Rev J Kush's blog: "News, Politics and Religion"

'I have no enemy but you. You are the occupier.' Sadr says US will always be enemy 12 Apr 2008 Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has said the US will always be his enemy "till the last drop of blood". Mr Sadr was responding to a statement by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who said that all those within the political process were not enemies. "I have no enemy but you. You are the occupier," Mr Sadr's statement said.

Chevron, Total seek oil deal in Iraq 12 Apr 2008 Oil giants Chevron Corp. and Total have confirmed that they are in discussions with the Iraqi Oil Ministry to increase production in an important oil field in southern Iraq. The discussions are aimed at finalizing a two-year deal, or technical support agreement, to boost production at the West Qurna Stage 1 oil field near Iraq's second-largest city of Basra.

Iraq sacks 1,300 troops over Shiite crackdown --Hundreds of Iraqi troops and police reported to have either deserted or joined the other side during a government offensive [for US oil] in Basra 13 Apr 2008 Iraq has dismissed 1,300 policemen and soldiers for failing to perform their duties during a crackdown on Shiite militiamen in the south of the country, an official said on Sunday. Hundreds of Iraqi troops and police are reported to have either deserted or joined the other side during a government offensive against Shiite militias in Basra that began March 25.

Iraq Dismisses 1,300 After Basra Offensive 14 Apr 2008 The Iraqi government announced Sunday that it had dismissed 1,300 soldiers and policemen for refusing to fight or performing badly during last month's offensive against Shiite militias in the southern city of Basra.

Deadliest week for U.S. troops this year 13 Apr 2008 Twenty U.S. soldiers have died across Iraq since last Sunday, the deadliest week for U.S. troops this year and one of the bloodiest since September 2007. Fighting between Shi'ite militiamen and security forces in Sadr City eased on Sunday, though, after a week of intense clashes, with hospitals in the Baghdad city saying they had received no dead or wounded overnight.

US strike kills own soldiers in Baghdad 13 Apr 2008 The US military says an Apache helicopter has accidentally destroyed one of its own armoured vehicles in eastern Baghdad. Iraqi police confirm that a Humvee was set ablaze in the Mashtal area of eastern Baghdad. They say two US soldiers and three Iraqi civilians were wounded and that American troops immediately blocked off the neighbourhood.

'Look, this is deliberate. The U.S. is trying to keep us unarmed so that we'll always be in need of the Americans.' Secret Iraqi Deal Shows Problems in Arms Orders 13 Apr 2008 Five years after the American invasion, the 170,000-strong Iraqi military remains under-equipped, spottily supplied and largely reliant on the United States for such basics as communications equipment, weapons and ammunition, raising fresh questions about the Iraqi military's ability to stand on its own. Closer monitoring of weapons deals has been a delicate subject since a series of tainted arms purchases totaling $1.3 billion in Iraqi government funds in 2004 and 2005. Iraqi officials paid for second-rate or nonexistent weapons and equipment in cash, using middlemen to ferry duffle bags stuffed with bricks of $100 bills.

US State Department Peyman Online covert Iran project funding By Submitter 13 Apr 2008 This file has not been released publicly. This file [25 April 2007] provides budgetary information regarding a specific covert new media initiative funded by the US State Department that targets Iran. This document was leaked because the man who is in charge of the initiative has strong ties to Israeli Intelligence and subcontracts portions of the work to Israeli intel fronts such as MEMRI using US tax dollars. It is currently not known if this project is still being funded by the US State Department.

Hadley: Iran a threat to US in Iraq 14 Apr 2008 US National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley says troops still have 'much work to do in stemming Iranian support for militias' in Iraq. Hadley said al-Qaeda's influence was diminishing in Iraq but went on to blame Iran for the violence in the southern part of Iraq.

Blast kills 12, wounds 200 in Shiraz 14 Apr 2008 An explosion at a religious center in the southwestern city of Shiraz, the capital of Fars Province, killed 12 people and injured 200 on Saturday. The deadly blast took place at around 9:15 p.m. on Saturday in a religious center (Hosseinieh) where people had gathered to listen to a sermon.

Iran-UN nuclear talks postponed 13 Apr 2008 A meeting between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator and the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog agency has been postponed, Iranian media have said. The official news agency Irna gave no reason for the postponement of the meeting between Gholamreza Aghazadeh and the UN's Mohamed ElBaradei.

