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FOCUS:
 Special
Reports
9-11
Meta Index September 11 2001
CLONING
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CENSORSHIP News:
20080424
-
 US
-  Iraq
-  Military
-  Family
-  Photographs
-  People
-  Media
-  Politics
-  Virginia
- "What
the Family Would Let You See, the Pentagon Obstructs."
... "[Lieutenant
Colonel] Lt. Col. Billy Hall, one of the most senior officers to be
killed in the Iraq war, was laid to rest yesterday at Arlington National
Cemetery [Arlington, Virginia]. It's hard to escape the conclusion that
the Pentagon doesn't want you to know that." ... "The family of 38-year-old
Hall, who leaves behind two young daughters and two stepsons, gave their
permission for the media to cover his Arlington burial -- a decision many
grieving families make so that the nation will learn about their loved
ones' sacrifice. But the military had other ideas, and they arranged the
Marine's burial yesterday so that no sound, and few images, would make
it into the public domain." ... "That's a shame, because Hall's story is
a moving reminder that the war in Iraq, forgotten by much of the nation,
remains real and present for some. Among those unlikely to forget the war:
6-year-old Gladys and 3-year-old Tatianna. The rest of the nation, if it
remembers Hall at all, will remember him as the 4,011th American service
member to die in Iraq, give or take, and the 419th to be buried at Arlington.
Gladys and Tatianna will remember him as Dad." ... "Journalists were held
50 yards from the service, separated from the mourning party by six or
seven rows of graves, and staring into the sun and penned in by a yellow
rope." ... "It had the feel of a throwback to Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon,
when the military cracked down on photographs of flag-draped caskets returning
home from the war. Rumsfeld himself was exposed for failing to sign by
hand the condolence letters he sent to the next of kin." -By
Dana Milbank -WashingtonPost
20080423
-
Noteworthy
-
 Government
-  EPA
- Opinion
-  Science
- Politics
-  Food
-  Drug
-  Oceanic
-  Atmospheric
-  Climate
-  Health
-  California
-  Investigation
- "Hundreds
of EPA Scientists Report Political Interference Over Last Five Years:
UCS [Union of Concerned Scientists] calls for strengthened protections
for federal scientists." ... "An investigation of the Environmental Protection
Agency released today found that 889 of nearly 1,600 staff scientists reported
that they experienced political interference in their work over the last
five years. The study, by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), follows
previous UCS investigations of the Food and Drug Administration, Fish and
Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and
climate scientists at seven federal agencies, which also found significant
administration manipulation of federal science." ... ""Our investigation
found an agency in crisis," said Francesca Grifo, director of UCS's Scientific
Integrity Program. "Nearly 900 EPA scientists reported political interference
in their scientific work. That's 900 too many. Distorting science to accommodate
a narrow political agenda threatens our environment, our health, and our
democracy itself."" ... "The UCS report comes amidst a flurry of controversial
activity swirling around the EPA. Congress is currently investigating administration
interference in a new chemical toxicity review process as well as California's
request to regulate tailpipe emissions. And in early May, the House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee is expected to hold a hearing on political
interference in the new EPA ground-level ozone pollution standard." ...
"UCS's investigation revealed political interference is most pronounced
in offices where scientists write regulations and at the National Center
for Environmental Assessment, where scientists conduct risk assessments
that could lead to strengthened regulations." ... ""The investigation shows
researchers are generally continuing to do their work," said Dr. Grifo.
"But their scientific findings are tossed aside when it comes time to write
regulations."" ... "Nearly 100 scientists identified the [Republican President
Bush's] White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the primary
culprit." -UCSUSA.org
-
Government
- Environmental
- Science
- Politics
- Human
- Health
-
 Law
- Air
-  Ground
- Water
-  Homes
-  Workplace
-  Industry
- US
-  Global
- Climate
- Free
Speech - Censorship
- "Interference
at the EPA: Science and Politics at the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency." ... "The U.S. [United States] Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has the simple yet profound charge "to protect human health
and the environment." EPA scientists apply their expertise to protect
the public from air and water pollution, clean up hazardous waste, and
study emerging threats such as global warming. Because each year brings
new and potentially toxic chemicals into our homes and workplaces, because
air pollution still threatens our public health, and because environmental
challenges are becoming more complex and global, a strong and capable EPA
is more important than ever." ... "Yet challenges from industry lobbyists
and some political leaders to the agency's decisions have too often led
to the suppression and distortion of the scientific findings underlying
those decisions—to the detriment of both science and the health of our
nation. While every regulatory agency must balance scientific findings
with other considerations, policy makers need access to the highest-quality
scientific information to make fully informed decisions." ... "Concern
over this problem led the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) to investigate
political interference in science at the EPA. The investigation combines
dozens of interviews with current and former EPA staff, analysis of government
documents, more than 1,600 responses to a survey sent to current EPA scientists,
and written comments from EPA scientists." ... "The results of these investigations
show an agency under siege from political pressures. On numerous issues—ranging
from mercury pollution to groundwater contamination to climate change—political
appointees have edited scientific documents, manipulated scientific assessments,
and generally sought to undermine the science behind dozens of EPA regulations."
