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CORRUPTION UPDATES 132

Posted: November 23, 2007, Draft edition

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1) The Articles linked below were Abstracted from the sources cited. After the abstract there's analysis and commentary, links to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.

Cellphone Tracking Powers on Request

Secret Warrants Granted Without Probable Cause

 

By Ellen Nakashima

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, November 23, 2007; A01

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/22/AR2007112201444.html?hpid=topnews

 

 

Federal officials are routinely asking courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can pinpoint the whereabouts of drug traffickers, fugitives and other criminal suspects, according to judges and industry lawyers.

In some cases, judges have granted the requests without requiring the government to demonstrate that there is probable cause to believe that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime. Privacy advocates fear such a practice may expose average Americans to a new level of government scrutiny of their daily lives.

Such requests run counter to the Justice Department's internal recommendation that federal prosecutors seek warrants based on probable cause to obtain precise location data in private areas. The requests and orders are sealed at the government's request, so it is difficult to know how often the orders are issued or denied.

In a stinging opinion this month, a federal judge in Texas denied a request by a Drug Enforcement Administration agent for data that would identify a drug trafficker's phone location by using the carrier's E911 tracking capability. E911 tracking systems read signals sent to satellites from a phone's Global Positioning System (GPS) chip or triangulated radio signals sent from phones to cell towers. Magistrate Judge Brian L. Owsley, of the Corpus Christi division of the Southern District of Texas, said the agent's affidavit failed to focus on "specifics necessary to establish probable cause, such as relevant dates, names and places."

Owsley decided to publish his opinion, which explained that the agent failed to provide "sufficient specific information to support the assertion" that the phone was being used in "criminal" activity. Instead, Owsley wrote, the agent simply alleged that the subject trafficked in narcotics and used the phone to do so. The agent stated that the DEA had " 'identified' or 'determined' certain matters," Owsley wrote, but "these identifications, determinations or revelations are not facts, but simply conclusions by the agency."

Instead of seeking warrants based on probable cause, some federal prosecutors are applying for orders based on a standard lower than probable cause derived from two statutes: the Stored Communications Act and the Pen Register Statute, according to judges and industry lawyers. The orders are typically issued by magistrate judges in U.S. district courts, who often handle applications for search warrants.

In one case last month in a southwestern state, an FBI agent obtained precise location data with a court order based on the lower standard, citing "specific and articulable facts" showing reasonable grounds to believe the data are "relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation," said Al Gidari, a partner at Perkins Coie in Seattle, who reviews data requests for carriers.

Another magistrate judge, who has denied about a dozen such requests in the past six months, said some agents attach affidavits to their applications that merely assert that the evidence offered is "consistent with the probable cause standard" of Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The judge spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

"Law enforcement routinely now requests carriers to continuously 'ping' wireless devices of suspects to locate them when a call is not being made . . . so law enforcement can triangulate the precise location of a device and [seek] the location of all associates communicating with a target," wrote Christopher Guttman-McCabe, vice president of regulatory affairs for CTIA -- the Wireless Association, in a July comment to the Federal Communications Commission. He said the "lack of a consistent legal standard for tracking a user's location has made it difficult for carriers to comply" with law enforcement agencies' demands.

Gidari, who also represents CTIA, said he has never seen such a request that was based on probable cause.

"Permitting surreptitious conversion of a cellphone into a tracking device without probable cause raises serious Fourth Amendment concerns especially when the phone is in a house or other place where privacy is reasonably expected," said Judge Stephen William Smith of the Southern District of Texas, whose 2005 opinion on the matter was among the first published.

But judges in a majority of districts have ruled otherwise on this issue, Boyd said. Shortly after Smith issued his decision, a magistrate judge in the same district approved a federal request for cell-tower data without requiring probable cause. And in December 2005, Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein of the Southern District of New York, approving a request for cell-site data, wrote that because the government did not install the "tracking device" and the user chose to carry the phone and permit transmission of its information to a carrier, no warrant was needed.

These judges are issuing orders based on the lower standard, requiring a showing of "specific and articulable facts" showing reasonable grounds to believe the data will be "relevant and material" to a criminal investigation.

 

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What's Really Going on Here?

Another Blow to American Civil Rights

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., November, 2007

Reasonable suspicion long ago replaced probable cause as the benchmark to obtain a search warrant, or conduct a search. Now even that paper-thin veneer of independent, verifiable proof has dropped away, and the government is obtaining warrants from judges allowing them to exercise unlimited searching powers without showing any cause whatsoever.

