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CORRUPTION UPDATES 70

June 7-8, 2007

The CORRUPTION UPDATES posts corruption news stories from California, the Nation and the World, and gives you the straight story.

 

CORRUPTION UPDATES 70

 

Previous Corruption Updates: Page 69

Next Corruption Updates: Page 71

 

Contact Us: Committeefordemocracy.org

 

1) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE:

Ballot Boxes? Yes. Actual Democracy? Tough Question.

By MICHAEL SLACKMAN

June 7, 2007

Memo From the Middle East

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/world/middleeast

/07democracy.html?pagewanted=print

CAIRO, June 6 — This is election season in the Middle East. Syria just held presidential and parliamentary elections. Algeria held parliamentary elections. Egyptians will be asked to vote next week on a new upper house of Parliament. There will soon be elections in Jordan, Morocco and Oman, followed by elections in Qatar. So is democracy suddenly taking root in the strongman’s last regional stronghold?

The consensus among democracy advocates, diplomats and citizens interviewed around the Middle East is that the reverse is true. Elections, it appears, have increasingly become a tool used by authoritarian leaders to claim legitimacy.

The problem is not just what that means for people forced to live under authoritarian rule, but what it does to the broader perception of democracy in the region.

It is a conclusion that may well have roots in Washington, where officials have frequently pointed to elections as a barometer of progress, but it may contribute to tarnishing the concept of democracy, diplomats and democracy advocates in the region agreed.

. “Democracy itself has lost credibility as a way of government,” said a Western diplomat based in Algiers, speaking on condition of anonymity, following customary diplomatic protocol. “I think the Iraqi experiment, and the purple finger, didn’t help anything. People now say this democracy is not the answer to anything.”

In Egypt’s parliamentary elections last year, witnesses reported that the police fired live ammunition at voters — killing some — to keep them from casting ballots for candidates aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood. As Egypt gears up for elections to the upper house of Parliament next week, security agents have imprisoned more than 150 members of the Brotherhood, which although officially banned is the only viable political opposition in the country.

“The system is rigged to bring to power people who are already in power,” said Daoud Kuttab, director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al Quds University in the West Bank city of Ramallah. “That is what explains low voter turnout and why elections are turning people away.”


THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Times is 20 Years too Late:

Our Dictatorship's Time is Running Out

Why is the Times now questioning the legitimacy of our Dictators and Tyrants in the middle east, after 50 years of continual tyranny? Because the Crisis is drawing near.

The only reason the Times is Reporting on this is as cover, as an excuse against the same charges of incompetence, collusion, and misreporting that led us to war in Iraq.

The Times is now reporting on the problems in the middle east, after they have been festering for decades under the hands of our dictators and tyrants, because our regimes are tottering, ready to fall, or go "native," across the whole middle east.

So much for American "democracy," and our "free press."

The great unreported truth is that America is the source of the fake democracies across the middle east, and responsible for the chaos and pain they are causing.

The American people are ultimately responsible, for we sat quietly when the corporations and special interests killed our democracy, and replaced it with a corporate democracy.

The dictators and tyrants in the middle east are the natural allies of Our Corporate democracy.

As for spreading democracy, we only encourage the spread of corporate democracy. We encourage our dictators to allow the formation of a corporate elite to rise out of our dictatorships, based on factions which control the various aspects of the nation's resources.

Corporate elites formed under our dictators in Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan and S. Korea, eventually legitimizing themselves by forming corporate controlled parties, such as the Democrats and Republicans in America, and running monopolized elections that exclude bottom up democratic input.

Russia narrowly avoided being captured by the oligarchs, and are now highly suspicious of both democracy and corporate democracy.

Iran ran the servants of foreign power out of their country, and they are trying to run them out of the whole middle east.

A noble enterprise.

Also See:

Corruption Updates 18, 7 th article on page, "FOR MODERATE DEMOCRACY EGYPTIANS BELIEVE DEMOCRACY IN EGYPT “IS NOT A REAL CONCERN"

Corruption Update 21, 3rd article on page, Egypt Sends Sadat's Nephew to Prison for Defaming Military,” states that:

The United States had at one time talked about Egypt as leading the way toward democratic reform in the Middle East. But with the chaos in the region, and the political uncertainty in Egypt, officials in Egypt said the United States has dropped all pressure to make democratic reforms.” Now compare that with Bush's rational for the Iraq war: “We Will Spread Democracy across the Middle East.” November 1, 2006.

