Clipmarks | jklugman's 'bush administration' clips

Mystery to Ponder

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:07:25 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks:

John McCain’s top campaign officials on national security issues, Randy Scheunemann, actually worked as a lobbyist for the Georgian government so that’s his excuse for not thinking this through more thoroughly. But how about everyone else?

Clip Source: yglesias.thinkprogress.org

So if I’m in the Georgian government and I see that by far the largest and most powerful NATO country wants us to be a member — wants to extend an Article V security guarantee to us

then maybe I reason that if our ongoing disputes with Russia over Abkhazia or South Ossetia heat up, that the U.S. will be willing to intervene. After all, if the U.S. isn’t willing to intervene on our behalf in case of a heated up conflict with Russia, then why is the U.S. eager to support our bid for NATO membership?

Now of course it turns out that the U.S. — quite properly — has no particular desire to intervene on Georgia’s behalf in their quest to regain control over their breakaway provinces. But given that we don’t want to back Georgia in these situations, then why were we so eager to support Georgia’s bid for NATO membership?

Tags: matt yglesias, georgia, bush administration, nato, south ossetia, russia, incompetence, randy scheunemann, john mccain,

Bush Admin may snuff General's report on Israel misconduct

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:08:22 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Top US official there issues report critical of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Will Bush "listen to the General on the ground" or quietly gag the best report they've got?

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

US Considers Quashing Report Critical of Israel

In other news, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports the Bush administration is debating whether to silence a forthcoming high-level report critical of Israel’s conduct in the Occupied Territories. The report is written by the top US official there, retired general James Jones. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Jones has written a “scathing” report criticizing both the Israeli government and the White House. Israeli officials who met with Jones said they expect the report to be “very harsh, and make Israel look very bad.” Jones is said to be particularly critical of Israel’s claim to have security interests to justify its large settlement blocs on Palestinian land. Top administration officials are said to be so upset by the report they are debating blocking its release.

Tags: israel, palestine

CIA to Bush in 2002: 1/3 of Gitmos imprisoned by mistake

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:52:51 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: CIA analyst concluded many were bystanders "swept up in dragnets or turned over to the US military by bounty hunters"

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

Report: In 2002 CIA Warned 1/3 of Gitmo Prisoners Were Innocent

Jane Mayer also reveals that the Bush administration ignored warnings from the CIA six years ago that up to a third of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay may have been imprisoned by mistake. In 2002, a CIA analyst concluded that many of the prisoners were essentially bystanders who had been swept up in dragnets or turned over to the US military by bounty hunters. Mayer also reveals that the CIA is investigating whether its agents kidnapped at least six innocent men and held them in secret prisons as part of the agency’s extraordinary rendition program. Only one of the cases—that of Khalid El-Masri—has ever come to light.

Tags: gitmo, war on terror, bush

A life is worth less now, EPA says (Bush's EPA denies cooking books)

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:31:32 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: The lower the value, the less the govt has to do for you. I am appalled that they are denying cooking books to people. How are they to cope with the impending food shortage.

Clip Source: www.democraticunderground.com

The "value of a statistical life" is $6.9 million in today's dollars, the Environmental Protection Agency reckoned in May -- a drop of nearly $1 million from just five years ago.

When drawing up regulations, government agencies put a value on human life and then weigh the costs vs. the lifesaving benefits of a proposed rule.

The less a life is worth to the government, the less the need for a regulation, such as tighter restrictions on pollution.

Some environmentalists accuse the Bush administration of changing the value to avoid tougher rules -- a charge the EPA denies.

"It appears that they're cooking the books in regards to the value of life," said S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies.

Tags: cooking, books, contain, recipees

Govt blocks payment of Gitmo defense attorneys

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:12:20 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "government argues is required under U.S. law because the beneficiaries of the lawyers' services are foreign terrorists" - of course, these being "fair" trials, we wouldn't assume they were "terrorists," before their conviction, now would we? Justice means nothing in this political theater.

Clip Source: tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- The U.S. government is blocking the American Civil Liberties Union from paying attorneys representing suspected terrorists held here, insisting that the ACLU must first receive a license from the U.S. Treasury Department before making the payments.

ACLU director Anthony Romero on Tuesday accused the Bush administration of "obstruction of justice" by delaying approval of the license, which the government argues is required under U.S. law because the beneficiaries of the lawyers' services are foreign terrorists.

