As the nation focuses on Sen. John McCain's choice of running mate, President Bush has quietly moved to expand the reach of presidential power by ensuring that America remains in a state of permanent war.
Buried in a recent proposal by the Administration is a sentence that has received scant attention -- and was buried itself in the very newspaper that exposed it Saturday. It is an affirmation that the United States remains at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban and "associated organizations."
Bush quietly seeks to make war powers permanent, by declaring indefinite state of war
Bush Seeks to Affirm a Continuing War on Terror
Tucked deep into a recent proposal from the Bush administration is a provision that has received almost no public attention, yet in many ways captures one of President Bush’s defining legacies: an affirmation that the United States is still at war with Al Qaeda.
Some lawmakers are concerned that the administration’s effort to declare anew a war footing is an 11th-hour maneuver to re-establish its broad interpretation of the president’s wartime powers, even in the face of challenges from the Supreme Court and Congress.
TVNL Comment: Everything that the Bush administration has done has been either in secret, in a sneaky manner or in the form of a lie.
Why CIA Veterans Are Scared of McCain
Four years ago, the candidate called the CIA a "rogue organization"; now he's advised by a former Chalabi promoter and Agency basher. No wonder the spooks are spooked.
These critics point especially to the McCain campaign's top national security adviser Randy Scheunemann—who ran a front group promoting war with Iraq and the fabrications of controversial Iraqi exile politician Ahmad Chalabi, the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, and who has lobbied for aggressive NATO expansion. Scheunemann's record, they argue, encapsulates everything wrong with the past eight years of Bush leadership on intelligence issues, from a penchant for foreign policy freelancing and secret contacts with unreliable fabricators, to neoconservatives' disdain for the perceived bureaucratic timidity of the CIA and State Department, to their avowed hostility for diplomacy with adversaries.
Chalabi aide arrested on suspicion of Baghdad bombings
U.S. forces have arrested a deputy of Ahmad Chalabi, who was once the Bush administration's favorite Iraqi politician, and implicated him in bombings that killed Americans and Iraqis, Chalabi and Iraqi government officials said Thursday.
The U.S. military alleged that the arrested official was working with the "highest echelons" of the Iranian "special groups" criminals, referring to what the U.S. military says are Iranian-backed militias operating in Iraq.
Court bars meatpacker tests for mad cow
The Agriculture Department is within bounds to bar meatpackers from testing slaughter cattle for mad cow disease, a U.S. Court of Appeals panel said in a 2-1 ruling on Friday.
A biblical tragedy in Galilee
An arid country, Israel relies on the waters where Jesus sailed to irrigate its farmland and supply its homes. But now the lake is drying up – and only drastic action will save it
The waters of the Sea of Galilee are now at their lowest on record and, officials say, are set to fall even lower
Newly discovered oil reserves to benefit all Brazilians
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Thursday that the recently discovered pre-salt layer oil fields are a national asset, which will benefit all the Brazilians.
"Brazil is not to be a mega exporter of crude oil," said the president, "instead, we want to build a strong oil industry in Brazil to add value to our oil and export the byproducts."
"We should not forget that everyone in Brazil is to be benefited ...I want to invest a part of the pre-salt layer oil fields' revenue in education," Lula said.
According to Brazil's constitution, the oil reserves belong to the whole nation.
TVNL Comment: You never heard an American speak this way. That is real patriotism, not the fake patriotism that exists here!
Vidal: US never had democracy
In an exclusive interview with Press Tv correspondent, Vidal said that the United States has never had democracy and the word never was used in the US constitution, Bill of Rights or the Declaration of Independence.
Vidal also said that America has fallen into the hands of a small group of people that only care about global dominance and making money from US tax payers by waging wars.
US election: Billboards of US soldiers cancelled in host city of Republican convention
A series of portraits of American soldiers set to adorn roadside billboards in Minneapolis, site of next week's Republican convention, was abruptly cancelled by the billboards' owners, which feared they would be deemed disrespectful to the US military.
The shots of troops in between deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan by a New York City artist were to run in five US cities.
But CBS Outdoor abruptly changed course and has refused to post the billboards in Minneapolis, Miami, Florida; and Houston, Texas. A separate company has agreed to display the images on billboards in Atlanta. Curiously for the artists, the images remain up in Denver, site of this week's Democratic national convention.
Page 1093 of 1154
