NEWS YOU WON'T FIND ON CNN

Sudan's President Orders Crackdown on Armed Groups in Darfur : Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has ordered the disarmament of all fighters in the Darfur region, including those backed by the Sudanese government. Not everyone is convinced his order will be followed.

Sudanese rebels say take control of wider area: One of the two main rebel groups in Sudan's western region of Darfur said on Sunday it had extended its control to areas abandoned by government forces since a ceasefire agreement signed in April.

06/19/04: US Air Raid Kills 22 In Falluja : "They brought us 22 corpses, children, women and youth," Ahmed Hassan, a cemetery worker, said after the blast.

US air strike on Fallujah poses new threat to Iraqi handover: Yesterday's raid on Fallujah is troubling because of the raw memories it has stirred up of the hundreds of Iraqi civilians killed there by the Americans in April. It bore the hallmark of a revenge attack straight out of the Israeli book - engendering an incensed reaction similar to that of Palestinians on the receiving of Israeli air raids in Gaza and the West Bank.

Human Rights Watch: U.S.: Pentagon Should Probe Civilian Deaths: The U.S. military should conduct thorough and impartial investigations above the level of Commander’s Inquiry into incidents of civilian deaths caused by the possible wrongful or unlawful use of force.

US troops, militia clash in Sadr City: Around 20 Iraqi resistance fighters have been killed or wounded in a day of clashes with US occupation soldiers in Baghdad.

Armed Kurds abduct 10 taxi drivers: Armed Kurds have abducted 10 taxi-drivers from Samarra to avenge the murders there last week of five Kurdish Iraqi army recruits, a police spokesman said.

Bush told he is playing into Bin Laden's hands: Al-Qaida may 'reward' American president with strike aimed at keeping him in office, senior intelligence man says

Simon Henderson: Why Osama backs Bush: Picture the scene: in November, as polls close across the United States, an anxious Osama bin Laden awaits the first predictions of the result. If President Bush loses, will the world's most famous terrorist claim victory? No. He will more likely be despondent.

A Progressive Declaration Against Terror: Those of us who oppose the disastrous foreign policy of the current administration must make a strong statement both to terrorists who think they would be better off without President Bush and to conservatives trying to manipulate this situation for political gain

Leaders of 9/11 Panel Ask Cheney for Reports: The leaders of the Sept. 11 commission called on Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday to turn over any intelligence reports that would support the White House's insistence that there was a close relationship between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda.

The "Long Established" Link...: Iraq, al-Qaeda and al-Zarqawi: If al-Zarqawi did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. The “Jordanian-born” militant (variously described as “Palestinian” or “Bedouin”) is the link posited by the Bush administration between Saddam Hussein, the secularist, and bin Laden, the Islamic fundamentalist.

Think Again: No Link? Who Knew?: "You can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror." - President George W. Bush, September 2002

A war sold on deception : Two crucial rationales used by President Bush to justify a pre-emptive strike against Saddam Hussein have crumbled. Now it falls to the American people to judge whether the war was sold on falsehoods or wishful exaggerations.

US kept some Iraq intelligence from allies:: "Before we knew it, our political leaders had created a mythical Iraq, one where every factory was up to no good." Australia, England and the United States have all conducted inquiries into the intelligence each government had prior to the war.

Leo Strauss and the Noble Lie: The Neo-Cons at War: As our Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld once noted in an off the cuff remark, strategic truths sometimes need be defended by a “bodyguard of lies.”

In case you missed it: Chalmers Johnson Interview : Chalmers Johnson, former CIA analyist, UC professor and author of Blowback, speaks about the dangers of American Imperialism.

Three-Month-Old Baby Ali Dies in Iraq : Baby Ali's suffering illustrated the plight of Iraq's children, who are still lacking proper medical care after more than a year of U.S. military occupation.

In case you Missed it?: A Selfish Memorial Day: The following will come as a shock to readers with U.S. citizenship: The other 95 percent of the world's population doesn't value American lives and limbs higher than those belonging to Afghans, Iraqis or anyone else

O'Reilly: Iraqi people are "primitive," "prehistoric group": Radio host and FOX News Channel host Bill O'Reilly told listeners that he has "no respect for" the Iraqi people; that he thinks "they're a prehistoric group"; that they are "primitive"; and that the lesson from the Iraq war is that "we cannot intervene in the Muslim world ever again. What we can do is bomb the living daylights out of them."

The Torturer-in-Chief : Cloaking themselves in the "War on Terror," Bush and his minions methodically wove an intricate web of deception to convince the American people that Saddam was about to launch the "mushroom cloud," ending civilization as we know it.

Here Come the Death Squad Veterans: If José Miguel Pizarro has his way, he will recruit 30,000 Chileans as mercenaries to protect American companies under Pentagon contract to rebuild Iraq. And undoubtedly, within those ranks will be former members of death squads that tortured and murdered civilians when dictatorships ruled in Latin America.

Controversial ex-British army officer given key Iraq role : A controversial former British army officer has been given an unprecedented security role in Iraq, disseminating previously classified information to competitor security companies, according to private contractors in Baghdad.

US Army covers up an ‘embarrassment’: Many US women soldiers in Iraq are leaving the frontline and returning home, but the Pentagon does not want to reveal their numbers as the “embarassing” statistic includes unwed mothers, media reported on Wednesday.

Israel: MPs come under machine gun fire : Israeli defence forces have been accused of shooting at a group of British politicians.

Syria plans U.S. Accountability Act: The Syrian parliament is planning a law banning economic dealings with the United States in response to U.S. sanctions under the Syria Accountability Act.

Bush plans to screen whole US population for mental illness : While some praise the plan's goals, others say it protects the profits of drug companies at the expense of the public.

Al Qaeda Confirms Killing of Leader in Saudi: Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia confirmed Saturday the killing of its leader Abdulaziz al-Muqrin and three other militants by Saudi security forces in Riyadh, the al-Qalaa Web site said.

US widens warning to entire Gulf: The US is extending its warning to Americans in Saudi Arabia to Westerners in the entire Gulf region.

Mosaic: World News Reports From Middle East TV For 06/18/04: The nation's only uncensored compilation of daily television news reports from more than 15 countries in the Middle East. QuickTime Video.

Saudis Search for Slain Hostage's Body: Saudi officials had reported that Johnson's body was found Friday dumped on the northern outskirts of the capital, hours after his captors killed and decapitated him and posted Web photos of his severed head.

Insurgents Kill Four, Including One American Soldier: Insurgents launched two deadly attacks Friday in Baghdad, killing an American soldier and wounding a civilian contractor in a mortar barrage on a U.S. base, and injuring three U.S. troops in a coordinated ambush in another part of the capital.

Iraqi Civilian Casualties: Covering the period of March 21 - July 31, 2003

CIA contractor has history of assaults: A CIA contractor charged with fatally assaulting an Afghan detainee had been fired from a Connecticut police department after an assault 14 years ago and a history of run-ins with wives and neighbors, authorities and acquaintances said.