Corruption Updates 27, 5th article on page, "Egypt Cracks Down on Brotherhood"

Corruption Updates 32, 1st article on page, RICE THANKS EGYPTIAN DICTATOR FOR REGIONAL SUPPORT

Corruption Update 40, 6 th article on page, "Before the vote" (MUBARAK ABOUT TO IMPOSE BUSH RULES ON EGYPT The Constitutional changes Mubarak is about to impose on Egypt are the same powers Bush has claimed here)

 

Search the Corruption Database under

Egypt

Pakistan

Saudi Arabia

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2) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

Saudi prince 'received arms cash'

Thursday, 7 June 2007, 08:17 GMT 09:17 UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low

/business/6728773.stm

Arms deals with the Saudis have been worth billions to the UK
A Saudi prince who negotiated a £40bn arms deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia received secret payments for over a decade, a BBC probe has found.

The UK's biggest arms dealer, BAE Systems, paid hundreds of millions of pounds to the ex-Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan.

The payments were made with the full knowledge of the Ministry of Defense.

The BBC's Panorama programme has established that these accounts were actually a conduit to Prince Bandar for his role in the 1985 deal to sell more than 100 warplanes to Saudi Arabia.

The purpose of one of the accounts was to pay the expenses of the prince's private Airbus.

David Caruso, an investigator who worked for the American bank where the accounts were held, said Prince Bandar had been taking money for his own personal use out of accounts that seemed to belong to his government.

He said: "There wasn't a distinction between the accounts of the embassy, or official government accounts as we would call them, and the accounts of the royal family."

The payments were discovered during a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation.

The SFO inquiry into the Al Yamamah deal was stopped in December 2006 by attorney general Lord Goldsmith.

But he said that if the SFO investigation into BAE had not been dropped, it would have led to "the complete wreckage of a vital strategic relationship and the loss of thousands of British jobs".

Prince Bandar, who is the son of the Saudi defence minister, served for 20 years as US ambassador and is now head of the country's national security council.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said that if ministers in either the present or previous governments were involved there should be a "major parliamentary inquiry".

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Bush Buddies Blair and Bandar in Big Trouble

(Written for Corruption Updates 27, 8, on December 15, 2006)

How much clout does Saudi Arabia have? The above example of Saud clout reminds us that the majority of the hijackers on 911 were Saudi subjects. Osama is a Saudi.

It seems we may have attacked the wrong countries, as Iraq was not involved in 911, and the majority of the people of Afghanistan were fairly unaware of Al Queda, being more concerned with the challenges of survival in the stone age the Russians bombed them into. That leaves Saudi Arabia.

911 was a product of the contradictions within Saudi culture and middle eastern history. The borders and rulers of Saudi Arabia were created by Western Europeans at the close of WWI.

The British strove to maintain control of the region's resources and politics until the end of WWII.

After the war, the middle eastern desire for independence was crushed by dictatorships backed by either America or Russia. Despite being frozen between America and Russia during the cold war, National independence movements rose across the middle east, and were consistently attacked by America, Britain, and Russia. But independence was inevitable.

The rise of independence in Syria, Iraq, and Iran is hated by the West. These countries offer proof to the the people of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt that they are capable of governing themselves, without a Western supported regime to control them, and their resources.

Rather than being a friend to this region as it emerged from the yoke of Western Imperialism, America has offered them a new yoke. And their people hate it, and us for it.

The whole world has entered a post-colonial period. Except the United States. We seem to be the only nation that does not understand that “Globalism” is no more than an evolution of the older colonial and imperial systems of control. But with a twist.

Instead of marching into your country, we fund and arm a dictator to do it for us. We establish economic and political control of your country through proxies. And their people hate it.

Despite our certainty and confidence in our own righteousness, and the perfection of our system, there are many people around the world who do not believe we have the right to intervene in their domestic affairs, let alone fund and arm the dictators that have seized power in their countries. And they hate us.

When a group of Saudi men, funded by Saudi oil-dollars, and led by a Saudi man, smash airplanes into buildings, we act confused, like we don't understand. “They hate freedom,” the simple minded people in our country tell each other. No, they hate the country that has stolen their sovereignty, Their Freedom, from them.

Bush then used this confusion as cover to attack Afghanistan and Iraq. It's tragically ironic that this further angers the average joe in the middle east, encouraging even more hatred and violence against the US. Our invasion also destabilizes the hold of the Saudi Arabian, Jordanian and Egyptian governments on their own people.

