Afghanistan demands end to Nato air strikes on villagers 26 Aug 2008

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(Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:37:28 -0500 (CDT)) --- Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government
26 Aug 2008

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Afghanistan demands end to Nato air strikes on villagers --UN backs
Karzai concerns over loss of civilian life in allied raids 26 Aug
2008 Tensions increased today between Afghanistan's president, Hamid
Karzai, and US and Nato troops, with the government ordering a
review of foreign military activities amid claims that dozens of
civilians have died in raids and air strikes over the past week.
The ministries of foreign affairs and defence said they would seek
to regulate raids with a status of forces agreement and a negotiated
end to "air strikes on civilian targets, uncoordinated house searches
and illegal detention of Afghan civilians".

U.N. says has evidence US-led air strikes killed 90 Afghan civilians
26 Aug 2008 The United Nations said on Tuesday it had found convincing
evidence that 90 Afghan civilians, most of them children, were
killed in air strikes by U.S.-led coalition forces in western
Afghanistan last week. "Investigations by UNAMA (United Nations
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) found convincing evidence, based
on the testimony of eyewitnesses, and others, that some 90 civilians
were killed, including 60 children, 15 women and 15 men," U.N.

Special Envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide said in a statement.

Bombers kill dozens as violence erupts in Iraq --One of the blasts
targets police recruits; another explosion kills family 26 Aug 2008
Three blasts killed at least 34 Iraqis on Tuesday, most of them in
a suicide car bombing that struck a group of police recruits,
officials said. It was one of the highest daily casualty tolls in
recent months. Two of the bombs went off in Diyala province... In
the provincial town of Jalula, an assailant drove a car toward a
building where new police recruits had assembled, said Col. Ahmed
Mahmoud Khalifa, the local police chief. [Holy coincidence, Batman!
The minute al Maliki demands a firm TIMETABLE for US withdrawal,
bombs explode as if to provide fodder for the US terrorists who
want an open-ended occupation. I wonder who's really behind the
bombings? --LRP]

11 terrorism suspects detained in Iraq 25 Aug 2008 Eleven suspected
terrorists have been taken into custody by occupation troops in
Iraq, including four allegedly planning to use poison, officials
said Monday. The four men suspected of planning poison attacks were
captured Sunday in Beiji, south of Mosul, American Forces Press
Service said.

U.S. holding 11-year-old American son of suspected Pakistani militant
in Afghanistan 26 Aug 2008 U.S. officials say the 11-year-old
American son of a suspected Pakistani militant is being held by
authorities in Afghanistan.

Assfia Siddiqui's son, Ahmed, is a U.S. citizen by birth and has
been in Afghan custody since July when his mother was arrested after
a shootout with Afghan police in Ghanzi, the Washington Post said
Tuesday. Siddiqui, a neuroscientist who had been sought as a suspected
al-Qaida [al-CIAduh] operative since 2003, is currently lodged in
a U.S. federal prison.

Ex-Guantanamo prisoners appeal to US Supreme Court 25 Aug 2008 Four
Britons released from Guantanamo in 2004 after two years' detention,
requested the US Supreme Court to rule on the right of prisoners
"to worship and ... not to be tortured." If the high court takes
the case, it will have to decide whether war-on-terror prisoners
have additional constitutional rights besides the right to challenge
their detention in civilian court, as was confirmed in a June Supreme
Court ruling.

U.S. terrorism experts to teach troops [To do more, or?] Soldiers
need more specialized instruction on what drives 'insurgents' and
how population thinks, Ottawa says 26 Aug 2008 The federal government
is hiring U.S. terrorism experts to deepen Canadian soldiers'
understanding of how their Taliban enemies think - saying it needs
to prepare troops better as they wage a counterinsurgency war in
Afghanistan. Ottawa announced that it is bypassing the normal route
for contracting and awarding the job to Arlington, Va.-based Terrorism
Research Center on a sole-source basis, saying it's the only firm
capable of doing the job. The one-year contract has a maximum annual
payout of $848,250 (U.S.), but may be extended.

Will the US Develop a Death Ray? 21 Aug 2008 For about $1 billion,
over the next three years, the nation could convert some Trident
missiles -- now limited to carrying nuclear warheads in their
submarine launchers -- to non-nuclear weapons. The plan favored by
the National Research Council (NRC) panel would replace two of the
24 nuclear missiles on each of the Navy's 12 Trident subs with
conventional-armed missiles. The plan backed by the panel calls for
putting up to four non-explosive "dispersible kinetic energy
projectiles" atop each missile. It's not [Really?] quite a "death
ray" but it's the closest existing technology can get to that fantasy
weapon.

