News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Govt

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government

US Teenager on 'No-Fly' List Grilled by F.B.I. After Invoking Right to Counsel 13 Jan 2011 A US teenager detained in Kuwait said he underwent a heated interrogation by F.B.I. agents for several hours on Wednesday, in a case that has renewed debate over the Obama administration’s expansion of the no-fly list after the attempted bombing of a passenger plane bound for Detroit in 2009. The interrogation grew steadily more hostile when the agents pressed the teenager, Gulet Mohamed, on his travels to Yemen and Somalia and began calling him an "embarrassment to his country," he said. Mr. Mohamed, whom American officials said is on a no-fly list, said the F.B.I. agents interrogated him even after he refused to answer their questions without a lawyer, and after they gave him a paper listing his Miranda rights.

European politicos protest DOJ WikiLeaks-Twitter probe 11 Jan 2011 An influential group of European politicians is protesting the U.S. government's attempt to pry WikiLeaks-related information out of Twitter, saying that EU privacy rules may have been violated. The parliamentary maneuver expected tomorrow comes as London-based lawyers for WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange warned that their client could face illegal rendition to the United States, execution, or indefinite detention "at Guantanamo Bay or elsewhere," and a U.K. judge set a two-day extradition hearing to start on February.

WikiLeaks gives 15K for accused leaker defense-group 13 Jan 2011 WikiLeaks has contributed $15,100 to help defend a junior U.S. soldier accused of leaking to it hundreds of thousands of sensitive diplomatic cables and other secret documents, a support group said on Thursday. The website's contribution would help pay lawyers representing U.S. Army Specialist Bradley Manning, a former intelligence analyst suspected of obtaining the classified video of a 2007 helicopter attack that killed a dozen people in Baghdad, including two Reuters employees, and downloading more than 250,000 U.S. State Department documents.

Wikileaks volunteer detained and searched (again) by US agents --'I requested access my lawyer and was again denied. They stated I was I wasn't under arrest and so I was not able to contact my lawyer.' 12 Jan 2011 Jacob Appelbaum, a security researcher, Tor developer, and volunteer with Wikileaks, reported today on his Twitter feed that he was detained, searched, and questioned by the US Customs and Border Patrol agents at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on January 10, upon re-entering the US after a vacation in Iceland. He experienced a similar incident last year at Newark airport.

Senators say US military cyber ops not disclosed --Cyber experts suggest possible secret US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and possibly Yemen or Somalia 12 Jan 2011 The Pentagon failed to disclose clandestine cyber activities in a classified report on secret military actions that goes to Congress, according to a Senate document that provides a public peek at oversight concerns surrounding the government's computer war capabilities. The U.S. military's use of offensive cyber warfare has only rarely been disclosed, such as the electronic jamming of Iraqi military and communications networks just before the [illegal] strike against Saddam Hussein's army in 2003.

Mullen says violence in Afghanistan likely to rise 13 Jan 2011 Violence in Afghanistan is likely to rise as Spring comes, and the country remains the focus of U.S. national security strategy, said Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Wednesday. In a Washington press briefing, the top U.S. military officer said violence in many parts of Afghanistan will likely be worse in 2011 than it was in 2010.

Afghan campaign caused $100 million damage: inquiry --Violence is at its worst since U.S.-backed Afghan forces overthrew the government in 2001. 11 Jan 2011 Afghan and foreign forces have caused more than $100 million damage to fruit crops and homes during 'security' operations in southern Kandahar province, a government delegation said on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of foreign and Afghan troops are deployed in Kandahar, a traditional stronghold of the Afghan Taliban, where they have been conducting military offensives over the past year.

Afghan girl raped, killed by US troops 13 Jan 2011 The daughter of an Afghan politician has reportedly died of her injuries after being raped by American soldiers stationed in Afghanistan's southwestern province of Farah. US forces aboard five Toyota Hiace vans transferred the teenage girl along with several other Afghan women and girls to a military base in the province. They then sexually assaulted them, Afghan sources, who requested anonymity, told Iran Newspaper on Network on Wednesday.