China Will Not Back U.S. on Immunity from New Court: China said on Friday it would abstain on a resolution giving the United States immunity from the new International Criminal Court, a decision that may leave Washington short of votes to pass the resolution.

Iraqi Girl Blog: The new government isn’t very different from the old Governing Council. Some of the selfsame Puppets

Qaeda's Muqrin Killed Disposing U.S. Hostage Body -TV: Saudi security forces Friday killed the leader of al Qaeda in the kingdom, Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, and two other militants while they were disposing of the body of a beheaded U.S. hostage, Arabiya television said.

Saudi dissidents killed in shootout: Three men, one of them apparently a wanted dissident, have been shot dead by security forces in Riyadh.

Body of dead U.S. hostage found: The body of U.S. engineer Paul Marshall Johnson, who was beheaded by al Qaeda, was found in the Saudi capital Riyadh, according to a Saudi Web news site.

Hostage family learn the worst: THE family of Paul Johnson, the US national taken hostage by al-Qaeda gunmen in Saudi Arabia, remained behind closed doors today after news broke of his execution.

Statement, photos show that American hostage in Saudi Arabia has been killed : One of the three photographs posted on the Internet site showed a man's head, face toward the camera, being held by a hand. The other two showed a beheaded body lying prone on a bed, with the severed head placed in the small of his back.

Pictures Purporting To Show The Body Of Paul Johnson After His Barbaric Murder:  - WARNING - THE PICTURES ON THIS PAGE ARE OF A PARTICULARLY HORRIFIC NATURE AND SHOULD ONLY BE VIEWED BY A MATURE AUDIENCE.

Paul Johnson’s brother: “He didn’t deserve it.”: From the beginning, Wayne Johnson believed it was inevitable: that his brother would be killed by the extremists holding him hostage in Saudi Arabia.

06/18/04: Rebel militias capture Afghan provincial capital; 10 reported killed: Warlords overran a provincial capital in central Afghanistan, officials said Friday, forcing the governor to flee and reportedly leaving 10 people dead in the latest burst of infighting in this war-fractured nation.

Taliban leader dies in Pakistan mortar attack: Pakistani forces have killed a former Taliban fighter and four suspected al-Qa'eda militants in a mortar attack near the country's border with Afghanistan.

British Soldiers Kill Two in Clash with Rebel Cleric's Militia : British forces clashed with gunmen loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the south-eastern Iraq for a second day, killing at least two insurgents.

Pressure at Iraqi prison detailed: The officer who oversaw interrogations at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad testified that he was under intense "pressure" from the White House, Pentagon and CIA last fall to get better information from detainees, pressure that he said included a visit to the prison by an aide to national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Republicans defeat effort to subpoena Justice documents on torture: Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday defeated a Democratic-sponsored effort to subpoena documents on torture and interrogation practices from the Justice Department.

Bush Says Iraq Posed Threat Because of Terror Link: President George W. Bush said ``numerous contacts'' between Iraq and the al-Qaeda terrorist network justified the U.S.-led war on Saddam Hussein's regime.

Cheney, Still Without Proof Of A Saddam-Al Qaeda Connection, Blames The Media: He goes further and reintroduces the red herring that it was possible that Saddam had something to do with 9/11. And he did this last night, like a drunk who can’t quit the bottle.

Putin Says Russia Warned U.S. on Saddam: Russian President Vladimir Putin, in comments sure to help President Bush, declared Friday that Russia knew Iraq's Saddam Hussein had planned terror attacks on U.S. soil and had warned Washington.

Russia 'Warning' on Saddam Puzzles U.S. : Putin's remarks looked certain to help President Bush, but officials at the State Department expressed bafflement, saying they knew of no such information from Russia.

Ray McGovern: Consequential Lies: As the notion evaporates that the United States could implant democracy in Iraq at gunpoint or that “weapons of mass destruction” will ever be found, the Bush administration has resurrected the argument that Saddam Hussein had longstanding ties to Al Qaeda.

The big lie: What jumped out at me was that the war had little to do with weapons of mass destruction and almost nothing to do with al-Qaeda. We were on the cusp of waging an unjustified war on the basis of a preposterous lie. Blair and Howard knowingly recycled the US's case for invading Iraq so as to stay in step with Bush. They understood the broader US agenda and were sympathetic to much of it.

Robert Fisk: Iraq, 1917 : There are no kings to impose on Iraq today, so we have installed Iyad Allawi, the former CIA "asset", as prime minister in the hope that he can provide the same sovereign wallpaper as Faisal once did. Our soldiers can hide out in the desert, hopefully unattacked, unless they are needed to shore up the tottering power of our present-day "Faisal".

Blood of Victory : George W. Bush has accomplished exactly what he set out to do in launching his aggression: the installation -- of a client state in Iraq, led by a strongman who will facilitate the Bush Regime's long-term (and long-declared) strategic goal of establishing a permanent military "footprint" in the key oil state, while also guaranteeing the short-term goal of opening the country to exploitation by Bush cronies and favored foreign interests.

Charley Reese: Hypocrisy: The biggest single problem the federal government has is its hypocrisy. It talks one way and acts another. It talks of spreading democracy while supporting dictators; it blathers about human rights while violating them; and it claims to promote the rule of law while scoffing at laws it considers inconvenient.

Mosaic: World News Reports From Middle East TV For 06/17/04: The nation's only uncensored compilation of daily television news reports from more than 15 countries in the Middle East. QuickTime Video.

"In A World of Shit": A remarkable briefing yesterday at the Middle East Institute by Ahmed S. Hashim, a Naval War College professor just returned from Iraq, painted in broad outlines the potentially catastrophic situation that the Bush administration faces in Iraq

US holding thousands in secret jails': The centres are in Iraq, Cuba, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Jordan and on two US ships, said the human-rights group. They fail to meet obligations under US and international law on the treatment of prisoners, said the report entitled Ending Secret Detention.

Senate Votes to Add 20,000 Troops to Army : Defying the Bush administration, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to add 20,000 troops to an Army stretched thin by the war in Iraq and other commitments around the world.

Long live the King: On last week’s test case of the PATRIOT Act -- in which a jury resoundingly vindicated a University of Idaho student, but only after our government destroyed his life

Pentagon seeks OK to spy on Americans: New bill would allow Pentagon to gather intelligence on US residents without their knowledge.

Creeping fascism: It is just one lie after another, one cover-up after another, one egregious tromping of our Constitution after another, and yet almost half the population supports the Bush Regime.

Video: Despotism & Democracy : Measures how a society ranks on a spectrum stretching from democracy to despotism. Explains how societies and nations can be measured by the degree that power is concentrated and respect for the individual is restricted.

Haiti and Abu Ghraib: A U.S. prison consultant sent last year to "reform" Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, now world infamous for the torture U.S. soldiers there inflicted on Iraqis, is doing the same job now in Haiti.

Interview with Ralph Nader, a dreamer at the White House: Civil liberties and due process of law are eroding due to the "war on terrorism" and new technology that allows easy invasion of privacy.

