur. <http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2009/db20090312_431966.htm>Madoff Pleads Guilty to Ponzi Scheme --After admitting to details of a huge fraud, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff is jailed until sentencing 12 Mar 2009 Bernard Madoff, the orchestrator of a massive, long-running Ponzi scheme that snared thousands of victims, from the rich and famous to small investors who entrusted their life savings to him, pleaded guilty on Mar. 12 to 11 charges related to the fraud in a packed federal courthouse in Manhattan. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29618545/>EU says deadly bird flu strain found in Germany 10 Mar 2009 The European Commission says a wild duck shot in the German state of Bavaria has tested positive for the lethal H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus. The EU executive says it is the first wild bird case in the 27 nation bloc this year and was reported by German authorities. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/11/amazon-global-warming-trees>Amazon could shrink by 85% due to climate change, scientists say --Scientists say 4C rise would kill 85% of the Amazon rainforest --Even modest temperature rise would see 20-40% loss within 100 years 11 Mar 2009 Global warming will wreck attempts to save the Amazon rainforest, according to a devastating new study which predicts that one-third of its trees will be killed by even modest temperature rises. CLG needs your support. <http://www.legitgov.org/#contribute>http://www.legitgov.org/#contribute Or, please mail a check or money order to CLG: Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG) P.O. Box 1142 Bristol, CT 06011-1142 Contributions to CLG are not tax deductible Previous lead stories: <http://www.minnpost.com/ericblackblog/2009/03/11/7310/investigative_reporter_seymour_hersh_describes_executive_assassination_ring>Bush 'executive assassination ring' reported directly to Cheney office: Seymour Hersh 11 Mar 2009 At a "Great Conversations" event at the University of Minnesota last night, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh talked about new alleged instances of domestic spying by the CIA, and about an ongoing covert military operation that he called an "executive assassination ring." Moderator U of M Political Scientist Larry Jacobs asked Hersh if presidents [get] drawn into improper covert actions that exceed their constitutional powers. Hersh replied, "Yuh. After 9/11... the Central Intelligence Agency was very deeply involved in domestic activities against people they thought to be enemies of the state. Without any legal authority for it... the <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Special_Operations_Command>Joint Special Operations Command -- JSOC it's called. It is a <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/world/asia/10terror.html>special wing of our special operations community that is set up independently. They do not report to anybody, except in the Bush-Cheney days, they reported directly to the Cheney office. <http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/11/content_10987852.htm>UN experts to investigate secret U.S. jails 11 Mar 2009 Two UN human rights experts said on Tuesday that they would conduct a global investigation of secret detention centers used by the United States and other countries in their 'counter'-terrorism efforts. The yearlong investigation is aimed not only to clarify facts, but also to ensure that such secret jails would not be used in the future, according to Manfred Nowak, UN envoy for torture, and Martin Scheinin, UN envoy for human rights and counter-terrorism. <http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jFL180sgT0Tc4CKGXoo6U3U59w_gD96RS8C00>Brown rejects judge-led inquiry into UK spies 11 Mar 2009 British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday declined a request by opposition parties to authorize a judge-led inquiry into the conduct of U.K. intelligence agencies in supporting the U.S. government's pursuit of terror suspects since 2001. Lawmakers in Britain, the U.S. and Europe have raised concerns over the extent to which the U.K. and other allies of Washington have been complicit in the extraordinary rendition kidnapping, secret detention imprisonment and alleged mistreatment torture of suspected terrorists. 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