FBI documents contradict 9/11 Commission report

The FBI timeline reveals that alleged hijacker Hamza Al-Ghamdi, who was aboard the United Airlines flight which crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, had booked a future flight to San Francisco. He also had a ticket for a trip from Casablanca to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.

The FBI timeline reveals that Al-Ghamdi, the alleged United hijacker, was booked onto several flights scheduled for after the 9/11 attacks, a piece of information not documented in the Commission’s final report. According to the FBI timeline, Al-Ghamdi was booked on another United Airlines flight on the very day of the attack.

On page 288 under an entry pertaining to “H AlGhamdi,” the FBI timeline reads: "Future flight. Scheduled to depart Los Angeles International Airport for San Francisco International Airport on UA 7950."

The timeline similarly documents Al-Ghamdi’s bookings for several other post 9/11 flights, including one on Sept. 20, 2001 from Casablanca, Morocco to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and another on Sept. 29, 2001 from Riyadh to Damman, Saudi Arabia. (FBI Timeline 2, p. 296 under “H Alghamdi”)

“A rental application shows that before renting Apartment 150 Parkwood Apartments on 02/05/2000, AL-MlHDHAR and Nawaf Alhazmi alleged that they resided with [REDACTED] from 01/15/2000 to 02/02/2000 at Apartment 152 of the same apartment complex,” page 52 of the FBI timeline reads.

Two pages later, the same apartment complex is noted again, this time with its full address: “AL-MIHDHAR and Nawaf Alhazmi resided at Parkwood Apartments, located at 6401 Mount Ada Road, Apartment 150, San Diego, CA. [REDACTED] was the co-signor and guarantor on the lease agreement for this apparement. The rental application shows that before renting Apartment 150, AL-MIHDHAR and Nawaf Alhazmi resided with [REDACTED]." (A photograph of apartment 152 appears atop this article. An image of apartment 150 appears on page 2.)

In other words, according to the only public account, both Al-Mihdhar and Hazmi were in San Diego, not Los Angeles, contrary to the Commission’s report.

Why did the Commission use an alternate source for the whereabouts of the two men, when the FBI’s own timeline said they were in San Diego by Jan. 15, the same day as their arrival in the US?

Paul Thompson, author of the The Terror Timeline: Year by Year, Day by Day, Minute by Minute: A Comprehensive Chronicle of the Road to 9/11--and America's Response, has been wading through the FBI timeline since its release. His preliminary analysis can be found at the website of the History Commons (formerly known as the Center for Cooperative Research).

Thompson believes that the possible motive for the Commission to alter the dates is to obscure official Saudi ties to the hijackers.

He points to the redaction of the name of a person who is a known employee of a Saudi defense contractor, Omar al-Bayoumi, who lived at the same location.

“We know it’s Bayoumi,” said Thompson, “because after 9/11, the Finnish Government mistakenly released a classified FBI list of suspects that showed Bayoumi living in apartment #152 of Parkwood Apartments.” That information is available here.

“But also important is that it strongly suggests that the hijackers already had a support network in Southern California before they arrived,” Thompson continued.

“In the official version of the story now, the hijackers drift around L.A. listlessly for two weeks before chancing to come across Bayoumi in a restaurant [according to Bayoumi’s account],” Thompson added. “Whereupon he's an incredible good Samaritan and takes them down to San Diego, pays their rent, etc.”

”But from the FBI's timeline, we now know the hijackers started staying at Bayoumi's place on Jan. 15 – the very same day they arrived,” Thompson says. “So obviously they must have been met at the airport and taken care of from their very first hours in the US. That's huge because the FBI maintains to this day that the hijackers never had any accomplices in the US.”

Robert Baer, a former CIA case officer in the Middle East whose See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism became the inspiration for the award winning film Syriana, concurs with Thompson’s view.

“There are enough discrepancies and unanswered questions in the 9/11 Commission report that under a friendly administration, the 9/11 investigation should be re-opened,” Baer wrote in an email message Tuesday night.

“Bayoumi clearly offered material assistance to [the 9/11 hijackers].”

In fact, Bayoumi was an employee of the Saudi defense contractor Dallah Avco. According to a 2002 Newsweek article about Bayoumi, Dallah Avco is “an aviation-services company with extensive contracts with the Saudi Ministry of Defense and Aviation, headed by Prince Sultan, the father of the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar.”

Newsweek points to another connection between Bayoumi and Bandar: “About two months after al-Bayoumi began aiding Alhazmi and Almihdhar, NEWSWEEK has learned, al-Bayoumi's wife began receiving regular stipends, often monthly and usually around $2,000, totaling tens of thousands of dollars. The money came in the form of cashier's checks, purchased from Washington's Riggs Bank by Princess Haifa bint Faisal, the daughter of the late King Faisal and wife of Prince Bandar, the Saudi envoy who is a prominent Washington figure and personal friend of the Bush family. The checks were sent to a woman named Majeda Ibrahin Dweikat, who in turn signed over many of them to al-Bayoumi's wife (and her friend), Manal Ahmed Bagader. The Feds want to know: Was this well-meaning charity gone awry? Or some elaborate money-laundering scheme? A scam? Or just a coincidence?”

According to then-Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL), who served as a co-chair of the 9/11 Congressional inquiry that preceded the 9/11 Commission, during the period of Alhazmi and Almihdhar’s arrival in the US, Bayoumi had an “unusually large number of telephone calls with Saudi government officials in both Los Angeles and Washington.” (Graham and Nussbaum, 2004, pp. 168-169)

Baer has additional questions.

“Considering that the main body of evidence came from tortured confessions, it's still not entirely clear to me what happened on 9/11,” Baer said. “Among other questions [I have]: Why did [Prince] Bandar's wife sent money to Bayoumi? What are Bayoumi’s links to the Sultan? How were the 15 Saudis [among the 19 hijackers] selected to carry out the attack? Who fed the credit card used by Abu Zubayda? What happened to Abu Zubayda's telephone bills? Who was he calling in the U.S? None of these questions are unreasonable nor would answering them violate intelligence sources and methods."

In a recent review of Shenon’s book, former Democratic senator and 9/11 Commission member Bob Kerrey called on Congress to investigate alleged Saudi ties.

“Congress should demand direct access to those who organized the attacks; our indirect interviews were at best inadequate,” Kerrey wrote. “And Congress should pursue [the] question of whether the Saudi government aided the conspiracy.” (...)

All this is extremely hard to explain if we're talking about fundamentalist suicide terrorists. It is, however, extremely simple to explain if we're talking about PATSIES.

Euro pushes to a new record above $1.50

The dollar sank to a new low against the euro Wednesday after the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank said that the U.S. would encounter more sluggish economic activity in the coming weeks and months.

The euro climbed through the level of $1.50 for the first time ever Wednesday as fears of ongoing weakness in the U.S. economy mixed with evidence of resilience in Europe to convince traders that the time had come to breach an unprecedented level. (...)

Russia's Medvedev warns Kosovo's independence could set Europe ablaze

First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is expected to easily win Sunday's presidential vote, said Kosovo's independence has "jeopardized security and stability of the vast region."

Medvedev said recognition of Kosovo's declaration Feb. 17, spearheaded by the United States, has "put Europe in a very difficult situation."

"The United States is far away and is not facing any risks, but Europe could go ablaze," he said in a campaign speech in the Volga River city of Nizhny Novgorod. "It's enough to put a match to set everything ablaze."

Medvedev said Wednesday that Kosovo's independence could encourage a rise in organized crime and drug trafficking across Europe — which would threaten Russia, among other nations. (...)

