Drug adviser rolled over cannabis claims

"A row has broken out in Britain, after the chief drugs adviser to the government was sacked when he said alcohol and cigarettes were more dangerous than cannabis.

"Other scientists on the drugs advisory council have resigned in protest, complaining the government is ignoring science in favour of popular myths.

"When Professor David Nutt made his statements on marijuana, he thought he was simply telling the truth.

"He said the drug was reclassified from class C to the more dangerous category B against scientific evidence, simply on the whim of Prime Minister Gordon Brown ..."
ABC News

Categories: drugs, health, science, uk

UK court order: release torture allegation details

LONDON — Seven secret paragraphs detailing the alleged torture of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee should be disclosed, Britain's High Court said Friday in a decision that could illustrate how deeply Britain was involved in the Bush administration's war on terror.

Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian who moved to Britain as a teenager, was arrested in 2002 in Pakistan. He alleges he was tortured there and in Morocco before he was transferred to Afghanistan and then to the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay in 2004.

The lengthy court case has hinged on intelligence documents detailing Mohamed's treatment. In their 2008 ruling, the judges ordered the disclosure of some intelligence documents but withheld seven paragraphs of UK-U.S. exchanges based on Britain's claim that the disclosure could jeopardize national security.

"We have ... concluded that as the public interest in making the paragraphs public is overwhelming, and as the risk to national security judged objectively on the evidence is not a serious one, we should restore the redacted paragraphs," Lord Justice John Thomas and Justice David Lloyd Jones said in their decision Friday.

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who has long said it is up to the United States to release the information, said he was "deeply disappointed" by the decision ...
AP

Appeal over torture claim ruling

BBC New

Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohamed, 31, who spent four years in Guantanamo Bay, claims British authorities colluded in his torture while he was in Morocco. ...

Guananano Bay 'torture' ruling threatens intelligence sharing with US Telegraph.co.uk

Britain: High Court Approves Releasing US Intelligence Documents on Torture New York Times

UK High Court orders disclosure of redacted torture allegations JURIST

Mirror.co.uk - The Associated Press

all 629 news articles »

Categories: war-on-terror, torture, usa, uk, guantanamo

The defeat siren is sounding for Blair's vainglorious jihad in Afghanistan

The take-hold-and-build strategy is mere pastiche imperialism. All wars end in talking, as must this US vendetta in Afghanistan

By Simon Jenkins

"Fact is at last fighting fantasy in Afghanistan. Fact is that Tony Blair's vainglorious jihad against the Pashtun insurgency is not succeeding, and British commanders, diplomats and politicians know it. After three years of 'inkspots', hearts-and-minds and take-hold-and-build, that battle-weary siren of defeat, talking to the enemy, is back onstage.

"While on Monday the prime minister was greeting Operation Panther's Claw with a parody of Lady Thatcher's triumphalism, 'Rejoice, just rejoice', the deputy chief of the defence staff, Lieutenant-General Simon Mayall, was bizarrely declaring that the current Afghan war was 'not against the Taliban'.

"Other British ministers suddenly went anthropological. The foreign secretary, David Miliband, professes to detect not just good Taliban and bad Taliban but 'three tiers' of Taliban. His colleague, the development secretary, Douglas Alexander, has newfound friends in the 'moderate Pashtun', allegedly eager to do something called 'renunciate violence'. The defence minister, Bill Rammell, wants to 'peel away the footsoldiers' and rebuild trust in government institutions.

"This awayday at the school of oriental studies cannot conceal the fact that we have been here for years. The one thing you know (and the enemy knows) about a named military operation is that it ends, which is one thing counter-insurgency can never do. All talk of talking to the Taliban forgets that Americans were talking to the Taliban before 9/11. Indeed, they spent a fortune training and arming them against Russia. Britain's first Helmand offensive in 2006 concluded that the Taliban would not be beaten and was followed by talking and a 'cessation of hostilities', involving a series of local deals with (good) Taliban and a joint withdrawal agreement. It was later regarded as a disaster.

