Tapes’ Destruction Hovers Over Detainee Cases

Go to New York Times original
WASHINGTON - When officers from the Central Intelligence Agency destroyed hundreds of hours of videotapes documenting harsh interrogations in 2005, they may have believed they were freeing the government and themselves from potentially serious legal trouble.

But nearly four months after the disclosure that the tapes were destroyed, the list of legal entanglements for the C.I.A., the Defense Department and other agencies is only growing longer. In addition to criminal and Congressional investigations of the tapes’ destruction, the government is fighting off challenges in several major terrorism cases and a raft of prisoners’ legal claims that it may have destroyed evidence.

“They thought they were saving themselves from legal scrutiny, as well as possible danger from Al Qaeda if the tapes became public,” said Frederick P. Hitz, a former C.I.A. officer and the agency’s inspector general from 1990 to 1998, speaking of agency officials who favored eliminating the tapes. “Unknowingly, perhaps, they may have created even more problems for themselves.”

In a suit brought by Hani Abdullah, a Yemeni prisoner at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a federal judge has raised the possibility that, by destroying the tapes, the C.I.A. violated a court order to preserve all evidence relevant to the prisoner. In at least 12 other lawsuits, lawyers for prisoners at Guantánamo and elsewhere have filed legal challenges citing the C.I.A. tapes’ destruction, said David H. Remes, a Washington lawyer representing 16 prisoners.

“This is like any other cover-up,” Mr. Remes said. “We’ve only scratched the surface.”

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NPR News: National Pentagon Radio?

Go to AfterDowningStreet.com original
While the Iraqi government continued its large-scale military assault in
Basra, the NPR reporter’s voice from Iraq was unequivocal on the morning of
March 27: "There is no doubt that this operation needed to happen."

Such flat-out statements, uttered with journalistic tones and without
attribution, are routine for the U.S. media establishment. In the "War Made
Easy" documentary film, I put it this way: "If you’re pro-war, you’re
objective. But if you’re anti-war, you’re biased. And often, a news anchor
will get no flak at all for making statements that are supportive of a war
and wouldn’t dream of making a statement that’s against a war."

So it goes at NPR News, where -- on "Morning Edition" as well as the evening
program "All Things Considered" -- the sense and sensibilities tend to be
neatly aligned with the outlooks of official Washington. The critical
aspects of reporting largely amount to complaints about policy shortcomings
that are tactical; the underlying and shared assumptions are imperial.
Washington’s prerogatives are evident when the media window on the world is
tinted red-white-and-blue.

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Net Neutrality's Quiet Crusader

Go to Washington Post original
Bearing video cameras, laptops and cellphones, a small army of young activists flooded into a recent federal meeting in protest.

Members of public-interest group Free Press weren't there to support a presidential candidate or decry global warming. The tech-savvy hundreds came to the Federal Communications Commission's hearing at Harvard Law School last month to push new rules for the Internet.

For the first time, Congress and the FCC are debating wide-reaching Web regulations and policies that would determine how much control cable and telecommunications companies would have over the Internet. The issue has given rise to a new political constituency raised on text messaging and social networking and relies on e-mail blasts and online video clips in its advocacy.

Although Free Press has generated buzz for its aggressive and sometimes controversial tactics online, its ringleader in Washington is an unlikely crusader. A soft-spoken 30-year-old PhD candidate, Ben Scott has become an operator in multibillion-dollar battles involving corporate titans, regulators and consumers debating policies over who controls the media and the Internet.

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As Uranium Firms Eye N.M., Navajos Are Wary

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AMBROSIA LAKE, N.M. -- Twenty years after uranium mining ceased in New Mexico amid plummeting prices for the ore, global warming and the soaring cost of oil are renewing interest in nuclear power -- and in the state's uranium belt.

At least five companies are seeking state permits to mine the uranium reserves, estimated at 500 million pounds or more, and Uranium Resources Inc. (URI), a Texas-based company, wants to reopen a uranium mill in Ambrosia Lake.

Industry officials say a uranium boom could mean thousands of jobs and billions in mineral royalties and taxes for the state.

But the deposits are largely in and around Navajo land, and the industry's poor record on health and safety as it extracted tons of the ore in past decades has soured many Navajos on uranium mining. In 2005, the Navajo Nation banned uranium mining and milling on its land, and thousands of tribe members are receiving or seeking federal compensation for the health effects of past uranium exposure.

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Analysis: Poll-Bush’s Job Approval at 28% - What Is in the Kool-Aid Republicans Drink?

Go to Pensito Review original
Here is more confirmation, not that any is needed, that over a quarter of Americans are dangerously delusional. A new poll from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press has George Bush’s job approval rating at 28 percent, which is remarkably — no, stupendously — high by any rational measure.

Bush has been polling around 30 percent for months. Statistically speaking, all of these Bush lovers are Republicans. Seven years on, it is still a giant mystery what these people see in him.

Good news, though. Fewer people are identifying themselves as Republicans, according to Pew.

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Obama jumps to 50-42% lead in Gallup. But here's the REAL story ...

Go to Progressive Independent original
In order to increase his 3/26/08 lead from 48-44% to 50-42% in yesterday's Gallup's 3-day tracking poll,
Obama had to win yesterday's poll by 55-36%!

How did he do it?
Obama gives good speech.
And Hillary shot herself in the foot.

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Report: Local Control Saves Forests

Go to OneWorld original
NEW YORK - There will likely be fewer wildfires and more trees for future generations if loggers abide by a set of international rules on forest management, says a new study by independent environmentalists.

In releasing the 18-page study, the New York-based Rainforest Alliance said minimal deforestation and few wildfires occurred in areas managed according to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification standards.

Focusing their research on the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala, the study’s authors said they found the tropical rainforest covered by FSC certification to be much safer than areas that were not covered by the certification.

“These findings confirm that communities will indeed manage their land responsibly rather than destroy it if it makes economic sense to do so,” said Tensie Whelan, president of the Rainforest Alliance.

“In this case,” she added, “that incentive is a market for responsibly harvested timber and non-timber forest products.”

FSC certification indicates that a forest is responsibly managed. The certification process requires third-party auditing to ensure international standards are met for the rights of indigenous groups and workers, biodiversity conservation, the protection of ecologically important areas, and a range of other environmental, social, and economic criteria.

Much like the Fair Trade logo for coffee, chocolate, and other food products, the FSC logo on wood products — from toilet tissue to lumber — indicates to consumers that their purchases support the interests of forest-dwelling communities and the environment.

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