Sunday 5/16/04

This election, unlike 2000, may be a rout  5/16/04 CSM

Gobierno venezolano: Empieza el desmonte de la farsa  5/16/04 El Mundo, Medellin: en el sitio de los paramilitares, la AUC.

Guantanamo: US guards 'filmed beatings' at terror camp  5/16/04 Guardian: "Dozens of videotapes of American guards allegedly engaged in brutal attacks on Guantanamo Bay detainees have been stored and catalogued at the camp, an investigation by The Observer has revealed. The disclosures, made in an interview with Tarek Dergoul, the fifth British prisoner freed last March, who has been too traumatised to speak until now, prompted demands last night by senior politicians on both sides of the Atlantic to make the videos available immediately. They say that if the contents are as shocking as Dergoul claims, they will provide final proof that brutality against detainees has become an institutionalised feature of America's war on terror."

PERIODISTAS PELIGROSOS  5/16/04 Jiribilla: "Sin previo aviso, EEUU exige un visado especial para periodistas y quien no lo posea es extraditado de inmediato del país. 14 periodistas sufrieron ya las consecuencias."

Colombia: Riding Shotgun on a Pipeline  5/16/04 LA Times

White House memo shifts abuse inquiry’s focus - Pentagon confronts fresh assertions in Newsweek, The New Yorker  5/16/04 MSNBC

The New Racial Domain  5/16/04 Znet: By Manning Marable - "The nearly forty million Americans of African descent find ourselves in an unprecedented situation, with the slow demise of affirmative action. The enemies of racial justice have not (yet) reinstalled "colored" and "white" signs at restrooms and restaurants. Jim Crow segregation isn't just around the corner. Yet something more powerful and deadly seems to be on the agenda."

Saturday 5/15/04

The Unanswered Questions of Nick Berg's Murder  5/15/04 AntiWar: "An editorial in today's New York Times concludes: "The occupation authority needs to stop passing off those questions to the Iraqi police force, which does not exist other than as an agent of American power. The Berg family deserves answers so they can grieve for their son's death in peace." "

Brutality starts at home  5/15/04 Asia Times: ""Five years ago, after prison scandals gripped California with tales of guards setting up inmates in human cockfights and then shooting them dead, the state Department of Corrections vowed to change its ways," read a December 28, 2003 article from the Los Angeles Times. Notably, the article was entitled "Despite State Promises, Reform Eludes Prisons", illustrating a well-established official pattern of effectively condoning abuse, then paying lip-service to outrage and reform when a scandal breaks." - long list of ignored violations in this article.

THE GRAY ZONE - How a secret Pentagon program came to Abu Ghraib.  5/15/04 New Yorker: "The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. Rumsfeld’s decision embittered the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of élite combat units, and hurt America’s prospects in the war on terror."

Danish medics reported seeing tortured Iraqis  5/15/04 New Zealand Herald: Danish army medics in Iraq saw two prisoners at a British field hospital who had been beaten, one of them to death, the Danish Defence Ministry said on Friday.

Stephen A. Cambone  5/15/04 Right Web: Cambone is highlighted in Seymour Hersh's recent article "The Grey Zone" as being in charge of the most extreme measures undertaken world-wide by Rumsfeld.

Iraqi holy cities ‘red line’ warns Iran  5/15/04 The News, Pakistan

Friday 5/14/04

Pentagon concedes interrogation techniques illegal  5/14/04 ABC

Bloggers doubt Berg execution video  5/14/04 Al Jazeera: "However, the circumstances of the video release are also strange. A Reuters journalist in Dubai first named the Muntada al-Ansar al-Islami website as the source for the video – at www.al-ansar.biz. Although the site has now been shut down, Aljazeera.net looked at the site within 90 minutes of the story breaking – and could find no such video footage. But Fox News, CNN and the BBC were all able to download the footage from the Arabic-only website and report the story within the hour."

Torture at Abu Ghraib followed CIA's manual  5/14/04 Boston Globe: "THE PHOTOS from Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison are snapshots not of simple brutality or a breakdown in discipline but of CIA torture techniques that have metastasized over the past 50 years like an undetected cancer inside the US intelligence community. From 1950 to 1962, the CIA led secret research into coercion and consciousness that reached a billion dollars at peak. After experiments with hallucinogenic drugs, electric shocks, and sensory deprivation, this CIA research produced a new method of torture that was psychological, not physical -- best described as "no touch" torture."

