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Announcing TBR Ebooks!

Starting with a new publication concerning the background behind the 9/11 attacks, TBR News will be presenting a series of interesting, informative and definitive works for our readers. Future titles will include the complete Voice of the White House with much more added material that was considered too controversial to post, the heavily-censored Armenian Holocaust of 1916, the Bush-Lay private correspondence, the Assassination of JFK,Pearl Harbor intrigues and rare documents, Malaparte’s inside study of the making of revolution, sensational selected articles from the German Rudolf historical revision files, unpublished before Rudolf’s arrest and forced deportation to Germany, World War II studies of holocaust history, taken from secret German files and much more. Please see the title page for more information.

The Editors

Descending Into Darkness: The Harring Report

A well-researched study into the background of the 9/11 attack: Who knew what and when did they know it. Russian and German intelligence material, not published before show that the U.S. had ample warning...and did nothing about it.

THE VOICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE

The full collection of the twice-weekly commentary of what is really going on inside the corrupt Bush White House. The spectrum includes the Gannon scandal, the planned invasion of Iran, many stories of stupidity and corruption coupled with biting sarcasm. Interesting to note that many, if not most, of the predictions have come true.

REGICIDE The Official Assassination of John F. Kennedy

A landmark book that sold very well in hardback, this work contains actual intelligence documents concerning the inside U.S. plans to kill Kennedy; the reasons, the methods and the results.

The Final Reckoning: An Analysis of Demographics in Holocaust Literature

By Harold Kreig, Lt.Col, AUS ret.

This is the first rational, heavily documented work on the subject of the Holocaust. Colonel Krieg has taken thousands of documents, including the official SS concentration camp records from 1935 through 1945 and official U.S. government postwar analysis of the system and the casualties and causes of death and produced a book that is highly informative and readable.  Heavily footnoted and annotated, ‘The Final Reckoning’ is logical and compelling and is an historical work that should be read through by any student of the period and subject.

Coup D’Etat: The Technique Of Revolution

By Curzio Malaparte

First published in Italy by Curzio Malaparte in 1928, this is a seminal work on historical seizures of power from Napoleon through Hitler.

Gestapo-Chief: The CIA & Heinrich Müller by Gregory Douglas

                In 1948, the former head of Hitelr’s Gestapo was interviewed by senior officials of the CIA in Switzerland where Müller had been in hiding since the end of the Second World War. His interview, for Colonel James Critchfield of the CIA’s Gehlen Organization, runs to nearly a thousand pages and for years was hidden in the CIA’s files.

                This is a translation of a part of the interview, which was initially conducted in German and then translated into English for CIA use.

                It is a fascinating series of historical episodes covering both the Axis and Allied sides with comments on Hitler, Stalin, Roosevelt, Henry Wallace, Winston Churchill, the 20^th of July bomb plot against Hitler, Bishop von Galen’s heroic, and successful, attacks on the Nazis and their euthanasia program, the concentration camps, the Duke of Windsor, the Roger Casement diaries and many more fascinating and insightful views of a man who ran the most effective counter-intelligence agency in modern times. 

                There is also extensive information on the attempts on the part of the CIA to silence or discredit the fact that the Gestapo Chief worked for the United States and eventually came to live in Washington, D.C. as part of the notorious “Operation Paperclip.”

                Fascinating inside views of many top Nazis and CIA officials. 

The CIA COvenant: Nazis in Washington

by Gregory Douglas

* From the end of World War II, the American CIA imported thousands of Nazis into the United States to work for them, many on the list of wanted war criminals

*One of the most important of these was Heinrich Mueller, once head of Hitler's Gestapo. Mueller was recruited by Colonel James Critchfield who ran the CIA's "Gehnel Organization' in Munich.

* Mueller kept journals and this book is a translation of three years (1948-1951) of notes and observations made of top CIA officials, President Truman, top U.S. government officials, plans for murder, thefts, kidnappings, wholesale thefts of public money and a terrifying pattern of uncontrolled ambition, unchecked by any person or agency.