I'm sure the dems will say, "that's good, at least the're putting their illegal searches before judges," and make a law that allows unlimited general searches. Whoops, they already did that.

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Also See:

Depressing list of links tracking the crimes of this government as they defy our Constitutional requirment that probable cause before an independent judge to authorize a legitimate search is the minimum standard.

Search the Corruption Database under

Speak your Mind here! Send your Comments about the Topic Above for Posting!

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2) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

Former Press Secretary Points Finger at Bush, Cheney for Deceit in CIA Leak Scandal

By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press
Wednesday, November 21, 2007; 4:49 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/21/AR2007112100207.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan blames President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for efforts to mislead the public about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity of a CIA operative.

In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, McClellan recounts the 2003 news conference in which he told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were "not involved" in the leak involving operative Valerie Plame.

"There was one problem. It was not true," McClellan writes, according to a brief excerpt released Tuesday. "I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff and the president himself."

Bush's chief of staff at the time was Andrew Card.

McClellan's book, "What Happened," isn't due out until April, and the excerpt released Monday was merely a teaser. It doesn't get into detail about how Bush and Cheney were involved or reveal what happened behind the scenes.

In the fall of 2003, after authorities began investigating the leak, McClellan told reporters that he'd personally spoken to Rove, who was Bush's top political adviser, and Libby, who was Cheney's chief of staff.

"They're good individuals, they're important members of our White House team, and that's why I spoke with them, so that I could come back to you and say that they were not involved," McClellan said at the time.

Both men, however, were involved. Rove was one of the original sources for the newspaper column that identified Plame. Libby also spoke to reporters about the CIA officer and was convicted of lying about those discussions. He is the only person to be charged in the case.

Since that news conference, however, the official White House stance has shifted and it has been difficult to get a clear picture of what happened behind closed doors around the time of the leak.

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What's Really Going on Here?

Bush authorized his Minions to Out Plame in Retribution for TruthTelling

written feb 1 , 2007;

ROVE TRAITOR TO AMERICA:

ROVE SNITCHED OFF SECRET AGENT FOR POLITICAL GAIN AT PRESIDENT'S BEHEST

The President was fully aware of this treachery from the very start. The President incited this whole scandal by authorizing the declassification of an American Spy to further his effort to push a fraudulent war down our throats.

This explains why Fitzgerald could not prosecute Bush, Cheny, and Rove. Bush declassified, then Cheney and Rove outed Plame, in a brutal partisan political move.

They misused their offices, the trust of the American people, and sacrificed their honor to further their goal of waging a “preemptive war.”

Bush specifically DECLASSIFIED Palme's identity so she could be outed and exposed. This declassification had to be the first event in the whole chain of events, or Fitzgerald would have charged them all with revealing a classified agent's identity. Libby's perjury and obstructions were attempts to prevent the prosecutor from uncovering that fact.

Bush's politically motivated “declassification” of Palme's identity assured Cheny and Rove's crimes would be protected, but it left their foot soldiers, Libby and his Corporate Press henchmen, out to dry.

The evidence indicates Bush is a liar. When Bush publicly stated that he would punish the traitors who leaked Palmer's identity, he had already declassified her identity to protect his henchmen from charges of outing an American Secret Agent. He knew what was happening from the start.

So, Fitzgerald's only option was to pursue the liars, rather than the liars and traitors. The only liars Fitzgerald could pursue were the people that lied to him under oath. Bush, Rove, and Cheny had to tell Fitzgerald the truth, when he interviewed them. They repeatedly lied to the people, but that is not a crime.

The transcripts of Fitzgerald's interviews with Bush, Cheney and Rove would be interesting reading. They had to tell the truth to Fitzgerald. Even in secret, it must have been hard for these men to tell the truth. Telling the truth, once, in secret, saved them. The result is that we still have a White House full of Liars and Traitors.

This is the fault of the “free press.” The problem is that the “Free Press” has failed to bring the declassification of Palme, and what the timing of this declassification means, to the attention of the public. Not to mention their publishing a parade of lies, misstatements, and propaganda leading up to the war in Iraq.

If they did their jobs, we would be aware that the President treats our government like it is his own personal slave. He ignores the law, the Constitution, and his Duty, to do whatever he wants with our government and citizens.

These whole Bush tenure in office indicates that Bush is not just an incompetent liar, but an extension and expression of our system of political corruption. Bush is “American Democracy.”