Najaf standoff causing Shiite rift  5/14/04 CSM

"Harsh Methods" Aren't Torture, Says the New York Times  5/14/04 FAIR

America's military coup  5/14/04 Guardian: "For decades, Rumsfeld has had a reputation as a great white shark of the bureaucratic seas: sleek, fast-moving and voracious. As counsellor to Richard Nixon during the impeachment crisis, his deputy was the young Dick Cheney, and together they helped to right the ship of state under Gerald Ford. Here they were given a misleading gloss as moderates; competence at handling power was confused with pragmatism. Cheney became the most hardline of congressmen, and Rumsfeld informed acquaintances that he was always more conservative than they imagined. One lesson they seem to have learned from the Nixon debacle was ruthlessness. His collapse confirmed in them a belief in the imperial presidency based on executive secrecy. One gets the impression that, unlike Nixon, they would have burned the White House tapes."

Guantánamo abuse same as Abu Ghraib, say Britons  5/14/04 Guardian, UK: "The Guardian has learned that some of the British detainees released from Guantánamo Bay have reported that they were sexually abused. There is no way to independently verify these details. According to a source, who has interviewed them in secret since their release, they were initially too ashamed to talk about it, and are only now starting to give details. The source said: "They are embarrassed about talking about it because they feel humiliated. We have had an account that their religion was used against them, that a copy of the Koran was brought in front of them and pages torn out." "

Abu Ghraib Guard Paints Harrowing Portrait of Abuse  5/14/04 LA Times

Secret US jails hold 10,000  5/14/04 New Zealand Herald: Al Qaeda has its roots in the jails of Saudi Arabia - "Some of these detention centres are so sensitive that even the most senior members of the United States Congress have no idea where they are. From Iraq to Afghanistan to Cuba, this American gulag is driven by the pressure to obtain "actionable" intelligence from prisoners captured by US forces. The systematic practice of holding prisoners without access to lawyers or their families, together with a willingness to use "coercive interrogation" techniques, suggests the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib now shocking the world could be widespread."

Thursday 5/13/04

Accounts of Atrocities Emerge from the Rubble of Fallujah  5/13/04 AntiWar: "His 44 year-old brother who was driving, Jabul Nezzar Raad, was killed. Jabur and his other brother were detained and taken to a U.S. base outside the city. His downcast eyes spoke of terror while he said, "They didn't treat me as bad as the others since I was wounded. With the others, they dug holes in the ground and kept them there. I heard their screaming whenever they were being interrogated." He told of an old man who was unable to walk after being tortured, and added, "Please publish this. People need to know how the Americans are treating Iraqi prisoners. We were starved, given very little food. The soldiers took the better food out of the bags, and gave us what little was left. Then they burned the good food in front of us." …One of the neighbors, seeing that I was a journalist, came out to tell yet another horrific tale. His brother, Hussein Mohammad Jergi, was a 43 year-old man who had a mental disability. He wandered out of his home on the same day the car was shot up, only to be shot and injured by the snipers himself. With tears in his eyes, his brother angrily told the rest of the story. "He was shot and ran into the house. They followed him into our home, took out a big knife and chopped off his feet. Then they shot him in the head. After destroying much of our furniture, and putting shit around my house, they left. This is how they behaved all over Fallujah. We buried my brothers' feet with his body." "

