Military Related Headlines 11/25

• A Soldier, Taking Orders From Its Ethical Judgment Center [NY Times]
• Military Examines Role In Domestic Defense [AP via CBS News]
• Sources: Contractor for military committed serious violations [CNN]
• Pentagon reports success in fighting roadside bombs [CNN]
• Bush Meets Soldiers at Fort Campbell [NY Times]
• Pentagon Cancels Big Holiday Gala [The Caucus, a NY Times blog]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Military Related Headlines 11/10

• Obama plans Guantanamo closure, US terror trials [AP via Newsvine]
• Triple Baghdad blasts kill dozens [BBC News]
• Intense Training For Military Surgeons [CBS News]
• Report: US conducted secret ops in Pakistan, Syria [AP via Newvine]
• U.S. troops kill 14 Afghans in disputed gunfight [USA Today]
• Bush: care for wounded troops inspiring [AP via Newsvine]
• Swimming with sharks helps veterans feel whole again [CNN]
• 79% Have High Regard for U.S. Military This Veterans Day [Yahoo News]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Troops to get Pay Raise as Bush Signs Defense Bill

President Bush signed a $612 billion defense spending bill for the 2009 budget year Tuesday that includes a 3.9 pay raise for troops as well as providing tuition assistance, money for family housing and other programs.

Nearly $70 billion of the passed legislation is set aside for missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also requires greater oversight and more information on contractors involved with Iraqi operations.

It also includes a provision allowing a new missile defense system to be built in Eastern Europe, a proposal adamantly opposed by Russia.

The AP article tells how lawmakers came to compromise with the President:

In reaching a deal, House and Senate negotiators left out language that Bush opposed. Eliminated was language barring private interrogators from U.S. military detention facilities and giving Congress a chance to block a security pact with Iraq.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Army's Request for more Brass Rejected by White House

The AP reports today that Bush's administrative arm, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has rejected a plan to add five generals to oversee monitor and purchasing contractor performance.

A blue-ribbon panel, chaired by former Pentagon acquisition chief Jacques Gansler, criticized the Army for contracting blunders and recommended the generals.

From the article:

The war in Iraq exposed major flaws in the Army's contracting abilities, particularly when the buying was done outside the United States. An overworked, under-experienced, and short-handed Army contracting staff was unable to meet the fast-paced demands for supplies and services. Bad deals were made and procurement fraud cases mounted in an environment prone to abuse.

Defense contractors, frequently criticized for war profiteering, complained of being pushed to accept flat-fee arrangements in high-risk combat zones where expenses could soar and confusion existed over what U.S. laws and regulations applied.

Putting generals in contracting jobs is believed to bring experience, give the profession clout, and build up talent by showing junior troops that contracting is viable career choice.

The Army learned its proposal for the generals was rejected on May 12. A week later, the Army repealed the decision. On Thursday, an Army spokesman said communications between the OMB and the Army are "pre-decisional and not releasable to the public at this time."

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Hope for Iraqi Interpreters to go to U.S.

The Christian Science Monitor profiles the Shiite, Iraqi couple "Sarah" and "Chris" today, telling their troubles and turmoil of being interpreters for the U.S. forces in Iraqi and their plan to enter the U.S. under the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program to raise a family.

Because of security concerns the nicknames Sarah and Chris are used instead of their real names in the article. Sarah is on a militant hit list. Her mother's life has been threatened. Chris's folks house has been bombed twice and he's lost 11 interpreter colleagues and friends since 2006. There is also a $20,000 bounty on interpreters offered by militants and one double that amount for female interpreters.

Chris and Sarah feel their current environment is too hostile to bring up kids. They would like instead to raise a family in the states. They said they are willing to come back after they spend some time in America.

Their dream could be within reach.

President Bush recently extended a law, through 2012, that will continue to allow Afghan and Iraqi interpreters working for the State Department and military possible entrance into the United States under the SIV program.

Right now, the US has already met its quota of 500 SIVs for 2008. According to the State Department it will grant 50 more in 2009.

The article goes on describing the long and arduous process of applying for an SIV. It also mentions the interesting mix of culture and politics surrounding interpreters.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Bush Announces Shorter Combat Deployments

President Bush announced Thursday a plan to cut troop combat tours from 15 months to one year in an effort to ease current strain on the military and help boost morale.

