Docudharma Times Monday Oct. 15

This is an Open Thread

News Happening Now

Pentagon, FBI misusing secret info requests: ACLU
  WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Pentagon has misled Congress and the US public by conniving with the FBI to obtain hundreds of financial, telephone and Internet records without court approval, civil-rights campaigners said Sunday.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which has successfully challenged key planks of US anti-terrorism legislation, said it had uncovered 455 “National Security Letters” (NSLs) issued at the behest of the Department of Defense.

Before the ACLU’s challenge, the USA Patriot Act had allowed the FBI to issue gag orders to prevent those receiving NSLs — usually Internet service providers, banks and libraries — from disclosing anything about the request.

USA

Al-Qaeda In Iraq Reported Crippled

Many Officials, However, Warn Of Its Resilience

By Thomas E. Ricks and Karen DeYoung

Washington Post Staff Writers

Monday, October 15, 2007; Page A01

The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq.

But as the White House and its military commanders plan the next phase of the war, other officials have cautioned against taking what they see as a premature step that could create strategic and political difficulties for the United States. Such a declaration could fuel criticism that the Iraq conflict has become a civil war in which U.S. combat forces should not be involved. At the same time, the intelligence community, and some in the military itself, worry about underestimating an enemy that has shown great resilience in the past.

America’s own unlawful combatants?

By Julian E. Barnes, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

October 15, 2007

WASHINGTON — As the Bush administration deals with the fallout from the recent killings of civilians by private security firms in Iraq, some officials are asking whether the contractors could be considered unlawful combatants under international agreements.

The question is an outgrowth of federal reviews of the shootings, in part because the U.S. officials want to determine whether the administration could be accused of treaty violations that could fuel an international outcry.

But the issue also holds practical and political implications for the administration’s war effort and the image of the U.S. abroad.

If U.S. officials conclude that the use of guards is a potential violation, they may have to limit guards’ tasks in war zones, which could leave more work for the already overstretched military.

Unresolved questions are likely to touch off new criticism of Bush’s conduct of the unpopular Iraq war, especially given the broad definition of unlawful combatants the president has used in justifying his detention policies at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Turkish General Sees U.S. Ties at Risk

Commander Warns Against Passage of Genocide Resolution

By Molly Moore

Washington Post Foreign Service

Monday, October 15, 2007; Page A10

ISTANBUL, Oct. 14 — The commander of Turkey’s armed forces warned that U.S.-Turkish military relations will be irreparably damaged if the U.S. House of Representatives approves a resolution accusing his country of genocide in the mass killings of Armenians nearly a century ago, according to an interview published Sunday.

“If this resolution passed in the committee passes the House as well, our military ties with the U.S. will never be the same again,” Gen. Yasar Buyukanit told the daily newspaper Milliyet in the interview.

Republicans fire back at Sanchez for Iraq war criticism

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republicans reacted with surprise and recrimination Sunday to blistering criticism of the Iraq war from former coalition commander retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez.

On Friday, Sanchez, who was coalition commander in 2003 and 2004, called the Iraq war “a nightmare with no end in sight.” He said the Bush administration, the State Department and Congress all share blame.

Speaking with military reporters in Virginia, Sanchez also said such dereliction of duty by a military officer would mean immediate dismissal or court martial, but the politicians have not been held accountable.

Europe

Russia divulges Putin assassination plot

By LYNN BERRY, Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin has been told about a plot to assassinate him during a visit to Iran this week, a Kremlin spokeswoman said Sunday.

The spokeswoman, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, refused further comment.

Interfax news agency, citing a source in Russia’s special services, said suicide terrorists had been trained to carry out the assassination.

Airbus delivers first A380 superjumbo

TOULOUSE, France (AFP) – Airbus on Monday delivered the first of its A380s, the world’s biggest passenger jet, to Singapore Airlines, 18 months behind schedule but with both sides hailing the major advance in air travel.

The 73-metre-long (239-feet) superjumbo was handed over in a ceremony at the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse in southern France.

Thomas Enders, chief executive of Airbus, said: “We are obviously extremely proud to deliver the first A380 to Singapore Airlines, but this is the latest milestone in a long journey.”

Asia

U.S. denies Quran desecration allegation

By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago

KABUL, Afghanistan – The U.S. military said Monday it had looked into allegations that soldiers had desecrated the Quran during a raid on an Afghan home and found no evidence that soldiers had defaced the Muslim holy book.

The allegations sparked an outcry among villagers in the eastern province of Kunar, who met with the governor, provincial leaders and U.S. military commanders on Sunday over the issue.

Kunar deputy provincial governor Noor Mohammad Khan said American soldiers raided the home of Mullah Zarbaz on Saturday morning, arresting him and three others.

Taliban sets out demands to Afghan president

Declan Walsh in Islamabad, Sami Yousafzai in Peshawar

Monday October 15, 2007

The Guardian

Senior Taliban commanders in Helmand province have sent a list of demands to the Karzai government as part of tentative back-channel talks to bring a peaceful end to the conflict.

The militant leaders – who include a key aide to Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar – want control of 10 southern provinces, a timetable for withdrawal of foreign troops, and the release of all Taliban prisoners within six months. The demands were passed through a former Taliban foreign minister, Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, and the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef.

The demands are unlikely to be taken seriously.

New Zealand activists held in ‘anti-terrorism’ raids

WELLINGTON (AFP) – New Zealand police arrested 17 people in a series of anti-terrorist raids across the North Island Monday, with Maori and environmental activists the main target, media reports said.

In the first operation under New Zealand’s Terrorism Suppression Act, police said they had information that a number of people had taken part in military-style training camps involving the use of firearms and other weapons.

“It was military-style activities they were training for,” Police Commissioner Howard Broad told a media conference.

Africa

South African editor fears arrest for minister claims

David Beresford

Monday October 15, 2007

The Guardian

The Johannesburg Sunday Times said yesterday that it expected its editor and a journalist on its staff to be arrested this week after reporting allegations that the country’s health minister was a drunk and a thief.

The newspaper said its editor, Mondli Makhanya, and reporter, Jocelyn Maker, would be “hauled off to Cape Town in connection with charges of theft and for contravention of Section 17 of the National Health Act”.

The statute makes it an offence to gain access to a person’s confidential medical records.

Congo’s pygmies take on World Bank to save rainforest from loggers

By Jonathan Brown

Published: 15 October 2007

The rumble of giant machinery heralds the arrival of loggers deep in the heart of the Congo rainforest. For the pygmy tribes which have inhabited this thick jungle for millennia, the sound of the advancing column is the sound of encroaching hunger and the loss of a way of life stretching back hundreds of generations.

“They bring with them huge machines which go deep into the forest and make noise which frightens all the game animals away,” says Adrian Sinafasi, the man seeking to alert the outside world to the plight of central Africa’s pygmies. “When the loggers arrive, they bring with them many workers who are needed to fell the trees. They also need to eat and start hunting but, rather than use traditional weapons in the right season, they hunt with firearms and don’t care about seasons or how much food they take.”