Bush: 8 Years in 8 Minutes. Olbermann 1/19/09

http://www.truthout.org/011… Friday 16 Janu…

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UBERHACK, eight minutes of BDS and lies.

Tripe and lies couched as news. Mindless drivel passing as substance, worse than reducing substance to a sound bite. It is sound bites compiled to simulate substance. I am ashamed that i allowed my self to be lured in by the biggest lie, it was over eight minutes.

The word is petty UBERHACK, it’s in the dictionary. Look it up.

Sons of Iraq’ Graduation Demonstrates Reconciliation

By Ray McNulty
Special to American Forces Press Service

BAGHDAD, Jan. 15, 2009 – Nearly 900 former members of the “Sons of Iraq” civilian security group officially joined the ranks of the Iraqi police at a graduation ceremony here yesterday.

Former “Sons of Iraq” civilian security group members demonstrate tactical movements that they will incorporate in their duties as police officers as part of their graduation ceremony at Al Furat Iraqi Police Training Center in Baghdad, Jan. 14, 2009.

Numbering 894 men and three women, they are the second class drawn from former Sons of Iraq members to graduate from the month-long police academy course at the Al Furat Police Training Center. Last month’s graduating class of 1,031 included 19 female police officers.

“These two graduations are tangible proof that the government of Iraq has kept its promise,” Maj. Gen. Khadim of the provincial directorate of police for Baghdad, said through an interpreter. “It offered Iraqi police jobs and training to former Sons of Iraq in recognition of their service. We will continue to extend a salute of respect and partnership to those who wish to serve with us.”

Registration has begun for the next class of police candidates, who will begin training before the end of January. Early indications point to another history-making class, which is expected to include nearly 500 female recruits, officials said.

“This transition of Sons of Iraq into the Iraqi police is a visible sign of reconciliation,” Army Col. Byron Freeman, commander of 8th Military Police Brigade, said. “Every graduation like today’s is a clear sign of progress. This effectively heals sectarian conflict with a sought-after job.”

Since Oct. 1, the Sons of Iraq program, previously administered by coalition forces, has been the responsibility of the Iraqi government. At that time, the Sons of Iraq rolls numbered nearly 100,000 throughout the country.

GITMO Part Four; Defense Officials Address Detainee Concerns

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2009 – As the Defense Department prepares plans to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, defense officials acknowledge the possibility that released detainees could return to the battlefield.

“It’s something that we’re cognizant of. It’s obviously something that we try to assess at the time of transfer when we are looking at these individuals,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told Pentagon reporters today.

President Barack Obama yesterday signed an executive order that directs the closure of the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo within a year.

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The detention center has housed nearly 800 suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places since the start of the global war on terrorism that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. About 250 detainees are being held at Guantanamo, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

Of the more than 500 detainees who have been transferred from Defense Department custody, 18 allegedly have resumed terrorist activities and another 43 former detainees are suspected of having resumed their former lives, Whitman said.

Whitman addressed a query from a reporter citing news reports that a former Guantanamo detainee had apparently become an associate leader for al-Qaida in Yemen.

Guantanamo inmates’ cases are reviewed annually, Whitman said, to ascertain whether or not they qualify for release. However, he said, there’s no guarantee released individuals won’t return to terrorism.

“You can’t have absolute certainly,” Whitman acknowledged.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates yesterday acknowledged there are challenges inherent with shuttering the center.

“Clearly, the challenge that faces us, and that I’ve acknowledged before, is figuring out how do we close Guantanamo and at the same time safeguard the security of the American people,” he said.

There “are answers to those questions,” Gates said, noting there is “a lot of work to do.”

GITMO Part Three

Guantanamo Pair Defiant In Court

Correspondents said the pre-trial hearing was chaotic at times, as two of the men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks on the US made unrepentant court appearances at pre-trial hearings at Guantanamo Bay.

