Speculation grows in Jerusalem over Turkey prime minister’s trip to Cairo amid concerns it could deepen regional tension The Turkish prime minister is to visit Cairo on Monday amid concern in Israel that he may seek an alliance between the two countries with the aim of increasing the Jewish state’s isolation in the region. The visit by Recep Tayyip Erdogan – the first by a Turkish leader to Egypt for 15 years – comes against the backdrop of a spiralling diplomatic offensive against Israel by Ankara, which the US is seeking to contain. A separate crisis between Israel and Egypt after the killing of five Egyptian security officers last month appears to have been averted. But relations between the two neighbours remain delicate, a situation Erdogan may seek to exploit. Turkey and Egypt are expected to explore areas of co-operation, and Erdogan may offer the post-Mubarak government much-needed financial aid, which would inevitably secure him leverage. “Turkey may be ready to invest a lot of money and effort into building Egypt as a regional ally,” said Alon Liel, a former Israeli envoy to Ankara. “He may try to persuade them to downgrade relations with Israel.” According to Yossi Alpher, an Israeli analyst and co-editor of the BitterLemons website, Erdogan “is flexing Turkey’s muscles. He’s now trying to project Turkish influence into Egypt. There’s concern that he will offer financial aid to Egypt, which needs it desperately, and that will give him a degree of influence. There’s concern that Erdogan will hook up with the Egyptian Islamists, who are growing in influence. And there’s concern that he will persuade the Egyptians to allow him to visit Gaza, where he will proclaim himself its saviour. None of this is good from Israel’s perspective.” In Gaza, the Turkish prime minister would be assured of both a hero’s welcome and of incurring Israel’s wrath. However, Israel has not so far picked up indications that the Egyptians have agreed to Erdogan crossing their border into Gaza, according to an Israeli government source. The visit to Cairo follows a series of punitive measures taken by the Turkish government – including expelling the Israeli ambassador, suspending defence trade agreements and threatening to deploy Turkish gunboats to patrol the eastern Mediterranean – in the aftermath of Israel’s refusal to apologise for its deadly attack on a Gaza-bound flotilla last May. A UN report published a week ago concluded that Israel had used “excessive and unreasonable” force in stopping the Mavi Marmara, although it also said its naval blockade of Gaza was legal. Nine Turkish activists were killed on board the ship, for which Turkey demanded an apology and compensation paid to the men’s families. The US, concerned about the breach between the allies, has stepped in to try to contain the crisis. Dan Shapiro, US ambassador to Israel, said: “We are encouraging both countries to find a way to work together to overcome their differences and restore at least some of the friendship that they previously had.” Israel’s refusal to apologise for the deaths was in contrast to its swift statement of regret three weeks ago after the fatal shooting of Egyptian security personnel in the aftermath of a militant attack near the Egypt-Israel border in which eight Israelis were killed. “The mistakes that Israel is making are much more evident in the case of Turkey than in the case of Israel,” said Alpher. “Damage control was relatively more forthcoming with the apology to Egypt than in the case of Turkey, where we basically allowed ourselves to walk right into repeated traps that Erdogan has set for us.” The regret expressed to Egypt was not enough to prevent days of vociferous anti-Israel protests in Cairo. To Israel’s alarm, the post-Mubarak government made it clear it was listening to the mood on the street. Israel can ill afford to lose regional allies, especially in the runup to an expected vote in favour of recognising a Palestinian state at the UN this month. Turkey and Egypt are backing the Palestinian bid. As well as wide political ramifications, a breach with Turkey could have serious economic consequences, Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel, warned this week. Trade between the two countries is worth $3.5bn-$4bn a year. The breach “will affect tourism, trade, culture and sport” as well as diplomatic relations, said Liel. Israeli government ministers and officials have been issued clear instructions to refrain from comment in an attempt to de-escalate the crisis. However the Israeli