In the News: May-22

'No information' on whether Khadr cleared for release: Harper - 22 May 2009 at 1:29pm - Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday he doesn't know if Omar Khadr is among the 50 Guantanamo Bay detainees cleared for release by the U.S. government.

Pelosi: Nothing more to say on her CIA allegation - 22 May 2009 at 11:43am - WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she won't talk any more about her charge that the CIA lied in 2002 about using waterboarding on terrorism suspects.

Is there any more to say? Both parties seem to agree to the essence of the briefing: that specific interrogation techniques were not discussed; that Pelosi asked simply to be assured that no illegal techniques were being employed; and that she was thus assured. What also seems pretty obvious is that the CIA didn't make clear to Pelosi that, in thus providing those assurances, they were using White House legal counsel's tortuous definition of "illegal". Was that misleading? From Pelosi's perspective, the effect was certainly misleading. Did the CIA intend to mislead? I'll guess their intent -- knowing the interrogations were probably crossing the line, and hoping not to provoke an objection -- was to say as little as they could get away with saying.

Obama vows not to send people to war without cause - 22 May 2009 at 10:40am - President Barack Obama is promising newly graduated Navy and Marine officers that he will only send young Americans into battle when "it is absolutely necessary" and when the mission is well-defined.

U.N. seeks $543 million for displaced Pakistanis - 22 May 2009 at 9:12am - ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The United Nations launched an appeal on Friday for $543 million for more than 2 million people displaced by fighting in northwest Pakistan, where officials said villagers were turning against the Taliban.

Gates defends decision to close Guantanamo prison - 22 May 2009 at 8:23am - WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the Obama administration had no choice but to order the shutdown of the prison at Guantanamo because "the name itself is a condemnation" of U.S. anti-terrorism strategy.

Iraqis unhappy about life for U.S. rape soldier - 22 May 2009 at 7:33am - MAHMUDIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqis in the town where U.S. soldiers raped a 14-year-old girl and killed her family said on Friday they were unhappy the ringleader received a life sentence in a U.S. court, not the maximum penalty of execution.

Thought for the day:
"When I hear gentlemen say that politics ought to let business alone, I feel like inviting them to first consider whether business is letting politics alone." -Woodrow Wilson