In a secret memo, AG Alberto Gonzales endorsed severe interrogations; world media
waits on border for news from Burma; Congress to add restrictions on military
contractors; North Korea agrees to disable nuclear plants; children's health
care veto will be huge issue in '08; "Duke" Cunningham's defense contractor's
trial underway; Pentagon budget combined with Iraq supplemental puts defense
spending over $600 billion; and more ... Browse our continually updating front
page at http://www.truthout.org
t r u t h o u t | 10.04
Secret US Endorsement of Torture Revealed
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100407J.shtml
Scott Shane, David Johnston and James Risen, of The New York Times, report: "when
the Justice Department publicly declared torture 'abhorrent' in a legal opinion
in December 2004, the Bush administration appeared to have abandoned its assertion
of nearly unlimited presidential authority to order brutal interrogations.
But soon after Alberto Gonzales's arrival as attorney general in February 2005,
the Justice Department issued another opinion, this one in secret. It was a
very different document, according to officials briefed on it, an expansive
endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central
Intelligence Agency."
Protesters Stay Put to Battle Junta as World Waits on Burmese Border
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100407K.shtml
Peter Popham, of The Independent UK, reports: "at the Moei river in Thailand
there is sticky sunshine, jungle and the world's media in waiting. Yet there
is no flood of refugees from across the border in Burma. From Rangoon there
are disturbing reports of monks fleeing the city; of thousands more locked
up in windowless improvised prisons with little to eat or drink."
Congress Reining In Private Contractors
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100407L.shtml
Anne Flaherty, of The Associated Press, reports: "Congress is moving to
update a law that has kept Blackwater USA and other private security contractors
in Iraq immune to criminal prosecution. The White House contends the change
could cause new problems. The House was expected to pass legislation on Thursday
by Rep. David Price, D-N.C., that would extend the criminal jurisdiction of
U.S. courts to any federal contractor working alongside military operations.
Senate Democratic leaders said they planned to follow suit as soon as possible
and send the measure to President Bush."
North Koreans Agree to Disable Nuclear Facilities
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100407M.shtml
Helene Cooper, of The New York Times, reports: "North Korea has agreed
to disable all of its nuclear facilities by the end of the year, in a move
that the Bush administration hailed as a diplomatic victory that could serve
as a model for how to deal with Iran, which has defied American efforts to
rein in its nuclear ambitions. The North Korea agreement, announced in Beijing
on Wednesday, sets out the first specific timetable for the North to disclose
all its nuclear programs and disable all facilities in return for 950,000 metric
tons of fuel oil or its equivalent in economic aid."
Child Health Veto Will Be Election Issue
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100407N.shtml
David Espo, of the Associated Press, reports: "President Bush cast a quiet
veto Wednesday against a politically attractive expansion of children's health
insurance, triggering a struggle with the Democratic-controlled Congress certain
to reverberate into the 2008 elections. 'Congress will fight hard to override
President Bush's heartless veto,' vowed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of
Nevada."
Cunningham Defense Contractor's Trial Opens
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100407O.shtml
According to The Associated Press, "a defense contractor lavished former
US Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham with expensive dinners and other gifts as he
sought Pentagon contracts, a federal prosecutor told jurors Wednesday. Assistant
US attorney Phillip Halpern displayed photographs of a jet boat Brent Wilkes
is accused of buying for Cunningham and a receipt for a $3,000 dinner on a
large screen in the courtroom.
Defense Spending Reaches Over $600 Billion
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100407P.shtml
The Associated Press reports: "the Senate on Wednesday approved $459 billion
in spending for the Pentagon, after adding $3 billion for security at the Mexican
border. The bill, passed by voice vote, does not include President Bush’s
request for almost $190 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The
bill would increase other Pentagon spending $43 billion, up more than 10 percent
from the last budget."