paper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Friday that Avigdor Lieberman, the provocative rightwing foreign minister, was considering a series of measures against Turkey in retaliation for Ankara’s moves. According to Alpher, retaliatory steps would exacerbate the crisis. “We have a lot to lose not just economically but also regionally, to the extent that we get drawn deeper into a clash with Turkey,” he said. “We were foolish not to apologise [for the Mavi Marmara deaths]. We should still be trying to maintain a low profile and hope friends like the US can try to some extent mend fences here before things get worse.” Turkey Israel Egypt Gaza flotilla Gaza Recep Tayyip Erdogan Palestinian territories Middle East Africa Europe Harriet Sherwood guardian.co.uk
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Community leaders call for unity and peace at the funeral service of man whose fatal shooting by police sparked August’s riots Up to 1,000 mourners joined a cortège through the streets of Tottenham, north London, on Friday for the funeral of Mark Duggan, the man whose shooting by police sparked rioting and copycat disturbances in towns and cities across the country. They travelled by car and on foot from the home of Duggan’s parents to the Broadwater Farm estate where he grew up – stopping there for a short vigil and emotional church service. Then the extraordinary procession walked through the back streets for a graveside ceremony. A single voice sang I’ll Fly Away and white balloons were released into the air. Police mounted a “low-visibility” operation. There were uniformed officers helping with the traffic but thousands of others were held in contingency nearby. After weeks of speculation about Duggan and his character, and questions about the exact circumstances of his shooting, senior community figures joined the victim’s friends and relatives for what was portrayed by most as a rebuttal of the portrait drawn of him and of the community around Broadwater Farm. “We reject the stigma that has been placed on this family and this community,” Rev Nims Obunge told the congregation. “Let mothers not come and bury their children any more. Let fathers not come and weep over their children’s graves. We have been scarred, marginalised, stigmatised, but today we stand together. We say not any more. We shall stop this. We take the death of Mark to show that there is something wrong. We pray that his death will not be in vain, that we learn what we need to learn and that we have a future that is ours to hold on to.” Stafford Scott, a community leader, said the circumstances surrounding Duggan’s death had forced the community to unify. “We believe there is no justice, there is just us,” he said. “This is a community that is battle-weary. I have known four people in my life who have died in these circumstances. We will draw a sense of togetherness. If there is to be a memorial to Mark let it be that our young people come together and stick together.” The church service was held at the Pentecostal New Testament Church of God in Wood Green, a district also scarred by last month’s disturbances. Mourners heard a tribute from Duggan’s fiancee Semone Brown. He was, she said: “My first real love, we laughed together and cried together. We faced trials and tribulations together. We had our ups and our downs but I always loved him. He gave me four beautiful children.” There were emotional scenes as Duggan’s cousin Donna Martin began a eulogy. “I’m going to find this difficult,” she said. Mark would have said ‘Balance, balance,’ which means ‘Settle yourself’.” At that point she was overcome and seemed unable to continue. Sections of the congregation urged her on with Duggan’s own phrase, “balance, balance”. She said Duggan had a job at Stansted airport and recently submitted an application to become a fireman, “obviously thinking about how he could help others”. She said he had a strong, positive bond with local children. “He encouraged them to take part in lots of activities and would tell them were they went wrong and how to put it right next time. He was just a big kid himself.” Duggan, she said “was always seen as a peacemaker”. Her cousin had many enthusiasms, she said. “He enjoyed partying, dressed up to the nines. He loved his bling and ting. What a smile he had. It used to take over the whole of his face.” Martin said Duggan was en route in a cab to see his children and spoke to his fiancee at 4.30pm. He died less than two hours later. He was “asking if his dinner was ready. That was the last time he spoke to her.” The day