... "These findings highlight the need for strong reforms to protect EPA
scientists, make agency decision making more transparent, and reduce politicization
of the regulatory process. Congress, the next president, and the next EPA
Administrator must restore independence and scientific integrity to the
EPA by:"
-
"
* Protecting EPA Scientists: Scientists should be free to report the distortion,
manipulation, and suppression of their work without fear of retribution.
Congress should pass a whistleblower law that includes protection for scientists.
The EPA should adopt a communications policy that lets scientists speak
freely to the press about their findings."
-
"
* Making the EPA More Transparent: Too many decisions are made behind closed
doors with little accountability. The EPA’s scientific findings should
be freely available to the public. The EPA should open up its decision-making
process to congressional and public scrutiny to help reveal misuses of
science[.]"
-
"
* Reforming the Regulatory Process: The White House should not change scientific
findings in order to weaken, delay, or prevent new public protections."
-
"
* Ensuring Robust Scientific Input to EPA's Decision Making: The EPA should
review and strengthen how it uses the scientific expertise of its staff
and external advisory committees to create policies—especially when scientific
input is critical or required by law."
-
"
* Depoliticizing Funding, Monitoring, and Enforcement: Problems with funding,
monitoring and enforcement also need to be addressed by Congress and the
next President to ensure that the EPA is the robust environmental agency
that our country needs."
-UCSUSA.org/scientific_integrity/interference
20080414
-
 China
- Military
- Police
-  Terrorism
- Religious
- Censorship
-  Oil
- Sports
- Human
Rights - "As
world watches Tibet, China's Muslim Uighurs face growing repression."
... "Almost unnoticed amid the wide-scale protests by Tibetans over the
past month is the social unrest among the 8 million or so Muslim Uighurs
in China's resource-rich far western territory." ... "Recently, hundreds
of Muslim women in black veils gathered outside the market in this oasis
city [Khotan, China] in an impromptu protest. Some carried signs demanding
an independent state." ... ""I saw the demonstration myself. There were
500 to 700 women in black, waving placards for East Turkestan," said Wu
Jiangliang, a hydroelectric company employee." ... "China handled the unrest
forcefully, ensuring the stability of a region rich in oil, coal and minerals.
Police moved quickly to quell the March 23 protest, arresting numerous
women and shooing others away. It drew only minor notice." ... "China also
has broken up what it said were two terrorist rings that intended to disrupt
the Beijing [China's capital] Summer Olympic Games and thwarted what it
said was a terrorist attempt last month on a commercial airliner." ...
"But as state officials employed a firm hand against restive Uighurs, pronounced
WEE-gers, they also publicly demonized those behind the social unrest.
Critics now say that while the state has stabilized ethnic areas, the harsh
language may exacerbate tensions." ... ""The problem is that China's policies
are alienating," said Nicholas Bequelin, a Hong Kong-based researcher for
Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group. "They are efficient in that political
repression works. But they increase ethnic tensions."" -By
Tim
Johnson -McClatchyDC.com
20080409
-
 Connecticut
- Hack
- Political
- US
Attorney - Censorship
- 2006
Election -  Web
-  E-Mails
- Federal
- Attorney
- US
- Iraq
- Military
- "FBI
probe: Lieberman campaign to blame for crashing own Web site."