This move comes in response from service commanders concerned about the toll long deployments are having on their soldiers and about the ability of the U.S. military to deal with unanticipated threats.

Bush also embraces the plan put forth by Gen. David Petaeus to halt troop reductions after 20,000 soldiers are withdrawn in July.

Bobby Muller of Veterans for America claims Bush's too little, too late announcement does not cover currently deployed troops:

In short this is a hollow political announcement.

This announcement will do nothing to help the troops currently deployed for 15 months right now, some of whom will not return to the United States until summer 2009. Almost half of the active-duty Army’s frontline units are currently deployed for 15 months, HALF, and of those units, three are on their fourth tour and almost all have been deployed at least twice. We need to reduce everyone’s current tours to 12 months, right now.

From now to the end of this president’s term in office, the overwhelming majority of frontline troops scheduled to deploy are Army National Guard, and their scheduled tours are already 12 months, so again, the President’s announcement does nothing to help them even though many of these troops are scheduled for their second deployment, leaving jobs and families behind again, for a full year.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Bush Pledges More Troops for Afghanistan in 2009

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that the Bush administration is pledging to send more combat forces to Afghanistan in 2009 regardless of the troop levels in Iraq.

President Bush made the pledge at the NATO summit in Bucharest on Thursday, Gates told reporters.

Bush did not give specifics concerning the increases. The U.S. currently has about 31,000 troops there -- the most since the war began in 2001 -- and has been pressing allies to contribute more.

One of the questions raised by this statement is where these additional troop will come from. Another is raised by Frank James of The Swamp:

. . .the Bush Administration ends on Jan. 20, 2009. It won't exactly be in a position to send any servicemember anywhere after that date.

Maybe the plan is to send them in the roughly three weeks before Inauguration Day? Or perhaps he's counting on whoever is elected the next president will keep a Bush Administration commitment to send additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan since there has been concern for some time about there not being enough troops there, especially in the south where Taliban forces have been resurgent.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

New Bush Coins: Petro-dollars

What will happen when Bush declares Martial Law and demands everyone turn in their precious metals? We'll buy stuff with the "Petro-Dollar."

Based on the oil standard, the new coin currency features such luminaries as Barbara Bush, Larry King, Condi Rice, Justice Scalia, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and W himself stamped onto depleted uranium.

The moola is made available in various "gallon" denominations "which makes sense, since that's where most of your income goes anyway."

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Bush will Attend Dalai Lama Award Ceremony; Risks Angering China

President Bush will attend a congressional ceremony Wednesday to present the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal. Bush risks angering China who regards the spiritual leader as a separatist.

The White House has confirmed the President and First Lady Laura Bush will attend the presentation next week on Capitol Hill. Past Congressional Gold Medal recipients include Nelson Mandela, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa.

Beijing expressed its discontent with honoring the Dalai Lama.

"China resolutely opposes the U.S. Congress awarding the Dalai its so-called Congressional Gold Medal, and firmly opposes any country or any person using the Dalai issue to interfere in China's internal affairs," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

Austin Ramzy of Time's China Blog with more on the subject's heightening tention:

It seems like the official sensitivity in Beijing to the Dalai Lama, who is always a fairly touchy subject here, has been heightened in recent days. There was a piece yesterday in the China Daily about the Dalai Lama linking him to the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, and the People's Daily overseas edition ran an op-ed accusing him of betraying Buddhism. Reuters also reports on an internal Communist Party document that questions the loyalty of ethnic Tibetans who are members of the Communist Party.

Others are sort of commending the President; ATLmalcontent blog says:

Bush is the first American president to appear in public with the Dalai Lama, so he deserves credit, even if he's just trying to curry favor with Richard Gere.

Another lighthearted statement, this time from Jack Pate's blog:

This is great, but if they [Bush and the Dalai Lama] shake hands or touch, I fear some sort of rip in the cosmic space-time continuum.

The Dalai Lama has been exiled in India ever since fleeing his Himalayan homeland in 1959 during a failed uprising against China.

