Description:
Citizens For Legitimate Government is a multi-partisan activist group established to expose the Bush coup d'etat, and to oppose the Bush occupation in all of its manifestations.
Contents:
FARC leaders were paid millions to free hostages: Swiss radio
Leaders of the Colombian FARC rebel movement were paid millions of dollars to free Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages, Swiss radio said on Friday, quoting 'a reliable source'. The 15 hostages released on Wednesday by the Colombian army 'were in reality ransomed for a high price, and the whole operation afterwards was a set-up,' the radio's French-language channel said. Saying the United States, which had three of its citizens among those freed, was behind the deal, it put the price of the ransom at some $20 million. The radio said its source was 'close to the events, reliable and tested many times in recent years.'
Freed hostage returns to France amid claims Colombian rebels were paid a £10 million ransom
After six years of being held hostage in the Colombian jungle, the former Colombian presidential candidate and French citizen, Ingrid Betancourt, flew back to France... But her return came amid claims she was released together with three Americans after a £10million ransom was paid. Columbia had said the hostages were released after a daring raid on a rebel compound.
Muslims feel like 'Jews of Europe'
Minister's shock warning on rise of anti-Islamic prejudice. Britain's first Muslim minister has attacked the growing culture of hostility against Muslims in the United Kingdom, saying that many feel targeted like "the Jews of Europe". Shahid Malik, who was appointed as a minister in the Department for International Development (Dfid) by Gordon Brown last summer, said it has become legitimate to target Muslims in the media and society at large in a way that would be unacceptable for any other minority.
Debate Over Guantanamo's Fate Intensifies
The focus of the intensifying debate on the Guantanamo Bay military prison is what to do with about 120 prisoners, who are viewed by the Bush regime as too dangerous to release but who are unlikely to be brought before military tribunals because of a lack of evidence. Officials are considering whether to propose legislation in coming days that would establish legal procedures for such prisoners, who could be transferred to military or civilian prisons on the U.S. mainland, sources said.
Lawyers ask US judge to stop first Guantanamo trial
Attorneys for Salim Hamdan said on Thursday a federal judge in Washington should stop his Guantanamo Bay 'trial' from going forward while he challenges the military tribunal system. Hamdan's attorneys said a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month made clear the prisoners are entitled to fundamental constitutional rights.
US: Only 2 rendition flights landed on UK soil
[I call bullsh*t.] The United States has told Britain it has found no further "extraordinary rendition" flights that passed through British territory following checks of hundreds of flights, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Thursday. Human rights campaigners rejected the new assurances and accused the U.S. and Britain of a trans-Atlantic cover-up over rendition [kidnapping].
U.S. admiral: Iran likely to attack Israel
Iran is likely to launch ballistic missiles against Israel and the United States and the NATO alliance should prepare for it, was the warning issued earlier this week by Admiral James Winnefeld, commander of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean.
Iraq talks advance on deal for US troops
The US and Iraq are making progress towards forging a complex political and security agreement to allow US troops to operate legally in Iraq next year, Iraq's foreign minister said yesterday... One sticking point includes immunity for US troops, which many Iraqis would like to see lifted. Since the US-led invasion in 2003, there have been several high-profile cases of the killing, torture and abuse of Iraqis at the hands of American soldiers.
Gunmen kill 8 at Afghan checkpoint
Gunmen lobbed a grenade and sprayed a police checkpoint with gunfire in southern Afghanistan, killing eight officers, a police chief said Friday. The attack in Kandahar's Panjwayi district late Thursday also left one officer wounded and two others missing, said provincial police chief Sumanwal Matiullah.
U.S. extends Afghanistan tour of 2,200 marines
The Pentagon extended the deployment of 2,200 marines in Afghanistan by an additional 30 days Thursday, breaking early promise to send them home on time. The marines are from 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, or MEU, which is doing combat operations in the volatile southern parts of Afghanistan.
CIA given green light to bomb Osama bin Laden
LOL! Bin Laden ready to be found and killed, in time for 2008 'elections.' The CIA has been given the green light by Pakistan to attack 'Osama bin Laden' with unmanned aircraft armed with ground attack missiles if they can find the terror godfather [LOL!], it has been revealed. The US intelligence agency does not have to ask permission from the Pakistani government to attack his hideout, presumed to be in the lawless tribal areas on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.