... "A federal investigation has concluded that U.S. [United States Connecticut
Independent Democrat Senator] Sen. Joseph Lieberman's 2006 re-election
campaign was to blame for the crash of its Web site the day before Connecticut's
heated Aug. [August] 8 Democratic primary." ... "The FBI [Federal Bureau
of Investigation] office in New Haven [Connecticut] found no evidence supporting
the Lieberman campaign's allegations that supporters of primary challenger
Ned Lamont of Greenwich [Connecticut] were to blame for the Web site crash."
... "Lieberman, who was fighting for his political life against the anti-Iraq
war candidate [Ned] Lamont, implied that joe2006.com was hacked by Lamont
supporters." ... ""The server that hosted the joe2006.com Web site failed
because it was overutilized and misconfigured. There was no evidence of
(an) attack," according to the e-mail." ... "The e-mail, dated Oct. [October]
25, 2006, was included in a technical packet of information recently sent
to The Advocate in response to requests under the Freedom of Information
Act filed in late 2006 with the offices of state Attorney General Richard
Blumenthal and U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor." ... "The Advocate filed the
requests after Blumenthal and O'Connor closed the case but declined to
divulge details. They stated only that they found no evidence that Lamont
supporters were to blame." ... "Visitors who tried to access Lieberman's
site at the time received a message calling on Lamont to "make an unqualified
statement denouncing this kind of dirty campaign trick and to demand whoever
is responsible to cease and desist immediately."" ... "Blumenthal denied
The Advocate's FOI [Freedom of Information] request on the grounds it was
a federal matter, and it took more than a year for the FBI and U.S. Department
of Justice to respond." ... "According to the FBI memo, the site crashed
because Lieberman officials continually exceeded a configured limit of
100 e-mails per hour the night before the primary." -By
Brian Lockhart -StamfordAdvocate.com
20080403
-
Medical
- Database
- Abortion
- Science
-
 Literature
- Family
-  Education
- Government
-  Search
Engine - Funding
-  Maryland
- US
- International
- Politics
- "U.S.
Funded Health Search Engine Blocks 'Abortion'." ...
"A U.S. [United States] government-funded medical information site that
bills itself as the world's largest database on reproductive health has
quietly begun to block searches on the word "abortion," concealing nearly
25,000 search results." ... "Called Popline,
the search site is run by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health in Maryland. It's funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development,
or USAID, the federal office in charge of providing foreign aid, including
health care funding, to developing nations." ... "The massive database
indexes a broad range of reproductive health literature, including titles
like "Previous abortion and the risk of low birth weight and preterm births,"
and "Abortion in the United States: Incidence and access to services, 2005.""
... "But on Thursday, a search on "abortion" was producing only the message
"No records found by latest query."" ... "Stephen Goldstein, a spokesman
for Johns Hopkins, said he wasn't aware of the censorship, and couldn't
immediately comment. " -By Sarah Lai Stirland
-Wired
-
Corporate
- Federal
-
 Aviation
- Safety
- Transportation
- Law
- Jobs
- Politics
- Censorship
-  Minn
- "FAA
Inspectors Say Jobs Were Threatened: Committee Investigating
'Culture Of Coziness'." ... "The whistleblowers who exposed maintenance
and inspection problems at Southwest Airlines told Congress Thursday that
their jobs were threatened." ... "They also told U.S. [United States Minnesota
Democratic Represenative] Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn. [Democratic-Minnesota],
and other members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
that their reports of noncompliance were ignored for years by their superiors."
... "Federal Aviation Administration inspector Douglas Peters choked up
during the hearing and needed a few sips of water to tell lawmakers about
how a former manager came into his office, commented on pictures of Peters'
family being most important, and then said his job could be jeopardized
by his actions." ... "Oberstar said FAA [Federal Aviation Administration]
managers' actions displayed "malfeasance bordering on corruption," adding
that if presented to a grand jury, the evidence would result in an indictment."
-KCTV5.com
20080313
-
Noteworthy
- Consumer
- Finances
- Law
- Politics
- "'Muscle'
Silences Credit Card Adversaries." ... "Christy Mylar
Smith and her husband paid their Citibank card bill on time for years --
but when they paid late twice in one year, their interest rate increased
from 12.9 percent to 31.4 percent overnight." ... "Steven Strachan has
a FICO score in the high 700s, has always paid on time, has never gone
over the limit, yet Chase increased his rate from 10.99 percent to 24.99
percent." ... "Steve Autry accepted a fixed rate for life of 9.9 percent
from Capital One. Now Capital One tells him that the cost of business and
rising interest rates will cause his rates to increase, even though he
has been a customer in good standing for many years." ... "Marvin Weatherspoon
took advantage of a low introductory rate from Bank of America, but because
he was a few days late in paying one month, his interest rate has been
increased from 4.25 percent to almost 25 percent. Only $108 of his $347
monthly payment goes to the principal. He has tried to work with the bank,
but felt "he had no voice."" ... "At the 11th hour, the credit companies
found a way to stop those that had traveled to Washington today to tell
their story to the congressional panel on consumer credit." ... "The banks
whose practices were about to be discussed on Capitol Hill demanded that
those testifying before Congress about credit card practices sign a waiver
that allowed their personal financial information be revealed to the public."
... "The Republicans on the subcommittee backed the banks' requests and
a procedural battle would have ensued." (1, 2)
-By Vija Udenans -ABCNEWS.com
20080312
-
US
- Iraq
- Terrorism
- Military
- Government
-
 Intelligence
- Politics
- "Pentagon
Report on Saddam's Iraq Censored?" ... "ABC News'
Jonathan Karl Reports: The [Republican President] Bush Administration apparently
does not want a U.S. military study that found no direct connection between
Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda to get any attention. This morning, the
Pentagon cancelled plans to send out a press release announcing the report's
release and will no longer make the report available online." ... "The
report was to be posted on the Joint Forces Command website this afternoon,
followed by a background briefing with the authors. No more." ...
"ABC News obtained the comprehensive military study of Saddam Hussein's
links to terrorism on Tuesday." ... "The study, which was due to be released
Wednesday, found no "smoking gun" or any evidence of a direct connection
between Saddam's Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist organization." ... "The
report is based on the analysis of some 600,000 official Iraqi documents
seized by US forces after the invasion. It is also based on thousands
of hours of interrogations of former top officials in Saddam's government
who are now in U.S. custody." ... "Others have reached the same conclusion,
but no previous study has had access to so much information. Further,
this is the first official acknowledgement from the U.S. military that
there is no evidence Saddam had ties to Al Qaeda."
-ABCNEWS.com
20080227
-
 Karl
Rove
- Political
- Government
-  Computer
- E-Mails
-  Communications
- Archives
- Laws
- Presidential
Records Act Law - Hatch
Act Law -  History
- Data
- Censorship
- Investigation
- "GOP
Halts Effort to Retrieve White House E-Mails." ...
"After promising last year to search its computers for tens of thousands
of e-mails sent by [Republican President Bush] White House officials, the
Republican National Committee has informed a House committee that it no
longer plans to retrieve the communications by restoring computer backup
tapes, the panel's chairman said yesterday." ... "The move increases the
likelihood that an untold number of RNC [RNC=Republican National Committee=Republican
Party] e-mails dealing with official White House business during the first
term of the Bush administration -- including many sent or received by former
[Republican President Bush] presidential adviser Karl Rove -- will never
be recovered, said House Democrats and public records advocates." ... "Administration
officials have acknowledged that Rove and many other White House officials
routinely used RNC accounts for government business, despite rules [Laws:
the Presidential Records Act Law and the Hatch Act Law] requiring that
they conduct such business through official communications channels. The
RNC deleted all e-mails until 2004, when it exempted White House officials
from its e-mail purging policy." ... "About 80 White House aides used RNC
accounts for official government business, committee staff members said.
Rove, for example, sent or received 140,000 e-mails on RNC servers from
2002 to 2007, and more than half involved official ".gov" accounts, the
panel has said." ... "The RNC dispute is part of a broader debate over
whether the Bush administration has complied with long-standing statutory
requirements to preserve official White House records -- including those
reflecting potentially sensitive policy discussions -- for history and
in case of future legal demands." ... "The committee is investigating allegations
that vast stores of official Bush administration e-mails have also gone
missing from the White House, which scrapped a [former Democratic President]
Clinton-era archiving system and has struggled with data retention problems."