Tags: gitmo, news

Bush & McCain Trying to Steal Credit For Webb's GI Bill

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:44:57 GMT

clipped by: jklugman

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

Yesterday, House leaders in both parties struck a deal on a war supplemental bill that includes expanded college benefits for veterans. The GI Bill is Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) version, as well as a provision allowing troops to transfer the benefits to family members. President Bush has promised to sign the legislation.

Now, however, Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — the two most vocal opponents of Webb’s bill — are trying to take credit for it. They are claiming that they always supported the generous benefits — their main concern was just ensuring the benefits’ transferability:

Webb said that he had been considering changing his bill to include a transferability option. But instead of working with him, McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) went ahead and introduced an opposing bill. While it did have transferability, it also had less generous educational benefits.

Tags: jim webb, john mccain, bush administration, veterans, military, gi bill

DHS: Don't describe terrorists as jihadists

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:12:12 GMT

clipped by: jklugman

Clip Source: apnews.myway.com

Federal agencies, including the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Counter Terrorism Center, are telling their people not to describe Islamic extremists as "jihadists" or "mujahedeen," according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. Lingo like "Islamo-fascism" is out, too.

The reason: Such words may actually boost support for radicals among Arab and Muslim audiences by giving them a veneer of religious credibility or by causing offense to moderates.

U.S. officials may be "unintentionally portraying terrorists, who lack moral and religious legitimacy, as brave fighters, legitimate soldiers or spokesmen for ordinary Muslims," says a Homeland Security report. It's entitled "Terminology to Define the Terrorists: Recommendations from American Muslims."

"We are communicating with, not confronting, our audiences. Don't insult or confuse them with pejorative terms such as 'Islamo-fascism,' which are considered offensive by many Muslims."

Tags: islam, war on terror, war-on-terror, dhs, bush administration

VA Conceals Vet Suicide Figures to Downplay Epidemic

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:37:59 GMT

clipped by: AcesLucky
clipper's remarks: What do the constant lies from this administration tell you?

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

VA Conceals Vet Suicide Figures From CBS To Downplay ‘Epidemic In Suicide’»

Yesterday marked the opening day of a class action lawsuit brought by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), arguing “that failure to provide care is manifesting itself in an epidemic of suicides” among veterans. The VA denies the charges, pointing to increased resources devoted to mental health.

Today, CBS News reports that the VA apparently concealed veteran suicide statistics, and fed the news organization faulty data for a story on the issue. The VA told CBS that there were 790 attempted suicides in all of 2007. Yet shortly after, the VA’s head of Mental Health, Dr. Ira Katz, wrote in an e-mail to the VA’s top media adviser that there were “about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilities.”

Tags: war, suicide, bush, iraq

Unflattering Reagan comment about GWB--false

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:18:02 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks: File under "too good to be true"

Clip Source: www.truthorfiction.com

This is an actual quote that Reagan wrote about George "W" in his diaries, recently edited by author Doug Brinkley and published by Harper Collins

"A moment I've been dreading. George brought his n'er-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida ; the one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work."

From the REAGAN DIARIES------entry dated May 17, 1986.

This quote is not from Ronald Reagan and was not published in his diaries.

Tags: bush administration, ronald reagan, george bush, deception

Bush breaks promise to help military families

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 15:11:14 GMT

clipped by: jklugman

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

President Bush drew great applause during his State of the Union address last month when he called on Congress to allow U.S. troops to transfer their unused education benefits to family members. "Our military families serve our nation, they inspire our nation, and tonight our nation honors them," he said.

A week later, however, when Bush submitted his $3.1 trillion federal budget to Congress, he included no funding for such an initiative, which government analysts calculate could cost $1 billion to $2 billion annually.

Tags: bush administration, promises, deception, military

Bush admin. should save Libyan dissident

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:57:04 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks:

Upon his release, Eljahmi began speaking up for political reform in Libya. Within the month, Gadhafi had him back in prison, where he has been held, mostly incommunicado, since late March 2004. In all that time, there have been no more public mentions of Eljahmi's name from the White House.

Gadhafi, meanwhile, has hit the jackpot as America's prime example of a rogue regime on rehab - presumably a case study for the likes of Iran and North Korea of how good life can get for tyrants if only they will forego an interest in nukes. Astride the oil wells of Libya, Gadhafi has enjoyed a parade of high-level visitors, including United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and he has been welcomed in Paris. This year, with no protest from the United States, Libya gained one of the 10 rotating seats on the U.N. Security Council. Last month, Rice treated the Libyan foreign minister to a personal tour of the White House.

