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By Benny Morris
$17.16
By Ned Sublette
$16.47
$18
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Perhaps this could be a diversionary tactic: On Tuesday, President Bush criticized the House and Senate for, it would seem, holding his administration accountable for its actions at home and overseas and looking for ways to bring our troops home.
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Typically cool as a cucumber, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice struggled to hold it together Thursday as members of the House Oversight Committee let her have it on everything from the enormous, expensive and incomplete U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to Blackwater’s killing spree.
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The State Department will implement new measures to guard against a repeat of last month’s Blackwater slaughter of 17 Iraqi civilians, but some of the new rules, including more cultural awareness training, feel like a Band-Aid on a serious head wound. In addressing this issue, the Iraqi government has chosen to make a point of its sovereignty, and so far the U.S. has done little to allay the Iraqi concerns.
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By Marie Cocco — The elderly are paying for waste in the GOP-crafted Medicare drug benefit. Rep. Waxman, D-Calif., is lifting the lid on this kettle, and what’s inside ain’t pretty.
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Asked to what extent the State Department had covered up corruption in the government of Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the department’s top Mideast official told the House Oversight Committee that information that could “damage” the U.S. relationship with Iraq is considered “confidential.” That didn’t go over well with committee Chairman Henry Waxman, who then threw down the gauntlet.
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Blackwater USA founder and chairman Erik Prince stubbornly defended his company Tuesday while members of the House Oversight Committee grilled him with questions such as “Why are we privatizing our military to an organization that has been aggressive and in some cases reckless in the handling of their duties?”
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According to a devastating new report from the House Oversight Committee, Blackwater USA employees engaged in at least 195 “escalation of force” incidents since 2005, with the private security firm firing 80 percent of the first shots (despite its purely defensive mandate). What’s worse, the State Department has provided little if any oversight, instead assisting the company as it carried out damage control.
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Rep. Henry Waxman has accused the State Department’s top oversight official of looking out for the best interests of the Bush administration, and not the American taxpayer. A number of current and former subordinates of the State Department’s inspector general contacted Waxman to report interference with investigations into fraud and corruption in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
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rawstory.com
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The Raw Story is reporting that former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday to answer questions related to the killing of Pat Tillman.
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House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and his Republican committee colleague Rep. Tom Davis are putting pressure on the White House and the Defense Department to hand over records about the death of Pat Tillman. The administration has been keeping the documents secret, citing its executive confidentiality prerogative.
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AP Photo / Lauren Victoria Burke
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Rep. Henry Waxman, who more than any other politician is fulfilling the Democrats’ election promise to bring good governance and oversight back to Washington, tells Truthdig about Iraq corruption, the tragedy of post-traumatic stress disorder, and why it’s only a matter of time before Congress—Republicans included—pulls the plug on the war.
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AP Photo / Lauren Victoria Burke
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Rep. Henry Waxman, who more than any other politician is fulfilling the Democrat’s election promise to bring good governance and oversight back to Washington, tells Truthdig about Iraq corruption, the tragedy of post-traumatic stress disorder, and why it’s only a matter of time before Congress—Republicans included—pulls the plug on the war.
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socialitelife.com
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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she’s not obligated under the principle of executive privilege to comply with a subpoena issued by the House, but would be happy to respond to questions by writing a letter.
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By Joe Conason — The Washington press elite has warned the Democrats not to pursue the U.S. attorney scandal, but lawmakers should listen to the polls, not the “cable sages” who have so frequently been wrong.
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Last year, the Army vehemently denied allegations that Halliburton had hired Blackwater, another private contractor, to provide security in Iraq, but in a hearing before the House Government Oversight Committee on Wednesday, the military reversed itself. The committee also made public an e-mail from a Blackwater employee who frantically demanded that the firm properly equip its guards, four of whom were killed hours after the message was written.
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smh.com.au
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Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is exploiting a loophole in the Patriot Act to appoint U.S. attorneys whose principal qualification is their loyalty to the Bush administration. Recently a number of attorneys have been fired, apparently to make way for Bush-friendly replacements.
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Image: AP; composite: Karen Spector / Truthdig
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By Joshua Scheer — Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) criticizes the leadership of his own party for announcing Tuesday that it would support a massive increase in spending for the Iraq war.
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The federal government has finally taken notice of absurdly unverifiable electronic voting equipment, with new recommendations just released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The research group argues that a paper trail is necessary for election officials to be able to conduct a credible recount. But don’t get your hopes up: Even if Congress agrees with the findings, real oversight could be years away.
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hillnews.com
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Rep. Henry Waxman (Truthdig’s own congressman) spent his years in the minority generating headlines for his investigations into abuses of power and corruption. Now that the Dems have taken over, he will have some teeth to sink into the Bush administration’s excesses.
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interet-general.info
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Stuart Bowen of the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction says billions of dollars of Iraq’s national income are lost annually to corruption, with public funds often ending up in the hands of insurgents. Bowen’s oversight office is set to close due to legislation passed by the Republican Congress.
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usatoday.com
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An obscure provision inserted at the last minute into a military authorization bill signed by President Bush has closed the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. The oversight agency had repeatedly embarrassed the administration by exposing corruption, exploitation and negligence in the reconstruction effort in Iraq.
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Senate Republicans shot down a measure that would have enacted oversight on the practices of private contractors in Iraq. As a result, companies like Halliburton are free to continue doing things like exposing U.S. soldiers in Iraq to water contaminated with fecal matter. The Nation has the details.
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