Polls: Abuse Photos Spell Trouble for War Party  5/13/04 AntiWar

Haitians Seized, Abused by US Marines - Women, Children Subjected to Hood Treatment  5/13/04 Black Commentator: "At 12:30 in the morning of May 10, approximately 20 U.S. Marines executed a military assault on the Port-au-Prince home of 69-year-old Annette Auguste, a.k.a. Souer Anne. Auguste’s residence is part of a compound that includes four other apartments that were also invaded by the U.S. military forces. The troops covered the heads of 11 Haitians with black hoods and then forced them to lay face down on the ground while binding their wrists with plastic manacles behind their backs. The victims of this terrifying U.S. military invasion included five-year-old Chamyr Samedi, 10-year-old Kerlande Philippe, 12-year-old Loubahida Augustine, 14-year-old Luckman Augustine, and seven adults. The Marines blew up a vehicle and a substantial part of Auguste’s three-story house, leaving behind c4 and c5 explosives paraphernalia including blasting caps and igniters. Not a single member of the Haitian National Police force (PNH) or the de facto Haitian government was present when the U.S. forces attacked the residence, said the arrestees. All the detainees except Auguste were released after questioning… Annette Auguste has been a frequent target of the Haitian elite, due to her close ties with President Aristide. She is the leader of PROP (Pouvwa Rasembleman Organizacion Popile), a popular Lavalas organization. She is also a singer of Haitian folk songs and is open about her practice of voodoo, officially recognized as a national religion for the first time in Haitian history under the Aristide administration. Ms. Auguste’s religious beliefs and practices have led to many unfounded, disparaging rumors and a campaign of demonization against her."

Venezuela Asks U.S. Military to Leave Bases, Nacional Reports  5/13/04 Bloomberg: "Venezuela asked the U.S. military to vacate offices on military bases it has occupied for more than 50 years, U.S. Ambassador Charles Shapiro said, according to El Nacional."

Emergency Action Alert - Demand the immediate release of Anne Auguste (Sò Anne)  5/13/04 Haiti Action: "Haitian singer and Lavalas activist arrested on Mother's Day - Protest this illegal and immoral action by the United States Marines! Demand Sò Anne's immediate release! Your calls, faxes and e-mails will make a difference to keep Sò Anne alive, to deter brutal treatment and to expedite her release. Please contact Ambassador James Foley directly at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince. Call on Secretary of State Colin Powell at the U.S. State Department in Washington, and contact your Senators and Representatives. Call early and call often."

Venezuela Is Evicting U.S. Attachés From Bases  5/13/04 NYT

Chávez: Nuestro país ha sido invadido por fuerzas extranjeras  5/13/04 Rebelion: "El presidente de la República Bolivariana, Hugo Chávez Frías, denunció que el grupos de irregulares colombianos detenidos el domingo, forma parte de una red internacional que intenta derrocar al Gobierno, la cual tiene, inicialmente, sus ejes de acción en Miami y Colombia."

Student uncovers US military secrets  5/13/04 Register: "The first task is to identify the font, and font size the missing word was written in. Once that is done, the dictionary search begins for words that fit the space, plus or minus three pixels, Naccache explained. This process yielded 1,530 possibilities for word blanked out of a sentence in the Bush memo. Then, the text anaysis routine checks for words that would make sense in English. The sentence was: "An Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) operative told an XXXXXXXX service at the same time that Bin Ladin was planning to exploit the operative's access to the US to mount a terrorist strike." Just 346 words remained on the list at this stage. The next stage is to involve the brain of the researcher. This eliminated all but seven words: Ugandan, Ukrainian, Egyptian, uninvited, incursive, indebted and unofficial. Naccache plumped for Egyptian, in this case."

Chilling new evidence of the brutal regime at Iraqi prison  5/13/04 Scotsman: "The abuse scandal had threatened to destroy support for the war in Iraq, but anger in the United States at the beheading of an American captive appears to have tipped the balance back a little. In the US yesterday, television and radio talk shows were filled with angry calls for vengeance against the killers, believed to be led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an associate of Osama bin Laden." - the life of one white man...

U.S. Marines arrest Haitian singer and activist So Anne on Mother’s Day  5/13/04 SF Bay View: "So Ann is an elderly woman on medication and has yet to be charged or to see a judge in accordance with the 48-hour rule under the Haitian Constitution. This is an urgent call to action. Please contact Secretary of State Colin Powell, your local congressperson, the Congressional Black Caucus and the media to denounce the arrest of So Anne, the systematic terror campaign against Lavalas demonstrators, and the treatment of Haitians like So Anne and her 5-year-old great grandson Shashou by the U.S. command with the Multinational Interim Force in Haiti."

Leaking self-doubt  5/13/04 Spiked: "Tracing how the photos became such hot public property reveals something striking, not only about the torture scandal, but about the coalition itself. This is a story, not of investigative journalism or antiwar activists exposing imperialist America to the world, but rather of America exposing its own uncertainty for all to see. The photos appear to have come from within US military or political circles; they were effectively volunteered for public consumption by elements within the military or higher up in the Pentagon, seemingly as part of a process of internal unravelling and deep disagreement over aspects of the war. In a sense, the publication of these photos to international outrage can be seen as the externalisation of America's own self-doubt about Iraq, and about its own mission in the world."

