News for 10-21-06

10-21-06 - United States numb to Iraq troop deaths: experts To date, none of the people responsible for cherrypicking the intel and deceiving the American people into giving support to go to war in Iraq have been brought to justice. Why?


10-21-06 - Carter says Bush partly to blame for N.Korea test


10-21-06 - Researchers defend Iraq war deaths estimate Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad estimated with 95 per cent certainty that the war and its aftermath have resulted in the deaths of between 426,000 and 794,000 Iraqis.


10-21-06 - Iran sees no reason to halt enrichment, urges talks


10-21-06 - Russia warns against Iran 'regime change' through UN Russia would oppose any effort to use the UN Security Council to promote a change of regime in Iran, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said in an interview.


10-21-06 - China says it will play "constructive role" on Iran "China is ready to continue with its constructive role in the process of peacefully resolving the Iranian nuclear issue through negotiations," Li said.


10-21-06 - Court Told It Lacks Power in Detainee Cases Moving quickly to implement the bill signed by President Bush this week that authorizes military trials of enemy combatants, the administration has formally notified the U.S. District Court here that it no longer has jurisdiction to consider hundreds of habeas corpus petitions filed by inmates at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.


10-21-06 - Hutchison: WMD info swayed vote on Iraq "If I had known then what I know now about the weapons of mass destruction, which was a key reason that I voted to go in there, I would not vote to go into Iraq the way we did," Hutchison said. "But I have to say, I don't think the president would have asked for that vote, either. We had intelligence that we relied on." The intelligence issue was addressed in "The Dark Side" a Frontline special on PBS which you still might be able to see here online.


10-21-06 - From Baghdad to Washington: How the war came to the White House The ISG has consulted 130 experts, in the military, the administration, in Congress, as well as academics, journalists and outside specialists, both American and foreign, including many senior Iraqis - in short, a far wider spectrum of opinion and knowledge than ever drawn upon by the White House in its calamitous rush to war. The group will publish its conclusions after November's mid-term elections. Just possibly, they will give Bush junior a way out of the débâcle he created. But why, oh why, didn't he listen to his father in the first place?



10-21-06 - US 'arrogant and stupid' in Iraq A senior US state department official has said that the US has shown "arrogance and stupidity" in Iraq.


10-21-06 - Iraq limits data on death toll from violence: UN Instead, the data would come from the Prime Minister's communications director, a change that could politicise the figures.


10-21-06 - Politics&Policies: Cheney - War going well Replying to a question on a radio talk show Vice President Dick Cheney said he believes the war in Iraq is going "remarkably well." Nope, oh no. Mm mm.


10-21-06 - GOP to air ad warning of terror attacks The ad portrays Osama bin Laden and quotes his threats against America dating to February 1998. "These are the stakes," the ad concludes. "Vote November 7."


10-21-06 - An Old Bush Hand Takes on a New Role on the Iraq War For years, James A. Baker III was asked to explain why the first President Bush, whom he served as secretary of state, did not oust Saddam Hussein in 1991 at the end of the Persian Gulf war. "Guess what?" Mr. Baker says nowadays. "Nobody asks me that anymore."

10-21-06 - Rice prods Moscow on press freedom, Iran Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday delivered a symbolic rebuke to Russia over shrinking press freedoms even as she courted President Vladimir Putin for help punishing Iran over its nuclear program Hmm, let's see. Israeli officials travel to Washington this week. Then, Olmert travels to see Putin yesterday and fails to get support on Iran. One day later, Rice is in Russia to get support on Iran.


10-21-06 - ICRC concerned over new US terror law The International Committee of the Red Cross raised concerns on Thursday about recent US legislation that creates military commissions to try prisoners at Guantánamo Bay and redefines American obligations under the Geneva conventions.


10-21-06 - Iran suggests talks with West


10-21-06 - More than 750,000 Iraqis displaced since US invasion: UNHCR Iraqis were also fleeing abroad in tens of thousands every month


10-21-06 - US call over Guantanamo detainees The US State Department's chief legal adviser has challenged foreign governments to stop calling for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay camp.


10-21-06 - Peres: Israel has no intention of attacking Iran ** Israel has said repeatedly it wants the United States and other countries to take the lead in dealing with Iran If they can get us to do it for them. Israeli officials have in the recent past demanded that the US deal with Iran and Syria.


10-21-06 - Inside the Hero Factory "When people ask me if this movie is applicable to today," Eastwood told NEWSWEEK, "I say, 'Well, you know, everything is ... Everyone's distorting things, just as they distorted them then'."


10-21-06 - Russia calls for one-step-at-a-time approach in talks with Hamas Lavrov said it was unrealistic for Hamas to fulfill all of the Quartet's requirements immediately and that the Islamist group should be given more time.


10-21-06 - The War Party, Then and Now


10-21-06 - South Lebanon gets first state reconstruction aid Owners of entirely destroyed houses receive 40,000 dollars, with compensation for lesser damage awarded according to an official assessment.


10-21-06 - Hezbollah again calls for 'national unity cabinet' The Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah repeated its call for a national unity cabinet for the country, calling it a "serious option it is useless to try to avoid."


10-21-06 - Exclusive: Feds Probe a Top Democrat's Relationship with AIPAC Did a Democratic member of Congress improperly enlist the support of a major pro-Israel lobbying group to try to win a top committee assignment? That's the question at the heart of an ongoing investigation by the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors, who are examining whether Rep. Jane Harman of California and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) may have violated the law in a scheme to get Harman reappointed as the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, according to knowledgeable sources in and out of the U.S. government.


10-21-06 - A US soldier distributes candies to Shiite Iraqi children at a camp for displaced people, north of Baghdad


10-21-06 - Essential ally - Pro-Israel lobby gathering here will examine some of the most troubling challenges to U.S. foreign policy AIPAC's mission is almost as essential for the United States as it is for Israel. BS.