Four Nato troops and six Afghan intelligence officers killed in bloody Taliban attacks --Killings come day after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visits country 12 Jan 2011 Four Nato troops were killed in two roadside bombings in Afghanistan today, bringing to 15 the number of international troops killed this year already. Three of them died in an attack in eastern Afghanistan and the other was killed in the south of the country. Elsewhere in the country, six members of the Afghan intelligence services were also assassinated in two separate attacks that left 30 wounded.

US-led soldiers killed in Afghan blasts 12 Jan 2011 Five US-led soldiers have been killed in two separate bomb blasts in Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says. Three of the US-led soldiers were killed in an attack in eastern Afghanistan while the fourth lost his life in a separate assault in the south. A fifth was killed in an insurgent attack in the east, NATO said.

Pakistan police base raided, many dead 12 Jan 2011 At least 18 people have been killed and 15 others wounded in a terrorist attack against a police station in northwestern Pakistan. An explosive-laden car struck the Miryan police station on the outskirts of the town of Bannu on Wednesday. The attack badly damaged a nearby mosque as well, AFP reported.

Arms Dealer Gets 4 Yrs in Pentagon Fraud 04 Jan 2011 An arms dealer whose company once boasted a $300 million Pentagon munitions contract was sentenced Monday to four years in federal prison for trying to ship millions of rounds of prohibited Chinese-made ammunition to Afghan forces fighting alongside U.S. troops. U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard imposed the sentence on 25-year-old Efraim Diveroli after pleading guilty in 2009 to a fraud conspiracy charge. Three other executives in Diveroli's AEY Inc. are awaiting sentencing.

'US behind instability in Lebanon' 12 Jan 2011 Iran's ambassador to Beirut says Washington's interferences resulted in the failure of Saudi Arabian and Syrian efforts to stabilize Lebanon. The US did not want Lebanon to achieve peace and stability, and therefore tried to impede efforts made to establish security in Lebanon, Ghazanfar Roknabadi said on Wednesday. "The US and Israel have always tried to disturb peace in the region," Roknabadi said.

'14 Israeli jets breach Lebanon airspace' 13 Jan 2011 Lebanon's army says 14 Israeli war planes have breached the country's airspace in a flagrant violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution. An army statement said on Thursday that the Israeli aircraft entered Lebanon's airspace over the country's southern border. This is the third incursion since the beginning of the week. On Tuesday, two Israeli warplanes crossed into Lebanese airspace over the southern border town of Alma al-Shaab and conducted several sorties in the area, according to a statement released by the Lebanese military.

Judge says government need not disclose air traveler security images 12 Jan 2011 A federal judge in Washington has ruled the Department of Homeland Security can keep from public view 2,000 "whole-body" images taken at airport checkpoints. The decision is a setback for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which had sued the government for release of material to determine how the technology would impact privacy and civil liberty concerns. But Judge Ricardo Urbina, in a 15-page opinion issued Wednesday, said the Homeland Security Department has no obligation under the Freedom of Information Act to disclose the images or related training materials.

*Five days after the event:* Black bag found may be tied to Giffords shooting, authorities say 13 Jan 2011 An 18-year-old man walking his dog on Thursday found a black bag that authorities believe may belong to the suspect in the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Authorities have been on the hunt for a bag that Jared Loughner is believed to have hidden hours before Saturday's Tucson-area shooting spree that killed six people and injured 13, including Giffords.

Gabrielle Giffords' Arizona shooting prompts resignations 11 Jan 2011 A nasty battle between factions of Legislative District 20 Republicans and fears that it could turn violent in the wake of what happened in Tucson on Saturday prompted District Chairman Anthony Miller and several others to resign. Miller, a 43-year-old Ahwatukee Foothills resident and former campaign worker for U.S. Sen. John McCain, was re-elected to a second one-year term last month. He said constant verbal attacks after that election and Internet blog posts by some local members with Tea Party ties made him worry about his family's safety.

California judge to hear Ariz. mass shooting case 12 Jan 2011 A federal judge from southern California has been appointed to the case against the man accused of shooting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a federal judge and other federal employees. The appointment of Judge Larry A. Burns came Wednesday after all federal judges in Arizona recused themselves. The recusal order says the Arizona judges' impartiality could be questioned because U.S. District Judge John Roll was killed during the rampage. Roll was the chief federal judge for Arizona.