Fourteen more Colombian paramilitaries captured in Lomas de Lagunita  5/13/04 Vheadlines: "According to the report filed by Ricardo Duran of Venezolana de Television (VTV), an unidentified source stated that of 24 people who had performed domestic services at the ranch, only 14 were alive. The others were executed by a paramilitary who was called “Commandante Carlos,” and who presumably has already been captured. The witness also said that the paramilitaries beheaded Colombian campesinos and cut open their thoraxes to avoid decomposition. According to statements made by the people captured today, there is still a large group of fugitives hiding in the mountains."

Presumed Colombian paramilitaries detained in eastern Anzoategui State  5/13/04 Vheadlines

Venezuelan security and intelligence agencies seize munitions in Aragua  5/13/04 Vheadlines

Wednesday 5/12/04

Dip. Pedro Carreño: paramilitares detenidos tienen perfil de combatientes entrenados  5/12/04 Aporrea: "Carreño citó una publicación del diario New Herald del 22 octubre de 2002, según la cual el capitán retirado García Morales suscribe un acuerdo con anticastristas para "compartir información de contrainteligencia y jornadas de entrenamiento militar de manera de estar preparados para el peor escenario que es el de una posible guerra civil en Venezuela". Estos entrenamientos, según aseguró el diputado Carreño, se hacen con armas semiautomáticas, fusiles de asalto AK47, pistolas 9 mm en actividades a campo traviesa en La Florida. Señaló, asimismo, que Alonso tiene un programa de radio llamado Mesa Redonda que se transmite todos los jueves a través de una Radio Anticastrista, al cual ha invitado a factores de oposición venezolana."

Semblante del agusanado contrarrevolucionario ROBERT ALONSO, implicado en la "siembra" de paramilitares colombianos  5/12/04 Aporrea

Councilor takes up Iraq issue - Turner releasespurported images of rape by soldiers  5/12/04 Boston Globe: "Holding a news conference with activist Sadiki Kambon in the wake of congressional hearings over incendiary photographs of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, City Councilor Chuck Turner said, "The American people have a right and responsibility to see the pictures." The images, depicting men in camouflage uniforms having sex with unidentified women, bear no characteristics that would prove the men are US soldiers or that the women are Iraqis. And there is nothing apparent in the images showing they were taken in Iraq. Unlike the photographs widely publicized last week, the images appear to have been taken outdoors in a sandy area with hills in the background. Kambon, who is director of the Black Community Information Center, said at the news conference that he received the photographs by e-mail from Akbar Muhammad, a representative for the Nation of Islam."

Sin previo aviso, EEUU exige un visado especial para periodistas y quien no lo posea es extraditado de inmediato del país. 14 periodistas sufrieron ya las consecuencias.  5/12/04 Defense & the National Interest: "But the growing probability is that we will be driven out of Iraq by a general uprising, an intifada in which every American will be the target of every Iraqi and our boys (and, in America’s Neo-Model Army, girls) will have to fight their way out in a scene like that which faced Gordon in the Sudan. It is not a pleasant prospect. It means thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of American and “coalition” casualties, many times more Iraqi casualties, and one of history’s more memorable defeats, right up there with Syracuse, Waterloo and Stalingrad. The after-shocks will be severe, as regimes tumble from Pakistan through the Persian Gulf and Egypt to Britain and America itself. You can look forward to seeing the Dow at 3000, if not 300."

Paramilitary cells in seven Venezuelan states  5/12/04 Granma: "The days of Holy Week were used to equip these groups, during which arms and munitions were transferred from Paraguaná Peninsula to Carabobo, an action camouflaged as citizen security operations, López explained. He directly placed responsibility for this operation on the current governor of Carabobo, Henrique Salas Feo, and José Curiel, the former governor of Falcón, who organized the transfer in official Carabobo government vehicles and ambulances, among other vehicles."