Ramzi Binalshibh said he was proud of the attacks while Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said he did not fear death and was working “for the cause of God”. These two were among five men appearing at a chaotic hearing at the naval base.

US President-elect Barack Obama is expected to issue an order to close the camp within days of taking office. The day’s hearings were intended to determine whether Mr Binalshibh was mentally competent to represent himself. He and his co-defendants have all said they do not want to be represented by US military lawyers.

“We did what we did and we are proud of this. We are proud of 9/11,” Mr Binalshibh told the courtroom in Arabic as guards removed his shackles.

Earlier Mr Mohammed, who claims to have been tortured while in the camp and is the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, had requested the dismissal of all US lawyers on his bench.

“The people who tortured me received their salaries from the American government and the lawyers do too,” he said.

He later told the court he and his co-defendants were not afraid of receiving the death penalty because they were “doing jihad for the cause of God”.

When warned by the judge to stop interrupting the proceedings, he told them: ”This is terrorism, not court, you don’t give us an opportunity to talk.”

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Both defence and prosecution lawyers had asked the military judges to delay proceedings until after Mr Obama’s inauguration, but their request was refused.

The Pentagon last month withdrew and refiled charges in about 20 cases, saying this was merely a procedural step. This has added to the air of uncertainty surrounding the trials, correspondents say.

A Canadian national, Omar Khadr, faces a separate hearing, accused of killing a US soldier in Afghanistan. His lawyers are also arguing for certain statements to be suppressed, saying they were obtained through torture and coercion.

The US military says these were the result of “conversational and non-coercive interviews”.

Mr Khadr, who was 15 years old at the time, is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier in Afghanistan in 2002. Mr Khadr’s trial is scheduled to begin on 26 January but his lawyer, Navy Lt Cdr Bill Kuebler, says he believes it is unlikely that the military tribunals will go ahead once Mr Obama is in office. “It is simply unimaginable to think that these proceedings would continue when you have an administration that is on the record saying that so clearly,” he said. “What’s very clear… is that they want to take a different course of action on Guantanamo.”

Barack Obama pictured on 12 December during a meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon
Mr Obama has said he knows closing the camp will be challenging. Last week, senior advisers confirmed that Mr Obama would issue an executive order within days of entering the White House to close the detention center.

But shutting Guantanamo, where some 245 inmates remain, will not be immediate and Mr Obama himself has signaled that it will be a challenge.

His choice for attorney-general, Eric Holder, told his Senate confirmation hearing that he considered the interrogation technique of water boarding to be torture.

The CIA has admitted using the technique on at least three terrorism suspects, including Mr Mohammed.

The Bush administration set up the Guantanamo Bay camp in 2002 to hold foreign terror suspects captured during the war against the Taleban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

The camp once held some 750 inmates, believed to be mostly foreigners detained in Afghanistan on suspicion of being Islamist fighters.

GITMO Part Two

A judge has suspended for 120 days the Guantanamo Bay trials of five men accused over the 9/11 attacks, as requested by US President Barack Obama.

Among the five is alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who had opposed the suspension saying he wanted to confess to his role in the attacks.

The new administration also circulated a draft order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison within a year. Mr Obama had earlier asked for a four-month halt to all tribunals there. The request was one of his first acts as president.

Before the military judge’s ruling in the 9/11 case, four men including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said they opposed halting the trials. Lawyers for a fifth man supported the proposed suspension.

Earlier a judge in a separate case – that of Omar Khadr, a Canadian man accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan in 2002 – suspended that trial. Lt Cmdr William Kuebler, a lawyer for Omar Khadr, said the practical effect of the ruling was “to pronounce this system dead”.

“There will certainly be no more military commissions in Guantanamo Bay,” he said.

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The Obama administration is circulating a draft executive order calling for the closure of the detention centre.

“The detention facilities at Guantanamo for individuals covered by this order shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order,” the draft read.