9/11 flag heralds funeral service for youngest Arizona shooting victim 13 Jan 2011 A flag that was nearly destroyed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, was raised outside of the funeral service Thursday for 9-year-old Christina Green, who was born on that fateful day. The banner, which measures 20 feet high and 30 feet wide, was draped between the extended ladders of two fire trucks outside the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Tucson, Arizona, forming an arch under which Christina's family passed as they arrived ahead of the 1 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) service.

President Obama: Giffords opened eyes for first time since shooting 12 Jan 2011 A somber President Barack Obama delivered to an overflow audience inside the University of Arizona's McKale Center a stirring tribute to the fallen and the living after last weekend's massacre near Tucson. The most emotional moment came midway through the address, when Obama strayed from the script to tell the crowd that Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time. The line was met with a sustained roar from a tearful crowd, while the first lady and Giffords' astronaut husband Mark Kelly embraced. [See: Text of President Obama's Tucson Memorial Speech 12 Jan 2011.]

John Boehner, House speaker, picks RNC cocktail party over Tucson, Arizona shooting memorial 13 Jan 2011 House Speaker John Boehner is taking heat from some Democrats after skipping out on Wednesday's memorial service for the shooting victims in Arizona and instead hosting a cocktail party for the Republican National Committee. The Ohio Republican turned down President Obama's invitation to travel on Air Force One to Tucson, Politico reported.

Blood libel comment by Sarah Palin sparks rebuke from Dems, Sen. Gillibrand: 'This is unhelpful' 12 Jan 2011 Far from backing down, Sarah Palin defended herself today against critics who linked her rhetoric to the Arizona shootings, accusing them of the long-condemned anti-Semitic slur "blood libel." Palin opponents noted soon after the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) that left six people dead that Palin had posted a map on her website last fall with gun sights on 20 districts, including Giffords'. She announced it with a tweet: "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!"

Sarah Palin charges critics with 'blood libel' 12 Jan 2011 Sarah Palin released a video statement Wednesday calling the rush to pin blame on conservatives for the shooting in Tucson, Ariz., a "blood libel." "Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own," she said. "They begin and end with the criminals who commit them." Palin’s use of the charged phrase "blood libel" touched off an immediate backlash. [See: Full text of Sarah Palin's statement.]

Obama in Tucson: Providing an amnesty for the right wing By Patrick Martin 13 Jan 2011 In his remarks Wednesday night to a memorial service for the victims of last Saturday’s massacre in Tucson, Arizona, President Obama refused to offer any political explanation for the attempted assassination of Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. On the contrary, his entire speech was an argument against such an analysis, as he declared the causes of the massacre to be unknowable. It was a statement of intellectual bankruptcy, carried out, as usual in modern American politics, amid nonstop invocations of religion.

More evidence of right-wing links to Tucson attack By Patrick Martin 13 Jan 2011 While right-wing pundits and politicians continue to claim that it is illegitimate to hold them morally or politically responsible for the massacre carried out in Tucson, Arizona last Saturday, more evidence has emerged that the gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, drew inspiration from the political language and invective of the ultra-right. The Los Angeles Times published a detailed summary of the ideological roots of the attack, in which Loughner killed six people, including a federal judge, and severely wounded Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. The analysis was headlined, "Loughner’s Ramblings Appear Rooted in Far Right."

FBI Arrests Calif. Man For Threatening Democratic Congressman 11 Jan 2011 The FBI arrested a 32-year-old man Wednesday on charges of threatening Congressman Jim McDermott, a Washington Democrat, during two expletive-laden phone calls in December 2010. The suspect, Charles Turner Habermann of Palm Springs, California, is also alleged to have made threatening phone calls to at least one other political representative. In the messages to McDermott, both of which took place in December 2010 and were left on the line of his district office, Habermann allegedly threatened to kill the congressman, his family and acquaintances.

8 students at MLK Middle School in SF treated after ingesting rat poison 13 Jan 2011 Six students at Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Middle School in San Francisco are being treated after accidentally ingesting rat poison. According to San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson Mindy Talmage, six students found what they thought were pieces of candy and ate them. When they realized it was rat poison they notified school officials, who called the fire department.