PRISONER ABUSE: PATTERNS FROM THE PAST  5/12/04 National Security Archives

200,000 Employees Awaiting Clearance to Work for Military  5/12/04 NYT: "Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, the commander in charge of military jails in Iraq, said last week that Mr. Stefanowicz remained at work at the prison but was no longer "actively involved in investigations." Instead, he is assigned to "administrative duties," the general said. He added that he believed that Mr. Israel "is not with us any longer." Mr. Israel worked for a subcontractor of the Titan Corporation of San Diego. A spokesman for Titan would not name the subcontractor." Mr. Israel is suspected of being an Israeli. It is known that the US employs Russian contractors in Afghanistan, where they so terrify the Afghans based on past experience that many talk right away when confronted with them.

Kerry Says McCain Good Choice to Head Pentagon  5/12/04 Reuters

Alonso calls on people to take up civil rebellion to topple Chavez Frias  5/12/04 Vheadlines: "Venezuelan hard-line opposition group Bloque Democratica (BD) leader, Roberto Alonso has confirmed his role as celebrity subversive in the latest attempt to set up a domestic sabotage chain in Venezuela by calling on people to take up civil rebellion against the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez Frias."

Chavez Frias government reveals at least 50 paramilitaries still deployed in Caracas  5/12/04 Vheadlines

Venezuela's Public Defender German Mundarain denounces US interference in paramilitary case  5/12/04 Vheadlines: "The maximum defender of human rights said that he’s convinced that “there are (local) groups who are conniving with traditional terrorist and criminal groups.” He added that he is fed up with knowing how paramilitary groups operate in the world, principally in Colombia, almost always with funding from drug trafficking; they are permanently dedicated to developing terrorist acts."

Venezuela: Terrorist Plot Foiled!  5/12/04 Znet

Tuesday 5/11/04

Speech met with disbelief  5/11/04 Al Jazeera: "Analysts have said the damage from images seen worldwide of soldiers abusing naked Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghuraib prison would be indelible, incalculable and a gift to al-Qaida leader Usama bin Ladin. What people saw, they said, was the true image of the occupation: humiliation of an occupied people, contempt for Islam, sadism and racism. "After Mr Bush's decision to keep Rumsfeld, all their apologies seem like lip service," said Dubai-based political analyst Jawad al-Anani. "Mr Rumsfeld would have certainly lost his job if the prisoners were American." "

Rumsfeld and the 'beastly' Boykin  5/11/04 Asia Times: "However, it is likely that an apology might not be enough to get Rumsfeld off the hook, and it could be a matter of perhaps a very short time before his administrative career comes to an end. But behind Rumsfeld's apologies lies an attempt to cover up a controversial character hired by him to pin down the "interrogation" process: Lieutenant-General William "Jerry" Boykin, a Christian fundamentalist and no lover of Muslims."

Nato aids Africa to combat terror  5/11/04 BBC: "Western military chiefs and African officials are trying to identify ways to prevent terror groups like al-Qaeda gaining a foothold in north Africa."

Venezuela Forecasts $7 Bln in Additional Oil Revenue  5/11/04 Bloomberg: "Central Bank Director Armando Leon said in an interview with the Venpres news agency that revenue from oil sales may be between $5 billion and $7 billion higher than initially forecast. Leon said the extra money may be placed in the country's oil fund, which is used to cover government spending when oil prices are low."

Rebel cleric supporters threaten suicide attacks in video release  5/11/04 CBS

Israeli link possible in US torture techniques - In exchange for interrogation training, did Washington award security contracts?  5/11/04 Daily Star, Lebanon: "Meanwhile, more evidence has emerged undermining the US thesis that the abuses at Abu Ghraib was the work of a "few bad apples." The Guardian reported that the "sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison was not an invention of maverick guards, but part of a system of ill-treatment and degradation used by special forces soldiers that is now being disseminated among ordinary troops and contractors." This system, known to insiders as "R2I," short for resistance to interrogation, also includes such methods as "hooding, sleep deprivation, time disorientation and depriving prisoners not only of dignity, but of fundamental human needs, such as warmth, water and food." These are all techniques long employed by Israel. The visit of the US delegation that included the CACI head exposes a rarefied web of influence sharing in which US government officials and congressmen, defense contractors and lobbyists parcel out huge contracts, and siphon significant portions off to Israel."