Dimitri Medvedev raises spectre of new Cold War 26 Aug 2008 Russia's
president said today he was ready for the start of a new Cold War,
as he set tensions with the West soaring by recognizing the
independence of two breakaway republics inside Georgia. "We are not
afraid of anything, including the prospect of a Cold War," said
Dimitri Medvedev, after ordering his foreign ministry to start work
on establishing diplomatic ties with the secessionist regions of
South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

North Korea to suspend nuclear disablement 26 Aug 2008 North Korea
said on Tuesday it will stop disabling its nuclear facilities and
consider restoring the Yongbyon reactor that can make material for
atomic bombs, accusing the United States of violating a disarmament
deal. "We have decided to immediately suspend disabling our nuclear
facilities," the North's KCNA news agency quoted a foreign ministry
official as saying.

Fourth Blackburn man arrested over threat to kill Gordon Brown 26
Aug 2008 A 25-year-old man was being questioned today over threats
to kill Gordon Brown and Tony Blair after he was arrested on terrorism
charges. The man is the fourth resident of Blackburn to be arrested
this month in connection with posting a death threat on a recognised
jihadi website. Specialist officers were continuing to carry out
searches this morning in the Whalley Range area of the town, where
a police van was seen parked outside an Islamic bookshop.

Barack Obama 'ought to be shot' says racist plotter -Secret Service,
FBI and US Joint Terrorism Task Force are all investigating alleged
plot and more arrests could follow 26 Aug 2008 A man at the centre
of a suspected assassination plot against Senator Barack Obama has
said that the presidential candidate "ought to be shot" because of
his colour. The chilling threat by Nathan Johnson, 33, followed his
arrest with two other men when an arms cache was found in a pick-up
truck. The men, one of whom is said to have strong ties to the white
supremacist movement, were last night under investigation and facing
initial charges for illegal firearms possession.

FBI investigates 'Obama assassination plot' 26 Aug 2008 The FBI and
the US Secret Service were investigating a possible assassination
plot against Barack Obama today after four people linked to white
supremacist groups and in possession of high-powered rifles were
arrested near the Democratic convention in Denver. In an extraordinary
jail cell interview with a local television reporter, one of the
suspects said that his associates had planned to assassinate Mr
Obama as he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in an
open-air sports stadium on Thursday night. That suspect, Nathan
Johnson, 32, also allegedly told police that the plan had been to
shoot Mr Obama from a high vantage point using a rifle sighted at
750 yards.

Plot to Kill Obama: Shoot From High Vantage Point --Sources say
Shawn Robert Adolph was wearing a swastika, and is thought to have
ties to white supremacist organizations. 26 Aug 2008 CBS4 has learned
at least four people are under arrest in connection with a possible
plot to kill Barack Obama at his Thursday night acceptance speech
in Denver. All are being held on either drug or weapons charges.
CBS4's Brian Maass reported one of the suspects told authorities
they were "going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a
... rifle sighted at 750 yards." Law enforcement sources tell Maass that one
of the suspects "was directly asked if they had come to Denver to
kill Obama.

He responded in the affirmative." The Secret Service, FBI, ATF and
the joint terrorism task force are all investigating the alleged
plot.

Obama assassination plot fears as armed men arrested 26 Aug 2008
US police were investigating tonight if they had disrupted an
assassination plot against Barack Obama after two men were arrested
near the Democratic convention in Denver with two rifles, a
high-powered telescopic scope and the powerful stimulant methamphetamine.
The men were arrested in a routine incident involving a traffic
policeman. The first man, Tharin Gartrell, was charged with suspicion
of being a felon in possession of a weapon after police found the
rifles in his car. When police accompanied Mr Gartrell to his hotel
in Denver a second man jumped from a window and was injured in a
four-story fall.

That man was then arrested.

Meanwhile in Minneapolispolice confiscate laptops and video equipment
By GRITtv 26 Aug 2008 From I-Witness Video: "Our colleagues at the
Glass Bead Collective, a group of video artists and documentarians,
are in the Twin Cities to prepare for the Republican National
Convention. They were swarmed by three police cars, detained and
had all of their electronic gear, including laptop computers,
videocameras and personal items were taken from them by Minneapolis
police. No one was arrested. The stop and seizure was explained by
police officers as related to Homeland Security and the Republican
Convention."