began with friends and relatives assembling at the family home. They were met by Bishop Kwaku Frimpong-Manson, who performed the internment service. Among the relatives was his aunt Carole Duggan. “I was the first person to see him come into this world. Mark would have known that he isn’t Al Capone. He is just an average guy. He wouldn’t have tried to fire on police,” she said. Bishop Frimpong-Mason said he knew Mark from childhood. “He was like my son and I was angry when I read what was being said about him, because it was just wrong. I know some youths get in trouble. No one is perfect. But he was just a normal guy. I came to see the family and they said: ‘No one is talking to us about what happened to Mark’. Who would be happy to lose a child and find that no one is talking to you?” he said. As mourners prepared to set off from the house, the bishop called them to stand on the pavement beside the wooden carriage, which was drawn by four white horses with plumes. Around 60 did so. “We come to stretch our hands towards the casket and thank God for Mark’s life as he begins his heavenly journey.” He urged the mourners to stretch their arms towards the carriage as he prayed. Duggan’s mother Pam wept, supported by a relative. The cortège swelled at Broadwater Farm as people emerged from homes and offices. The horse-drawn carriage stopped near the block Duggan lived in as a child. Again mourners were implored to stretch their hands towards it. A few stepped forward to tap on the carriage. One hit the hardest. “He was a loveable rogue but we loved him,” he said. Among the mourners were the relatives of Cynthia Jarrett, whose death sparked the Broadwater Farm disturbances in 1985, Colin Roach, who died in Stoke Newington police station, north London, and Sean Rigg, who died while in the custody of police in Brixton, south London. Another there to “show solidarity” was Winston Silcott, who was wrongly imprisoned for the murder of PC Keith Blakelock during the 1985 riots. The IPCC is still investigating the 12
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Former US vice-president says Bin Laden would not have been found without information gathered by waterboarding Dick Cheney, the former US vice-president, has claimed Osama Bin Laden would not have been tracked down and killed if it had not been for information gathered by torturing captured al-Qaida leaders. In a robust defence of what he called “enhanced interrogation”, Cheney said it produced “phenomenal” results and dismissed the Obama administration’s investigations of its legality as “objectionable” and a “terrible precedent”. Speaking ahead of ceremonies to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the former vice-president rejected accusations that the use of torture undermined the moral authority of the US overseas. “The notion that somehow the United States was wildly torturing anybody is not true,” he said. “One of the most controversial techniques is waterboarding … Three people were waterboarded. Not dozens, not hundreds. Three. And the one who was subjected the most often to that was Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and it produced phenomenal results for us.” Khaled Sheikh Mohammed is awaiting trial before a US tribunal accused of being the architect of the 9/11 attacks. But while Cheney, who was appearing at a question and answer session at the conservative American Enterprise Institute to promote his new memoir, In My Time, insisted only a small number of men were subjected to “enhanced interrogation” he made no mention of the rendition programme in which the US abducted individuals and handed them over to third countries for questioning under torture. Cheney said that waterboarding Mohammed “helped produce the intelligence that allowed us to get Osama bin Laden”. “It was out of the enhanced interrogation techniques that some of the leads came that ultimately produced the result when President Obama was able to send in Seal Team 6 to kill Bin Laden,” he said. “They’ve been successful in part because of the capabilities we left them with, the intelligence we left them with, because of what we learned from men like Khaled Sheikh Mohammed back when he was subjected. I think it’s a mistake not to have an enhanced interrogation programme available now. I don’t know what they would do today if they captured the equivalent of Khaled Sheikh Mohammed.” Obama administration officials and Dianne Feinstein, head of the Senate intelligence committee, have denied Bin Laden was tracked down using information gained from waterboarding