* Also included are CIA and other agency's activities that have never been revealed.

*Mueller's deals in stolen Nazi art for the CIA are covered in detail.

*Also to be found are the steps the frightened CIA have taken to prevent the publication, sales or distribution of this work.

An Essay on the Principle of Population

by Thomas Malthus

The 1798 classic study of how supplies of food do not keep up with an expanding population

Malthus' theory is that population growth is geometric while the food supply increase is arithmetic.

A very literate and current study that clearly highlights present and current population problems

With the world's population higher than ever before, this is a work of great and current interest

CONSPIRACIES for Fun and Profit

Contents
The Evil Catholics Murdered Abraham Lincoln
TWA Flight 800: The Gathering of the Nuts
The Real Truth About the Kennedy Assassination!
The Great 9-11 Plot
Who is Sorcha Faal?
The Bush Indictments
Faked Conspiracy photos
The Sinking of the MV Estonia
The German Guy and the Destruction of Houston
The Great Contrail Conspiracy
Planet X
Remote Viewing unveiled

TURNING and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

The Second Coming  W.B. Yeats

Web Site Report For tbrnews.org

Yearly Report

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The Voice of the White House

Washington , D.C. , May 3, 2008 : “Considering that there are billions of credit cards in the hands of Americans, it is easy to see what an important financial empire exists. The interest on these cards, collected by credit card companies and banks, is larger than the national debt of Italy and is a pillar of the American banking industry.

Many, many very foolish card holders either never read the fine print in their credit card agreements or simply did not care. After all, they reasoned with some then-current justification, my house keeps going up and up in value and all I have to do is to refinance and pay down or off the card balances.

As we know, this bubble, so profitable to crooked banks and hedge fund operators, has collapsed, leaving an immense field of wreckage in its path.  When card holders with huge balances realized they simply could not pay off some of them, they waffled for a while, sending in a few dollars here and there but eventually, tired of dunning phone calls, a huge and growing number of them just walked away from their debts.

The card companies, and their banking partners, were horrified and their immediate, and predictable, response has been to leap on those who still pay and squeeze the hell out of them with the same kind of crooked tricks that the mortgage companies try to inflict on bankrupting home owners. They always manage to jack up what the bankruptee files. $5,000 for “extra special legal fees,” or “title searches” for an additional  $6,000 and so on.

Not content screwing first time and inexperienced buyers with phony mortgages they know will fail when the rates automatically rise to 17%, these jackals and eaters of rotting roadkill have to get the last dime from really hurting victims.

Now, the card sharks are going to push the envelope and squeeze their own particular brand of predictable sucker. And how astonished they will be at the mass defections now on the horizon and how they will howl to Congressmen they have bribed to pass a law forbidding people to walk away from any credit card debt under penalty of spending weekends in the gas chamber.

This whole rotten nest of mangy rodents needs to be cleaned out with a flamethrower and a bulldozer. The outraged public is beginning to get very angry and if, as they are talking about inside the Beltway offices, food gets rationed, (rice, corn  and wheat for certain)  the guillotines will go up in public squares all across America and when they are done, we might have a government that will actually work for their constituents instead of sodomizing them “

How is a revolution born? You have to make many people angry.

May 5, 2008

by Harold Krieg, Lt. Col AUS retd

* First and foremost is always the economy. Prices on all levels  rise, essential necessities become unavailable, the people find it increasingly difficult to support their families, the public lose their savings, houses, or prospects for the future, many people are starving. That makes people angry.

* Second are chronic and growing shortages of food and fuel, to include heating oil for winter months. That makes people angry.

* There is a perceived and growing gap between the rich and the poor. That makes people angry.

* Unfair taxation. The wealthy supporters of the Republicans pay almost no taxes and the tax burden is then passed downwards. That makes people angry.