-By Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost
20080226
-
US
- Iraq
- Military
- MRAP
-
 Vehicles
- Investigation
- Government
- Politics
- "Marines
halt study critical of MRAP program." ... "The Marine
Corps has ordered a civilian scientist to stop work on a report critical
of its efforts to obtain new armored vehicles, saying he exceeded his authority,
a Marine official said Tuesday." ... "Franz Gayl, a retired Marine officer
and civilian science adviser, alleged in a Jan. 22 report that "gross mismanagement"
of the program to quickly field Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP)
vehicles had resulted in the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of Marines
in Iraq. Gayl had planned to continue his investigation." ... "Gayl's report
was first made public by the Associated Press on Feb. 15. The report said
Marine procurement officers spurned requests from commanders in Iraq for
blast-resistant vehicles because they didn't want to derail other projects."
... "PROBE:
Pentagon
urged to investigate MRAP report." ... "MRAP REPORT: Lack
of vehicles cost Marine lives." ... "FULL COVERAGE: Troops
at Risk: IEDs in Iraq." -By Tom Vanden Brook
-USATODAY
20080225
-
 John
McCain
-  Jack
Abramoff
-  Bob
Riley
-  Tom
DeLay
-  Bob
Ney
- Money
- Politics
- Investigation
- Law
- EMail
-  Alabama
-  Louisiana
-  Mississippi
-  Arizona
-  Texas
-  Ohio
- History
- 2002
Election - 2006
Election - 2008
Election - "McCain
Withheld Controversial Abramoff Email." ... "In the
2006 Senate report concerning [Republican Lobbyist Jack] Abramoff's activities,
which [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain spearheaded,
the Arizona Republican conspicuously left out information detailing how
Alabama [Republican Governor] Gov. Bob Riley was targeted by Abramoff's
influence peddling scheme. Riley, a Republican, won election in November
2002, and was reelected in 2006." ... "In a December 2002 email
[PDF] obtained by the Huffington Post -- which McCain and his staff
had access to prior to the issuance of his report -- Abramoff explains
to an aide what he would like to see Riley do in return for the "help"
he received from Abramoff's tribal clients." ... "An official with the
Mississippi Choctaws "definitely wants Riley to shut down the Poarch Creek
operation," Abramoff wrote, "including his announcing that anyone caught
gambling there can't qualify for a state contract or something like that.""
... "The note showed not only the reach of Abramoff, but raised questions
about Riley's victory in what was the closest gubernatorial election in
Alabama history." ... "And yet, despite the implications of the information,
McCain and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee sat on the controversial
portion of the email. According to an official familiar with the investigation,
McCain also subsequently refused to make the email public after the report
was released." ... "There was a brief footnote in the report that quoted
William Worfel, former vice chairman of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana,
saying that Abramoff told the chief of a Mississippi tribe to spend $13
million "to get the governor of Alabama elected to keep gaming out of Alabama
so it wouldn't hurt ... his market in Mississippi."" ... "But Riley's name
and the details of what was being asked of him were not mentioned once
in the 373-page document." ... "Indeed, as the Associated Press noted
in 2006, McCain stayed deliberately agnostic as to Riley's involvement."
... ""Although Sen. McCain has long bragged of his role in the Abramoff
investigation, he let [former Texas Republican Representative] Tom DeLay
and the other members of Congress who were doing Abramoff's bidding completely
off the hook. The sole exception was [former Ohio Republican Representative]
Rep. Bob Ney, who served time in prison," Melanie Sloan, Executive Director
of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics In Washington told the Huffington
Post recently. "Sen. McCain knew what his colleagues were up to, he chose
to take the easier path and give them a free pass.""
-By
Sam
Stein -HuffingtonPost.com
20080214
-
Peoples
- Housing
- Safety
- Emergency
- Politics
- Government
- Science
- Investigators
- Censorship
- Hurricane
Katrina - Hurricane
Rita - Weather
- "CDC
Confirms Health Risks to Occupants of Trailers."
... "Federal health officials have confirmed that high levels of formaldehyde
gas pose health risks to hurricane victims housed in 38,000 government
trailers on the Gulf Coast, and will recommend that occupants be moved
before temperatures rise this spring and summer, [Republican President]
Bush administration officials disclosed yesterday." ... "The findings cap
nearly two years of internal government deliberation over the housing of
hurricane Katrina and Rita survivors in the trailers, and come 23 months
after FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency ] first received reports
of health problems and test results showing formaldehyde levels at 75 times
the U.S.[United States]-recommended workplace safety threshold." ... "[Mississippi
Democratic Representative] Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of
the House Homeland Security Committee, criticized what he depicted as the
[Repblican President] Bush administration's tardy response." ... "FEMA
announced plans in July to test the occupied trailers after congressional
investigators accused it of suppressing internal warnings about the problem.