Clip Source: www.philly.com

But somewhere in the prison system of Moammar Gadhafi, held in solitary confinement for almost four solid years now, Libya's leading democratic dissident is reportedly dying - 66 years old, too weak to speak, his skin discolored, his legs swollen.

But, increasingly, polite diplomacy of exactly the sort Bush decried has been creeping back into America's dealings with tyrants. The template has been Libya. What began in 2003 as America's diplomatic triumph of persuading Gadhafi to peacefully give up his nuclear bomb program has morphed into a policy in which the welcome mat just keeps unrolling for Gadhafi.

When the Bush administration reached its deal with Gadhafi in late 2003, Eljahmi had already spent more than a year as a political prisoner in Libya. In early 2004, at the request of Sen. Joe Biden, then visiting Tripoli, Gadhafi in an apparent show of good faith released Eljahmi. Bush praised this move, mentioning Eljahmi by name, and saying, "We stand with courageous reformers."

Tags: libya, fathi eljahmi, bush administration, hypocrisy

General: Won't Say If Iranian Waterboarding of Americans Would Be Torture

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:59:54 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks: Click to source to see video.

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on “The Legal Rights of Guantanamo Detainees” this morning, Brigadier General Thomas W. Hartmann, the legal adviser at Guantanamo Bay, repeatedly refused to call the hypothetical waterboarding of an American pilot by the Iranian military torture. “I’m not equipped to answer that question,” said Hartmann.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who asked the hypothetical, pushed Hartmann on his answer, asking him directly if it would be a “violation of the Geneva Convention”:

GRAHAM: You mean you’re not equipped to give a legal opinion as to whether or not Iranian military waterboarding, secret security agents waterboarding downed airmen is a violation of the Geneva Convention?

HARTMANN: I am not prepared to answer that question, Senator.

Tags: torture, bush administration, iran, waterboarding

US Set to Deport Gay Iranian

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:30:26 GMT

clipped by: jklugman

Clip Source: direland.typepad.com

President George W. Bush and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may not agree on much, but tragically they may find common ground about the disposability of Hassan Parhizkar’s life.

Since November 7, this mild-mannered 40-year-old gay Iranian businessman from Rockville, Maryland has been sitting in jail in the Frederick County, Maryland Detention Center, housed with common criminals, in the living hell of limbo between the freedom he has known since he came to the United States as a young man 17 years ago and the certain persecution, imprisonment, or worse that will be his fate as a gay man if he is sent back to Iran.

If you wish to protest Hassan Parhizkar 's threatened deportation from the U.S., sign the online IRQO petition on his behalf at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/irqo-hassan/ .

Tags: iran, gay-rights, immigration, bush administration

DoJ official tested waterboarding on himself

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 01:57:36 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks: Not surprisingly, Daniel Levin was forced out of the Justice Dept. when Alberto Gonzalez became AG.

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

A senior Justice Department official, charged with reworking the administration's legal position on torture in 2004 became so concerned about the controversial interrogation technique of waterboarding that he decided to experience it firsthand, sources told ABC News.

Daniel Levin, then acting assistant attorney general, went to a military base near Washington and underwent the procedure to inform his analysis of different interrogation techniques.

After the experience, Levin told White House officials that even though he knew he wouldn't die, he found the experience terrifying and thought that it clearly simulated drowning.

Levin, who refused to comment for this story, concluded waterboarding could be illegal torture unless performed in a highly limited way and with close supervision. And, sources told ABC News, he believed the Bush Administration had failed to offer clear guidelines for its use.

Tags: daniel levin, bush administration, torture, waterboarding, doj, justice-dept

A War We Just Might Win

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 13:44:50 GMT

clipped by: pkronfield
clipper's remarks: Can you believe this?? This article was published by the New York Times!! It is obvious the democrats have stuck their necks way out, predicted and often enabling our defeat. Now that we are winning, they are backed into a corner. If we do win, their lies will be exposed. Even the NYT, their propaganda arm, seems to be covering all the bases.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.

In war, sometimes it’s important to pick the right adversary, and in Iraq we seem to have done so. A major factor in the sudden change in American fortunes has been the outpouring of popular animus against Al Qaeda and other Salafist groups

Today, morale is high. The soldiers and marines told us they feel that they now have a superb commander in Gen. David Petraeus; they are confident in his strategy, they see real results,

But there is enough good happening on the battlefields of Iraq today that Congress should plan on sustaining the effort at least into 2008.

Tags: war on terror, iraq