OpEdNews - Diary: THE PENTAGON'S SECRET AIR WAR IN IRAQ

"A secret air war is being waged in Iraq - often in and around that country's population centers - about which we can find out little,"

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DIANE'S NEWS CLIPS begins here :)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> Excerpted from: http://www.truthout.org Nick Turse | THE PENTAGON'S SECRET AIR WAR IN IRAQ http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121306H.shtml "A secret air war is being waged in Iraq - often in and around that country's population centers - about which we can find out little," writes Nick Turse. "The US military keeps information on the munitions expended in its air efforts under tight wraps, refusing to offer details on the scale of use and so minimizing the importance of air power in Iraq. But expert opinion holds that the forms of aerial assault being employed in that country, though hardly covered in our media, may account for most of the US and coalition-attributed Iraqi civilian deaths there since the 2003 invasion." --- Briggs & Briggs | Bush's Inner "Reality" Poisons Troop Plan http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020707R.shtml "The president has included an extraordinary fatal flaw in his plan for additional US troops in Iraq, a fact that may not make much sense to his advisers and allies, but is psychologically understandable in terms of a mechanism that governs his inner reality. As with many other aspects of the president's sometimes odd behavior, the root of this new self-subverting plan lies not in political expediency, in the advice he's received, or in his intellectual abilities as such, but in a psychological twist that begins with his long and well-documented history of failure (and his sense of his own failure) within his family of origin," according to John P. Briggs, M.D., and J.P. Briggs II, Ph.D. ----- Leopold and Ash | Libby Testimony Points DIRECTLY to BUSH, CHENEY http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020707A.shtml [NOTE from Diane: Wow, imagine that, aren't we surprised. I just can't wait for TVs talking heads to mug us all with shock and awe. On second thought ... lol.] According to trial transcripts obtained by Truthout, former White House staffer I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby testified before a grand jury in 2004 that Vice President Dick Cheney instructed him to divulge portions of a then-classified report to New York Times reporter Judith Miller. Libby testified that Cheney said authorization to leak a section of the report had come directly from President George W. Bush, the court transcripts state. --- US Sent Billions in Cash on Pallets to Baghdad http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020707J.shtml The US sent more than $4 billion in cash to Baghdad on giant pallets - weighing a total of 363 tons - aboard military planes shortly before giving control back to Iraqis. "Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone? But that's exactly what our government did," said Representative Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, during a hearing reviewing possible waste, fraud and abuse of funds in Iraq. --- CIA Officer Steered Iraq Contracts to Friend http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020707E.shtml CIA officers operating in northern Iraq bought drinking water from a bottling plant there for years prior to the 2003 invasion. That changed soon afterward, giving a no-bid contract to a US company with personal ties to Kyle "Dusty" Foggo. The water contract, while small on the scale of the billions that flowed into Iraq, raises questions about why US taxpayer dollars went to well-connected businessmen rather than Iraqis who could have benefited from a share of post-war reconstruction business. And the case provides a window into the murky world of covert government business arrangements. --- Le Monde | Human Rights http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020707G.shtml A new UN Convention for the Protection of All People Against Forced Disappearance opened for signing in Paris on February 6. Le Monde considers this important addition to internationally recognized human rights. --- Richard W. Behan | From Afghanistan to Iraq: Connecting the Dots With Oil http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020707P.shtml Richard W. Behan writes: "The long-held suspicions about George Bush's wars are well-placed. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were not prompted by the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. They were not waged to spread democracy in the Middle East or enhance security at home. They were conceived and planned in secret long before September 11, 2001, and they were undertaken to control petroleum resources." --- Gloria Steinem | Right Candidates, Wrong Question http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020707B.shtml "Even before Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton threw their exploratory committees into the ring, every reporter seemed to be asking which candidate Americans were more ready for, a white woman or a black man. With all due respect to the journalistic dilemma of reporting two 'firsts' at the same time - two viable presidential candidates who aren't the usual white faces over collars and ties," writes Gloria Steinem. "I think this is a dumb and destructive question." --- Lieberman Wants "War on Terrorism Tax" http://snipurl.com/19m4j --- Democrats Try Again to Stop Troop Escalation http://snipurl.com/19kxi --- US to Get Africa Command Center http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020707N.shtml Bush has approved a Pentagon plan for a command center in Africa to oversee US military activities on the continent. The US gets more than 10 percent of its oil from Africa and is worried about increased economic and diplomatic competition from China. The Africa command will not be about preparing troops for major combat operations - rather, US officials say, it will focus on local military training operations. --- Democrats Rip EPA Chief Over Reforms http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020707M.shtml The head of the Environmental Protection Agency faced down hostile critics, denying accusations that agency decisions last year rolled back environmental safeguards. "Nobody's fooled by this," responded the new committee chair, Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer of California. "EPA has gone too long without meaningful oversight," she said, contending the changes "benefit polluters' bottom line and hurt our communities." --- Scott Galindez and Geoffrey Millard: Watada Court-Martial Ends in Mistrial http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020707Z.shtml --- Matt Renner | Presidential Financing Fix http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020707O.shtml Matt Renner writes: "Advocates of public campaign financing see the writing on the wall. The presidential public-financing system has not been updated since the 1970s and is in danger of becoming irrelevant." --- Five Americans Indicted in Iraq Bid-Rig Probe http://snipurl.com/19p1h --- FEMA Wants Back Over $300 Million in Katrina Aid http://snipurl.com/19p1i --- Boxer Rips EPA Chief as Bowing to Industry http://snipurl.com/19p1k --- John Nichols | Holding Bush to Account for Climate Lies, Neglect http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020707EC.shtml John Nichols writes: "Climate change is real. And the cynical ploy by conservative politicians and commentators of suggesting otherwise has slowed the American response to a crisis scientists say has grown so severe that - no matter what is now done to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases - the gases that have already been produced or are in production will continue to contribute to global warming and the rise of oceans for more than 1,000 years." --- US Family-Oriented Job Policies Weak http://snipurl.com/19p1t _________________________________ Submitted by: http://truth_to_power2006@yahoo.com : When does a skunk ever smell his own hole? never :

