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$22
By William Pfaff
$16.50
$20
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AP Photo / Haraz N. Ghanbari
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The Pentagon briefed the Tillman family Monday following dual investigations into the alleged criminality and cover-up in the aftermath of the fratricide of Pat Tillman. Here is the family’s response, in its entirety.
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An internal Justice Department investigation has documented multiple abuses by the FBI in obtaining the private records of U.S. residents. Even with the broad powers of the Patriot Act in place, the bureau is still required to certify that the phone, e-mail and financial documents it seeks are at least related to investigations of terrorism or intelligence activities.
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Despite spending billions of dollars, the United States is woefully unprepared for an attack involving either chemical or biological weapons, according to a report recently declassified by the Government Accountability Office. The strain of the Iraq war has contributed to problems with staffing, equipping and training the military units expected to respond in the event of such a crisis.
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spyflight.co.uk
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The European Parliament has condemned 14 member states for either ignoring or assisting the U.S. policy of “extraordinary rendition.” The report, which won approval by a wide margin, says the CIA carried out 1,245 flights of abducted suspects, sometimes to nations where the detainees could expect torture.
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A declassified version of the long-awaited new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq has just gone public. Its findings are grim: It says the term ” ‘civil war’ accurately describes key elements of the Iraqi conflict.” Check out the document (.pdf file).
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astoriafederal.com
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The annual savings rate dropped to the lowest level in 74 years, the Commerce Department has reported. On average, Americans saved a “negative 1 percent” in 2006, meaning people not only didn’t save but dipped into their savings and borrowed in order to spend more than their income.
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A report by the Department of Homeland Security inspector general has found that immigration and customs officials mistreated illegal immigrants held in facilities around the country. But the ACLU and others have criticized the report, charging that it ignored the most serious allegations.
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According to internal audit documents obtained by The Washington Post, the Defense Department wasted millions of dollars by farming out contracting to the Interior Department in an effort to “expedite” the process. Through the program, Interior routinely awarded overpriced and under-monitored no-bid contracts in exchange for a fee from the Pentagon.
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rottentomatoes.com
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The Japanese daily Sankei says it has obtained an internal government report outlining the requirements for building a nuclear weapon. The Japanese government denies that it intends to build such a device. However, public pressure has mounted following North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.
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Left: josephstiglitz.com / Right: harvard.edu
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This week Truthdig salutes Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes for uncovering the true cost of the war in Iraq. Last year Nobel Prize-winning economist Stiglitz and Harvard budget expert Bilmes estimated the total price tag for Bush’s misadventure in Mesopotamia at $2.267 trillion—a tad higher than the $350 billion to $500 billion so often discussed.
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msnbc.com
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According to the Pentagon’s latest report, violence in Iraq has reached record levels in all measured categories, with a 32 percent increase in attacks on U.S. troops. The 50-page document also notes a 60 percent increase in civilian casualties since the formation of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government.
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The outgoing defense secretary admitted in an interview that he hadn’t read the Iraq Study Group report—only the executive summary.
Isn’t Bush the one who doesn’t read?
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news.bbc.co.uk
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Last month Arctic sea ice shrunk by an area the size of Alaska when compared to historical averages, according to a new study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research. By 2040, summer ice could disappear altogether.
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channel4.com
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Columnist and comedian Will Durst explores the irony of delivering a report to a president who doesn’t read. Of the Iraq Study Group’s 79 recommendations, Durst writes: “Unfortunately none of them involved the President and his entire Cabinet resigning, proving perhaps this study group should’ve studied more.”
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warc.jalb.de
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A new report by the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group criticizes the international lending organization for failing to alleviate global poverty with programs that focus too single-mindedly on growth. The bank estimates that 1.1 billion people subsisted on less than $1 per day in 2001. (h/t: Common Dreams)
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intelmessages.org
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Despite all the attention focused on the Iraq Study Group’s report, one of its more damaging allegations has largely escaped media scrutiny: The Pentagon and intelligence agencies are drastically underreporting acts of violence in Iraq. The panel said that one day the U.S. reported 93 acts of violence when in fact there were more than 1,100. (h/t: Randi Rhodes)
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news.wisc.edu
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Sen. Russ Feingold critiques the Iraq Study Group report and argues for a more holistic approach to counter-terrorism: “The Iraq Study Group essentially sees Iraq the same way that most of official Washington does—as the be-all and end-all of our foreign and national security policy. Nothing could be further from the truth….”
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Flipping through the news channels on Wednesday, one would have seen an endless parade of pundits and politicians praising the Iraq Study Group’s report. One exception was a man who was critical of the war before it was in style, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), who told “Countdown’s” Keith Olbermann: “The fact is, this commission was composed apparently entirely of people who did not have the judgment to oppose this Iraq war in the first place….” Watch it
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Stephen Colbert mocks the Christian Coalition’s rejection of Joel Hunter (last week’s Truthdigger of the Week) as its president. Hunter wanted to expand the group’s agenda to address the AIDS epidemic and poverty—issues the Christian conservatives thought would cause people to confuse them with liberals, or perhaps Jesus. Watch it
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The CIA has found no hard evidence of a secret drive by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, The New Yorker’s Sy Hersh reports.
Also, Hersh reports that Cheney has vowed to circumvent Congress and pursue military options against Tehran.
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Scotsman.com
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A new report from Human Rights Watch accuses the British government of softening protections against torture, abdicating its responsibility to pressure the U.S. against the practice and knowingly deporting terror suspects to countries where they are likely to suffer abuse.
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noaanews.noaa.gov
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A new report warns that climate change left unchecked would cause the global economy to lose 20% of its value, while acting to address the problem would only cost 1% of global GDP. Sir Nicholas Stern’s report is the first major attempt to address the economics, as opposed to the science, of global warming.
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From cm.bell-labs.com
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If the rate of consumption of the Earth’s natural resources continues apace, two planets will be needed to meet global demand by 2050, warns the environmental group WWF.
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Dr. Peter Agre of Scientists and Engineers for America condemns Washington’s exploitation of fake science: “Good science has something to do with reality, and reality is sometimes very useful.”
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Stephen Colbert interviews David Kuo, whose new book, “Tempting Faith,” exposes the Bush administration’s cynical exploitation of religion.
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Biologist Richard Dawkins, author of “The God Delusion,” debates Stephen Colbert on the irrationality of religion, the misrepresentation of evolution and the idiocy of intelligent design.
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In case you lost track, Stephen Colbert offers this rundown of Republican debacles. From phantom WMDs to Mark Foley, the “Report” host highlights the greatest hits of GOP mania.
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Conservative blogger and gay activist Andrew Sullivan visited “The Colbert Report” to discuss the GOP’s double standard when it comes to homosexuality: “They can’t pretend to be tolerant in private, and intolerant in public. They’re either going to have to purge all the gays from the Republican Party or they’re going to start having to behave like grown-ups and treat us like human beings.”
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Michael Lewis tells Stephen Colbert how his new book, “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game,” a rags-to-riches tale about football, caused a “rebellion” at the Christian Booksellers Association convention simply by dropping the E-bomb in the subtitle.
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From princeton.edu
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Nearly 400 of the world’s leading foreign policy intellectuals contributed to a Princeton University-organized initiative that calls for a new grand strategy to address America’s national security concerns. (More after the jump…)
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Stephen Colbert offers his take on the fallout from Bill Clinton’s Fox News appearance, including the Hillary/Condi fracas, and why the former president is to blame for everything from Republican tax cuts to the war in Iraq.
Posted on Sep 28, 2006
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Stephen Colbert put McCain and friends to shame on Monday by exposing the Republican senator’s torture protest as pseudo-opposition and their compromise with the Bush administration as an abject cave-in.
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Colbert offers some suspect political analysis for Republicans. A nice zinger in “The Word” segment: When you can vote for the president [in 2008], the Republicans will need a platform.” [On-screen: “Hopefully with a trap door.”]
Posted on Sep 22, 2006
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Stephen Colbert offered this riff on racial tribalism in America, after learning that whites tend to live amongst other whites. Heres a taste: ғIm colorblind. I donҒt see race, folks, and I always thought my gated community was incredibly diverse. But, uh, today I asked around and it turns out that everyone at last weeks ґsmooth jazz and mayonnaise block party was in fact white.Ҕ
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On Monday, Stephen Colbert went after Bushs proposed re-imagining of the Geneva Convention by inviting the president to come on the Report and demonstrate his preferred interrogation techniques. Mocking the presidents assertion that the treaty banning torture lacks clarity, Colbert observed: I personally think the image of the president saying specifically what, to him, is not an outrage on human dignity will make everyone see his position very clearly….
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A United Nations committee is bitterly complaining that parts of a U.S. House report on Iran’s nuclear capabilities are “outrageous and dishonest.”
Brain teaser: Name the last Middle Eastern country which America dubiously claimed was developing nuclear weapons, and whose name starts with the letters I-R-A…
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Stephen Colbert sat down with Richard Sexton on Tuesday to discuss his congressional candidacy against the confusingly named incumbent, James Saxton. As can be expected, hijinks ensue, including Colbert’s generous offer to smear Sexton’s opponent for him and a mock concession call not to be missed.
Posted on Sep 13, 2006
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Stephen Colbert sank his teeth into the “Path to 9/11” controversy on Monday, shaming ABC’s truth-challenged drama: “What better way to commemorate a national tragedy than turning it into a miniseries?”
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The chief of intelligence for the Marines in Iraq, a man known for straight-shooting, wrote in a secret report that there is almost nothing U.S. forces can do to prevent the western section of Iraq from descending into total lawlessness.
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Civilian casualties in Iraq rose by 50% during the last three months, according to a report released by the Pentagon. The report on security and stability in Iraq examined the sectarian violence that grips the country, saying ?Conditions that could lead to civil war exist in Iraq? but that the fighting does not meet the ?strict? definition of a civil war.
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amnesty.ca
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Amnesty International has referred to some of Israel’s actions in Lebanon as “war crimes that give rise to individual criminal responsibility.” A report by the human rights organization condemned the deliberate bombing of civilian infrastructure and the loss of civilian life, noting: “Entire families were killed in air strikes on their homes or in their vehicles while fleeing the aerial assaults on their villages ... as the Red Cross and other rescue workers were prevented from accessing the areas by continuing Israeli strikes.”
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A congressional report warned that there are “significant gaps” in America’s understanding of Iran’s WMDs capabilities—and even questioned if we are able to engage in meaningful talks with Tehran on ways to diffuse tensions.
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Illustration by Peter Scheer
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An Apple Computer audit of labor conditions at an iPod factory in China uncovered employees working longer hours than permitted by its code of conduct. Auditors also said that workers earned ?at least the local minimum wage?—whatever that may be in Longhua, China.
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Stephen Colbert wonders if Bush is refusing to endorse Ned Lamonts Republican opponent in the Conn. Senate race because the president is so toxic these days. But Colbert also has another theory…
Posted on Aug 17, 2006
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Stephen Colbert trains his mock-Bill O’Reilly act on Ramesh Ponnuru, the conservative author of “Party of Death.” Colbert: “You’ve got a blurb on your cover from Ann Coulter. That’s some credibility right there.”
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Guantanamo Prisoner’s Case Demonstrates Unfairness of Military Commissions
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