Temperature Monitors Report Widescale Global Cooling

Over the past year, anecdotal evidence for a cooling planet has exploded. China has its coldest winter in 100 years. Baghdad sees its first snow in all recorded history. North America has the most snowcover in 50 years, with places like Wisconsin the highest since record-keeping began. Record levels of Antarctic sea ice, record cold in Minnesota, Texas, Florida, Mexico, Australia, Iran, Greece, South Africa, Greenland, Argentina, Chile -- the list goes on and on.

No more than anecdotal evidence, to be sure. But now, that evidence has been supplanted by hard scientific fact. All four major global temperature tracking outlets (Hadley, NASA's GISS, UAH, RSS) have released updated data. All show that over the past year, global temperatures have dropped precipitously.

A compiled list of all the sources can be seen here. The total amount of cooling ranges from 0.65C up to 0.75C -- a value large enough to wipe out nearly all the warming recorded over the past 100 years. All in one year's time. For all four sources, it's the single fastest temperature change ever recorded, either up or down. (...)

"Ooops... Ok, ok, I've got something, don't panic. We'll call it 'Man Made Global Cooling', and we'll ask them for a... er... an Ice Tax! Yes, that's it!" - Al Gore

An “independent” Kosovo: the hidden agenda - a war with Russia

by Elisa Hatigan

Anyone who has read my blog before knows that I grew up under an oppressive Communism regime, and I believed myself to now be in a democratic country. But over the last two years I have understood that there is practically NO DIFFERENCE between the oppression my family and countrymen experienced under communism pre-1989, and the oppression of the mind being perpetrated today by the mainstream media and the current government status quo.

The ONLY difference there may be is this: while under communism, WE KNEW that we were being lied to and oppressed. We KNEW we lived under censorship, so everybody tried to listen to the Voice of America broadcasts in the middle of the night, we tried to inform and educate ourselves somehow. In today’s time, in North America, people DON’T KNOW they are being deceived, lied to and oppressed by their state.

We live in frightening times. And history that is forgotten is doomed to be repeated. (...)

Russia to cooperate with any new U.S. administration - Medvedev

Russia will work with any new U.S. administration formed after presidential elections in November, a Russian first deputy prime minister and the man favorite to succeed President Putin said on Tuesday.

"We will work with any administration that is formed following the elections," Dmitry Medvedev said. "It would, although, undoubtedly be easier to deal with people enjoying an up-to-date outlook, rather than with those who have reflections of the past in their eyes, or simply advocate semi-moronic views." (...)

I wonder who was he referring to. Hmmmmmm........

Will American Empire End Before It Ends the World?

by Paul Craig Roberts

Supposedly our time is the era of globalism and one worldism. Ancient European nationalities are dissolving into the European Union, a new super state. US corporations now have transnational interests devoid of any national loyalties. Yet, the US is hard at work dissolving a small Balkan state into even smaller constituent parts. Why is this happening? Why did Bush order US puppets in Britain, France and Germany to instantly recognize the historic Serbian province as a new Muslim state?

Is the new state of Kosovo, as rumors would have it, Richard Perle’s payoff to the Turks, or is the explanation that Serbia, like Palestine, Iraq, and Iran, lacking any international media reach, was easy for Empire Neocons to demonize in order to establish the precedent that Washington decides what territory belongs to who and who rules it. Clinton’s bombing of Serbia was a precedent for Bush’s bombing of Afghanistan and Iraq and now Africa and tomorrow Iran and Syria.

The day the Empire Crazies bomb Russia or China, we are all fried.

Be a macho super patriot, believe your government, help to fry the world. It’s the American way. (...)

Iran Dismisses Nuke Documents As Fakes

The U.N. nuclear monitoring agency presented documents that diplomats said indicate Iran may have focused on a nuclear weapons program after 2003 — the year that a U.S. intelligence report says such work stopped.

Iran again denied ever trying to make such arms. Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, the chief Iranian delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency, dismissed the information showcased by the body Monday as "forgeries."

Most of the material shown to Iran by the IAEA on alleged attempts to make nuclear arms came from Washington, though some was provided by U.S. allies, diplomats told the AP. The agency shared it with Tehran only after the nations gave their permission.

Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazee, said the intelligence information turned over to the IAEA was "baseless" and alleged it was fabricated by an Iranian opposition group.

"I'm afraid to say that, according to my information, some of these allegations were produced or fabricated by a terrorist group, which are listed as a terrorist group in the United States and somewhere else in Europe," Khazee said told the AP in New York.

He appeared to be referring to the Mujahedeen Khalq, also known as the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, which was listed as a foreign terrorist group by the U.S. government in 1997 and the European Union last year. (...)

'Frozen garden of Eden' seed vault blooms in Arctic

A vault carved into the Arctic permafrost and filled with samples of the world's most important seeds was inaugurated Tuesday, providing a Noah's Ark of food crops in the event of a global catastrophe.

"This is a frozen garden of Eden," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at the opening ceremony.

Aimed at safeguarding biodiversity in the face of climate change, wars and other natural and man-made disasters, the new seed bank has the capacity to hold up to 4.5 million batches, or twice the number of crop varieties believed to exist in the world today.

Protected by high walls of fortified concrete, an armoured door, a sensor alarm and the native polar bears that roam the region, the "doomsday vault" has been built 130 metres (425 feet) above current sea level. (...)

Attack Iran, With Words

by Reuel Marc Gerecht

FOR those who believe — as I do — that the clerics who rule Iran must never have an arsenal of nuclear weapons, the United States’ course of action ought to be clear: The Bush administration should advocate direct, unconditional talks between Washington and Tehran. Strategically, politically and morally, such meetings will help us think more clearly. Foreign-policy hawks ought to see such discussions as essential preparation for possible military strikes against clerical Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Yet, what has been the response of most American hawks to this mess? Prayer. They are essentially waiting for the clerical regime to do something stupid so that they can galvanize an awareness among Americans that mullahs should not have the bomb. True, the Iranian clerics have often done the wrong thing at the right time, from aiding the bombers of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996 and our African embassies in 1998, to the kidnapping of British sailors and marines last year. It is possible that Tehran, which wants to cause us great harm in Iraq and Afghanistan, could again back a terrorist attack that kills enough Americans to make preventive military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities mandatory.

But the Iranians know this. They know they are in the final nuclear stretch: they will likely play it sufficiently cool to make it difficult for the United States to strike them pre-emptively.

Thus the best reason to offer to begin talks with Tehran is that the regime will almost certainly refuse any offer to normalize relations.

If the mullahs don’t want to negotiate, fine: making the offer is something that must be checked off before the next president could unleash the Air Force and the Navy.

If the White House tried more energetically to find a diplomatic solution to the nuclear threat, if it demonstrated that it had reached out to Iranian “pragmatists” and “moderates,” and that again no one responded, then the military option would likely become convincing to more Americans.

Critics of any discussions might respond that the Iranians might say yes, but to only low-level talks in Switzerland, not in Washington and Tehran.

But so what? Minus the direct talks, this is more or less what is happening now. Would a President John McCain tolerate pointless discussions? Probably not. Would Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton? Perhaps. Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton may well prefer to see the clerical regime go nuclear than strike it preventively. But if that is where they would go, their opponents can do little about it. The only thing that could conceivably change their minds would be direct talks on the big issues separating the two countries. The mullahs have a way of driving their foreign interlocutors nuts. Just ask the European negotiators who’ve had to deal with them. Meeting Iranian leaders is perhaps the best way to turn doves into hawks.