Beijing claims the Dalai Lama is set on establishing an independent Tibet and considers him to be a political exile. He denies the claim, calling instead for "real autonomy" for Tibet as well as respect for Tibetan religion and culture.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

CIA Missed Chances to Take On al-Qaida

A CIA internal report released Tuesday found the agency's top leaders faltered in using their available powers, never developed a comprehensive plan to stop al-Qaida and missed prime opportunities to stop hijackers before the September 11th terrorists attacks.

Then director George J. Tenet and his top lieutenants allowed bureaucratic red tape and budget shortages to stifle the agency's effort to hunt down and capture al-Qaida operatives, said the CIA inspector general in the report.

The 19-page executive summary was completed in June 2005 and kept classified until now. Although "the agency and its officers did not discharge their responsibilities in a satisfactory manner," Inspector General John Helgerson found neither a "single point of failure nor a silver bullet" that would have stopped the attacks on 9/11.

Steven Aftergood from Security News blogs about the nature of report's release:

From a secrecy policy point of view, the most interesting thing about the disclosure is that it was the result of a congressional initiative undertaken against the wishes of the executive branch.

"While meeting the dictates of the law," said CIA Director Mike Hayden in an official statement, "I want to make it clear that this declassification was neither my choice nor my preference."

In theory, the CIA's "choice" or "preference" should be irrelevant to the declassification process. The President has directed categorically that "Information shall be declassified as soon as it no longer meets the standards for classification under this order." (Executive Order 13292, section 3.1). It is clear from the release of the Inspector General report, which was partially redacted, that it could be declassified. And therefore it should have been.

At least two bloggers want to shift the blame away from Tenet and the CIA, letting it fall on Bush instead. The Semidi blog:

Oh, so George W. Bush — y’know, the guy who’s been pretending to be President the last seven years — had nothing to do with the attacks occurring? Bush ignoring the Presidential Daily Brief of August 6th, 2001 — the one that said Bin Ladin was determined to strike in the U.S. — played no part? It’s all the fault of former DCI George Tenet — the guy who recently wrote a scathing (albeit occasionally self-serving) tell-all about the Bushites?

How convenient.

And WISCO at Griper Blade:

. . . Tenet shouldn't take the blame here. Yes, he was incompetent. Yes, he was "too busy schmoozing" to be effective. Yes, he was one of the asses leading the lions. But nothing he could've done would've gotten the Bush administration to take al Qaeda seriously.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps to be Labeled a Terrorist Group

According to a Washington Post article today the Bush Administration is ready to declare Iran's Revolutionary Guard -- an elite military force -- a foreign terrorist organization.

The reason behind the move is the Guard's increased involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq and its support for military extremists in the Middle East. The U.S. is also concerned with Iran's nuclear program.

The Revolutionary Guard would be the first national military branch deemed a terrorist organization, a very unusual move because it is part of a government, not the usual non-state terrorist organization.

The primary goal of this designation is to stem the tide of the Revolutionary Guard's business network including foreign companies conducting business with the military unit.

But some see this a prelude to war with Iran. Will Bunch of Attytood:

The White House hawks in Dick Cheney's office and elsewhere who want to stage an attack on Iran are clearly winning the internal power stuggle. And an often overlooked sub-plot on the long road toward war with Tehran is this: How could Bush stage an attack on Iran without the authorization of a skeptical, Democratic Congress?

Today, the White House has solved that pesky problem in one fell swoop. By explicitly linking the Iranian elite guard into the post 9/11 "global war on terror" in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush's lawyers would certainly now argue that any military strike on Iran is now covered by the October 2002 authorization to use military force in Iraq, as part of their overly sweeping response to the 2001 attacks.

And Ken of the Seventh Sense:

Calling the military branch of another government a "terrorist" organization also allows Bush to skirt other nasty legal obstacles. For example, Congress won't have to declare war on them because now they would fall under the AUMF that was passed in the wake of 9/11.

And assuming we do go to war with Iran, we won't have to treat the soldiers of the opposing army under the Geneva Conventions.

So basically, by slapping the label "terrorist" on any person, or group, the Bush Administration can do anything it wants (i.e., attack them) and avoid complying with the U.S. Constitution and international treaties and human rights and stuff like that.

The administration has yet to decide exactly when to announce the measure, but officials said they would like to before the UN General Assembly convenes next month, where the U.S. intends to ramp up international pressure against Iran.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Court Nixes Higher Limits on Truck Driving Hours

A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled against a Bush administration directive that would have allowed big rig truck drivers to drive many more consecutive hours.