It calls for a review of all pending cases, and provides for some prisoners to be released and others to be transferred. It is not known when Mr Obama will issue the order. Mr Obama has repeatedly promised to close the camp, where some 250 inmates accused of having links to terrorism remain and 21 cases are pending.

In his inaugural address on Tuesday, he emphasized the idea of respect for justice and the rights of the individual, rejecting “as false the choice between our safety and our ideals”.

A two-page document issued late the same day and ordered jointly by Mr Obama and the US Department of Defense, sought a 120-day suspension of trials. The delay would “permit the newly inaugurated president and his administration time to review the military commission process”, the document said.

The legal process has been widely criticised because the US military acts as jailer, judge and jury, the BBC’s Jonathan Beale reports from Guantanamo. Closing Guantanamo Bay will not be easy. Questions remain over where those charged will be tried and where those freed can be safely sent.

Our correspondent reports that the written ruling to suspend the 9/11 cases brought anger and frustration among representatives from five families of victims of the attacks, with one accusing Mr Obama of political posturing.

But there was a sense of relief among defense lawyers, who had criticized the cases as “show trials”.

Michele Cercone, a spokesman for the EU Justice and Home Affairs Commission, said the Commission was “very pleased that one of the first actions of Mr Obama has been to turn the page on this sad episode of Guantanamo”.

GITMO Part One: Detainee Treatment Remains Key as Officials Weigh Guantanamo’s Future

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 14, 2009

With both Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and President-elect Barack Obama advocating closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba, the Defense Department is focused on a way forward that protects the American people while also ensuring proper detainee treatment, a senior defense official said today. A decision by the convening authority for military commissions that a detainee suspected of being the 20th 9/11 hijacker was submitted to inappropriate interrogation methods does not mean the case against him won’t ultimately go forward, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

Judge Susan. J. Crawford told the Washington Post in an interview published today that she did not refer the case against Mohammed al-Qhatani to a military commission because she believed his treatment met the legal definition of torture. Crawford told the Washington Post she did not refer the case against Qhatani because he had been subjected to so-called “special interrogation techniques” that were authorized for a brief period in 2002. Instead, she dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning that the prosecution can return to the convening authority at a later time with more evidence to re-swear the charges.” Some of the aggressive questioning techniques used on al-Qhatani, although permissible at the time, are no longer allowed in the updated Army field manual,” Whitman told reporters today. The Army published Field Manual 2-22.3, “Human Intelligence Collector Operations,” in 2006 to replace the previous manual with clearly worded doctrinal guidance on conducting military interrogations within U.S. and international law. Whitman said the Defense Department has taken great efforts to ensure it conducts interrogations and detainee operations in a legal manner.” We have conducted more than a dozen investigations and reviews of our detention operations, including specifically the interrogation of al-Qhatani, the alleged 20th hijacker,” he said. “The investigations concluded the interrogation methods used at [Guantanamo Bay], including the special interrogation techniques used with Qhatani in 2002, were legal.”

Despite those findings, department officials adopted new and more restrictive policies, Whitman said, as well as improved oversight procedures for interrogation and detainee operations. Whitman emphasized that the department does not tolerate detainee abuse.” We have always taken allegations of abuse seriously,” he said. “We investigate all credible allegations of abuse,” including more than a dozen internal investigations and major reviews of interrogation procedures and detainee operations.

Crawford’s decision on the Qhatani case made news as two other detainees were being arraigned at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged mastermind behind the USS Cole bombing and other terrorist attacks, and Noor Uthman Muhammad, an alleged Taliban and al-Qaida leader, were scheduled to be arraigned today. The Defense Department works to ensure full and fair proceedings that give both the prosecution and defense the opportunity to present evidence, Whitman said.

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The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of six detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Four detainees were transferred to Iraq, one to Algeria and one to Afghanistan. These detainees were determined to be eligible for departure following a comprehensive series of review processes.

The transfer is a demonstration of the United States’ desire not to hold detainees any longer than necessary. It also underscores the processes put in place to assess each individual and make a determination about their detention while hostilities are ongoing – an unprecedented step in the history of warfare.