If the Bush administration were to use this sort of diplomatic jujitsu on the ruling clerics, it could convulse their world. No, this is absolutely no guarantee that Tehran will stop, or even suspend, uranium enrichment. But a new approach would certainly put the United States on offense and Iran on defense. We would, at least, have the unquestioned moral and political high ground. And from there, it would be a lot easier for the next administration, if it must, to stop militarily the mullahs’ quest for the bomb. (...)

A neocon desperately looking for war... Disgusting article.

U.S. can attack Russia in 2012-2015 - Russian military analyst

After 2012-2015, the U.S. will be able to annihilate Russian strategic nuclear forces by a non-nuclear preemptive strike, said Konstantin Sivkov, the first vice president of the Russian Academy of Geopolitical Problems.

"I declare that the likelihood of a military threat is great as never before now," Sivkov told Interfax on Saturday.

Western military experts have recently started to talk about the possibility of attacking Russia and annexing its territory, Sivkov said. "Russia is supposed to be dismembered into three parts, with the Western part going to the European Union, the central part and Siberia to the U.S., and the eastern to China. This is a rough scenario," he said.

Russian armed forces will be unable to successfully counter an aggression, Sivkov said. "At the present time, the conventional armed forces cannot properly perform their duties in a regional war, like the Great Patriotic War, even in theory. Even if fully deployed, their potential is limited even in local wars. The only factor that deters [the U.S.] now is the nuclear arsenal," he said.

Putin Warns West Over Kosovo Dispute

"The Kosovo precedent is a terrifying precedent. It in essence is breaking open the entire system of international relations that have prevailed not just for decades but for centuries. And it without a doubt will bring on itself an entire chain of unforeseen consequences," Putin said.

Governments that have recognized Kosovo "are miscalculating what they are doing," he added. "In the end, this is a stick with two ends and that other end will come back to knock them on the head someday." (...)

Secret Report Uncovers Massive Fraud at European Parliament

Chris Davies, a Liberal Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the North-West of the UK, is a member of the Budget Control Committee of the European Parliament. As he told BBC’s Today Programme (listen here), he discovered, quite by chance, that Parliament’s auditors had made a report detailing abuses on a vast scale, abuses that suggest some MEPs are simply plundering the system to enrich themselves. (...)

Russia’s “brute force” is ready: Moscow's NATO envoy

"This is not only between Russia and NATO.This is a conflict of the whole system of international security. This is not a diplomatic, but a political issue. An issue of the future, about whether there are any proprieties in interstate relations or that one can follow the policy of 'he who has the power has the right," he said.

In this new world Russia has to rely on force to protect itself, Rogozin believes.

"Then it has its own conclusions for Russia. We too would understand that we need brutal physical force to make sure we are respected, understood and that others acknowledge our right to our own point of view - and the name of that force is military force," he said.

Dmitry Rogozin was quick to qualify his words on the use of military force, saying it would only be used to protect direct national interests.

"Obviously, Russia will not take part in any kind of military operations in Kosovo, in the Balkans or outside its borders in general. Russia has enough political and moral authority to defend international law, and that's what it's doing. But when the issue touches its own national interests, its borders and attempts to repeat the Kosovo scenario on Russian territory, it will defend not only international law, but also its own sovereignty," Rogozin said. (...)

Opening a Pandora's Box: Kosovo "Independence" and the Project for a "New Middle East"

by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

The February 2008 declaration of independence of Kosovo is a means towards legitimizing the dissolution and breaking up of sovereign states on a global scale.

Eurasia is the main target. Kosovar “independence” is part of a neo-colonial program with underlying economic and geo-political interests. The objective is to instate a New World Order and establish hegemonic control over the global economy.

In this sense Kosovo provides a blueprint and a “dress-rehearsal” which can now be applied to restructuring the economies and borders of the Middle East, under the Project for a “New Middle East.”

The restructuring model that is being applied in the former Yugoslavia is precisely what is intended for the Middle East — a process of balkanization and economic control. (...)

Turkey Says It Has Sent Ground Troops Into Iraq

Turkey's military said it had sent ground troops into northern Iraq Thursday night in an operation aimed at weakening Kurdish militants there, the first confirmed ground incursion since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. (...)

Angela Merkel rules out Afghan combat role

Chancellor Angela Merkel has defied Germany's Nato allies by refusing to commit troops to combat zones in Afghanistan.

Despite intense pressure from the United States and warnings that the dispute could lead to an irreparable split in the trans-Atlantic alliance, Mrs Merkel said that her government would not reconsider the terms of the mandate under which German soldiers are stationed in the country. (...)

Saboteurs may have cut Mideast telecom cables: UN agency

Damage to several undersea telecom cables that caused outages across the Middle East and Asia could have been an act of sabotage, the International Telecommunication Union said on Monday.

"We do not want to preempt the results of ongoing investigations, but we do not rule out that a deliberate act of sabotage caused the damage to the undersea cables over two weeks ago," the UN agency's head of development, Sami al-Murshed, told AFP. (...)

Russia warns US over Kosovo move

Russia has warned the US that Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia endangers international stability.

Moscow said the comments were made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a telephone conversation with his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice. (...)

Missile-ready China warns U.S. against plan to destroy spy satellite

In response to a U.S. plan to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite, China has warned against threats to security in outer space, without mentioning its own successful anti-satellite missile test last year.

The Chinese government also stopped short of linking the planned U.S. strike with Beijing's repeated calls for a complete ban on space weapons.

"Relevant departments of China are closely watching the situation and working out preventative measures," Liu said.

Just days after China and Russia renewed their call for a global ban on space weapons at a disarmament conference, the United States announced late last week that it was preparing to fire a missile at the crippled reconnaissance satellite during one of its passes over the Pacific by the middle of next week.

The United States opposes treaties or other measures to restrict space weapons.

Russia denounced the planned downing of the satellite on Saturday, saying it could be a subterfuge to test a space weapon.

China's warning about the threat to security in space comes after a period of friction in the sometimes troubled military relationship that it has with the United States.

In November, Beijing unexpectedly denied permission for the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and other U.S. warships to visit Hong Kong, setting off a diplomatic dispute. (...)

Towards the Conquest of the Middle East and North Africa: The U.S., the E.U. and Israel join hands

by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

France and Germany are partners in the Anglo-American wars and the Project for the “New Middle East.” This is not a recent development, this is the resumption of the strategic understanding that existed between the Franco-German and Anglo-American sides before the Bush Jr. Administration seemed to have diverged from Anglo-American geo-strategy. The global military deployments of Germany, France, Spain, and Italy coincide with statements of expanding the European Union’s security borders, which can in turn be equated to expanding the European Union’s sphere of influence. (...)

The Increasing Encirclement of Iran

by Daan de Wit

The Annual Threat Assessment that Michael McConnell presents is the first important document to be released on this matter since the publication of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) in December of 2007. McConnell says that, looking back, he would like to have seen the now infamous NIE formulated differently: 'If I had 'til now to think about it, I probably would change a few things. [...] I would have included that there are the component parts, that the portion of it, maybe the least significant, had halted'. In his Threat Assessment he corrects the balance regarding something that he feels was relatively unimportant - an Iranian program to develop nuclear warheads. The testimony of 'the leader of our entire intelligence community', as President Bush calls him, makes it clear once and for all: The American government was, and apparently still is, on a collision course with Iran. (...)

CIA's ambitious post-9/11 spy plan crumbles

The CIA set up a network of front companies in Europe and elsewhere after the Sept. 11 attacks as part of a constellation of "black stations" for a new generation of spies, according to current and former agency officials.