The Perle-Hersh Transcript Watch: Richard Perle promised us a 90-page Sy Hersh dossier. So, where is it?: Fifteen months ago, Richard N. Perle very publicly promised to sue Seymour M. Hersh for libel in an English court over Hersh's investigative profile, "Lunch With the Chairman," published in The New Yorker.

Israel plans 'remote-control' Gaza border : - The Israeli army envisions a "remote control" border for the Gaza Strip after a troop withdrawal, including unmanned patrol cars and computerised observation posts that would automatically spot and kill attackers, a military official said on Friday.

A Tale of Two Ethnic Cleansings: Intra-ethnic fighting between the North and the South has for decades beset Sudan. News coming out of Sudan indicates that government-backed Arab militias have ethnically cleansed up to 120,000 members of Black tribes in the western Dafur region of Sudan. The reports of devastation are horrible and the term genocide is properly being wielded.

Sudan: how you can help : We provide a directory of charities coordinating aid to the African country hit by a humanitarian crisis the UN describes as the world's worst

US army officer charged for murder of Sadr follower: A US army officer has been charged over the murder of an Iraqi follower of Shiite Muslim radical cleric Moqtada Sadr, the US military said Thursday.

Annan Against U.S. War Crimes Exemption: Defying the United States, Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to stop shielding American peacekeepers from international prosecution for war crimes.

Report Says U.S. Has 'Secret' Detention Centers: The United States is holding terrorism suspects in more than two dozen detention centers worldwide and about half of these operate in total secrecy, said a human rights report released on Thursday.

In case you missed it: Hiding the gulag: Things have gotten so bad, the Bush administration is lying even to its own lawyers

Bush has a Lot to Answer for on Iraq Torture : The War Crimes Act of 1996 punishes any U.S. national, civilian or military, who engages in a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions. A grave breach means the "willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment" of prisoners. If death results, the act imposes the death penalty.

John Pilger: Breaking The Silence: A hard hitting special report into the "war on terror" A Must Watch Video

New Information Shows Bush Indecisive, Paranoid, Delusional: The carefully-crafted image of George W. Bush as a bold, decisive leader is cracking under the weight of new revelations that the erratic President is indecisive, moody, paranoid and delusional.

Poll Shows Iraqis Would Feel Safer Without Occupiers: The poll, conducted in May and obtained by Reuters on Thursday, found only 10 percent of Iraqis had confidence in U.S.-led forces -- down from 28 percent in January. Fifty-five percent would feel safer if those troops left Iraq immediately.

Poll suggests American public's views on Iraq improve; Bush gains ground: Almost six in 10, 57 per cent, said the situation in Iraq is going well, up from 46 per cent a month earlier. Almost that many, 55 per cent, said military action in Iraq was the right decision, up slightly from 51 per cent a month earlier.

House approves $155 billion in corporate tax breaks: The House on Thursday passed legislation providing $155 billion in tax breaks to U.S. corporations

Saddam agents arrested over murder: TWO veterans of Saddam Hussein's defunct security service were arrested in Kirkuk for murdering the security chief for Iraq's northern oil field, Ghazi Talabani, and his bodyguard, the Kirkuk police chief said today.

Raucous bar scene emerges in Baghdad’s sealed-off ‘green zone’: In a city where few people drink, Baghdad’s sealed-off green zone counts at least seven bars, including a Thursday night disco, a sports bar, a British pub, a rooftop bar run by General Electric, and a bare-bones trailer-tavern operated by the contractor Bechtel.

Australia: Abuse reports went unread : Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has revealed that no one in his office read an Amnesty International report into abuse of Iraqi prisoners by United States forces at Abu Ghraib prison despite the report being on the internet last July.

Australia: Morality lost, as Australia refuses to acknowledge its implication in torture: We cannot accept an ally's rationale for prisoner abuse, then condemn foes for similar actions

Forgive me, I was wrong on Iraq: Bishop Tom Frame supported the invasion. Now he seeks God's forgiveness.

Stymied in Iraq, Hawks Still Positioning US as Globocop : The planned redeployments, are all part of a global strategy to build, in Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld's words, a ''capability to impose lethal power, where needed, when needed, with the greatest flexibility and with the greatest agility''.

06/17/04: Two Car Bombs Kill 41 Iraqis, Wound 138 : A sport-utility vehicle packed with artillery shells blew up Thursday in a crowd of people waiting to volunteer for the Iraqi military, killing at least 35 and wounding 138. Another car bomb north of the capital killed six members of the Iraqi security forces.

CIA Contractor Arrested: Civilian Contractor Arrested in Beating Death of Prisoner in Afghanistan

2 per cent of Iraqis regard the occupying forces as liberators: Poll reveals hostility to US and support for rebel cleric: The Bush administration's last remaining justification for the invasion of Iraq has been demolished by a private poll revealing that only 2 per cent of Iraqis regard the occupying forces as liberators.

Rumsfeld ordered secret detention of prisoner, violating international law: Donald Rumsfeld, ordered a suspected terrorist captured in Iraq to be held in secret last October, a Pentagon official says, in what Administration officials acknowledged was one of two violations of international law.

Official verdict: White House misled world over Saddam

Bush: Saddam and al-Qaida were linked : The US president, George Bush, today insisted that there were links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida, a day after an independent commission announced that Iraq was not involved in the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

Report savages Bush's claim on terror links : The Bush Administration's credibility was dealt a devastating blow yesterday when the commission investigating the attacks of September 11, 2001, said there was no credible evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had assisted al Qaeda.

9/11 info gained by coercion may be suspect: Experts say testimony of captured plot leaders may not be reliable: Senior officials have said that Mohammed was "waterboarded," a technique in which his head was pushed under water and he was made to believe that he might drown. Another detainee had a noose placed around his neck.

The strange, sad death of the American way: Would Americans ordinarily tolerate a president who lies and exaggerates? A leader who uses fear to manipulate his people to his own ends? A president whose staff blow the deep cover of a CIA agent as political payback? A president whose Administration channels billions of dollars to crony corporations on false pretexts? A president who deems torture acceptable?

Torture Policy : SLOWLY, AND IN spite of systematic stonewalling by the Bush administration, it is becoming clearer why a group of military guards at Abu Ghraib prison tortured Iraqis in the ways depicted in those infamous photographs. President Bush and his spokesmen shamefully cling to the myth that the guards were rogues acting on their own.

Should President Bush Be Impeached?: Attorney John Bonifaz argues the president has commited high crimes by lying to the American public and Congress about Iraq in the lead-up to the invasion.

Legal scholars say condoning abuse could be impeachable offense: More than 400 legal scholars from across the country urged Congress Wednesday to consider impeaching President Bush and any high-level administration officials who approved the Iraqi prisoner abuses.

Something to Hide? : As political crises mount in Washington and London over evidence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, it would be especially useful to have the testimony of a leading expert on the subject, Saddam Hussein's science adviser, Amir Saadi.

In case you missed it?" Saddam aide: Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction: SADDAM Hussein's senior weapons adviser last night surrendered to coalition forces in Baghdad and claimed Iraq was free of any weapons of mass destruction.