Testing finally began in late December." -By Spencer
S. Hsu -WashingtonPost
20080212
-
Telecom
- Amnesty
- Corporate
- Government
-
 Spying
- Intelligence
- Politics
- Investigation
- Censorship
- EMail
-  West
Virginia -  Nevada
- Noteworthy
- "Amnesty
Day for Bush and lawbreaking telecoms." ... "The
Senate today -- led by [West Virginia Democratic Senator] Jay Rockefeller,
enabled by [Nevada Democratic Senator] Harry Reid, and with the active
support of at least 12 (and probably more) Democrats, in conjunction with
an as-always
lockstep GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] caucus -- will vote to
legalize warrantless spying on the telephone calls and emails of Americans,
and will also provide full retroactive amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms,
thus forever putting an end to any efforts to investigate and obtain a
judicial ruling regarding the [Republican President] Bush administration's
years-long illegal spying programs aimed at Americans. The long, hard efforts
by AT&T, Verizon and their all-star, bipartisan cast of lobbyists to
grease the wheels of the Senate -- led
by former [Republican President] Bush 41 Attorney General William Barr
and former [Democratic President] Clinton Deputy Attorney General Jamie
Gorelick -- are about to pay huge dividends, as such noble efforts invariably
do with our political establishment." ... "It's worth taking a step back
and recalling that all of this is the result of the December, 2005 story
by the New York Times which first reported that the [Republican
President] Bush administration was illegally spying on Americans for many
years without warrants of any kind. All sorts of "controversy" erupted
from that story. Democrats everywhere expressed dramatic, unbridled outrage,
vowing that this would not stand. James Risen and Eric Lichtblau were awarded
Pulitzer Prizes for exposing this serious lawbreaking. All sorts of Committees
were formed, papers written, speeches given, conferences convened, and
editorials published to denounce this extreme abuse of presidential power.
This was illegality and corruption at the highest level of government,
on the grandest scale, and of the most transparent strain." ... "What was
the outcome of all of that sturm und drang? What were the consequences
for the President for having broken the law so deliberately and transparently?
Absolutely nothing. To the contrary, the Senate is about to enact a bill
which has two simple purposes: (1) to render retroactively legal the President's
illegal spying program by legalizing its crux: warrantless eavesdropping
on Americans, and (2) to stifle forever the sole remaining avenue for finding
out what the Government did and obtaining a judicial ruling as to its legality:
namely, the lawsuits brought against the co-conspiring telecoms. In other
words, the only steps taken by our political class upon exposure by the
NYT
of this profound lawbreaking is to endorse it all and then suppress any
and all efforts to investigate it and subject it to the rule of law." ...
"FDL has a petition,
jointly sponsored by me, directed at House members, demanding that
they reject this lawless, authoritarian Senate bill and defend their own,
previously passed bill (the RESTORE Act). I encourage everyone to sign
it. You can do so here."
-By Glenn Greenwald -Salon
20080211
-
Noteworthy
- Secret
- US
- Iraq
- Military
- Government
- Politics
- "Army
Buried Study Faulting Iraq Planning." ... "The Army
is accustomed to protecting classified information. But when it comes to
the planning for the Iraq war, even an unclassified assessment can acquire
the status of a state secret." ... "That is what happened to a detailed
study of the planning for postwar Iraq prepared for the Army by the RAND
Corporation, a federally financed center that conducts research for the
military." ... "After 18 months of research, RAND submitted a report in
the summer of 2005 called “Rebuilding Iraq.” RAND researchers provided
an unclassified version of the report along with a secret one, hoping that
its publication would contribute to the public debate on how to prepare
for future conflicts." ... "But the study’s wide-ranging critique of the
[Republican President Bush] White House, the Defense Department and other
government agencies was a concern for Army generals, and the Army has sought
to keep the report under lock and key." ... "A review of the lengthy report
— a draft of which was obtained by The New York Times — shows that it identified
problems with nearly every organization that had a role in planning the
war. That assessment parallels the verdicts of numerous former officials
and independent analysts." ... "The study chided [Republican] President
Bush — and by implication Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who served
as national security adviser when the war was planned — as having failed
to resolve differences among rival agencies. “Throughout the planning process,
tensions between the Defense Department and the State Department were never
mediated by the president or his staff,” it said." ... "The Defense Department
led by Donald H. Rumsfeld was given the lead in overseeing the postwar
period in Iraq despite its “lack of capacity for civilian reconstruction
planning and execution.”" ... "The State Department led by Colin L. Powell
produced a voluminous study on the future of Iraq that identified important
issues but was of “uneven quality” and “did not constitute an actionable
plan.”" ... "Gen. [General] Tommy R. Franks, whose Central Command oversaw
the military operation in Iraq, had a “fundamental misunderstanding” of
what the military needed to do to secure postwar Iraq, the study said."