Our invasion shows the middle east that we will step out from behind our proxies, and march in ourselves. This is really, really bad for the American dictators in the middle east. Any ambiguity about our intentions has passed, and the people of the middle east can see the web of American political and military influences for what it is, and it is not democratic. And it supports their dictators.

The Royal Family in Saudi Arabia are in a delicate position. If they lose the support of the West, the guns and oil dollars, they will lose their heads. If they go “native,” and represent the interests and beliefs of their own people, America will lose control of the world's oil market.

So when Saudi subjects smash buildings with airplanes, it's not the fault of Saudi Arabia. When Saudi Arabia wants bribes, they get them, and there will be no substantive investigation. And when the people of the middle east cast off their remaining western dictators, we are going to have hell to pay.

 

Also See:
Corruption Updates 27, 8th article on page, "BRIT GOVT HIDES BRIBES TO SAUDIS"

Corruption Updates 30, 1st article on page, "BAE South African deal 'probed'"

Search the Corruption Database under

International Corporate Bribery

Saudi Arabia

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3) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

First CIA rendition trial opens

Friday, 8 June 2007, 08:17 GMT 09:17 UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world

/europe/6732897.stm

The first criminal trial over the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" of terror suspects has opened in Italy.

Twenty-six Americans and six Italians are accused of kidnapping an Egyptian terror suspect and sending him to Egypt, where he was allegedly tortured.

The Americans - most believed to be CIA agents - will be tried in absentia. Italy has not announced if it will seek their extradition to the Milan trial.

US President George W Bush will arrive in Italy hours after the trial opens.

Meanwhile, the head of a European investigation into the rendition process is due to present more findings on Friday.

Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr - also known as Abu Omar - was snatched from a Milan street in February 2003.

Italian prosecutors say Nasr was taken to US bases in Italy and Germany before being taken to the Egyptian capital of Cairo. Nasr says he was tortured during his four-year imprisonment in Cairo.

A senior US official has said that the 26 Americans accused of Nasr's kidnapping would not be sent to Italy even if Rome made an extradition request.

Also on Friday, Swiss senator Dick Marty, leading an inquiry on behalf of the Council of Europe, is due to release more of his findings.

Last year, he accused 14 European nations of colluding with US intelligence in a "spider's web" of human rights abuses, and specified Romania and Poland as suspected locations for CIA "black sites", where terror suspects are secretly held.

President Bush acknowledged the existence of such centres last year, but did not say where they were.

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

News of this Trial was not widely Published by the Corporate Media in America

First written by al on December 12, 06, for Corruption Updates 25, #7

The repercussions of our country's criminal behavior around the world are coming home to roost. The same American sponsored kidnapping and torture that causes little problem when employed in Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Egypt, not to mention Guatemala and etc, is scandalizing Europe, and is causing a political crisis in Italy.

The real, immediate cost to America, is a loss of faith by the world in America's stated goals in global diplomacy, as well as the methods we use to pursue our goals. The real cost is a global loss of credibility, and the loss of the moral high ground that we had occupied for so long.

As we have changed how we pursue our goals, from public diplomacy, under the rule of law, to publicly claiming the right to employ secret kidnapping, torture, and open ended ended non-judicial (illegal) “detentions,” the governments and people of the world are adjusting their goals and methods accordingly.

Governments around the world are following our example, and openly using arbitrary violence, kidnapping and torture against their own people, and anyone else by simply labeling them as a “terrorist.”

Many would argue that this is nothing new. “Things have always been like this,” say the apologists.

It is indisputable that America has supported a long line of tyrannical governments in Asia, South America, Africa, and the Middle East. But we denied authorship of our crimes. We disputed that the murders by death squad, the “disappearances,” and torture even existed, let alone were done with our direct knowledge and participation in these events. Those days are over.

Today, we openly acknowledge and defend the use of kidnapping, torture, and murder. The nature and the methods used by our unsavory allies are no longer held offshore, and at arms length from direct American involvement.

Where we had always disavowed torture and kidnapping, and pretended the abuses we sponsored did not exist, we now claim the right to use these illegal tools ourselves.

Now, the previous wall of artificial separation between us and our crimes has fallen: Our government is using kidnapping and torture directly, at home and in the nations of our European allies, as well as our traditional third world torturing grounds. We have dropped the use of proxies, and now use kidnapping and torture ourselves.

This should be no surprise to us. It was foolish to think we could support and use other countries to do our dirty work, without getting dirty ourselves.

