June 2008


The Return of Legalized Profiling…

By Margaret Kwoka ZMagazine 6/02/08

Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued a series of decisions mimicking an odd dance. The end result? The first jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff in a post-9/11 airline racial profiling case against a company that was overturned. The outcome is devastating to all people who suffer discrimination and seek a remedy in court. However, the process by which this decision was reached may be even more disturbing than the outcome. (more…)

By Bob Elmendorf ZMagazine 2/20/08

In an unusual judicial irony, Dr. Rafil Dhafir, a Syracuse oncologist and U.S. citizen, was convicted two years ago of breaking the Iraqi sanctions by sending aid to starving children. He is serving a 22-year sentence in the Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute, Indiana. (more…)

Two Federal Agencies Are Culpable in Oil Price Manipulations

By PAM MARTENS Counterpunch 6/21/08

If you want to flush out market manipulation, don’t turn to the sleuths in Congress. They’ve been probing trading of the oil markets for two years and completely missed a company at the center of the action. (more…)

Robert Parry Consortium News 6/20/08

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims that a key positive feature of the new wiretap “compromise” is that the bill reaffirms that the President must follow the law, even though the same bill virtually assures that no one will be held accountable for George W. Bush’s violation of the earlier spying law. (more…)

by Medea Benjamin Commondreams 6/20/08

Sister Marie-Claude Naddaf is obviously tired of talking to the stream of well-meaning foreigners who have been traipsing through Syria to learn about the plight of the over one million Iraqi refugees now living here. (more…)

By Aziz Huq The Nation 6/20 /08

Months of troubled negotiations over new surveillance legislation ended in the House of Representatives today, with the approval of the so-called FISA Amendments Act of 2008. Hailed in some quarters as a “compromise” after the capitulation of the Protect America Act of 2006, the new surveillance bill is nothing of the kind: on core issues of privacy and accountability, there is no compromise, since little in the measure honors those two values. (more…)

Drafting of U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement Began Nearly Five Years Ago

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 252

Washington D.C., June 13, 2008 – Recently declassified documents show that the U.S. military has long sought an agreement with Baghdad that gives American forces virtually unfettered freedom of action, casting into doubt the Bush administration’s current claims that their demands are more limited in scope. (more…)

On January 11th, 2008, Ed Kinane demonstrated at the Supreme Court to close Guantanamo concentration camp; on March 19th, 2008, he protested in Syracuse, NY, against the Iraq war. Below are his sentencing statements from DC District Court and City Court, Syracuse. Ed witnessed first hand the effects of the sanctions and “shock and awe” on the Iraqi civilian population. He is on the Advisory Board of the Dr. Dhafir Support Committee.

SENTENCING STATEMENT
DC DISTRICT COURT, JUDGE WENDELL P. GARDNER PRESIDING (more…)

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