But after spending hundreds of millions of dollars setting up as many as 12 of the companies, the agency shut down all but two after concluding they were ill-conceived and poorly positioned for gathering intelligence on the CIA's principal targets: terrorist groups and unconventional weapons proliferation networks.

One of the CIA's commercial cover platforms was exposed in 2003 when undercover officer Valerie Plame was exposed in a newspaper by columnist Robert Novak. Public records quickly led to the unraveling of the company that served as her cover during overseas trips, a fictitious CIA firm called Brewster Jennings & Associates. (...)

Kosovo Declares Its Independence From Serbia

The former Serbian province of Kosovo declared independence on Sunday, sending tens of thousands of euphoric ethnic Albanians into the streets of this war-torn capital to celebrate the end of a long and bloody struggle for national self-determination. (...)

Russia: U.S. may use satellite blast to test weapon

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Saturday a U.S. plan to shoot down an ailing spy satellite could be used as a cover to test a new space weapon.

The ministry said there was insufficient proof that Washington's decision to fire a missile at the disabled satellite was to prevent a potentially deadly leak of toxic gas as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere.

"In our opinion, the decision to destroy the U.S. satellite is not as harmless as it is being presented. Especially as the United States has been avoiding talks on restricting a space arms race for quite a long time," the ministry's information department said in a statement.

"Under cover of discussions about the danger posed by the satellite, preparation is going ahead for tests of an anti-satellite weapon. Such tests mean in essence the creation of a new strategic weapon." (...)

FBI warns of possible Hezbollah revenge in U.S.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security sent a bulletin Friday to state and local law enforcement authorities advising them to watch for potential retaliatory strikes by Hezbollah, one day after the Lebanese militia group vowed to avenge the death of a top commander by attacking Israeli and Jewish targets around the world.

U.S. authorities have long described Hezbollah as the "A-Team" of terrorism, with far more discipline than Al Qaeda, vast financing from the government of Iran, and a global network of sleeper operatives who could be called on to launch an attack at any time. Various federal investigations and prosecutions have uncovered dozens of Hezbollah fundraisers and supporters in the United States, but few people are believed to be actual "bomb throwers," according to a senior FBI counter-terrorism official who focuses on Hezbollah.

"My understanding has always been that Hezbollah would never strike in the United States unless they believed that we participated in an operation against them," said Bob Pertuso, a former FBI special agent assigned to the Detroit Joint Terrorism Task Force from 2000 to 2004 who specialized in Hezbollah investigations. "So if they believed we assisted in the operation against Mughniyah, I would say they would strike in the United States." (...)

Moscow criticizes U.S. statement on 'intimidation' of neighbors

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's recent statement that Russia was 'intimidating' its post-Soviet neighbors was inappropriate.

"The words about intimidation from Russia are, at the very least, inappropriate," Mikhail Kamynin, a spokesman for the ministry, said.

Responding to Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent statement that Russia could retarget its missiles against Ukraine if the former Soviet republic joined NATO, Rice said on Wednesday that the "reprehensible rhetoric that is coming out of Moscow is unacceptable, and it's not helpful to a relationship that actually has some positive aspects." (...)

Russia links Kosovo with Georgia

Russia has indicated it may change its policy towards breakaway regions in Georgia if the West recognises the independence of Kosovo.

Moscow has repeatedly hinted it could recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia if Kosovo separates from Serbia.

The foreign ministry said Moscow would "take into account" developments in Kosovo, but did not say how.

Kosovo may declare independence this weekend, and the US and most EU states are expected to recognise it quickly. (...)

London bombs justify 'torture', says Bush

President George Bush cited the London July 7 bombings in an interview broadcast last night to justify his support for waterboarding, an interrogation technique widely regarded as torture.

In an interview with the BBC he said information obtained from alleged terrorists helped save lives, and the families of the July 7 victims would understand that. Bush said waterboarding, which simulates drowning, was not torture and is threatening to veto a congressional bill that would ban it.

But Bush was undercut by a senior official in his administration who admitted yesterday, for the first time, that waterboarding is illegal. Stephen Bradbury, head of the justice department's office of legal counsel, giving evidence to a congressional committee, said: "Let me be clear, though: There has been no determination by the justice department that the use of waterboarding, under any circumstances, would be lawful under current law."

In the BBC interview, Bush was asked whether, given waterboarding and other alleged human rights abuses, he could claim the US still occupied the moral high ground. He replied: "Absolutely." (...)

For how much longer will they get away with this doublespeak-type discussion, "is waterboarding torture or not"? It's the same as discussing if 2+2 equals 4 or not.

The US-NATO Preemptive Nuclear Doctrine: Trigger a Middle East Nuclear Holocaust to Defend "The Western Way of Life"

by Michel Chossudovsky

The controversial NATO sponsored report entitled “Towards a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World: Renewing Transatlantic Partnership". calls for a first strike use of nuclear weapons. The preemptive use of nukes would also be used to undermine an "increasingly brutal World" as well as a means to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction. (...)

Nuclear warfare just stepped closer

by Paul Dibb

A group of former armed forces chiefs from the United States, Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands insists that a "first strike" nuclear option remains an "indispensable instrument" since there is "simply no realistic prospect of a nuclear-free world" (Herald, January 23).

The group includes General John Shalikashvili, the former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, and Field Marshal Lord Inge, the former chief of the defence staff in Britain. They have presented their arguments to the Pentagon and NATO.

They believe that the West must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the imminent spread of nuclear weapons. They paint an alarming picture of the threats confronting the West, arguing that its values and way of life are under threat and that we are struggling to summon the will to defend them. They consider that nuclear war might soon become possible in an increasingly brutal world. They propose the first use of nuclear weapons must remain "in the quiver of escalation as the ultimate instrument to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction". (...)

Israel bracing for Hezbollah strikes

Israel is bracing for threatened retaliation by Hezbollah over charges it assassinated one of the Lebanese militia's top commanders, with fears running high of a high-profile attack abroad.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah declared "open war" on Israel in a fiery speech at the funeral in Beirut on Thursday of Imad Mughnieh, a shadowy figure on America's most wanted list who was killed in a Damascus car bombing.

Israel has denied any involvement in the assassination, but Nasrallah said that by killing Mughnieh, it had taken its battle with Hezbollah beyond Lebanon's borders and should therefore expect attacks anywhere.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack described the threat as alarming, saying: "Hezbollah has a long record of carrying out violent acts, acts of terrorism around the globe."

The Haaretz newspaper quoted security sources as saying they expected Hezbollah to do something "immediate future" followed by a "showcase attack" in the medium term that would require greater planning and effort. (...)

Kostunica tells Serbia: brace for Kosovo secession

Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica went on national television on Thursday to tell Serbia to brace for the imminent secession of Kosovo province, which their government would never accept.

His statement was his most open acknowledgement yet that Serbia cannot now prevent Kosovo's Albanian majority from proclaiming independence on Sunday, with the promise of Western recognition.

"This decision confirms full national unity ... in contrast to all those countries which have been ready to put in question the core principles of the entire world and international law," Kostunica said.

"This is happening for the first time ever and this is a gross violation of international law," he added. (...)

7-year plan aligns U.S. with Europe's economy

by Jerome R. Corsi

The plan currently being implemented by the Bush administration with the formation of the Transatlantic Economic Council in April 2007 appears to be following a plan written in 1939 by a world-government advocate who sought to create a Transatlantic Union as an international governing body.

