A report released Tuesday by 13 members of the House Homeland Security Committee says that nearly three years after the cabinet department's creation, gaps still remain in federal efforts to defend the nation against terrorism - including at ports, borders and chemicals plants.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122805J.shtml

The New York Times is reporting defense lawyers for several Muslim men detained for alleged ties to Al Qaeda plan to bring legal challenges to determine whether the government used illegal wiretaps against them. Two weeks ago, the Times revealed the Bush administration has authorized eavesdropping on Americans and foreign nationals within the United States without court orders.

The challenges would affect some of the biggest terrorism cases in the country. Several lawyers said they intend to press the government on whether prosecutors misled the courts about the origins of their investigations and whether the government may have withheld wiretaps that could prove their clients' innocence. Meanwhile, Justice Department prosecutors told the Times they were concerned the wiretaps could create problems for past and future terrorism cases. One prosecutor said: "If I'm a defense attorney, the first thing I'm going to say in court is, 'This was an illegal wiretap.' "

http://www.democracynow.org



December 27th, 2005 11:03 pm

Defense Lawyers in Terror Cases Plan Challenges Over Spy Efforts

By Eric Lichtblau and James Risen / New York Times

WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 - Defense lawyers in some of the country's biggest terrorism cases say they plan to bring legal challenges to determine whether the National Security Agency used illegal wiretaps against several dozen Muslim men tied to Al Qaeda.

http://michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=5299


Informant: John Calvert

A proposal prohibiting defense contractor involvement in human trafficking for forced prostitution and labor was drafted by the Pentagon last summer, but five defense lobbying groups oppose key provisions and a final policy still appears to be months away.

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12976


From Information Clearing House

The 12 percent of the world’s population that lives in North America and Western Europe accounts for 60 percent of private consumption spending, while the one-third living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa accounts for only around 3 percent.

http://www.canadianshield.org/Kaan/consumption.htm


From Information Clearing House

As I was saying to a fellow peasant just the other day, it is ironic that this country should rebel against one King George only to bow down before another monarch of the same name more than 200 years later.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05361/628256.stm


From Information Clearing House

For all of you who still claim this president doesn't lie, this must come as a shock. For the rest of us it just comes as another "we told you. so."

http://www.lahontanvalleynews.com/article/20051226/Opinion/112260005


From Information Clearing House

Dr Rice, was trapped, cornered and hunted by the lies of the Bush administration about its treatment of 'unlawful combatants' or 'battlefield detainees' hidden and tortured in dozens of black holes round the world.

http://tinyurl.com/b8jk9


From Information Clearing House

Since Sept. 11, 2001, Bush's legal advisers have cleared the way for him to hold enemy combatants without trials; eavesdrop on overseas telephone calls and e-mails; place ever-greater numbers of government documents under a veil of secrecy; imprison a US citizen indefinitely on the suspicion of terrorist links; and, according to The Washington Post, operate a secret CIA prison in an Eastern European country.

http://tinyurl.com/98v4f


From Information Clearing House

Maher Arar: Timeline:

On a stopover in New York as he was returning to Canada from a vacation in Tunisia in September 2002, U.S. officials detained Arar, claiming he has links to al-Qaeda, and deported him to Syria, even though he was carrying a Canadian passport.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/arar/


From Information Clearing House

Intervention may have led Bush to bypass panel.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/253334_nsaspying24.html


From Information Clearing House