White House: “Setting the Record Straight”

In yet another truth-shattering address to reporters, Scott McClellan said that Sen. Joseph Biden’s (D-DE) plan to withdraw troops, published in Saturday’s Washington Post, mirrors a plan that the White House has established.

Today’s White House press is defensively headlined “Setting the Record Straight”.

Neither our troops nor Congress, are crying for accountability now; you insist on “passing the buck,” but dare you LISTEN?

Saddam Hussein will be on trial this week, and HIS men have plenty of cash, weapons, and a strong will to kill. That’s what Iraqi national security advisor Mowaffaq al-Rubaie told Reuters today.

Eight Sunnis were arrested Sunday – by IRAQI police, according to AP, before they were able to assassinate the presiding judge in the Hussein case. Best take all that surveillance of your al-Qaeda has beens now, lets “set the record straight” – this war is against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

“Don’t Bomb Us!” – Al Jazeera Blog

While browsing the impressive, award-winning Global Voices blog, I came across this brand new blog launched this week by three Al-Jazeera staffers. Don’t Bomb Us is definitely worth following.

Tariq Ayoub, al Jazeera’s Baghdad correspondent, was killed by a U.S. airstrike in April 2003. On Thursday, staffers and supporters of Al Jazeera held photos of Ayoub outside the network’s Doha, Qatar headquarters in protest of the memo in which President Bush reportedly suggested bombing Al Jazeera during a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, according to the London Times. Ayoub’s widow is considering suing the U.S.

The Guardian has a background article on the Bush/Blair meetings that are the source of the memo in question.

UPDATE: British MP and editor of the UK Spectator Boris Johnson is prepared to go to jail for the opportunity to print the four page Bush-Blair memo. Other journalists are set to follow his lead. The world was prepared to slough aside the Mirror’s claims in regards to the memo’s contents until it became clear that the UK has taken extreme measures to protect against the publishing of its contents, threatening jail…. is it only a matter of time?

NYT: Court charged Padilla to avoid hearing testimony of tortured operatives

That’s not exactly how the headline reads in the Nov 24 New York Times, but its all spelled out right here in the lede:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 – The Bush administration decided to charge Jose Padilla with less serious crimes because it was unwilling to allow testimony from two senior members of Al Qaeda who had been subjected to harsh questioning, current and former government officials said Wednesday. — By DOUGLAS JEHL and ERIC LICHTBLAU

The two al-Qaeda leader’s being referenced are Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM) and Abu Zubaydah, who remain in secret prisons and furthermore, the validity of the information and treatment they received has been scrutinized, most notably in the CIA report titled “Khalid Shaykh Mohammed’s
Threat Reporting?Precious Truths Surrounded by a Bodyguard of Lies.” (.pdf).

read today’s NYTimes article.

Move over Jose, make room for Tom and his boys

Just in time to appease the Supreme Court, Jose Padilla, yes, the American man who has been imprisoned for 3 and a half years awaiting charges related to his alleged involvement with al-Qaeda, was charged today in federal court.

Padilla was not indicted for intent to run around naked, dirty and/or bombing, stealing from natives, or even having his friends loot the reservation for him. No, keep this guy locked up, because he’s looking to “murder, kidnap and maim” some peace-loving creatures in a land far, far away, according to Atty. General Alberto Gonzales’ charges.

Very interesting charges coming from one Hizzoner Gonzales, who last mentioned maiming people in foreign lands in the infamous “torture memo.” (at least that’s what Google knows him for).

If convicted, Padilla could face life in prison, which surely is the best only thing he’s heard in years!

Tim Grieve covers the bait-and-switcharoo at Salon:

Remember how Jose Padilla was supposed to have been plotting to build and detonate a “dirty bomb” in the United States? Then remember how he was supposed to have been training to use natural gas to blow up apartment buildings in the United States?

Never mind.

Now lets put the REAL CRIMINALS in the can.