"Advocates of such a strategy are scrupulous to plead cases where it seems to have worked. The first British commander in Helmand, General Sir David Richards, insisted that he was merely repeating the Malayan inkspot strategy, apparently unaware that Pashtun were no more akin to Malays than they were to Geordies.

"Now we are told by Miliband 'the lessons of Northern Ireland' should be applied to Helmand. For years, Ulster secretaries refused to talk to Sinn Féin 'until the men of violence lay down their guns'. Yet eventually there were talks and they duly laid down their guns. Now that Johnny Taliban has had a right drubbing, the Foreign Office implies, if he promises to stop shooting at us he should be offered a loya jirga a dozen cows and honorary membership of the Travellers Club. Then we can go home.

"The comparison is false. Sinn Féin never laid down its guns before talking ..."
Read on at The Guardian

Categories: afghanistan, uk, usa, blair, war-on-terror, taliban

Former interrogator rebukes Cheney for torture speech

From YouTube: "Dick Cheney says that torturing detainees has saved American lives. That claim is patently false. Cheney's torture policy was directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of American servicemen and women.

"Matthew Alexander was the senior military interrogator for the task force that tracked down Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq and, at the time, a higher priority target than Osama bin Laden. Mr. Alexander has personally conducted hundreds of interrogations and supervised over a thousand of them.

"'Torture does not save lives. Torture costs us lives,' Mr. Alexander said in an exclusive interview at Brave New Studios. 'And the reason why is that our enemies use it, number one, as a recruiting tool ... These same foreign fighters who came to Iraq to fight because of torture and abuse ... literally cost us hundreds if not thousands of American lives.'



Categories: cheney, torture, usa, war-on-terror, human-rights, civil-rights

Sexuality and censorship news from China

Until very recently, gays were legally persecuted in China. Maybe things are changing, but the organizers advertised in English and are wary of the authorities.

BBC News

Shanghai kicks off China gay pride week

The Age - ‎Jun 7, 2009‎

China's first Gay Pride Week kicked off in Shanghai on Sunday, but without the customary street celebrations as organisers sought to maintain a low profile ...

Gay pride celebrates in Shanghai Australia Network News

Shanghai to show pride with gay festival BBC News

Eye on Gay Shanghai: Day 1 of Mainland China's 1st Gay Pride Shanghaiist

On Top Magazine - Queerty

all 69 news articles »

Telegraph.co.uk

China To Require Filtering Software On PCs

InformationWeek - ‎23 minutes ago‎

... about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues. Some companies have been tailoring their products to accommodate content requirements in China. ...

China's "Green Dam Youth Escort" Software CircleID

all 449 news articles »

Categories: sexuality, gay, china, internet, censorship, authoritarianism, communism

White House Czar Calls for End to "War on Drugs"

Kerlikowske says analogy is counterproductive; shift aligns with administration preference for treatment over incarceration.

By Gary Fields

Washington - The Obama administration's new drug czar says he wants to banish the idea that the U.S. is fighting "a war on drugs," a move that would underscore a shift favoring treatment over incarceration in trying to reduce illicit drug use.

In his first interview since being confirmed to head the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske said Wednesday the bellicose analogy was a barrier to dealing with the nation's drug issues.

"Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on a product,' people see a war as a war on them," he said. "We're not at war with people in this country."

Mr. Kerlikowske's comments are a signal that the Obama administration is set to follow a more moderate - and likely more controversial - stance on the nation's drug problems.

Categories: usa, drugs

Only UN can save Aung San Suu Kyi: expert

"An Australian expert says that the UN secretary-general should personally intervene into the detention of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"There has been global condemnation of the military junta's latest move to keep Ms Suu Kyi locked up.

"The charges against her, for allegedly breaching the terms of her house arrest, have been roundly dismissed by outside observers as both ridiculous and baseless.

"But it could be just the thing to keep Suu Kyi out of the public eye until Burma's election next year.

"Professor Monique Skidmore from Canberra University is an expert on Burma and goes there several times a year.

"She says the country's military junta has made sure there is no chance of another uprising like the one which was led by monks in 2007.

