Life in OUR America, Volume 5, the Livyjr Files Options

[Livyjr]

And if anyone out there is interested in purchasing the social security number of one of George W. Bush's generals ......

Here's a dude who just might have what the doctor ordered ....

And we are supposed to believe that this BUSHCO REPUBLICAN CONSERVATIVE CROWD can protect OUR NATIONAL SECURITY?

"Afghan Shops Searched for Stolen Files"

By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press Writer

28 minutes ago

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - A shopkeeper outside the U.S.-led coalition headquarters in Afghanistan was selling computer memory drives Wednesday containing seemingly sensitive military data stolen from inside the base — including the Social Security numbers of four American generals.

This shopkeeper was apparently not the only merchant in local bazaars trying to get some cash in exchange for hardware and software containing such files.

The surfacing of the stolen computer devices has sparked an urgent American military probe for the source of the embarrassing security breach, which has led to disks with the personal letters and biographies of soldiers and lists of troops who completed nuclear, chemical and biological warfare training going on sale for $20 to $50.

Five military investigators, surrounded by heavily armed plainclothes U.S. soldiers, searched many of the two-dozen rundown shops outside the sprawling base.

Asked if any disks had been found, one soldier, who declined to give his name, said:

"We are looking."

"That's all I can say."

The shopkeeper, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears he may be arrested, said he was not interested in the data stored on the memory sticks and was selling them for the value of the hardware.

"They were all stolen from offices inside the base by the Afghans working there," he said.

"I get them all the time."

About 2,000 Afghans are employed as cleaners, office staff and laborers at the Bagram base.

Though they are searched coming in and out of the base, the flash drives are the size of a finger and can easily be concealed on a body.

The shopkeeper showed an Associated Press reporter a bag of about 15 and allowed them to be reviewed on a laptop computer.

Only four contained data.

The rest did not work or were blank.

News of the breach was first reported by the Los Angeles Times on Monday.

The paper said its reporter saw files containing classified military assessments of enemy targets, names of corrupt Afghan officials and descriptions of American defenses.

U.S. military spokesman Lt. Mike Cody said the military "has ordered an investigation into allegations that sensitive military items are being sold in local bazaars.

"Coalition officials regularly survey bazaars across Afghanistan for the presence of contraband materials, but thus far have not uncovered sensitive or classified items," he said.

U.S. commander Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry has ordered a review of policies and procedures relating to the accountability of computer hardware and software, Cody said.

The shops around Bagram sprung up when U.S. forces took over the base in 2001 after ousting the Taliban for harboring al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

They sell a range of military equipment, much of which has been stolen from the base, according to several shopkeepers — all of whom declined to give their names for fear of repercussions.

One shopkeeper wanted $20 for a used U.S. soldier's uniform and said he could get more.

Other items apparently were stolen from a duty-free store on the base, including range-finding binoculars and handheld global positioning systems — items that could be useful to Taliban rebels, who have stepped up their insurgency in the past year.

The computer files seen by the AP ranged from the very personal, such as a soldier's letter to the wife of a dead comrade, to confidential personnel information.

Social Security numbers were listed next to the names of hundreds of soldiers, including Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, who left Afghanistan in February after serving for a year as the coalition's operational commander.

One document listed the names of 20 members of a platoon who had undergone "the required Nuclear Biological Chemical (NBC) training and chamber exercise."

It did not elaborate.

Another listed the names of 16 soldiers and the types of weapons they had been trained on.

There were biographies of six soldiers, including a sergeant who had served in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two of the drives contained several photographs, one showing a group of about 40 soldiers posing at a base, while others had troops inside a helicopter.

A 502-page manual on how to operate a CH-47 Chinook chopper, a mainstay of the 18,000 U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan, was also there, including photos and diagrams.

Many of the other goods on sale in the stores still had stickers indicating the price at the military store.

The Afghan shops were selling them for about 25 percent less.

In one store, two Afghans with long flowing black beards were haggling over the price of compasses.

Nearby, two young boys were trying to sell cartons of fresh yogurt.

One, who gave his name as Nazar, said a friend had stolen them from the military mess hall.

[Livyjr]

And from Afghanistan .....

Where the social security numbers of George W. Bush's TOP GENERALS are for sale .....

We wing our way back to the wasteland George W. Bush is busily creating over there in IRAQINAM .....

To see what has transpired .....

With al-Jaafari .....

Who just might end up being ....

The next Ngo Dinh Diem .....

Of the alleged civilized world ....

That George W. Bush purports to be the HEAD of .....

As the LEADER of the alleged FREE WORLD .....

And so ....

What it looks like to date in this on-going saga .....

Of ineptness .....

And incompetence ....

On a scale not seen on this earth of OURS .....

For quite some years now ....

Is that before the ink on the much-touted IRAQINAMI Constitution is even dry ....

The BUSHCOS and their BRITISH LAPDOGS ......

Are already tossing it right out the window .....

Just as the BUSHCOS have tossed OUR OWN right out the window as well ....

And so ....

With CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT as the issue .....

The IRAQINAMIS logically ask .....

"Shiites ask: Why convene Iraq parliament?"

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press
Last updated: 9:15 a.m., Thursday, April 13, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A top Shiite lawmaker said Thursday that names of selections for top posts in the new Iraqi government must be agreed upon before parliament can convene next week, casting doubt on whether the legislature will meet as announced.

The next session was called for Monday to push past a long-standing political stalemate over who should be the country's next prime minister.

But members of the dominant Shiite alliance questioned the purpose of holding the meeting without first designating all top posts.

"If we don't agree on the key posts, then why should we go to parliament?" Shiite lawmaker Khudayer al-Khuzai asked Thursday.

The move indicated that the Shiites don't want to be steamrolled into an assembly meeting until they've internally resolved the issue of the prime minister nomination.

The alliance has so far stood behind its candidate, current Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, but cracks in support have begun to show.

Sunnis and Kurds have refused to accept the nominee.

Pressure was on the Shiites to pick a new candidate ahead of next week's assembly meeting, called by acting parliament speaker Adnan Pachachi, a Sunni Arab, on Wednesday to break the deadlock.

Demanding that all the top government positions be determined first, however, puts pressure on the Sunnis and Kurds, whose leaders will be up for such posts.

Al-Khuzai said Shiite politicians were asking for representatives of each political bloc to meet Sunday to discuss names for the key positions, which include the president, the parliament speaker and deputies, among others.

If names can be agreed upon Sunday, then Shiite leaders will attend the Monday meeting, he said.

Iraqi voters chose the 275-member assembly on Dec. 15, but the legislature met briefly only once last month.

The lack of political progress has frustrated Iraqis, especially as steady violence -- much of it sectarian -- continues to claim hundreds of lives and threatens to push the country into a large-scale civil war.

Politicians echoed the discontent, chastising the top leaders' failure to reach agreement.

"There are some political blocs who'd rather just be in power than provide security to the people," Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni politician, told a news conference.

"We demand the political entities speed up the formation of the national government and stop the bloodshed in Iraq."

Al-Mutlaq, who is head of the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, said the Shiite alliance should stop insisting on al-Jaafari and choose another candidate with broader support.

The Sunni leader threatened to abandon the political process if the conflict wasn't resolved soon.

The lack of political stability has helped fuel the chaos in the streets, where bombings, kidnappings and drive-by shootings are daily occurrences.

Sectarian tensions have been running high since the Feb. 22 bombing of an important Shiite shrine in Samarra, which prompted retaliatory killings and more mosque attacks.

In Baghdad, attacks targeting government employees also appeared to be on the rise.

On Thursday, a Foreign Ministry worker was kidnapped and a Health Ministry laborer wounded in a shooting that killed her driver.

A Housing Ministry employee was also wounded in a drive-by shooting, police said.

The attacks came a day after three government employees were killed in the capital.

"These are well-known tactics adopted by the insurgents when they are unable to send car bombs to the capital," police Lt. Col. Ali Rashid said.

"They resort to small, separate attacks on unarmed government employees in order to keep people frightened."

In the northern city of Mosul, gunmen killed a policeman who was driving his sons to school.

One of the sons was also killed and the other seriously wounded, police said.

In southern Iraq, the body of a barber kidnapped four days earlier was found in the city of Basra, police said.

A car bomb threat in the city of Tikrit north of Baghdad prompted a curfew, which was imposed Thursday morning until further notice, police said.

Late Wednesday, two Iraqi contractors who supply the army with food were killed by gunmen who stopped their car about 30 miles south of the city of Kirkuk.

Also in Kirkuk, gunmen kidnapped the young daughter of an oil company employee.

South of the city, a doctor who heads the health center in Daqouq was also abducted, police said.

------

Associated Press correspondents Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer N. Yacoub in Baghdad contributed to this report.

end quotes

"There are some political blocs who'd rather just be in power than provide security to the people," Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni politician, told a news conference .........

HHHHmmmmm .....

Is this guy talking about the REPUBLICANS here in OUR own America?

Sure does sound it to me ...

And I would say ......

That this guy sounds like he is right on the money, here ....

And so ......

[Livyjr]

And from Afghanistan .....