MILITARY: NO GITMO GUARD ABUSE EVIDENT http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070207/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/guantanamo_abuse_probe _________________________________ Submitted by: http://eddiestinson@gmail.com

Palestine, BUSH'S OTHER Civil War ... Seth Ackerman | 2.6.07 Seth Ackerman is a contributing writer to Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. His piece for the October issue of Fair's magazine Extra!, "Mixed Signals," covers the history of misrepresentation of the Hamas government's stance towards negotiations and peaceable co-existence with Israel. One year after Hamas won a surprise victory in the Palestinian legislative elections, Palestinian politics are in chaos and the occupied territories stand on the brink of civil war. Hamas's increasingly moderate tendencies, heavily on display early last year, have since then run into a formidable wall of obstacles-most of all, Washington and Jerusalem's staunch refusal to accept the will of Palestine's voters. ....................snip.................. The decision to participate in last year's vote represented a major shift for a group that had previously boycotted the Palestinian political system entirely. Hamas' political turn was accompanied by quietly adjusting its stance on the conflict to bring it into line with the Palestinian mainstream. Although Hamas would not talk to Israel, it would support talks led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. While ruling out recognizing Israel itself, in the wake of its victory Hamas declared that recognition was a question for the Palestinian people to decide, and senior Hamas officials signaled that they would accept the results of a referendum on the matter if it came with a negotiated peace agreement. But on one point, Hamas was firm: It refused to go back to the Oslo procedure of piecemeal talks under Washington's auspices unless the ultimate terms of a peace deal were spelled out in advance-the borders of a Palestinian state, the refugee issue, the status of Jerusalem and so on. The problem was that Washington would not allow a mere election to interfere with the system it had so painstakingly constructed since the early 1990s. ....................snip.................. ... in a private White House meeting on September 19, Bush vetoed the deal, threatening to cut off all contact with Abbas' party if the Palestinian leader joined a government with Hamas that did not embrace the three conditions. Underscoring the extent to which Fatah had been reduced to a U.S. client regime, Abbas dutifully insisted the next day in public that any joint government would have to be based on Washington's terms. This was the start of the disintegration of Palestinian politics. Seeing no prospect for working with Hamas, Fatah moved closer to Washington's plan to oust the elected government. Three weeks after Bush's veto of the unity government, his Middle East security envoy, Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton presented a plan to arm and train Fatah militias in advance of a conflict with Hamas. Ha'aretz reported that the administration was "certain that the sanctions against Hamas will inevitably result in a violent confrontation between Hamas and Fatah, and in such a scenario, they would prefer to strengthen the 'good guys.'" Although desultory closed-door talks on a unity government continued, by December it was clear that no one expected them to yield an agreement. Hamas seemed to have repudiated the Arab League peace formula and Abbas was now talking openly of dissolving the parliament and calling new elections. (Whether he has the authority to do so is not clear.) It was in this context that clashes between Fatah and Hamas militias began escalating. Last Thursday, Hamas Interior Ministry forces in Gaza interdicted a shipment of weapons from Israel destined for Fatah militias. Assassination attempts against officials of the two movements have been almost daily occurrences. Even more ominously, U.S.-allied Fatah elements seem to be trying to paint the conflict as part of a broader regional struggle between the U.S. and the Sunni client regimes on the one hand and Shiite Iran and Hezbollah and Sunni Hamas on the other. Cries of "Shia! Shia!" were heard at anti- Hamas demonstrations in recent weeks, while Fatah sources claimed (with no evidence) that Iranian weapons experts had been found at a Hamas stronghold in Gaza. ...................snip............................ ... As civil war looms in Gaza, it looks as if the Bush administration is making good on his pledge to export his Iraq model to the rest of the Middle East. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/02/06/palestine_bushs_other_civil_war.php _________________________________

[NEWSDISSECTOR] Who Hacked The Whole Internet? http://www.newsdissector.com/blog/2007/02/07/who-hacked-the-whole-internet/ _________________________________ NM Impeachment: Next Steps to Passage and National Summary http://www.mothermedia.org _________________________________ Excerpted from: http://english.aljazeera.net : Israel dig plan 'threatens Al-Aqsa'