* Deregulation of industry that results in price-gouging and exploitation of the population. That makes people angry.

* Restructuring of American work place and employment policies, the “do more for less” requirement, replacement of full time jobs with part time and temporary jobs, shrinking holidays, benefits and pensions. That makes people angry.

* Outsourcing and off -shoring. This results in loss of many American jobs, causes growing unemployment, and creeping poverty. A growing lack of financial stability and security is created. That makes people angry.

* Loss of personal security, terrorism, the constant and manipulative official fictional threats of “terrorist attacks” or a world war, environmental degradation, natural disasters and cataclysms without perceived official relief, repressive governmental official policy that invades citizens’ privacy and sharply diminishes human rights, increasing and sanctioned police brutality, the official hints of the imposition of federal martial law. That makes people angry.

* A defacto totalitarian government,  obviously rigged elections, a  dominant political party  that gets into power based on specific promises but once in office, does exactly the opposite, a government that ignores public opinion and the democratic process. That makes people angry.

* Extensive and rampant corruption, both political and economical. That makes people angry.

* Chronic neglect of, and the resulting destruction of, public education and health care. That makes people angry.

* Obvious control of the national news media with an aim to deflect public interest in serious domestic and foreign matters with a flood of crude propaganda.  This ongoing indoctrination and manipulative propaganda, chronic official lying, hiding the truth, and selective reporting leads to increasing official public control inevitably leads to a total loss of faith in governmental statements and policies  That makes people angry..

* An ongoing effective destruction of American family life by forcing parents to hold several jobs at the same time, reducing family time, and loosening family cohesion.. That makes people angry.

High-Level Officials warn of fake terror acts

April 30, 2008

George Washington’s blog

A variety of current and former high-level officials have recently warned that the Bush administration is attempting to instill a dictatorship in America, and will itself carry out a fake terrorist attack in order to obtain one.

Background

FBI agents, Time Magazine, Keith Olbermann and The Washington Post and Rolling Stone have all stated that the administration has issued terror alerts based on scant intelligence in order to rally people around the flag when the administration was suffering in the polls. This implies — as an initial matter only — that the administration will play fast and loose with the facts in order to instill fear for political purposes

More to the point, a former prominent republican congressman stated that the U.S. is close to becoming a totalitarian society and that the Bush administration is using fear to try to ensure that this happens.

General Tommy Franks stated that if another terrorist attack occurs in the United States "the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government".

Current U.S. Congressman Ron Paul stated, the government "is determined to have martial law", and that the government is hoping to get the people "fearful enough that they will accept the man on the white horse"

And Daniel Ellsberg, the famous Pentagon Papers whistleblower, said "if there is another terror attack, "I believe the president will get what he wants", which will include a dictatorship.

Terror on U.S. Citizens by American Government?

But would the government actually kills its own people to instill sufficient fear so that it can get what it wants? Read what the following very smart people are saying, and then judge for yourself:

A retired 27-year CIA analyst who prepared and presented Presidential Daily Briefs and served as a high-level analyst for several presidents, stated that if there was another major attack in the U.S., it would lead to martial law. He went on to say:

"We have to be careful, if somebody does this kind of provocation, big violent explosions of some kind, we have to not take the word of the masters there in Washington that this was some terrorist event because it could well be a provocation allowing them, or seemingly to allow them to get what they want."

The former CIA analyst would not put it past the government to "play fast and loose" with terror alerts and warnings and even events themselves in order to rally people behind the flag

The former assistant secretary of treasury in the Reagan administration, called the "Father of Reaganomics", who is a former editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Scripps Howard News Service, and, said:

"Ask yourself: Would a government that has lied us into two wars and is working to lie us into an attack on Iran shrink from staging "terrorist" attacks in order to remove opposition to its agenda?" He goes on to say:

If the Bush administration wants to continue its wars in the Middle East and to entrench the "unitary executive" at home, it will have to conduct some false flag operations that will both frighten and anger the American people and make them accept Bush's declaration of "national emergency" and the return of the draft. Alternatively, the administration could simply allow any real terrorist plot to proceed without hindrance.