Certain U.S. soldiers specialized in sodomy  5/11/04 Granma: "CERTAIN U.S. soldiers specialized in practicing sodomy with Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Gharib prison, according to a former colonel from the Iraqi Army who was detained for three months at this center on the outskirts of Baghdad. Abu Ghraib prison guards specialized in humiliating torture for the Iraqi prisoners. (The Washington Post). "The man in charge of my section raped several prisoners, both men and women," confirmed the former military commander in a statement published today in the French daily Libération. Colonel Areth explained that the U.S. soldiers "were not the only ones" who committed such acts, as "there were also Iraqis who raped other Iraqis"."

Sadr offers peace deal in return for talks  5/11/04 IOL, SA

Declassified Army and CIA Manuals Used in Latin America: An Analysis of Their Content  5/11/04 Latin America Working Group: the traditions upon which Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib were built.

Chiquita paid alleged terror groups - Banana producer says Colombian unit made protection payments to groups U.S. regards as terrorists.  5/11/04 Reuters: the banana republic - "Chiquita ships bananas from plants in northern Colombia in areas with a heavy presence of the outlawed far-right United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, which is responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in recent Colombian history. Known by its Spanish initials AUC, it has killed thousands of people, mainly peasants, for suspected links to Marxist rebels over the past few years. It also traffics cocaine, according to U.S. officials. Human rights groups say the AUC worked closely with the army in a push against rebels in the Uraba banana growing region in the 1990s."

General Who Made Anti-Islam Remark Tied to POW Case  5/11/04 Reuters: "The U.S. Army general under investigation for anti-Islamic remarks has been linked by U.S. officials to the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, which experts warned could touch off new outrage overseas. A Senate hearing into the abuse of Iraqi prisoners was told on Tuesday that Lt. Gen. William Boykin, an evangelical Christian under review for saying his God was superior to that of the Muslims, briefed a top Pentagon civilian official last summer on recommendations on ways military interrogators could gain more intelligence from Iraqi prisoners. Critics have suggested those recommendations amounted to a senior-level go-ahead for the sexual and physical abuse of prisoners, possibly to "soften up" detainees before interrogation -- a charge the Pentagon denies."

Venezuela: The implausible story of the unarmed paramilitary captured  5/11/04 Vcrisis: with a link to Miami based CubaNet…

More Anti-Government Paramilitaries Captured in Venezuela  5/11/04 Venezuela Analysis

Bloque Democratica Alonso's role confirms Miami-Colombia-Venezuela axis  5/11/04 Vheadlines: "(Miami) Radio Mambi's Ninoska Perez Castellon, who frequently interviewed Alonso on her talk show, has confirmed that the last time her guest appeared on the show, he was worried because Chavez was persecuting him… The gung-ho emergence of Alonso seems to corroborate, as some experts suggest, the existence of a triangle between paramilitary elements in Miami, Venezuela and Colombia. Alonso describes himself as Cuban-born but raised in Venezuela and is said to have strong links with anti-Castro activists in Florida where anti-Chavist Venezuelans have been receiving paramilitary training to infiltrate and sabotage installations in Venezuela."

Mistreatment Of Detainees Went Beyond Guards' Abuse Ex-Prisoners, Red Cross Cite Flawed Arrests, Denial of Rights  5/11/04 Washington Post

Monday 5/10/04

Uncle Sam's 'gift' to al-Qaida  5/10/04 Al Jazeera: "Arabs said the scandal made a mockery of yearly US reports on countries violating human rights and using torture. The disturbing images, played over and over again on Arab satellite channels and splashed over newspapers, dealt a new blow to Washington not only politically but to its moral model of democracy in the eyes of Arabs and the world, analysts said."

Pipeline blast cuts Iraq's oil exports by 25 percent, US troops clash with Shiite gunmen  5/10/04 AP

Venezuela soldiers raid U.S. Embassy warehouse, detain more suspects in alleged paramilitary plot  5/10/04 AP

Diosdado Cabello: Silencio de la oposición es muy sospechoso  5/10/04 Aporrea: "El candidato a la gobernación del estado Miranda, Diosdado Cabello dijo que la situación de los paramilitares colombianos capturados en un operativo conjunto de los cuerpos de seguridad del Estado venezolano, la Disip, Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas (Cicpc) y Fuerza Armada Nacional (en el sector Gavilán en la finca Daktary, Municipio El Hatillo, vía Turgua, estado Miranda), "es tan grave que pone en riesgo la seguridad de todos los venezolanos" e interpretó el silencio de la oposición como muestra de complicidad ante los hechos."