An economist from the World Bank has argued in print that the formation of the Transatlantic Common Market is designed to follow the blueprint of Jean Monnet, a key intellectual architect of the European Union, recognizing that economic integration must inevitably lead to political integration.

Also writing in the Fall 2007 issue of the Streit Council journal "Freedom and Union," World Bank economist Domenec Ruiz Devesa openly acknowledged that "transatlantic economic integration, though important in itself, is not the end."

"As understood by Jean Monnet," he continued, "economic integration must and will lead to political integration, since an integrated market requires common institutions producing common rules to govern it."

Last February, the Transatlantic Policy Network formed a Transatlantic Market Implementation Group to put in place "a roadmap and framework" to direct the activity of the Transatlantic Economic Council to achieve the creation of the Transatlantic Common Market by 2015.

In a February 2007 document entitled "Completing the Transatlantic Market," the TPN's Transatlantic Market Implementation Group writes, "The aim of this roadmap and framework would be to remove barriers to trade and investment across the Atlantic and to reduce regulatory compliance costs." (...)

John McCain and the Neocon Resurgence

by Philip Giraldi

The neocons and McCain do not disguise their belief that Iran must be dealt with by military means because diplomacy has failed. Indeed, one might well regard de-fanging Iran as their principal foreign policy objective, one that they share with the White House and the Israeli government. John McCain's sentiment toward Iran is unrelentingly belligerent. One only has to recall his rendition of the Beach Boys' song "Barbara Ann" substituting the words "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" to realize that the ideologically driven Arizona Republican is not interested in talk if cruise missiles are available. McCain's version of "straight talk" on Iran suggests that he lacks the basic good judgment the American public would presumably like to see in a president.

McCain's speech before the ACU revealed that he supports the U.S. presence in Iraq until there is a "victory," that he will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, and that he is committed to fighting against "Islamic extremists" for as long as it takes to defeat them. In an earlier speech in New Hampshire he stated that it would be fine with him if the U.S. were to remain in Iraq for one hundred years. In Florida, shortly before that state's primary, McCain declared that there would be "other wars" in America's future, but that "we will never surrender." There should be no confusion about McCain's intentions, which are basically all war all the time. He has also declared that the United States has a right to deal with "rogue states" as it sees fit, and he has thrown down a challenge to Russia, insisting that Moscow should be expelled from the G-8 group of industrialized nations and that NATO should be expanded to include the Ukraine and Georgia, which the Kremlin would see as a direct threat. Ronald Reagan, who won the first Cold War, would undoubtedly be horrified by McCain's intention to start a second one. (...)

Justice Dept. Announces Arrests in 2 Chinese Espionage Cases

Federal officials arrested a Defense Department official in Virginia on Monday and charged him with passing to agents of China classified defense documents about Taiwan’s arms purchases.

About the same time, officials arrested a former Boeing engineer in California on charges of economic espionage, specifically stealing trade secrets from Boeing about the space shuttle and other projects on behalf of the Chinese government. There was no direct connection between the arrests, but Justice Department officials announced them together, which seemed to underline what officials described as continuing Chinese efforts to obtain commercial and military secrets.

At a news conference, Kenneth L. Wainstein, assistant attorney general for national security, said: “While there are entities from over a hundred different countries trying to get access to our secrets or our controlled technology, there are a number of countries that have proven themselves particularly determined and methodical in their espionage efforts. The People’s Republic of China is one of those countries.” (...)

Lavrov makes emotional plea for sanity over Kosovo independence

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Tuesday a move towards the declaration of unilateral independence by Kosovo an irresponsible step that undermines the principles of international law.

Top European Union diplomats have said they expect Kosovo's independence to be declared on February 17.

"We are speaking here about the subversion of all the foundations of international law, about the subversion of those principles which, at huge effort, and at the cost of Europe's pain, sacrifice and bloodletting have been earned and laid down as a basis of its existence, we are speaking about a subversion of those principles on which the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe rests on, those [principles] laid down in the fundamental documents of the UN."

"Nobody can offer a clear plan of action in the case of a chain reaction [of further declarations of unilateral independence]. It turns out that they are planning to act in a hit or miss fashion in an issue of paramount importance. This is simply inadmissible and irresponsible," the Russian diplomat said.

"I sincerely fail to comprehend the principles guiding our American colleagues, and those European [countries] who have taken up this position," he added. (...)

Russia expresses surprise over reports of bombers' interception

Russia is surprised by the commotion raised in Western media reports over a recent incident involving Russian bombers in the Pacific Ocean, an aide to the Russian Air Force commander said on Tuesday.

Western media earlier cited an anonymous United States military official as saying that Russian bombers were intercepted on Saturday flying near an American aircraft carrier in the West Pacific.

Colonel Alexander Drobyshevsky said: "During the flight they [the bombers] were escorted by F-15 fighters of the Japanese Air Force and [U.S.] F-18 fighters from the Nimitz aircraft carrier, which happened at that time to be in the patrolling zone of the Russian Tu-95s."

"We are surprised by the commotion that has been raised over this," he said. (...)

Navy Intercepts Russian Bombers

The Associated Press has learned that U.S. fighter planes intercepted two Russian bombers flying unusually close to an American aircraft carrier in the western Pacific during the weekend.

A U.S. military official says that one Russian Tupolev 95 buzzed the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz twice, at a low altitude of about 2,000 feet, while another bomber circled about 50 nautical miles out. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because the reports on the flights were classified as secret.

The Saturday incident, which never escalated beyond the flyover, comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Russia over U.S. plans for a missile defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The Mediterranean Union: Dividing the Middle East and North Africa

by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

The Middle East and North Africa are in the process of being divided into spheres of influence between the European Union and the United States. Essentially the division of the Middle East and North Africa are between Franco-German and Anglo-American interests. There is a unified stance within NATO in regards to this re-division. (...)

Gates Warns Europe on Afghan Danger

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates issued a stark warning Sunday to the people of Europe, saying that their safety from terrorist attack by Islamic extremists is directly linked to NATO’s success in stabilizing Afghanistan.

After weeks of calling on alliance governments to send more combat troops and trainers to Afghanistan, Mr. Gates made his case directly to populations across the continent in a keynote address to the Munich Conference on Security Policy, an international security conference. Mr. Gates summoned the memory of Sept. 11, 2001, to say that Europe is at risk of becoming victim to attacks of the same enormity.

During a lively question-and-answer period after the speech, a member of the Russian Parliament, Alexey Ostrovskiy, asked Mr. Gates whether the blame for Al Qaeda did not lie at the feet of the U.S. intelligence community for funding the mujahedeen in Afghanistan who resisted the Soviet occupation during the 1980s. Many of those anti-Soviet fighters went on to become Islamic extremists and members of the Taliban or Al Qaeda.

“After that, when the Soviet troops left, for all intents and purposes, people who were created by you were idle,” said Mr. Ostrovskiy.

“If we bear a particular responsibility for the role of the mujahedeen and Al Qaeda growing up in Afghanistan, it has more to do with our abandonment of the country in 1989 than our assistance of it in 1979,” Mr. Gates answered. (...)

Troubles in Brzezinski’s paradise?

by Umberto Pascali

Europeans refuse to join the new war deployment in Afghanistan that is the first step toward a planned global Operation Barbarossa against Russia.

To jump start such a countdown to war was the raison d’être for the frantic efforts by Zbigniew Brzezinski to impose his hand-picked candidate, Barack Obama, as the next US president. If the final assault against Russia is to have a realistic chance to succeed, the economic, military, propagandistic resources of Europe (especially France, Germany, Italy and Spain) must be put under Anglo-American control and totally integrated with the Anglo American war machine. Figurehead Obama is supposed to supply the ideological rhetoric and hysteria that could get the US public and the Europeans (plus large areas of the Third World), who are both sickened and disgusted by the wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan, on the train of total war. (...)