Rumors of the Neocons' Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated: Although it is certainly true that the neoconservatives have had to beat a number of tactical retreats, they have not lost the war for Bush's mind. Quite the contrary; that's just wishful thinking by their enemies on both the left and right.

Dahr Jamail : “Be careful, don’t die in Iraq!” : The crime rate in Baghdad is out of control. According to Dr. Amin, this current rate of bodies brought to the Baghdad Morgue is 3-4 times greater than it ever was during the regime of Saddam Hussein.

In case you mssed it?: The Marine's tale: : "In a month and a half my platoon and I killed more than 30 civilians," Mr Massey said. He saw bodies being desecrated and robbed, and wounded civilians being dumped by the roadside without medical treatment. After he told his commanding officer that he felt "we were committing genocide", he was called a "wimp".

Dahr Jamail : Hep E on 'Vietnam Street': “Whenever large groups like this are brought in, we know it is because of the Americans,” he said in a rare slip of sentiment. For during the rest of the interview he was very careful not to reveal too much about the misdeeds of the occupation forces in his area.

Mosaic: World News Reports From Middle East TV For 06/16/04: The nation's only uncensored compilation of daily television news reports from more than 15 countries in the Middle East. QuickTime Video.

This war and racism — media denial in overdrive: An American system of incarceration that now has 2,033,000 people behind bars — 63 per cent of them black or Latino. With racial minorities vastly over represented in federal and state prisons and local jails, such numbers reflect profound institutional biases that converge at the intersection of racism and unequal justice based on economic class.

Mass Incarceration and Rape: Since 1971, U.S. prisons and jails have grown ten-fold – from less then 200,000 inmates to 2.1 million – while whites have dwindled to only 30 percent of the prison population. 

Cut and Run: Transfer of power in Iraq, my ass: The exit strategy that has just been concocted -- with the UN Security Council's unanimous approval -- is one that pretends to turn over the reins of government to the Iraqi people, or as Bush subtly told Congress, "It's time to take the training wheels off" their democracy. But there's no "exit" involved.

Powell assures Saudi of US help to protect foreign workers : US Secretary of State Colin Powell assured Riyadh his country would help protect foreign workers in the oil-rich Gulf kingdom where Al-Qaeda has threatened to execute an American hostage.

Claims From Iraq Work Could Cost Millions: The mounting deaths and injuries to civilian contractors in Iraq could cost the federal government millions of dollars for hundreds of workers' compensation claims.

Reality blurs Bush's rosy Afghan vision : Standing side by side with President Hamid Karzai in the balmy surrounds of the White House Rose Garden on Tuesday, President George W. Bush hailed Afghanistan as a model for the future of Iraq.

Millions in Need as Afghanistan Drought Continues: Millions of people still continue to suffer food shortages due to ongoing drought in parts of the south and east of Afghanistan, Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) learned on Tuesday

US likened to a 'whore': Beijing - A top Chinese general on Wednesday called the United States "a whore" for suggesting that Taiwan try to destroy the Three Gorges Dam, while maintaining that it could never be hit by Taipei's conventional arms.

U.N. admits mistake in Iran nuclear report: The U.N. nuclear watchdog was forced to make an embarrassing admission on Thursday, that it had wrongly accused Iran of withholding information about imports of potentially weapons-related technology.

Ashcroft may face prison over 9/11 cover-up, says Daniel Ellsberg: : Two whistleblowers stood side by side before a courthouse in Washington, D.C. on Monday. Veteran of the Pentagon Papers scandal, Daniel Ellsberg was backing a protest by former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds, against a court gag order which has silenced her revelations about the September 11th, 2001 attacks.

Israel Tortures Palestinian Prisoners: Some thousand Palestinian prisoners are being tortured in different forms by the Israeli ‘occupying authorities’ in the Israeli prisons and concentration camps, the Washington post US Daily reported.

U.N. Aide Warns Caterpillar Over Sales to Israel: The sale of bulldozers by Caterpillar Inc. to the Israeli military could violate Palestinians' human rights, a U.N. human rights investigator has warned the U.S. heavy equipment maker.

Israel goes ahead with expansion of settlements and fence : The US has objected to Israeli plans to expand the main Jewish settlements in the West Bank and extend construction of its controversial "anti-terror fence" to its deepest point inside the occupied territories.

Toward a Single State Solution: Zionism, Anti-Semitism and the People of Palestine

Non-Citizens Capture 29 Percent of U.S. Jobs, Report Says : Employment for non-citizens rose twice as fast as their overall population did, which may affect voter perceptions of the improving U.S. economy

CBS 60 Minutes Segment on Skull and Bones: Surprisingly, this is quite a balanced piece. Skull and Bones is compared to the Mafia. But while the five Mafia heads are spending 100 years in jail, Skull and Bones members are spending 4 years in the White House.

Six killed, scores wounded in clashes between militants, Pakistani forces : Pakistani forces fought off guerrillas who attacked two military posts Wednesday with rocket launchers and machine-guns in a lawless tribal region near Afghanistan. One soldier and at least five guerrillas were reported killed.

Mental Tests for Somali Charged in U.S. Bomb Plot: A Somali man charged with plotting with al Qaeda supporters to blow up a shopping mall in Ohio was ordered sent to a psychiatric facility on Wednesday for mental competency tests.

Third Man Being Watched In Alleged Ohio Mall Plot: Authorities still are trying to determine how many others mighthave been involved, U.S. Attorney Gregory Lockhart said.

So Torture Is Legal?: To understand the magnitude of what may have gone on in America's secret prisons, you don't need special security clearance or inside information. Anyone who wants to connect the dots can do it. To see what I mean, review the content of a few items now easily found on the Internet.

Soldier: Commander Tried to Change Report: A National Guard commander told a mental health counselor to change an evaluation to show that a serviceman who accused fellow soldiers of abusing Iraqi prisoners was mentally unfit, another soldier says.

Australia: Hill faces heat over abuse 'whitewash': The Federal Opposition is intensifying pressure on Defence Minister Robert Hill to resign over the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.

George Orwell... meet Franz Kafka : His classic novel of totalitarianism, George Orwell created "Room 101," an interrogation room where a prisoner's deepest fears were to be realized and applied. Tier 1 in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, as the now-infamous photos indicate, was the Bush administration's Room 101 for the "Arab mind,"

Iraqi cleric tells his fighters to go home : The order, communicated in leaflets distributed by his office, appeared to be another move by Sadr to try to gain legitimate political standing in Iraq.

‘Time for a Change’: 27 retired senior government officials released a statement Wednesday morning claiming George W. Bush’s foreign policy has damaged the United States’s reputation abroad, making the country less safe and isolated from its natural allies.

06/16/04: Justify secrecy of 'no-fly' lists, judge tells feds: A judge on Tuesday ordered federal agencies responsible for maintaining air passenger "no-fly" lists to justify secrecy policies that have shielded the error-prone anti-terrorism program from public scrutiny.

