U.S. Justice Department Talks With Wachovia About Deferred-Prosecution

Wachovia Corp. is one of several U.S. banks under federal investigation as part of a probe of alleged drug-money laundering by Mexican and Colombian money- transfer companies, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the probe.

The bank is talking with the U.S. Justice Department about a deferred-prosecution agreement that would require federal oversight of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company's compliance system, the Journal said.

``Wachovia is not currently nor has it in the past engaged in those discussions,'' Wachovia spokeswoman Christy Phillips- Brown told Bloomberg News in a telephone interview. ``Wachovia doesn't comment on the status or existence of investigations. The bank is committed to a strong-anti-money-laundering program.''

The remittance industry transmits more than $50 billion from the U.S. to Latin America annually, the Journal said. Most of the money involves wages being sent to relatives, although drug traffickers may use the system to move proceeds from their U.S. narcotics sales.

Alex Jones Interviewed Nobel Prize Winner Joseph E. Stiglitz on 4-25-08

Part 2 / Part 3

Afghan Leader Criticizes U.S. on Conduct of War

President Hamid Karzai strongly criticized the British and American conduct of the war here on Friday, insisting in an interview that his government be given the lead in policy decisions.

Mr. Karzai said that he wanted American forces to stop arresting suspected Taliban and their sympathizers, and that the continued threat of arrest and past mistreatment were discouraging Taliban from coming forward to lay down their arms.

He criticized the American-led coalition as prosecuting the war on terrorism in Afghan villages, saying the real terrorist threat lay in sanctuaries of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan.

The president said that civilian casualties, which have dropped substantially since last year, needed to cease completely. For nearly two years the American-led coalition has refused to recognize the need to create a trained police force, he said, leading to a critical lack of law and order.

The comments came as Mr. Karzai is starting to point toward re-election next year, after six years in office, and may be part of a political calculus to appear more assertive in his dealings with foreign powers as opponents line up to challenge him.

But they also follow a serious dip in his relations with some of the countries contributing to the NATO-led security force and the reconstruction of Afghanistan, and indicate that as the insurgency has escalated, so, too, has the chafing among allies.

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A Government Misstep in a Wiretapping Case

By Patrick Radden Keefe / The New Yorker

One Friday afternoon in August, 2004, a Washington, D.C., attorney named Lynne Bernabei received a package from the Department of the Treasury. The government was investigating one of her clients, the American branch of a Saudi charity called the Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, which had been active in fifty countries. Al Haramain had come under scrutiny, as had many other Islamic charities, after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and Treasury Department investigators believed that Al Haramain’s American branch, which was based in Oregon, had connections to Al Qaeda. In response to a request from Bernabei for evidence against her client, the government had turned over two sets of documents, primarily media reports that referred to other branches of Al Haramain. None of the materials demonstrated a direct connection between the Oregon branch and Al Qaeda.

Bernabei asked for any classified evidence the government might have, arguing that it was impossible to rebut evidence that she couldn’t see. When a third batch of evidence arrived, that August afternoon, the cover letter noted that the enclosed materials were “unclassified,” so Bernabei didn’t give much thought to the last item, a four-page document stamped “Top Secret.” “My impression was that it might have been something that was declassified,” she told me recently.

Bernabei photocopied the materials and forwarded them to the half-dozen clients and attorneys associated with the case.

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Court: Government Must Reveal Watch-List Status to Constantly Detained Americans

Eight Americans of south Asian and Middle Eastern descent who were repeatedly detained at the border for questioning will be able to learn if they are actually on the government's terrorist watch list, a federal court in Illinois ruled last week, marking the first time that citizens have been able to learn whether they have been added to a sprawling and error-prone list used for screening at borders and traffic stops.

The government invoked the powerful state secrets privilege in the case, arguing that letting the plaintiffs know if they are or aren't on the list would harm national security since that could alert them to the fact they have been under government scrutiny.

But since the government admits it has stopped the six men and two women more than 35 times, federal Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier of the United States Northern Illinois District Court dismissed that argument. Instead he found that the government "failed to establish that, under all the circumstances of this case, disclosure of that information would create a reasonable danger of jeopardizing national security."