The Department of Defense has determined – through its comprehensive review processes – that approximately 60 detainees at Guantanamo are eligible for transfer or release. Departure of these detainees is subject to ongoing discussions between the United States and other nations.

Since 2002, more than 525 detainees have departed Guantanamo for other countries including Albania, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, France, Great Britain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom and Yemen.

There are approximately 245 detainees currently at Guantanamo.

JOS Ready

Chairman Says He’s Ready to Execute New President’s Military Decisions
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2009 – Whatever decisions President-elect Barack Obama makes regarding Iraq and Afghanistan, the military is prepared to carry them out, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in an interview last night on the CBS TV show “60 Minutes.”

“When President-elect Obama gets in and says, ‘Here’s the decision,’ the United States military, led by me, is going to march off and execute that decision,” Navy Adm. Mike Mullen told correspondent David Martin.

Should that decision be to withdraw troops from Iraq, as Obama stated he would in campaign addresses, it’s up to Mullen to tell the new president what it will take. Before Christmas, the chairman visited the front lines in Iraq to determine for himself what it will take to get 140,000 troops out of the country gracefully.

A withdrawal would include tons of equipment and command centers built up over nearly six years of war, and all of it has to be transported back to the United States without triggering the collapse of Iraq’s government, the chairman noted.

“I don’t think it’s ‘Mission Impossible,'” Mullen said, noting that the president-elect has said consistently that he wants to withdraw troops responsibly.

“Certainly, a responsible withdrawal … is, I think, a very, very possible outcome here, given what I’ve seen transpire over the last couple of years and literally what I saw walking the streets of Samarra,” the chairman said.

Samarra is home to the al-Askari Mosque, a Shiia Muslim shrine also known as “the Golden Mosque.” The February 2006 bombing of the mosque sparked sectarian violence that nearly tore Iraq apart. The structure is now being rebuilt.

Mullen also made his way to Afghanistan during his pre-holiday trip, and he said he stands by his earlier assessment that “we are not winning” the war there.

“I said it because I believed it, and I still believe it,” he said. “I think the level of violence in 2008 surprised us all. The sophistication of the tactics of the insurgency surprised us all.”

A possible answer to the upswing in violence in Afghanistan includes more troops on the ground, he said. “The exact number isn’t known,” he acknowledged. “I talked … about a range between 20,000 and 30,000.”

That would nearly double the number of troops fighting the insurgency in Afghanistan. But even increased troop numbers won’t do any good unless the insurgent safe haven in Pakistan is mitigated, the admiral said. Pakistan shares a border with Afghanistan, and Taliban extremists have been using safe havens within Pakistan to plan and train for attacks inside Afghanistan.

“That safe haven’s got to be shut down to a level where it doesn’t have the effect that it’s having now,” Mullen said. “In the long run, if that is not done, then additional troops are not going to have that big an impact.”

Mullen said he makes a point of meeting with his Pakistani counterpart whenever he’s in the area, including this past trip. This visit marked his seventh visit to the country since he took office in October 2007. It’s a critical relationship, Mullen said, adding that relations with the country are equal to, if not more important than, those with any other country right now.

The relationship between the new president and the military he’ll command also is critical, Mullen said. The chairman met with Obama in Chicago shortly after the election at the president-elect’s request.

“As commander in chief, the connection with the military is absolutely vital,” he said. “So making that connection as early as possible and as solid as possible is a huge deal.”

Mullen said he doesn’t sense any hesitancy from the military over the incoming president.

“What’s really important about us in the military is that we stay neutral and remain apolitical,” he said. “We work for whoever the president is. All of us in the military will do that faithfully to support President [George W.] Bush until the 20th of January, and we’ll do the same thing for President-elect Obama once he gets into the position.”