of Mohammed. Earlier this week, Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former head of Britain’s domestic intelligence service, MI5, repudiated the use of waterboarding as torture and illegal even if, she said, it did produce valuable intelligence. “It is a sadness and worse that the previous government of our great ally, the United States, chose to waterboard some detainees. The argument that life-saving intelligence was thereby obtained, and I accept that it was, still does not justify it,” she said. “Torture should be utterly rejected even when it may offer the prospect of saving lives”. Manningham-Buller said that not only are there legal and moral issues but that torture encouraged radicalisation and disenchantment. In defence of the controversial methods, Cheney said they had previously been used on American military personnel and therefore could not be that bad. “All of them had been used in training for a lot of our own specialists in the military area. So there wasn’t any technique that was used on any al-Qaida individual that hadn’t been used on our own troops first,” he said. The former vice-president took a swipe at former administration officials who have since sought to distance themselves from the decision to use waterboarding. Colin Powell, the secretary of state at the time, has said there was no meeting at which the use of such methods was officially endorsed. “The president signed up to it as did the other members of the national security council. Some of my colleagues may have forgotten that but in fact everybody who was a member of the national security council was informed about the essence of the programme and signed up to it,” he said. Cheney said justice department officials had been “severely harassed” for offering legal opinions that waterboarding and other tortures did not breach the Geneva Conventions and were legal. “One of the things I’ve found most objectionable with respect to the Obama administration when they came in was the initial decision by the president and attorney general that they were going to investigate and prosecute the people in the intelligence community who had carried out this interrogation programme at our direction. I thought that was a terrible precedent to set,” he said. The investigation went ahead but no prosecutions resulted. Dick Cheney al-Qaida United States Obama administration Global terrorism Chris McGreal guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …CBS and NBC Cheer Obama’s ‘Extraordinarily Bold’ Speech, ‘Robust Defense of Government’
September 9, 2011 No Comment
Throughout coverage of President Obama's address to Congress Thursday night, anchors and correspondents on both CBS and NBC gave fawning reviews of the new jobs plan, in some cases, even before the speech began. In contrast, ABC took a much more skeptical tone, with a focus on the President's falling poll numbers.
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Zimbabwe’s top Anglican bishop says Bishop Nolbert Kunonga has refused to hand back buildings taken by force with help of police Zimbabwe’s top Anglican bishop has said that a breakaway church leader close to the country’s president is intensifying a campaign to seize church properties that include missions, schools and priests’ homes. Bishop Chad Gandiya, leader of the mainstream Anglican group, said a new wave of evictions has even targeted an orphanage. Breakaway Bishop Nolbert Kunonga claims to lead Zimbabwe’s Anglicans and has already refused to hand back the Harare Cathedral, offices, buildings, church bank accounts and vehicles he seized with the protection of police loyal to President Robert Mugabe. In 2007, Kunonga was excommunicated by the main Anglican Province of Central Africa and the worldwide head of the church after he was accused of inciting violence in sermons supporting Mugabe’s party. The schism in the Zimbabwe’s Anglican community has left mainstream Anglicans without places of worship and they have experienced intimidation and alleged threats of violence. Gandiya told the Associated Press that unknown intruders broke into his home on Thursday. He said he was suspicious of their motives after they stole only mobile phones and computers containing diocese files. Prior to the break-in, Gandiya had sought legal action against the new evictions and property seizures. “The coincidence is too much,” he said. On Tuesday, police arrested an Anglican priest loyal to the mainstream group in Harare for alleged theft of church property. The Rev Julius Zimbudzana was held in police cells