Plan for hunting terrorists signals U.S. intends to keep adding names to kill lists !

Kill lists we can believe in: U.S. government expects to continue adding names to kill or capture lists 'for years' --Plan for hunting terrorists signals U.S. intends to keep adding names to kill lists 23 Oct 2012 Over the past two years, the Obama administration has been secretly developing a new blueprint for pursuing terrorists, a next-generation targeting list called the "disposition matrix." The matrix contains the names of terrorism suspects arrayed against an accounting of the resources being marshaled to track them down, including sealed indictments and clandestine operations. U.S. officials said the database is designed to go beyond existing kill lists, mapping plans for the "disposition" of suspects beyond the reach of American drones. Among senior Obama administration officials, there is a broad consensus that such operations are likely to be extended at least another decade.

New Afghanistan drones to be remote-controlled from Britain as RAF doubles its unmanned aircraft strike force 23 Oct 2012 Britain is doubling the number of armed RAF drones flying missions in Afghanistan. And for the first time, the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be controlled by airmen at computer screens in the UK. Two 'pilots' will operate the robots via satellite from a hi-tech hub at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. The American-built Reaper drones are primarily used to gather intelligence on enemy activity on the ground, but they also carry 500lb bombs and Hellfire missiles for precision strikes on 'insurgents.'

UK to double number of drones in Afghanistan --RAF makes urgent purchase of five more US-made Reaper drones, which will be the first to be controlled from a UK base 22 Oct 2012 The UK is to double the number of armed RAF "drones" flying combat and surveillance operations in Afghanistan and, for the first time, the aircraft will be controlled from terminals and screens in Britain. In the new squadron of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), five Reaper drones will be sent to Afghanistan, the Guardian can reveal. It is expected they will begin operations within six weeks.

US drone strike kills three in North Waziristan 25 Oct 2012 A US drone fired two missiles at a suspected militant compound in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, killing three people, security officials said. One missile hit a house in the Tappi area about 20 kilometres east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district which is a stronghold of Taliban and 'al Qaeda'-linked militants. The other hit a vehicle parked outside, they said.

Four Afghan children killed in US raid 24 Oct 2012 The killing of four children in a US raid and the disappearance and murder of civilians at the hands of occupation troops have provoked growing anger and protests among the people of Afghanistan.

Guantánamo Detainee Protests Use of Chains as a Condition of Coming to Court 25 Oct 2012 A Saudi man accused of helping to plot Al Qaeda's [al-CIAduh's] attack on the U.S.S. Cole in 2000 told a military commission judge at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba on Wednesday that he would boycott his case if military guards force him to wear chains as a condition of coming to court. The defendant, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, stood behind a desk and delivered a monologue several minutes long about what he portrayed as bad treatment and unnecessarily "aggressive" security measures by prison guards. An uncomfortable car used to transport him to the court made him vomit, he said, and belly chains hurt his "bad back." 

Ex-CIA agent faces jail for exposing torture in agency's secret prisons 23 Oct 2012 An ex- CIA agent and major critic of US torturing of "terror suspects," who was charged with leaking classified information, has been forced to plead guilty to a single charge in a plea bargain agreement with government prosecutors. The plea agreement, commonly forced on defendants by US prosecutors to avert controversy and costly legal costs, would oblige the former intelligence officer, [and hero] John C. Kiriakou, to plead guilty in federal court on Tuesday and send him to prison for up to 30 months for allegedly passing secrets to reporters, The Washington Post reports today. The conviction of Kiriakou to a single charge of "disclosing the identity of an undercover CIA operative" marked the end of a case that described as "part of the Obama administration's unprecedented crackdown on leaks."

NYPD agent provocateur reveals spying on Muslims 23 Oct 2012 A 19-year-old American of Bengali descent says he was ordered by New York police to work undercover "creating" and capturing terrorist suspects by befriending Muslims and discussing jihad with them - actions he now considers unconstitutional. Shamiur Rahman told the Associated Press that in exchange for being an undercover informant, the New York Police Department (NYPD) would pay him $1,000 a month and forget about a case of marijuana possession for which he would have otherwise been charged. The teenager worked for the police by studying Islam, surveilling mosques and Islamic study groups, and talking to Muslims – all while secretly taking pictures and recording conversations.

Ecuador 'gravely concerned' about Assange's health 24 Oct 2012 A senior Ecuadorian diplomat says the health of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is deteriorating, and wants the UK to give him safe passage out of the country's London embassy, where he is holed up, if it declines further. "We have officially asked the UK for safe passage," Vice Foreign Minister Marco Albuja Martinez told RT in an exclusive interview. "But we are concerned that while UK authorities mull over the decision, Julian Assange's health may break down completely." Assange himself complained of a "racking cough," and said that being under prolonged house arrest has left him demoralized as his health "slowly deteriorated."

Jimmy Carter: Israel Creating 'Catastrophic' Situation With Palestinians 22 Oct 2012 Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Monday during a visit to Jerusalem that the prospect of an Israel-Palestinian peace accord is "vanishing," blaming Israeli settlement of the West Bank. Carter, a longtime critic of Israeli policies, called the current situation "catastrophic" and blamed Israel for the growing isolation of east Jerusalem from the West Bank. He said a Palestinian state has become "unviable." "We've reached a crisis stage," said Carter, 88. "The two-state solution is the only realistic path to peace and security for Israel and the Palestinians."