Republicans eye a return to George. W. Bush's budget [And Barack Obama will be *more than happy* to comply with his corporate/GOP overlords, as he's done from the get-go. He serves them well.] 13 Jan 2011 To the surprise of even themselves, the Republicans’ battle cry in the budget wars this year comes down more and more to one refrain: "Bring back Bush." Already, George W. Bush’s signature high-end tax cuts have been extended through the life of President Barack Obama’s first term. And having blocked a bipartisan compromise, Republicans now want Obama to roll back domestic appropriations to the 2008 levels set in a Christmas omnibus bill three years ago -- truly the last major budget measure of the Bush presidency [sic].

Flooded Australia city "like war zone", fresh rains feared --Brown sea covers Australia's Brisbane city, residents in shock --Risk of more flooding in Queensland, cyclone forming 13 Jan 2011 Floods left parts of Australia's third-biggest city on Thursday looking like a war zone in need of years of reconstruction, the state premier said, while fresh threats loomed with a cyclone forecast offshore. The floods across the state of Queensland have killed at least 19 people, 12 of whom died in the Toowoomba area inland, and 61 were missing, the state government said. Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley region, west of state capital Brisbane, were devastated by tsunami-like flash flooding on Monday.

Australian state premier says Brisbane like war-zone --Flooding has smashed infrastructure, including roads and railways in Brisbane. 13 Jan 2011 Queensland State Premier Anna Bligh has said her city of Brisbane looks just like a war-zone. She has also said the rest of the flood-devastated state of Queensland will need an army of people to be involved in reconstruction and clean-ups. Speaking on ABC Radio, she said the state of Queensland was in for a long recovery.

Flood-Stricken Australia Sets Up Temporary Morgue 11 Jan 2011 As Brisbane braces for more flooding today, authorities have set up at least one temporary morgue west of Australia's third largest city in anticipation of bodies floating downstream from areas devastated in flash floods earlier this week... The severity of the disaster increased this week as surges of water devastated several towns outside Brisbane.

Former Marine colonel rallies to get donkey to U.S. from Iraq 13 Jan 2011 A former Marine colonel is fighting to bring home a little four-legged piece of Iraq. John Folsom, who was Camp Taqaddum's commandant in 2008, hopes to bring Smoke the donkey home to Nebraska to brighten the lives of children whose parents are serving overseas. Folsom and Smoke first met when a Marine under Folsom's command decided to catch one of the many donkeys wandering the base outside of Fallujah.

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Previous lead stories: Israeli PM calls for 'credible military option' led by US, against Iran 12 Jan 2011 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for "a credible military option against Iran" to force Tehran to end its nuclear energy program. On Tuesday, Netanyahu said that military action should be taken by the international community and headed by the United States. "You have to ratchet up the pressure and... I don't think that this pressure will be sufficient to have this regime change course without a credible military option that is put before them by the international community led by the United States," he stated.

In Kabul, Biden promises U.S. support beyond 2014 12 Jan 2011 Vice President Biden on Tuesday pledged long-term American support for Afghanistan, offering a commitment to help occupy the war-torn nation beyond the 2014 target both countries have set to have Afghans fully in charge of their own security. NATO, including the United States, has pledged ongoing economic and security assistance [billion$ for Blackwater and DynCorp] beyond 2014, and the United States is separately negotiating its own long-term strategic accord with Afghanistan. It is unclear whether any such agreement would involve an ongoing U.S. troop presence.

The term 'control orders' to disappear, replaced with 'terrorism prevention powers' --Terror suspects - who are unable to be tried in court - will be allowed to use a 'designated computer', as long as they allow police to install surveillance software on it. 11 Jan 2011 The cabinet will today approve the wholesale reform of control orders, including the end of house arrest and a lifting of the ban on computer and mobile phone use. The time limit on holding terrorist suspects without charge will fall from 28 days to 14 days, and there will also be new curbs on police stop-and-search powers. The term "control order" itself will also disappear, being replaced with the term "terrorism prevention powers". Subjects will now only be banned from particular addresses or buildings where surveillance cannot be carried out easily.

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