Nine dead in Ramadi blast: Nine people have been killed, including four foreigners, and 10 wounded after a vehicle was targeted in the western Iraqi town of Ramadi.

Four Afghans killed in blast: An explosion in the northern Afghan town of Kunduz has killed two Afghan children and two Afghan men, missing the NATO peacekeepers who were apparently its intended target, officials say.

Two GIs Killed in Attack on Base in Iraq : A rocket slammed into a U.S. logistics base near the city of Balad on Wednesday afternoon, killing two U.S. soldiers and wounding 21 people, the military said.

U.S. Army plans to charge soldier with murder: Soldier allegedly killed severely wounded suspected militant.

American hostage in deadly hands: A WAITING game of life and death began early yesterday when terrorists threatened to kill American civilian Paul Johnson in 72 hours unless the Saudi regime released al-Qaeda prisoners and all Westerners left the Arabian peninsula.

'Withdraw troops' say voters : Half of voters in London believe UK troops should be pulled out of Iraq immediately or at least within the next few months, according to a new poll.

Senior Iraqi oil official killed: With all Iraq's oil exports halted by sabotage, gunmen have killed a top Iraqi oil official in a new blow to an interim government reeling from violence two weeks before U.S.-led occupation formally ends.

Iraq's Oil Exports Nixed by Basra Sabotage: This development is another reason for which "sovereignty" won't mean much on June 30.

Bush backs Cheney on assertion linking Hussein, Al Qaeda: President Bush yesterday defended Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion this week that Saddam Hussein had longstanding ties with Al Qaeda, even as critics charged that the White House had no new proof of a connection.

9/11 Panel Says Iraq Rebuffed Bin Laden : Bluntly contradicting the Bush administration, the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks reported Wednesday there was "no credible evidence" that Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaida target the United States.

In case you missed it: Bush Flatly Declares No Connection Between Saddam and al Qaeda

Justice is Deaf: Sibel Edmonds, the former FBI translator who says she is prepared to testify that the FBI covered up key reports warning of terrorist activities before the 9-11 attack, remains in limbo. She volunteers to testify, but nobody wants to hear her

The Truth About Cheney : Vice President Cheney's wild and wacky misadventures with the truth continue, much to the consternation of everyone who values transparency and accountability in government. What will it take for him to come clean?

Is the US clever enough to rule the world?: The rest of the world watched with puzzlement as the US gave up on Afghanistan and finding Osama bin Laden while the American public were, almost subliminally, persuaded that the battleground for the "war on terror" should be Iraq.

CIA Restricts One-Third of U.S. Senate WMD Report: The CIA has decided that about one-third of a U.S. Senate report criticizing prewar intelligence on Iraq contains secret information that should not be released to the public, intelligence sources said.

Auditor describes waste, cost overruns in Iraq contracts: The Halliburton subsidiary KBR has so far received $4.5 billion for activities in Iraq and Kuwait. The company, based in Houston, has received more than $3 billion more to import fuel and repair oil fields. "We saw very little concern for cost considerations," Walker said.

Pentagon Broke Contract Laws To Help Halliburton : The GAO told Congressional investigators today that Pentagon officials "overstepped the latitude provided by competition laws" before the war by awarding oil-related work to Halliburton under a pre- existing global logistics contract

Ex-Soldier Recalls Beating He Received in Guantanamo Drill: Four MPs slammed Baker to the floor, he says, then choked him and pounded his head at least three times against the floor. Gasping for breath, he managed to spit out a code word — "red" — and to croak: "I'm a U.S. soldier! I'm a U.S. soldier!" But the beating continued

Interrogator Instructed Prison Guards: A civilian interrogator at Abu Ghraib prison last fall admitted in a signed statement that he told Army reserve guards what to do, and he outlined intelligence-gathering protocols that may have violated Army regulations.

This won't hurt much : Mr Rumsfeld's memo goes on: "a defendant is guilty of torture only if he acts with the express purpose of inflicting severe pain or suffering on a person within his control". Couldn't be clearer. If your intention is to extract information, you cannot be accused of torture.

Spy Hunter Faces Sex Charges: A key investigator in an espionage case against a Syrian-born former interpreter at the Guantanamo Bay prison now faces criminal charges himself, including rape, sodomy and fondling girls, the Air Force said.

Prison Tactics A Longtime Dilemma For Israel "What the Israelis do is much more effective than beatings," he said. "Three days without food and without sleep and you're eager to tell them anything. It just shows us the Americans are amateurs. They should have taken lessons from the Israelis."

Israeli force assassinate "Jihad" man in Jenin : Witnesses said undercover Israeli forces shot dead a wanted Palestinian militant and arrested four others in the violence-torn West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday morning.

Compensate settlers for what? : For what exactly should we be compensating the settlers who will be evacuated from Gaza? For the damage they caused the state for decades? For the scandalous economic price of their living in Gaza? For the blood needlessly spilled over them?

Mosaic: World News Reports From Middle East TV For 06/15/04: The nation's only uncensored compilation of daily television news reports from more than 15 countries in the Middle East. QuickTime Video.

Bush Outlines Initiatives to Help Afghans: One of the biggest problems facing Afghanistan's first elected post-Taliban government will be the country's illicit cultivation of opium poppies. The trade, 20 times that during the Taliban's last year, brought in $2.3 billion, more than half Afghanistan's gross domestic product.

Karzai seeks more troops: As Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, visits Washington, security in his country worsens. Many now doubt whether NATO can make voting in September’s elections safe beyond Kabul without more troops

Silent witnesses: 20 million civilians lost to the world: The innocent are the first casualties of war. Yesterday the UN admitted that it is powerless to help

Spying in America: How the Pentagon is Overcoming Privacy Laws to Spy At Home: A new provision buried in an intelligence appropriations bill moving through Congress would exempt Pentagon agencies from the Privacy Act, vastly expanding their ability to gather intelligence inside the United States, including recruiting citizens as informants.

Reporters in chains: Under Homeland Security orders, journalists from England, Sweden, Holland and other friendly countries are being detained at U.S. airports, strip-searched and deported.

With Trembling Fingers: "If a Spotted Hyena stepped out of Air Force One wearing a Baby-blue Necktie, most Americans would salute and sing 'Hail to the Chief.'"

Kerry: An Echo, Not a Choice: What Kerry really cares about is military might, diplomacy, and the intelligence system — in other words, the hardware of government intervention and imperialism.

Fahrenheit 9/11 turns up the heat: It is a testament to how the mainstream media rallied round the leader that none of them have ever connected the dots, at least not in any comprehensive way, from that horrible moment all the way to Falluja.

The People's Media Reaches More People Than FOX Does : Henry Adams, who decried the decline in democracy as the robber barons rose to power in the nineteenth century, did not mince words about the failure of the news media of his day: "The press is the hired agent of a monied system," he wrote, "and set up for no other purpose than to tell lies where the interests are involved."