"'There are still monasteries completely depopulated from monks after the 2007 monk-led uprising,' she told ABC Radio's The World Today ..."
Source

Myanmar democracy activist held in prison The Associated Press

Critics hit Myanmar on "trumped-up" Suu Kyi charges Reuters

BBC News - Washington Post - Times Online - AFP

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Sign at Amnesty International's campaign for Aung San Suu Kyi

Categories: burma, human-rights, authoritarianism, military, law, legal, un

Secret emails show Iraq dossier was 'sexed up'

Intelligence chiefs criticised 'iffy drafting' of key document

By Nigel Morris, Deputy Political Editor

March 13, 2009, The Independent -- Secret Whitehall emails released yesterday provide damning new evidence that the notorious dossier making the case for invading Iraq was "sexed up". They disclose that the intelligence services were sceptical over the "iffy drafting" of government claims that Saddam Hussein could mount a missile strike on his neighbours within 45 minutes of ordering an attack.

Officials privately mocked assertions that the Iraqi president was covertly trying to develop a nuclear capability and wisecracked that perhaps he had recruited "Dr Frankenstein" to his supposed crack team of nuclear scientists.

The release of a series of confidential memos and emails, following a protracted Freedom of Information battle, reignited the controversy over accusations that Tony Blair's government "spun" Britain into war.

Last night both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats renewed their demands for a full public inquiry into the decision to join the US-led invasion of Iraq.

The 45-minute claim – presented to MPs in a notorious dossier on 24 September 2002, six months before military action began – was central to the Blair government's justification for war.

But a memo sent 13 days earlier by Desmond Bowen, head of the Cabinet Office defence secretariat, to John Scarlett, who was head of the Joint Intelligence Committee, suggested he had grave reservations over the threat. His comments were copied to Mr Blair's press secretary Alastair Campbell and to his chief-of-staff Jonathan Powell.

Mr Bowen wrote: "The question we have to have in the back of our mind is: 'Why now?' I think we have moved away from promoting the ideas that we are in imminent danger of attack and ... intend to act in pre-emptive self-defence."
Source: South News

BBC News

Inquiry calls over Iraq dossier

BBC News - ‎Mar 12, 2009‎

Critics of the war say the dossier, published in late 2002 as US pressure on Iraq was growing, was "sexed up" to press the case for military action against ...

Cabinet Office papers reveal Iraq dossier fears guardian.co.uk

UK officials were worried about Iraq dossier The Associated Press

E-mails show UK officials' concern on Iraq dossier Reuters UK

Times Online - The Herald

all 148 news articles »

Categories: iraq, war-on-terror, blair, disinfo, disinformation

Family eager for Dalai Lama's return

Reporter: Stephen McDonell

March 9, 2009

This is part of a transcript from AM, used in Fair Use. The program is broadcast around Australia at 08:00 on ABC Local Radio. On the same page you can also listen to the story in REAL AUDIO and WINDOWS MEDIA and MP3 formats.

TONY EASTLEY: On the eve of tomorrow's 50th anniversary of the failed uprising which saw the Dalai Lama flee Tibet, his family inside China have told the ABC that they miss him and want him to be allowed to return.

In an attempt to prevent a repeat of last year's clashes on the same anniversary China has increased police and military numbers across Tibet.

China correspondent Stephen McDonell reports from the Tibetan Plateau where he's seen the build up firsthand.

STEPHEN MCDONELL: In every Tibetan town and village there's tension in the run-up to tomorrow's 50th anniversary of a failed uprising here.

In 2008, the 49th anniversary of the event which sent the Dalai Lama into exile, produced a violent rebellion.

In 2009, the Government wants no protests, and, if they happen, for them not to be seen.

So up to a quarter of China's land mass is cut off to outsiders, and especially foreign journalists.

On the road to Tongren we came across a checkpoint where every car was stopped. Some officers wore helmets and carried automatic weapons.

They checked our identification and ordered us to drive back the way we came and return to Beijing. One officer said we shouldn't bother trying to return for the next month.

While we were there we saw two young Tibetan monks try to pass. They were taken off for questioning ...

When we knocked on the door of the house the Dalai Lama was born in we met his nephew's wife. She didn't want us to use her name.

I asked if tomorrow there could be a repeat of last year's events.

