Patrick’s Notebook

It’s not surprising that an agency closely controlled by the Bush administration would pull something like this. The real tragedy however is that even if the actual ‘stenographers‘ from the media had been there the questions and answers ‘dance‘ would have been choreographed exactly the same. –

– The White House scolded the Federal Emergency Management Agency yesterday for staging a phony news conference about assistance to victims of wildfires in Southern California.

The agency, much criticized for its response after Hurricane Katrina more than two years ago, arranged to have FEMA employees play the part of independent reporters Tuesday and ask questions of Vice Admiral Harvey E. Johnson, the agency’s deputy director.

The questions were predictably soft and gratuitous.

“I’m very happy with FEMA’s response,” Johnson said in reply to one query from an agency employee. The Washington Post first reported on the fake news conference yesterday.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said it was not appropriate that the questions were posed by agency staff members instead of reporters. FEMA was responsible for the “error in judgment,” she said, adding that the White House did not know about it beforehand and did not condone it.

Continue reading ‘FEMA stages phony news conference’ »

An article today by Gareth Porter, a strong opponent of the US wars in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, suggests that the intelligence information that the Bush administration is using to vilify Iran and is using to justify their current run-up to war with Iran is deliberately misleading and in some instances an outright fabrication.

Porter argues the Bush administrations insistence that armor-piercing explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs are being provided by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard is completely inaccurate. Nevertheless the US senate recently passed a resolution declaring the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, based in large part on the EFP misinformation, and this week the state department levied sanctions against them. Coupled with the authorization for the war on terror implemented in October of 2001, the Bush administration now feels it has all the justification it needs for a pre-emptive invasion of Iran.

Just as with the phony intelligence used to go to war with Iraq, it appears that the “facts are being fixed around the policy” once again in order to justify another illegal invasion to secure greater US control in the Middle East.

Porter’s article can be read in its entirety HERE.

In the Financial Times yesterday it was reported that Charles Schumer, chairman of the congressional joint economic committee, said that president Bush was preventing Treasury Secretary Paulson from taking stronger action to stem the subprime mortgage crisis because of Bushs’s ideological commitment to free markets and small government.

Since when have predatory lending practices and usury been considered free market policy?  Financial institutions have literally preyed upon unwary and financially unqualified individuals, essentially ‘renting‘ them property under the guise of a mortgage. Some of these loans actually allowed the borrower to make monthly payments that would not cover principal and interest, thereby putting themselves further in debt as time went on. The only logical outcome, right from the beginning, was foreclosure, or actually termination of the ‘lease agreement‘ with a complete loss of capital investment by the borrower, and the aggrandizement of the lender to that capital, and ownership of the property. This is fraud, plain and simple. To claim that any business can so dupe its customers, and transfer their clients wealth to the business in a ‘rent-seeking‘ mortgage scheme is essentially a crime. The remedy of course, is already in place. Fraud, racketeering and usury are crimes in this country. One cannot espouse the disclaimer ‘buyer beware‘ and disavow themselves of responsibility for criminal behavior. 

The notion that Bush has an ideological commitment to small government is laughable.  Under his administrations this country has seen the largest federal budgets, ever expanding bureaucracies, the largest deficits, and corruption and waste that have cost billions in taxpayer dollars. Clearly, refusing to take action in this mortgage crime crisis, is nothing more than Bush’s ideological commitment to exercise his preferential options for the wealthy.

Six members of the US Air Force who were involved in the Minot AFB nuclear bomb incident, have died mysteriously, an anti-Bush activist group says.

The incident happened when a B-52 bomber was “mistakenly” loaded with six nuclear warheads and flown for more than three hours across several states, prompting an Air Force investigation and the firing of one commander.

The plane was carrying Advanced Cruise Missiles from Minot Air Force Base, N.D, to Barksdale Air Force Base (over Omaha and Kansas City) on August 30. The Air Combat Command ordered a command-wide stand down on September 14 to review procedures, officials said.

The missiles, which are being decommissioned, were mounted onto pylons on the bomber’s wings and it is unclear why the warheads had not been removed beforehand. In addition to the munitions squadron commander who was relieved of his duties, crews involved in the incident, including ground crew workers had been temporarily decertified for handling munitions.

The activist group Citizens for Legitimate Government said the six members of the US Air Force who were directly involved as loaders or as pilots, were killed within 7 days in ‘accidents’. The victims include Airman First Class Todd Blue, 20, who died while on leave in Virginia. A statement by the military confirmed his death but did not say how he died.

Continue reading ‘The Plot Thickens: Nuclear missiles from Minot and 6 mysterious deaths’ »

This is a huge story that so far has been lightly mentioned in the media. Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, is a staging area for US military missions in the Middle East and the fact that a B-52 bomber landed there and sat on the tarmac for more than 10 hours before the nuclear tipped cruise missiles were detected hanging under the wing, is far more than the ‘perfect storm’ of a series of procedural errors that supposedly no one knew anything about. Nuclear warheads slated for disposal as these weapons reportedly were, are not transported in tactical bombers, are not transported attached to missiles, and are not carried under the wings of the transport aircraft. Watch this story. –

- Four Air Force colonels have been relieved of their commands and more than 65 lower-ranking officers and airmen have been disciplined over a series of errors that led to a B-52 flight from North Dakota to Louisiana with six nuclear-armed cruise missiles that no one realized were under the wing.

