In The News - Feb. 03

Judge sets trial for Libby in CIA leak - 3 Feb 2006 at 9:55am - WASHINGTON -- A federal judge on Friday set former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's trial date for January 2007, two months after the midterm congressional elections.


Blair 'made secret US Iraq pact' - 3 Feb 2006 at 7:43am - Tony Blair and George Bush had already decided to invade Iraq in January 2003, a human rights lawyer claims.


Lawmakers Urge More Executive Branch Oversight - 3 Feb 2006 at 12:00am - The Bush administration's reluctance to provide lawmakers with documents related to domestic surveillance, the response to Hurricane Katrina and other matters prompted stern complaints from Congress yesterday, as Democrats in particular vowed to push for more aggressive oversight of the executive...


CIA Head Slams Wiretapping Disclosure - 2 Feb 2006 at 11:35pm - CIA Director Porter Goss said Thursday that the disclosure of President Bush's eavesdropping-without-warrants program and other once-secret projects has undermined U.S. intelligence-gathering abilities.

Did the disclosure of the program undermine it more than did Bush's insistence on conducting it illegally? And exactly in what way has it been undermined, since Bush has said he intends to continue the program?

U.S. Intel Chief Has No Fix on Bin Laden - 3 Feb 2006 at 10:59am - The U.S. spy agencies have not known where Osama bin Laden is hiding for some time, the nation's top intelligence official said Friday in an Associated Press interview. National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said the general view is that the...


Convict challenges NSA warrantless spying - 3 Feb 2006 at 11:45am - COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A lawyer for an Ohio trucker who pleaded guilty to plotting to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge has prepared a motion asking a federal judge to throw out the case on the grounds that the government illegally spied on him.


Sen. Roberts backs domestic spying - 3 Feb 2006 at 11:52am - WASHINGTON -- Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts on Friday strongly endorsed the Bush administration's argument that the president has the authority to conduct warrantless electronic surveillance in the U.S. in pursuit of terrorists.


Pentagon announces sweeping defense review - 3 Feb 2006 at 12:44pm - WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon Friday announced plans to significantly increase special operations forces, expand psychological warfare and develop a program to counter biological terrorism as part of a new broadbased military strategy for the 21st century.

Call me old-fashioned for thinking this way, but... if you want foreign peoples to believe that what you're doing is somehow going to be beneficial to them, wouldn't it be easier simply to do something beneficial for them, as opposed to tricking them into believing it through "expanding psychological warfare"? Or maybe the plan is to trick U.S. citizens. Who knows?

Kan. court blocks abortion records' access - 3 Feb 2006 at 12:41pm - TOPEKA, Kan. -- The state's highest court on Friday temporarily stopped the state attorney general from looking at records from two abortion clinics, saying such a review could violate patient privacy.


Judge orders Padilla's shackles removed - 3 Feb 2006 at 12:27pm - MIAMI -- U.S. officials who want terror suspect Jose Padilla to wear handcuffs and ankle chains during open court appearances must first show he poses a direct safety threat, a federal judge said Friday.


Docs: Similar wiretap debate 30 years ago - 3 Feb 2006 at 7:16pm - WASHINGTON -- An intense debate erupted during the Ford administration over the president's powers to eavesdrop without warrants to gather foreign intelligence, according to newly disclosed government documents. George H.W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney are cited in the documents.

Democrats want intelligence on N Korea published (Reuters) - 3 Feb 2006 at 7:22pm - Reuters - Senate Democrats asked President George W. Bush on Friday to publish U.S. intelligence on the nuclear threat posed by North Korea and questioned the president's commitment to dealing with the issue.