Iran holding security talks in Ankara 14 Apr 2008 Iran is to attend a five-day high-security commission meeting with Turkish officials which will kick off in Ankara on Monday. Deputy Interior Minister Ali Akbar Mohtaj heads the Iranian delegation in the 12th round of the meetings, Mehr news agency reported Sunday. The talks will be held from April 14 to April 18.

US Spends $160M for Closed-Door Trials In Afghanistan 13 Apr 2008 Afghan detainees held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are being transferred home to face closed-door trials in which they are often denied access to defense attorneys and the U.S. evidence being used against them, according to Afghan officials, lawyers and international rights groups. Since October 2006, the United States has transferred approximately 50 prisoners out of Guantanamo to the custody of the Afghan government. Once home, many of the Afghans have been left in a legal limbo not unlike the one they confronted while in U.S. custody. Since the invasion, the United States has pledged at least $160 million for judicial reform kangaroo courts in Afghanistan, according to the State Department.

War trials boycotted --More Guantanamo prisoners expected to refuse to participate 12 Apr 2008 The U.S. war crimes 'trials' at Guantanamo Bay are running into a new obstacle: boycotts by the defendants. Three men accused of being al-Qaida [al-CIAduh] operatives have now chosen to boycott their upcoming trials. More defendants are expected to do the same as the military attempts to prosecute dozens of prisoners at the isolated, high-security U.S. base overlooking the Caribbean.

Bush Admits to Knowledge of Torture Authorization by Top Advisers --ACLU Calls for Independent Counsel to Investigate Administration's Approval of Torture and Abuse 12 Apr 2008 In a stunning admission to ABC news Friday night, President [sic] Bush declared that he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details of the CIA's use of torture. Bush reportedly told ABC, "I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved." Bush also defended the use of waterboarding... The American Civil Liberties Union is calling on Congress to demand an independent prosecutor to investigate possible violations by the Bush administration of laws including the War Crimes Act, the federal Anti-Torture Act, and federal assault laws.

Terror chiefs recruit more Scots spies 13 Apr 2008 MI5 IS to create a team of "Scottish spooks" in a bid to prevent outrages like the Glasgow Airport attack and reduce the radicalisation [?] of young Muslims north of the border. The existing Scottish office of MI5 is to be increased from a handful of officers to as many as a dozen, all of them recruited in Scotland, in the hope they can blend in to communities and spot potential terrorists at an earlier stage.

Boy, 17, held for terroristic threats (Sea Bright, 12 Apr 2008 Police took a 17-year-old Sea Bright boy into custody after they say he pointed a fake gun at two teenagers, then fired the imitation weapon. Detective John Arias and Patrolman Chris Fisler took the teen into custody Thursday night and charged him with possession of an imitation firearm and terrorist threats.

Brown in record poll slide 13 Apr 2008 Gordon Brown's personal popularity ratings have plunged further and faster than any other British prime minister since polling began in the 1930s, a poll revealed on Sunday. Brown is facing a rough ride as the global lending squeeze tightens its grip on the economy and the housing market could head into a sharp downturn.

It's Obama, stupid: Carter and Gore to end Clinton bid 13 Apr 2008 Democratic grandees Jimmy Carter and Al Gore are being lined-up to deliver the coup de grâce to Hillary Clinton and end her campaign to become president. Former president Carter and former president Gore have already held high-level discussions about delivering the message that she must stand down for the good of the Democrats. "They're in discussions," a source close to Carter told Scotland on Sunday. "Carter has been talking to Gore. They will act, possibly together, or in sequence." An appeal by both men for Democrats to unite behind Clinton's rival, Barack Obama, would have a powerful effect, and insiders say it is a question of when, rather than if, they act.

Clinton Says Obama's 'Bitter' Remark Could Cost Party General Election 13 Apr 2008 Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., took the opportunity to capitalize on her rival's comments that people in small towns are "bitter" for the third day in a row. Speaking to reporters outside some homes in Scranton, Pennsylvania, she was greeted by many supporters holding signs and offering encouragement. Clinton made the argument that Sen. Barack Obama's comments could cost the party the election and that the party has been seen as out of touch by male candidates in the past. Clinton also criticized Obama for not "owning up to his remarks."

Bill Clinton says people not 'bitter' but want better economy 13 Apr 2008 Bill Clinton took a swipe Sunday at remarks about small-town voters made by his wife's rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, saying people in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, are not bitter but do yearn for better economic times.

