Dick Cheney to speak at fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise

US Vice President Dick Cheney listens as US President George W. Bush meets with General David McKiernan, Commander for NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on 1 October 2008.

6 October 2008

New Orleans-Vice President Dick Cheney will speak at a fundraiser today in New Orleans for U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, of the 1st Congressional District.

Cheney's flies in to Louis Armstrong Airport at about 10:50 a.m. No further details are available on the event.

Scalise faces Democrat Jim Harlan of Lacombe in the Nov. 4 election. Harlan won more than 72 percent of the vote in Saturday's election against rival Democrat M.V. "Vinny" Mendoza.

After the speech, Cheney heads to the airport for a 1:30 p.m. stop in Baton Rouge, where he will stump for Congressional candidate Bill Cassidy, the Republican nominee for Congress in the 6th District.

Judge orders Cheney to preserve records

Private group is suing vice president, Bush's office to keep materials open

20 September 2008

WASHINGTON - A federal judge Saturday ordered Dick Cheney to preserve a wide range of the records from his time as vice president.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly is a setback for the Bush administration in its effort to promote a narrow definition of materials that must be safeguarded under the Presidential Records Act.

The Bush administration's legal position "heightens the court's concern" that some records may not be preserved, said the judge.

A private group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, is suing Cheney and the Executive Office of the President in an effort to ensure that no presidential records are destroyed or handled in a way that makes them unavailable to the public.

In a 22-page opinion, the judge revealed that in recent days, lawyers for the Bush administration balked at a proposed agreement between the two sides on how to proceed with the case.

Cheney and the other defendants "were only willing to agree to a preservation order that tracked their narrowed interpretation" of the Presidential Records Act, wrote Kollar-Kotelly.

The administration, said the judge, wanted any court order on what records are at issue in the suit to cover only the office of the vice president, not Cheney or the other defendants in the lawsuit. The other defendants include the National Archives and the archivist of the United States.

In response to the ruling, Cheney spokesman James R. Hennigan said that "we will not have any comment on pending litigation."

The lawsuit stems from Cheney's position that his office is not part of the executive branch of government.

This summer, Cheney chief of staff David Addington told Congress the vice president belongs to neither the executive nor legislative branch of government, but rather is attached by the Constitution to Congress. The vice president presides over the Senate.

The lawsuit alleges that the Bush administration's actions over the past 7 1/2 years raise questions over whether the White House will turn over records created by Cheney and his staff to the National Archives in January.

In 2003, Cheney asserted that the office of the vice president is not an entity within the executive branch.

Two historians and three groups of historians and archivists joined CREW in filing the suit two weeks ago.

Avoiding Charges of Treason?

Bush Asserts Exec Privilege; Blocks DOJ From Releasing CIA Leak Documents

Copies of Cheney’s handwritten notes appeared to implicate Bush in the treasonous leak case.

16 July 2008

by Jason Leopold

In the latest twist in the “Plame-gate” scandal, President George W. Bush has asserted executive privilege to block release of Vice President Dick Cheney’s interview with a special prosecutor about possible criminal violations in the leaking of a CIA officer’s covert identity.

Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, promptly denounced the White House legal reasoning as “ludicrous,” noting that executive privilege covers advice that an aide gives the President, not responses to legal questions posed by a prosecutor about a possible crime.

Bush applied his broad assertion of executive privilege Wednesday at the request of Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who earlier had rebuffed congressional requests for interviews conducted with both Cheney and Bush about the disclosure of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity.

“I am greatly concerned about the chilling effect that compliance with the [House Oversight] Committee's subpoena would have on future White House deliberations and White House cooperation with future Justice Department investigations,” Mukasey wrote in a letter to Bush on Tuesday.

According to the letter Mukasey sent to Bush, the documents Waxman subpoenaed from the Justice Department includes "Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") reports of the Special Counsel's interviews with the Vice President and senior White House staff, as well as handwritten notes taken by FBI agents during some of these interviews.

"The subpoena also seeks notes taken by the Deputy National Security Advisor during conversations with the Vice President and senior White House officials and other documents provided by the White House to the Special Counsel during the count of the investigation. Many of the subpoenaed materials reflect frank and candid deliberations among senior presidential advisers, including the Vice President, the White House Chief of Staff, the National Security Advisor, and the White House Press Secretary.

"The deliberations concern a number of sensitive issues, including the preparation of your January 2003 State of the Union Address, possible responses to public assertions challenging the accuracy of a statement in the address, and the decision to send Ms. Plame's husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, to Niger in 2002 to investigate Iraqi efforts to acquire yellowcake uranium. Some of the subpoenaed documents also contain information about communications between you and senior White House officials," Mukasey's letter says.

Since becoming Attorney General in December 2007, Mukasey has balked at investigating crimes allegedly committed earlier by Bush administration officials – from torturing detainees to arranging political prosecutions – a "no-look-back" approach that drew criticism from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In reaction to Bush’s assertion of executive privilege, Waxman said “we are not seeking access to the communications between the Vice President and the President. We are seeking access to the communications between the Vice President and FBI investigators.”

The California Democrat also noted that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald told the committee in a July 3 letter that Cheney had met with the FBI voluntarily and knew his answers could be disclosed at a public trial.

“Mr. Fitzgerald told us that ‘there were no agreements, conditions and understandings’ that limited Mr. Fitzgerald's use of the interview in any way,” Waxman said. “This unfounded assertion of executive privilege does not protect a principle; it protects a person.”

Waxman also accused Mukasey of applying a different standard for a Republican administration than was applied to its Democratic predecessors.

“Ten years ago,” Waxman said, “Attorney General Janet Reno, provided the Committee the FBI interviews of both President Clinton and Vice President Gore. Mr. Mukasey decided that a different rule should apply to Republican presidents than to Democratic presidents."

Actually, the Bush administration’s resistance to releasing the responses from a President and a Vice President in a criminal proceeding contrasts with precedents for both parties, including the appearances of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton before various special prosecutors.

Waxman’s committee was scheduled to vote Wednesday to hold Mukasey in contempt for refusing to comply with the Cheney subpoena. However, Waxman postponed the vote after Bush’s assertion of executive privilege.

Long-running Scandal
The “Plame-gate” affair dates back to 2003 when Valerie Plame Wilson’s husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, went public with the fact that he had undertaken a fact-finding trip to Niger which had disproved President Bush’s claim that Iraq had sought to buy yellowcake uranium from the African nation.

As Wilson was going public with his knowledge of the Niger falsehood, Bush administration officials began leaking the fact that Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA and had a hand in arranging Wilson’s trip to Niger.

The leakers included Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, White House political adviser Karl Rove and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Cheney’s chief of staff.

Valerie Plame Wilson’s CIA employment was revealed in a July 14, 2003, article by right-wing columnist Robert Novak, effectively destroying her career. Two months later, a CIA complaint to the Justice Department sparked a criminal probe into the identity of the leakers.

Initially, Bush professed not to know anything about the matter, and several of his senior aides, including Rove and Libby, followed suit. However, it later became clear that Rove and Libby had a hand in the Plame leak and that Bush and Cheney had helped organize a campaign to disparage Wilson by giving critical information to friendly journalists.

In a statement Wednesday, Wilson said the "fact that the Attorney General is recommending the assertion of executive privilege reveals that this Department of Justice is as beholden to the White House as that run by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.”

In October 2005, Libby was indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. At Libby’s trial in 2007, his attorney, Theodore Wells, told jurors that Fitzgerald had tried to build a case of conspiracy against Cheney and Libby, and that the prosecution believed Libby may have lied to federal investigators and to a grand jury to protect Cheney.

“Now, I think the government, through its questions, really tried to put a cloud over Vice President Cheney," Wells said.

Rebutting Wells, Fitzgerald told jurors: "You know what? [Wells] said something here that we're trying to put a cloud on the Vice President. We'll talk straight. There is a cloud over the Vice President. He sent Libby off to [meet with New York Times reporter] Judith Miller at the St. Regis Hotel. At that meeting - the two-hour meeting - the defendant talked about the wife [Plame]. We didn't put that cloud there. That cloud remains because the defendant obstructed justice and lied about what happened."

Libby also told the FBI that it was "possible" that Cheney instructed him to disseminate to the press information about Plame’s identity.

Cheney’s Notes
Copies of Cheney’s handwritten notes also appeared to implicate Bush in the leak case.

Cheney's notes, which were introduced as evidence during Libby's trial, called into question the truthfulness of Bush's insistence that he had no prior knowledge of the sub rosa campaign against Wilson.

In an October 2003 note to then-press secretary Scott McClellan, Cheney demanded that the press office add Libby to a list of White House officials being cleared of any role in the Plame leak.

"Not going to protect one staffer + sacrifice the guy that was asked to stick his head in the meat grinder because of incompetence of others," Cheney wrote. However, the note revealed that Cheney had originally written "this Pres" before crossing that out and using the passive tense, "that was."

In other words, the original version suggested that Bush had asked Libby “to stick his head in the meat grinder,” an apparent reference to dealing with the Washington press corps.

In 2007, Libby was convicted of four counts of perjury and obstruction of justice and was given a 30-month jail sentence, but Bush commuted the sentence to spare Libby any jail time.

The still-secret interviews with Bush and Cheney took place in 2004.

According to sources knowledgeable about the Vice President’s interview, Cheney was specifically asked about conversations he had with senior aides, including Libby, and queried about whether he was aware of a campaign led by White House officials to leak Plame’s identity.

It is unknown how Cheney responded to those questions.

Waxman said Wednesday that the FBI interview report could be the "key document" that explains what Cheney’s role was in the leak.

"If there is one document that could pierce the cloud hanging over the Vice President, this is it," Waxman said.

On June 24, 2004, Bush was interviewed by Fitzgerald for 70 minutes about the Plame leak. The only other member of the Bush team in the room during the meeting was Jim Sharp, the private lawyer whom Bush hired, according to then-press secretary McClellan.

”The President ... was pleased to do his part to help the investigation move forward,” McClellan said. “No one wants to get to the bottom of this matter more than the President of the United States.”

However, with his invocation of executive privilege on Wednesday, Bush seems determined to make sure that the American public never gets to know what sits at the bottom of the “Plame-gate” scandal.

Kucinich introduces Bush impeachment resolution

Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio has introduced a resolution to impeach President Bush.

11 June 2008

WASHINGTON-Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a former Democratic presidential candidate from Ohio, introduced a resolution to impeach President Bush into the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Kucinich announced his intention to seek Bush's impeachment Monday night, when he read the lengthy document into the record.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly said she would not support a resolution calling for Bush's impeachment, saying such a move was unlikely to succeed and would be divisive.

Most of the congressman's resolution deals with the Iraq war, contending that the president manufactured a false case for the war, violated U.S. and international law to invade Iraq, failed to provide troops with proper equipment and falsified casualty reports for political purposes.

Kucinich also charges that Bush has illegally detained without charge both U.S. citizens and "foreign captives" and violated numerous U.S. laws through the use of "signing statements" declaring his intention to do so.

Other articles address global warming, voting rights, Medicare, the response to Hurricane Katrina and failure to comply with congressional subpoenas.

Last year, Kucinich introduced a resolution to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. But in November when Republicans tried to force a debate on the move, the attempt failed. Democrats voted to send the resolution to the House Judiciary Committee, where committee chairman Rep. John Conyers has taken no action on it.

An earlier resolution to impeach Cheney has languished in the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties since May 2007.

The House of Representatives has voted to impeach two presidents -- Andrew Johnson, in 1868, and Bill Clinton, in 1999 -- but both were acquitted by the Senate and remained in office. No U.S. vice president has been impeached.

Kucinich dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination for president in January to focus on his re-election bid in Ohio. He handily won the Democratic primary in his district on March 4 and faces former State Representative Jim Trakas in the general election.

Bush was not "forthright" on Iraq: ex-press secretary

28 May 2008

WASHINGTON-Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan says in a new book that President George W. Bush "veered terribly off course" and was not "open and forthright on Iraq," Politico.com reported on Tuesday.

In the memoir due out next week, McClellan also says Bush relied on "propaganda" to sell the war and says the Washington press corps was too easy on the administration during the run-up to it, according to the Web site.

McClellan also takes the administration to task for its performance after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, saying the White House "spent most of the first week in a state of denial," Politico reported.

According to the Web site, McClellan blames former Bush senior adviser Karl Rove for the photo of the president seen observing the disaster during an Air Force One flyover.

"One of the worst disasters in our nation's history became one of the biggest disasters in Bush's presidency. Katrina and the botched federal response to it would largely come to define Bush's second term," Politico quoted the book as saying.

McClellan's 341-page book, titled "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," takes a much harsher tone than White House officials had expected from the president's former aide, Politico reported.

The White House declined comment.

In the memoir, McClellan is said to claim that Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, misled him about their role in the CIA leak case. Libby was convicted last year on charges related to the investigation into who blew the cover of former CIA analyst Valerie Plame, whose husband was an outspoken Iraq war critic.

McClellan served as White House press secretary from July 2003 to April 2006. A long-time Bush loyalist and fellow Texan, he said that he still likes and admires the president and that Bush was ill-served by top advisors.

Note:
What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception, is scheduled to be released on 2 June 2008.

FBI Wrestling a ‘Good News, Bad News’ Predicament

26 May 2008

by Barbara Ferguson

WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is battling a real “good news — bad news” situation within their ranks.

Bad news first: The FBI’s highest-ranking Arab-American agent told a congressional panel this week that he is not being allowed to work on important counterterrorism assignments, despite a shortage of agents who speak Arabic.

The good news — for the FBI, not the nation — is that senior Bush Administration officials apparently ignored warnings from the FBI over interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new US government report.

Bassem Youssef, chief of the communications analysis unit of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, said the bureau’s International Terrorism Operations Sections (ITOS) — which include those that track Al-Qaeda terrorists — are “inexcusably understaffed.”

Egyptian-born Youssef, who has been an agent with the FBI since 1988, said only 62 percent of posts were filled in the counterterrorism unit. In other words, more than one out of every three positions in an elite FBI division that tracks Al-Qaeda terrorists is vacant.

This was confirmed this week by another source, when an internal FBI document was leaked to the press. The FBI’s counterterrorism section is too badly organized and too understaffed to be able to protect the United States effectively against attack, Youssef told lawmakers.

This chronic staff shortage forced the FBI to recruit staff with no relevant experience, specifically with Middle Eastern counterterrorism, possibly lacking pertinent language skills and cultural understanding.

Without cultural knowledge skills, it is difficult to understand how the agents could successfully understand the region.

This reporter has personally known FBI agents over the years, and has been appalled at their ignorance and lack of intellectual curiosity regarding Middle East issues. This reporter asked one agent - whom she learned was specifically dealing with the region - why the agent never asked her any questions about the culture, religion or history of the region, subjects this reporter regularly trains deploying Marines.

The agent’s response: “I didn’t want to have to lie when I took my polygraph.”

In other words, it is better for that agent to remain ignorant, that risk a hassle with the lie detector test about where the agent gained knowledge. Now, efforts are under way at the FBI to canvass for “volunteers” to fill what the agency said is a “critical” need in its counterterrorism efforts.

Inexperience means new operatives take even the slightest threat seriously, and “this happens just about every weekend,” running the staff on the ground ragged.

“If the executives themselves who are managing the entire section or the division are not where they should be... you’re going to see agents, analysts and other folks working in that division that are overworked, because they’re over-assigned,” he said. The FBI has been sanguine over these accusations: “While we appreciate any employee’s views on the state and direction of the FBI, those assessments may be very limited in scope,” John Miller, an FBI spokesman, told reporters.

“It is cynical to write off the work of so many dedicated FBI employees or the accomplishments of the bureau by suggesting that these efforts are failing, especially when they are not.”

Fortunately, the FBI has proof it’s doing some things right, according to recently released documents.

FBI agents repeatedly complained that harsh interrogation techniques used on detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo might violate the law and jeopardize future criminal trials, but administration officials did little to address the concerns, a government watchdog concluded in a recent report.

At one point in 2003, several top Justice Department officials took the concerns about interrogation practices used by the military at Guantanamo to the National Security Council, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine said in his report.However, Fine said the complaints did not appear to trigger any response from the National Security Council, which includes President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and was chaired at the time by then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Although the FBI’s concerns were previously known, Fine’s report details how top law enforcement and military officials were slow to respond and how, in some instances, administration officials appear to have disregarded them. The 370-page report took four years to complete, with its release delayed by the Pentagon’s attempt to keep a larger portion of the report classified, according to Fine.

The report describes how FBI agents beginning in 2002 became deeply troubled by some of the interrogations they witnessed and details frequent clashes between agents and their military counterparts over the military’s and CIA’s use of harsh techniques that one agent described as “borderline torture.”

President Bush claimed harsh interrogations produced invaluable intelligence, but the FBI agents said the abuse was ineffective. They also predicted, accurately, that it would be impossible to prosecute abused prisoners.

________

Commentary

Possibly, I am a bit naive on this point, but I could never actually see the United States having a real terrorism problem, unless it is because of certain elements of their domestic or foreign policies and this is an idea just thrown out into the wind only.

Otherwise, in my opinion, I cannot actually see the United States having any foreseeable problem towards being victims of terrorism even in the future.

Personally, I am against any of the facets of terrorism and abhor anyone that would wish to commit such acts, towards any people or country.

Let's have a Seat

Assigned Seats-A name placard marks a chair for Vice President Cheney in the front row for a presidential statement in the Cross Hall of the White House, on 11 April 2008.

A Little Close Cheney

A U.S. helicopter carrying the US Vice President Dick Cheney, flies over the city of Ramallah on March 23, 2008, during Cheney's illegal visit to Palestine.

Cheney the Warmonger of Palestine?

Israeli President Shimon Peres meets with US Vice President Dick Cheney on March 23, 2008 in Jerusalem.

24 March 2008

by HRM Deborah

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Palestine on Saturday illegally, in an attempt to restart the war in Palestine.

He is threatening the Jewish people under pressure of security risk’s if they do not reply to his wishes.

Further assumption, is the accusation that the U.S. under President George W. Bush would use terrorist tactics upon the Jewish people, as well as the Palestinian people if Cheney’s demands were not met.

Cheney has met several Jewish leaders with his proposal’s, in an attempt to restart the war, so Bush get’s what he wishes, more dead for another 108 years, is the intention thought of by many.

Cheney went on to visit the global wanted terrorist, Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad, who has decidedly helped with U.S. collaborated terrorist attacks previously.

Cheney, most assuredly does not plan on talking to Palestine legal government with his wrongdoing for the simple idea as the Palestine legal government does not incite war’s and has no intention of another war in Palestine.

For the well-being of all Palestinian citizens has always been the top priority of the Palestine legal government.

Furthermore, Cheney attended a brief, non-denominational Easter service Sunday at the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, as a guise to meet with U.S. Ambassador Jack Walles, prior to his visit with Abbas. Mahmoud Abbas welcomes US Vice-President Dick Cheney (L) at the Fatah headquarters in Ramallah on March 23, 2008.

Cheney meets Saudi king

21 March 3008

SA-Dick Cheney, the US vice president, has met King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia with the soaring price of oil and instability in the region expected to be on the agenda.

However, it is unclear whether Cheney will urge the leader of the world's largest oil exporter to increase output during the talks at the monarch's horse farm in Riyadh

"They will review a broad agenda of diplomatic and security issues as well as where we are now in the global energy market," John Hannah, Cheney's national security adviser, told reporters aboard the Air Force Two vice presidential aeroplane on Friday.

"They'll have ample discussions about the problems that exist in the market, whether and how they lend themselves to various kinds of solutions.

"I am sure they will talk about the need for a cooperative way forward to try and stabilise this market, reduce volatility in the market and serve the interests of both consumers and producers alike," he said.

Energy prices

During his trip to Saudi Arabia in January, George Bush, the US president, urged the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase production, saying it was a mistake to have the economies of its largest customers slowing down as a result of higher energy prices.

The oil-producing nations ignored Bush's request and oil prices have risen above $110 a barrel.

In Iraq on Monday, Cheney noted that there currently is very little spare capacity in the global oil market.

He said the declining value of the U.S. dollar was putting upward pressure on oil prices as well as increasing demand for oil in China, India and in the oil producing nations themselves.