Weapons seized

Combined Iraqi, Coalition Forces Seize Weapons in Baghdad
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2009 – Iraqi police, Iraqi army and Multinational Division Baghdad Soldiers seized multiple weapons and munitions caches in Baghdad Jan. 10, officials in Iraq reported.

– Iraqi Army soldiers serving with 1st Battalion, 25th Brigade, 17th Iraq Army Division discovered a weapons cache south of Baghdad yesterday. It consisted of SA-7 missiles and SA-7 thermal batteries and was turned over to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armor Division, to be destroyed.

– Sons of Iraq members discovered a 60 mm mortar tube and a smoke grenade about 20 minutes later in Dhamiyah.

– Northwest of Bagdad, Iraqi Army soldiers serving with 4th Battalion, 36th Brigade, 9th Iraq Army Division, seized 57 mm projectiles northwest of Baghdad. The munitions were turned in to 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, for disposal.

– In Karadah, soldiers of Company B, 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, serving with 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, found rocket rails and a rocket.

– While serving an arrest warrant in Shulla, Iraqi Army soldiers serving with 2nd Battalion, 22nd Brigade, 6th Iraq Army Division, along with soldiers of Company B, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, confiscated another cache. It included an AK-47 rifle, a 100-round drum of AK-47 ammunition, magazines, a rifle butt-stock, 7.62 mm sniper rounds, pistol rounds, pistol holsters, electric breakers, a bag of wires and compact discs.

– In the Saydiyah community, soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 24th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, and national police from the 5th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division, partnered with Company B, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, confiscated AK-47 assault rifles from three different locations while conducting a combined clearance operation.

In Jan. 9, operations in Iraq:

– Soldiers from Troop A, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad, reported the Sons of Iraq discovered a 122 mm rocket and makeshift rail system. The discovery occurred after members noticed suspicious activity in the Ghartan community. An explosives disposal unit properly disposed of the rocket.

– In the Bayaa community, soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad, partnered with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division, discovered an AK-47 assault rifle, an AK-47 magazine and pistols.

– Soldiers from Company D, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad, partnered with the 1st Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division, discovered a 225-pound bomb near a road in the Karb De Gla community. An explosives ordnance disposal unit destroyed the bomb on site.

– In the Shurta community, soldiers from Company D, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad, partnered with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division, discovered a homemade bomb made of plastic explosives. An Iraqi explosives disposal unit properly disposed of the bomb.

Weapons Captured

Combined Forces Capture Criminal Suspects, Find Weapons
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2009 – Iraqi and U.S. soldiers and Iraqi National Police detained suspected criminals and seized weapons in operations in Baghdad yesterday and Jan. 10, military officials reported.

In operations yesterday:

— In the city’s Rashid district, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers arrested a suspected insurgent with a fake identification card, bomb-making materials and CDs that allegedly contained insurgent plans.

— Iraqi and U.S. soldiers served a warrant for the arrest of a suspected weapons trafficker with alleged ties to criminal organizations in Rashid district’s Hadar community.

— In Rashid district’s Saydiyah community, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers served warrants for the arrest of two Iraqis suspected of serving as informants for criminal elements.

— In northwestern Baghdad, Iraqi National Police and U.S. soldiers confiscated a cache yesterday that contained 10 projectile fuses, propellant, small-arms rounds, two 130 mm high-explosive projectiles and a 122 mm high-explosive projectile. An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the cache.

— Iraqi National Police and U.S. soldiers seized an unexploded artillery round in Rashid district’s Shurta community. The patrol transported the round to a nearby national police headquarters for disposal by an EOD team.

In Jan. 10 operations:

— In Rashid district’s Saha neighborhood, a tip from a local civilian led Iraqi National Police and U.S. soldiers to a suspected criminal wanted for acts of violence, murder, extortion and kidnapping in connection with known terrorist groups operating in Baghdad.

— In Rashid district, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers confiscated three AK-47 assault rifles from three different houses and moved the weapons to their headquarters.

Women In The Military Part Four

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