"It's not good to answer questions like this," she said.

"Do you miss him?" I asked

"I miss him every day," she said ...

When asked if the Communist Party might let him return, she said, "We're not allowed to talk about this", and warned that if we didn't go soon, the police would come and we'd be in trouble.

Has it been tense lately because of the 50th anniversary? "We aren't allowed to talk about this," she said, "So go quickly ...

Up here, military trucks by the dozen can be seen driving to trouble spots. They're packed full of soldiers, or paramilitary police carrying riot shields ...

MiamiHerald.com

Crackdown marks Tibet anniversary

The Australian - ‎2 hours ago‎

CHINA has launched a crackdown in greater Tibet, deploying an extra 20000 security forces and rounding up monks for "re-education" to prevent unrest on the ...

China's Hu urges Tibet stability BBC News

China admits to security surge ahead of Tibetan anniversary ABC Online

Official optimistic about development of Tibet despite global ... Xinhua

Times of India - BBC News

Categories: china, tibet, authoritarianism, communism, liberty

Bush Memos on Presidential Power Shock Legal Experts

Administration sought unchecked wartime authority

By David G. Savage

Washington - Legal experts said Tuesday they were taken aback by the claim in the latest batch of secret Bush-era memos that the president alone had the power to set the rules during the war on terrorism.

Yale law professor Jack Balkin called this a "theory of presidential dictatorship. They say the battlefield is everywhere. And the president can do anything he wants, so long as it involves the military and the enemy."

The criticism was not limited to liberals. "I agree with the left on this one," said Orin Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University. The approach in the memos "was simply not a plausible reading of the case law. The Bush [Office of Legal Counsel] eventually rejected [the] memos because they were wrong on the law, and they were right to do so."

Defenders of the administration stress that the memos were written during a time of national emergency. Officials feared, and indeed, expected another terrorist attack within the U.S. They were determined to take all possible steps to prevent it. And by the time the Bush administration came to an end, views within the Justice Department had changed dramatically.

Still, critics said some in the Bush administration took advantage of the moment.

"This was a period of panic, and panic creates an opportunity for patriotic politicians to abuse their power," Balkin said.

The newly released memos were mostly written between 2001 and 2003, and they gave the government broad legal authorization for fighting a new war in a new way. Their common theme was that no laws can limit the president's power in fighting terrorists.

Congress had prohibited the use of torture by U.S. agents, and it said "no citizen shall be imprisoned" in this country without legal charges. The memos said neither law could stand in the way of the president's power as commander in chief.

A March 2002 memo, for example, said holding prisoners in wartime "is an area in which the president appears to enjoy exclusive authority, as the power ... is not reserved by the Constitution in whole or in part to any other branch of government." ...

Read on at Chicago Tribune

Categories: bush, authoritarianism, usa, war-crime, war-on-terror, war, iraq, afghanistan, disinformation

Dutch still wincing at Bush-era 'Invasion of The Hague Act'

By Robert Marquand | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

The Hague - In 2002, Congress passed a law enabling United States forces to unilaterally storm into peaceful Holland to liberate American soldiers held for war crimes.

Coming in the early days of the war on terrorists, and as the International Criminal Court was being formed here, the measure provoked controversy and seemed to the Dutch – stout US allies – an absurd example of America's "with us or against us" foreign policy.

The law is still on the books.

Formally titled the American Service Members Protection Act, the measure is widely and derisively known here as the Invasion of The Hague Act.

Odd as it may seem, the law allows the US to constitutionally send jack-booted commandos to fly over fields of innocent tulips, swoop into the land of wooden shoes, tread past threatening windmills and sleepy milk cows into the Dutch capital – into a city synonymous with international law – and pry loose any US troops.

Today, the Dutch mostly treat the issue as a joke, a cowboy American moment. But it is widely felt that if President Barack Obama's foreign policy team wants to achieve a symbolic break with the previous White House, it could rescind the invasion law.

As a Dutch Ministry of Justice official put it, "I wouldn't overstate how seriously we take this any more, but it does seem a bizarre symbol." ...

Categories: holland, usa, bush, military, war-on-terror