Lieberman no help to McCain in Conn.
Sen. John McCain would do little to cut Sen. Barack Obama's commanding lead in Connecticut by adding Sen. Joseph Lieberman to his ticket, a poll indicated. Overall, Sen. Barack Obama has a 56 percent to 35 percent lead over McInsane among likely voters in the state. Only 14 percent said they would be more likely to vote for McCain with Lieberman as vice president on the GOP ticket, while 32 percent said they would be less likely. [LOL!]
New Poll Gives Obama 21-Point Lead In State
With Republican John McCain badly trailing Democrat Barack Obama in a new poll, the GOP's hopes of winning Connecticut may be sinking with a bad economy and an unpopular president [sic]. Obama is leading McCain by 56 percent to 35 percent among likely Connecticut voters in a poll Quinnipiac University released Wednesday.
Homeless die in Poland of bird-flu vaccine
Twenty-one homeless individuals in Poland have died after being given an unproven bird-flu virus vaccine, authorities have charged. Prosecutors have accused three doctors and six nurses of misleading the homeless individuals by telling them they were being given a new influenza vaccine rather than a vaccine for the H5N1 bird-flu virus, The Daily Telegraph said Thursday.
Polar bears plunge into melting Arctic
For 12 years Steven Kazlowski lived in the Arctic with a single mission: to photograph polar bears. On Friday, June 27, he spoke at the Burke Museum about The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World, an exhibition of his photographs. The exhibit displays what he calls his life's work, a visual narration of effects of global warming: melting Arctic ice and habitat destruction. "There used to be icebergs around - but now they're just gone," Kazlowski said.
* * * * *
Committee Questions State Dept. Role in Iraq Oil Deal
Bush administration officials knew that a Texas oil company with close ties to President [sic] Bush was planning to sign an oil deal with the regional Kurdistan government that ran counter to American policy and undercut Iraq's central government, a Congressional committee has concluded. The conclusions were based on e-mail messages and other documents that the committee released Wednesday... State Department officials did nothing to discourage the deal and in some cases appeared to welcome it, the documents show. The company, Hunt Oil of Dallas, signed the deal with Kurdistan's semiautonomous government last September.
Waxman: State Dept. 'misleading' on Hunt Oil deal
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) accused the State Department Wednesday of issuing "misleading" denials regarding its involvement in Hunt Oil's controversial contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, also alleged that the results of his panel's investigation raised serious questions as to the role the State Department played in the recently reported no-bid contracts between the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and prominent U.S. and multinational oil corporations.
Iraq no-bid oil deals could be in doubt -lawmakers
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani has told lawmakers that short-term technical support contracts with oil majors worth around $3 billion may not get signed, two parliamentarians said. Royal Dutch Shell; Shell in partnership with BHP Billiton; BP; Exxon Mobil and Chevron in partnership with Total are the key Western firms negotiating for the no bid contracts.
Oil rises to record above $US146 a barrel
Oil closed above $US145 a barrel for the first time as market participants shrugged off a stronger US dollar to test new highs. Light, sweet crude for August delivery settled up $US1.72, or 1.2 per cent, at $US145.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after hitting a new all-time high of $US145.85 a barrel in overnight trading. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled $US1.82 higher at $US146.08 a barrel, down from an intraday record of $US146.69 a barrel.
Exxon Mobil to book $1.6B profit from asset sale
Exxon Mobil Corp. will book a $1.6 billion gain in its third quarter from the sale of its interests in a natural-gas transport business in northern Germany, the oil giant disclosed Thursday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In a Form 8-K, Exxon Mobil said the deal closed Wednesday.
Exxon Mobil upgraded
Mission accomplished! An analyst upgraded Exxon Mobil Corp. Wednesday, saying the stock currently takes into account worry over a potential windfall profits tax and a lack of production growth, and presents an investment opportunity. Bernstein Research analyst Neil McMahon boosted his rating to "Outperform" from "Market Perform" and his price target to $106 from $103.