"You've got a situation in which we've seen the price of oil rise fairly dramatically in recent months, up now to over US$100 a barrel," Cheney said.

"But it reflects primarily the realities in the marketplace."

Iraq contacts

Cheney is expected to ask King Abdullah to lead other Arab nations into dispatching an ambassador to Baghdad and step up other government-to-government contacts.

While on Afghanistan, the vice president was set to urge the king to encourage private-sector investment and step up financial assistance for US-led reconstruction efforts, an unnamed US official told the AFP news agency.

The two men were also likely to talk about efforts to confront Iran over its disputed nuclear programme.

Cheney will also visit Israel, the West Bank, and Turkey before returning to Washington.

_________

It should be noted, that Vice President Cheney previously was denied Palestine airspace to land, the reason being of the Bush Administration’s disrespect to all the Palestinian people and also, their association with a known terrorist organization.

Armistice Day for Palestine

A Statement from HRM Deborah of Palestine and the Messenger of Peace

14 March 2008

As of this morning at 9:00 AM, the Armistice Agreement between the Palestinian and Jewish people was signed, signifying the legal end to the war in Palestine. All people living in Palestine regardless of their religion is a citizen of Palestine with all due respect.

As we continue the reconstruction of our country after this horrendous war, may we as citizens of Palestine instead of shedding tears, we can now rejoice.

As for building construction in Palestine at this time, the United Nations has no jurisdiction within Palestine boundaries, for they have never recognized the country or the people of Palestine since their inception. The building construction in Palestine will continue, with gratitude towards the Jewish people for their efforts to create housing for those who are homeless among the Arab population. I hope that in the near future the refugee camps will be no more.

As for Dick Cheney, wishing to come for a visit on Sunday, it is not necessary or welcome, because the proposal’s I understand he was going to make towards President George W. Bush’s peace plan and roadmap is nullified.

Vice-President Cheney would be better spent; using the money that he would have used to make his trip to Palestine, to give to charity within the United States, to relive the suffering among those in his own country, with the hope that some of the people in his country would be relived of their hardships and tears.

As of today, the United States cannot dictate policy also within the boundaries of Palestine.

Now in regards to the Fatah terrorist organization led by Mahmoud Abbas, all people within this terrorist organization, has two options, surrender or be assassinated for the high crime’s against all the citizens of Palestine and Internationally.

As for Palestine herself, may she become a great country once again and the sorrow’s that was created by an unjust war be no more. May we put this sorrow behind us and live in the manner that all people in Palestine were intended in the first place.

Finally, may Allah’s peace and blessing’s shower upon all the people of Palestine forever!

U.S. idea of a Palestine Roadmap?

10 March 2008

Dick Cheney, the US vice-president, is to visit Palestine next Sunday and as George W. Bush is pushing everyone to shore up a dead peace plan and lost roadmap.

What Bush should be saying, “I know it is lost in the floorboard of the car somewhere. Isn’t Palestine, by Omaha? By the way Dick, what is that word 'peace' mean again?”

Cheney After Seizure of Middle East Oil Wealth

26 October 2007

Tehran-People lobbying for US unilateral approach including Vice-President Dick Cheney, are after seizure of the Middle East oil wealth adding that another escalation will skyrocket oil to dlrs 200 per barrel.

According to IRNA Political Desk, the former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi made the comment at a press conference after his speech at Jamaran Hosseinieh -- late Imam Khomeini's public audience site -- for a group of university students.

Rahim-Safavi added, "Over 65% of the world's oil reserves are concentrated in the Middle East and one of the major objectives of the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan was to seize this region's oil wealth which will skyrocket to dlrs 200 a barrel by another escalation."

Giving an analysis about the current status of the United States, Rahim Safavi said that the US lacks the potentials to attack Iran.

He said that US has militarized the region to prepare the ground for huge arms sales, adding, "As it was made public in recent news editions, the US has signed arms deals with regional countries, including Saudi Arabian Kuwait, and the UAE worth sixty billion dollars."

"In addition to the political objectives that the Americans are pursuing -- among which their defeated Greater Middle East Plan -- arms sales that provide the greatest income for US industries, is a strategic objective for the United States."

A reporter asked Ramin-Safavi about the fate of Ali Hassan Majid, Saddam's Ali Chemical. He replied, "More important than that is surveying who provided the former Iraqi regime with those fatal weapons."

Safavi reiterated, "The Europeans, including the German and French companies along with Britain provided the Iraqi dictator with technology and the raw materials, such as mustard gas.

The former chief of IRGC added, "Only one of the destructive aftermaths of the Western powers action was 5,000 civilian victims of chemical weapons in Iraqi Kurdistan's Halabja on March 14-17, 1988." Referring to Iran's 300,000 war veterans, he said that part of he war veterans are chemical weapons' victims, one of whom dies each week after having suffered tremendously for many years."

Rahim-Safavi reiterated, "The Europeans provided Saddam with those weapons, and the Americans, too, never condemned Iraq's numerous chemical attacks against Iran."

Referring to the humiliating fate of Saddam, his sons, other members of his Baath Party and his Chemical Ali, he said, "Today the world is witness to the grandeur and prosperity of Iranian nation, emerging as an effective and strong regional power, and an influential country in international community."