The plaintiffs, most of whom are Muslim, filed suit (.pdf) against the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI in June 2005.

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Outspoken Arizona Senator Questions 9/11 Official Version Of Events

State Sen. Karen Johnson, R-Mesa, has come under fierce criticism for going on record with her doubts over the government's version of events surrounding the 9/11 attacks.

Following a vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Arizona's 9/11 Memorial, Johnson told Capitol reporters "There are many of us that believe there's been a cover-up."

Details of Johnson's comments come in an vicious hit piece article in the Arizona Republic entitled Drinking the 9/11 Kool-Aid:

The senator gave details about her theories. The World Trade Center buildings could have been rigged with thermite to melt girders. The aircraft could have been drones rather than the commercial airliners most of us thought we saw crashing into the Twin Towers. As to what became of the missing passengers in the aircraft that (theoretically) did not explode against the towers: "That's what I would like to know," she said.

Citing no research whatsoever on such theories, and without referring to the hundreds of engineers, scientists, professors, former government and intelligence officials and prominent public figures who have voiced similar concerns over the official version of the attacks, which is about as water tight as a paper bag, the Arizona Republic continues the attack:

Now, we take no issue with private citizens believing whatever fever-swamp nonsense, however outlandish, they wish about their government.

We do take serious issue, however, with a public official affecting public policy on such grounds.

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Joint Chiefs Chairman Says U.S. Planning Military Options Against Iran

The nation's top military officer said today that the Pentagon is planning for "potential military courses of action" against Iran, criticizing what he called the Tehran government's "increasingly lethal and malign influence" in Iraq.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a conflict with Iran would be "extremely stressing" but not impossible for U.S. forces, pointing specifically to reserve capabilities in the Navy and Air Force.

"It would be a mistake to think that we are out of combat capability," he said at a Pentagon news conference.

Still, Mullen made clear that he prefers a diplomatic solution to the tensions with Iran and does not foresee any imminent military action. "I have no expectations that we're going to get into a conflict with Iran in the immediate future," he said.

Mullen's statements and others by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates recently signal a new rhetorical onslaught by the Bush administration against Iran, amid what officials say is increased Iranian provision of weapons, training and financing to Iraqi groups that are attacking and killing Americans.

In a speech Monday at West Point, Gates said Iran "is hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons." He said a war with Iran would be "disastrous on a number of levels. But the military option must be kept on the table given the destabilizing policies of the regime and the risks inherent in a future Iranian nuclear threat."

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BBC Anchor Who Reported on WTC7 Collapse Early Agrees There May Be a 'Conspiracy'

Aaron Dykes / Jones Report

Members of We Are Change UK questioned ex-BBC reporter Phil Hayton about the early reporting of WTC 7's collapse during a speaking appearance.

Hayton failed to recollect even being in the studio on the day of 9/11-- at first-- but then recalls the situation when it is described in detail, including the actions of Jane Standley, who reported the collapse some 26 minutes in advance with WTC Building 7 still visible in the background.

"A lot of eyebrows were raised," We Are Change reporters point out in summary, because many saw it as a clear controlled demolition, including a number of engineers.

Hayton responded, pointing out that he was not aware of the situation with WTC 7. "This sounds so significant-- I'm just amazed I didn't know about this... This is completely news to me."

"So, is there no official explanation?" Hayton further probed.

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GOP Wants to Tack FISA Bill Onto War Supplemental

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) announced Thursday that he will try to attach a measure updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as an amendment to the war supplemental bill. Lewis, the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, said he would make the move if the war funding bill is taken up by the panel. 

Lewis, the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, said he would make the move if the war funding bill is taken up by the panel.

“It’s time for the Democratic leaders to put our national security ahead of the desires of trial lawyers and pass the FISA bill that was passed by the Senate,” the lawmaker said. “This Congress should make this legislation one of its top priorities until the intelligence gap is closed.”