US using spy satellites to track Iraqi military: report
The United States is using spy satellites to monitor the movements of the Iraqi army, after US commanders were caught off guard by the army's offensive in Basra, the LA Times reported on Wednesday. The newspaper cited unnamed current and former US officials as saying that spy satellites that have monitored Iraq for two decades were being used to track the Iraqi army, even as US forces continue to advise and fight alongside it.
U.S. spies on Iraqi army, sources say
Caught off guard by recent Iraqi military operations, the United States is using spy satellites that ordinarily are trained on adversaries to monitor the movements of the American-backed Iraqi army, current and former U.S. officials say. The use of the satellites puts the United States in the unusual position of employing some of its most sophisticated espionage technology to track an allied army that American forces helped create, continue to advise, and often fight alongside.
Obama Says He May 'Refine' Iraq Stance After Trip
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he will listen to the advice of military commanders when he travels to Iraq this month and may "refine" his stance on a U.S. withdrawal based on their views. Obama, who has promised to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office, said he hasn't changed his stance regarding the war.
Top US Commander: Pentagon Doesn't Have Enough Troops for Afghanistan
Iraq War Limits U.S. Options, Says Chairman of Joint Chiefs. The nation's top military officer said yesterday that more U.S. troops are needed in Afghanistan to tamp down an increasingly violent 'insurgency,' but that the Pentagon does not have sufficient forces to send because they are committed to the war in Iraq. Violence in Afghanistan has increased markedly over recent weeks, with June the deadliest month for U.S. troops since the war began in 2001. "I don't have troops I can reach for, brigades I can reach, to send into Afghanistan until I have a reduced requirement in Iraq," Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon.
Pentagon extends tour of Marines in Afghanistan
The Pentagon has extended the tour of 2,200 Marines in Afghanistan, after insisting for months the unit would come home on time. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is doing combat operations in the volatile south, will stay an extra 30 days and come home in early November rather than October, Marine Col. David Lapan confirmed Thursday.
NATO says more helicopters and planes needed in Afghanistan
More troops are needed in Afghanistan, but, more importantly, additional helicopters and surveillance aircraft are required to enable forces already there to react more flexibly, a top NATO official said Wednesday. Speaking to journalists at the Vienna headquarters of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), NATO's Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, US General Bantz John Craddock, acknowledged that more troops were necessary.
5 Afghan soldiers killed in blast
A police chief says a roadside blast has killed five Afghan soldiers in central Afghanistan. Provincial police Chief Mustapha Khan says the blast hit an Afghan army convoy late Wednesday in Logar province. Gunfire brought down a U.S. UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in the same province on Wednesday.
Black Hawk downed in southern Afghanistan
Enemy small-arms fire brought down a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday in Kherwar District, Logar province in southern Afghanistan. According to a press release from Combined Joint Task Force 101, the pilots were able to land the aircraft and evacuate all aboard before the helicopter caught fire.
Four foreign boats seized on Iran waters
The police commander of Iran's Bushehr province says four foreign fishing boats with 17 crew onboard were seized in Persian Gulf waters. "Bushehr sea-guard patrols stopped four foreign fishing boats on the strength of border violation and illegal fishing on Iranian waters," Reza Mohmmadi-Yeganeh told reporters. The official pointed out that the boats were from Saudi Arabia and had 17 Indian nationals onboard.
U.S. admiral says Israeli strike on Iran could destabilize Mideast
An Israeli strike on Iran could destabilize the Middle East, Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news conference here on Wednesday. Speaking of a flurry of speculation that Israel is planning a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, Mullen refused to comment on what Israel might be planning over Iran's nuclear facilities. Instead, he stressed the need for greater dialogue with Iran.
MoD signs contracts for aircraft carriers
Contracts to build two new giant aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy were signed today. The contracts, worth in the region of 3bn pounds, were signed with the newly-formed UK maritime Joint Venture, BVT Surface Fleet, and the Aircraft Carrier Alliance onboard HMS Ark Royal in Portsmouth, one of the Royal Navy's existing aircraft carriers and currently the Fleet Flagship.