Bush, our Congress and Senate, our Governors and state Legislators, are all bought and paid for by the same special interests, independent of party or perspective.

And our Congress, Judiciary, Press, and most of our citizens are asleep.


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Also See:

See Timeline of Traitors reveal identity of American Spy

How Bogus Letter Became a Case for War, WP, April 3, 2007

Search the Corruption Database under

Plame (13 Abstracts)

 

 

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3) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

Why U.S. sticks by Musharraf

The Bush administration is not likely to break with the Pakistani general, given his backing in the fight against Islamic extremism.

By Howard LaFranchi

 

The Christian Science Monitor, Nov 6, 2007

 

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1106/p01s07-usfp.htm

 

 

WASHINGTON

 

America's safety and the demands of the war on terror trump immediate concerns about democracy in Pakistan.

That Bush administration perspective explains why the US – as disturbed as it may be by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency – is expected to refrain from steps that could weaken Pakistan's leader. President Bush has regarded Mr. Musharraf as a major ally in the fight against Islamic extremism.

So while US officials talk about reviewing the billions of dollars in mostly military assistance Pakistan receives from the US, a break with Musharraf over his authoritarian turn is seen as improbable.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reiterated Monday the US view that "the best path for Pakistan is to quickly return to a constitutional path and then to hold elections." That came after earlier comments she made – echoed by the White House – that no US action would be taken to jeopardize the Pakistani military's battle with Al Qaeda insurgents and their supporters in remote tribal territories.

"I would be very surprised if anyone wants [President Bush] to ignore or set aside our concerns about terrorism," Secretary Rice said shortly after Musharraf declared a state of emergency Saturday.

A White House spokesman had a similar comment: "We're obviously not going to do anything that will undermine the war on terror," said Gordon Johndroe.

 

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What's Really Going on Here?

The true battle reveals itself: American Corporate Fascism and our Dictators Versus the Will of the People of Pakistan, Egypt, Palestine, China, Cuba and Etc, Etc...

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., November , 2007

Acting according to principal is out of the question to our govenment, regardless of if it is ruled by the dems or the repugnants.

Neither party can admit that the terror they are fighting is that of the people who want to control their own country, rather than under the whip of an American sponsored tyrant. So much for the war on "Terror."

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3b) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

Rights group calls for release of judges

 

 

Dawn, 11-3-07

 

By Masood Haider

http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/23/top8.htm

 

NEW YORK, Nov 22: The Human Rights Watch on Thursday demanded that the Pakistani government should immediately release deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, his family and other judges held under house arrest since Nov 3.

The New York-based watchdog group decried US President’s statements supporting Gen Musharraf saying “Washington should suspend further dealings with him and the army until he releases the judges, restores them to office, and reverses the state of emergency.”

At least another five Supreme Court judges are under house arrest in Lahore.

“It’s disgraceful that Musharraf is punishing Chief Justice Chaudhry, who challenged his power-grab, by keeping the judge’s family under house arrest,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at the Human Rights Watch. “Musharraf should end his ugly vendetta against the judges and free Chaudhry, his family and the other judges immediately.”

The HRW said that the judges who remain in the Judges’ Colony say that they were still forcibly confined, and that the government was not telling the truth.

Justice Rana Bhagwandas told the HRW that while he and four other judges under house arrest were allowed to move about within the compound, the chief justice and his family remained prisoners in their home.

He said that when he and a colleague attempted to visit the chief justice on the morning of November 21, they were prevented by security personnel and that security around Mr Chaudhry had been increased.

When Mr Chaudhry tried to step out of his house earlier on the morning of November 21, dozens of extra security personnel surrounded his house and ringed it with barbed wire.

The Watch also called for the release of Athar Minallah, an opposition lawyer who has acted as a conduit between the outside world and Mr Chaudhry since his detention.

“He’s a Supreme Court lawyer, not a criminal. He should be released now – like thousands of others arrested for no good reason.”

The Watch reiterated its call for the United States and the United Kingdom to impose comprehensive sanctions on all military and economic aid, with the exception of humanitarian aid, unless Musharraf moves immediately to rescind the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO), restore the judiciary, end the state of emergency, remove restrictions on the media and release all political detainees held since Nov 3.

“President Bush says that Musharraf hasn’t ‘crossed the line’ in his lack of commitment to democracy, but the Pakistani ruler keeps locking up his critics, including Chief Justice Chaudhry,” said Adams.