Republicans and the White House have engaged in an all-out campaign to get House Democratic leaders to take up a version of the bill that was passed with bipartisan support in the Senate. One of the most contentious issues remaining is whether telecommunications companies should get retroactive immunity if they helped the government with eavesdropping initiatives following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. While Republicans support such a provision and it is included in the Senate bill, House Democrats say it needs to be stripped out.

IAEA Director Slams Israel for Attacking Syrian Nuclear Reactor

The head of the UN nuclear monitoring agency on Friday criticized the US for not giving his organization intelligence information sooner on what Washington says was a nuclear reactor in Syria being built secretly by North Korea.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei also chastised Israel for bombing the site seven months ago, in a statement whose strong language reflected his anger at being kept out of the picture for so long.

The White House broke its silence about the issue on Thursday, just hours after top US legislators - members of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee - were briefed on the alleged reactor. US intelligence officials said evidence included dozens of photographs taken from ground level as well as footage of the interior of the building taken by spy satellites after the Israeli strike.

The IAEA's mission includes trying to keep nuclear proliferation in check, and it depends on member states for information in trying to carry out that task. The agency is currently investigating allegations Iran tried to make nuclear weapons, and it is using not only its own research but intelligence provided by the US and other members of the 35-nation IAEA board.

"The director general deplores the fact that this information was not provided to the agency in a timely manner, in accordance with the agency's responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to enable it to verify its veracity and establish the facts," the statement said.

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Cargo Ship Hired by U.S. Military Fires Warning Shots in Gulf!!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A cargo ship hired by the U.S. military fired warning shots at approaching boats in the Gulf, the U.S. Navy said on Friday, underscoring tension in the region as the Pentagon sharpened its warnings to Iran.

According to American defence officials, the Westward Venture cargo ship chartered by the U.S. defence Department was travelling in international waters when two unidentified small boats approached on Thursday.

After the boats failed to respond to radio queries and a warning flare, the cargo ship's security team fired "a few bursts" of machine gun and rifle warning shots, according to Cmdr. Lydia Robertson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet.

"The small boats left the area a short time later," she said by telephone. "They were able to avoid a serious incident by following the procedures that we use."

The news helped push oil prices up more than $3 to $119.50 a barrel -- within striking distance of the record $119.90 hit earlier this week -- as traders worried escalating tensions in the region could eventually disrupt crude shipments.

U.S. defence officials, speaking only on condition of anonymity, first said they suspected the boats were Iranian.

But a Fifth Fleet spokeswoman quickly backed away from that charge.

"We cannot speculate on who they are. We just don't know. We have no proof of who they were," said Lt. Stephanie Murdoch, another spokeswoman for the Fifth Fleet.

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Indonesia Runs Large Scale Bird Flu Drill

Indonesia is running a large scale drill simulating an outbreak of human to human bird flu that involves thousands of villagers, health workers and government officials, rehearsing for a potential pandemic. The drill started today, Friday 25th April, and is scheduled to run for three days.

Human to human transmission of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has not yet been officially recorded, but experts say it is just a matter of time before the virus mutates into such a form and kills millions of people worldwide.

Of the total number of laboratory confirmed H5N1 human cases and deaths reported worldwide since 2003, between a third and a half of them have been in Indonesia, according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) figures.

On the 17th of April, the WHO updated the worldwide and country by country figures, showing a total of 381 cases and 240 deaths, with 132 cases and 107 deaths in Indonesia. Viet Nam is the next highest, with 106 cases and 52 deaths reported.

Health experts in Indonesia estimate that up to 60 million Indonesians will become infected if the virus starts to spread from human to human.

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Iraq Government Paying Thousands to Dead Policemen!

Iraq's government has kept thousands of dead, injured or absent policemen and soldiers on the payroll as a way to compensate or care for their families, an audit found.

The practice is just one example of why there are no reliable numbers on how many Iraqi troops and police are on the job at any given time, says the report being made public today by Stuart Bowen, the special inspector-general for Iraq reconstruction.

"There are continuing uncertainties about the true number ... who are present for duty at any one time," Bowen said of Iraqi police, soldiers, border guards and other security forces.

Bowen said another part of the problem is that Iraqi ministries lack automated accounting systems needed to keep good data.

"I would not call it a damning report. I would say it's reflective of the difficulty of assessing troop strength ... and, more importantly, capabilities," Bowen said in an interview yesterday.

Bowen had been asked to assess last month's Defense Department report on Iraq, one in a series of quarterly documents required by Congress to measure progress toward military and political security there.

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Jackboot Stormtroopers Roam New York Subways

By Steve Watson / Prison Planet

Teams of police armed with submachine guns, body armor and bomb-sniffing dogs are to begin patrolling New York subways today in an effort to "prevent terrorism".

The special bomb teams known as "Torch Teams" will consist of six officers and a dog will patrolling all platforms and trains in 12-hour shifts.

The cops will cary huge MP5 submachine guns that are usually used by Navy seals and FBI hostage-rescue teams.

ABC eyewitness news has a video report here.

The move comes after a 50 percent increase in a homeland security grant was announced earlier this year, translating to $153 million.

"The show of force will no doubt make many riders feel safer, although some weren't sure how much of a difference it will make." reports ABC.

If you believe six storm troopers pointing massive machine guns at passengers makes them feel safer I've got a bridge I want to sell you.

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KSM Lawyer: Fair Trial Impossible & Country Risks Trashing 'Our Constitutional Values'

He readily acknowledges how his client is perceived as "one of the most reviled people" in the world. But he says it's imperative that America give Mohammed a fair trial, just like anyone else accused of a crime.

No civilian court, he says, would accept confessions obtained after a defendant was mistreated. But the CIA admits Mohammed was waterboarded, a controversial interrogation technique that involves simulated drowning.

"I take the position that this is mock execution. ... Colloquially speaking, at least it's torture," Prince said.

The fact that whatever Mohammed said during such duress could be used at trial is alarming to Prince.

"That's not the rule of law. That's just insanity."

A Navy reservist who has been called to active duty, Prince, 53, rejects the suggestion that he is less than patriotic for representing an accused terrorist. "I had friends who were at the Pentagon the day it was attacked, so I don't accept the concept of 'gee, I don't know what it's like.' "

Prince is currently visiting the detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to meet his client. He was denied a meeting with Mohammed on Wednesday due to procedural problems; he will try again today.

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CIA Knew Torture Might Be Catalyst For Criminal Investigations

The CIA concluded that criminal, administrative or civil investigations stemming from harsh interrogation tactics were "virtually inevitable," leading the agency to seek legal support from the Justice Department, according to a CIA official's statement in court documents filed yesterday.

The CIA said it had identified more than 7,000 pages of classified memos, e-mails and other records relating to its secret prison and interrogation program, but maintained that the materials cannot be released because they relate to, in part, communications between CIA and Justice Department attorneys or discussions with the White House.

Nineteen of those documents were withheld from disclosure specifically because the Bush administration decided they are covered by a "presidential communications privilege," according to the filings, made in federal court in Manhattan. Some were "authored or solicited and received by the President's senior advisors in connection with a decision, or potential decision, to be made by the president."

Although the precise content of the documents is unknown, the agency's statements illustrate the extent to which senior White House officials were involved in decision-making on CIA detentions, interrogations, and renditions, a term for forced transfers of prisoners. These topics were the targets of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by liberal advocacy groups that compelled the CIA's disclosures.

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Israelis Claim Secret Agreement With U.S.

A letter that President Bush personally delivered to then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon four years ago has emerged as a significant obstacle to the president's efforts to forge a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians during his last year in office.

Ehud Olmert, the current Israeli prime minister, said this week that Bush's letter gave the Jewish state permission to expand the West Bank settlements that it hopes to retain in a final peace deal, even though Bush's peace plan officially calls for a freeze of Israeli settlements across Palestinian territories on the West Bank. In an interview this week, Sharon's chief of staff, Dov Weissglas, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reaffirmed this understanding in a secret agreement reached between Israel and the United States in the spring of 2005, just before Israel withdrew from Gaza.