Bosses Delete Outspoken Army Blog
An outspoken soldier ["LT [Lieutenant] G"] who wrote one of the most brutally honest blogs ever to come out of Iraq has been forced to shut down his site [Kaboom: A Soldier's War Journal], after criticizing his superior officers one time too often.
U.S. assures UK over secret flights, doubts persist
Britain has received new U.S. assurances that the CIA did not secretly smuggle terrorist suspects through its territory, but critics said on Thursday the government had failed to ask Washington the right questions. Foreign Secretary David Miliband sought the assurances after being embarrassed in February by revelations that two U.S. planes carrying terrorism suspects on so-called rendition flights had landed and refueled in 2002 at a U.S. base on the British Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.
Panama court overturns Posada's pardon
The Panamanian Supreme Court Monday night reversed 183 criminal pardons issued by former President Mireya Moscoso -- among them accused Cuban-American anti-Castro terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, who had been accused of plotting to kill Fidel Castro in Panama. Posada -- a longtime fugitive who was on the lam dodging charges that he was behind a 1976 airline bombing -- ...is free, living in Miami. It's unclear what effect the Panamanian court's decision will have on his freedom here. Venezuela has sought extradition for him. An immigration court refused to deport him to Venezuela on the grounds that he could be tortured. [OMFG!!! Bush doesn't want to deport an actual terrorist because 'he could be tortured.' Torturing rightwing terrorists - that's a no-no. Torturing 15-year-olds in Guantanamo Bay - it's all good.]
McCain Backer's Firm Pleaded Guilty to Funding Terrorist Group In Colombia
By Nico Pitney. The co-host of a recent top-dollar fundraiser for Sen. John McCain oversaw the payment of roughly $1.7 million to a Colombian paramilitary group that is today designated a terrorist organization by the United States. Carl H. Lindner Jr., the billionaire Cincinnati businessman, was CEO of Chiquita Brands International from 1984 to 2001, and remained on the company's board of directors until May 2002. Beginning under his tenure, Chiquita executives paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (known by the Spanish acronym AUC), which is described by George Washington University's National Security Archive as an "illegal right-wing anti-guerrilla group tied to many of the country's most notorious civilian massacres."
Staged Albany Terrorism Plot Convictions Upheld
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously upheld the convictions of two Muslim immigrants who were found guilty in October 2006 following trial of aiding a fictitious terrorism plot that was part of an FBI sting operation. Imam Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain, the imam and pizzeria owner, are each serving 15 years in a federal prison for money laundering, conspiracy and attempting to provide material support and resources to a terrorist organization. The three judge panel affirmed the convictions and said that the men had received a fair trial and turned back claims of entrapment. Aref's attorney Terence Kindlon of Albany said that he would file a motion to reargue the case before the federal appeals court and if that fails, would proceed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Alleged L.A. airport bomb plotter freed in U.K.
Bailed terror suspect accused of 'direct' links with Osama bin Laden. A major terrorist suspect alleged to have strong ties to 'Osama bin Laden' has been set free on bail after spending more than seven years in jail, British officials said Thursday. British and U.S. authorities alleged the suspect had been tied to an unsuccessful plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport and other major targets eyed by Islamic extremists.
Top airport security expert in Israel to inspect LAX anti-terror measures
Israel's top airport security official will make periodic reviews of anti-terrorist measures at Los Angeles International Airport under an agreement signed Friday during a visit here by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The pact, formalizing an arrangement begun nearly two years ago, will send the Israeli official, Nahum Liss, and two colleagues to Los Angeles for regular inspections as $1,000-per-day consultants.
Judge Rejects Bush's View on Wiretaps
A federal judge in California said Wednesday that the wiretapping law established by Congress was the "exclusive" means for the president to eavesdrop on Americans, and he rejected the government's claim that the president's constitutional authority as commander in chief trumped that law. The judge, Vaughn R. Walker, the chief judge for the Northern District of California, made his findings in a ruling on a lawsuit brought by an Oregon charity. The Justice Department has tried for more than two years to kill the lawsuit, saying any surveillance of the charity or other entities was a "state secret" and citing the president's constitutional power as commander in chief to order wiretaps without a warrant from a court under the agency's program.
Home
|
