“‘Institutionally, the presidency is walking all over Congress at the moment.’ Specter, R-Pennsylvania, told the panel. ‘If we are to maintain our institutional prerogative, that may be the only way we can do it.‘” Fed up with White House stonewalling regarding the illegal NSA wiretaps (and likely emboldened by Dubya’s grotesquely bad poll numbers), Arlen Specter threatens to cut off the program’s funding.
Category: War on Terror
Fie on FEMA.
“The eight-month, bipartisan investigation’s central finding is that FEMA should be replaced by a new National Preparedness and Response Authority. Its head would report to the secretary of Homeland Security but serve as the president’s top adviser for national emergency matters, akin to the military role played by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.” As hurricane season nears, the future of FEMA becomes a political football between the Senate (who favors abolishing it) and the White House (who doesn’t.) The Senate report also “singled out President Bush and the White House as appearing indifferent to the devastation until two days after the storm hit.“
Malreports from Minitrue’s Recdep.
“In short, more than one of every three documents removed from the open shelves and barred to researchers should not have been tampered with.” A recently-completed audit into the formerly secret Archives reclassification program finds that many more files were reclassified — and reclassified wrongly — than previously suggested. “In February, the Archives estimated that about 9,500 records totaling more than 55,000 pages had been withdrawn and reclassified since 1999. The new audit shows the real haul was much larger — at least 25,515 records were removed by five different agencies, including the CIA, Air Force, Department of Energy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Archives.“
Ground Zero Hour.
“With today’s agreement, we can now move forward with rebuilding the World Trade Center.” After months of wrangling, developer Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority strike a deal on the planned “Freedom Tower” at the WTC site. Said Pataki: ““This is the last stumbling block to putting shovels in the ground.” Construction on the 1776-foot Freedom Tower is set to be completed by 2012.
Torture…again.
US officials find repeated instances of detainee abuse at six more Iraqi prisons, and — unlike last time — are not removing all the tortured prisoners from their place of custody, thus violating a promise made by Joint Chiefs chairman Peter Pace last November. “Pace said at a news conference Nov. 29 with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, ‘It is absolutely the responsibility of every U.S. service member, if they see inhumane treatment being conducted, to intervene to stop it.’ Turning to Pace, Rumsfeld responded: ‘I don’t think you mean they have an obligation to physically stop it; it’s to report it.‘” Now, why make that distinction, Rummy?
Everywhere is War.
“This plan details ‘what terrorists or bad guys we would hit if the gloves came off. The gloves are not off.’” The Pentagon’s Special Operations Command (SOCOM) devises a new and classified campaign to fight the war on terror, one that apparently relies heavily on special forces getting involved around the world. “[I]n a subtle but important shift contained in a classified order last year, the Pentagon gained the leeway to inform — rather than gain the approval of — the U.S. ambassador before conducting military operations in a foreign country, according to several administration officials. ‘We do not need ambassador-level approval,’ said one defense official familiar with the order.”
Whistle Blown.
“[Y]ou have somebody being fired from the CIA for allegedly telling the truth, and you have no one fired from the White House for revealing a CIA agent in order to support a lie. That underscores what’s really wrong in Washington, D.C.” Following the recent dismissal of CIA historian and Africa specialist Mary McCarthy for telling the Post about our secret gulags, several Dems, including John Kerry and Rep. Jane Harman, question the Dubya double standard regarding leaks. Update: Was it not McCarthy after all?
No More Secrets.
“For the National Archives to go into cahoots with the CIA and Air Force to mislead researchers about what was going on was over the top, and a strong signal of a secrecy system that is genuinely broken.” Following the recent uproar over re-classified documents, the National Archives pledges to forego secret arrangements in the future. Said the United States archivist, Allen Weinstein: “Classified agreements are the antithesis of our reason for being…If records must be removed for reasons of national security, the American people will always, at the very least, know when it occurs and how many records are affected.“
The End of History.
And hundreds of fifth-graders in day-glo hats lamented…The Smithsonian American History Museum will be closed for two years as of Labor Day, to allow for interior renovations and a new display for the Star Spangled Banner. And in vaguely related news (and as noted previously here), the Post looks into the plan by the CIA, Air Force and others to file away some records…forever. (2nd link via Cliopatria.)
Hard Candy.
Oof, and y’all thought shoplifting was bad…I don’t really want to get into the sad and horrifying story of Homeland Security flak and child molester Brian Doyle. Suffice to say, is this what “restoring honor and dignity to the White House” looks like? Ok, that may be a cheap shot, but if this sick tale had happened on Clinton’s watch, we would never hear the end of it.