It was only a matter of time before we fell into the cesspool of illegal violence, torture, and terror that we have imposed on other peoples, and have encouraged and tolerated when used by dictatorships allied with the US.

We have fostered and preserved violent, undemocratic dictatorships in the middle east for decades. Our Arabic allies in the middle east are tyrannical, arbitrary governments who use American Military, economic and political power to repress their own people, with our consent. Their power is based on the use of violence, kidnapping, torture, and long illegal detentions paid for with American tax dollars, and carried out with American weapons and technology.

And now, we kidnap and torture too. A criminal American government has brought these illegal tools home, and is publicly defending these crimes, pretending to have a legal basis to commit crimes against humanity and our Constitution.

No such basis exists.

Bush = Criminal:

Also See:


Corruption Updates 25, 7th article on page, "ITALY CHIEF OF INTELLIGENCE, 25 CIA OPERATIVES INDICTED FOR KIDNAPPING"

Corruption Updates 34, 4th article on page, "BUSH KIDNAPPING ON TRIAL IN GERMANY"

Search the Corruption Database under

Illegal Detentions

Illegal Trials

Torture

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4) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

'War czar' duties may signal policy shift

Many are surprised when Lute testifies he'd report directly to Bush on Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving the national security advisor out of the loop.

By Peter Spiegel
Times Staff Writer

June 8, 2007

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-usiraq8jun08,1,4977628,full.story

From the Los Angeles Times



WASHINGTON — The man chosen by President Bush

to become his new "war czar" told Congress on Thursday that national security advisor Stephen Hadley would no longer be responsible for Iraq policy, indicating the administration has quietly engineered a significant change in foreign policy leadership that could directly affect U.S. war strategy.

Army Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute testified at his confirmation hearing that he would be reporting directly to Bush on all issues involving the war, as well as the conflict in
Afghanistan, while Hadley would deal with the president "on matters outside of Iraq [and] Afghanistan."

"Then he (Hadley) should be fired," Reed said. "Because frankly, if he's not capable of being the individual responsible for those duties and they pass it on to someone else, then why is he there?"

The new roles could have a significant impact on White House policy. Hadley has been central to the administration's Iraq planning since he assumed the national security advisor job last year. Most important, he has been widely viewed as the most prominent proponent of the administration's "surge" strategy, pushing the policy of building up troops in Baghdad over the skepticism of some commanders in Iraq.

Lute was one of the senior military officers who initially opposed the troop increase.

The White House chose Lute, a three-star general, for the war czar post after several retired four-star generals turned the job down.

Whether Lute remained a skeptic of the administration's buildup in Baghdad was unclear from Thursday's testimony. He expressed disappointment with the lack of political progress achieved by the Iraqi government but did not specifically cast doubt on the current course.

But it was the diminution of Hadley's role that elicited the most pointed questioning, with committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) calling it a "bifurcation" that essentially created two national security advisors.

"Appointing a general outside the chain of command to run an ongoing war? I don't think that's ever been done in precisely this way," Rothkopf said. "Talk about rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic."

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Retired Generals Refused "Czar" Job; "Last Chance" Lute tells it Like it Is:

Is Bush Finally Listening?

First Written by al on March 28, 2007, for Corruption Updates 45, #1

As American Citizens, we lost the Iraqi War when we threw away our values and principals, and invaded an innocent country, based on self-serving lies and deceptions.(since this was written, Durban came out of the closet, and admitted hiding the truth from the American Public)

In military terms, we lost the war after winning an initial military victory. Our only victory was the defeat of the Iraqi Army. Afterwards, everything else went to hell. We are unable to impose our will and values on people with military force, nor are we capable of bribing enough Iraqi traitors to run a successful government for us.

Our "democratic" elections in Iraq were a farce. Iraq is divided into sects and clans, not corporate controlled political parties. Expecting their "government" to act according to our values is ignorant. People voted for their tribes, clans, and sects, not corporate controlled parties.

Our "values" are so corrupt that we are only capable of inspiring resistance to our occupation, in Iraq and around the world. Yet we did achieve military victory.

Despite their defeats, Arabs and Persians seem willing to contest our victories in Iraq, and the middle east, by giving up their lives to kill us, and each other.

Although we seem unwilling to understand it, or even admit the fact that many Arabs are "...sorry they have but one life to give for their country."

Sound Familiar?

If only the Nazis had anticipated the depth of resistance the French, Dutch, and Russians were willing to put up against the invasion and occupation of their countries, they might have thought twice about the consequences of their brutality.

