"Dirty Bomb" Suspect and Bush administration-labeled "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla is now talking, according to recently unclassified military documents. The documents say Padilla admitted training at an al-Qaeda camp and having dealings with al-Qaeda members:

Additionally, the Defense Department summary of Padilla's activities claim Padilla admitted that he was "first tasked with an operation to blow up apartment buildings in the United States with natural gas by [Mohammed] Atef," alleged to be Osama bin Laden's second in command.

Under pressure to explain its indefinite detention of a U.S. citizen as an "enemy combatant," the Justice Department outlined Padilla's alleged al Qaeda training in Afghanistan and contacts with the most senior members of the terrorist network, his travel back into the United States and preparations to rent apartments and set off explosives.

So why didn't the Government charge Padilla with a crime instead of holding him in a military brig without access to counsel for more than two years? Here's what Padilla's lawyer has to say:

Taegan Goddard of Political Wire says the era of landslide elections is over, and that the Bush-Kerry votes will be close. He predicts that as in 2000, neither candidate will get 50% of the vote.

U.S. News and World reports President Bush has a new advisor for homeland security, and she occupies a higher rung than Ashcroft at homeland security council meetings:

As President Bush 's new top adviser for homeland security, Frances Fragos Townsend, is most likely headed for some bittersweet encounters with Attorney General John Ashcroft. Thinking Townsend was a Clinton loyalist, the AG forced her to leave the Justice Department, where she'd worked for Janet Reno. Turns out she's a Republican. Now Townsend will chair Bush's homeland security council meetings, while Ashcroft will be just a participant. Thus, she'll feel free to second-guess him, which, say folks who know her, she'll be more than happy to do.

[link via Wonkette]

The defense scored a major victory in the Kobe Bryant case today. The judge ruled the prosecution cannot refer to the accuser as a "victim.' This is the right decision. In order for the accuser to be a victim, there has to be a crime of which she was the victim. Kobe's defense is there was no crime, just consensual sex. By calling her a victim in front of the jury, the jury is in effect being told there was a crime.

A rape charge where the defense is consent is not like a murder charge where we know in which it's acknowledged a crime occured and it's just a question of who did it. In that kind of a case, there is a victim who is dead.

This decision levels the playing field and causes no detriment to the prosecution.

by TChris

TalkLeft recently observed that the Army is investigating allegations of abuse against civilians as well as prisoners. Now we're learning more about the scope of the investigations.

Over the past year and a half, the Army has opened investigations into at least 91 cases of possible misconduct by U.S. soldiers against detainees and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, a total not previously reported and one that points to a broader range of wrongful behavior than defense officials have acknowledged.

Taken together, the 91 cases indicate misconduct by U.S. troops wider in type and greater in number than suggested by the focus simply on the mistreatment of Iraqis held at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad. The majority of the cases under investigation occurred in Iraq, although the Army has not provided an exact accounting of all the locations.

More than half of the 91 cases involved misconduct outside of detention facilities. Thirty of the investigations involving detainees related to the deaths of 34 individuals. Among those are ten homicides, only one of which has so far resulted in discipline. Eight homicide investigations "remain open amid evidence the dead detainees were assaulted before or during interrogation sessions."

by TChris

The Columbia Journalism Review features a debate between The Washington Post's ombudsman and the foreign editor of London's The Independent. The topic: is objectivity and balance, the supposed hallmark of U.S. journalism, preferable to the more adversarial style of journalism practiced in the British press?

The argument starts from a flawed premise: that American journalism is indeed objective. The New York Times recently admitted (albeit not in these words) that it became the President's propoganda machine during the run-up to, and the early days of, the war in Iraq, passing along whatever the administration said without reporting on its probable veracity. Sidney Blumenthal's The Clinton Wars makes a strong argument that the mainstream media relentlessly advanced anti-Clinton rumors and accusations without first deciding whether they were supported by facts. Uncritical reporting of partisan accusations isn't objective journalism.

The Independent's Leonard Doyle provides additional examples to debunk the myth that American reporting is objective, including CNN's failure to report on civilian deaths in Afghanistan because CNN's chairman just didn't want to hear it. According to Doyle:

Scott Peterson's jury trial begins today with opening arguments. Many experts say the case is a toss-up. Mark Geragos, notwithstanding a tough gag order, has succeeded in reducing the public certainty of his guilt.