for 48 hours then released without charge because of lack of evidence. Court officials in Murewa on Tuesday served eviction orders to St. John’s mission and the Shearly Cripps orphanage, home to more than 100 children and named after its founder, an Anglo-American missionary who died in 1952, lawyers for Gandiya said. Murewa is about 60 miles east of Harare. “We are refusing to vacate. We have to find alternative accommodation for the nuns and teachers. And who will look after the children? Where will they go?” Gandiya said. He said attempts were also being made to order priests and staff to leave another mission and school near Masvingo in southern Zimbabwe and there were fears the breakaway faction would not provide qualified replacements. Gandiya’s attorneys said the evictions follow a flawed ruling last month by Zimbabwe’s supreme court that allowed Kunonga to retain control of Anglican properties until a court appeal by the Gandiya-led church is resolved. That ruling was made by chief justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, who, like Kunonga, is an open supporter of Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party. Kunonga insists he broke away from the mainstream Anglicans after the church in Britain recognised gay marriage and the rights of same sex partners. Mugabe is a bitter critic of homosexuality. Witnesses in the western Harare township of Mbare said their Anglican priest was evicted last month from his rectory, but travels back from a village outside the city to meet congregants on Sundays. Other Anglicans across the city use public halls and some Roman Catholic buildings for their activities. Pro-Gandiya worshippers barred by police and Kunonga loyalists from the Harare Cathedral and a main Anglican church in the upmarket suburb of Borrowdale also hold services in private homes and gardens. “This is what we are dealing with every day. Our congregations get discouraged but we must remain resolute. As always, Kunonga’s people can do what they want without restraint,” Gandiya said. The worldwide head of the church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, wants to meet Mugabe in October to discuss the tensions. Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe Africa Anglicanism Religion Christianity guardian.co.uk
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The right-wing Village has been up in arms over Hoffa’s recent statements because they are pros when it comes to playing the victim card. They are trying to find anything which gives them the opportunity to try and white wash the entire tea party hate speech. And suddenly being a kindergarten teacher is a useless job. Coulter: Hoffa Represents “Useless” Workers Like “Kindergarten Teachers” Instead Of “Men Who Have Actual Jobs” I don’t write much about her anymore almost the entire House of Representatives are all versions of Coulter now. She’s old news, a has been, passe, out dated, washed up. Please check out your thesaurus to add to the list. But she still can be as vile an anyone on the planet. Remember when she called all New Yorkers “cowards” back on 08/24/2005 . Click here to view this media On H&C tonight, Alan Colmes asked Coulter to explain a statement she made in her recent column calling New Yorkers ‘cowards.’ via column: (…and it’s far preferable to fight them in the streets of Baghdad than in the streets of New York (where the residents would immediately surrender ) Colmes: You don’t feel that New Yorkers are cowards? (pause) Coulter: ahhh…I think they would immediately surrender… With the tenth year anniversary of the attacks on 9/11 coming upon us, I imagine Ann will stay out of the Big Apple. New Yorkers have long memories . Ann Coulter questions the courage of New Yorkers in the face of terrorism. She says of terrorists, “it’s far preferable to fight them in the streets of Baghdad than in the streets of New York (where the residents would immediately surrender).” That’s what Ann Coulter thinks of the cops and firemen of New York City, and of the family members of those lost on 9/11, and of the everyday people who refused to let the attacks keep them from going on with their lives. Never mind the courage and character New Yorkers have demonstrated in the face of terror. People in the city tend to vote for people other than the ones Coulter supports, so she calls them cowards. I usually ignore her. Today I read her because Yes Weekly picked up her column and I didn’t have anything else to read at lunch. Nice move, Yes Weekly. Maybe next time I’ll just leave it in the rack.