The Essential Dishonesty of Christopher Hitchens: Liar, hypocrite, coward

Capital punishment for Italy's 'media bulimic' : A red bombshell has landed in the middle of Italian politics. Lilli Gruber - until recently one of Italy's best known TV news reporters - hoped to beat Silvio Berlusconi in last weekend's European elections. But she probably never dreamt she would scoop twice as many votes as the prime minister in the capital city.

How many bodies can fit in the trunk of the presidential limo? : CERTAINLY THE Bush White House can't match the glamour and great writing on The Sopranos. But as the HBO show ended another riveting season, it wasn't difficult to see the similarities between Tony's mob and W's—except that the organized crime orchestrated out of the White House isn't just a fictional tv drama.

Bill Moyers: The Fight of Our Lives: Some things are worth getting mad about. Case in point: the growing, vast equality gap between the richest and the poorest Americans. If this isn't class war, what is?

NY Convention Protesters Say Rights Threatened: New York officials are threatening the rights of demonstrators planning to show up at the Republican National Convention by failing to issue a single permit so far, a protest leader said on Tuesday.

Declarations of Independence: Since the reign of King George III, resistance has been our legacy—and to this day still is

Poll of Iraqis Reveals Anger Toward U.S. :  92 percent of Iraqis consider the United States an occupying force and more than half believe all Americans behave like those portrayed in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse photos.

Iraq Poll: 67% Support Muqtada al-Sadr. 23% support Iyad Allawi, Iraqs new Prime Minister

In case you missed it?: US Troops Admit Shooting Iraqi Civilians: American troops today admitted they routinely gun down Iraqi civilians - some of whom are entirely innocent. As distrust of the invading forces increases amongst the local population US soldiers said they have killed civilians without hesitation, shot injured opponents and abandoned them to die in agony.

US-Iran row heats up: US accuses Iran of intimidating UN ahead of vote on resolution critical of Iran's nuclear cooperation.

Iran: Vicious Triangle Forming in Vienna By Ismail Salami : The United States is mounting pressure from all directions, from the European Union big three on one side and also from the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed El Baradei, who is led and fed by the U.S. government, to draw Iran into a vortex of isolation. 

Sudan: Unicef Head Says Crisis Worsening in Darfur: The Sudanese government has been accused of a policy of "ethnic cleansing" in Darfur by supporting Arab militias.

US threatens Sudan with "consequences" over Darfur: A US State Department official said, "Do not doubt our determination,"  A military intervention is being considered.

More Than 22,000 Congolese Flee Fighting : More than 22,000 Congolese refugees fleeing fighting in eastern Congo have crossed the border into Burundi in the past week, a local official said Wednesday.

Grim Numbers: A U.S.-sponsored poll shows Iraqis have lost confidence in the occupying authorities--and that the vast majority of Iraqis want Coalition troops out of the country ‘immediately’

US Army chief: Iraq "cannot be won militarily": The war in Iraq will be won when Iraqis take ownership of their destiny but it cannot be won militarily by the United States, the chief of staff of the US Army said Tuesday.

US army chiefs accuse prison general of lying: The American general who was in charge of Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib was today involved in an astonishing war of words with her superiors, who accused her of lying.

Riyadh Captors Threaten to Kill Hostage: An Islamist website yesterday carried a statement purportedly from Al-Qaeda threatening to execute American hostage Paul M. Johnson if its supporters held in the Kingdom are not released within 72 hours.

U.S. likely to hold Saddam beyond June 30 : The United States is likely to keep custody of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein beyond the June 30 handover of power to Iraqis though Iraq's new leaders have said they expect the former leader to be transferred to their authority in the next two weeks.

Saddam lawyer terms Iraq government illegal, denounces trial plan : Saddam Hussein's leading lawyer denounced as illegal, plans by Iraq's interim government to take over and put on trial the ousted former dictator.

Alleged Mall Terror Plot Was Vague: Federal investigators say Nuradin Abdi bragged that blowing up an Ohio shopping center was his goal. But no specific mall was targeted. No explosives were in hand. And it is unclear that the alleged terrorist had the wherewithal to do it. Abdi's family says he didn't have the will.

Back to the future: new US-Russia arms race: Welcome back to the future of US-Russian rivalry. Analysts say that a combination of US military efforts - including missile defense, plans for new low-yield nuclear weapons, and expansion up to Russia's western doorstep - are chilling relations with Moscow and spurring a new, higher-tech arms race.

Inflation a top threat to economy: Consumer prices have risen at a 5.5 percent annual pace for the past three months, rippling from plywood to dairy section.

What recovery? Working poor struggle to pay bills: "I have a good job, but I have to choose between buying gas or getting food. It's very hard."

Iran massing troops on Iraq border? : Iran reportedly is readying troops to move into Iraq if U.S. troops pull out, leaving a security vacuum.

Iran Denies Report of Troop Buildup on Iraq border: Iran's state-run news agency IRNA quotes what it calls "an informed source" as denying a report in a Saudi-owned newspaper that says Iranian troops are massing on the border with Iraq.

Iraqi police accused of handing over Shiites for slaughter : Dozens of Iraqis today accused Fallujah police of handing over Shiite truck drivers to Sunni extremists who slaughtered them after they sought refuge at a police station.

06/15/04:  Attackers Kill Some Contractors in Iraq : Attackers opened fire Tuesday on a three-vehicle convoy of foreign contractors, killing some of them, a U.S. military spokesman said.

Saboteurs Hit Iraq's Oil Lifeline: Saboteurs have struck a new blow to Iraq's vital oil industry, cutting exports to a third of their previous level, shippers said Tuesday

Pentagon Probe Queries Top Intel Official : Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's panel investigating prisoner abuse interviewed the Pentagon's top civilian intelligence official Monday and more than a half dozen other senior defense officials and active duty personnel in Iraq.

Paul Krugman: Travesty of Justice: No question: John Ashcroft is the worst attorney general in history.

Accused contractor at Abu Ghraib says he told guards what to do: In testimony that conflicts with some generals' accounts, a private interrogator accused of abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison told investigators that he and military intelligence operatives directed prison guards to keep Iraqi prisoners awake for as much as 20 hours a day.

Tout Torture, Get Promoted: Defending cruelty can be a career booster in Bush's administration. What a revelation to learn that the Justice Department lawyer who wrote the infamous memo in effect defending torture is now a U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge. It tells you all you need to know about the sort of conservative to whom George W. Bush is turning in his attempt to pack the federal courts.

Abu Ghraib General Says She's Scapegoat : The American general who was in charge of Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison said she was being made a scapegoat for the abuse of detainees and claimed her counterpart at Guantanamo Bay once told her that prisoners were ``like dogs.''

Rep. Ron Paul : Torture, War, and Presidential Powers: War has been used by presidents to excuse the imprisonment of American citizens of Japanese descent, to silence speech, to suspend habeas corpus, and even to control entire private industries.

A Temporary Coup : Author Thomas Powers says the White House's corruption of intelligence has caused the greatest foreign policy catastrophe in modern U.S. history - and sparked a civil war with the nation's intel agencies.