“This was an unacceptable error that resulted in an unprecedented string of procedural failures,” Major General Richard Y. Newton III, assistant deputy chief of staff for operations, said yesterday in reporting on a six-week Air Force inquiry.

“Our investigation found that there has been an erosion of adherence to weapons handling standards” at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, where the August flight began, and at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, Newton said.

Representative Ellen O. Tauscher, Democrat of California, chairwoman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, said yesterday that she is “satisfied” with the report and impressed that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has asked the department’s science board to take a wider view.

Continue reading ‘Colonels relieved of command, more than 65 other officers disciplined over nuclear-armed flight’ »

Bush’s reckless remarks suggesting World War III was in the offing to prevent Iran from pursuing its nuclear energy program, makes Bush sound more like the lunatic that he says he is trying to protect the US from.  Inasmuch as he is hoping to generate support for another illegal preemptive war in the Middle East, these remarks are a bit over the top.

Already this week Russia’s President Putin has called Bush’s Iraq policy a “dead end” and he indicated that Russia was also planning a “completely new” atomic weapon, which Putin said was a result of the Bush oil grab in Iraq and that Russia was not going to let the same thing happen to them.

Apparently, the only real way to put a stop to WWIII would be for Congress to exercise its responsiblity and impeach the criminals in the administration who have a total disregard for international law, who have suspended civil liberties in the US and who have declared themselves and their co-conspirators immune from prosecution whenever they chose to violate the law.

Earlier today Turkey voted to take cross-border military action against the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iraq that Turkey insists is in retaliation for terrorist activities.

Despite the insistence of the Bush administration that the surge in US troop levels earlier this year in Iraq was necessary to stem the tide of the insurgency and terrorism there, Bush urged Turkey not to take action against the so-called terrorists because, as he said there are better ways ”to deal with terrorism than to send in massive troop” levels.

Once again, what is appropriate for the Bush administration is otherwise unacceptable.

Putin has warned the U.S. and other nations against trying to coerce Iran into reining in its nuclear program and insists peaceful dialogue is the only way to deal with Tehran’s defiance of a U.N. Security Council demand that it suspend uranium enrichment.

“Threatening someone, in this case the Iranian leadership and Iranian people, will lead nowhere,” Putin said in Germany. “They are not afraid, believe me.”

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— Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran on Tuesday for a historic visit to hold talks on Iran’s nuclear program and attend a Caspian sea summit.

The visit, the first by a Kremlin leader since World War II, is taking place despite warnings of a possible assassination plot and amid hopes that a round of personal diplomacy could help offer a solution to an international standoff on Iran’s nuclear program.

Putin’s trip was thrown into doubt when the Kremlin said Sunday that he had been informed by Russian special services that suicide attackers might try to kill him in Tehran, but he shrugged off the warning Monday during a visit to Germany.

“Of course I am going to Iran,” he said after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “If I always listened to all the various threats and the recommendations of the special services I would never leave home.”

The remark played into the carefully crafted image of a fearless leader that Putin has cultivated, and also appeared aimed at emphasizing that he is in control — not under undue influence from security officials — as he maneuvers to maintain influence after his presidential term ends next year.

Continue reading ‘Putin arrives in Iran’ »

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.

Beyond the gag orders, the ACLU said its analysis of the letters showed the Pentagon and FBI had collaborated “to circumvent the law” and “provided misleading information to Congress” about the nature and reach of the requests.

Continue reading ‘Pentagon and FBI collaborate “to circumvent the law”’ »

A former top US commander has condemned the Iraq war as a nightmare with no end in sight.

Lieutenant General Richardo Sanchez has labelled US political leaders incompetent and corrupted.

This year the White House has injected an extra thirty thousand US troops into Iraq in the hope of stemming sectarian violence and installing some political stability. Sanchez described the extra allocation of troops as ‘desperate’.

Read the full article here.

It may be true that someone hiring a high price defense attorney hasn’t necessarily done something illegal, but it sure makes you wonder.

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Former attorney general Alberto Gonzales has lawyered up, Newsweek reports.

The magazine says Gonzales hired George Terwilliger, a former Justice Department official who was named as a possible successor to the longtime Bush confidante, to represent him in the investigations that have grown out of his testimony about the removal of nine federal prosecutors and a controversial discussion about surveillance operations with his predecessor, John Ashcroft.

Terwilliger confirmed to the magazine that he’s been retained by Gonzales, but refused to discuss any of the allegations that have been leveled against the former judge. He says the decision to retain a defense lawyer doesn’t suggest Gonzales broke the law.

“It would really be unfair to individuals who are smart enough to get themselves a lawyer to draw some inference that they need a lawyer because they did something wrong,” Terwilliger tells the Associated Press. “Nor has he been accused of wrongdoing. Investigations are conducted to find the facts. And the facts will show that Judge Gonzales acted honorably in all circumstances while holding positions of great responsibility and importance to maintaining the safety of the country.”