Where the social security numbers of George W. Bush's TOP GENERALS are for sale .....

We wing our way back to the wasteland George W. Bush is busily creating over there in IRAQINAM .....

"American Troops Step Up Patrols in Baghdad"

By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 2 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops have stepped up patrols in Baghdad by 45 percent since the spike in sectarian violence, a U.S. general said Thursday, raising questions about the capabilities of Iraqi forces]/u].

[u]A car bomb killed least 15 people in a Shiite area of the capital.

At least 21 other people, including an American soldier and seven members of a Sunni family, were killed Thursday.

With sectarian violence on the rise in Baghdad, the U.S. command boosted the number of armed patrols in the capital from 12,000 in February to 20,000 since the beginning of March, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told reporters.

Tit-for-tat killings between Shiites and Sunnis soared after the Feb. 22 bombing of a major Shiite shrine in Samarra, triggering reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques and clerics.

Violence was worse in religiously mixed areas of Baghdad, forcing the Americans to return to neighborhoods such as Shula that had been turned over to the Iraqis.

That casts doubt on the capability of Iraqi forces to deal with sectarian violence, despite assurances from American officials that the new army and police forces were gaining steadily in professional skills.

The renewed American presence has not been enough to stop the carnage.

The car bomb exploded in a vegetable market in Shula packed with shoppers buying food for their evening meals, police said.

At least 15 people were killed and 22 were wounded.

Last week, a car bomb injured 13 people in the same neighborhood.

A roadside bomb Thursday killed a U.S. soldier southwest of Baghdad, the military said.

The U.S. command also reported that a Marine died Wednesday of wounds suffered in hostile action near Baghdad.

More American troops were killed in the first two weeks of April — 37 — than in the entire month of March, when 31 died, according to an Associated Press count.

At least 2,366 members of the U.S. military have died since the war started in 2003, according to AP.

Elsewhere, gunmen stormed the house of a Sunni family in Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, and killed seven people — a father, five of his sons and another relative, police said.

A navy officer and his friend were killed by drive-by shooters while walking downtown in the largely Shiite city.

In Baghdad, Mahmoud al-Hashimi, whose brother heads Iraq's largest Sunni Arab political party, was slain along with a companion Thursday as they drove through a mostly Shiite area, the Iraqi Islamic Party said.

Tariq al-Hashimi is among the key players in negotiations over a new national unity government, which have stalled over the issue of who will be the next prime minister.

The Shiites, the biggest bloc in the 275-member parliament, have nominated Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari for a second term.

But Sunni and Kurdish parties, whom the Shiites need as coalition partners, have rejected al-Jaafari and called on the Shiites to name a new candidate.

Al-Jaafari's supporters within the seven-party Shiite alliance have refused to replace him, and other groups within the bloc fear that trying to force him out will shatter the Shiite political movement.

Parliament speaker Adnan Pachachi has called for parliament to convene Monday to try to resolve the crisis, but Shiite politicians are reluctant to attend until a deal has been struck on the premiership and other top government posts that require parliamentary approval.

Khudayer al-Khuzai, who supports al-Jaafari, proposed that leaders of major Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties meet Sunday to try to reach consensus on candidates for top jobs.

"If we don't agree on the key posts, then why should we go to parliament?" al-Khuzai asked Thursday.

Voters chose the 275-member assembly on Dec. 15, but the legislature met briefly only once last month.

The lack of progress has frustrated Iraqis, especially as steady violence — much of it sectarian — continues to claim hundreds of lives and threatens to push the country into a large-scale civil war.

Politicians echoed the discontent, chastising the top leaders' failure to agree.

"There are some political blocs who'd rather just be in power than provide security to the people," Sunni politician Saleh al-Mutlaq told reporters.

"We demand the political entities speed up the formation of the national government and stop the bloodshed in Iraq."

Separately, the U.S. military said four suicide — instead of the two initially reported — were behind last week's deadly attack on a Shiite mosque that killed at least 85 worshippers in northern Baghdad.

The U.S. military said three male bombers made it inside the mosque complex in Buratha, and one believed to be a woman was just outside the entrance.

Lynch blamed the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who heads al-Qaida in Iraq.

"His signature are these suicide attacks," Lynch said.

"We know he's using those attacks to enflame sectarian violence."

In other violence Thursday, according to police:

• Police in Basra found the bodies of two men who had just been kidnapped — an engineer and a translator working with British troops in the area.

Another abducted engineer was still missing.

• A Foreign Ministry worker was kidnapped and a Health Ministry laborer was wounded in a shooting that killed her driver.

A Housing Ministry employee also was wounded in a drive-by shooting.

• Gunmen killed a policeman who was driving his sons to school in Mosul.

One of the sons also was killed and the other seriously wounded.

• Four other people were killed in random shootings in the Baghdad area and central Iraq.
___

Associated Press Writers Vanessa Arrington, Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

Up where I am ...

There are blacktoppers driving around trying to drum up some business .....

And there don't seem to be much, apprently .....

People aren't spending money ....

Because everything costs too much ....

And you can't afford the gas to get there, anyway ....

And so ....

"Builders expect a slower pace - Developers say rising interest rates and shrinking availability of land likely to end years of all-out work"

By KEVIN HARLIN, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Wednesday, April 12, 2006

In another sure sign of spring, hard-hatted workers are hoisting plywood, insulation and siding at construction sites around the region.

Home builders say that at this unofficial start of the spring construction season, they're as busy as they've ever been.

But that pace probably won't hold.

With interest rates ticking upward and developable lots becoming more scarce, many home builders said they are prospecting more than they have in the past for business.

And fewer projects are in the hopper waiting for them when they are done with their current houses.

"I think it's just a matter of timing: We caught up," said Joe Backowski of Shetlertherm Builders LLC in Cohoes.

"Everybody was going flat out for the past few years now."

And the mild winter helped.

The National Association of Home Builders said a relatively warm January spurred a 16 percent jump in home starts nationwide that month.

But the pace slowed in February, and the association said permits -- less weather-sensitive than housing starts -- also dipped.

The trade group predicts a 7 percent drop in new housing construction in 2006 from last year's highs.

"The underlying market fundamentals remain solid," David Pressly, president of the association, said in a prepared statement.

"Job and income growth are moving ahead at healthy levels."

Interest rates have been climbing, but the average rate on a 30-year mortgage last week was still a relatively low 6.43 percent, according to national mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

"I'm talking to fewer people, but I'm still busy," said Ted Cillis, owner of Ted Cillis Builders LLC in Latham.

And other signals are mixed.

Research firm McGraw Hill Cos., said the value of contracts signed in the region for houses and apartments climbed 8 percent to $48.2 million during the first two months of the year versus 2005.

Overall construction contracts, including large offices, hotels and industrial buildings, climbed almost 268 percent, to $59.2 million in the same span.

The numbers are the most current numbers available.

But because of a relatively small sample size, McGraw Hill's monthly reports can show wild swings.

No one is expecting any numbers that wild this year.

Overall, it's a little quieter this year, said Mark Marshall, marketing director for Robert Marini Builders Inc. in Colonie.

"But I wouldn't say it's anything near a slowdown."

"The market has been reeled in more than it was."

"It was gangbusters for so long."

Kevin Harlin can be reached at 454-5442 or by e-mail at kharlin@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

The ECONOMY ....

This morning ....

On the radio news up here ....

They had on a local New York State legislator ....

Who was telling all of us ....

As if we were complete simpletons ourselves .....

That the cost of gasoline in the State of New York ...

Is not only way too high to maintain the former levels of "activity" by human beings that sustain what is called the ECONOMY here in OUR America ...

But that there is something suspicious as hell .....

In the way gas can go up $.25 per gallon overnight ...

When we have been having relatively good weather .....

And no other economic factors can be seen ....

Which would cause such an overnight increase ...

OUTSIDE OF PROFITEERING, of course ...

Which is not only legal, here in OUR America ...

But desired, as well ...

Since it is by trickle-down from the PROFITEERS ...

That we shall all find our own level of employment ...

As maids ...

And servants....

And field hands ....

To the PROFITEERS ....

And so ....

"Will May bring a gas price peak?"

Associated Press
First published: Wednesday, April 12, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Gasoline prices are surging again with summer on the horizon, but a new federal forecast estimates they may be peaking in May.

Guy Caruso, head of the Energy Department's statistical agency, said Tuesday that prices at the pump, which averaged $2.68 a gallon last week nationwide, are likely to increase 10 to 15 cents a gallon in the coming weeks, peak in May and drop off in late summer.

He said the national average can mask local price spikes.

The Energy Department said it expects the price of regular to average $2.62 a gallon, 25 cents more than last summer, over the April-September driving period.

But prices around the country already are above that.

"We assume normal weather," added Caruso, head of the Energy Information Administration.

If a hurricane or a refinery outage causes supply problems, or if crude oil takes a major jump, prices will be higher yet.

But Caruso said motorists are not expected to cut back on their summer driving -- a view mirrored by AAA, formerly the American Automobile Association.

In fact, motorists are expected to use 1.5 percent more gasoline than last summer.