Note:
In Iraq for example, the Iraqi resistance was accused during this war to have blown up certain oilfields; when in truth it was actually the American’s that did the explosions.

Many have felt it was to cause the cost of oil to rise and the consumer to pay the heavy cost at the pumps.

Top Lebanese cleric criticizes U.S. vice president for hostility toward Iran?

12 October 2007

BEIRUT, Lebanon-Lebanon's top Shiite cleric criticized U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday, saying he backs a military strike against Iran that would "bring destruction to the region."

Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah made his comments during Friday prayers in Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik. His statements came as many Lebanese celebrated the first day of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"We see that America's Vice President Dick Cheney favors a major aerial, naval and missile strike against Iran, specifically against all its military and civilian infrastructure in addition to the oil, telecommunication and transportation sectors by March at the latest," Fadlallah said in comments distributed by his office. The cleric did not provide specific evidence for his claim.

"This man (Cheney) ... has toured the region to convince Arab countries, mainly Gulf states, to convince them that Iran is considered a dangerous enemy that should be boycotted and fought," Fadlallah said, referring to a visit by Cheney to the region several months ago.

Fadlallah, the top religious authority for Lebanon's 1.2 million Shiites, warned that any such attack will not succeed.

Some Arabs fear that the United States or Israel, or both, may strike predominantly Shiite Iran over fears that the country is using its nuclear program as cover for weapons development. Iran denies the claim and says the program is for civilian purposes.

U.S. President George W. Bush has refused to take the military option off the table, and many view Cheney as one of the more hawkish officials toward Iran in the White House.

The vice president warned Iran sharply in May from an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf that the U.S. will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons or dominate the Middle East.

Fadlallah said that "we believe that the American plan will not achieve much success in its expected aggression but it will bring destruction to the region that houses American military bases and oil wealth."

Bush Executive Order: Criminalizing the Antiwar Movement

20 July 2007

by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

The Executive Order entitled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq" provides the President with the authority to confiscate the assets of whoever opposes the US led war.

A presidential Executive Order issued on July 17th, repeals with the stroke of a pen the right to dissent and to oppose the Pentagon's military agenda in Iraq.

The Executive Order entitled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq" provides the President with the authority to confiscate the assets of "certain persons" who oppose the US led war in Iraq:

"I have issued an Executive Order blocking property of persons determined to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq or undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people."

In substance, under this executive order, opposing the war becomes an illegal act.

The Executive Order criminalizes the antiwar movement. It is intended to "blocking property" of US citizens and organizations actively involved in the peace movement. It allows the Department of Defense to interfere in financial affairs and instruct the Treasury to "block the property" and/or confiscate/ freeze the assets of "Certain Persons" involved in antiwar activities. It targets those "Certain Persons" in America, including civil society organizatioins, who oppose the Bush Administration's "peace and stability" program in Iraq, characterized, in plain English, by an illegal occupation and the continued killing of innocent civilians.

The Executive Order also targets those "Certain Persons" who are "undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction", or who, again in plain English, are opposed to the confiscation and privatization of Iraq's oil resources, on behalf of the Anglo-American oil giants.



The order is also intended for anybody who opposes Bush's program of "political reform in Iraq", in other words, who questions the legitimacy of an Iraqi "government" installed by the occupation forces.

Moreover, those persons or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), who provide bona fide humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians, and who are not approved by the US Military or its lackeys in the US sponsored Iraqi puppet government are also liable to have their financial assets confiscated.

The executive order violates the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the US Constitution. It repeals one of the fundamental tenets of US democracy, which is the right to free expression and dissent. The order has not been the object of discussion in the US Congress. Sofar, it has not been addressed by the US antiwar movement, in terms of a formal statement.

Apart from a bland Associated Press wire report, which presents the executive order as "an authority to use financial sanctions", there has been no media coverage or commentary of a presidential decision which strikes at the heart of the US Constitution..

Broader implications

The criminalization of the State is when the sitting President and Vice President use and abuse their authority through executive orders, presidential directives or otherwise to define "who are the criminals" when in fact they they are the criminals.

This latest executive order criminalizes the peace movement. It must be viewed in relation to various pieces of "anti-terrorist" legislation, the gamut of presidential and national security directives, etc., which are ultimately geared towards repealing constitutional government and installing martial law in the event of a "national emergency".

The war criminals in high office are intent upon repressing all forms of dissent which question the legitimacy of the war in Iraq.

The executive order combined with the existing anti-terrorist legislation is eventually intended to be used against the anti-war and civil rights movements. It can be used to seize the assets of antiwar groups in America as well as block the property and activities of non-governmental humanitarian organizations providing relief in Iraq, seizing the assets of alternative media involved in reporting the truth regarding the US-led war, etc.

In May 2007, Bush issued a major presidential National Security Directive (National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive NSPD 51/HSPD 20), which would suspend constitutional government and instate broad dictatorial powers under martial law in the case of a "Catastrophic Emergency" (e.g. Second 9/11 terrorist attack).