“Rather than making ridiculous statements that signal no consequences for Musharraf’s dictatorial moves, Washington should suspend further dealings with him and the army until he releases these judges, restores them to office, and reverses the state of emergency.”

3c) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

Way almost cleared for Musharraf’s oath-taking

 

Dawn, November 23, 2007

 

By Nasir Iqbal

 

http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/23/top2.htm

 

ISLAMABAD, Nov 22: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the last pending challenge to General Pervez Musharraf’s re-election, but announced that it would hand down a short order on Friday, clearing the final obstacle to his becoming civilian president.

On Monday, the apex court had dismissed all other petitions filed before the proclamation of the state of emergency to challenge Gen Musharraf’s eligibility to contest the presidential election for another term.

The petitions were earlier being heard by an 11-judge bench, but most of its members stood deposed on Nov 3 after they refused to take the oath under the Provisional Constitution Order.

Gen Musharraf won the one-sided presidential polls by a huge majority after most of the opposition parties had boycotted or abstained from the election.

“I thought we would be getting order today,” Attorney-General Malik Mohammad Qayyum said, adding that the only thing Gen Musharraf required to take the oath of presidency for another five-year term was the order of the court.

What's Really Going on Here?

Dictator's Supreme Kangaroo Court Approves his Dictatorship

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., November , 2007

This is a farce of farces: Our dictator has re-established the terms of his authority: full military control of all social, politicial, judicial, and political institutions.

Musharraf's authority has not changed one iota since he seized power in 1999 through yet another Pakistani military coup.

It should be no surprize that our fascist government is in full support of Musharraf, and the terms he holds power, as it fits the pattern of our foreign policy for the last 109 years: impose dictatorial authority while mouthing lies about "democracy" and "freedom."

It's especially ironic as we have neither here.

4) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

Russian President Lashes Out at West

 

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer

 

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/11/21/international/i053628S73.DTL

 

(11-21) 21:39 PST MOSCOW, Russia (AP) --

Vladimir Putin called his critics foreign-funded "jackals" and accused the West of meddling in Russian politics in a scathing speech Wednesday meant to drum up support for the main pro-Kremlin party.

The thunderous attack came as Russia heads toward Dec. 2 parliamentary elections that have turned into a plebiscite on Putin and whether he should retain power after stepping down as president next year after two consecutive terms.

Thousands of flag-waving supporters who packed a Moscow sports arena for the speech joined in chants urging Putin to remain Russia's "national leader."

Addressing about 5,000 backers at the rally, which blended elements of a Soviet-era Communist Party congress with the raucous enthusiasm of an American political convention, Putin suggested his political opponents are working for Russia's Western adversaries.

"Regrettably, there are those inside the country who feed off foreign embassies like jackals and count on support of foreign funds and governments, and not their own people," Putin said.

"Now, they're going to take to the streets. They have learned from Western experts and have received some training in neighboring (ex-Soviet) republics. And now they are going to stage provocations here," he said.

Putin seemed to refer to anti-Kremlin demonstrations planned for this weekend in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Police have used force to break up several marches and demonstrations, beating and detaining dozens of protesters.

Putin, whose nearly eight years in power coincided with rising energy prices, has repeatedly charged that the West wants Russia weak and compliant.

Without naming names, Putin railed against his liberal, pro-business and Communist opponents, raising the specter of the economic and political uncertainty that preceded and followed the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

"If these gentlemen come back to power, they will again cheat people and fill their pockets," he said. "They want to restore an oligarchic regime, based on corruption and lies."

First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told foreign reporters Tuesday that Putin wouldn't seek a position not envisaged by the constitution, but said a new parliament could change the law. He said portraying the vote as a referendum on Putin's policy was a campaign tactic, not a maneuver to change the government structure.

 

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What's Really Going on Here?

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., November , 2007

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Also See:

Putin backed for ‘national leader’ status, FT, Nov 7, 2007

Putin Signals He'll Retain Power, Time, Nov 13, 2007

Search the Corruption Database under

Russia

 

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5) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

Egypt Military Quiet on Prez Successor

 

By MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press Writer

 

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

(11-07) 00:41 PST CAIRO, Egypt (AP) --

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/11/07/international/i004119S88.DTL

 

For more than 50 years, Egypt's military has been kingmaker, providing the country's presidents from its ranks. But the army is staying unusually quiet this time, as questions about a successor to aging President Hosni Mubarak surrounded the ruling party's annual meeting.