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• Hit F5 for the latest or select the auto-refresh button below • And email your thoughts to rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk 5.32pm “I hate all this nonsense about Murray not having the winning mentality (invariably said by journalists or pub pundits who – like me – have won nothing of significance in their lives),” says Jonathan Wood. “Absolutely he has, and he’s comfortably the fourth best player in the world – which is more than any British footballer or rubgy player can claim to be. And Darren Holliday might be interested to know that on US TV last night, that former choker John McEnroe (who is also a huge Murray fan, of course) said he believes, with the current top four, this is the golden age for men’s tennis.” 5.30pm Here come the players. It’s a gorgeous day in New York, although the court is barely half full at the moment. 5.13pm No sign of the players. Here’s Darren Holliday. “You wrote: ‘ As my colleague Jacob Steinberg has noted, Murray has the misfortune to be playing in an age when excellence is not enough. You have to be perfect ,’” says Darren. “But as a tennis fan I can tell you that this era of Federer/Nadal/Djokovic is no more special than any other era. Back in Henman’s time the excuse was that he was unfortunate to be playing at the same time as Sampras/Agassi. Go back a bit earlier and people will tell you the Becker/Edberg/Lendl was the greatest of eras. Go back a few more years we had the Borg/McEnroe/Connors era. Murray has no excuse other than that he is not good enough to win a Slam and would not have been good enough in earlier times either. As you know being a Man Utd fan, being champion isn’t just about technical ability, it’s a state of mind. This Murray lacks most of all and it has nothing to do with this era of tennis being particularly special.” Look, as will soon become apparent, I have no idea what I’m talking about. But wasn’t the spread of grand slams much greater in those previous eras? Isn’t Del Potro the only other man to win one in the last five or six years? I do share the view that Murray will never win a slam, although I don’t entirely agree with your reasoning. Play will start just after 5pm . When I say ‘play’, I mean ‘the match’. I’m not from round these tennis parts, and I’m not really used to the terminology, so please forgive me if I confuse a backhand with a hook shot and a forehand with a DDT. Preamble Who’d be Andy Murray, eh? Anyone with a brain, obviously. What’s not to love? He has an admirable temper on him and doesn’t suffer Englishmen gladly. He’s also talented, smart, humble, funny and self-deprecating – genuinely so, rather than those execrable phonies all over Twitter and society who have swallowed their Peep Show boxset. But Murray is in a pretty unenviable position when it comes to grand slams. If he loses to one of the top three, he’s failed; if he loses to someone outside the top three, he’s really failed. I suppose he could win the darn thing , but you try beating two of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the space of 72 hours. Or even taking a set off one of them. As my colleague Jacob Steinberg has noted, Murray has the misfortune to be playing in an age when excellence is not enough. You have to be perfect. If Murray beats the dangerous John Isner today, he will meet Rafael Nadal or Andy Roddick in the last four. He will also have reached the semi-finals of the four grand slams for the first time in a calendar year, a feat that has only ever been achieved by six men. Yet nobody will care about that if the semis are as far as he goes. US Open 2011 US Open tennis Tennis Andy Murray Rob Smyth guardian.co.uk
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Lydia Besong asylum claim rejected before raid, campaigners including Juliet Stevenson claim in criticism of UK Border Agency The forced deportation of a Cameroonian playwright and her husband, scheduled for Saturday, is “disturbing, shocking and unjust”, the actor Juliet Stephenson said yesterday. The actor joined campaigners including writers Joan Bakewell and Andrea Levy in condemning the UK Border Agency , which they say has disregarded its own procedures . Lydia Besong – who has written three plays since coming to the UK in 2006 – was not in her Manchester house when it was raided at dawn on Monday this week, but her husband Bernard Batey was taken by UKBA officers and has since been detained at the Colnbrook Removal Centre , near Heathrow airport. Besong has gone into hiding, with the couple both scheduled to take a flight to Cameroon at 8pm on Saturday. The couple had filed a fresh, joint asylum claim with new evidence given to UKBA in July but were not told it had been rejected before their