Is the military gearing up to execute prisoners? The BBC reports it has changed it's rules on implementing death sentences. There are six prisoners currently on death row after courts-martial proceedings.

One of the changes pertains to where executions take place. Previoiusly, the rules specified Ft. Leavenworth, KS as the place of execution.

The revision also makes it possible for executions to take place at any military prison, not just Fort Leavenworth. This, according to anti-death penalty protesters, means it would be technically legal for executions to take place at Guantanamo Bay.

[Via Raw Story.]

Not surprisingly, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed Judge Sam Alito on for a vote in the full Senate. All Democrats voted against him.The make-up of the Committee, with 10 Republicans and 8 Democratics assured this would be the outcome. Here are excerpts from the hearing this morning at which the vote was taken. The full transcript (html) is here.

Will it be any different in the full Senate? Raw Story reports today that Florida Senator, Democrat Bill Nelson announced he will vote against Alito.

The Council of Europe's interim report on U.S. secret prisons in Europe is out. The report says there is evidence that the U.S. outsourced torture and European Governments likely were aware of it.

"There is a great deal of coherent, convergent evidence pointing to the existence of a system of "relocation" or "outsourcing" of torture," Marty said in the report to the Council of Europe, the human rights watchdog on whose behalf he is investigating.

"Acts of torture or severe violation of detainees' dignity through the administration of inhuman or degrading treatment are carried outside national territory and beyond the authority of national intelligence services," Marty said. He added that more than 100 suspects may have been transferred to countries where they faced torture or ill treatment in recent years.

Thanks to those who have noticed that there has been a paucity of advertising on TalkLeft since News Years and put a few dollars in the tip jar. They really help me out and are very appreciated.

Here's the link to TalkLeft's tip jar, if anyone else is so inclined.

Criminal defense lawyer Terry Kindlon (a frequent reader and commenter on TalkLeft) has filed what is believed to be the first motion to dismiss criminal charges against his client due to Bush's warrantless NSA electronic monitoring program.

An FBI sting case that targeted two members of an Albany mosque should be dismissed because the investigation originated from a national spying program that may be illegal, an attorney for one of the defendants said in a motion filed in U.S. District Court. The challenge of the government's case against Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain, who are accused of taking part in a plot to sell missile launchers to terrorists, may force federal prosecutors, and a U.S. District judge, to address a national debate unfolding about whether the National Security Agency violated any laws by eavesdropping on U.S. residents.

Terence L. Kindlon, Aref's attorney, filed a nine-page motion late Friday asking for all evidence in the case to be thrown out, and for a dismissal of the indictment. While defense lawyers in the case have been requesting access to classified evidence for more than a year, the new motion specifically targets the NSA program.

....Now, with attorneys for Aref and Hossain confident secret surveillance was the catalyst for the FBI's Albany sting, the stage is set for the NSA program to be challenged on constitutional grounds as part of the local case. The question is whether the government will be compelled, even tacitly, to confirm that Aref was targeted because of information gleaned from the controversial spy program.

It's time for the Tuesday Open Thread. Some things of interest:

• Jane of Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh and Matt Stoller (who often writes at MyDD) have created a blog for comments on Washington Post articles.

• Arianna writes that Hillary is not a lock for the '08 nomination

• Alternet also has a new blog, The Echo Chamber, that will cover how political ideas and issues are communicated and gain traction in the media universe. It aims to spread the word of the progressive community far and wide.

U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff, one of my favorites (for many reasons, including this one) has ordered the Pentagon to release the names of the Guantanamo detainees.

U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff told the government to provide the information in the form of unredacted copies of transcripts and documents related to 558 military hearings in which detainees were permitted to challenge their incarcerations.

AP attorney David A. Schulz said he expected the government to appeal. "The judge has rejected the Defense Department's effort to use the privacy interests of detainees to prevent the public from learning information about the actions taken at Guantanamo Bay," he said.

Bump and Update: (TL) Unbelievable. Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer, Jr. convicted of manslaughter for killing an Iraq military officer during an interrogation is sentenced to no jail and a reprimand. Soldiers in the courtroom cheered at the sentence. How disgusting, there simply is no other word for it.

*******
Original Post (Jan 22):

by TChris

In a series of posts (collected here), TalkLeft has followed the military's response to the death of Iraqi military officer Abed Hamed Mowhoush during an abusive interrogation. The trial is over and the verdict is in:

Update: The New York Times on Bush's planned weeklong spin mission for the NSA program.

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Original Post

It's happening again. Everytime the Democrats come close to scoring, they drop the ball. They fall for the Republican rhetoric, try to play the middle and end up sounding like Republican-lites.

Here's what you will see in the next few days. All of the points made over Bush's warrantless NSA electronic monitoring program being illegal are about to go down the drain. Scared off by Karl Rove, and Bush's agenda of talking heads this week, the Democrats are now saying they are in favor of increased surveillance just as much as the Republicans. Their opposition is about to be reduced to accusing Bush of a technical violation they would only have been to happy to fix had he asked.

Congrats to three of my favorite blogs who received finalist nominations today to the 2006 Bloggies for best political blog.

Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake -- those are my top three.

They are only missing Atrios and Huffington Post.

Go on over and vote for your favorite.

Update: The 2005 Koufax Awards for liberal bloggers are moving to the next phase. The initial nominees for Best New Blog and Blog Deserving of Wider Recognition are up. This is a great way to find new and interesting blogs that you don't come across every day.

President Bush spoke to anti-abortion activists who were protesting the Roe v. Wade decision today, telling them "We Will Prevail."

President George W. Bush on Monday told opponents of abortion their views would eventually prevail and urged them to work to convince more Americans of "the rightness of our cause." On the 33rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that established federal abortion rights, Bush addressed activists by telephone from Manhattan, Kansas, and called their goals noble.

"We, of course, seek common ground where possible," he said. "We're working to persuade more of our fellow Americans of the rightness of our cause, and this is a cause that appeals to the conscience of our citizens and is rooted in America's deepest principles -- history tells us that with such a cause, we will prevail."

Democrats, take heed. The writing is on the wall. Do not confirm Judge Sam Alito.

Reporter Jason Leopold has new details of the current focus of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into PlameGate, many of which were provided to him by those with personal knowledge of the investigation and who have appeared before the grand jury. He writes that the Niger documents are an issue, as are the activities of the White House Iraq Group and Karl Rove. In other words, a conspiracy investigation is very much underway.

Rove first:

All of the sources interviewed separately for this story said they were told that Karl Rove was the person who first suggested using the media to "turn the tables on Wilson." The officials wouldn't identify the person who told them this. The decision, however, was made during a meeting that took place between the White House Iraq Group.

...Lawyers close to the leak case said Fitzgerald seems to be pursuing conspiracy charges against some of the higher-profile suspects in the leak, such as Rove.