CIA Rendition Case: US Pressured Italy to Influence Judiciary

John Goetz and Matthias Gebauer
Der Spiegel


The terra-cotta colored stucco villa, surrounded by lavender, fig
trees and 10 hectares of vinyards, is expected to be auctioned by
the government in order to cover some of the legal expenses in the
trial. The CIA hasn't even provided Lady with a lawyer and it is
acting as if the case in Italy doesn't even exist.

The only consequence is that Robert Seldon Lady, the former CIA station chief in Milan, had to change his plans for his retirement. He can no longer travel to the wonderful property that he bought for himself in Tuscany.

The CIA rendition of cleric Abu Omar in 2003 turned into a headache for Washington when a Milan court indicted the agents involved. Secret dispatches now show how the US threatened the Italian government in an attempt to influence the case. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was apparently happy to help.

In 2007, a court in Milan started trying several CIA agents in absentia for their roles in the 2003 kidnapping of Abu Omar, an Egyptian cleric who had been living in the northern Italian city. When the indictments first came down, the US government tried to intervene -- first in Milan and then in Rome -- so as to influence the investigations of the public prosecutor's office.

At first, the efforts were conducted via diplomatic channels. But, later, they also took place during top-level talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. American diplomats and even the US secretary of defense were assured that the Italian government "was working hard to resolve the situation." And they also got to hear Berlusconi vent his rage at his own country's judicial system.


Afghans: Victimized by Conflict, Occupation, Extreme Deprivation and Genocide

Stephen Lendman

In his book "Freedom Next Time," John Pilger used CIA Vietnam terminology calling Afghanistan "the grand illusion of the American cause," describing long-suffering Afghans victimized by conflict, violence, occupation, extreme deprivation and genocide.

A December 15 ICRC press release expressed deep concern about how dire conditions have gotten, their worst ever since America's illegal war of aggression began in October 2001.

Headlined, "Afghanistan: a people trapped between sides," it cited "civilian casualties, internal displacement, and insufficient access to medical care, all of which are occurring against the background of a proliferation of armed groups."

Its head of Afghanistan operations, Reto Stocker, said:

"The sheer fact the ICRC has organized a press conference is an expression of us being extremely concerned of yet another year of fighting with dramatic consequences for an ever growing number of people in by now almost the entire country."

By every measure ICRC uses, its account presents an appalling picture, the worst ever in its 30 year history of providing Afghans aid. As a result:

"Many people are fleeing as their only solution and many end up in camps for the displaced or with relatives in neighboring districts."

The best estimates show the numbers of internally displaced (minimally) rose 25% compared with last year. The ICRC acknowledged a likely undercount because too many parts of the country aren't safe to access.

In fact, however, safety is virtually nonexistent throughout the country. As conflict escalated and spread, civilian casualties soared. America's "grand illusion" indeed.


Obama’s AfPak review: Endless war in face of mass opposition

Bill Van Auken
WSWS

The Obama administration’s review of its strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan produced the predictable conclusion that the war and occupation will go on indefinitely, despite mass opposition from the American people. That is the core message of the perfunctory five-page statement that was presented Thursday.

Obama delivered brief remarks in the White House briefing room, appearing at the podium flanked by Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Marine Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Presenting what purports to be a progress report on the military “surge” that he launched a year ago, with the order to send another 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan, Obama said that, while the war was “a very difficult endeavor,” Washington was “on track to achieve our goals.”

In reporting Obama’s remarks, the White House web site asserted that “from the outset of his discussion of the report, he leveled with the American people.”

What nonsense! From start to finish, Obama’s brief presentation was a compendium of deceptions and outright lies designed to package and sell a militarist policy determined by the Pentagon brass and dutifully accepted by his administration.


Sunni Muslims must condemn suicide bombings in Iran

Khalid Amayreh in occupied Palestine

The double suicide bombing which took place in south-eastern Iran a couple of days ago was a nefarious act by every standard of imagination. It was a pornographic bloodshed, motivated by a corrupt ideology, latent hatreds, and a decidedly criminal distortion of Islam itself.

The criminal act, which killed 38 innocent people and maimed many others, was a New Hijri year present to Israel and Zionist circles which are awaiting the opportune time to hit Iran for the purpose of preserving the Zionist entity's hegemony and supremacy in this part of the world.

It is also a present to the enemies of Islam everywhere who seek to besmirch its image and create a violent implosion within Muslim communities all over the world.

The mayhem in Chahbahar, near the Pakistan borders, constitutes an obscene contradiction of everything or anything Islamic. This is so because there is no sin in Islam graver than killing an innocent person.

So, one wonders what type of Quran these criminal terrorists and cutthroats are reading from, or what type of obscurant fatwas or edicts they are acting on.


The New York Times and WikiLeaks

Joseph Kishore
WSWS

In the ongoing campaign of persecution against WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, the New York Times, the principal voice of American liberalism, has played a particularly filthy role.

Since the initial release of US State Department documents late last month, the Times has sought to downplay the significance of the revelations. It has largely ceased publication of new articles on the cables, confining those that it does produce to its inside pages. From the start, it has tailored its coverage to bolster US interests. The more significant exposures of US criminality are ignored.

As for the escalating international campaign targeting Assange, the Times has maintained a deliberate silence. It has not published a single editorial on Assange’s arrest or the calls from sections of the US political and media establishment for him to be killed and for WikiLeaks to be branded a terrorist organization. This is tantamount to tacit support for this campaign.

The role of the Times as an adjunct of the state was brazenly proclaimed by Executive Editor Bill Keller in extraordinary comments posted November 29 in response to a series of letters arguing that the Times has no right to report on the classified documents.


Health topic page on womens health Womens health our team of physicians Womens health breast cancer lumps heart disease Womens health information covers breast Cancer heart pregnancy womens cosmetic concerns Sexual health and mature women related conditions Facts on womens health female anatomy Womens general health and wellness The female reproductive system female hormones Diseases more common in women The mature woman post menopause Womens health dedicated to the best healthcare
buy viagra online