A series of staged or permitted attacks would be spun by the captive media as a vindication of the neoconsevatives' Islamophobic policy, the intention of which is to destroy all Middle Eastern governments that are not American puppet states. Success would give the US control over oil, but the main purpose is to eliminate any resistance to Israel 's complete absorption of Palestine into Greater Israel.

Think about it. If another 9/11-type "security failure" were not in the works, why would Homeland Security czar Chertoff go to the trouble of convincing the Chicago Tribune that Americans have become complacent about terrorist threats and that he has "a gut feeling" that America will soon be hit hard?

A member of the British Parliament stated that "there is a very real danger" that the American government will stage a false flag terror attack in order to justify war against Iran and to gain complete control domestically

A former National Security Adviser told the Senate that a terrorist act might be carried out in the U.S. and falsely blamed on Iran to justify war against that nation.

President Carter recently impliedly acknowledged the risk of staged provocation in order to start a war against Iran.

Former Senator Gary Hart warned Americans that the White House might create a "Gulf of Tonkin" or "remember the Maine" type incident to justify war against Iran (starting at 7:15 minutes)

The former UN Weapons Inspector, an American, who stated before the Iraq war started that there were no weapons of mass destruction is now saying that he would not rule out staged government terror by the U.S. government.

And an allegedly-leaked GOP memo touts a new terror attack as a way to reverse the party's decline.

No way, That's Nuts

Sounds nuts, right?

Sorry to have to tell you, but "false flag terror" -- that is, state-sponsored terrorism, blamed on the "bad guys" of choice -- is an age-old trick which has been used by governments around the world for thousands of years to consolidate power and create support from their people. See this article on the Reichstag fire, and this article on the perennial ploy of those grabbing power.

But even recent events provide a glimpse into the world of false flag terror:

The well-respected former Indonesian president believes that the government may have had a role in the Bali bombings

And Americans dressed as Arabs have apparently been setting off car bombs in Iraq (apparently, when it was discovered that some of the cars used in Iraqi bombings recently came from the U.S., the cover story became American cars were involved in car bombings only because they had recently been stolen from the U.S. and then shipped to Iraq -- but does it make sense that Iraqi insurgents would steal cars in the U.S. and ship them all the way to Iraq?)

Similarly, Britain 's false flag attacks in Iraq made the news. And the press has acknowledged that the death of the lead investigator into the Basra incident was mysterious.

And the former director of the National Security Agency said "By any measure the US has long used terrorism. In ‘78-79 the Senate was trying to pass a law against international terrorism - in every version they produced, the lawyers said the US would be in violation"

History proves that the officials' warnings of a terror attack by our own government are well-founded.

Editorial

The Fed Aims at Credit Cards

May 3, 2008

New York Times

After growing consumer complaints about hidden fees and other tricks of the credit card trade, the rules proposed by the Federal Reserve on Friday to deal with unfair or deceptive practices are a modest step forward. But the final versions of these rules will probably not go into effect until next year, and the nation’s bankers are already mounting a strong opposition to any changes in the rough ways they are allowed to do business. Representative Carolyn Maloney, the New York Democrat who has been pushing the important Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights in Congress, raised the right fears as the Fed proposal was announced. “These rules may be watered down. They might not be put into effect at all,” she scoffed. “The Federal Reserve is not in the Constitution to correct abuses. We are, and there are abusive, abusive, abusive practices going on now.”

The powerful American Banking Association has already signaled its plans to fight the Fed’s rules as a “regulatory intrusion” into the market and warned that eventually it could be the consumers who lose because of changes. But consumers are already losing as their interest rates on the cards suddenly skyrocket, fees appear mysteriously on their bills and even the billing cycles get shortened to make it harder to pay on time.