On July 11, 2007 the CIA published its "National Intelligence Estimate" which pointed to an imminent Al Qaeda attack on America, a second 9/11 which, according to the terms of NSPD 51, would immediately be followed by the suspension of constitutional government and the instatement of martial law under the authority of the president and the vice-president. (For further details, see Michel Chossudovsky, Bush Directive for a "Catastrophic Emergency" in America: Building a Justification for Waging War on Iran? June 2007)

NSPD 51 grants unprecedented powers to the Presidency and the Department of Homeland Security, overriding the foundations of Constitutional government. It allows the sitting president to declare a “national emergency” without Congressional approval. The implementation of NSPD 51 would lead to the de facto closing down of the Legislature and the militarization of justice and law enforcement.

"The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government...."

Were NSPD 51 to be invoked, Vice President Dick Cheney, who constitutes the real power behind the Executive, would essentially assume de facto dictatorial powers, circumventing both the US Congress and the Judiciary, while continuing to use President George W. Bush as a proxy figurehead.

NSPD 51, while bypassing the Constitution, nonetheless, envisages very precise procedures which guarantee the powers of Vice President Dick Cheney in relation to "Continuity of Goverment" functions under Martial Law:

"This directive shall be implemented in a manner that is consistent with, and facilitates effective implementation of, provisions of the Constitution concerning succession to the Presidency or the exercise of its powers, and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 (3 U.S.C. 19), with consultation of the Vice President and, as appropriate, others involved. Heads of executive departments and agencies shall ensure that appropriate support is available to the Vice President and others involved as necessary to be prepared at all times to implement those provisions." (NSPD 51, op cit.)

The executive order to confiscate the assets of antiwar/peace activists is broadly consistent with NSPD 51. It could be triggered even in the absence of a "Catastrophic emergency" as envisaged under NSPD 51. It repeals democracy. It goes one step further in "criminalizing" all forms of opposition and dissent. to the US led war and "Homeland Security" agenda.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANNEX

TEXT OF THE EXECUTIVE ORDER

July 17, 2007

Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)(IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)(NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,

I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, find that, due to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by acts of violence threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq and to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people, it is in the interests of the United States to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 of May 22, 2003, and expanded in Executive Order 13315 of August 28, 2003, and relied upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13350 of July 29, 2004, and Executive Order 13364 of November 29, 2004. I hereby order:

Section 1. (a) Except to the extent provided in section 203(b)(1), (3), and (4) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(1), (3), and (4)), or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the date of this order, all property and interests in property of the following persons, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense,

(i) to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of:

(A) threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq; or

(B) undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people;

(ii) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support for, or goods or services in support of, such an act or acts of violence or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or

(iii) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.

(b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section include, but are not limited to, (i) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order, and (ii) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction by a United States person or within the United States that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

Sec. 3. For purposes of this order:

(a) the term "person" means an individual or entity;

(b) the term "entity" means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization; and

(c) the term "United States person" means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.

Sec. 4. I hereby determine that the making of donations of the type specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order would seriously impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by section 1 of this order.

Sec. 5. For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that, because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render these measures ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1(a) of this order.

Sec. 6. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government, consistent with applicable law. All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order and, where appropriate, to advise the Secretary of the Treasury in a timely manner of the measures taken.

Sec. 7. Nothing in this order is intended to affect the continued effectiveness of any rules, regulations, orders, licenses, or other forms of administrative action issued, taken, or continued in effect heretofore or hereafter under 31 C.F.R. chapter V, except as expressly terminated, modified, or suspended by or pursuant to this order.

Sec. 8. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right, benefit, or privilege, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities, or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

July 17, 2007.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Below is the text of the Message to the Congress of the United States Regarding International Emergency Economic Powers Act


[There has been no response by the US congress or commentary by individual Senators or Representatives.]

Office of the Press Secretary July 17, 2007

Message to the Congress of the United States Regarding International Emergency Economic Powers Act

White House News

Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq

Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)(IEEPA), I hereby report that I have issued an Executive Order blocking property of persons determined to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq or undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people.

I issued this order to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 of May 22, 2003, and expanded in Executive Order 13315 of August 28, 2003, and relied upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13350 of July 29, 2004, and Executive Order 13364 of November 29, 2004.

In these previous Executive Orders, I ordered various measures to address the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by obstacles to the orderly reconstruction of Iraq, the restoration and maintenance of peace and security in that country, and the development of political, administrative, and economic institutions in Iraq.

My new order takes additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315 by blocking the property and interests in property of persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq or undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people.

The order further authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, to designate for blocking those persons determined to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support for, or goods or services in support of, such an act or acts of violence or any person designated pursuant to this order, or to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.

I delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, the authority to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of my order. I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.

GEORGE W. BUSH

The White House,

July 17, 2007.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michel Chossudovsky is the author of the international best America’s "War on Terrorism" Second Edition, Global Research, 2005. He is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Center for Research on Globalization.

Cheney is acting president; Bush sedated for routine colonoscopy

21 July 2007

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (AP) -- President Bush transferred the powers of the presidency to Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday just before being sedated for a routine screening to detect colon cancer

President Bush temporarily transferred power to Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday, a spokesman says.

