The Daily MuckThe ACLU has petitioned the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on behalf of Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen who alleges that he was abducted in December 2003 and then tortured by the CIA. El-Masari was denied his day in a U.S. court when the Bush administration successfully employed a state secrets defense. (AP)
A Saudi detainee at Guantanamo Bay who has denounced the U.S. government’s case against him as a “sham,” had himself removed from his military tribunal as a protest. Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza Al-Darbi, whose brother-in-law was one of the September 11 hijackers, stated that “history will record these trials as a scandal,” Al-Darbi said. “I advise you, the judge, and everyone else who is present to not continue with this play, this sham.” Al-Dabri, who is yet to be classified as an enemy combatant, has also claimed that he was beaten in custody and left hanging from handcuffs while he was detained and interrogated at Bagram air base. (Los Angeles Times)
A senior official of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention testified to Congress that climate change “is likely to have a “significant impact on health” and that the “CDC considers climate change a serious public health concern.” Though this testimony relates directly to the EPA’s regulatory policies on CO2 emissions, the official refused to comment directly on whether the Environmental Protection Agency should regulate CO2 under the federal Clean Air Act. (AP)
Though the Bush administration is eager to obtain a conviction in its military tribunal system at Guantanamo Bay (thus far, the single conviction was achieved when an Australian detainee entered into a plea arrangement), its efforts to proceed with six high profile cases against suspected terrorists has “hit a snag.” Because defense lawyers have been hard to find, not a single of the six defendants has met with a military lawyer. (New York Times)
One surge not discussed by General Petraeus this week is the record levels of suicide among American troops and the the growing number of officers who are abandoning their military careers. However, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody spoke freely this week about the ways in which the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have strained soldiers and their families. (AP)
The U.S. military base “Camp Constitution” is now run by the Iraqi army. The facility, like other detention centers in Iraq, holds thousands of detainees (mostly Sunnis) who have been rounded up by the Shiite-run Iraqi security forces. International human rights groups have accused the Iraqi security forces of human rights abuses and holding detainees without charging them of any crimes. (McClatchy)
Two former employees of U.S. contractor KBR testified to a Senate subcommittee Wednesday detailing personal accounts of being raped by fellow KBR workers in Iraq. The two women, Mary Beth Kineston and Dawn Leamon, were assaulted in separate incidents, yet echoed one another in detailing the culture of denial and ambivalence from KBR once they each tried to report their rapes. Associate deputy general counsel from the Department of Defense, Robert Reed, said Wednesday it was the “first time” he had ever heard of these cases. (ABC News)
Former Congressman, and current Republican candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat in Colorado, Bob Schaffer visited the Mariana Islands in 1999. According to documents in Schaffer’s own congressional papers, the trip was partly planned by Preston Gates, the firm of tainted former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who used to represent textile factory owners’ efforts to keep the island exempt of strict U.S. labor and immigration laws. Scaffer’s trip to 20 factory locales found him believing the claims of abuses by the factories were unfounded. (Denver Post)
David Brock, the former right-wing journalist who spearheaded attacks on Bill Clinton during the 1990s and who now runs Media Matters, will be directing a $40 million media campaign against Senator John McCain (R-AZ). On Tuesday night Brock dined with George Soros and Paul Begala to launch the campaign. (Politico)
Mother Jones examines the role of Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson in the right wing media campaign launched by Freedom’s Watch. In August, Freedom’s Watch official Ari Fleischer announced the launch of the group by asserting that “the cavalry is coming,” but now some Freedom’s Watch “watchers” are “wondering whether some of the cavalry got lost.” (Mother Jones)
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent charged with illegally accessing confidential information and then using it in a campaign ad against Governor Bill Ritter (D-CO), has been acquitted by a federal jury. (AP)