Some see the military's silence as a sign it is prepared to accept a civilian in the top post, presuming that the transition doesn't disrupt the stability in this key U.S. ally.

But its apparent neutrality will likely be put to the test in coming years, as many in Egypt presume that Mubarak's son, Gamal Mubarak — who has never served in the army — is a key contender to eventually become president.

Egypt's ruling party concluded its annual conference Tuesday with its traditional accolades of the elder Mubarak, who has governed unquestioned for nearly 30 years. The four-day conference also further laid the groundwork for succession — creating a Supreme Council from whose members the candidate for president in 2011 will be chosen. Gamal Mubarak is among the council members.

In part, the military's stance reflects how much it has been mollified under Mubarak's rule, showered with economic privileges and run by a close Mubarak loyalist, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. It also has been outweighed by the separate apparatus of internal security forces that keep control in Egypt.

“If the top 10 generals of the army support Gamal, the entire army will follow. And if the 10 don't, they will be fired," said Stacher, a professor at Syracuse University.

Some former military officers have expressed opposition to the principle of the father handing power to the son.

At the same time, the Interior Ministry-run security forces — including the police — have gained greater prominence.

It was internal security, not the military, that put down Islamic militant violence in the 1990s. More recently, it has led a fierce crackdown against Mubarak's top political enemies, the Muslim Brotherhood, boosted by emergency laws that give it wide powers of arrest.

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What's Really Going on Here?

Mubarak prepares to pass Dictatorship to Son

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., November , 2007

Bush "Democracy" Requires People Vote for Bush's Side, or our Dictators will Kill you.

(originally written in June, 07;)

Our system, hell, our whole country, only likes elections when they are fixed, and our dictator is assured victory.

The existing governments of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt are American supported dictatorships who have no democratic or Islamic legitimacy. Their Kingdoms are propped up by American military and economic support.

Our support for these tyrannies is now as much of a threat to their continuation as our power is necessary for their continuation.

These governments will instantly crumble in open elections, or if our military and economic support is withdrawn.

The dictators of all three have only one viable solution to this contradiction: They are radicalizing their positions to reflect the hatred of their people for America.

They must do this to maintain what little authority they still have over their people, and delay the day when they either pay for their disloyalty with their heads, or flee to the protection of the United States.

Bush has accelerated the fall, and inflamed Arabic rage against the American supported Tyrants who have throttled their voices, crushed their rights, killed their people and stolen their lands.

The inevitable fall of the Saudi, Jordanian, and Egyptian dictatorships will end the Arab peoples' forced recognition of Israel.

Israel's legitimacy cannot be honestly recognized in the Middle-East until the Arab peoples have rid themselves of American supported dictatorships, and form legitimate governments that represent their beliefs, positions, and interests.

Only then will there be legitimate negotiating partners that represents the Arab's true perspective on Israel.

That has happened in Iran, and Syria. And it should come as no surprise that they hate Israel and the US, as we imposed dictators and foreign policies on them that represented foreign interests, rather than their own interests and beliefs.

We can strengthen and expand this hatred, by crushing the Arabs as they revolt against American dictatorships. This will fail, and when the Arabs emerge out from under American-sponsored dictatorships, there will be hell to pay.

Or we can diminish the hatred. We have a choice with the parts of the Middle East we still control, Let's tell our Arab dictators that our reign of terror is over, and we are going to force elections or take away the military and political protections that shield our dictators.

Rather than justice, it is obvious that our choice is to strengthen tyranny and increase violence. This will fail.

When failure occurs, the survivors, the rich Saudi Princes, and the minions of the Egyptian dictator, will move here, their true “homeland,” with billions of dollars.

Just like the Shah's buddies did in 1979. And when this happens, the people of these countries will hate us for the abuses we visited on their people and countries through the dictatorships we forced on them.

Look for oil prices to skyrocket, and American control of the world oil market to end.

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Also See:

Link List: Egypt

Corruption Updates 18, 7th article on page, FOR MODERATE DEMOCRACY: EGYPTIANS BELIEVE DEMOCRACY IN EGYPT IS NOT A REAL CONCERN” (of the United States)

Corruption Update 27, 5th article down, Egypt Cracks Down on Brotherhood

Corruption Update 40, 6th 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

Corruption Updates 83, 10th article on page, Hamas Is Rebuffed Over Talks, Egyptian Dictator Condemns Democratically elected Hamas

Corruption Updates 124, 10th article on the page, Egypt: Dictator Brutally Suppresses Dissent-Press

Note how our support of Pakistan's dictatorial oppression closely resembles our long term support and toleration of Egypt's oppressive dictatorship.