Continue reading ‘Gonzales needs criminal defense attorney’ »

The so called ‘temporary’ authority granted to the NSA in August which was forced through congress just hours before the summer recess is now up for debate in the House and Senate this week. Despite the tough talk to roll back the broad sweeping powers given to wiretap Americans, the Democratic controlled congress appears ready to cave-in to administration pressures again and bring the US one step closer to a surveilled police state.

The euphemistically titled Protect America Act which ‘legitimizes’ warrant-less wiretaps was passed in early August of this year, yet the administration admits that it has been surreptitiously eavesdropping on domestic telecommunications for more than two years without warrants, in violation of the law and with the complicity of the Justice department and the cooperation of telecommunication companies. Once again claiming state secrets and security the administration tries to justify its illegal activities and what’s more egregious it now wants retroactive immunity for itself and the telecommunications utilities that participated in the once-secret program to eavesdrop without court warrants.

Even with their admission of warrant-less wiretaps, ironically  a DOJ official said “We want the statute made permanent,” and “We also view it as an opportunity to inform Congress and the public that we can use these authorities responsibly.”  They can inform all they want, but the truth is to the contrary. They have been engaged in illegal wiretaps of Americans, without a warrant or judicial oversight, and now want broad powers for domestic surveillance and claim these authorities will be used responsibly. Fool me once, shame on you… Don’t forget this is the same discredited Justice department headed by Alberto ‘Brown nose’ Gonzales willing to provide the administration anything at the expense of the American legal system. From torture, to illegal confinement, to suspension of civil liberties and now warrant-less wiretaps the DOJ has already informed Congress and the public that they are totally irresponsible when it comes to legal jurisprudence while filling the role as lap-dog for the current administration.

The Iraqi prime minister’s office said Sunday that the government’s investigation had determined that Blackwater USA private security guards who shot Iraqi civilians three weeks ago in a Baghdad square sprayed gunfire in nearly every direction, committed “deliberate murder” and should be punished accordingly.

Iraqi investigators, supported by Iraqi witness accounts, have said unofficially that they could not find evidence of any attack on the Blackwater guards that might have provoked the shooting on Nisour Square, which the Iraqis say killed 17 and wounded 27. But the statement by Ali al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the prime minister, is the first indication that the government considers its investigation completed and the shootings unprovoked.

“This is a deliberate crime against civilians,” Mr. Dabbagh said. “It should be tried in court and the victims should be compensated.”

Those conclusions contradict Blackwater’s original statement on the shooting, which said that a convoy operated by the company’s guards “acted lawfully and appropriately in response to a hostile attack.” The Iraqi findings are also at odds with initial assertions by the State Department that the convoy had received small-arms fire.

Maliki vs. Radhi

Two days after former Iraqi Judge Radhi al-Radhi testified in Congress about the rampant corruption within the Iraqi government, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki struck back. On Saturday, Maliki, who weeks ago forced out Radhi as Iraq’s anticorruption chief, announced his government will prosecute Radhi for smuggling documents, for libeling Maliki, and for engaging in corruption himself.

This is not a new strategy for Maliki. A year ago, the Iraq government accused Radhi and the Commission on Public Integrity that he ran of corruption, but the charges went nowhere. (According to a now-confidential U.S. embassy draft report, Radhi’s CPI passed an audit with flying colors.) And Radhi’s work and integrity has been endorsed by a number of U.S. officials who worked with him, including Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. By the way, there is documentary evidence showing that Maliki’s office has blocked dozens of Radhi’s prosecution cases. (Apparently, Maliki is upset that Radhi has copies of these documents and shared them with U.S. congressional investigators.) As for the charge of personal corruption, Radhi shows no signs of having run off with any money. After being stranded in the United States by the Maliki government–which removed him from his post while he was in Washington at the invitation of the Justice Department for a training session–Radhi had to leave his hotel because he could not afford the bill. Friends of his in the United States are now trying to figure out how to raise money for him.

Continue reading ‘Maliki’s government so corrupt it ought to be abolished’ »

Today is the commemoration of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World. He made landfall with the Spanish Conquistadors on a caribbean island which he named Hispaniola and claimed for Spain. At that time the island was inhabited by the Tainos, one of the Indigenous Arawak peoples. Within fifteen years the Tainos were reduced in number from one million to about 60,000 people. That’s a lot of killing in a fifteen year period.

To save the remaining indigenous people, a Dominican priest named de las Casas made an arrangement with Charles the 5th of Spain to begin importing africans to the New World to be used as slave labor. De las Casas, heralded as the patron saint of the indians for saving them from further decimation also holds the dubious distinction of helping to usher in the evil of slavery.

As we commemorate the founding and exploration of the New World we must also be aware of its legacy. Under the guise of trade and exploration native inhabitants have been brutally murdered and forced to endure the harshest of atrocities, natural resources have been plundered for the wealth and power of the invading country, and empire building nations have sought to exercise dominion for their selfish aggrandizement. Look around, nothing has changed much in more than 500 years.