A circumstantial case, no murder weapon, confession, eyewitness. No obvious crime scene. No cause of death. What's left? Speculation over his odd behavior, his affair and a hair that could easily have been transferred --

Geragos says his closing may take all afternoon.

by TChris

Jonathan Singletary, a 16-year-old high school student, is accused of injuring a girl by throwing a piece of clay at her. He was offered a deal: admit to the misdemeanor charge and stay out of trouble, and the conviction would be kept sealed. Singletary says he didn't commit the crime and won't admit to something he didn't do, so he rejected the offer.

Prosecutors in Sutter County, California responded in typical fashion, by upping the ante: they increased the misdemeanor charge to a felony. The felony charge carries a maximum of four years in the California Youth Authority.

Since word about the Sunnyvale youth's case leaked out last month, outraged Bellarmine teachers and classmates have been rallying behind him. Many question the evidence and whether Jonathan was targeted simply because he's African-American.

Only one student claims to have seen Singletary throw something as he was walking past the classroom. The student who was with Singletary denies that Singletary threw anything. Since the victim was in a ceramics class, it seems likely that the piece of clay came from inside the classroom.

The felony charge requires proof that Singletary caused a serious injury. The injured girl had a scratched cornea and a bruise, but suffered no lasting injury. The initial decision that a misdemeanor charge was appropriate is supported by the degree of harm caused. The felony charge is either an attempt to bully Singletary into accepting the misdemeanor, or an attempt to punish him for rejecting the offer and exercising his right to a trial. Enhancing a charge for either reason is relatively common, but still an abuse of power.

The Rocky Mountain Progressive Network reports that President Bush will be in Denver Tuesday, attending a dinner and fundraiser where the cost of a ticket is $15,000.00 a plate. There will be a peaceful protest, here's the details:

Bush's fundraiser is being held at 3400 Belcaro Drive, at the Phipps Mansion/Tennis Pavilion. Police are there already, setting up barricades and whatnot, so obviously we will not be allowed anywhere near the president. Instead we will be assembling on the public sidewalks of both East Exposition Avenue and University, with signs, informational literature, and basically anything we can get put together before tomorrow.

If you want to join the peaceful protest, come on down and bring whatever anti-Bush stuff you have available. We will be meeting at 4:30 on the sidewalk in front of Knight Fundamental Academy, a DPS elementary school, and will spread out from there to achieve high visibility during rush hour. People plan to be in this area from 4:30 till around 8 pm, so anytime you could come down would be greatly appreciated. There is some public parking available.

Did anyone really believe he was just coming to deliver the commencement address to the Air Force Academy?

We haven't seen too many liberal bloggers writing about Memorial Day. Skippy does, quite nicely. Skippy's dad was a WWII vet who served in the Pacific. TL's dad served in WWII in France and other places, from 1942 until 1945. Both came home to spend many years with their loved ones. We are truly sorry for the families of those who served in any war who were not so fortunate. We may be against the war, but we support our troops and feel the loss of those who died.

[comments now closed]

by TChris

Remember all those solemn assurances that the invasion of Iraq wasn't about oil? Maybe it wasn't solely about oil, but oil is never far from the minds of Bush and Cheney.

An e-mail from an Army Corps of Engineers official in March 2003 refers to Douglas Feith's approval of a decision to award a contract to Halliburton, the company that was formerly under Dick Cheney's stewardship.

According to an e-mail excerpt in Time, the contract was "contingent on informing WH [White House] tomorrow. We anticipate no issues since action has been coordinated w[ith] VP's office."

The Corps of Engineers gave Halliburton the contract three days later without seeking other bids, Time reports.

It doesn't look good for Cheney to be coordinating business with his former employer, so Cheney's office says that the "action" being coordinated was the announcement of the contract. And why would Cheney's office, in particular, be involved in the announcement of the contract? Well, um, you know, because they thought it might, well, look bad that Halliburton got the contract, and they wanted to give Cheney a "head's up," so he'd be prepared to deny that he had anything to do with it.

So according to Cheney's office, Cheney wasn't coordinating the contract, he was coordinating the announcement of the contract so that he'd be prepared to deny that he had anything to do with the contract being announced. Huh?

Should local police have access to federal terrorism files? Civil liberties groups say no and are objecting to the policy which is in effect in New York and Vermont.

Critics of the pilot program caution that it poses an "enormous risk" of arrest and detention of people without cause. However, officials announcing the new information-sharing system last week emphasized that civil liberties will be protected. "It's a very dangerous assumption that just because the information is in the system, it's right," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. "In the drive to collect data and share it, there has been a neglect of the safeguards that are absolutely essential to protect us from the misuse of information.

The FBI wants to see the program spread to other states. Here's how it works: