`The US Army has reimbursed a subsidiary of Halliburton Co, the oil services giant formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney, most of the costs disputed by government auditors on a on a no-bid contract in Iraq.
The Army Corps of Engineers said the Army decided to reimburse Halliburton engineering and construction unit Kellogg Brown & Root all but about million ($12 million) of .9 million in costs that Pentagon auditors had questioned as possibly inflated or unwarranted.
This was part of an overall .4 billion contract to deliver fuel and fix oil equipment in Iraq, the Army said.’
`The authorities in Moscow have hastily removed posters congratulating Russian war veterans which mistakenly showed the American warship USS Missouri.
The posters were taken down on Wednesday – just hours before Defender of the Motherland Day.
The Russian defence ministry said it did not produce the posters.’
‘Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed the United States and Israel on Thursday for the destruction of a Shiite shrine’s golden dome in Iraq, saying it was the work of “defeated Zionists and occupiers.”
Speaking to a crowd of thousands on a tour of southwestern Iran, the president referred to the destruction of the Askariya mosque dome in Samarra on Wednesday, which the Iraqi government has blamed on insurgents.
“They invade the shrine and bomb there because they oppose God and justice,” Ahmadinejad said, alluding to the U.S.-led multinational forces in Iraq.
“These passive activities are the acts of a group of defeated Zionists and occupiers who intended to hit our emotions,” he said in a speech that was broadcast on state television. Addressing the United States, he added: “You have to know that such an act will not save you from the anger of Muslim nations.”‘
followup to Iraq faces civil war threat.
`Gunmen fired two rockets at a tomb sacred for Shiites south of Baghdad causing damage but no casualties, a Shiite official said.
The tomb of Salman Pak, also known as Salman al-Farisi, was attacked after sunset with two rockets, said Jamal al-Saghir, an aide to Shiite political leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim.
The tomb is located in the village of Salman Pak, 20 miles southeast of Baghdad. The village carries the name of the man.
The attack comes two days after a Shiite holy Shrine in the central city of Samarra was heavily damaged by an explosion. Dozens of Sunni mosques were attacked after that throughout Iraq.’
`A bomb attack overnight destroyed the dome of one of Shiite Islam’s holiest shrines, prompting reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques in Baghdad that left six dead and raised fears of sectarian civil war.
Another two people were killed in an attack on offices of a Sunni political party in Iraq’s mainly Shiite second city of Basra, while gunmen stormed a prison in the city and lynched 10 suspected militants from Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Two explosions brought down the gilded dome of the 1000-year-old Imam Ali al-Hadi mausoleum in the town of Samarra north of Baghdad, fanning fears of a sectarian war between Iraq’s newly empowered Shiite majority and the ousted Sunni Arab elite.
The attack against the shrine, where Shi’ites believe their 12th Imam disappeared in the 9th century AD, triggered Shiite violence that was unprecedented in scope since US-led forces ousted Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated regime in April 2003.’
`Australians are more hostile than ever towards the United States and view China’s global influence more favourably than that of Canberra’s key ally, a new global poll has found.
The poll, released yesterday in the influential US magazine Foreign Policy, describes America as globally “red, white and booed”, noting: “The United States’s standing dropped sharply as a result of the Iraq war, and it hasn’t hit rock bottom yet.”
In interviews conducted between last October and January, only 29 per cent of Australians had a “mainly positive” attitude towards the US, while 60 per cent were “mainly negative” and 11 per cent undecided. This is down on last year, when 40 per cent of Australians were positive about the US.’
Now, just gotta get that 29% down to 0%. 🙂
`An Australian TV channel has broadcast previously unpublished images showing apparent US abuse of prisoners in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib jail in 2003.
The images on SBS TV are thought to be from the same source as those that caused an outcry around the world and led to several US troops being jailed.
The new images show “homicide, torture and sexual humiliation”, SBS said.
The US has said the images could only “incite unnecessary violence” and endanger US military personnel.’
And here’s the new Abu Ghraib images themselves.
`Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) has asked Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson for a thorough inquiry of his agency’s investigation into whether a V.A. nurse’s letter to the editor criticizing the Bush administration amounted to “sedition.” [..]
Laura Berg, a clinical nurse specialist for 15 years, wrote a letter in September to a weekly Albuquerque newspaper criticizing how the administration handled Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq Wwr. She urged people to “act forcefully” by bringing criminal charges against top administration officials, including the president, to remove them from power because they played games of “vicious deceit.” She added: “This country needs to get out of Iraq now and return to our original vision and priorities of caring for land and people and resources rather than killing for oil….Otherwise, many more of us will be facing living hell in these times.”
The agency seized her office computer and launched an investigation. Berg is not talking to the press, but reportedly fears losing her job.’
‘British troops take it upon themselves to beat up some iraqis. We’re not making a political statement here, but everyone is talking about this video. Watch and decide for yourself.’
Well, atleast they’re not just shooting at random cars this time.
(5.5meg Windows Media)
more here: Britain probes video of ‘rogue’ troops abusing Iraqis
see it here »
`Strategists at the Pentagon are drawing up plans for devastating bombing raids backed by submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks against Iran’s nuclear sites as a “last resort” to block Teheran’s efforts to develop an atomic bomb.
Central Command and Strategic Command planners are identifying targets, assessing weapon-loads and working on logistics for an operation, the Sunday Telegraph has learnt. [..]
“This is more than just the standard military contingency assessment,” said a senior Pentagon adviser. “This has taken on much greater urgency in recent months.”‘
`In this clip the Navy is test firing a missile. The way it stalls is really funny for some reason. This scene could be out of a cartoon.’
(540kB Windows Media)
see it here »
`Peace activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested Tuesday in the House gallery after refusing to cover up a T-shirt bearing an anti-war slogan before President Bush’s State of the Union address.
According to a blog post on Michael Moore’s Web site attributed to Sheehan, the T-shirt said, “2,245 Dead. How many more?” — a reference to the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq.’
`One-year-old Dima Verenitsin cannot walk yet, but he’s already received his marching orders from Russia’s army conscription office, the Izvestia has reported.
An administrative mix-up led to a demand that baby Dima, who turned one on January 9, register with Volgograd’s enlistment point, a ritual usually reserved for boys of 16, the newspaper said.
The infant’s grandmother, Lyubov Galushkina, told Izvestia that at first she thought the military was serious. “I wanted to go to the conscription point with Dima, but there was that cold snap and he got ill.”‘
`President George W. Bush soon will ask Congress for another $120 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing their total cost so far to about $440 billion. [..]
The vast majority of the money is for Iraq, where expenses are about $4.5 billion a month, according to administration officials. The U.S. campaign in Afghanistan is costing about $800 million a month.’
`U.S. officials didn’t apologize Wednesday but said they’re investigating a “regrettable” incident in which soldiers fired at a car carrying four Canadian diplomats in Baghdad.
Canadians are disputing a U.S. version of events, saying a military convoy fired at them without warning, with one bullet coming dangerously close. No one was injured.’
`Prince Harry is to be sent to Iraq next year as a troop commander and is likely to patrol the hazardous border with Iran, defence sources have disclosed.
The third in line to the throne will join the Army’s 1st Mechanised Brigade, which will be deployed to Basra in May 2007. [..]
As a troop commander in the Blues and Royals, the prince will have the rank of cornet, equivalent to a second lieutenant, in charge of 11 men and four light tanks.’
`A $37 million jet fighter belonging to the United States military has been lost at sea during a training exercise in Queensland. The jet was attempting a night landing on the flight deck of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan on Saturday.
The pilot ejected safely and was rescued by the ship’s helicopter, but the FA-18 Hornet strike fighter was unlikely to be retrieved from the ocean, US officials confirmed.
The accident happened when the aircraft carrier was 400 kilometres south-east of Brisbane, ABC television reported.’
`Defence lawyers for Saddam Hussein Wednesday distributed copies of a lawsuit against President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair for destroying Iraq.
The suit accuses Bush and Blair of committing war crimes by using weapons of mass destruction and internationally-banned weapons including enriched uranium and phosphoric and cluster bombs against unarmed Iraqi civilians, notably in Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi, al-Kaem and Anbar. [..]
The suit also accuses the U.S. president and British prime minister of torturing Iraqi prisoners, destroying Iraq’s cultural heritage with the aim of eliminating an ancient civilization, and inciting internal strife.
Bush and Blair were also accused of polluting Iraq’s air, waters and environment.’
`In the beginning…
…there was light. And that light was the fuel-propelled explosion of a fighter plane slicing right through a US carrier, which was forced to make an emergency landing on Chinese ground. And following on from the untimely demise of the (unfortunately named) Chinese pilot Wang, due to his dubious collision with an American plane that, as one American Hacker so eloquently put it, had all the agility of “A flying dildo”, so began a “World Hacker War” that has been somewhat lost to the mists of time. I’m looking to put that right.’
`[..] From the transcript of radio communication among Israeli soldiers near Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. The recording was submitted in January 2005 in the trial of the company commander, whose name has been withheld due to a military court order. He faces a maximum of three years in prison. [..]
SENTRY: We spotted an Arab female about 100 meters below our emplacement, near the light armored vehicle gate.
HEADQUARTERS: Observation post “Spain,” do you see it?
OBSERVATION POST: Affirmative, it’s a young girl. She’s now running east.
HQ: What is her position?
OP: She’s currently north of the authorized zone.
SENTRY: Very inappropriate location.
[Gunfire]’
`Retired Russian colonel Stanislav Petrov received a special World Citizen Award at a UN meeting in New York on Thursday. Petrov was honored as the “Man Who Averted Nuclear War”. [..]
Petrov was highly aware that Cold War tensions were acute, as USSR fighters had shot down a Korean airliner on Sept. 1. But he was completely shocked when the warning siren began to wail and two lights on his desk console began flashing MISSILE ATTACK and START. “Start” was the instruction to launch, irreversibly, all 5,000 or so Soviet missiles and obliterate America.
A new, unproven Soviet satellite system had picked up a flash in Montana near a Minuteman II silo. Then another — five, all told.
Petrov recalls his legs were “like cotton,” as they say in Russian. He stared at the huge electronic wall map of the United States in terror and disbelief. As his staff gawked upward at him from the floor, he had the thought, “Who would order an attack with only five missiles? That big an idiot has not been born yet, not even in the U.S.”’
`French President Jacques Chirac has said France would be ready to use nuclear weapons against any state which launched a terrorist attack against it.
Speaking at a nuclear submarine base in north-western France, Mr Chirac said a French response “could be conventional. It could also be of another nature.”
He said France’s nuclear forces had been configured for such an event.’
`Two deploying soldiers and a concerned mother reported Friday afternoon that the U.S. Army appears to be singling out soldiers who have purchased Pinnacle’s Dragon Skin Body Armor for special treatment. The soldiers, who are currently staging for combat operations from a secret location, reported that their commander told them if they were wearing Pinnacle Dragon Skin and were killed their beneficiaries might not receive the death benefits from their $400,000 SGLI life insurance policies. The soldiers were ordered to leave their privately purchased body armor at home or face the possibility of both losing their life insurance benefit and facing disciplinary action.’
`Former Vice President Al Gore called on Congress and the public to resist what he called “a gross and excessive power grab” by the Bush administration amid the war on terrorism, declaring that “our Constitution is at risk.”
Gore said the use of the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans without court approval shows that President Bush “has been breaking the law repeatedly and persistently.”
“A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government,” he said.’
`General Ronald E. Keys, Commander of Air Combat Command, has announced that the F-22A Raptor, the world’s only 5th generation fighter aircraft, surpassed a monumental milestone today when the United States Air Force declared that the Raptor has reached initial operational capability. The General made the historic announcement at Langley Air Force Base, VA.
The Air Force is now capable of deploying and supporting 12 F-22A Raptor aircraft anywhere in the world to execute air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The Raptor is also qualified to perform homeland defense missions when required.
[..] Rated “Overwhelmingly Effective” by the USAF during Initial Operational Test and Evaluation, the Raptor is three times more effective than the F-15.’
Hooray! That means three times as many innocent Iraqi civilians can be killed. And three times as much oil for the US aswell, no doubt.
`A U.S. helicopter went down north of Baghdad on Monday, a U.S. military official said.
The official said the helicopter usually has a two-person crew and was being used by the U.S. Army’s Task Force Iron Horse.
The Army of Mujahideen posted an internet statement with a video in which they claimed to have shot down the Apache. This claim could not be verified.’
with the video.
`When the stress of the war in Iraq becomes too severe, the Pentagon has a suggestion for military families: Learn how to laugh.
With help from the Pentagon’s chief laughter instructor, families of National Guard members are learning to walk like a penguin, laugh like a lion and blurt “ha, ha, hee, hee and ho, ho.”
No joke.
“I laugh every chance I get,” says the instructor, retired Army colonel James “Scotty” Scott. “That’s why I’m blessed to be at the Pentagon, where we definitely need a lot of laughter in our lives.”‘
I once had to go to a team building day where we had to force laughter. It was stupid.
`There is a new breed of weaponry fast approaching — and at the speed of light, no less. They are labeled “directed-energy weapons,” and they may well signal a revolution in military hardware — perhaps more so than the atomic bomb. [..]
After more than two decades of research, the United States is on the verge of deploying a new generation of weapons that discharge beams of energy, such as the Airborne Laser and the Active Denial System, as well as the Tactical High Energy Laser, or THEL.’
`Finally, it has started. People have begun to speak of impeaching President George W. Bush–not in hushed whispers but openly, in newspapers, on the Internet, in ordinary conversations and even in Congress. As a former member of Congress who sat on the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon, I believe they are right to do so.
I can still remember the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach during those proceedings, when it became clear that the President had so systematically abused the powers of the presidency and so threatened the rule of law that he had to be removed from office. As a Democrat who opposed many of President Nixon’s policies, I still found voting for his impeachment to be one of the most sobering and unpleasant tasks I ever had to undertake. None of the members of the committee took pleasure in voting for impeachment; after all, Democrat or Republican, Nixon was still our President.
At the time, I hoped that our committee’s work would send a strong signal to future Presidents that they had to obey the rule of law. I was wrong.’
Long article, makes a good case for bringing George “War Criminal” Bush to justice.
`American troops in Baghdad yesterday blasted their way into the home of an Iraqi journalist working for the Guardian and Channel 4, firing bullets into the bedroom where he was sleeping with his wife and children.
Ali Fadhil, who two months ago won the Foreign Press Association young journalist of the year award, was hooded and taken for questioning. He was released hours later.
Dr Fadhil is working with Guardian Films on an investigation for Channel 4’s Dispatches programme into claims that tens of millions of dollars worth of Iraqi funds held by the Americans and British have been misused or misappropriated.
The troops told Dr Fadhil that they were looking for an Iraqi insurgent and seized video tapes he had shot for the programme. These have not yet been returned.
The director of the film, Callum Macrae, said yesterday: “The timing and nature of this raid is extremely disturbing. It is only a few days since we first approached the US authorities and told them Ali was doing this investigation, and asked them then to grant him an interview about our findings.’