Gas prices last week were 40 percent higher than the same week a year ago and are likely rise further as higher crude oil and wholesale gasoline costs move through the system, said Caruso.

Refiners have been shifting away from the additive MTBE -- which causes drinking water contamination -- resulting in a greater demand for corn-based ethanol.

That's pushing up prices "a few pennies," Caruso said.

The refiners have said they will stop using MTBE on May 5 when the federal requirement for a clean-air oxygenate is lifted as part of an energy law enacted last summer.

[Livyjr]

And then ...

There are the BUSHCOS, of course .....

YADA, YADA, YADA, ad infinitum .....

And then ...

As if those YADAS were not already too much ...

We have yet some more .....

And so .....

YADA, YADA, YADA .....

"Bush aide slams report - Washington Post article cites conflict between President's statements and reports from Iraq on purported weapons labs"

By JOWARRICK, Washington Post
First published: Thursday, April 13, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Facing new questions about claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the Bush administration Wednesday denounced a Washington Post report that questioned the handling of postwar intelligence on alleged Iraqi bioweapons labs.

A White House spokesman acknowledged that President Bush's assertions about the suspected labs were in error but said this was due to flawed intelligence work rather than an effort to mislead.

Bush press secretary Scott McClellan criticized the article as "reckless" for what he said was an "impression" that Bush had knowingly misled the American public about the two Iraqi trailers seized by U.S. and Kurdish fighters weeks after the Iraqi invasion began.

On May 29, 2003, Bush described the trailers in a television interview as "biological laboratories" and said, "We have found the weapons of mass destruction."

The Post reported Wednesday that a Pentagon-appointed team of technical experts had strongly rejected the weapons claim in a field report sent to the Defense Intelligence Agency on May 27, 2003.

That report, and an authoritative, 122-page final report by the same team three weeks later, concluded that the trailers were not biological weapons labs.

Both reports were classified and never released.

The team's findings were ultimately supported by the Iraqi Survey Group, which led the official search for banned weapons, in a report to Congress in September 2004, about 15 months later.

Whether White House officials were alerted to the technical team's finding is unclear, The Post reported.

In any case, senior administration and intelligence officials continued for months afterward to cite the trailers as evidence that Iraq had been producing weapons of mass destruction -- the chief claim used to justify the U.S.-led invasion.

While, the Post did not say that Bush knew what he was saying was false, ABC News did during a report on "Good Morning America," according to The Associated Press.

McClellan demanded an apology and an on-air retraction.

ABC News said later in a clarification on its Web site that Charles Gibson had erred.

McClellan said he had received an apology.

McClellan dismissed the Post news article as "rehashing an old issue," saying Bush has repeatedly acknowledged "the intelligence was wrong."

The spokesman said Bush's comments on the trailers reflected the dominant view within the intelligence community at the time.

"The White House is not the intelligence-gathering agency," he said.

McClellan indicated he did not know when, or if, the White House was briefed on the technical team's report.

And he declined to respond when asked if the technical team's report would be declassified and released.

But prominent Democrats demanded Wednesday that the report be immediately released.

"Given that the President has been willing to declassify information for his own political purposes, he should declassify this report so the American people can know if they were misled," Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said in a prepared statement.

"Was this incompetence, meaning that he did not know something that he clearly should have known, or is this an instance of dishonesty where information was misused or withheld to support a political agenda?"

The White House sought to further rebut the Post article with a series of "Setting the Record Straight" statements e-mailed to reporters.

In the statements, the White House does not deny the existence of the technical team's report, but portrays it as a preliminary finding, contrasting that report with a public "white paper" put out by the CIA on May 28, 2003.

The CIA paper described the trailers as the "strongest evidence to date that Iraq was hiding a biological warfare program."

The White House provided a "link" to a CIA Internet site where the white paper is still posted, nearly 18 months after its conclusions were refuted by the Iraqi Survey Group.

The White House statement also cites the 2005 Robb-Silberman commission report on intelligence failures related to Iraqi weapons.

That report criticizes the intelligence agencies for "bureaucratic resistance to admitting error" as evidence showed Iraqi weapons claims to be unfounded.

end quotes

"The White House is not the intelligence-gathering agency ....."

Says WHITE HOUSE SPOKESBOY Scottie McClellan ....

And boy o boy ...

Is he ever correct ...

When you run his words through a COMPUTERIZED BUSH-SPEAK TRANSLATOR ....

Where you find that what the SPOKESBOY is really saying ...

Is that under George W. Bush ..

The WHITE HOUSE is definitely not a place ....

Here in OUR America ...

Where INTELLIGENCE either gathers ...

Or resides ...

And so ....

[Snuffysmith]

I thought that since I was going to be away for the next couple of days, I would leave you with some selected articles on the state of Iran and the world from a culling of all that is out there and with some help from my friends at the USC School of Diplomacy (See Jeffmoskin - I haven't totally abandoned California and its refreshing to get a West Coast take on the scheme of things than DC saturated wires)

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

THE INEVITABILITY OF CONFLICT CAN BECOME ONE OF ITS MAIN CAUSES.

--Joseph S. Nye Jr., Fear of Chinese Guns: Best Defense Is Not to Offer Any Offense (San Francisco Chronicle, April 9)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...ING9JI4LOQ1.DTL

US COMMITTED TO DIPLOMACY ON IRAN - WYNDHAM HARTLEY (BUSINESS DAY, SA, APRIL 11): Cape Town US Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes yesterday insisted that the US wanted a diplomatic resolution to the increasingly heated row with Iran over its nuclear capability.
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/nati...x?ID=BD4A184353

IRAN, NOW EDITORIAL (NATIONAL REVIEW): We should massively increase our pro-democracy broadcasts into Iran, both by funding U.S.-based Farsi satellite-TV networks and by exercising a modicum of intelligence in our Voice of America programming. VOA officials act like they're running the Columbia School of Journalism, but "balance" should count for a lot less than inspiring the Iranians to rouse themselves against tyranny and explaining to them the value of what we have over against what they don't have. We should also send them the message -- through both broadcasts and the utterances of our diplomatic establishment -- that Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons will only isolate them and entrench the mullahs they so despise.
http://www.nationalreview.com/editorial/ed...00604130746.asp

EU'S PUBLIC DIPLOMACY DISASTER - HOSSEIN DERAKHSHAN (EDITOR: MYSELF -- A WEBLOG ON IRAN, TECHNOLOGY AND POP CULTURE, APRIL 12): Iran's public diplomacy's success in selling its dangerous nuclear plans to even moderates in Iran means that the EU has really failed. The EU failed to get their message to Iranian people that they are not against Iran's producing nuclear energy.
http://hoder.com/weblog/archives/015169.shtml

PRESIDENT WARNS OPPOSITION AGAINST ANTI-IRAN PROPAGANDA (IRNA, IRAN, APRIL 12): President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Wednesday said that if the hostile groups further continue their propaganda and psychological war against Iran the nation will hate them forever and they can never expect to have mutual relations.
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0...26839150213.htm

TEHRAN EXPANDS PUBLIC OUTREACH - ILAN BERMAN (IRAN DEMOCRACY MONITOR, NO. 7, APRIL 12): Iran's state-controlled broadcasting sector is branching out in a different direction. Ezzattolah Zarghami, the head of Iran's official Voice of the Islamic Republic and Vision of the Islamic Republic radio and television stations, has revealed that government plans are underway for the establishment of a new public diplomacy vehicle: an English-language news station.
http://www.afpc.org/idm/idm7.shtml (SCROLL DOWN LINK FOR ITEM)

PREVENTING TURKEY'S POPULAR SLIDE AWAY FROM THE WEST - SONER CAGAPTAY (POLICYWATCH #1093, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY): Through high-level meetings, the best way of getting opinions across to the Turkish elite, and through public diplomacy, Washington should tell Turks that Turkey belongs to the West and that the United States and Turkey share secular democratic values and an interest in fighting terrorism. In terms of public diplomacy efforts, eliminating the Voice of America?s Turkish services, as proposed in the 2007 budget, would be dangerous at a time when al-Jazeera has plans to start a Turkish broadcast.
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2458
VIA
http://eccentricstar.typepad.com/

STATE DEPARTMENT LOSES KOREA EXPERTS - BY SEUNG-RYUN KIM (DONGA, SOUTH KOREA, APRIL 14): James Foster, the incumbent Korean Office director at the State department, is expected to be replaced. Foster might be recorded as the first diplomat to open his home to Korean correspondents. Since February 2005, he has invited Korean correspondents in Washington to dinner in small groups. Three or four diplomats at the DOS Korean Office also attended the dinner meetings. The meetings were for putting into practice ?public diplomacy, which has particularly been emphasized by the Bush administration.
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?...d=2006041405418

