In the News - Feb. 19

Report: Pentagon warned on torture, abuse - 19 Feb 2006 at 2:18pm - WASHINGTON -- The Navy's former general counsel warned Pentagon officials two years before the Abu Ghraib prison scandal that circumventing international agreements on torture and detainees' treatment would invite abuse, according to a published report.


Hussein tapes: U.S. will be hit by terrorists - 19 Feb 2006 at 12:42pm - Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein told his Cabinet in the mid-1990s that the U.S. would fall victim to terrorists possessing weapons of mass destruction but that Iraq would not be involved, tapes released at an intelligence summit reveal. U.S. officials who have reviewed the tapes said Hussein was "fixated" on acquiring weapons of mass destruction and preventing U.N. inspectors from finding out.


Lawmakers call for revamp of disaster agency - 19 Feb 2006 at 12:17pm - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The woeful federal response to Hurricane Katrina shows a need to overhaul the U.S. emergency relief agency to ensure a more effective reaction to future disasters, two lawmakers said on Sunday.

Clinton: Secrecy Sparked Shooting Reaction (AP) - 19 Feb 2006 at 11:55am - AP - Former President Clinton said Sunday the Bush administration's "enormous penchant for secrecy" sparked the strong reaction to Vice President Dick Cheney's shooting mishap.


At a Scientific Gathering, U.S. Policies Are Lamented - 18 Feb 2006 at 11:00pm - Speakers at a session during an annual meeting of scientists in St. Louis denounced Bush administration policies they said threatened sound science.


French envoy says Guantanamo an 'embarrassment' - 19 Feb 2006 at 3:13pm - WASHINGTON (AFP) - The British, French and German ambassadors to Washington said that the United States must close its Guantanamo "war on terror" detention camp which the French envoy called "an embarrassment."