Police restricted Palestinian entry to the old city,forcing protests and prayer outside [EPA] Taysir al-Tamimi, a senior Muslim scholar and judge, has said Israeli bulldozers are moving towards the al-Maghareba gate of the al-Aqsa mosque compound to demolish parts of a mound covering the walkway. Speaking on Al Jazeera, Sheikh al-Tamimi called for Palestinians to immediately head to al-Aqsa mosque to "protect" the site from the Israelis. ...............snip................ On Sunday, Jordan's King Abdullah II warned against "any attack on Islamic sites" in Jerusalem and condemned Israeli attempts "seeking to change the nature of these sites and erase their Muslim character." In January 2007, Israel revealed a project to set up a synagogue next tot he al Aqsa Mosque's Dome of the Rock. [snip] Full article: http://snipurl.com/19kgy _________________________________ re: AOL News -- "MORE CRIMINALS COULD GET DEATH" [NOTE from: Diane: What did you expect with Serial "Commander In Chief," most executions while governor of Texas, GW Bush, (mass-murderer,) 600,000 & counting, IN CHARGE?!] Lovely. {Continued} "States Move to Toughen Laws ... Execution for Child Molesters? http://snipurl.com/19lmm

Wider Death Penalty Sought At Least Six States May Expand Use of Executions ... By Emily Bazar ... USA Today (Feb. 7) -- At least a half-dozen states are considering broadening the death penalty, countering a national trend toward scaling back its use. Lawmakers have proposed legislation that would increase the range of crimes eligible for execution. In Texas and Tennessee, for example, legislators want to include certain child molesters who did not murder their victims." [snip] More: http://snipurl.com/19lmm [Further NOTE: That's not all. Check out how people voted in the aol poll: "Should the death penalty be used for crimes other than murder? Yes, 68% | No, 24% | Not sure, 8% > Total Votes: 13,756" --- "What's your view on the death penalty? It's humane, 71% | It's cruel, 15% | Not sure, 13% > Total Votes: 20,437" [NOTE from Diane continued: Although I harvested only a small portion of who voted, do you see the reflection, the disconnect from humanity? True, these are horrible, terrible crimes, but these people are really sick. They have brain disorders that could clue us in on exactly how the brain morphs from birth to reflect early environmental traumas, but that's okay, lets just kill 'em all. Who cares about trying to change what is? Let's just do more war, more murder, more violence and desensitizing soft porn beamed into our living rooms, yeah, let's kill'em, yeah! Hail to the Chief and spread the Gospel ... ] _________________________________

The advent of Internet Blogs and services such as Myspace and Facebook have made the lives of America's teenagers much more public than ever before, according to New York Magazine. The "older" generation however reportedly looks on with apprehension but the magazine says, "The future belongs to the uninhibited." All could have implications to those marketing to this audience in the future. http://nymag.com/news/features/27341/index.html _________________________________ SOUTH POLE FLYBY ... NASA Science News

Wednesday, the ESA-NASA Ulysses spacecraft flew over uncharted territory--the mysterious South Pole of the sun. http://snipurl.com/19kke _________________________________ http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml | http://jackblood.netfirms.com/home/ _________________________________ UH-OH, WORD TARGETED BY ZERO-DAY ATTACK Symantec is warning of a new zero-day vulnerability in Word 2000. A zero-day vulnerability is a flaw for which there are already exploits when it is discovered. The vulnerability has received the highest level of severity rating. It can allow a hacker to take control of your computer. The attack arrives via an infected Word document. The document installs a Trojan on the computer. There is not yet a patch to fix the flaw. So until one is released, exercise caution when opening Word documents. Do not open unexpected Word e-mail attachments. Hackers are already sending out messages with malicious documents attached. However, Microsoft says the attacks are limited, so far. Be sure to listen to me Monday through Friday. Use my map to find me near you http://www.komando.com/listen/index.aspx _________________________________ eHEALTHY NEWS Everything You've Been Told About Exercise Might Be Wrong ... Part IV - More about one of the most amazing approaches to exercise. http://snipurl.com/19isk ----- Type 2 Diabetic Improves on HIGH Carb Diet - Atkins helped many people but 1/3 of people can beat diabetes, high cholesterol and overweight on a high carb diet. http://snipurl.com/19isx ----- More Evidence Soy is Not as Healthy as Originally Believed - Some of the earliest evidence that soy was a health risk rather than a health food began with an investigation of a dead parrot that was fed soy. http://snipurl.com/19it4 _________________________________ VIDEO: comedy Dirty Business | 3:51 | http://www.pawky.com/video/34945fe81F61 _________________________________ NationalGeographic.com http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/ _________________________________ NASA Astronomy picture of the day http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html _________________________________ But the fruit that can fall without shaking Indeed is too mellow for me. ~ Mary Wortley Montagu, The Answer _________________________________ Link to: Diane's News Clips http://www.opednews.com/author/author2300.html?entry=diary