KREMLIN TAKES STEPS TO POLISH RUSSIA'S IMAGE ABROAD: TACTIC COMES AMID US CRITICISM AS G8 SUMMIT NEARS - TOM PARFITT (BOSTON GLOBE APRIL 11): President Putin has faced calls in recent weeks to ratchet up public diplomacy to improve Russia's international standing. Some elites in Moscow are worried the set-piece meeting of Group of Eight leaders in St. Petersburg in July could be a public relations disaster if the United States keeps up what is perceived here as an ''information war" on Russia. Igor Panarin, a professor from the foreign ministry's diplomatic academy, says: ''There is so much ignorance about Russia in the US: we need to appoint at least a deputy foreign minister to coordinate our own public diplomacy drive."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/ar...s_image_abroad/

RUMSFELD: THE MEDIA WAR ON TERROR - MARK THOMA (ECONOMIST'S VIEW, APRIL 9): We are getting beaten on the media playing field, losing the battle "for the hearts and minds of [Muslims] not because of our capabilities, but because of our actions.
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economis...eld_we_nee.html

SOFTENED TONE OF JIHAD PROPAGANDA CONVEYS THE SAME BITTER MESSAGE - COLIN FREEMAN (TELEGRAPH.CO.UK, APRIL 8): Major Mike Motley: "My fear is that some of the people here do believe in conspiracy theories," he said. "Both US and Iraqi forces are extremely vulnerable to insurgent propaganda."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml.../ixnewstop.html

ON THE GROUND, IT'S A CIVIL WAR: THE DEBATE OVER WHAT TO CALL IRAQ'S WAR IS LOST ON MANY IRAQIS AS SHADOWY SHIITE MILITIAS AND SUNNI INSURGENTS WAGE THEIR DEADLY CONFLICT - AAMER MADHANI (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, APRIL 14)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...ack=1&cset=true

DOWN A DANGEROUS ROAD: LIKE LEBANON IN THE '70S, IRAQ MAY BE DESCENDING INTO CIVIL WAR. WORSE, IT THREATENS TO TAKE THE REGION WITH IT - DAVID HIRST (LOS ANGELES TIMES, APRIL 14)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commen...omment-opinions

OFFICIALS CONFIDENT ABOUT DATA ON IRAN: ARMS ASSESSMENTS CALLED FAR BETTER THAN THOSE ON IRAQ - SIOBHAN GORMAN (BALTIMORE SUN, APRIL 14)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationwor...-home-headlines

NO MILITARY SOLUTION - WILLIAM D. HARTUNG (BALTIMORE SUN, APRIL 14): Iran will be unlikely to compromise on its nuclear program while it is being threatened with destruction. Those administration officials who see bombing Iran as a prelude to regime change should step back and make room for pragmatic anti-nuclear diplomacy.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/o...-oped-headlines

IRAN: THE LOGIC OF DETERRENCE - CHRISTOPHER LAYNE (AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE): Tehran's quest for nuclear weapons is a rational response to a real threat, which makes diplomacy a more prudent option than regime change.
http://www.amconmag.com/2006/2006_04_10/cover.html

IN CASE IRAN NEEDS A SQUEEZE - MONITOR'S VIEW (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, APRIL 14): Sanctions have long been a tool of diplomacy to avoid war. And Iran has shown it will talk seriously under economic duress. The UN and the West don't have an easy choice.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0414/p08s01-comv.html

WHERE DO WE MEDDLE NEXT A HALF-CENTURY OF PROTECTING OUR INTERESTS - MICHAEL KINSLEY (WASHINGTON POST, APRIL 14): So we marched in and got rid of the Taliban. Then we marched into Iraq and got rid of Saddam Hussein. Now we're -- well, we haven't figured out what, but we're hopping mad and gonna do something, dammit, about Iran.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6041301664.html

BUSH'S BLUSTER: WHAT GOOD ARE U.S. THREATS AGAINST IRAN WHEN THE WHOLE WORLD HAS LOST ITS TRUST IN OUR GOVERNMENT? - JOE CONASON (SALON)
http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2006/04/14/iran/

WHAT'S GOING ON IN IRAN?: SYNERGISM OF THE NEO-CONS - KAMRAN MATIN (COUNTERPUNCH): The Iranian people have to pursue their own independent struggle for freedom and social justice independently and in spite of the western imperialism's agenda for regime-change in Iran.
http://www.counterpunch.org/matin04132006.html

IF YOU LIKED THE IRAQ WAR, YOU'LL LOVE THE IRAN WAR - CENK UYGUR (HUFFINGTON POST, APRIL 14): If you thought things were bad now, wait till Iran retaliates against our air strikes by bombing Israel. When Israel strikes back, the whole Middle East will have to get sucked into the war. And then the fun really starts.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/i...ar_b_19097.html

AFTER DIPLOMACY FAILS: THINK IMAGINATIVELY ABOUT IRAN - MARK HELPRIN (WASHINGTON POST, APRIL 13): Our problem in Iraq has been delusion and lack of foresight. Iran is bigger and more powerful. What a pity it would be either to do nothing or once again to lurch forward with neither strategy nor thought.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6041201659.html

UNACCEPTABLE?: IS THE AMERICA OF 2006 MORE WILLING TO THWART THE UNACCEPTABLE THAN THE FRANCE OF 1936? - WILLIAM KRISTOL (WEEKLY STANDARD): It is not moral progress to put off serious planning for military action to a later date, probably in less favorable circumstances, when the Iranian regime has been further emboldened, our friends in the region more disheartened, and allies more confused by years of fruitless diplomacy than they would be by greater clarity and resolution now.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...12/095mzmiq.asp

TO BOMB, OR NOT TO BOMB: THAT IS THE IRAN QUESTION - REUEL MARC GERECHT (WEEKLY STANDARD): What we are dealing with in the Islamic Republic's ruling revolutionary elite is a politer, more refined, more cautious, vastly more mendacious version of bin Ladenism. It is best that such men not have nukes, and that we do everything in our power, including preventive military strikes, to stop this from happening.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...12/100mmysk.asp

THE FATEFUL HOUR HAS ARRIVED - CAROLINE GLICK (JERUSALEM POST, APRIL 13): The battle to prevent the world's most dangerous regime, Iran, from attaining the most dangerous weapons known to man has begun. The moment has arrived for President George W. Bush to make clear if he is, in the final analysis, the leader of the free world or its undertaker.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid...icle%2FShowFull

TARGET: IRAN -- YES, THERE IS A FEASIBLE MILITARY OPTION AGAINST THE MULLAHS' NUCLEAR PROGRAM - THOMAS MCINERNEY (WEEKLY STANDARD)
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...12/101dorxa.asp

NUCLEAR HOSTAGE CRISIS - MICHAEL RUBIN (WALL STREET JOURNAL, APRIL 14): The cost of any military strike on Iran would be high, although not as high as the cost of the Islamic Republic gaining nuclear weapons.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1144979986...in_commentaries
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

NEOCONS TURN UP HEAT FOR IRAN ATTACK - JIM LOBE (ANTIWAR.COM)
http://www.antiwar.com/lobe/?articleid=8852

DEMOCRACY IN THE ARAB WORLD, A U.S. GOAL, FALTERS - HASSAN M. FATTAH (NEW YORK TIMES, APRIL 10)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/10/world/mi...0democracy.html

MORE QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY

PEOPLE CAN QUESTION MY JUDGMENT OR HIS JUDGMENT, BUT THEY SHOULD NEVER QUESTION THE DEDICATION, THE PATRIOTISM AND THE WORK ETHIC OF SECRETARY RUMSFELD.

--Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; cited in Associated Press, Analysis: Criticism Mounts vs. Rumsfeld (New York Times, April 14)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Rumsfeld-Generals.html

A MILITARY COUP IN THIS COUNTRY RIGHT NOW WOULD PROBABLY HAVE A MODERATING INFLUENCE.

--Commentator Fred Kaplan, The Revolt Against Rumsfeld: The Officer Corps Is Getting Restless (Slate)
http://www.slate.com/id/2139777/

More news next week. The Snuff wishing all a very Happy Easter.

[Livyjr]

Enjoy the day, Snuf ....

And safe travels ......

[Livyjr]

As to the Iranians .....

And their knowledge of us ......

When I was in the Army in 1968 ....

Before going to Viet Nam ....

I was down at an Army base in Texas .....

A primary flight school ....

For helicopter training ....

And the place seemed to be crawling with Iranian flight school candidates .....

All officers from the Iranian Army ....

Who we were supposed to salute, of course ....

And after ....

When I had returned to here ......

And was "rehabilitating" myself ....

I was at an east coast engineering school ....

And there were Iranian, or as one adamant Iranian person said, Persian students there ....

These being people from Iran ...

Who were going back to Iran ...

And so ...

Truthfully .....

I wonder what all this fuss is about .....

And as to the Iranian people knowing about the U.S. ......

It would seem that they would have to know about it ....

To be able to get over to here to study engineering ...

And so .....

[Livyjr]

And speaking of Iran ....

" Iran issues stark military warning to United States"

Fri Apr 14, 4:12 PM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran said it could defeat any American military action over its controversial nuclear drive, in one of the Islamic regime's boldest challenges yet to the United States.

"You can start a war but it won't be you who finishes it," said General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards and among the regime's most powerful figures.

"The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in Iraq are vulnerable."

" I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error," he told reporters on the sidelines of a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran.