Police use pepper spray on 15th Street protesters 26 Aug 2008 Police
armed with sticks and face masks encircled about 70 protesters and
used pepper on 15th Street, about two blocks from the Civic Center.
Some in the protesters sang Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues".
The 'anarchists' are wearing bandannas as protection from the pepper
spray as helicopters and sirens can be heard. However, some protesters
were searching for water to help those who were hit with spray.

DNC: Quotes from pro-Hillary Clinton march --What they're saying
at the protest/march by 18 Million Voices, which advocates for
women's rights and is celebrating Hillary Clinton's achievements.
26 Aug 2008 Toni Alves, PUMA member, San Francisco "Im marching
because of the treatment Hillary received during the primaries. She
was treated so unfairly by the media and the DNC,and no one stood
up to say anything about it until after theyd asked her to leave.
And that was ridiculous. The media totally geared and led this
campaign. Obama wasnt elected, he was selected."

Clinton Prepares for Center Stage 26 Aug 2008 Senator Hillary Rodham
Clinton prepared to take center stage at the Democratic National
Convention on Tuesday in one of the most anticipated moments of the
week, even as Republicans intensified their efforts to crash the
Democratic Partys party.

Michelle Obama shows her husband's personal side 26 Aug 2008 Michelle
Obama declared "I love this country" Monday as she sought to reassure
the nation that she and her husband Barack share Americans' bedrock
values and belief in a dream of a better future. In the first major
address at the Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama
described herself as a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother, no
different from many women.

Michelle Obama's Speech at the Democratic National Convention 25
Aug 2008 Interactive video and transcript of Mrs. Obama in Denver
on Aug. 25. I stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history,
knowing that my piece of the American Dream is a blessing hard won
by those who came before me, all of them driven by the same conviction
that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly
dress himself for work, the same conviction that drives the men and
women I've met all across this country... People like Hillary
Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling, so
that our daughters and our sons can dream a little bigger and aim
a little higher.

Michelle Obama Owned Her Moment By Eugene Robinson 26 Aug 2008 I
dont get it.

Look At Cindy McCain. Shes the one who brought the money to the
marriage.

Shes the one who seems to make the financial decisions for the
couple -- to the extent that John McCain cant even be sure how many
homes he owns. Shes smart and opinionated. But nobodys clamoring
for her to give a performance at the Republican convention next
week that makes her seem softer and more approachable. Is it that
she more closely fits some agreed-upon notion of what a political
spouse should look like? I suspect thats the case, and I suspect
theres a generational issue in addition to a racial issue. No matter:

Michelle Obama owned her moment Monday night.

Emotional opening in Denver as Kennedy passes the torch 25 Aug 2008
Democrats opened their 2008 national convention Monday with an
emotional tribute to an ailing Sen. Edward Kennedy, who told delegates
that "the torch will be passed again" to Sen. Barack Obama and a
new generation of leaders. "We are told that Barack Obama believes
too much in an America of high principle and bold endeavor," the
Massachusetts Democrat said. "But when John Kennedy thought of going
to the moon, he didn't say it's too far to get there."

Kennedy electrifies Democratic convention with appearance 25 Aug
2008 Sen.

Edward Kennedy -- recuperating from recent brain surgery -- made a
dramatic appearance at the Democratic National Convention on Monday
night, pledging to see Barack Obama to the White House and his own
return to the Senate floor. "I have come here tonight to stand with
you to change America, to restore its future, to rise to our best
ideals and to elect Barack Obama to the presidency of the United
States," Kennedy said to a standing crowd.

GOP to Counter Dem Convention With New Strategy: It's the Obama,
Stupid By R J Shulman 26 Aug 2008 (Satire) The Post Times Sun
Dispatch has obtained a copy of the memo which sets forth the new
Republican strategy. As you all know, the last time the Democrats
won the White House it was due in large part to the clever Clinton
people coming up with the slogan, "Its the economy, stupid."

We won the White House back with "Its the stupid, stupid," the idea
Americans wanted a cuddly but dumb President, a guy just as moronic
as the guy you would sit and have a beer with. McCain is just not
that cuddly. As a matter of fact, the less the American people know
about the flip-flopping, war mongering, anger driven, over the hill
McCain, the better. So in order to get this race close enough to
steal, we have to make this campaign about how bad Obama is and
that McCain is not Obama. Hence the slogan -- "Its the Obama,
stupid."

Obama to DOJ: Block terrorist ad 25 Aug 2008 Sen. Barack Obama has
launched an all-out effort to block a Republican billionaires efforts
to tie him to domestic and foreign terrorists in a wave of negative
television ads. Obamas campaign has written the Department of Justice
demanding a criminal investigation of the "American Issues Project,"
the vehicle through which Dallas investor Harold Simmons is financing
the advertisements.