Exhumaron osamenta en hacienda donde entrenaban paramilitares que planeaban derrocar a Chávez  5/10/04 Aporrea: "Fue localizada la osamenta de una persona, quien aún no ha sido identificada, en el área de la hacienda Daktari, donde fue capturado el primer grupo de paramilitares colombianos, en la madrugada del domingo 9 de los corrientes, informó el jefe de la División Contra Homicidios, del Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas (Cicpc), comisario Juan Iglesias… Asimismo, Chávez garantizó el respeto a los derechos humanos de los paramilitares colombianos detenidos a la fecha y quienes aún están en fuga, "no habrá torturas ni encapuchados para aplicar corriente eléctrica ni violaciones ni sadomasoquismo", en apego a la Constitución Bolivariana de Venezuela y en función de la paz de la República."

SA considers Aristide sanctuary  5/10/04 BBC

The Israeli Torture Template - Rape, Feces and Urine-Dipped Cloth Sacks  5/10/04 Counterpunch: "In fact, the Taguba report does reference the presence of non-U.S. and non-Iraqi interrogators at Abu Ghraib. The report states, "In general, US civilian contract personnel (Titan Corporation, CACI, etc), third country nationals, and local contractors do not appear to be properly supervised within the detention facility at Abu Ghraib." The Pentagon is clearly concerned about the outing of the Taguba report and its references to CACI, Titan, and third country nationals, which could permanently damage U.S. relations with Arab and Islamic nations. The Pentagon's angst may explain why the Taguba report is classified Secret No Foreign Dissemination."

Most Iraqi detainees 'arrested by mistake'  5/10/04 Financial Times: "Coalition military intelligence officers believed 70-90 per cent of Iraqi detainees were "arrested by mistake", according to a leaked Red Cross report on prisoner abuse, further details of which were disclosed on Monday."

Censoring: You can write but can't hide  5/10/04 IHT

Irak/Témoignage du colonel Areth de l'ex-armée irakienne passé par la prison d'Abou Gharib: «Des soldats spécialisés dans la sodomie»  5/10/04 Liberation, Paris: "Les ennuis ne commencent que si les enquêteurs trouvent des écarts dans vos réponses entre le premier et le dernier questionnaire. Ils passent alors à la deuxième phase. Avant que ne débutent ces nouveaux interrogatoires, les gardiens t'emmenaient dans les bâtiments en dur, à côté de la section des femmes. C'est là qu'ont été prises les photos publiées dans la presse. Tu devais y rester vingt jours, entièrement nu, sans couverture. Les gardes y avaient tous les droits, humiliations, sévices, viols. Quand ils sortaient de là, les gars les plus forts, les plus courageux, étaient brisés, soumis. Au cours des trois mois que j'ai passé à Abou Gharib, dans mon camp de tentes, sur 750 personnes une quinzaine de prisonniers ont eu à subir ce traitement.»"

Iraq Cleric to Widen War After U.S. Bombs Baghdad HQ  5/10/04 Reuters: "Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr Monday ordered his Mehdi Army to launch a broad new offensive against U.S.-led occupying forces following a U.S. crackdown on his strongholds in Baghdad and across the south. U.S. bombs flattened his office in the capital overnight. "We have now entered a second phase of resistance," said Sadr's chief aide at his main base in the holy city of Najaf."

Prison Abuse: An MI Officer Sounds Off  5/10/04 Soldiers For The Truth

Detainees were living in a presumed paramilitary encampment in Sabaneta  5/10/04 Vheadlines: "Police authorities and deputies from the government party were assured that the irregulars had been hidden on a ranch belonging to Robert Alonso, a well-known opponent in Venezuela of the President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, who is suspected of being the intellectual author of acts of street violence in Venezuela between February 27 and March 3 this year, during which 14 people died. Alonso os the brother of the famous Venezuelan actress Maria Conchita Alonso, who lives in Los Angeles, USA."

US government spokesman disparages capture of Colombian paramilitaries in Venezuela ... gets his information by watching news (?) broadcasts  5/10/04 Vheadlines

"There is one safeguard known generally to the wise, which is an advantage and security to all, but especially to Democracies as against despots: suspicion." -- Demosthenes

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