U.S. officials say no such agreement exists, and in recent months Rice has publicly criticized even settlement expansion on the outskirts of Jerusalem, which Israel does not officially count as settlements. But as peace negotiations have stepped up in recent months, so has the pace of settlement construction, infuriating Palestinian officials, and Washington has taken no punitive action against Israel for its settlement efforts.

Israeli officials say they have clear guidance from Bush administration officials to continue building settlements, as long as it meets carefully negotiated criteria, even though those understandings appear to contradict U.S. policy.

Many experts say new settlement construction undermines the political standing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas -- who is to meet with Bush today at the White House -- and adds to Palestinian cynicism about the peace process.

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What the Family Would Let You See, the Pentagon Obstructs

Lt. Col. Billy Hall, one of the most senior officers to be killed in the Iraq war, was laid to rest yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery. It's hard to escape the conclusion that the Pentagon doesn't want you to know that.

The family of 38-year-old Hall, who leaves behind two young daughters and two stepsons, gave their permission for the media to cover his Arlington burial -- a decision many grieving families make so that the nation will learn about their loved ones' sacrifice. But the military had other ideas, and they arranged the Marine's burial yesterday so that no sound, and few images, would make it into the public domain.

That's a shame, because Hall's story is a moving reminder that the war in Iraq, forgotten by much of the nation, remains real and present for some. Among those unlikely to forget the war: 6-year-old Gladys and 3-year-old Tatianna. The rest of the nation, if it remembers Hall at all, will remember him as the 4,011th American service member to die in Iraq, give or take, and the 419th to be buried at Arlington. Gladys and Tatianna will remember him as Dad.

The two girls were there in Section 60 yesterday beside grave 8,672 -- or at least it appeared that they were from a distance. Journalists were held 50 yards from the service, separated from the mourning party by six or seven rows of graves, and staring into the sun and penned in by a yellow rope. Photographers and reporters pleaded with Arlington officials.

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White House Budget Chief Sees GOP Role in Deficit!

White House budget chief Jim Nussle yesterday said Republicans were partly to blame for the growing budget deficit and deserved to lose control of Congress in 2006 because they did not act aggressively to cut spending when they were in the majority.

In a wide-ranging interview with editors and reporters of The Washington Times, the former Iowa congressman and 2006 gubernatorial candidate also said that the softening economy is hurting corporate tax revenues and overall federal receipts that will likely lead to a higher federal budget deficit.

"The Democrats did not so much win as we lost it. I mean we blew it, [House] Republicans in particular. Some people say we've lost our brand. We lost our way, and now we're paying the price for it," Mr. Nussle said.

"There were many reasons why the deficit went up. Part of it was the Republicans didn't do as good a job as they could have managing the spending side," he said. "Speaking for myself, I think we deserved to lose based on that. You spend a lifetime building up a reputation, and you can lose it overnight. We lost it overnight by the way we handled those things."

But the director of the Office of Management and Budget also delivered a stout defense of the unexpected economic, national security and natural disaster challenges that have faced President Bush throughout his two terms in office that Mr. Nussle said were a major contributing factor behind the meteoric growth in spending that for the first time has surpassed $3 trillion a year.

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Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says Secretary Rice "not telling truth" (Lying)

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of not telling the truth about warnings she said her department gave Carter not to speak to Hamas before a Middle East trip.

The State Department has said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, issued the warning before Carter, a veteran of Middle East diplomacy, went on his trip last week.

Rice said in Kuwait on Tuesday: "We counseled President Carter against going to the region and particularly against having contact with Hamas."

"President Carter has the greatest respect for ... Rice and believes her to be a truthful person. However, perhaps inadvertently, she is continuing to make a statement that is not true," a statement issued by the Carter center in Atlanta said on Wednesday.

"No one in the State Department or any other department of the U.S. government ever asked him (Carter) to refrain from his recent visit to the Middle East or even suggested that he not meet with Syrian President (Bashar) Assad or leaders of Hamas," it said.

It said Carter attempted to call Rice before making the trip and a deputy returned his call since Rice was in Europe.

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