Clinton tours working-class area and blasts Obama 13 Apr 2008 Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton toured a working-class neighborhood on Sunday to stress her blue-collar background and kept up the attack on rival Barack Obama's remarks about small-town voters. With the next major Democratic vote nine days away in Pennsylvania, Clinton walked through a section of Scranton, where she spent some time as a child and near where her father is buried, to show that she connected with the middle-class voter.

Furor continues over Obama 'small town' quotes --Clinton calls statements 'demeaning' 13 Apr 2008 Sen. Barack Obama yesterday worked to extinguish -- and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to fan -- a [GOP-engendered] prairie fire of controversy over the Illinois senator's musings on small towns, bitterness, religion and guns. Criticisms of Mr. Obama's remarks at a California fund-raiser erupted as a distracting and potentially enduring wound for his campaign.

Obama's Former Pastor Criticizes Media at Funeral --Wright refers to Fox News as "Fix News" 13 Apr 2008 The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor of Sen. Barack Obama, fired back at the news media during a Chicago funeral service on Saturday. Wright didn't mention the Democratic presidential hopeful by name but did call out some of his critics, including Fox News [Reichwing] commentators Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity, at times drawing standing ovations from the 2,500 mourners in attendance. Mumps found to have made alarming comeback in U.S.

Bird flu virus may have mutated 13 Apr 2008 The highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus has passed from human-to-human in China, raising fears that the virus may have started to mutate. In a highly rare case, genetic tests on a 52-year-old father diagnosed with bird flu in the Jiangsu province of China has shown that he was infected by H5N1 from his 24-year-old dying son.

Thanks to the pharma-terrorists: Mumps found to have made alarming comeback in U.S. 10 Apr 2008 Mumps made an alarming comeback in the United States in 2006 and may take years to completely eradicate, federal health experts reported on Wednesday. The outbreak of the viral disease came despite with the widespread use of a second dose of a mumps vaccine, produced by Merck, beginning in 1990.

Salmonella In Your Cereal? Cereal Link to Food Poisoning Is Probed 12 Apr 2008 At least 23 people in 14 states have been sickened by the same strain of salmonella found in two breakfast cereals [unsweetened Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat] recalled by Malt-O-Meal, the federal Food and Drug Administration said Saturday.

World Bank echoes food cost alarm 13 Apr 2008 The rapid rise in food prices could push 100m people in poor countries deeper into poverty, the head of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, has said. His warning follows that from the leader of the International Monetary Fund, who said hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of starvation.

CLG needs your support.
http://www.legitgov.org/
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:] Administration Set to Use New Spy Program in U.S. --DHS has not stated what federal laws govern new National Applications Office, whose funding and size are classified. 12 Apr 2008 The Bush regime said yesterday that it plans to start using the nation's most advanced spy technology for domestic purposes soon, rebuffing challenges by House Democrats over the idea's legal authority. The administration in May 2007 gave DHS authority to coordinate requests for satellite imagery, radar, electronic-signal information, chemical detection and other monitoring capabilities that have been used for decades within U.S. borders for mapping and disaster response. But Congress delayed launch of the new office last October. Critics cited its potential to expand the role of military assets in domestic law enforcement, to turn new or as-yet-undeveloped technologies against Americans without adequate public debate, and to divert the existing civilian and scientific focus of some satellite work to security uses.

Iran Top Threat to Iraq, U.S. Says --Focus on 'Al-Qaeda' Now Diminishing 12 Apr 2008 Last week's violence in Basra and Baghdad has convinced the Bush regime that actions by Iran, and not al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh], are the primary threat inside Iraq, and has sparked a broad reassessment of policy in the region, according to senior U.S. officials. The intensified focus on Iran coincides with diminished emphasis on al-Qaeda in Iraq as the leading justification for an ongoing U.S. military presence in Iraq.

Accidents at Disease Lab Acknowledged --Lab uses private security company 11 Apr 2008 The only U.S. facility allowed to research the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease experienced several accidents with the feared virus, the Bush administration acknowledged Friday. A 1978 release of the virus into cattle holding pens on Plum Island, N.Y.; the Homeland Security Department told a House committee there were other accidents inside the government's laboratory. Two Democratic lawmakers from New York, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rep. Timothy Bishop, expressed concerns in letters they wrote last year about the Homeland Security Department's ability to protect the existing lab at Plum Island, which relies for security on a private security company and local police rather than federal agents.

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/ 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.