house was raided. Documents from UKBA, that were subsequently faxed to the couples’ lawyer, reveal that the decision to refuse further submissions was taken on 17 August. The couple have also been supported by Ali Smith, Sarah Waters, Lisa Appignanesi, Linda Grant and writers’ group English Pen Stephenson, who hosted the first production of Besong’s play How I Became An Asylum Seeker , said the playwright was a “remarkable” woman. “It is just appalling. Lydia Besong is an incredibly courageous woman who has been imprisoned and raped in her own country and then has put her head above the parapet to talk about her experience and write her plays. To snatch her without giving her to prepare a defence is legally indefensible and humanly abusive and unjust,” she said. Broadcaster and member of House of Lords Lady Bakewell said: “Officers arriving at 7am does smack of bullying, and I don’t like that.” In a letter to immigration minister Damian Green urging him to consider their case she wrote: “As concerns about differing loyalties in Libya make the headlines, protesters such as Lydia and Besong from Cameroon need to be heard. Perhaps in years to come they may be leaders of some Cameroon ‘spring’ and in a position to judge how they were treated by Her Majesty’s government.” The couple say they were imprisoned and tortured in Cameroon as punishment for their involvement with the SBNC, a pressure group which campaigns for independence for southern Cameroon. While in prison, Besong was raped by a prison guard, she said. The pair believe their lives would be in danger if they returned to Cameroon, especially after Besong’s play garnered negative media coverage in their home country. Kath Grant of Manchester-based human rights organisation Rapar said the move contravened UKBA own procedures. “We are shocked at the behaviour of the UKBA. They have known about this decision for almost a month but have failed to inform Lydia and Bernard, or their lawyer.” An Amnesty International report in May confirmed that the regime of President Paul Biya continues to persecute the SCNC. “Lydia and Bernard will be in grave danger if they are returned to Cameroon,” said Grant. A spokesman from UKBA said the couple had been in 2006 and had no legal basis to remain in the country. “Decisions not to inform applicants of the outcome of their representations in advance will be taken where we believe individuals may deliberately seek to frustrate or delay the removal process,” he said. Speaking from an undisclosed location Lydia Besong said she feared for her life and that of her husband. “We are members of the SCNC in Cameroon, we have been targeted and put in detention. When the UKBA came for us on Monday it was like when [the government] came for us in Cameroon. I thought we would be safe in the UK, I did not think we would be put in a situation where I am not safe to go home.” The English literature graduate, who was a teacher in Cameroon, said writing plays in the UK had been a positive experience for her, but had put her in further danger. “Many people have opinions about asylum seekers and I hope my play helped them see that we are people and give them the truth. If I get sent back to Cameroon I will not be able to write any longer, I will be persecuted.” Cameroon Africa Theatre Immigration and asylum Alexandra Topping guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Another Odd Bachmann Rebuttal: ‘I’ve Been Part of the Real World Throughout My Life’
September 9, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Speaking to reporters at a sparsely attended press conference Thursday, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann delivered a response to President Barack Obama’s jobs speech. “Even if the President’s plan passes, we already know it will fail,” she said, offering her own nine-point plan . During questions, Bachmann told reporters that her response to the president was not “campaign related.” “This is the president who called 535 members of Congress to hear what I believe was nothing more than political speech,” she remarked. “It’s an unfortunate plan the president has put forward because it is a plan in all likelihood, that will fail.” “It is so misguided of the President to just put forward a retread of everything he has put forward before that has failed,” Bachmann asserted. “This is clearly the President not listening to the American people.” “You don’t create jobs until you grow the economy. That’s how it works in the real world. I’ve been a part of the real world for all throughout my life.” The Congresswoman explained that she had not been able to attend the President’s speech in person because of bad road conditions. “I listened to it on the radio coming in and then I caught the tail end of it in my office.”