All three judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration -- the federal agency overseeing the trucking industry -- hadn't gave enough evidence to show the safety of its 2005 decision to increase the maximum driving time of truckers. The hours were increased from 60 to 77 over 7 consecutive days and from 77 to 88 hours over 8 days.

The court found the FMCSA ignored the results of a study it commissioned. When extrapolated, the study -- using the data of more than 50,000 truck accidents from 1991 to 2002 -- showed a greater risk of fatigue-related accidents during the extended hours of service allowed by the new rules.

Opponents of the changes, led by safety advocates and insurance analysts, say longer driving hours lead to a higher number of truck-related accidents. Around 100 people die per week in trucking related accidents.

Kenneth N. Margolin, Esq. of InjuryBoard.com says of the ruling:

The Appeals Court held that the federal agency had not justified the change in rules, in light of data that showed the trucking industry to be amongst the most dangerous, and fatalities in accidents involving large trucks to be far more likely than those involving cars alone. Naturally, the rules change was pressed by the trucking industry, which consistently ignores the data regarding trucking fatalities, and places profits ahead of quality of life and safety on our roadways.

Proponents of the loosened restrictions say they have made it cheaper and faster to move goods around the country. Shorter hours, they contend, would place more inexperienced truck drivers behind the wheel.

LifeOnTheRoad.com seems to believe that the trucking industry knows what's best for itself:

Perhaps it’s time for us all to look for another line of work and allow the know it alls at PATT, CRASH, Public Citizen and the rest, who seem to know better than us, what we need, to operate the U.S. trucking industry

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Resigned, Quit, Fired, Retired, Reassigned, Forced Out, Leaving or Gone

Slamming Dubya is kind of like shooting fish in a barrel. But without making any comments or judgments, it seems to me an interesting idea to list all the "casualties" of the George W. Bush Administration. I'm just going with a simple list of name, position and how and when they left. Feel free to take this idea a run with it. Correct me, add to the list and comment. Maybe the whole idea is pointless. Maybe there have been other administrations with more?

• Richard Clarke: the president's chief adviser on terrorism on the National Security Council -- Quit, January 2003
• Paul O'Neil: Secretary of the Treasury -- Fired, December 6, 2002
• Flynt Leverett: A Senior Director for Middle East Affairs on President Bush's National Security Council (NSC) -- Resigned/Fired, 2003
• Ben Miller: CIA staffer and Iraq expert with the NSC -- Resigned/Fired, 2003
• Hillary Mann: foreign service officer on detail to the NSC as the Director for Iran and Persian Gulf Affairs -- Resigned/Fired, 2003
• Larry Lindsay: "top economic adviser" -- Fired, December 2002
• Ann Wright: A career diplomat in the Foreign Service and a colonel in the Army Reserves -- Resigned, March 19, 2003
• John Brady Kiesling: Political Counselor in the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece -- Resigned, February 27, 2003
• John Brown: veteran of the Foreign Service, who served in London, Prague, Krakow, Kiev and Belgrade -- Resigned March 10, 2003
• Rand Beer: National Security Council's senior director for combating terrorism -- Resigned, March 2003
• Anthony Zinni: special envoy to the Middle East (from November 2002 to March 2003) -- Failed to be reappointed, 2003
• Eric Shinseki: the Army's chief of staff -- Retired, June 2003
• Karen Kwiatkowski: A Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force who served in the Department of Defense's Near East and South Asia (NESA) Bureau -- Retired, July 2003
• Charles Jack Pritchard: the State Department's senior expert on North Korea and special envoy for negotiations with that country -- Resigned, August 2003
• Major (then Captain) John Carr and Major Robert Preston: Air Force prosecutors -- Requested and granted reassignment, 2004
• Captain Carrie Wolf: Air Force officer and also asked to leave the Office of Military Commissions -- Requested and granted reassignment, 2004
• Colonel Douglas Macgregor: U.S. Army officer -- Retired, June 2004
• Paul Redmond: Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security -- Resigned, June 2003
• John W. Carlin: Archivist of the United States -- Resigned, December 19, 2003
• Susan Wood: Food and Drug Administration's Assistant Commissioner for Women's Health and Director of the Office of Women's Health -- Resigned, August 31, 2005
• Frank Davidoff: internal medicine specialist on the FDA's Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee -- Resigned, September 2005
• Thomas E Novotny: deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services -- Resigned, August 1, 2001
• Joanne Wilson: commissioner of the Department of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) -- Quit, February 8, 2005
• James Zahn: "nationally respected microbiologist with the Agriculture Department's (USDA) research service" -- Resigned, May 2002
• Teresa Chambers: U.S. Park Police Chief -- Fired, July 2004
• Martha Hahn: Idaho state director for the Bureau of Land Management -- Resigned, March 6, 2002

