Day: February 24, 2006

China Frees Man Jailed During 1989 Protest
BEIJING – A man who was jailed for throwing paint on Mao Zedong’s portrait in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square during pro-democracy protests in 1989 has been released after nearly 17 years in prison, his family said Thursday. We’ll wager he won’t do that again.

London Mayor Suspended Over Nazi Remark
LONDON – Mayor Ken Livingstone was suspended from office for four weeks on Friday for bringing his office into disrepute by comparing a Jewish reporter to a Nazi concentration camp guard. “He didn’t look Jewish,” explained Livingstone.

Hamas’ Moscow Trip Angers Israel
JERUSALEM – A top-level Hamas delegation will travel to Moscow next week for meetings with Russian officials, a Hamas official said Friday, part of the militant group’s efforts to gain international legitimacy after sweeping a Palestinian parliamentary election. More evidence these guys should not be allowed to run a country — they think hangin’ with Putin will boost their legitimacy.

Police Sketch Suspect in Big Heist
TONBRIDGE, England – One of Britain’s biggest and most audacious robberies was executed with military-style precision: One gang abducted the cash depot manager’s family while another tied up guards and made off with up to $87 million. Police expect a “Reservoir Dogs” resolution to the matter when one set of robbers realizes they only got the cash depot manager’s family while the other guys got away with all that dough.

Fear factor: It seems that the Bush adminstration’s constant repetition of the “terrer” mantra appears to be working, according to a recent Harris poll:

About two-thirds of respondents said they thought it was likely there would be a terrorist attack in the next year, an increase of more than 10 points since a June 2005 poll.

A majority of respondents also said U.S. law enforcement is “using its expanded surveillance powers in a proper way” to combat terrorism. Four in 10 said it is not, 6 points higher than last year’s measure. Majorities also said they favored most of the security proposals mentioned in the poll, including “expanded camera surveillance on streets and in public places” and “law enforcement monitoring of Internet discussions in chat rooms and other forums.” The only one of the seven that most did not support was “expanded government monitoring of cell phones and email, to intercept communications.”

But most also said that President Bush is at least sometimes justified in wiretapping domestic citizens if they are terrorism suspects, even without court orders. Fifty-three percent said they were familiar with the National Security Agency program.

The Age:

Dozens of charred, smouldering bodies littered the streets of this bustling commercial centre after three days of rioting in which Christian mobs wielding machetes and clubs set upon their Muslim neighbours.

Rioters have killed scores of people here, after burning their homes, businesses and mosques in the worst violence yet linked to the caricatures of the prophet Muhammad first published in a Danish newspaper.

The violence erupted after similar attacks on Christians in northern Nigeria last week by Muslims.

At least 33 bodies were still visible on the streets of Onitsha on Thursday and a local organisation reported that it had already picked up 80 others.

Sectarian violence has pushed the total death toll in the last week well beyond 100, making Nigeria the hardest-hit country so far in the cartoon controversy.

The main thoroughfare leading into the city across the Niger River was covered in bodies of Muslim Hausas who had tried to flee rampaging bands of youths, witnesses said. Many appeared to have been beaten to death; most had been doused with petrol and burned.

Looters combed through the destroyed shops and homes of Muslims.

Murray Waas reports Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, sent a letter to John Negroponte, the head of the new National Intelligence agency, complaining about leaks coming from top officials in the Bush Administration, including providing classified information to Bob Woodward:

In his 2002 book Bush at War, Bob Woodward described almost unfettered access to classified material of the most sensitive nature. According to his account, he was provided information related to sources and methods, extremely sensitive covert actions, and foreign intelligence liaison relationships. If it no wonder, as Director Goss wrote, “because of the number of recent news reports discussing our relationships with other intelligence services, some of these partners have even informed the C.I.A. that they are reconsidering their participation of some of our most important antiterrorism ventures.”

I wrote both former Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) George Tenet and Acting DCI John McLaughlin seeking to determine what steps were being taken to address the appalling disclosures contained in Bush at War. The only response I received was to indicate that the leaks had been authorized by the Administration. The CIA has still not responded to a follow-up letter I sent a year and half ago on September 1, 2004, trying to pin down which officials were authorized to meet with Mr. Woodward and by whom, and what intelligence information was conveyed during these authorized exchanges.