Judge Denies Stay; Miers Must Appear to Answer HJC's Subpoena 26
Aug 2008 A district court judge denied Harriet Miers and Joshua
Bolten's request for a stay on their Congressional testimony pending
the appeal of the recent decision in HJC v. Harriet Miers et al.
The decision means that Miers will have to appear in response to
the House Judiciary Committee's subpoena for testimony.

FAA: Computer Breakdown Delays Flights 26 Aug 2008 A Federal Aviation
Administration blamed a computer breakdown for delaying hundreds
of flights today in Chicago and several East Coast cities. FAA
spokesman Paul Takemoto said a computer system that processes flight
plans failed. Aircraft are not allowed to take off without flight
plans.

USDA Gift to Monsanto --The US Department of Agricultures give-away
insurance rates for GM crops risk bankrupting the public coffers.
By Prof. Joe Cummins 26 Aug 2008 On 12 September 2007, the FCIC
[Federal Crop Insurance Corporation] Board of Directors approved a
Biotech Yield Endorsement (BYE) pilot programme submitted under
section 523(d) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act. The result is
that farmers growing Monsantos genetically modified (GM) maize
receives crop insurance at a greatly reduced cost of between 20 and
70 percent. The BYE programme was crafted by the Monsanto Corporation
and its first beneficiary is limited to its GM maize... The FCIC
Board of Directors, at its 14 August 2008 meeting, approved additional
seed technologies for premium rate reduction for producers planting
certain corn hybrid varieties...

The companies benefiting from the largesse of the USDA give-away
insurance include besides Monsanto, Dow, Syngenta and Pioneer
Hi-Bred.

Canada's Oil Sands Declared "Most Destructive Project on Earth" as
Eco Disaster Looms 26 Aug 2008 A report issued by the nonprofit
organization Environmental Defense has declared petroleum extraction
projects in Canada's oil sands to be "the most destructive project
on Earth." "When even former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed, who
started the Tar Sands ball rolling, is calling for change, you know
this is a major disaster," said Aaron Freeman, the group's policy
director. The report accuses the Canadian government of allowing
the Tar Sands Project to emit levels of greenhouse gases that far
outstrip any reductions made in other areas.

Hurricane Gustav hits Haiti, drives up oil prices 26 Aug 2008
Hurricane Gustav dumped torrential rains across southern Haiti on
Tuesday, killing at least one man and threatening crops amid protests
over high food prices. Global fuel futures soared on fears Gustav
could move into the Gulf of Mexico as an "extremely dangerous"
storm.

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Previous lead stories: Police investigate possible plot to kill
Obama 25 Aug 2008 Law enforcement authorities have arrested two
men, and several law enforcement sources say the investigation is
looking into whether the men intended to harm presidential candidate
Sen. Barack Obama. According to multiple sources, Aurora police
made a routine traffic stop Sunday morning at 2:38 a.m. The Secret
Service says two rifles were found in the car along with methamphetamine.
Another law enforcement source says he was told at least one of the
rifles was a "sniper rifle." A second source told CBS4 authorities
told officers they are concerned they may have come upon a possible
"assassination plot."

MSRNC Pushing PUMAs to Help the GOP By Lori Price 25 Aug 2008 In a
mouth-draping irony, world's biggest Hillary Clinton hater and
misogynist, Chris Matthews, has set his MSNBC political roundtable
in the middle of the PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) demonstration in
Denver, so that the world would witness media-inflated strife during
the Democrats' 'finest hour.' Whether you agree with the PUMA point
of view or not, one must realize the hypocrisy of MSNBC (MSRNC, as
SoCalDem observed) in exploiting the discord, which even its own
pundits -- NBC News Political Director, Chuck Todd, and writer Mike
Barnacle -- decried on air during Monday's 'Hardball.'

'It's a matter of how much and how fast.' U.S. Expects to Rebuild
Georgian Army 22 Aug 2008 The United States expects to help Georgia
rebuild its military, a top U.S. general said Thursday. "One would
assume we would have to help them rebuild because they are a partner
in the war on [of] terror, they've been helpful. They are going to
ask us, I am sure, to replace and rebuild," General John Craddock,
who is in charge of the U.S. European Command, told reporters during
a trip to Georgia. Craddock said he would assess Georgia's needs
during his visit, due to end Friday, and report back to the Pentagon.

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