Note: There are 12 more names, mostly lower level jobs -- from the likes of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, the EPA, the Army Corp of Engineers and the White House Cultural Property Advisory Committee -- that are going to be omitted. For more meaning and context see Nick Turse's detailed article "Casualties of the Bush Administration". Let the list continue.

• I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby: Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to Vice President Cheney -- Resigned, October 28, 2005
• Dan Bartlett: Counselor to the President -- Announced resignation, June 1, 2007
• Andrew H. Card, Jr.: the President's first Chief of Staff -- Resigned, March 28, 2006
• Jack D. Crouch II: Assistant to President and Deputy National Security Advisor on the National Security Council -- Departed (to spend more time with family), May 2007
• William K. (Bill) Kelley: Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President in the Office of Counsel for the President -- "will return to his teaching job at Notre Dame at the end of [June 2007]."
• Scott McClellan: White House Press Secretary -- Resigned, April 19, 2006
• Ari Fleischer: White House Press Secretary -- Resigned, May 2003
• Harriet Ellen Miers: White House Counsel -- submitted resignation, January 5, 2007
• Robert J. Portman: Director of the Office of Management and Budget -- Resigned, June 19, 2007
• Megan O'Sullivan: Special Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan -- announced resignation, April 2, 2007
• Paul Wolfowitz: President of the World Bank -- Resignation effective June 30, 2007
• Sara Taylor: Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs -- Resigned, 2007
• Claude A. Allen: Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy -- Resigned, February 9, 2006
• Donald Rumsfeld: Defense Secretary -- Resigned, December 18, 2006
• Porter Goss: CIA Director -- Resigned, May 5, 2006
• Jay M. Garner: Director of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Iraq -- Replaced by L. Paul Bremer, 2003
• George Tenet: CIA Director -- Resigned, June 3, 2004
• Tom Ridge: Secretary of Homeland Security -- Submitted resignation, November 30, 2004
• John Danforth: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations -- Resigned, January 2005
• John Bolton: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations -- Resigned, December 9, 2006
• Walter Scheib III: White House Chef -- Fired, February 2005
• Jim Nicholson: Secretary of Veterans Affairs -- Submitted resignation, July 17, 2007
• David Wurmser: Cheney’s chief adviser on Middle East affairs -- Announced resignation, July 24, 2007
• Karl Rove: Deputy Chief of Staff -- Resignation effective August 31, 2007
• Wan J. Kim: head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division -- Announced resignation, August 23, 2007
• Peter Pace: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- expected to step down on September 30, 2007
• Alberto Gonzales: Attorney General -- Resignation effective September 17, 2007
• Tony Snow: White House Press Secretary -- Resignation effective September 14, 2007
• Jack Goldsmith: Assistant United States Attorney General -- Resigned July, 2004
• Mike Johanns: Agriculture Secretary -- Resigned September 20, 2007
• J. Scott Jennings: Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs -- Resignation announced, October 2007
• Karen Hughes: Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the U.S. Department of State -- Announced resignation, October 31, 2007; effective December 2007
• John Kneuer: Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration -- Resignation announced, November 9, 2007
• Frances Townsend: Homeland Security Advisor -- Announced resignation, November 19, 2007
• Al Hubbard: National Economic Council chairman -- Announced resignation, November 2007
• Michael Guest: Ambassador to Romania, appointed by President Bush -- (On December 4, 2007 the New York Times reported that Guest had retired from the State Department)
• Howard J. "Cookie" Krongard: Head of the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of State -- resignation effective January 15, 2008
• Candida Perotti Wolff: Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs -- Resigned December 28, 2007
• Deborah Platt Majoras: Federal Trade Commission Chairman -- Resigned late March 2008
• Admiral William Fallon: Commander of the U.S. Central Command -- Announced Resignation, March 11, 2008
• Alphonso Jackson: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development -- Announced Resignation, March 31 2008
• Lurita Alexis Doan: Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration -- Resigned April 29, 2008
  

[Main Sources: TomDispatch.com and SourceWatch.org]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Department of Homeland Security seeks New Radiation-Detecting Gear

The Bush Administration wants to put new devices that would detect radiation at our nation's land crossings and ports.