Could Blair be Europe's George Washington?

Tony Blair could be Europe's 21st century equivalent of George Washington if he gets the job of President of the European Union.

The architect of the role, the former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, believes that the first incumbent should have the political clout to assume the historical significance of the foremost founding father of the United States.

Mr Giscard d'Estaing has called for a public debate about the role of president, which he created.

He fears that European governments, running scared of public opinion, will draft the job description in Brussels corridors instead.

"The definition must be undertaken with great care if we want the role of the president to have a democratic character, taking into account public expectations," he said.

This discussion is expected to reach a conclusion at a summit in mid-June, which has angered many British MPs because Parliament will ratify the new treaty before anyone really knows the powers and role of the EU president it creates.

Meanwhile, the European Commission breathed a collective sigh of relief after France ratified the new EU treaty through its parliament on Thursday night.

Asked if it was undemocratic to deny the French people a second vote on a treaty, widely regarded as identical to the old constitution, José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, criticised those who demanded referendums.

"I cannot understand how someone can even suggest that a parliament is less legitimate. I cannot accept that. I think it is an undemocratic statement," he said. (...)

God help us!...
I hope people in Europe are aware that the new European definition of democracy does not actually include the concept of people VOTING for things anymore, including for who gets to the be the president. In fact, how could Blair ever win a popular election?... Welcome to the European Union!

Putin Speech at Expanded Meeting of the State Council on Russia’s Development Strategy through to 2020

I remind you that the terrorists’ invasion of Dagestan was a direct consequence of Chechnya having essentially separated from Russia. We faced a situation where outside forces with an interest in weakening Russia and perhaps even bringing about its collapse were openly inciting the separatists.

[At the beginning of this decade] a large part of the economy was in the hands of oligarchs or openly criminal organisations.

We have rid the country of the harmful practice that saw state decisions taken under pressure from commodities and financial monopolies, media magnates, foreign political circles and shameless populists, a practice that was not only detrimental to our national interests but that cynically ignored the basic needs of millions of people.

It is now clear that the world has entered a new spiral in the arms race. This is does not depend on us and it is not we who began it. The most developed countries, making use of their technological advantages, are spending billions on developing next-generation defensive and offensive weapons systems. Their defence investment is dozens of times higher than ours.

We have complied strictly with our obligations over these last decades and are fulfilling all of our obligations under the international security agreements, including the Conventional Forces in Europe [CFE] Treaty. But our NATO partners have not ratified certain agreements, are not fulfilling their obligations, but nevertheless demand continued unilateral compliance from us. NATO itself is expanding and is bringing its military infrastructure ever closer to our borders. We have closed our bases in Cuba and Vietnam, but what have we got in return? New American bases in Romania and Bulgaria, and a new missile defence system with plans to install components of this system in Poland and the Czech Republic soon it seems.

We are told that these actions are not directed against Russia, but we have received no constructive responses to our completely legitimate concerns.

There has been a lot of talk on these matters, but it is with sorrow in my heart that I am forced say that our partners have been using these discussions as information and diplomatic cover for carrying out their own plans. We have still not seen any real steps to look for a compromise. We are effectively being forced into a situation where we have to take measures in response, where we have no choice but to make the necessary decisions.

Russia has a response to these new challenges and it always will.

Russia will begin production of new types of weapons over these coming years, the quality of which is just as good and in some cases even surpasses those of other countries. At the same time, our spending on these projects will be in keeping with our possibilities and will not be to the detriment of our social and economic development priorities.

Today’s world is not becoming any simpler. On the contrary, it is becoming ever more complicated and tougher. We have seen how the lofty slogans of freedom and an open society are sometimes used to destroy the sovereignty of a country or an entire region. We have seen how, behind a veneer of clamorous rhetoric about free trade and investment, the most developed countries step up their protectionist policies.

A fierce battle for resources is unfolding, and the whiff of gas or oil is behind many conflicts, foreign policy actions and diplomatic demarches.

In this context, it is understandable that the world should be showing growing interest in Russia and in Eurasia in general. God was generous in giving us natural resources. The result is that we are running up against repeats of the old ‘deterrence’ policy more and more often. But what this usually boils down to, essentially, are attempts to impose unfair competition on us and secure access to our resources.

It is essential to remain steadfast and firm in such a situation, to avoid being drawn into costly confrontation or a new arms race that would be destructive for our economy and disastrous for our country’s domestic development. (...)

Serb head in stark Kosovo warning

Serbian President Boris Tadic has warned of an escalation in conflicts if Kosovo declares independence as expected later this month.

"Should Serbia be partitioned against its will... it could in turn result in the escalation of many existing conflicts, the reactivation of a number of frozen conflicts, and the instigation of who knows how many new conflicts," said Mr Tadic.

Many diplomats in Munich expect the declaration of independence to be made around 17 February. (...)

Loose Change - Final Cut

One Internet cut explained, but four others still a mystery

A ship's anchor severed one undersea Internet cable damaged last week, it was revealed on Thursday amid ongoing outages in the Middle East and South Asia, but mystery shrouds what caused another four reported cuts.

There has been speculation that five cables being cut in almost as many days was too much of a coincidence and that sabotage must have been involved.

India's Flag telecom said in a statement that the cut to the Falcon cable between the United Arab Emirates and Oman "is due to a ship anchor... an abandoned anchor weighing five to six tonnes was found." (...)

Cheney: 'Damn right' I back Bush use of waterboarding

Cheney said that he supported President Bush's national security decisions, which included the approval of waterboarding along with other harsh interrogation tactics. "I've been proud to stand by [Bush], by the decisions he's made," said Cheney, who then asked aloud, "Would I support those decisions today?"

"You're damn right I would," he answered himself, to loud cheers. (...)

Euros Accepted signs pop up in New York City

In the latest example that the U.S. dollar just ain't what it used to be, some shops in New York City have begun accepting euros and other foreign currency as payment for merchandise. (...)

Lavrov Criticizes US 'Imperial Thinking'

Russia's foreign minister called U.S. plans to build a global missile defense shield an example of "imperial thinking," and suggested in comments published Thursday that Washington was using the system to try to encircle Russia.

Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza that elements of the missile defense system "exist or will be built in Alaska, California, northeast Asia."

"If we look at a map, it's clear that all of it is concentrating around our borders," he was quoted as saying. "Most likely in the near future, we are going to hear about hundreds, and maybe even thousands, of interceptors in various regions of the planet, including Europe." (...)

Machine 'could create time tunnel'

Switching on a giant atom-smashing machine might open the door to unexpected visitors - from the future, it has been claimed.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), due to come on stream this year, could turn out to be the world's first time machine, according to two Russian scientists.

Their calculations show it is possible the machine will tear a hole in the fabric of space and time, creating a gateway to tomorrow. And, with sufficiently advanced technology, people from the future might even be able to walk through it. (...)

RSS Satellite data for Jan08: 2nd coldest January for the planet in 15 years

Of course we already have had a heads up from all the wire reports around the world talking about the significant winter weather events that have occurred worldwide in the last month, but until now, there hasn’t been a measure of how the planet was doing for the winter of 2007/2008. (...)

Debunkers' Best Rebuttal: "Willie Smokes Pot"

by Paul Joseph Watson

Establishment bloggers are in a bind today - attempting to ridicule American icon Willie Nelson for his comments about the WTC twin towers being imploded on 9/11, with the best rebuttal they can muster being the fact that Willie smokes pot. (...)