Instead, they "bombed, bombed, bombed Iran, (England)" John mCain recently sung this ditty in South Carolina, greatly amusing the VFW meeting he was attending.

Bush, or our Israeli proxy is going to attack Iran, extend the war in a doomed attempt to rescue the legacy and failed policies of this corrupted administration from the shit-can of history.

The legacy of this administration has already been established, if not recognized: The Bush Administration is the catalyst for the loss of American dominance over the middle east, and control of the world's oil markets.

Also See:

Corruption Updates 49, 1st article on page, "3 Generals Spurn the Position of War 'Czar'"

Corruption Updates 58, 6th article on page, "War-torn Iraq 'facing collapse'"

Corruption Updates 45 , 1st article on page, "McCaffrey Paints Gloomy Picture of Iraq"

Search the Corruption Database under

Generals

War

Iraq War

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5) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

Democrats May Subpoena N.S.A. Documents

By JAMES RISEN

June 8, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/washington/08nsa.html?pagewanted=print

 

WASHINGTON, June 7 — Senior House Democrats threatened Thursday to issue subpoenas to obtain secret legal opinions and other documents from the Justice Department related to the National Security Agency’s domestic wiretapping program.

The subpoena threat came after a senior Justice Department official told a House judiciary subcommittee on Thursday that the department would not turn over the documents because of their confidential nature.

The potential confrontation over the documents comes in the wake of gripping Senate testimony last month by a former deputy attorney general, James B. Comey, who described a confrontation in March 2004 between Justice Department and White House officials over the wiretapping program that took place in the hospital room of John Ashcroft, then attorney general. Mr. Comey’s testimony, disclosing the sharp disagreements in the Bush administration over the legality of some N.S.A. activities, has increased Congressional interest in scrutinizing the program.

At the same time, the Bush administration is seeking new legislation to expand its wiretapping powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

On May 17, after Mr. Comey’s testimony, Mr. Nadler and Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan, who is the chairman of the full Judiciary Committee, wrote to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales requesting copies of Justice Department legal opinions used to support the N.S.A. wiretapping program, as well as later documents written by top Justice Department officials that raised questions about the program’s legality in 2004. The letter also asked Mr. Gonzales to provide his own description of the 2004 confrontation.

Mr. Conyers said he had not received a response from the Justice Department. “We’re going to give him two more weeks, and then, as somebody said, it’s about time process kicks in somewhere around here,” Mr. Conyers said.

In January, the Bush administration announced that it was placing the program under FISA, meaning that it would no longer conduct domestic wiretapping operations without seeking court approval, and officials said they were ending eavesdropping without warrants.

 

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Justice Department Refuses to Disclose Details of Secret NSA Illegal Searching Program to Congress

How many domestic spying programs are the NSA running, and are all of them under FISA?

Written on December 6, 2006, for Corruption Updates 25, #8

When governments commit crimes, they invoke “national security” to hide their crimes. It is natural for criminals to want to keep their crimes a secret. But few criminals have the power of the government to hide their crimes.

Usually, criminals hide their crimes from the government, rather than using the government to hide their crimes. Crazy times, but the clearly Unconstitutional nature of these government crimes reveals that the excuse of “national security” is being used as a cheap facade to cover criminal behavior in the highest offices in the land.

Don't believe a word said by our politicians and press on these illegal searches. Refer to, and Believe the Constitution.

The Constitution clearly states that,

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Now let's be clear. The Constitution sets the standard of no “unreasonable” searches, and names the minimum standards for a reasonable search.

Many politicians and legal “experts” read the Fourth Amendment up to the term “unreasonable searches and seizures.” They then ignore the rest of the Amendment, which clearly defines the minimum standard of a “reasonable” search. These “experts,” and our politicians, have replaced the firm, clear standards of our forefathers with their own distorted interpretation of the 4th Amendment which neutralizes the clear intention of the Constitution to prohibit arbitrary searches.

No legitimate American Government has the right to search without warrant supported by probable cause issued by a judge.

The Committee defers to the wisdom of the Founders, and rejects the Unconstitutional actions of our presently corrupted government.

Do not pay any heed to those traitors who attack our basic Constitutional rights. Rather, we must realize these people are enemies of the Constitution they were sworn to protect, and they are enemies of the people's right to have security in their persons, possessions, and homes.

Our forefathers would be spinning in their graves if they knew our representatives stood by silently, if not aided, the government's repeal of the Fourth Amendment.