Continue reading …New 9/11 Audio Shows Military Ignored Cheney’s Orders as Outside Chain of Command
September 9, 2011 No CommentThose air-traffic control 9/11 tapes are just riveting. While I don’t know that we’ll ever know everything that happened on that chaotic day, it’s progress that pieces of the real story are finally coming out: Newly published audio this week reveals that Vice President Dick Cheney’s infamous Sept. 11, 2001 order to shoot down rogue civilian aircraft was ignored by military officials, who instead ordered pilots to only identify suspect aircraft. That revelation is one of many in newly released audio recordings compiled by investigators for the 9/11 Commission, published this week by The Rutgers Law Review . Featuring voices from employees at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and American Airlines, the newly released multimedia provides a glimpse at the chaos that emerged as the attack progressed. Most striking of all is the revelation that an order by Vice President Dick Cheney was ignored by the military, which saw his order to shoot down aircraft as outside the chain of command . Instead of acknowledging the order to shoot down civilian aircraft and carrying it out, NORAD ordered fighters to confirm aircraft tail numbers first and report back for further instructions. Cheney’s order was given at “about 10:15″ a.m., according to the former VP’s memoirs, but the 9/11 Commission Report shows United Flight 93 going down at 10:06 a.m. Had the military followed Cheney’s order, civilian aircraft scrambling to get out of the sky could have been shot down, exponentially amplifying the day’s tragedy. Far from sending fighters to chase after the hijacked aircraft, as Bush administration officials have repeatedly said they did, the new audio tapes paint a picture of bedlam and unpreparedness. The situation was so chaotic, military officials received the exact location of one of the aircraft that hit the World Trade Center towers just nine minutes before impact. It even took a military official calling the FAA some 30 minutes after American Airlines Flight 77 went off course before the nation’s defense apparatus began scrambling. Moments later the jet is said to have slammed into the Pentagon. UPDATE : John Amato: In my earlier piece called Dick Cheney Claims He — Not Bush — Was The Decider , Cheney did not have the authority to order the military to shoot down any planes and they correctly ignored him because they do understand something called the chain of command. His follies could have led to many more Americans being hurt or killed. George Bush was alive and well at the time of the attacks and he has to be the one commanding the military and not Vice President Cheney, even if he believed he was the real Decider. Yet he bloviated in his new book how his life experiences had prepared him to take charge of the response to the 9/11 attacks. Cheney was asked by Jamie Gangel of ABC News if Bush would be upset by these reveals, but replied with a nonchalant “no”. But just think about what he is admitting to: as the 9/11 attacks were happening, Cheney has no problem revealing in his book that he was running the government response, completely against protocol. The book opens with an account of Mr. Cheney’s experiences during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when he essentially commanded the government’s response from a bunker beneath the White House while Mr. Bush — who was away from Washington and hampered by communications breakdowns — played a peripheral role. But Mr. Cheney wrote that he did not want to make any formal statement to the nation that day. “My past government experience,” he wrote, “had prepared me to manage the crisis during those first few hours on 9/11, but I knew that if I went out and spoke to the press, it would undermine the president, and that would be bad for him and for the country. “We were at war. Our commander in chief needed to be seen as in charge, strong, and resolute — as George W. Bush was.” Bush should have been in control that tragic day, not Cheney, since he was the elected president and was not incapacitated from doing his duties. His breaking of long standing US protocol had previously been reported, but this audio confirms the truth of that horrific situation. Perhaps in his haste to act — President Bush was in Florida at the time — Cheney might have shortcut White House protocol, the report said. The normal chain of command for military “engage” orders goes from the president to the Secretary of Defense, and not through the Vice President, it said. Although Cheney said he conferred with the president before giving the order, the commission staff could not confirm that a phone call took place in that time frame. Several minutes after giving the order, Cheney informed Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that he had done so. “So we’ve got a couple of aircraft up there that have those instructions at the present time?” Rumsfeld asked. “That is correct,” Cheney replied. “And it’s my understanding they’ve already taken a couple of aircraft out.” That understanding turned out to be mistaken. Perhaps in his haste to act — President Bush was in Florida at the time — Cheney might have shortcut White House protocol, the report said. The normal chain of command for military “engage” orders goes from the president to the Secretary of Defense, and not through the Vice President, it said. Although Cheney said he conferred with the president before giving the order, the commission staff could not confirm that a phone call took place in that time frame. Several minutes after giving the order, Cheney informed Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that he had done so. “So we’ve got a couple of aircraft up there that have those instructions at the present time?” Rumsfeld asked. “That is correct,” Cheney replied. “And it’s my understanding they’ve already taken a couple of aircraft out.” That understanding turned out to be mistaken. Why hasn’t any reporters asked President Bush why he was unable to communicate with the military at such a crucial time in our history, but could apparently talk to Cheney? And then they could ask Cheney why he thought he was above the law, yet again?
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