The United States accuses Iran of using an atomic energy drive as a mask for weapons development.

Last weekend US news reports said President George W. Bush's administration was refining plans for preventive strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

"I would advise them to first get out of their quagmire in Iraq before getting into an even bigger one," General Safavi said with a grin.

"We have American forces in the region under total surveillance."

"For the past two years, we have been ready for any scenario, whether sanctions or an attack."

Iran announced this week it had successfully enriched uranium to make nuclear fuel, despite a UN Security Council demand for the sensitive work to be halted by April 28.

The Islamic regime says it only wants to generate atomic energy, but enrichment can be extended to make the fissile core of a nuclear warhead -- something the United States is convinced that "axis of evil" member Iran wants to acquire.

At a Friday prayer sermon in Tehran, senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Janati simply branded the US as a "decaying power" lacking the "stamina" to block Iran's ambitions.

And hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told AFP that a US push for tough United Nations sanctions was of "no importance."

"She is free to say whatever she wants," the president replied when asked to respond to comments by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice highlighting part of the UN charter that provides for sanctions backed up by the threat of military action.

"We give no importance to her comments," he said with a broad smile.

On Thursday, Rice said that faced with Iran's intransigence, the United States "will look at the full range of options available to the United Nations."

"There is no doubt that Iran continues to defy the will of the international community," Rice said, after Iran also dismissed a personal appeal from the UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief must give a report at the end of April on Iranian compliance with the Security Council demand.

In Tehran he said that after three years of investigations Iran's activities were "still hazy and not very clear."

Although the United States has been prodding the council to take a tough stand against the Islamic republic, including possible sanctions, it has run into opposition from veto-wielding members Russia and China.

Representatives of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany are to meet in Moscow Tuesday to discuss the crisis.

In seeking to deter international action, Iran has been playing up its oil wealth, its military might in strategic Gulf waters and its influence across the region -- such as in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

At the Tehran conference, Iran continued to thumb its nose at the United States and Israel.

"The Zionist regime is an injustice and by its very nature a permanent threat," Ahmadinejad told the gathering of regime officials, visiting Palestinian militant leaders and foreign sympathizers.

"Whether you like it or not, the Zionist regime is on the road to being eliminated," said Ahmadinejad, whose regime does not recognise Israel and who drew international condemnation last year when he said Israel should be "wiped off the map."

Unfazed by his critics, the hardliner went on to repeat his controversial stance on the Holocaust.

"If there is serious doubt over the Holocaust, there is no doubt over the catastrophe and Holocaust being faced by the Palestinians," said the president, who had previously dismissed as a "myth" the killing of an estimated six million Jews by the Nazis and their allies during World War II.

"I tell the governments who support Zionism to ... let the migrants (Jews) return to their countries of origin."

"If you think you owe them something, give them some of your land," he said.

Iran's turbaned supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also accused the United States of seeking to place the entire region under Israeli control.

"The plots by the American government against Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon aimed at governing the Middle East with the control of the Zionist regime will not succeed," Khamenei said.

There was no immediate reaction from Washington, but French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy severely condemned Ahmadinejad for his latest remarks on Israel.

"As I have had occasion to do before, when the Iranian president made similar statements, I condemn these inacceptable remarks in the strongest possible terms," Douste-Blazy said in a statement.

"Israel's right to exist and the reality of the Holocaust should not be disputed," he added.

[Livyjr]

And speaking of Iran ....

" Iran issues stark military warning to United States"

Fri Apr 14, 4:12 PM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran said it could defeat any American military action over its controversial nuclear drive, in one of the Islamic regime's boldest challenges yet to the United States.

"You can start a war but it won't be you who finishes it," said General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards and among the regime's most powerful figures.

"The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in  Iraq are vulnerable."

" I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error," he told reporters on the sidelines of a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran.

"I would advise them to first get out of their quagmire in Iraq before getting into an even bigger one," General Safavi said with a grin.

And speaking of George W. Bush's QUAGMIRE .....

Over there in IRAQINAM .....

Where George just don't know ....

Whether he is afoot .....

Or horseback ......

And his SECRETARY OF WAR Rumsfeld .....

Can't tell one end of a horse .....

From the other end ....

And so .....

A QUAGMIRE it is .....

For George, anyway ......

Since he is the one foolish enough to have leaped ....

Before he even knew where he was standing ....

And so ...

George lied ....

And now ...

Americans are dying .....

Because of those lies ....

And so ....

"2 Marines Killed, 22 Hurt in Western Iraq"

24 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two U.S. Marines were killed and 22 were wounded, two of them critically, in fighting in western Iraq, the U.S. command announced Saturday.

Two of the wounded were in critical condition.

A U.S. statement said the casualties occurred Thursday as a result of "enemy action" in Anbar province, but did not give a specific location or provide details of the fighting.

It said one Marine, assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, died "at the scene of the attack."

Another Marine, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, died at a medical facility in Taqqadum, the statement added.

Eight wounded Marines, all assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, were evacuated by air to a medical facility in Balad.

Two were listed in critical condition and six were reported as stable, the statement said.

Ten wounded Marines from Regimental Combat Team 5 were evacuated to a medical facility at Camp Fallujah.

Four were held for observation and the others were treated and returned to duty, the statement said.

Four other Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 received minor wounds, according to the statement.

Names of the dead and wounded were withheld pending notification of their families.

[Livyjr]

"If you have a lawyer for your BAGMAN ...."

"It's a DISBURSEMENT, not a BRIBE ..."

- Just some "political advice" that one hears up here in the environs of Albany, New York ...

The capital of the State of New York .....

Where everything is for sale ...

Starting with the law, itself ....

And the "regulatory agencies" .....

But not everybody gets to "buy some" ...

Cash and BAGMEN are required ...

If you don't want your DISBURSEMENTS ....

To be mistaken for mere crass bribes ....

And so .......

[Livyjr]

And politics .....

Along with the congressional seats up for grabs this November .....

So too is the office of governor of the State of New York ...

Where New York State Attorney General Eliot "Big EL" Spitzer right now is the man to beat .....

"Big EL", as he is lovingly known up here, has got all kinds of LOBBYISTS standing by him, to keep his pockets pumped up with money ...

Because "Big EL" is just a real nice guy ...

And so ...

"Big EL" is going to be tough to beat ...

BUT ...

"Big EL" is kind of weak when it comes to the subject of cleaning up government corruption in the State of New York ...

And in fact, based on a big win that "Big EL" scored in the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals a bit ago, "Big EL" is emerging as a real CHAMPION of corrupt government in the State of New York ...

And that has politicians and lobbyists alike flocking to his standard .....

And so ...

It is going to be up to the people of the state to decide ......

WHICH WAY WILL WE GO?

And so .....

And from Katmandu ....

Which apparently was a cool place for the Beatles to hang out ...

When I was younger .....

And George W. Bush had not yet come into power ...

Here in OUR America .....

We return to OUR America ....

To this .....

In a state where its Attorney General, the VERY, VERY HONORABLE INDEED Eliot "Big EL" Spitzer ......

Has just scored a real big COUP in the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals on New York City ....

Successfully defending a practice in the State of New York ...

That is specifically designed ...

To remove any professional witnesses ...

Who might be a threat to continuing GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION in the State of New York ....

By having a STATE DOCTOR declare them to be mentally ill and dangerous ....

So that they can then be incarcerated by the STATE ....

In a GULAG ...

Where their minds will be altered ...

So that they won't be out there warning people about all the *** that they are drinking in their water .....

Because warning people about all that **** is just bad for the BID-NESS BOTTOM LINE ....

And so .....

"Big EL" Spitzer is a HERO up here in the State of New York ...

To those who are the POLLUTERS .....

Because he just TOOK DOWN a qualified PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEER in the State of New York who was looking too closely at these groundwater contamination problems BEING FOSTERED BY THE STATE OF NEW YORK ...

And its corrupt State Health Department ...

And New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ..

Both of which are "Big EL's" clients .....

And so ....

"If you have a lawyer for your BAGMAN ...."

"It's a DISBURSEMENT, not a BRIBE ..."

- Just some "political advice" that one hears up here in the environs of Albany, New York ...

"Oh, Eliot, You're JUST So Vain"

With apologies to Carly Simon

Oh, Eliot ....

You foxy devil, you .....

You walked into the party ....

Like you were walking into the Governor's Chambers ....

In the capital ....

In Albany, New York ....

Your hat strategically dipped below one eye ...

Your scarf it was apricot ....

You had one eye in the mirror ....

On yourself, of course .....

And the other ...

On all the LOBBYISTS in the room ....

And the little bags of money in their hands ....

As you watched yourself gavotte ....

From lobbyist to lobbyist ...

Collecting your due, of course ...

And all the girls dreamed .....

As they do when in the company of powerful politicians like you ....

That they'd be your "partner" .....

They'd be your partner, and....

Oh, Eliot ......

You're just so vain ....

You KNOW this song is about you .....

Oh "Big EL" .....

You're just so vain ....

You're out there hiring people ....

To write pretty songs about you .....

Aren't you?

Aren't you?

You had New York State .....

Several years ago .....