In Egypt we have encouraged a dictatorship which has suppressed the media, courts and politics for decades.

The United States is the source of terror in the Middle-East. Those who resist our military, political, and economic intereference in their internal affairs are heroic patriots, not "terrorist."

 

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Egypt

 

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6) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

Guatemala: Deal With U.S. for $2.3 Million to Fight Drugs

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NY Times, September 21, 2007

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/world/americas/21briefing-guatemala.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print

 

The United States and Guatemala signed a multimillion-dollar agreement to fight drugs and organized crime. Under the agreement, the United States will supply $2.3 million to combat drug production and trafficking and gang violence in Guatemala. The money also will help the country’s judicial system prosecute drug and money-laundering cases. Guatemala is Central America’s most violent country, and hundreds of tons of cocaine pass through the country each year en route to the United States.


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What's Really Going on Here?

Guatemala’s problems are a product of our intereference, and more intereference in domestic Guatemalan affairs will not improve the situation.

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., November , 2007

AMERICAN DEATH SQUADS STILL HAUNT GUATEMALA

AMERICA CAN'T CLOSE PANDORA'S BOX IN GUATEMALA, WHILE OPENING It in IRAQ

March 5, 2007 (edited 11-28-07)

Central America has been ruled with an iron fist by Spanish Colonial Elites since the conquest.

These elites have maintained power for the last 100 years by trading their country's resources, both human and natural, for American military, political, and economic support for their regimes.

The American program to dominate Central and South America has been an ugly affair from the start. After Cuba gained independence, our continential dominance began to seriously fail during the '70s, leading Nixon and Kissenger to commit crimes against humanity in Chile, and spreading waves of death squads across Central and South America.

This was a losing battle, and by the early '80s Regan was facilitating the movement of large amounts of drugs into the United States from both Afghanastan and Colombia to fund death squads across Central and South America to prop up our tottering dictatorships. Regan's coke money also funded Osama's earlier Afgan war against the Russians. Our actions then are still driving events in Central and South America today.

The perfect example today is our President of Colombia. Uribe is directly linked to the Right wing private armies and death squads that are attempting to maintain their control of both the nation and cocaine trade of Colombia.

We must adopt this handy rule: We can take political power with force, but we cannot maintain political power with force alone. To maintain power, we must match our military force with an equally powerful political or moral force that operates within the value system and for the benefit of the people we have invaded, occupied, or installed a dictator over.

Despite our powerful propaganda and loud claims to be the bearer of the political and moral principals of freedom, justice, and democracy, our support of dictators and death squads in Central and South America has made our claims to hold a moral high ground hollow, and has been the main fuel for both radical indiginious, marxist, and in the case of the Middle-East, radical islamic alternatives to our violent imposition of false democracy and hollow freedoms on conquored people.

As we have no moral force equal to our military force, we are doomed to walk down a long, bloody trail to failure in every region of the world we rule through proxies or direct occupation.

We are coming to the end of our long, bloody trail of domination in South America.

South America has effectivly taken the control of their political and economic affairs out of our hands, and are, for the first time in 500 years, almost in complete charge of their own affairs. Central America is not far behind South America.

The Agent of our Empire in Guatemala and Hondorus during the formation of the death squads was John Negroponte. Today's death squads are the children of American foreign policy, the children of Negroponte, Poindexter, North, and the crew of criminals that was the Regan administration.

The death squads used by the authoritarian and military governments they supported are still using extra-judicial violence to maintain political and economic control over their people in Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia.

The recent "election" in Mexico, and the subsequent violent suppression of democracy in Oxacha highlight the fraud and violence employed by the spanish elite mafia that rules over mexico.

Until we stop the corporate criminals in the United States from suppressing Our Constitution, perverting our democracy, and stealing our government, people around the world will continue to have their political and economic rights violently stolen from them with the help of the us.

Before we can bring the benefits of democracy and freedom to the world, we must first establish them here.

