Chalabi Named Iraq Oil Minister

Reported by WaPo. A 0.89% share of the vote in the recent elections hasn't stopped the ambitious Dr. Chalabi. Then again, neither did the fraud charges from Jordan or the misinformation he gave the administration on Saddam's weaponry or the US secrets he gave to Iran. In the plus column, his philosophy on Iraq's only industry of consequence dovetails nicely with the Vice President's interests: “American companies will have a big shot at Iraqi oil.” [Dr. Chalabi - Washington Post, 9/15/02]

NSA Leaks to be Investigated

CNN reports an investigation into the NSA spy leaks has begun at the Justice Department. The administration's time honored tactic of attacking the messenger is all they've got on this one (note: they've denied having anything to do with initiating the investigation). The leakers aren't terrorist sympathizers; they're patriots with a conscience and should be commended for remembering the Fourth Amendment their President forgot and exposing unlawful activity at the highest levels of power.

White House Fights Back

The White House denies that comments made in Buffalo in 2004 conflict with the secret NSA spy program. During earlier remarks at Kleinshans Music Hall the President had said: Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. Now the White House is trying to claim the remarks aren't on point because they were delivered in context of a discussion about the Patriot Act. This is no longer spin—it's a bold lie. There is only one credible interpretation of his comments: the Patriot Act does not change the fact that warrants are needed for wiretaps. It'll be interesting to see if this line of defense gets picked up by his base—a true litmus test for the Orwellian rhetoric of a President divorced from accountability.

Clark: War Unnecessary

From Crooks and Liars. Wesley Clark, an always eloquent opponent of the tragically misguided Iraq invasion, makes his case despite a perplexingly pro-Mistake line of questioning. $Q: ...we know in fact what the truth was that he [Saddam] did not have the programs that were used to justify the US invasion so there was hype in it and the invasion was, by the administration's logic, unnecessary. It's bizarre, and more than a little surreal that given the facts on record anyone can claim the war was justified. Kudos to Clarke for stating the obvious on the traditionally oblivious Fox News.

Source: Non-Terror Suspects Prosecuted

According to Insight, the NSA program was unsuccessful in bringing any major terrorism suspects to justice. But the information obtained was, in some circumstances, used to prosecute individuals with non-terror related charges: But despite the huge amount of raw material gathered under the legislation, the FBI has not captured one major al Qaeda operative in the United States. Instead, federal authorities have been allowed to use non-terrorist material obtained through the surveillance program for investigation and prosecution. In more than one case, the sources said, a surveillance target was prosecuted on non-terrorist charges from information obtained through wiretaps conducted without a court order. They said the FBI supported this policy in an attempt to pressure surveillance targets to cooperate. The article flies in the face of Bush's contention the program was limited and successful against high-priority targets. The scenario where suspects are prosecuted or encouraged to plea based on illegally obtained information has its American antecedents in McCarthyism. Substitute "terrorist" for "communist" and the picture becomes clearer.

Legal Challenges on Tap for Spying

From the New York Times: Lawyers involved in a disparate selection of terrorism cases have vowed to find out if their clients were illegally monitored and if so, to mount legal challenges. Already facing the likelihood of a congressional investigation in the new year, it will be hard for the President to maintain his wafer thin legal justification for the NSA program if a court deems the spying was illegal in any of the cases.

Coalition of the Billing Dwindling

Ukraine and Bulgaria have removed the last of their troops from Iraq, according to the Globe and Mail. $Q: "Not a single Ukrainian soldier remains on Iraqi soil," the [Ukrainian] ministry statement said. Also mentioned: Poland will cut troop levels by a more than a third in March.

FISC Judges Denied Bush Wiretaps

According to UPI, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court modified 179 administration warrants and denied or deferred six. This stands in drastic contrast to the picture of FISC as a rubber stamp for applications under previous administrations. The inferences are clear—Bush found the standards hard to meet and decided to do an end run around the law. Expected spin from White House surrogates: Ivory Tower judges don't understand the War on Terror and their activism is making you unsafe. Reality: the Fourth Amendment is still in force despite the best efforts of the administration to bypass it. Given their record of deceit and manipulation regarding threats to the nation's security now more than ever it's crucial the other branches of government get involved and stay involved in monitoring the executive.

Condi Okayed UN Spying

From Raw Story: UN delegates had their home phones and offices tapped in the diplomatic prelude to the Iraq War. The news played big abroad and small domestically when first revealed years ago, but cast in the light of recent NSA revelations it becomes even more disturbing. Was the culture at National Security Agency one where illegal spying was acceptable for political gain as well as national security?

Powell was Out of Spy Loop

According to CBS, the Secretary of State was not aware of the controversial warrantless spying the administration was conducting. Under FISA rules, only officials confirmed by the senate—like the SOC— could have certified applications for warrants. Rice as National Security Adviser or Cheney as Vice President would not have had that power. It's possible the administration went around the law to hide the activity from its own people.

Congressional Spy Focus to Expand

From the Washington Post, hard on the heels of the news that the NSA spy program was much more extensive than previously believed. Comment from a Republican aide: "We want to look at the entire program, an in-depth review, and this new data-mining issue is certainly a part of the whole picture" One can only hope it'll be more expeditious than Phase II of the senate's intelligence investigation. Party unity is fracturing as the elections in 2006 approach; an honest investigation into the NSA affair could widen the cracks in the republican ranks as the true conservatives sheer away from the administration apologists.