Congress needs to take up the issue now rather than wait for the Federal Reserve to create rules that can be too easily changed. Representative Maloney already has 110 co-sponsors on her bill in the House, but the measure is stuck in the Financial Services Committee. So far, one Republican on the committee has been brave enough to support her bill — Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut . Only 11 of 36 Democrats on the committee have come forward to back cardholders’ rights.

Senator Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, finally introduced a measure curbing credit card abuse this week. As with the House, the American Bankers Association has sent out a warning to its congressional friends that these bills could create “unintended consequences” for consumers. One particularly unfortunate consequence would be if the more docile members of Mr. Dodd’s committee manage to keep the Senate bill in storage.

The banking industry likes to boast that more than 90 percent of credit card customers have no problems with their little plastic friends. Given that there are more than 1 billion credit cards believed to be in use, that leaves a lot of people swamped by what is now called the “tricks and traps” of the credit card business

U.S. Seeks New Curbs on Credit-Card Practices

May 3, 2008

by  Stephen LaBaton

New York Times

WASHINGTON — Federal bank regulators on Friday proposed a new set of rules to make it more difficult for credit card companies to raise rates arbitrarily, conceal high penalty fees or engage in other practices that consumer groups say are abusive.

Under the proposal, credit card companies would generally have to give consumers more time to make payments before they are considered overdue. The companies would not be permitted to steer payments to pay down the portion of the bill that had lower interest charges. And they would be limited in raising the interest rate on an outstanding balance.

“The proposed rules are intended to establish a new baseline for fairness in how credit card plans operate,” said Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, one of the three banking agencies to issue the proposal. “Consumers relying on credit cards should be better able to predict how their decisions and actions will affect their costs.”

Banking industry officials said they would fight the proposals.

For months, the Fed has been considering a proposal to require the credit card companies to provide better disclosure of their fees and interest rate policies under the Truth in Lending Act. Officials said the plan announced Friday, which would be completed at the same time, was a change in regulations under the Federal Trade Commission Act. That law gives the federal banking agencies the authority to enforce regulations that prohibit unfair and deceptive acts in commerce.

At a meeting of the Federal Reserve Board on Friday, Mr. Bernanke said consumer comments during rule-making proceedings had made it clear “that improved disclosures alone cannot solve all of the problems consumers face in trying to manage their credit card accounts.” The new rules will also apply to fees and interest rates charged by savings associations for overdraft protection of checking accounts.

Randall S. Kroszner, a Federal Reserve governor who leads the central bank’s consumer and community affairs committee, said the proposal aimed to “increase transparency and fairness in how credit card and deposit accounts operate.”

But bank and credit card companies sharply attacked the proposal and indicated they would campaign vigorously to have it watered down.

“The Federal Reserve’s proposal is an unprecedented regulatory intrusion into marketplace pricing and product offerings,” said Edward L. Yingling, president and chief executive of the American Bankers Association. “We are deeply concerned that these rules will result in less competition, higher consumer prices, fewer consumer choices and reduced consumer access to credit cards. In short, everyday consumers will bear the real cost of these proposals.”

Mr. Yingling said the proposal was “particularly perplexing” because it would result in the reduction of the availability of credit “at the very time the Fed is working to increase access to credit in the marketplace.”

Paul Weston, executive vice president of ICBA Bancard, a subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of America that provides credit and debit services for smaller banks, said the rules would add costs but provide no significant benefits to credit card customers of community banks. If adopted, he said, the rules would probably motivate some community banks to eliminate their credit card operations, leaving credit cards to a handful of large institutions.

The Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration joined the Fed in proposing the rules. They were made public as Congress was considering its own measure to curtail credit card practices.

On Wednesday, Senator Christopher J. Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat who heads the Banking Committee, introduced legislation to reduce high credit card fees and prevent arbitrary rate increases.