Our politician's illegal revisions of our Constitution make them illegitimate, and demonstrates the necessity of a through reform of our political system.

 

Also See:

Corruption Updates 23, 9th article on page, "TIMES SOFTPEDALS PRESIDENTIAL WAR CRIMES AND DOMESTIC CRIMES"

Corruption Updates 25, 8th article on page, "FBI CHIEF DEFYS CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT REFUSAL TO DISCLOSE ILLEGAL PROGRAM"

Corruption Updates 32 , 3rd article on page, "PRESIDENT TRIES END RUN AROUND CONSTITUTION: CLAIMS ACTIONS ARE SECRET, AND ABOVE THE LAW"

Search the Corruption Database under

Illegal Searches

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6) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

Bribery Investigation Looks at Senator Stevens

By WILLIAM YARDLEY

NYT June 8, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/us/08alaska.html?_r=1

&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

Questions have arisen about the senator’s ties to a former Alaska oil industry executive and about renovations to Mr. Stevens’s home here as part of a wide-ranging public corruption inquiry in Alaska by the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The investigation has exposed improper links between an oil-field services company, VECO, and lawmakers in the State Legislature, including Mr. Stevens’s son, Ben, the former president of the State Senate.
The former executive, Bill J. Allen, who was the chief executive of VECO, pleaded guilty last month to bribery and other charges. Mr. Allen acknowledged then that the $243,250 that VECO paid to Ben Stevens from 2002 to 2006 for supposed consulting work while he was in the State Senate was instead to pay for “giving advice, lobbying colleagues and taking official acts in matters before the Legislature,” according to an outline of the plea.

Three former state lawmakers and one current one have been indicted. Ben Stevens has not been charged with a crime, but the investigation continues and appears to be expanding.

The elder Mr. Stevens, a Republican, has strong ties to Mr. Allen.

VECO has long been active in state and federal politics, and Mr. Allen was once forced to register as a lobbyist because he spent so much time at the Capitol in Juneau.

The broad federal investigation surfaced nearly a year ago and has ranged from Girdwood to Juneau to commercial fishing in the Northern Pacific. Last year, investigators ordered several commercial fishing companies to submit documents relating to Ben Stevens and Trevor McCabe, a former aide to the elder Mr. Stevens. Both men were on the board of a fisheries marketing group for which the senator has helped win tens of millions of federal dollars, and Ben Stevens, a former boat captain, has been paid thousands of dollars by fishing ventures for consulting work.

Jack Roderick, a Democrat who practiced law with Mr. Stevens in the 1960s and later became mayor of Anchorage, said Mr. Stevens had showed poor judgment at times in mixing friendships and family with politics.

. “Ted knew what Bill Allen was up to; everybody did. Everybody knew he was influencing the Legislature every chance he got. I mean, that’s what lobbyists do, but Bill Allen was overstepping bounds.”

VECO employees have given at least $625,000 to federal candidates and interest groups nationwide since 1990, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. They gave about $180,000 to Don Young and about $70,000 to Mr. Stevens in that period.

 

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Alaska II, Big Oil's Control of Alaska Contested by FBI

Written on May 8, 2007, for Corruption Updates 51, #8

There were six lawmakers under investigation, not five. Number six is Ben Stevens. What happened to Republican Senate President Ben Stevens, whose father is Alaska's senior senator? Stevens collected more than $240,000 in consulting fees from these crooks.

I don't trust the FBI, nor the US Attorneys who will prosecute these cases.

The only way to restore confidence in the rule of law is to reestablish our democracy.

Without wholesale Bribery dominating our elections, voters can actually elect politicians who are not beholden to the Corporations and special interests.

Until then, our politicians and all they appoint to manage our government are not individually trustworthy.

Every public official is suspect, as they are working in and with an obviously illegitimate government.

The firing of the US Attorneys provides an excellent example of mundane corruption that has infected every nook and cranny of this government: Not one of them reported the criminal political pressure they experienced until after they were fired.

Even "honest" government employees are silent to the river of political filth they serve in, to maintain their positions.