Old monitors have trouble telling the difference between weapons of mass destruction and the radiation in naturally occurring items like bananas and ceramics.

Despite the inefficiency, some are questioning the $1.2 billion cost.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is testing some of the new detectors on cargo coming into the port of New York. The program is aimed at stopping malevolent materials terrorists attempt to ship into the United States.

Critics believe nuclear materials that are heavily shielded -- for instance, encased in lead -- could fool even the most advanced detectors.

John Bowen of the Hometown Security blog chimes in, offering some solutions:

It's all protective intervention, with the goal of finding radioactive needles in the haystack of cargo. They are going to rely on state and local officials to do some of this detection, with some limited guidance from DNDO.

But the testing data on the radiation detectors is somewhat questionable, and the deployment schedule is falling behind. Hmm...

State and local authorities might want to consider other steps, such as identifying local sources of radioactivity and collaborating with their caretakers regarding their security (e.g., hospitals, food irradiators, oil and gas drilling operations, etc.) Another idea is what New York did - conduct a baseline radiological survey of the area, so that it easier to spot anomalous radiation.

The best security system will not solely rely on detection. The "detection" set of concentric rings should only be one in a system of concentric rings.

The Bush administration is expected to present its case for mass installation of the new devices to congress later this year.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

U.S. targets India over spirit and wine tariffs

The Bush administration filed a case with the World Trade Organization against India on Tuesday concerning the tariffs the country imposes on U.S. wine and distilled spirits.

The case claims that India is imposing tariffs that go as high as 550 percent on U.S. wine and spirits imports and is in violation of its WTO commitments that they would not exceed 150 percent.

Both of India's wine and spirits import duties are within WTO limits -- wine at 100 percent and spirits at 150 percent -- however various government surcharges boost the tariffs much higher.

The matter may possibly be resolved in WTO consultations.

The U.S. and India have 60 days to strike a solution through negotiations before a WTO panel is formed. If the United States wins the case it can put penalty tariffs on goods coming from India into the States unless India drops the tariffs in dispute.

The announcement from the administration came after the European Union also challenged India's tariffs on wine and spirits.

An attempt by the administration to join the EU case was rejected by India. Under WTO rule a member country that isn't allowed to join a existing case can file its own.

India is one of the largest spirit markets in the world -- valued at the retail level at about $14.2 billion.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

White House Gets "Significant Win" on Gitmo

A federal appeals court ruling Tuesday denies Guantanamo detainees trial in U.S. civilian courts -- to challenge their detention -- except for appeals.

In a 2-1 ruling the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the Military Commissions Act, or MCA, that says U.S. civil courts don't have the authority to consider whether the military is illegally holding foreigners any more.

The MCA, which Bush pushed through Congress last year bars detainees from the U.S. court system. Instead, the act sets up an alternative system of trying the Gitmo detainees in military proceedings.

Deputy press secretary Dana Perino hailed the court's decision as a "significant win" for the Bush administration and added the MCA provides "sufficient and fair access to courts for these detainees."

But most criticized, primarily by Democrats and civil libertarians, is that habeas corpus -- the fundamental right to ask a judge for release from unjust imprisonment -- appears to be suspended for the detainees.

Benjamin Tuttle at Ben's Blog disagrees, stressing the detainees' lack of citizenship:

. . . the idea that habeas corpus is being removed is proposterous. Those detained at Gitmo are not US citizens. This seems to be so difficult for many Leftists to understand who are so angry at President Bush that they can’t make a rational decision. If President Bush actually removed habeas corpus from an American citizen, I would agree completely with the ACLU and would join protests and petitions to get that law changed. The problem is that the detainees, since they are not citizens, don’t even HAVE the right of habeas corpus. Why is that difficult?