“Credit cards too often pose a potential to harm consumers rather than help them,” Senator Dodd said when he introduced the measure. “Confusing, misleading and in some cases predatory practices have become standard operating procedure for some in the credit card industry.”

The agencies said they expected to adopt final rules by the end of the year, after a 75-day comment period.

Rationing -- Food For Thought

April 30, 2008

by John Browne, Senior Market Strategist

Euro Pacific Capital, Inc.

'Food, glorious food' conjures up the image of Oliver Twist and his brother orphans wailing over a shortage of porridge in Dickensian England.

Last week, a food shortage became an American reality. Costco Warehouse, Wal-Mart and other food stores limited the purchase of certain food staples in bulk form. Purchases of rice in California and of oil and flour in Queens were restricted. Customers were angry, voicing strong concern and questioning whether the situation would worsen.

Should we be worried? While it may be premature to expect the worst, given the drift of economic events it is worth a moment to consider the possible implications.

Historically, food shortages even in developed countries, such as England , have sparked riots. In France and Russia , shortages of food led not only to riots but also to insurrection and, ultimately, to political revolution. Traditionally, food based insurrections arrive alongside other political ills, and it is a shortage of food that is often the final straw that breaks the back of social order.

If food scarcity and partial rationing comes on the crest of a rising tide of growing economic inequality and deterioration in America , social upheaval is a real possibility.

While Wall Street paid itself some $26 billion in bonuses last year, ordinary people were being squeezed financially. Some retirees even saw the value of their savings decline substantially.

For most Americans, their most important financial asset is their home. In recent years, the borrowing base it offered was an important source of income. Last year, the subprime housing debacle eroded the home values of millions of Americans, even those who had borrowed prudently. Many house values slipped below the level of their mortgage equity, threatening foreclosures and eliminated cash out opportunities. Middle-income households have been especially hard hit.

This decline in real estate values already has hit the tax base of local authorities, threatening a contraction of services which will disproportionately impact the poor. Furthermore, when the families that provide the bulk of our armed forces, see government spending in Iraq increase, while services decline at home, resentment can build.

Despite government statistics to the contrary, the American economy has been in contraction for several months. Weak earnings posted by retailers and airlines in recent weeks confirm the trend.

Although still relatively low, the rising level of unemployment promotes job insecurity and financial fear. In addition to the weakening employment picture, inflation is raging at levels far above the official figures. Weekly trips to the supermarket and the gas station are becoming horrific experiences to Americans of modest means. For these folks, high inflation is a tangible reality. This disconnect with the mild government figures is fueling distrust and resentment.

Washington 's double talk is clearly evident with respect to the dollar, which continues to decline despite the "strong dollar" rhetoric. Many have concluded that the authorities are simply lying while they pursue a deliberate policy of dollar debasement. Many Americans realize that weakening dollar represents a stealth tax on every man woman and child, who holds U.S. dollars. Again, this is a cost that hits the poor disproportionately hard.

If food prices continue their rapid ascent, and if hording or rationing result, the social climate may deteriorate rapidly .It is hard to imagine two more potent causes of insurrection than economic hardship accompanied by a denial of access to food. In some countries food shortages already are causing riots. The situation is so grave that many major food producing countries such as Argentina , China and Russia are restricting food exports, driving prices even higher.

Raising the political temperature still more is the fact that the U.S. government is encouraging farmers to grow crops (corn, wheat and soybean) to burn as fuel, while refusing to even consider cuts in generous subsidies to wealthy farmers reaping windfall profits.

Rising corn prices have led to higher prices for wheat, beef, milk and even derivatives such as chocolate, made with milk. Furthermore healthy beef and milk producing cattle are being slaughtered to divert their wheat-based food to ethanol. Food prices have been a problem for several months due to a number of reasons including droughts. Now "food security" threatens to become political dynamite.

In an effort to avert food shortages in America , should the Federal Reserve Board lower or raise its interest rates? On the one hand, a lowering of interest rates, to avoid deepening recession, would weaken the U.S. dollar, driving the dollar price of foodstuffs still higher. On the other hand, raising interest rates would mean a deepening of recession and a generally reduced ability to buy food.

The decision is difficult and complex. At the very least, however, it should give all of us food for thought.

For investors, food rationing and scarcity pose both a moral and an ethical dilemma. Peter Schiff, discussed rising food prices on his radio show. http://www.europac.net/radioshow.asp

The Forgotten Dead

May 5, 2008

by Brian Harring

May 4, 2008 Soldier Spc. Jeffrey F. Nichols, 21, of Granite Shoals, Texas , died May 1 in Baghdad from wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

May 3, 2008  Soldier Sgt. 1st Class Lawrence D. Ezell, 30, of Portland, Texas, died April 30 in Baghdad of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit during combat operations. Soldier Sgt. Jerry L. DeLoach, 45, of Jackson , Ga. , died July 7, 2007 , at Fort Knox , Ky. He had been medically evacuated from theater, and died of a non-combat related injury.  Soldier Staff Sgt. Chad A. Caldwell , 24, of Spokane , Wash. , died April 30 in Mosul , Iraq , of injuries sustained while conducting dismounted combat operations.

May 2, 2008   Two soldiers April 30 in Baghdad , Iraq , from wounds suffered when their vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device: Cpt. Andrew. R. Pearson, 32, of Billings , Mont. Spc. Ronald J. Tucker, 21, of Fountain, Colo.

May 1, 2008    Soldier Staff Sgt. Bryan E. Bolander, 26, of Bakersfield , Calif. , died April 29 in Baghdad from wounds suffered when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.  Marine Sgt. Merlin German, 22 of Manhattan , N.Y. , died April 11 at Brooke Army Medical Center , San Antonio , Texas , from wounds he suffered while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq , on Feb. 22, 2005 . He was medically retired Sept. 28, 2007 , as a result of his injuries. Soldier Staff Sgt. Clay A. Craig, 22, of Mesquite , Texas , died April 29 in Baghdad , Iraq , from wounds suffered when he received small arms fire during combat operations.

April 30, 2008   Three soldiers died April 28 in Baghdad , Iraq , of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their forward operating base with indirect fire: Pfc. Adam L. Marion, 26, of Mount Airy , N.C. Sgt. Marcus C. Mathes, 26, of Zephyrhills , Fla.    Sgt. Mark A. Stone, 22, of Buchanan Dam, Texas . Soldier Pfc. William T. Dix, 32, of Culver City , Calif. , died April 27 at Camp Buehring , Kuwait , of injuries suffered in a non-combat related incident.  Soldier Sgt. 1st Class David L. McDowell, 30, of Ramona , Calif. , died April 29 in Bastion , Afghanistan , of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked using small arms fire.  Airman Senior Airman Jonathan A. V. Yelner, 24, of Lafayette , Calif. , died April 29 near Bagram , Afghanistan , of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

Bush Admits He Approved Torture

May 2, 2008

by Helen Thomas

Seattle   Post-Intellingencer

The American people have heard President Bush and his spokespeople say many times that the U.S. government does not engage in torture.

Whether Bush was believed or not is another story — especially in light of the photographic evidence of the abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib. It’s understood that many of the photos are too sadistically graphic to be made public.

Still, the official U.S. denials of torture continued until earlier this month when Bush acknowledged in an interview with ABC-TV that he knew about and approved “enhanced interrogation” of detainees, including “waterboarding” or simulated drowning.

“As a matter of fact,” Bush added, “I told the country we did that. And I told them it was legal. We had legal opinions that enabled us to do it.”

The president added, “I didn’t have any problems at all trying to find out what Khalid Sheik Mohammed knew.”