Also See:

Corruption Updates 1, 10th article on page, "BIG OIL OWNS OUR POLITICIANS"

Corruption Updates 5, 3rd article on page, "Politics in Alaska Under Investigation"

Corruption Updates 24, 4th article on page, "Big Oil Owns Interior Dept"

Corruption Updates 55, 1st article on page, "Alaska Oil Executives Admit to Bribery"

Corruption Updates 70, 6th article on page, "Alaska II, Big Oil's Control of Alaska Contested by FBI"

Search the Corruption Database under

Alaska

Stevens

Allen

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7) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

Protests Rage Against Musharraf; Aides Criticize Justice He Ousted

By CARLOTTA GALL

NYT June 8, 2007

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/world/asia/08pakistan.html?pagewanted=print

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 7 — In protests around the country, thousands of lawyers and members of opposition parties demonstrated Thursday against new government curbs on the news media, as senior military and intelligence officials presented affidavits to the Supreme Court in the case against the suspended chief justice.

The political crisis over the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in March has shown no sign of abating.

Apparently in an effort to curb news coverage of the crisis, General Musharraf issued a decree on Monday giving the government broader power to shut down independent television channels. The decree spurred the protests on Thursday.

...the president’s chief of staff, Hamid Javed — who is a retired lieutenant general — submitted affidavits to the Supreme Court on Thursday...(stating that)...Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz presented General Musharraf with a memorandum the day before advising him to suspend Mr. Chaudhry.

The director general of military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Nadeem Ijaz, suggested in his own affidavit that Mr. Chaudhry had political ambitions.

Mr. Chaudhry’s lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan, rejected the accusation, and others, as absurd and fictitious.

Mr. Chaudhry, who continues to contest his removal from office, said in his own affidavit last week that he had been held against his will for several hours by the heads of Pakistan’s three main intelligence bureaus and pressed to resign.


THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Musharraf Desperation Deepens: Shallow Accusations and Falling Support Spelling End of Musharraf

Musharraf is failing. His party's murder of 45 protesters in Karachi did not dissuade further public protest, nor did it satisfy Musharraf, judging by his complaints about lack of party support. Sometimes murder is not sufficient to maintain dictatorial power.

At this point,Musharraf barely has time and maneuvering room to exit gracefully. His options for keeping power are limited.

He can back off, reappoint Chaudry, and focus on guiding his fatally wounded dictatorship towards stealing the next presidential election, set for this year. This is unlikely.

Musharraf's most likely path, if he can keep the Army behind him, will be to put the Army in the Streets, adding the tool of direct State Violence to his use of mass political arrests, and closing the media.

In any case, neither side has backed off, and a showdown is coming.

If Musharraf stands his ground, blood will soon be running through the streets of Pakistani cities.

America is responsible for heavily arming and funding Musharraf, directly supporting his military dictatorship. We have raised no objections to his dictatorship, despite our oft repeated goal of "democratization," nor have we spoken against his latest arbitrary uses of violence and political power.

If blood runs in the streets of Karachi and Islamabad, we must bear a great deal of responsibility.

Also See:

Corruption Updates 31, 10th article on page, “Pakistan's old new year"

Corruption Updates 44 , 3rd article on page, American backed Dictator Attempting to Crush Pakistan's Judiciary"

Corruption Updates 38, 10th article on the page, "American Dictator Removes Chief Justice in Pakistan"

Corruption Updates 61, 5th article on the page, "Musharraf 'seeks Karachi peace'"

Corruption Updates 62, 7th article on the page, "Pakistan's ex-top judge has addressed thousands..."

Corruption Updates 63, 9th article on the page, "Pakistan: 4 Arrested in Killing of Judge’s Aide"

Corruption Updates 67, 4th article on the page, "Musharraf Issues Decree Cracking Down on News Media"

Corruption Updates 69, 2nd article on the page, "Pakistan Arrests 300 Workers From Opposition"

 

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Pakistan

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8) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

Iranian Judge Cites ‘Activities’ of 2 Detainees

By REUTERS

NYT June 7, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/world/middleeast/07iran.html?pagewanted=print

TEHRAN, June 6 (Reuters) — Two Iranian-Americans detained in Iran on accusations of spying have “accepted that they carried out some activities,” an Iranian judge was quoted as saying Wednesday.

The Iranian judiciary on May 29 said that the two, Haleh Esfandiari, an academic, and Kian Tajbakhsh, a social scientist, were accused of spying.

It was not clear if this amounted to an admission of spying.

Judge Haddad also was quoted as saying that...Parnaz Azima...had been detained for cooperating with “antirevolutionary” media.But a judiciary official later said that she had been released on bail and was no longer under arrest.

The United States has called for the release of the three and has denied that they are spies.

Iran, which does not recognize dual nationalities, has told the United States that the arrests are none of its concern.