Yep, there you go.

Willie Nelson: Twin Towers Were Imploded On 9/11

by Paul Joseph Watson

Straight talking American icon Willie Nelson today told a national radio show that he thought the twin towers were imploded like condemned Las Vegas casino buildings, as the country music superstar forcefully voiced his doubts about the official 9/11 story.

Agreeing with host Alex Jones that he questioned the official story, Nelson elaborated, "I saw those towers fall and I've seen an implosion in Las Vegas - there's too much similarities between the two, and I saw a building fall that didn't get hit by nothing," added Nelson, referring to WTC Building 7 which collapsed in the late afternoon of September 11.

"How naive are we - what do they think we'll go for?," asked Nelson, pointing out that his doubts began on the very day of 9/11.

"I saw one fall and it was just so symmetrical, I said wait a minute I just saw that last week at the casino in Las Vegas and you see these implosions all the time and the next one fell and I said hell there's another one - and they're trying to tell me that an airplane did it and I can't go along with that," said Nelson. (...)

Expect plenty of "Willie smokes pot" reactions...

The Criminalization of the State: "Independent Kosovo", a Territory under US-NATO Military Rule

by Michel Chossudovsky

While the European Union and the US, have acknowledged that they would be "opposed" to a "unilateral" declaration of independence of Kosovo, the secession of Kosovo from Serbia is already de facto. It is part of a US-NATO military agenda. It is the culmination of the 1999 NATO led invasion. It responds to US-NATO strategic objectives. (...)

So it appears that Arctic ice isn't vanishing after all

by Christopher Booker

There was some coverage of the chaos caused in central and southern China by their heaviest snowfalls for decades - but little attention was paid to the snow that last week carpeted Jerusalem, Damascus and Amman, none of them exactly used to Dickensian Christmas card weather.

Similarly, Saudis last month expressed amazement at their heaviest snow for many years, in Afghanistan snow and freezing weather killed 120 people and large parts of the United States and Canada have been swept by unusually fierce blizzards.

If the northern hemisphere's chilliest winter in a long time was bad news for the propagandists of global warming, they also had to face serious questions about some of the most iconic images used to support the claims that the world is hotting up towards disaster. (...)

Bush Boosts Defense Spending in $3.1 Trillion Budget

President George W. Bush sent Congress a $3.1 trillion federal budget that trims Medicare and health care programs, boosts military spending and projects the deficit this year and next will hit near-record levels.

The spending blueprint for fiscal 2009 is the biggest ever. It would slow the rate of growth in spending for entitlement programs such as Medicare for savings of $208 billion over five years. Pentagon spending would rise 7.5 percent to $515 billion, the 11th consecutive year of increases. Programs in the departments of education, interior, transportation, justice and agriculture would be reduced. (...)

Ties Between White House, Sept 11 Chief

The Sept. 11 commission's executive director had closer ties with the White House than publicly disclosed and tried to influence the final report in ways that the staff often perceived as limiting the Bush administration's responsibility, a new book says.

Philip Zelikow, a friend of then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, spoke with her several times during the 20-month investigation that closely examined her role in assessing the al-Qaida threat. He also exchanged frequent calls with the White House, including at least four from Bush's chief political adviser at the time, Karl Rove.

Zelikow once tried to push through wording in a draft report that suggested a greater tie between al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and Iraq, in line with White House claims but not with the commission staff's viewpoint, according to Philip Shenon's "The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation."

The book seeks to raise new questions about the independence of the bipartisan commission, which was created in 2002 to investigate government missteps that led to the Sept. 11 attacks. Initially opposed by the White House, the panel issued a unanimous 567-page final report in July 2004 during the height of the presidential campaign that did not blame Bush or former President Clinton for the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people but did say they each failed to make anti-terrorism a priority.

The book says that in early 2004, Zelikow allegedly sought to add to an initial staff report wording that linked al-Qaida to Iraq. The wording would have said the terrorist network repeatedly tried to communicate with the government of Saddam Hussein, a claim of cooperation the administration had cited to justify the war in Iraq. After a staff protest, Zelikow backed down; the final report said there was no "collaborative relationship" between Saddam and al-Qaida. Zelikow has said that he simply wanted the panel to keep an open mind on the issue. (...)

Looks like another of those "limited hangout" books. Zelikow was essentially the White House representative on the Commission. He also happened to be in charge of deciding what (not) to investigate, and of editing the document.

EU's favoured candidate wins Serbia poll

From this morning Serbia faces up to a bruising battle over how to react to the looming secession of its southern province of Kosovo, after President Boris Tadic, a pro-western liberal, won a renewed five-year term in a close election last night.

Tadic's victory, by a projected 2.6 percentage points, or 100,000 votes, over the extreme nationalist Tomislav Nikolic puts him in a strong position to push for an alliance with the European Union, despite the EU's support for Kosovo independence.

But this policy will set the re-elected president on a collision course with the more powerful prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, who is threatening to sever relations with much of the EU when Brussels deploys an 1,800-strong nation-building mission in an independent Kosovo.

The Tadic-Kostunica fight is turning into a proxy showdown between the west and Russia - with the Kremlin aiding the prime minister, and the EU and the US shoring up the president.

Kosovo's independence declaration is expected within a couple of weeks. The state will quickly be recognised by the US and a large majority of the EU's 27 members, including all the biggest countries, with the possible exception of Spain.

Kostunica has prepared an "action plan" to try to frustrate Kosovo independence; western officials say that all Serbia's government ministries have been ordered to draw up sabotage plans.

These are likely to concentrate on blocking energy and water supplies from Serbia to Kosovo, and perhaps Serbia severing diplomatic ties - at least temporarily - with EU states that recognise Kosovo. Tadic opposes such a move. (...)

Ships did not cause Internet cable damage

Damage to undersea Internet cables in the Mediterranean that hit business across the Middle East and South Asia was not caused by ships, Egypt’s communications ministry said on Sunday, ruling out earlier reports.

The transport ministry added that footage recorded by onshore video cameras of the location of the cables showed no maritime traffic in the area when the cables were damaged. (...)

Qatar reports new damage to Gulf undersea cables

An undersea telecoms cable linking Qatar to the United Arab Emirates was damaged, disrupting services, telecommunications provider Qtel said on Sunday, the latest such incident in less than a week.

The cable was damaged between the Qatari island of Haloul and the UAE island of Das on Friday, Qtel's head of communications Adel al Mutawa told AFP.

Cables were also damaged last week in the Mediterranean and off the coast of Dubai, causing widespread disruption to Internet and international telephone services in Egypt, Gulf Arab states and south Asia.

The cause of the damage is not yet known. (...)

That's four!

Turnout may decide knife-edge Serbian election

The race between pro-Western president Boris Tadic and nationalist challenger Tomislav Nikolic is too close to call, analysts said.

Both men oppose Kosovo's independence drive. Nikolic wants Serbia to turn to Russia to punish the West for backing Kosovo's majority Albanians. Tadic is asking Serbs to swallow their pride and pursue European Union membership whatever happens.

The ethnic Albanian leaders of Kosovo will set the date for their declaration of independence after Sunday's result.

If Nikolic wins, political sources say the Albanians will declare independence the following weekend. If Tadic wins, they will wait up to a few weeks in deference to the EU's wishes.

Neither the EU nor the United States has shown any sign of backing down over Kosovo's independence, despite warnings from Russian President Vladimir Putin that he will never accept it. (...)