Mosaic: World News Reports From Middle East TV For 06/14/04: The nation's only uncensored compilation of daily television news reports from more than 15 countries in the Middle East. QuickTime Video.

Congressional report: Israel arms sales to China concern U.S. : The United States would face an increasingly lethal Chinese army modernized by Washington's friends and allies if it had to defend Taiwan in a war with Beijing, said a U.S. study released on Tuesday.

Israel: Military crime without punishment: Occupation troops used members of the household as human shields, and tortured those who failed to obey their requests - in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Israeli veterans show occupation's ugly side: They are snapshots from the front lines of an occupation, photos taken by Israeli soldiers seeking to make sense of life in the flash-point city of Hebron.

Israeli terror suspect falls; cops eye link to al-Qaeda:

US judge puts Jewish leader on trial: A US judge has ruled that a leader of an armed Jewish group must stand trial for allegedly plotting to bomb a Los Angeles mosque.

You don't have to be poor to work there, but it helps: Kellogg, Brown and Root is finding no shortage of Americans who want employment in Iraq, despite the heat, dust and danger of death. They could earn up to $100,000 in a year.

U.S. jobless rate misses "hidden" unemployed : Buried inside the official U.S. employment report each month is a little-known figure that gives a much less rosy picture of the labor market than the headlines.

GOP refusing to allow testimony on Halliburton spending: Halliburton Inc. paid high-priced bills for common items, such as soda, laundry and hotels, in Iraq and Kuwait and then passed the inflated costs along to taxpayers, according to several former Halliburton employees and a Pentagon internal audit.

Congress inquiry links Cheney aide to Halliburton deal : Fresh concern has been raised that the American vice-president, Dick Cheney, may have played a role in the decision to award his former company Halliburton a $7bn contract for work in postwar Iraq.

Cheney's Multi-Million Dollar Revolving Door: As Bush Sr.'s secretary of defense, Dick Cheney steered millions of dollars in government business to a private military contractor -- whose parent company just happened to give him a high-paying job after he left the government.

Under fire from UN, Iran warns it may curtail nuclear cooperation ; As diplomats at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna considered a tough European-drafted resolution that criticizes Iran's failure to come clean fully, top regime officials here said they would not tolerate what they saw as a plot by the United States and Israel.

Clearance Of Arabia: BRITISH embassy workers were told yesterday they can quit Saudi Arabia with their families amid a spate of killings and kidnappings. And British Airways said its crews will no longer stay overnight there.

"Republicans are behind the effort to censor Fahrenheit 9/11": So desperate are Bush Republicans to kill Michael Moore's latest film, Fahrenheit 9/11, they have hired a public relations firm to set up a web site attacking Moore.

Greg Palast : 'While Reagan napped: Ronnie, Osama and the Chin defense': The Reagan Right has used the late President's funeral for a shameless political victory dance, carefully wiping the blood off the historical files. Before the truth is interred, let us have a moment of remembrance for the dubious doings in the White House while Reagan napped:

Reaganite by Association? His Family Won't Allow It: As Republicans try to cloak President Bush in the mantle of Ronald Reagan, their biggest obstacle may be Mr. Reagan's own family.

House Panel Advances Corporate Tax Cut : Republican tax writers in the House enticed a few Democrats to support a corporate tax cut, sweetening the bill with a federal deduction for state sales taxes, a $10 billion federal buyout for tobacco farmers and new tax rules for shipping.

Enron gouged Western customers for at least $1.1 billion: Enron Corp.'s manipulation of energy markets gouged Western customers for at least $1.1 billion, according to audiotapes and documents released today by the Snohomish County Public Utility District, which earlier uncovered tapes of traders laughing about cheating grandmothers on their electricity bills.

Two decades after 1984, Big Brother finally is watching: WHILE YOU were watching President Ronald W. Reagan’s caisson wend its way up Constitution Avenue to the Capitol Rotunda on your television screen, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson was watching you on his screen.

Patrol's uniforms made south of border: It seems an odd fit: U.S. Border Patrol uniforms with labels that say "Made in Mexico."

Attackers kill five Kurdish army recruits in Iraq : The recruits were returning to Kirkuk from Taji air base on outskirts of Baghdad, where they had just finished a military training course. The five had recently joined Iraq's fledgling national army.

Man held in Detroit as terrorism suspect: Somali immigrant is in high-security case : A Somali man living in Ohio was charged with plotting with al Qaeda supporters to blow up a shopping mall in Columbus, Ohio, Attorney General John Ashcroft said on Monday.

Brother says Somali national charged in mall plot hated terrorists: "He really hated terrorists," Mohamed AbdiKarani, 17, told The Associated Press. "You know how (President) Bush hates terrorists? I think he hates them more."

In case you missed it: Captured al-Qa'eda man was FBI spy: The American al-Qa'eda operative unmasked last week as having planned to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge was first detained in March, and has been used by the FBI for months as a double agent, it was reported yesterday.

In case you missed it: Man held in Detroit as terrorism suspect : He was arrested in early December at his home in Columbus, Ohio, and was a factor in the government's decision to raise the national alert level to orange, or high, that month, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are barred from discussing cases involving high national security issues.

Kerry Sees an Opening as Bush Team Admits Terrorism Is Up, Not Down: The administration acknowledged last week that the report, published in April, was badly flawed and that significant terrorism incidents had instead increased sharply. The administration had trumpeted the report as evidence that its anti-terror strategy was working.

Dubya's Dilemma: Daddy Doesn't Support the Iraq War: The President’s father, George H.W. Bush – 41st President of the United States – disagrees with his son’s decisions in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, which is why the former President has not commented in public on the war.

Halliburton 'mismanaged $8bn in Iraq' : The findings have been bolstered by graphic accounts from former employees who have told a US congressman that the company's subcontractors charged $100 (€83, £55) to launder a 15-pound bag of clothing and abandoned $85,000 trucks when they suffered flat tyres.

U.S. Trucks Carrying Radioactive Materials Intercepted In Iraq-Kuwait Border : The daily quoted informed sources as saying that the radioactive control team from Kuwait’s Health Ministry discovered that one of the trucks belonging to the U.S.-led coalition forces was carrying heavy radioactive materials trucks. The trucks were headed for Iraq.

Senators: CIA stalling: Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee are accusing the CIA of trying to delay release of the panel's report that criticizes the agency for overestimating the prewar threat posed by Iraq.

Cheney Speaks In Orlando, Claims Ties Between Hussein And Al Qaida: It's an assertion that has been repeatedly challenged by some policy experts and lawmakers.

U.S. to Turn Over Saddam to Iraqis Within 2 Weeks -Allawi: "All the current detainees, without exception, will be handed over to the Iraqi authority. The handover will take place within the next two weeks," he said.

Delhi damage control over 'nuke thief': The arrest of a Dubai resident for allegedly trying to sell Indian atomic secrets to foreign powers has re-generated fears that just as it happened in Pakistan, India's nuclear program is susceptible to being peddled for a price.

