In the News: Aug-24

Prosecutor to probe alleged CIA abuse - 24 Aug 2009 at 2:51pm - WASHINGTON -- A Justice Department official says Attorney General Eric Holder has picked prosecutor John Durham to investigate CIA mistreatment of terror suspects.

New Shiite alliance excludes Iraqi prime minister - 24 Aug 2009 at 10:21am - Major Shiite groups have formed a new alliance that will exclude the Iraqi prime minister, lawmakers said Monday, a step likely to stoke fears of increasing Iranian influence and shake up the political landscape before January parliamentary elections. The coalition will include the largest Shiite party, the Iranian-backed Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, or SIIC, and anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's bloc, as well as some small Sunni and secular parties.

Official: White House sets up interrogation unit - 24 Aug 2009 at 8:10am - WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has moved forcefully to abandon Bush administration terrorism-era interrogation policies, approving creation of a special White House unit for questioning suspects as Attorney General Eric Holder weighs an internal Justice Department call to reopen and pursue a host of prisoner abuse cases.

Guantanamo prisoner detained as teen back in Afghanistan - 24 Aug 2009 at 6:44am - KABUL, Afghanistan — A young Afghan whose six-year detention at Guantanamo came to symbolize many of the problems of the Bush administration's war on terror detention policies arrived in his home country today, less than a month after a federal judge in Washington ordered his release.

Justice Dept advises pursuing CIA abuses: report - 24 Aug 2009 at 4:46am - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has recommended reopening nearly a dozen prisoner-abuse cases, which could expose CIA employees and contractors to prosecution for their treatment of terrorism suspects, The New York Times reported on Monday.

Thought for the day:
When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane. -Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)