“He was the person who ordered the suicide attack — I mean, the 9/11 attacks,” Bush said. “And back then, there was all kind of concern about people saying, ‘Well, the administration is not connecting the dots.’ You might remember those — that period.” Bush said.

Bush also said in the interview that he had been aware of several meetings his national security advisers held to discuss “enhanced interrogation” methods.

Surely he is aware of the U.S. commitment to international treaties barring “cruel and inhumane” treatment of prisoners.

What is startling is that he feels no remorse about the cruel image he has created for us — and the damage done to our credibility and probity.

In referring to the legality of torture, Bush apparently was thinking of a 2002-2003 memo by John Yoo, a Justice Department official who argued military interrogators could subject detainees to harsh treatment as long as it didn’t cause “death, organ failure or permanent damage.” The memo was rescinded.

Bush, who has insisted “we do not torture,” also recently vetoed legislation that explicitly banned torture. Sen. John McCain, whose whole political persona has been defined by the fact that he had been tortured while a prisoner of war during the Vietnam era, supported Bush’s veto.

For both Bush and McCain, I recall the words of Joseph Welch, the special counselor for the Army during the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings when Welch asked Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis.: “Sir, have you no sense of decency?”

We expected the usual cast of characters including Vice President Dick Cheney to be in on the sinister torture-planning sessions.

But it came as a shock that Gen. Colin Powell, then secretary of state, sat in on the meetings and went along with the planning. Powell had been on record warning against U.S. torture policies on the basis that if we mistreat our prisoners, foreign countries will feel no qualms about abusing American captives in wartime.

Once revered for his integrity, Powell has lost his halo.

Now we have this week’s testimony of Air Force Col. Morris Davis, a former chief prosecutor, who took the witness stand at Guantanamo Bay on behalf of a prisoner. Davis told how top Pentagon officials had pressured him on sensitive prosecutorial decisions for political reasons. He said he was told that the charges against well-known detainees “could have real strategic value” and that there could be no acquittals.

Davis also testified Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann reversed a decision he made and insisted prosecutors proceed with evidence they obtained through waterboarding and other methods of torture.

Davis also testified he was told to speed up the cases to give the system legitimacy before a new president takes over in January.

Is Congress so cowed that it accepts the statements of a president who has little regard for the truth?

Is there no lawmaker who is appalled about the tarnishing of our image in world opinion? And where are the voices of the other presidential candidates who will inherit the Bush legacy of torture? Why the silence?

I count on the American people to refuse to be shamed any more.

–Helen Thomas

The Faith-Based Frauds

After scandal, students are leaving Oral Roberts University

May 2, 2008

by Justin Juozapavicius

Associated Press

TULSA, Okla. - As Oral Roberts University prepares to hand out diplomas to its Class of 2008, Anna Siebring, a junior, will be mailing out applications to transfer to another school.

Siebring, a government major, is among many students having second thoughts about staying at Oral Roberts after six months of scandal at the evangelical Christian university.

She and others fear the furor will reduce the value of any degree they earn there. Some graduates worry that they will have to try twice as hard to market themselves to potential employers after Saturday's commencement.

"The reputation of the school means a lot," Siebring said. "I want to be proud of the school that I went to, but I could definitely not say that about the school right now."

During the past school year, TV evangelist Richard Roberts, son of school founder Oral Roberts, resigned as president after being accused of misspending university funds to live in style. Also, it was disclosed that the school was more than $50 million in debt.

Among other things, Roberts and his wife were accused of spending school money on shopping sprees, home improvements and a stable of horses for their daughters. They are also alleged to have sent a daughter and her friends on a Bahamas vacation aboard a university jet.

Projected enrollment for the fall semester could be 150 students fewer than the 3,166 who attended last fall, interim President Ralph Fagin said in an interview last week. Two university employees who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation said they have been told a much higher figure: around 400.

That would amount to a startling drop of almost 13 percent.