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Also See:

Corruption Update 36, 3rd article on page, "AMERICAN DEATH SQUADS STILL HAUNT GUATEMALA"

Negraponte the criminal: Answers.com

Poindexter the criminal: Hereinreality.com

Past criminals in present administration: Fair.org

NY Times, September 17, 2007; Argentine Church Faces ‘Dirty War’ Past

 

Chiquita: UNITED FRUIT NEVER STOPPED SUPPORTING DICTATORS WHO KEEP PEASANTS WORKING, NYT, March 19, 2007

NY Times, September 13, 2007; No Charges for Chiquita Executives: Fund Fascist Drug Gangs and Death Squads allied with Global Corporate Interests and Walk

 

BBC NEWS: September 10, 2007; Guatemala awaits election results: Nobody wins

US refunding Guatamala's Death Squads, NY Times, September 21, 2007

 

BBC NEWS, August 30, 2007; Amnesty pleads for Guatemala calm: American Death Squads still operating

REUTERS, August 29, 2007; Guatemala Candidate Killed: pandora's Box closed in Vietnam, but closed nowhere we won

 

Leader Says He Intervened in an Inquiry in Colombia, NYT, October 10, 2007

Argentine Priest Receives Life Sentence in ‘Dirty War’ Killings, NYT, October 10, 2007

 

Leftists set to redraft Ecuador constitution, lat, 10-1-07

Ecuador wants military base in Miami, reuters, 10-22-07

 

C.I.A. Links Cited on Peru Arms Deal That Backfired: CIA-Clinton-fujimori links, nyt, 11-6-2000

Fujimori back in Peru for Death Squad trial bbc 12-07

Fujimori guilty of abuse of power bbc 12-12

Fujimori goes nuts at death squad trial csm 12-12

CIA-Clinton-Fujimori history nyt 11-2000

latest, 4-8-09:

Peru’s Ex-President Convicted of Rights Abuses, nyt, 4-8-09

 

Kissinger approved Argentinian 'dirty war', Guardian, 12-6-03

National Security Archive, State dept. reports on Kissenger’s knowledge of  “Dirty War.”

National Security Archive, State dept. reports on weakness of insurgency

Wiki: Dirty War

 

Choosing a Future From Tainted Pasts, Guatemalan Presidential Candidates, Washington Post Nov 4, 2007

leftist Colom begins guatemalan term, prensa, 1-17-08

guatemala-iran expand ties, ettela'at, 1-17-08

 

 

Chavez: us cut off, and Oil to 200 a barrel if us attacks iran, Pravda, 11-15-07

Chavez calls for S american military alliance against us, bbc, 1-28-08

 

Old US Crimes against humanity prosecuted in Argentina, ap, February 5, 2008

 

Venezula threatens to cut us oil, bbc, 2-11-08

Venezuela breaks ties with exxon, bbc, 2-13-08

Exxon's wrathful tiger takes on Hugo Chávez, ft, 2-14-08

 

Bush Admin Buys Anti-Castro Cuban Reporters in Miami; Nobody Cares, nyt, 10-4-07

Bush urges Cuban reform, lat, 10-25-07

Bush's Threats Against Cuba Condemned Worldwide, cuban news agency, 10-26-07

Castro retires, islamonline, 2-19-08

 

Fujimori fingered for ordering kidnapping and assassinations, aljazeera, 1-19-08

 

Mexican Students killed in colombia's cross-border raid (and an additional report from 3-12-08) McClatchy, 3-7-08

tensions cool a bit between ecuador, colombia, and Venezuela, miami herald, 3-7-08

 

Bolivia declares flood emergency, bbc, 2-13-08

 

Brazil military will combat dengue outbreak in Rio, Mar. 23, 2008 (Reuters)

dengue spreads across asia, Mar. 12, 2008 (Reuters)

 

Colombian dictator's paramilitary cousin runs from justice, world news australia, april 23, 08

 

Pentagon Seeks Authority to Train and Equip Foreign Militaries, nyt, April 16, 2008

 

Uribe's paramilitary presidency: Colombian ex-lawmaker took bribe, bbc, 6-25-08

Uribe's paramilitary presidency: COLOMBIA: "Mark Him on the Ballot - The One Wearing Glasses," ips 5-8-08

 

Peru’s Ex-President Convicted of Rights Abuses, nyt, 4-8-09

 

 

 

Also see how our "security" funds are being used around the world:

China Police State Prospers with Western Trade, Technology, NYT, 8-8-07

China High-Tech Plan to Track People:Catches up with West: It's 1984 in China, NYT, 8-12-07

Mexico to boost tapping of phones and e-mail with U.S. aid, NYT, 4-5-07

Bush in the US:

Bush Authorized Domestic Spying: Bush is a Criminal, and an Enemy of our Constit, WP, 12-16-05

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7) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

Terror Trial Defendant Gets 11 Years

 

By MIKE ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer

 

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/11/21/national/a123243S65.DTL

 

(11-21) 14:42 PST CHICAGO, (AP) --

 

A former business professor accused of taking part in a Palestinian terrorist network was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison Wednesday for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury.