I appreciate the ideas of those that think that all individuals should be entitled to certain rights that happen to be in our Constitution. Maybe instead of trying to warp the laws, they could introduce a Constitutional Amendment to that affect, saying that “rights herein apply to all humans the United States interacts with” or something to that affect. Though I think that would be proposterous, it would at least be honest. Smearing the administration with more screaming over a non-issue, because once again detainees are not United States citizens and therefore do not have our rights, is dishonest and does not contribute to the process.

Katharine at Cut to the Chase is of a different mind saying habeas corpus does not only apply to U.S. citizens:

I have been meaning to write about Tuesday's really B-A-D federal appeals court decision FOR Bush's terror kangaroo court system and against detainees. While I am NOT a constitutional lawyer, I have been back and forth over it today and before and I do not see that its tenets are limited exclusively to American citizens. And that's not even arguing the never-never-land of limbo Bush has put many of these folks into at Gitmo and in secret prisons the world over!

This ruling is likely to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Airline Ticket Tax Could Vanish

The Bush administration and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will unveil a plan Wednesday to pay for a new air traffic control system by eliminating the passenger ticket tax while raising other costs for fliers such as a higher tax on fuel.

The announcement is likely to set off a debate among airlines, who support the plan, and private and corporate jet owners who will -- under the proposal -- pay more to fly in national air space.

Although FAA Administrator Marion Blakey hasn't said exactly how much a modernized control system will cost, he did say a new digital system which utilizes satellites should replace a WW II era radio and radar based one.

Blakey also said the 7.5 percent passenger ticket tax currently paying for air traffic control won't raise enough money to replace the aging system because of the growth of low cost airlines and because the average plane has gotten smaller -- it costs just as much to track a small airplane as it does a jumbo jet.

Thus, the FAA is asking congress to charge fees that reflect the actual cost of flying such as raising the passenger facility charges tax (an existing tax which pays for airport improvements) and more than tripling fuel tax for corporate and private aircraft.

The Air Transport Association, an airline lobbyist, says that airlines pay for 93.7 percent of the air traffic control system, but use only 68.1 percent of it while military, corporate and recreational aircraft use the remaining 31.9 percent.

On the other hand, National Business Aviation Association president Ed Bolen says it's the hub-and-spoke system created by large airlines that puts a heavy load on the air traffic control system. He calls the proposal a "toxic mix of higher taxes, new fees and airline control." And added, "It would give them [airlines] a massive tax cut, to be paid for largely by a 'general aviation' industry that serves many of the nation's small and mid-sized businesses and their communities."

"We've got a system in the U.S. that's the largest, safest, most efficient in the world," Bolen said. "It's been funded through user taxes for 40 years, it's worked. We don't need to set up a new bureaucracy."

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Polar Bears may be Labeled "Threatened" Species

The Bush Administration has proposed listing polar bears as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. US Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne says the bears appear to be dying because ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting -- causing a disruption to their habitat.

In 12 months -- after further study and time for public comment -- the Department of the Interior will make it's final decision on the polar bear's status.

This marks the first time the Bush Administration has acknowledged a direct link between global warming and a threat to a species.

The announcement came after three conservation groups sued the Department of the Interior to shield the declining polar bear population from the effects of global warming. The conservation groups hope this will impact US policy toward greenhouse gas emissions.

The Endangered Species Act puts the responsibility of protecting threatened species on the US government by not being able to authorize any activity that would jeopardize an endangered species. But it is not clear how the "threatened" designation could be used to regulate polluters that contribute to global warming.

79 Soul declares victory:

This is a small victory, but an important one. While it shows the same guilty, stupid tenacity that the Bush administration has adhered to in its continuous denial of the existence of Global Warming, it is enough of an admission to hopefully pave the way for future change and action in other areas where Global Warming is concerned.

Charlk at Blame it on the Redhead? blogs:

I know they are already protected in a number of other countries. I've heard sad tales of them drowning due to the increasing distance between ice flows. Their numbers and weight and ability to reproduce are shrinking. Now the Bush administration will conduct a study and decide if these fine mammals should be added to the endangered species list. Gee, maybe they should also consider imposing limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

-Dippold

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