When we were still quite naive .....

Well you said that you and New York State ....

Made such a pretty pair ....

And that you would never leave us stranded .....

Outside the protection of law ....

While your GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDACY .....

Stuffed its pockets .....

With money ...

From those who would have it be so .....

But like all politicans in the end, Eliot ....

You gave away the things we loved .....

Like HONESTY ...

And INTEGRITY ....

And FORTHRIGHTNESS .....

And Eliot ....

One of those "things" you gave away ....

Was me .....

So Eliot ....

I had some dreams ....

Or so I thought ....

They were clouds in my coffee .....

Clouds in my coffee and ....

NO ...

Actually .....

It was GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION, instead .....

And no dream at all ...

Thanks to YOU, Big EL ....

And Eliot ....

You're just so vain .....

You know this song is about you .....

You're just so vain .....

You have your "press poodles" out there ....

Writing all sorts of pretty songs about you ....

Don't you, Eliot ....

Yes, you do .....

Well I hear you went up to Saratoga ......

To "get" some votes .....

And your horse naturally won .....

Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink ....

Then you flew your Lear jet up to Nova Scotia .....

To see the total eclipse of the sun .....

As well as to see what kind of CONTRIBUTIONS and DISBURSEMENTS there might be up there ....

While you were at it ....

Well, Eliot ...

Smart politician that you are ....

You're where you should be .....

All of the time .....

Thanks to a good appointments secretary .....

And campaign committee .....

And when you're not .....

You're with .....

Some underworld spy .....

Plotting some further political strategy ...

That will put you in the New York State Governor's Mansion .....

In 2006 ....

Or the wife of a close friend .....

With lots of money ....

Wife of a close friend, and....

Ready to make a fat contribution ...

To your cause ....

Because ...

Eliot ....

You're just so vain .....

Which people actually like in their politicans today .....

That you just know this song is about you .....

You're just so vain .....

Thinking you could even be president of America one day ..

The SPITZER PRESIDENCY ....

You already have your lackeys writing that song about you .....

Don't you?

Don't you?

And so ......

[Livyjr]

And here ...

I have a little extra time ...

So ....

I'm getting a chance to do some catching up here ...

With this ...

This following news item about the BUSHCOS using PROPAGANDA .....

ON US ......

WE, the PEOPLE of OUR America ...

George W. Bush ....

The Commander-in-Chief of OUR military ...

Is using OUR TAX MONEY ...

To have OUR United States military ...

LIE TO US ....

Through a PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN ....

That is supposed to have us believing ...

That George W. Bush's HEAD ENEMY over there in IRAQINAM ...

This Abu Zabu Binkowie ......

Or whoever that guy really is ....

Is really like, what ...

Maybe two or three hundred feet tall ......

With a head full of writhing snakes ....

Instead of hair .....

And I don't know how many stone the British say he weighs, whatever his name really is ......

But I have him at ten or twenty thousand pounds now .....

And so ...

Whatever number of stones that really is ....

What we have, America ....

IS A REAL JUGGERNAUGHT of a fellow, when you come right down to it .....

And George W. Bush ...

Well ...

Let's face it .....

He's just a normal sized man ...

And so ...

It's no wonder this Binkowie is kicking George's *** .....

I mean ...

A guy that big ....

What would you think of him ...

If he couldn't?

Whatever his name really is .....

Which is what this PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN is all about ...

As I understand it ...

So that people like me ...

Bumpkins out in the country here .....

You know ....

Country folk ....

We will know who all of George W. Bush's enemies really are ...

By proper name .....

So that at night ...

Little children all over OUR America ...

Before they go to sleep ...

Can spend an hour or two on their knees ...

Beseeching GOD ...

To save George W. Bush .....

From this enemy ...

By name, of course ...

Properly pronounced ...

As well ....

So there is no possibility of an "Achilles Heel" type of thing ...

Where some child mis-pronounces the name of one of George W. Bush's enemies ...

So that George gets protected from an overcharge from a Pakistani taxi-driver .....

Instead of some real mean father-raping TAY-RIST out there plotting somewhere ....

And so ....

A key part of this PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN .....

I guess, anyway ...

Is to teach us how to spell their names ....

As I understand it ....

From the yokel's perspective ...

Being one, after all ....

And so .....

Apparently, George W. Bush is upset ...

Because HE HAS ENEMIES ...

And don't nobody in OUR America even know who they are ...

Let alone how to spell their names ...

And so, America .....

Get ready for a MEDIA BLITZ .....

To let us all know ...

Just how powerful and important George W. Bush's enemies really are ...

As compared to the enemies of any other WORLD LEADER .....

And so ....

Which sounds like a real stupid idea ....

All the way around .....

When you think logically and rationally about it ....

But then ...

What the hey ....

As they say .....

This is BushWORLD .....

Which is a real BIZARRO-kind of world ...

When you come right down to it ...

And so .....

"U.S. military seeking to vilify al-Zarqawi -
Propaganda campaign tries to magnify Jordanian's role and tie him to 9/11 attacks"

By THOMAS E. RICKS, Washington Post
First published: Monday, April 10, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military is conducting a propaganda campaign to magnify the role of the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, according to internal military documents and officers familiar with the program.

The effort has raised his profile in a way that some military intelligence officials believe may have overstated his importance and helped the Bush administration tie the war to the organization responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The documents state that the U.S. campaign aims to turn Iraqis against Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, by playing on their perceived dislike of foreigners.

U.S. authorities claim some success with the effort, noting that some tribal Iraqi insurgents have attacked al-Zarqawi loyalists.

For the past two years, U.S. military leaders have been using Iraqi media and other outlets in Baghdad to publicize al-Zarqawi's role in the insurgency.

The documents explicitly list the "U.S. Home Audience" as a target of a broader propaganda campaign.

Some senior intelligence officers believe al-Zarqawi's role might have been overemphasized by the propaganda campaign, which has included leaflets, radio and television broadcasts, Internet postings and at least one leak to an American journalist.

Although al-Zarqawi and other foreign insurgents in Iraq have conducted deadly bombing attacks, they remain "a very small part of the actual numbers," Col. Derek Harvey, who served as a military intelligence officer in Iraq and then was one of the top officers handling Iraq intelligence issues, said at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., last summer.

In a transcript of the meeting, Harvey said, "Our own focus on al-Zarqawi has enlarged his caricature, if you will -- made him more important than he really is, in some ways."

The military's propaganda program largely has been aimed at Iraqis, but seems to have spilled over into the U.S. media.

One briefing slide about U.S. "strategic communications" in Iraq, prepared for Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top U.S. commander in Iraq, describes the "home audience" as one of six major targets of the American side of the war.

Other developments

Shiite lawmakers met on Sunday, the third anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to U.S. forces, in the first formal step to break the deadlock over Sunni and Kurdish opposition to their choice for a prime minister to head the next government.

The meeting produced no breakthroughs, The Associated Press reported.

At least 15 people were killed Sunday, including eight suspected insurgents shot by American soldiers in a pre-dawn raid north of the capital.

Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, the Marine Corps officer who was the military's top operations officer before the invasion of Iraq, expressed regret, in an essay published Sunday in Time magazine, that he did not more energetically question those who had ordered the nation to war and called for replacing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, The New York Times reported.

[Livyjr]

George W. Bush ....

The Commander-in-Chief of OUR military ...

Is using OUR TAX MONEY ...

To have OUR United States military ...

LIE TO US ....

Through a PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN  ....

That is supposed to have us believing ...

That George W. Bush's HEAD ENEMY over there in IRAQINAM ...

This Abu Zabu Binkowie ......

Or whoever that guy really is ....

Is really like, what ...

Maybe two or three hundred feet tall ......

With a head full of writhing snakes ....

Instead of hair .....

And I don't know how many stone the British say he weighs, whatever his name really is ......

But I have him at ten or twenty thousand pounds now .....

And so ...

Whatever number of stones that really is ....

What we have, America ....

IS A REAL JUGGERNAUGHT of a fellow, when you come right down to it .....

And George W. Bush ...

Well ...

Let's face it .....

He's just a normal sized man ...

And so ...

It's no wonder this Binkowie is kicking George's *** .....

I mean ...

A guy that big ....

What would you think of him ...

If he couldn't?

Whatever his name really is .....

"U.S. military seeking to vilify al-Zarqawi -
Propaganda campaign tries to magnify Jordanian's role and tie him to 9/11 attacks" 
 
By THOMAS E. RICKS, Washington Post
First published: Monday, April 10, 2006

Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, the Marine Corps officer who was the military's top operations officer before the invasion of Iraq, expressed regret, in an essay published Sunday in Time magazine, that he did not more energetically question those who had ordered the nation to war and called for replacing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, The New York Times reported.

These ones calling for Donald Rumsfeld to resign .....

Because they think he is incompetent ...

I wonder what they will think ...

When they hear this PROPAGANDA that has this Simbuuku fellow .....

Who is Donald Rumsfeld's HEAD ENEMY over there in IRAQINAM .....

When they hear he masses some thirty or forty thousand stone ...

And is 750 feet tall .....

With a huge eye in the middle of his forehead ....

And a nasty big club .....

I bet they won't think Donald Rumsfeld is a complete idiot after hearing all of that ....

I mean ...

Well ...

Donald Rumsfeld is smaller than George W. Bush ....

And Donald is not a TEXAN ...

And he is pretty old ...

And so ...

Put Donald Rumsfeld up against a guy like this Simboookoo ....

And what would you expect ...

The small old guy to beat the younger great big guy?

I mean ...

Get real, here, America ...

Donald Rumsfeld is a fool ..

And it is time for him to go ....

"Old soldiers ask chief to fade away - Another retired general adds to call for defense secretary's resignation"

By DAVID S. CLOUD and ERIC SCHMITT, New York Times
First published: Friday, April 14, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The widening circle of retired generals who have stepped forward to call for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation is shaping up as an unusual outcry that could pose a significant challenge to Rumsfeld's leadership, current and former generals said Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., who led troops on the ground in Iraq as recently as 2004 as the commander of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, on Thursday became the fifth retired senior general in recent days to call publicly for Rumsfeld's ouster.

"We need to continue to fight the global war on terror and keep it off our shores," Swannack said in a telephone interview.

"But I do not believe Secretary Rumsfeld is the right person to fight that war based on his absolute failures in managing the war against Saddam in Iraq."

Another former Army commander in Iraq, Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who led the 1st Infantry Division, publicly broke ranks with Rumsfeld on Wednesday.

Rumsfeld long ago became a magnet for political attacks.

But the current uproar is significant because the criticism is coming from generals who were involved in the invasion and occupation of Iraq under the defense secretary's leadership.

The White House has dismissed the criticism, saying it merely reflects tensions over the war in Iraq.

"The President believes Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a very fine job during a challenging period in our nation's history," the White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters on Thursday.

Among the five senior retired generals who have called for Rumsfeld's ouster, some have emphasized that they still believe it was right for the United States to invade Iraq.

But a common thread in their complaints has been an assertion that Rumsfeld and his aides too often inserted themselves unnecessarily into military decision-making, often disregarding advice from military commanders.

The outcry also appears based in part on a coalescing of concern about the toll that the war is taking on American armed forces, with little sign, three years after the invasion, that U.S. troops will be able to withdraw in large numbers anytime soon.

On Baghdad patrol

U.S. troops have sharply increased patrols in Baghdad since the spike in sectarian violence, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said Thursday, raising questions about the capabilities of Iraqi forces. ''

Also, a car bomb killed least 15 people in a Shiite area of the capital.

At least 21 other people, including an American soldier and seven members of a Sunni family, were killed Thursday.

Sunnis targeted

According to The Los Angeles Times, Sunni Arab political leaders said that nearly 90 Sunnis had been reported abducted or killed over the past two days by groups with possible ties to the nation's Shiite Muslim-led Interior Ministry forces.

In one incident, as many as 25 men just released from detention were allegedly whisked away by gunmen in SUVs.

Terrorist killed

The U.S. military said U.S. and Iraqi troops last month killed a wanted terrorist with ties to Osama bin Laden and other senior al-Qaida figures.

Rafid Ibrahim Fattah, also known as Abu Umar al Kurdi, was killed March 27 in a raid near Abu Ghraib on the western edge of Baghdad, a U.S. statement said.

[Livyjr]

These ones calling for Donald Rumsfeld to resign .....

Because they think he is incompetent ...

I wonder what they will think ...

When they hear this PROPAGANDA that has this Simbuuku fellow .....

Who is Donald Rumsfeld's HEAD ENEMY over there in IRAQINAM .....

When they hear he masses some thirty or forty thousand stone ...

And is 750 feet tall .....

With a huge eye in the middle of his forehead ....

And a nasty big club .....

I bet they won't think Donald Rumsfeld is a complete idiot after hearing all of that ....

I mean ...

Well ...

Donald Rumsfeld is smaller than George W. Bush ....

And Donald is not a TEXAN ...

And he is pretty old ...

And so ...

Put Donald Rumsfeld up against a guy like this Simboookoo ....

And what would you expect ...

The small old guy to beat the younger great big guy?

I mean ...

Get real, here, America ...

Donald Rumsfeld is a fool ..

And it is time for him to go ....

"Rumsfeld criticism grows - Retired general who led 1st Infantry Division says "fresh start" needed"

By THOMAS E. RICKS, Washington Post
First published: Thursday, April 13, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The retired commander of key forces in Iraq called Wednesday for Donald Rumsfeld to step down, joining several other former top military commanders who have harshly criticized the secretary of defense's authoritarian style for making the military's job more difficult.

"I think we need a fresh start" at the top of the Pentagon, retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq in 2004-05, said in an interview.

"We need leadership up there that respects the military as they expect the military to respect them."

"And that leadership needs to understand teamwork."

Batiste noted that many of his peers feel the same way.

"It speaks volumes that guys like me are speaking out from retirement about the leadership climate in the Department of Defense," he said in another interview earlier Wednesday on CNN.

Batiste's comments resonate especially within the Army because it is widely known there that he was offered a promotion to three-star rank to return to Iraq and be the No. 2 U.S. military officer there, but declined because he no longer wished to serve under Rumsfeld.

Also, before going to Iraq, he worked at the highest level of the Pentagon, serving as the senior military assistant to Paul Wolfowitz, then the deputy secretary of defense.

Batiste said that he believes the administration's handling of the Iraq war has violated fundamental military principles, such as unity of command and unity of effort.

In other interviews, Batiste has said that he thinks that the violation of another military principle of ensuring there is an adequate number of forces helped create the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal by putting too much responsibility on incompetent officers and undertrained troops.

His comments follow similar recent high-profile attacks on Rumsfeld by three other retired flag officers -- Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold; Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, and Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni.

Violence continues

More than 40 Iraqis died Wednesday, including at least 22 in a car bombing near a Shiite mosque northeast of Baghdad.

Also, three U.S. soldiers were killed in roadside bombings two south of Baghdad and a third on patrol east of the capital, the U.S. military said.

The military also reported that an American soldier from the 101st Airborne Division died Monday from a "non-battle injury" near Tal Afar in northern Iraq.

At least 2,362 U.S. personnel, including seven civilians working for the military, have died since the beginning of the war in 2003, according to a count by The Associated Press.

Other developments

No. 2 al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri praised insurgents in Iraq, particularly Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and called on all Muslims to support them in a video posted Thursday on the Internet.

Silva Shahakian, the newly crowned Miss Iraq beauty queen, has gone into hiding, fearing she will be targeted by Islamic militants who reportedly threatened to kill other women who participated in a Baghdad pageant last week.

[Livyjr]

I think ....

That in a past life ...

Well ...

Whoever does really know ...

But perhaps ...

Just perhaps ...

Donald Rumsfeld ...

Rode a tank ...

In the general's rank ...

And so ....

He has those memories of the glories of the BLITZKREIG .....

Rolling over those Polish horse cavalry ....

On the dash to the Sudetenland ....

And beyond, of course ....

And so ...

Over there in IRAQINAM .....

The DONALD is trying to do it all over again ....

Relive the glory ....

One last fling, so to speak ....

Rule the whole world ...

Be a GOD in your lifetime ....

And of course ...

Here is what you would expect from George ...

Because let's face it ....

Who really wants to replace Rumsfeld the INCOMPETENT ....

To take over ...

A failed war .....

That Rumsfeld has BOTCHED UP so bad ......

Nobody now knows ...

When OUR troops ..

May ever see home ...

Again ....

"Rumsfeld wins Bush praise - Support comes amid calls from retired generals for defense chief to quit"

By CRAIG GORDON, Newsday
First published: Saturday, April 15, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush was forced to offer an extraordinary vote of confidence for his embattled defense chief Friday, hoping the high-profile atta-boy will squelch a revolt by former generals who say Donald Rumsfeld must go.

"Secretary Rumsfeld's energetic and steady leadership is exactly what is needed at this critical period," Bush said in a statement after speaking with Rumsfeld.

"He has my full support and deepest appreciation."

Bush made clear he's keeping his Pentagon chief in place despite growing criticism by a parade of ex-military brass, with two Iraq war generals this week adding their dissent.

The generals blame Rumsfeld for foul-ups that have left Iraq riven by sectarian violence and say his arrogant approach to war planning shut out dissenting voices and substituted ideology for sound military advice.

The President's statement was followed hours later by supportive comments from Gen. Richard B. Myers, the retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General Tommy R. Franks, the retired commander of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Both appeared on cable news shows to criticize former colleagues for publicly questioning the civilian leadership while the nation remains at war.

Rumsfeld also rejected calls for his departure from what he called a handful of ex-commanders out of hundreds in the U.S. military.

"If every time two or three people disagreed we changed the secretary of defense of the United States, it would be like a merry-go-round," Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld twice offered his resignation to Bush after the Abu Ghraib prison-abuse scandal but Bush refused.

Now, most analysts take Bush at his word that he won't dump Rumsfeld anytime soon -- mainly because to do so would be to acknowledge critics who say Bush bungled Iraq.

In defending Rumsfeld, The New York Times reported, Bush seemed to have been asserting his standing as commander in chief, sending a signal to the generals that criticism of the defense secretary is the equivalent of criticism of his own stewardship of the war.

2 Marines killed

Two U.S. Marines were killed and 22 wounded -- two of them critically -- in fighting in western Iraq, the U.S. military said Saturday.

According to The Associated Press, a U.S. statement said the casualties were suffered Thursday as a result of "enemy action" in Anbar province but gave no specific location or details of the fighting.

One Marine was killed "at the scene of the attack," the statement said.

Another Marine died at a medical facility in Taqqadum.

Eight of the wounded were flown to the main U.S. hospital in Balad.

Two were listed in critical condition and six were reported as stable.

Meanwhile, dozens of Iraqi police remained missing and nine were dead after insurgents ambushed their convoy Thursday evening as they left a U.S. base at Taji where they had picked up new vehicles, Iraqi and U.S. officials said.

end quotes

Criticism of defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld IS the equivalent of criticism of George W. Bush's own incompetent stewardship of the war in IRAQINAM ......

And maybe that is just starting to dawn on George .....

After all these years have passed now ...

Since that day so long ago now ....

When George very mistakenly told us that in IRAQINAM .....

Major combat operations were over ...

When in fact ...

And this totally unknown to George ....

THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF .....

They had only just begun ....

And so ....

[Livyjr]

And as a Viet Nam veteran ...

Here is a name ....

That I remember .....

Quite well .....

And so ....

"Kalashnikov, still selling weapons at 86"

40 minutes ago

MOSCOW (AFP) - His name has entered the languages of the planet and his most famous creation has sold 100 million copies but at 86 Mikhail Kalashnikov, father of the assault rifle that bears his name, is still a busy man.

He travels, he sells, and in the face of criticism he sings the praises of the weapon he created.

Blue eyes, grey hair, sprightly, he lives in the Urals town of Izhevsk and arrived Saturday in Moscow to hit back at criticism in the US press of the sale of 100,000 Kalashnikovs to Venezuela.

"It isn't the first time they have tried to sneer at Russian weapons," he said in response to an article on April 10 in the conservative Washington Times which claimed that Caracas had suspended the contract because Moscow was supplying old weapons.

In any case, he said, the rifle named after him "is extremely simply made for a poorly educated soldier."

"During the Vietnam war US soldiers used to abandon their M-16s and take the Kalashnikovs of the Vietnamese troops they had killed."

"Every day in Baghdad the Americans use my weapons because theirs don't work very well there."

Kalshnikov is an advisor to Rosoboronexport, Russian's main arms export company, and is soon to visit Cuba "for the first time in my life" to have a look at the arms factory opened there during the Soviet era.

He is one of the most internationally known Russians and both before and after the communist era honours were heaped on him.

But his invention has brought him little by way of cash.

Russia may have exported weapons worth more than five billion dollars last year but fights a campaign, so far without much success, to have its rights to the Kalashnikov recognized.

Nine out of every 10 sold worldwide are counterfeits, said Vladimir Grodetsky, director general of the factory at Izhmach in the Urals where the original article is made.

In the Soviet era licenses were issued to some 20 friendly states, among them Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Libya, Iran and North Korea, but according to Grodetsky "none of these licenses is valid any more according to the norms of international law on the defence of intellectual property."

Talks "drag on and meantime they continue to manufacture and bid for contracts" at prices lower than those of the Russian producer, according to Dmitry Shugayev of Rosoboronexport.

Kalashnikov's history mirrors that of the Soviet Union.

He was born in November 1919 in a small village in Siberia.

His father was regarded as a kulak, a rich peasant, and deported in 1930 when Mikhail was 11.

He fought in World War II and was wounded in 1941.

He was evacuated to the rear and began designing the assault rifle that in 1947 became the AK-47.

Automatic weapons had been banned for the Red Army shortly before World War II by the deputy defence minister and in the climate of fear imposed by Stalin nobody dared challenge the ban, Kalashnikov wrote in his memoirs.

The prohibition went some way to explaining the defeat of the Red Army in Finland and its huge losses during the German offensive in 1941.

Today he regrets that the gun that bears his name is so often used in inter-ethnic conflicts.

"I created it to defend my country."

[jeffmoskin]

He was evacuated to the rear and began designing the assault rifle that in 1947 became the AK-47.

I was told that the AK-47 could be dropped in a mud puddle and still work fine, whereas the M-16 would jam.

Any truth to this?

I also heard about 5 years ago that Kalashnikov was trying to license his NAME!

He wanted to have a line of rolex-like watches, swiss army-like knives, and even a clothing line.

Tommy Hilfiger, keep your temples covered.

[Livyjr]

And then ...

There is the PATAKI STING .....

"Terror sting tapes sought - Lawyer for Yassin Aref asks for release of any calls as Sept. 6 trial date set for mosque leader and Mohammed Hossain"

By BRENDAN LYONS, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, April 15, 2006

ALBANY -- An attorney for an Albany mosque leader has asked the government to turn over any tape recordings of calls that his client allegedly made to a Syrian phone number the Justice Department claims was used to gather intelligence for Osama bin Laden.

Terence L. Kindlon, who is the attorney for Yassin Aref, a Kurdish refugee and the jailed spiritual leader of a Central Avenue mosque, is challenging the Justice Department's assertions that Aref aided terrorists when he called the Syrian number between 1999 and 2001.

"Yassin Aref assures me that those 13 calls, which the government is apparently claiming connect him to a terrorist organization, Ansar al Islam ... (were) personal in nature and do not in any way connect him to any alleged terrorist activity," Kindlon wrote in a letter this week to U.S. District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy.

The request, which is intended to force the government to disclose whether it secretly recorded Aref's telephone calls, was filed as McAvoy set a September trial date for Aref and another mosque member, Mohammed Hossain, who were indicted two years ago in connection with an FBI counterterrorism sting.

"The court has set a trial date of Sept. 6 and the government looks forward to putting on its proof," said Assistant U.S. Attorney William Pericak.

But pending challenges by defense attorneys, who are seeking access to classified government records involving their clients, could delay the start of the trial several months.

Last month, the defense attorneys asked the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan to intervene.

Their formal request seeks to undo the Justice Department's efforts to keep secret whether the National Security Agency eavesdropped on the e-mails or telephone calls of Aref and Hossain and whether the spying may have triggered the sting investigation.

It was the first challenge of the controversial NSA program in a federal appeals court, but it's not certain the circuit court will agree to hear the case.

If the NSA program triggered the sting, both Kindlon and Hossain's attorney, Kevin Luibrand, said they hope to have the indictment against their clients thrown out on the grounds it was the "poisonous fruit" of an unlawful wiretap.

But aside from the fight for that information in the appellate court, Kindlon's request this week is geared toward forcing the court to again address the NSA issue.

This time, Kindlon argues that any tape recordings should be disclosed because they could potentially exonerate his client in terms of any connections to terrorist figures.

His request was based on classified documents unsealed on March 21 that the Justice Department said show that Aref was linked to terrorist figures because he called a phone number linked to al-Qaida.

There was no information outlining what was discussed in the calls, though, and most of the FBI report was blacked out before being released.

The report claims an informant told the FBI that during October 2001 he was approached by someone soliciting intelligence about "flight training schools, access to airports in (redacted)" and information about "how close the individual could get to an aircraft."

The informant said he was instructed that any information could be distributed to "brothers" through two phone numbers in Damascus, Syria.

The report does not say anything about Aref.

But one of the numbers that the FBI believes was linked to terrorism was called repeatedly by Aref from his Albany home, according to federal authorities.

Kindlon said the information is meaningless because the number was at the headquarters for Islamic Movement for Kurdistan, a political organization which had an office in Damascus where Aref had worked after fleeing Iraq.

Aref called IMK because he had made many friends there, Kindlon added.

Aref and Hossain were arrested in August 2004 and accused of taking part in a plot to sell missile launchers to terrorists.

So far, defense attorneys in this and other terror-related cases have been thwarted in their attempts to learn whether the NSA program was used against their clients.

U.S. government officials have refused to publicly disclose the controversial program's use in any specific case.

The NSA's surveillance program has relied on a secret directive President Bush issued more than three years ago, after the Sept. 11 attacks.

It allowed the agency to circumvent court-authorized wiretaps as it eavesdropped on phone calls and e-mails exchanged between U.S. residents and people abroad.

The Bush administration has defended the practice, contending it was a matter of national security, and legal, to sift through thousands of phone calls and e-mails without a warrant or court order.

In January, The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, first reported that the NSA spying program may have prompted the FBI to zero in on Aref and Hossain.

Federal authorities have acknowledged Aref, a Kurdish refugee and religious scholar, was the "ultimate target" of their investigation, although they have not said why.

Aref has admitted he met people who the U.S. government has labeled terrorist figures, but he has denied being involved with their causes.

Officials have not made any similar charges against Hossain.

Hossain is free on bond while Aref remains jailed without bond pending trial.

Brendan Lyons can be reached at 454-5547 or by e-mail at blyons@timesunion.com.