(1, 2)
-By Michael R. Gordon
-NYTimes
20080205
-
Health
- Food
- Safety
- Consumer
- Freedom
of Speech - Genetic
- Science
- Agriculture
- Corporate
- Law
- Politics
-
 Vermont
- "Ben
& Jerry's Fights For Labeling Rights: States,
Industry Challenge Ice Cream Maker's Right To Advertise As Synthetic Hormone-Free."
... "Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. [Incorporated], one of the first companies
to label its ice cream as free of a synthetic hormone, is protesting a
move by some states to restrict such labeling." ... "The South Burlington
[Vermont] ice-cream maker has joined a national campaign to block what
critics say is an effort driven by Monsanto Co. [Company], which markets
recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST, also known as recombinant bovine
growth hormone, or rBGH." ... ""We're very concerned about, from a primary
standpoint, the freedom of speech to be able to put what we believe is
truthful and appropriate messaging on our packaging," said Rob Michalak,
a spokesman for Ben & Jerry's, which has mounted a campaign to get
consumers on its side." ... "But a newly formed farmers' group, backed
by Monsanto, is pushing for labeling changes, saying the hormone-free labels
imply that the milk is safer than other milk, when they say it's not."
-AP via -CBSNews
20080119
-
Environmental
- Corporate
- Government
- Law
- Politics
- Investigation
- California
- Cars
- Emissions
- "EPA
won't give details on denying emissions waiver."
... "Invoking executive privilege, the [Republican President Bush run]
U.S. [United States] Environmental Protection Agency refused to provide
lawmakers Friday with a full explanation of why it rejected California's
greenhouse gas regulations." ... "The EPA informed [California Democratic
Senator] Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., that many of the documents she had
requested contained internal deliberations or attorney-client communications
that would not be shared with Congress." ... "The refusal to provide a
full explanation is the latest twist in a congressional investigation into
why the EPA denied California permission to impose what would have been
the country's toughest greenhouse gas standards on cars, trucks and sport
utility vehicles." -AP
via -SFGate.com
20080118
-
 Dick
Cheney
- Government
- Electronic
- E-Mail
- History
- Censorship
- Politics
- Presidential
Records Act - Archives
- Law
- Calif
- "White
House Study Found 473 Days of E-Mail Gone." ... "The
[Republican President Bush] White House possesses no archived e-mail messages
for many of its component offices, including the Executive Office of the
President and the Office of the Vice President [Dick Cheney], for hundreds
of days between 2003 and 2005, according to the summary of an internal
White House study that was disclosed yesterday by a congressional Democrat."
... "The 2005 study -- whose credibility the White House attacked this
week -- identified 473 separate days in which no electronic messages were
stored for one or more White House offices, said House Oversight and Government
Reform Committee Chairman [California Democratic Representative] Henry
A. Waxman (D-Calif.)." ... "Waxman said he decided to release the summary
after White House spokesman Tony Fratto said yesterday that there is "no
evidence" that any White House e-mails from those years are missing. Fratto's
assertion "seems to be an unsubstantiated statement that has no relation
to the facts they have shared with us," Waxman said." ... "The competing
claims were the latest salvos in an escalating dispute over whether the
[Republican President] Bush administration has complied with long-standing
statutory requirements to preserve official White House records -- including
those reflecting potentially sensitive policy discussions -- for history
and in case of any future legal demands." ... "The White House is required
by law to preserve e-mails considered presidential or federal records,
and it is the target of several lawsuits seeking information about missing
data and efforts to preserve electronic communications." (1, 2)
-By Dan Eggen and Elizabeth Williamson
-WashingtonPost
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