With a signed letter to the leaders of the House and Senate, Bush temporarily transferred his authority at 7:16 a.m. ET to Cheney, who is at his home on the Chesapeake Bay about 30 miles east of Washington.

"The vice president is now serving as acting president," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

He said the temporary transfer of power will end when Bush transmits a second letter to the congressional leaders advising that he is resuming the powers of the presidency immediately.

Bush relinquished his authority by implementing Section 3 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment -- approved in 1967, four years after President Kennedy was assassinated -- has been used only twice before.

The first time was in July 1985 when President Reagan underwent surgery and turned over power to his vice president, Bush's father. The other time was in 2002 when Bush relinquished his presidential powers to Cheney for more than two hours during a colon cancer scan.

Dr. Richard Tubb, the president's doctor, was supervising Bush's colonoscopy, which was being done at the Camp David presidential retreat. The colonoscopy was being performed by a team from the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Maryland.

"Although no polyps were noted in the exam in 2002, age and history would suggest that there's a reasonable chance that polyps will be noted this time," White House press secretary Tony Snow said Friday. "If so, they'll be removed and evaluated microscopically."

Two polyps -- small clumps of cells that can become cancerous -- were discovered during similar examinations in 1998 and 1999, while Bush was governor of Texas. That made the 61-year-old president a prime candidate for regular examinations.

Snow, himself a cancer sufferer, said results would be available after 48 hours to 72 hours, if not sooner. Snow had his colon removed in 2005 and underwent six months of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with colon cancer.

On March 26, he underwent surgery to remove a growth in his abdominal area, and doctors determined that cancer had metastasized, or spread, to the liver. Watch Snow talk about Bush's procedure and his own colon cancer

For the general population, a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer is recommended every 10 years. But for people at higher risk, or if a colonoscopy detects precancerous polyps, follow-up colonoscopies often are scheduled in three- to five-year intervals.

Update:

President Bush has 5 polyps removed during colonoscopy

Bush Against Cruel and Inhuman Behavior

Leg irons and hand cuffs hang on a board at Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Monday, Aug. 23, 2004, in Cuba.

Handcuffs attached to the floor that are used on detainees during interrogations in the maximum-security facility of Camp Five at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, are shown in this June 30, 2004 file photo.

An interview room inside the long-term detention facility at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, Wed., April 13, 2005. A shackle is attached to the floor. (AP Photo/Richard Ross).


A detainee in an outdoor solitary confinement cell talks with a military policeman at the Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq Tuesday, June 22, 2004.

Is Cheney Above the Law?

21 June 2007

by Keith Olbermann

Cheney role as power broker in spotlight again

Vice President Dick Cheney is joined by National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley (L) and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte (R) during an event in the Oval Office, June 25, 2007. (Larry Downing/Reuters)

26 June 2007

By Caren Bohan

Video

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was back this week in a place he intensely dislikes: the spotlight.

Cheney's penchant for secrecy and his unprecedented role within the Bush administration have been a key topic at recent White House news briefings, in some cases drowning out subjects from Iraq to immigration to the Middle East.

A newspaper series on how Cheney wields his power and his feud with an obscure record-keeping agency have stirred the latest controversies.

Cheney, a master at the Washington power game, is depicted as operating behind the scenes and pushing hard-line views on issues such as the treatment of terrorism suspects in a four-part series in the Washington Post that began on Sunday.

The vice president also is facing scathing criticism from lawmakers for refusing to provide records requested by the an office in the National Archives regarding the handling of classified documents.

The Post series portrays Cheney as bypassing top officials at the State Department, Justice Department and the National Security Council to gain the upper hand in battles over the handling of terrorism suspects at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and other issues.

"Cheney and his allies, according to more than two dozen current and former officials, pioneered a novel distinction between forbidden 'torture' and permitted use of 'cruel and inhuman or degrading' methods of questioning," the Post said.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Cheney performs his role "precisely as the president would like him to."

Cheney, like others in the administration, has lost some policy debates and won others, Fratto said. "The only person who wins all of the policy debates is the president."

On the economic side, the Post said, Cheney trumped not only the U.S. Treasury secretary but also then-Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan in advocating a bigger 2003 tax-cut package than Greenspan thought prudent.

Democrats accuse the vice president of trying to cast himself as a "fourth branch of government" because of his legal argument in resisting the record-keeping request. His office told the National Archives that it was not an "entity within the executive branch."

Critics have ridiculed the notion that the vice president's office is "unique" from other parts of government because he has a largely ceremonial role as president of the Senate in addition to his executive-branch duties.

"It comes as no surprise that the 'imperial president' and his vice president are once again trying to dodge scrutiny with a ridiculous claim that Dick Cheney is not part of the executive branch of government," said Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives leadership, proposed cutting funding for Cheney's office unless he clarifies which branch of government he is part of.

The White House has backed Cheney's view he does not have to provide the data on classified documents requested by the archives office but distanced itself from an effort to cast the vice president's office as a separate branch of government.

The mandate for the record keeping is covered under an order Bush himself issued and the president always intended for Cheney to be exempt from it, the White House said.

Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said it was not "necessary to go through the law and history" of the vice president's role because Bush had already decided that Cheney does not need to provide the records.

Update:

White House, Cheney's office subpoenaed Video