Abdelhaleem Ashqar, 49, a former associate professor of business at Washington's Howard University, was taken into custody by federal marshals immediately after the sentencing during which prosecutors warned that he might flee.

Ashqar was convicted earlier this year of criminal contempt and obstruction of justice for refusing to testify in 2003 before a grand jury investigating the Palestinian militant movement Hamas. Prosecutors had granted him immunity.

He and co-defendant Muhammad Salah were acquitted of taking part in a racketeering conspiracy aimed at bankrolling Hamas in its violent attacks on the government of Israel. But prosecutors presented telephone records showing that Ashqar was in contact with Hamas leaders.

He said he would rather go to prison than betray his people as they strive to free themselves from Israeli domination.

"The only option was to become a traitor or a collaborator and this is something that I can't do and will never do as long as I live," he said.

In a key decision, St. Eve found that Ashqar's refusal to testify was motivated by a desire to "promote terrorism." That toughened the federal sentencing guidelines and guaranteed that he would get a stiff sentence.

While Ashqar accepted his sentence stoically, many of his relatives wept openly and a woman identified by defense attorneys as Ashqar's mother-in-law screamed furiously at the prosecutors in Arabic. She later collapsed in the lobby of the courthouse and was taken to a hospital by fire ambulance.

St. Eve, a former federal prosecutor, listened to Ashqar as he described how a number of his relatives had been jailed and even killed under the Israeli occupation and forced to live in squalid conditions.

She said she understood his determination to struggle on their behalf "but when you're in this country you have to do it legally." She said that her sentence would "promote respect for the law."

Ashqar attorney William Moffitt compared his client with Nelson Mandela who served 27 years in South Africa.

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What's Really Going on Here?

Guilt by Association established by Criminal Government in contravention of our Constitution

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., November , 2007

No respect for a criminal government can eminate from this stinking decision by our corrupted polity.

Resistance to tyranny is required to be an American; by this standard most Americans are traitors, and those who stand up against tyranny are labeled "terrorists"  by our criminal government.

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8) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

Moussaoui Judge Questions Government

 

By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer

 

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/11/20/national/a150748S62.DTL

 

(11-20) 15:55 PST McLean, Va. (AP) --

A federal judge expressed frustration Tuesday that the government provided incorrect information about evidence in the prosecution of Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and raised the possibility of ordering a new trial in another high-profile terrorism case.

At a post-trial hearing Tuesday for Ali al-Timimi, a Muslim cleric from Virginia sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for soliciting treason, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said she can no longer trust the CIA and other government agencies on how they represent classified evidence in terror cases.

The prosecutors have asked her to dismiss the defense request. The government has denied the allegations but has done so in secret pleadings to the judge that defense lawyers are not allowed to see. Even the lead prosecutors in the al-Timimi case have not had access to the information; they have relied on the representations of other government lawyers.

Brinkema said she no longer feels confident relying on the government briefs, particularly since prosecutors admitted last week that similar representations made in the Moussaoui case were false.

In a letter made public Nov. 13, prosecutors in the Moussaoui case admitted to Brinkema that the CIA had wrongly assured her that no videotapes or audiotapes existed of interrogations of certain high-profile terrorism detainees. In fact, two such videotapes and one audio tape existed.

"We believe a new trial is warranted," he said in a phone interview. "We are entirely confident that there are communications that were not turned over to the defense. These are very serious allegations."

Al-Timimi challenged his conviction in 2005 after revelations that President Bush had authorized the National Security Agency to conduct certain types of domestic surveillance without a search warrant. Turley contends that the program is illegal and that any evidence obtained from such surveillance should have been turned over to defense lawyers.

 

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What's Really Going on Here?

 Government committing crimes from investigation through trials to pursue anti-Israel forces around the world

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., November , 2007

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Today's Headlines

1) Routine illegal searches used by govt

2) Press Secratary McClellan Calls Bush, Cheney, Rove, Card, and Libby Liars

3) US continues to back Paki dictator after arrest of supreme court, closing media, and arresting moderate opponents

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