Iran says that the United States is using intellectuals and others to carry out a “soft revolution” to topple the Islamic state in Iran. A conviction on charges of spying could carry the death sentence.

Judge Haddad said that Ms. Azima was accused of working with “antirevolutionary” radio stations, including Radio Farda, which is operated with American financing.

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

The NY Times Lies:

Failed to Report that Iranian Detentions started After 5 Diplomats were Kidnapped by US in Iraq

We started it. Yes, we started this latest round of tit-for-tat kidnapping, but I refer to the hostility our corporate polity and media has for Iran.

We supported the Jewish invasion of Arabic Lands. We put a dictator in Iran. We protect, arm, and fund 3 important authoritarian Arab regimes, and a host of minor tyrannies across the region.

We have employed Syria and Egypt as our personal, private torture chambers, and we claim the "right" to secretly kidnap, endlessly detain, and torture any Arab or Muslim we choose.

We have openly and repeatedly threatened to Nuke Iran.

Then we kidnapped 5 consular officials in Irbil, and have threatened to hold them in Gitmo, while authorizing millions of dollars to subvert the Iranian government. Strange terrorist explosions are occurring in Iran along the Afghanistan frontier, reportedly financed by America.

And the NY Times tells us Iran is upset about our resistance to their Nuke program. That's like calling skin cancer a zit.

Hell, the Iranians, and anyone else who wants to keep their Oil, Labor, Natural Resources and Money out of America's greedy grasp better get Nukes as soon as possible. But this Kidnapping thing is not about that.

Iran is responding to our threats against its sovereignty with what look like every tool at its disposal. What is different is that they are acting without fear of American retribution.

Iran has concluded that they are strong enough to openly defy and strongly respond to our provocations. This means Iran has called our bluff.

Short of all-out war, we have fired-off all of our dirty ammo at Iran, and have achieved no successes.

We have been pouting, stamping our feet, and refusing to talk to them for almost 30 years. We tried to cut them off from world trade. We called them names, and formed an extra judicial lynch mob at the UN to hang them out to dry. We invaded two bordering nations. We threaten them with Jewish military power.

Now we are out of threats, and it's put-up or shut-up time for America, with Iran, and across the whole middle east. The Iranians are not backing down, they are standing up and responding.

Like Russia, Cuba, and Venezuela, Iran is rising from its own ashes, under the blows and kicks of America. This has hardened them, made them strong, and given them the resolve to end our power in their sphere of influence, the middle east.

Iran now stand tall as an example of successful resistance to the tyrants imposed and supported by America across the middle east, and the world.

Had we people in this country who believed in American Constitutional democracy as strongly as the Iranians believe in Independence, our quest for global empire would have ended before it started.

The Saudi, Egyptian, and Jordanian people will not tolerate foreign domination much longer. Arab leaders have begun mouthing words of hostility towards their American Masters, to achieve some small degree of credibility with their own people, while they continue to lick our hands in private.

Our guns and money only impose authority, not credible legitimacy. The authority of Guns and money is limited in duration, and our time is coming to a close. The hand lickers are on the way out, and we are determined to keep them in power.

Expect to see a dramatic upturn in Iranian support for any faction that kills Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If I am correct, Iran has realized it has more to lose by not responding to our provocations that it will lose by responding strongly to each blow.

Iran is ready for war. Are we?

Also See:


Corruption Updates 45, 3rd article on page, "Is a U.S.-Iran War Inevitable?

Corruption Updates 51 6th article on page, "U.S. Decides Against Freeing 5 Iranian Agents"

Corruption Updates 58, 4th article on page, "Cheney's choices"

The Redirection” Seymore Hersh, The New Yorker

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Iran

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9) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :

Ex-official faces FPPC complaint

Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, June 8, 2007

http://www.sacbee.com/capolitics/story/211258.html

The state Office of the Inspector General has filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission against a former top health care official in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

A spokesman for the FPPC said the complaint was filed Wednesday against Darc Keller, who served as the governor's appointed top health care adviser to Corrections Secretary Jim Tilton. Keller resigned under pressure Feb. 23.

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:


Also See:

Corruption Updates 16, 5th article on page, "CALIFORNIA PRISONS INHUMANE"

Corruption Updates 34, 3rd article on page, "State prisons in 'tailspin,' panel says"

Corruption Updates 65, 9th article on page, "Prison solution became problem" Darc Keller accused of unethical, if not illegal misuse of office

Search the Corruption Database under

Prisons

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