Internet provider in Emirates confirms undersea cable cut in Persian Gulf between Dubai, Oman, cause unknown

A leading Internet provider in the Emirates said an undersea cable had been cut early Friday in the Persian Gulf, causing severe phone line disruptions here and compounding an already existing Internet outage across large parts of the Middle East and Asia after two other undersea cables were damaged earlier this week north of Egypt.

Omar Sultan, chief executive of Dubai's IPS DU, said the incident was "very unusual." He said it wasn't known how the underwater FLAG FALCON cable, stretching between the United Arab Emirates and Oman, had been damaged.

As in the case of the Mediterranean damage, which Egyptian officials said was caused by a ship's anchor when a vessel couldn't dock in the port of Alexandria, there was also speculation that an anchor had sliced the Persian Gulf cable. (...)

All kinds of (conspiracy) theories are going on about this at the moment. Without going into them, one thing is certain: a very unusual, strange event - an internet cable cut by a ship's anchor - happening 3 times in 2 days, on 2 different seas, all by accident, defies credulity.

Third undersea Internet cable cut in Mideast

An undersea cable carrying Internet traffic was cut off the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai, officials said Friday, the third loss of a line carrying Internet and telephone traffic in three days.

FLAG Telecom, which owns one of the cables, said repairs were expected to be completed by February 12. France Telecom, part owner of the other cable, said it was uncertain when repairs on it would be repaired. (...)

U.S. Economy Unexpectedly Sheds 17,000 Jobs

The economy lost 17,000 jobs in January, the Labor Department reported on Friday, the first monthly decline in four years and the most striking evidence yet that the United States may be slipping into a recession. (...)

9/11 Commission controversy

by Robert Windrem and Victor Limjoco

The 9/11 Commission suspected that critical information it used in its landmark report was the product of harsh interrogations of al-Qaida operatives - interrogations that many critics have labeled torture. Yet, commission staffers never questioned the agency about the interrogation techniques and in fact ordered a second round of interrogations specifically to ask additional questions of the same operatives, NBC News has learned.

Those conclusions are the result of an extensive NBC News analysis of the 9/11 Commission’s Final Report and interviews with Commission staffers and current and former U.S. intelligence officials.

The analysis shows that much of what was reported about the planning and execution of the terror attacks on New York and Washington was derived from the interrogations of high-ranking al-Qaida operatives. Each had been subjected to "enhanced interrogation techniques." Some were even subjected to waterboarding, the most controversial of the techniques, which simulates drowning.

The NBC News analysis shows that more than one quarter of all footnotes in the 9/11 Report refer to CIA interrogations of al-Qaida operatives who were subjected to the now-controversial interrogation techniques. In fact, information derived from the interrogations is central to the Report’s most critical chapters, those on the planning and execution of the attacks.

9/11 Commission staffers say they "guessed" but did not know for certain that harsh techniques had been used, and they were concerned that the techniques had affected the operatives’ credibility. At least four of the operatives whose interrogation figured in the 9/11 Commission Report have claimed that they told interrogators critical information as a way to stop being "tortured." The claims came during their hearings last spring at the U.S. military facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Specifically, the NBC News analysis shows 441 of the more than 1,700 footnotes in the Commission’s Final Report refer to the CIA interrogations. Moreover, most of the information in Chapters 5, 6 and 7 of the Report came from the interrogations. Those chapters cover the initial planning for the attack, the assembling of terrorist cells, and the arrival of the hijackers in the U.S. In total, the Commission relied on more than 100 interrogation reports produced by the CIA. The second round of interrogations sought by the Commission involved more than 30 separate interrogation sessions.

No one disputes that the interrogations were critical to the Commission’s understanding of the plot.

Karen Greenberg, director of the Center for Law and Security at New York University’s School of Law, put it this way: "You read it, the story still makes sense, forgetting the interrogations. What matters - who did it, who planned it - looks like the right story. But it should have relied on sources not tainted. It calls into question how we were willing to use these interrogations to construct the narrative."

According to both current and former senior U.S. intelligence officials, the operatives cited by the Commission were subjected to the harshest of the CIA’s methods, the "enhanced interrogation techniques." The techniques included physical and mental abuse, exposure to extreme heat and cold, sleep deprivation and waterboarding.

Zelikow said the lack of direct access forced the Commission to seek secondary sources and to request the new round of questioning. In the end, says Zelikow, the Commission relied heavily on the information derived from the interrogations, but remained skeptical of it. Zelikow admits that "quite a bit, if not most" of its information on the 9/11 conspiracy "did come from the interrogations."

Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, says he is "shocked" that the Commission never asked about extreme interrogation measures.

"If you’re sitting at the 9/11 Commission, with all the high-powered lawyers on the Commission and on the staff, first you ask what happened rather than guess," said Ratner, whose center represents detainees at Guantanamo. "Most people look at the 9/11 Commission Report as a trusted historical document. If their conclusions were supported by information gained from torture, therefore their conclusions are suspect."

[CIA Director George J.] Tenet’s "people" explained why the commission couldn’t question the operatives.

"The explanation was that the symbiosis between the interrogator and the prisoner would be harmed," added the staffer, "…that introducing external elements could unbalance the relationship. They wanted the prisoners to have total dependency on them…all this psychology."

The former official said that senior intelligence staff feared that if the agency permitted the commission to send staffers to the CIA’s secret prisons to talk with the operatives, the locations of the prisons wouldn’t be secret for very long.

Ratner argues "if they suspected there was torture, they should have realized that as a matter of law, evidence derived from torture is not reliable, in part because of the possibility of false confession…at the very least, they should have added caveats to all those references."

Fourteen of the highest-value detainees had their initial hearings this spring before the Pentagon’s Combatant Status Review Tribunal. The tribunal acts as sort of a grand jury, charged with determining if a detainee should be held over for trial.

Four of them said they gave information only to stop the torture. Although details were redacted in all the detainees’ testimony, the tribunal permitted the inclusion of a letter from a detainee’s father in one case, citing what he claimed was American torture of his son.

In the letter placed in the record, Ali Khan claims his son, Majid, underwent extensive torture before and after interrogation sessions.

"The Americans tortured him for eight hours at a time, tying him tightly in stressful positions in a small chair until his hands feet and mind went numb. They retied him in a chair every hour, tightening the bonds on his hands and feet each time so that it was more painful. He was often hooded and had difficulty breathing. They also beat him repeatedly, slapping him in the face, and deprived him of sleep.

"When he was not being interrogated, the Americans put Majid in a small cell that was totally dark and too small for him to lie down in or sit in with legs stretched out. He had to crouch. The room was also infested with mosquitoes. This torture only stopped when Majid agreed to sign a statement that he wasn’t even allowed to read. But then it continued when Majid was unable to identify certain streets and neighborhoods in Karachi that he did not know." (...)

But of course, anyone who says there needs to be another investigation is just a silly conspiracy theorist!...

Margaret Thatcher told navy to raid Swedish coast

MARGARET THATCHER ordered the Royal Navy to land Special Boat Service (SBS) frogmen on the coast of Sweden from British submarines pretending to be Soviet vessels, a new book has claimed.

The deception involved numerous incursions by British forces into Swedish territorial waters in the 1980s and early 1990s, designed to heighten the impression around the world of the Soviet Union as an aggressive superpower.

Sometimes the boats landed commandos, but often their job was to fool the Swedes by mimicking the sonar signals given off by the Soviet vessels that stalked the same waters.

The Swedish government, neutral in the cold war, is not believed to have known about the deceptions, which were carried out by the British and American navies. (...)

It's called False Flag Operations.