Torture charges: Egypt blocks prison visits: The Egyptian Attorney General has cancelled a follow-up visit by members of parliament and the National Security and Defence Committee (NSD) to the Turra prison following allegations of torture and in some cases, murder.

Crossing the threshold: While we’re all fretting over the Patriot Act, John Ashcroft’s Justice Department is after much bigger game

Critics take aim at secret court : With legislation now pending in both houses of Congress to give the court more authority, some lawmakers and civil rights groups also want more accountability, openness and congressional oversight of the surveillance authorizations, considered a basic tool of national security.

06/14/04 Car Bomb Kills 12 in Iraq: A car bomb tore through a convoy Monday in central Baghdad, killing at least 12 people, including an American and four other foreigners working to rebuild Iraq's power plants. A crowd gathered, shouting ``Down with the USA!'' and dancing around a charred body.

Bomb kills British security men: Two Britons killed by a car bomb in Baghdad were working for a UK-based security firm, it has been confirmed.

Four UK troops face court martial: The four are understood to be accused of assault, indecent assault and failing to prevent assaults.

Interrogation abuses were 'approved at highest levels': New evidence that the physical abuse of detainees in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay was authorised at the top of the Bush administration will emerge in Washington this week, adding further to pressure on the White House.

Interrogation details in manual: A CIA handbook on coercive interrogation methods, produced 40 years ago during the Vietnam War, shows that techniques such as those used in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have a long history with U.S. intelligence and were based on research and field experience.

Justice Dept. Memo Says Torture 'May Be Justified' : The memo was written at the request of the CIA. The CIA wanted authority to conduct more aggressive interrogations than were permitted prior to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Unit Says It Gave Earlier Warning of Abuse in Iraq: Beginning in November, a small unit of interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison began reporting allegations of prisoner abuse, including the beatings of five blindfolded Iraqi generals

US to keep 4,000- 5,000 prisoners after June 30: The US-led coalition plans to hold on to between 4,000 and 5,000 people after Iraq receives sovereignty on June 30 and to free or hand over to the Iraqi authorities 1,400 prisoners, a military officer told AFP.

Contracting Justice: Private contractors accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners are not in court, much less prison.

Contractor Immunity a Divisive Issue : In an early test of its imminent sovereignty, Iraq's new government has been resisting a U.S. demand that thousands of foreign contractors here be granted immunity from Iraqi law, in the same way as U.S. military forces are now immune, according to Iraqi sources.

Terry Waite attacks US for its treatment of terror suspects: Terry Waite has attacked the Bush Administration today by comparing its treatment of terrorism suspects in Cuba and Iraq as the same as the treatment he received while held hostage for five years in Beirut.

Torture Incorporated: Oliver North Joins the Party: These so-called "private military contractors" are nothing of the sort. They are paramilitary organizations that are funded by the US Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State.

’Torture in a good cause’: THE trap of colonial war is closing on the invading forces in Iraq. US armed forces are now realising that crushing military superiority is not enough to save them from hostage-taking, ambushes and other deadly assaults. For soldiers on the ground the occupation of Iraq is fast becoming a descent into hell.

Guantanamo videos turned over to US officials: The solicitor for Australian detainee Mamdouh Habib, Stephen Hopper, two weeks ago said two former British detainees at Guantanamo allege US soldiers beat Mr Habib and one says the abuse was videotaped.

Guantanamo: What the World Should Know: If we want to live in a safe world, the message we should send is that we will treat people not like animals but like human beings. Although we should be trying to lessen the anger toward the United States within the Muslim and Arab world, we are not doing that; we are, in fact, doing the opposite.

Richard Clarke: 'Iraq could be much more of a problem for America than if Saddam had stayed in power': Mr Clarke believes Mr Bush's decision to invade Iraq undoubtedly damaged the hunt for al-Qa'ida. He also believes it has diverted much-needed resources from Homeland Security, leaving the country unnecessarily vulnerable.

Man Charged in Alleged Plot on Ohio Mall: A Somali native living in Ohio has been charged with plotting with other al-Qaida operatives to blow up a Columbus-area shopping mall, according to an indictment unsealed Monday.

In Shiite slum's 'heart of darkness,' hatred of U.S. grows: Once grateful to Americans for ridding them of Saddam Hussein, many in this Baghdad slum have come to hate U.S. troops for bringing chaos -- and not much else -- to their door.

Red Cross ultimatum to US on Saddam : Release him, charge him or break international law, Bush told

Americans, Iraqis Vie for Control of Security Forces : With the transfer of official sovereignty to a US-sanctioned governing body just over two weeks away, officials with both the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and the Iraqi Police complain they are understaffed, under-equipped and undermined by the US.

Lies Upon Lies Upon Lies: US Military in Crisis: A US soldier, with no threat whatever to his safety, fired his rifle along a street. He did not actually aim his weapon at anyone, because nobody had shot at him. There was a noise : a crack-crack-crack, that sounded something like small arms' fire. It wasn't. But he sprayed unaimed automatic fire along a street in a city

Revolution Reversal?: Iraq's History May Be Repeating; Is America Stuck Playing the Role of the Redcoats?

“The student is gone; the master has arrived.”: Salam, one of my Iraqi friends, asks: “Why is the news so quiet about all of these things? In the last 6 months 20 people I know have been killed, for nothing! They weren’t fighters -- they were just living their life.”

Iraqi rebel cleric plans to create party: U.S. officials want Sadr to be excluded from the political process and face Iraqi justice in connection with the murder of a rival cleric last year, charges he denies.

Reserve, Guard forces take more older soldiers to Iraq: One of the first casualties this month in Iraq was New Jersey National Guardsman Frank Carvill, who was 51 when he died in an attack on his convoy in Baghdad.

GIs marching away from re-enlistment: Army re-enlistments have dropped suddenly and dramatically at Fort Carson and several other posts where combat units have recently returned from Iraq.

Cheney's office 'briefed on Pentagon deal' : Senior members of Vice-President Dick Cheney's staff were briefed at least twice by the Pentagon on a controversial multibillion-dollar contract to oversee Iraq's oil sector before it was awarded to his former company, Halliburton, early last year.

'UK holds indirect talks with Taliban' : The UK has started holding indirect talks with the Taliban to seek an "honourable" exit from Afghanistan

Rice: Al-Qaeda ''serious threat'' in Saudi Arabia : US national security advisor Condoleezza Rice warned on Monday that Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network has become a "serious threat" in Saudi Arabia and confirmed that it is a dangerous place for foreigners to stay

Saudi Arabia created the monster now devouring it: The US and Britain are straining to shore up a hated autocracy

U.S. Urges Iran to 'Come Clean' on Nuclear Program: The United States has accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons and has been pushing to put the issue before the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

Iran Rejects Restraint on Nuclear Program: ``We won't accept any new obligations,'' Kharrazi said. ``Iran has a high technical capability and has to be recognized by the international community as a member of the nuclear club. This is an irreversible path.''

Despite U.S. deal, Israel starts Ariel fence : This land appropriation move is at variance with the U.S. government's understanding that such steps would not be taken in the fo