Israeli poll finds majority in favour of 'apartheid' policies 23 Oct 2012 More than two-thirds of Israeli Jews say that 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank should be denied the right to vote if the area was annexed by Israel, in effect endorsing an apartheid state, according to an opinion poll reported in Haaretz. Three out of four are in favour of segregated roads for Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank, and 58% believe Israel already practises apartheid against Palestinians, the poll found.

Hydrogen leak at closed Calif. nuclear plant 22 Oct 2012 The operators of the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant say a hydrogen leak is the latest problem to plague the troubled plant, but it was small [?] and presented no risk to workers or the public. Plant operator Southern California Edison said in a statement Monday that the leak was discovered in a non-nuclear part of the facility Sunday and has been reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The plant located between Los Angeles and San Diego hasn't produced power since Jan. 31 because of excessive wear in its reactors, and it's not clear when, or if, it will return to service.

Police: 5 shot and at least 2 dead in Los Angeles 24 Oct 2012 Five people were shot and at least two died in shootings at a business and a residence in a Los Angeles suburb Wednesday. Downey police Lt. Dean Milligan said the shootings occurred shortly after 11 a.m. at a business called United States Fire Protection and at a nearby home, where family members of the owner live. A woman was found dead at the home, he said. Milligan said police were looking for a gunman who apparently escaped in a black Camaro.

Iowa is early stop for Obama, Romney swing-state tours 24 Oct 2012 (Davenport, IA) Scrambling to hold onto his job in a tense re-election battle, President Obama attacked Republican opponent Mitt Romney during a campaign rally here Wednesday, the first leg in what he called "a 48-hour-fly-around-marathon campaign extravaganza." ...Before a crowd of 3,500 at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds -- Obama offered an extended riff on what he called "Romnesia" – describing in faux-medical terms Romney's tendency, in the president's view, to change his policies and contradict himself depending on the audience he was speaking to. "But don't worry," he dead-panned, "Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions."

Obama Kicks Off Eight-State Campaign Tour 24 Oct 2012 Air Force One landed at Quad Cities International Airport at 9 a.m. Central Time on Wednesday, to begin President Obama's two-day round-the-clock attack on swing states. The 747 is scheduled to touch down at Andrews Air Force Base just before midnight Eastern Time on Thursday. During the 38 hours in between, Mr. Obama will hit a whopping eight states in a hard-charging opening burst to try to accelerate ahead of Mitt Romney in the last two weeks of this dead-heat campaign. So focused is Mr. Obama on gaining ground that he will be making calls to swing-state voters from the air, and he will spend Wednesday night not in a comfy hotel bed, but on his plane, on a red-eye flight to Florida.

Strident Anti-Obama Messages Flood Key States 24 Oct 20212 To turn on the television, open the mail or drive down the highway here is to watch conservatives test the boundaries of how far they can go to disqualify President Obama. Along the Interstate that connects the beach towns of Florida's east coast, giant billboards show the president, whom some on the far right have falsely accused of being Muslim, bowing to a Saudi king. Another blares "Stop Obama!" and shows a nuclear warhead with "Iran" painted on it aimed at Israel, a particularly potent message with this area's many Jewish voters.

Tagg Romney apologizes to Obama 24 Oct 2012 Mitt Romney's oldest son has apologized to President Obama for saying -- in jest, we think -- that he would like to punch Obama for comments about his father. Tagg Romney, 42, spoke briefly with Obama on stage after Monday's third and final debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. ABC News cited sources who said that "Tagg apologized to the president for the remark, a mea culpa the president quickly accepted."

Obama and Romney concur on war, assassination and reaction 23 Oct 2012 In their debate on foreign policy Monday night, President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney voiced nearly identical positions in support of war, illegal killings and imperialist intervention across the globe...With just two weeks until the election, this third and final presidential debate made it clear that the US political establishment is laying the groundwork for new military interventions in the aftermath of November 6, and that the American people will have no means of expressing at the ballot box their opposition to an escalation of global militarism.

Obama and Romney Bristle From Start Over Foreign Policy 23 Oct 2012 President Obama and Mitt Romney wrapped up a series of defining debates on Monday night with a bristling exchange over America's place in the world as each sought to portray the other as an unreliable commander in chief in a dangerous era. Picking up where he left off in last week's debate, Mr. Obama went on offense from the start, lacerating his challenger for articulating a set of "wrong and reckless" policies that he called incoherent. While less aggressive, Mr. Romney pressed back, accusing the president of failing to assert American interests and values in the world to deal with a "rising tide of chaos."

GOP's Mourdock: God at work when rape leads to pregnancy 23 Oct 2012 Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock says when a woman is impregnated during a rape, "it's something God intended." Mourdock was asked Tuesday during the final minutes of a debate whether abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest. He replied: "I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that's something God intended to happen."

U.S. sues B of A for mortgage fraud 24 Oct 2012 The U.S. said Wednesday it has filed a civil lawsuit against Bank of America Corp. for mortgage fraud. The suit, filed by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Countrywide, and later B of A after it acquired Countrywide, sold defective residential mortgage loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that eventually defaulted, resulting in more than $1 billion in "losses and countless foreclosures." The activity is said to have occurred from at least 2007 through 2009.

Hurricane Sandy Heads Toward U.S. East Coast 24 Oct 2012 Hurricane Sandy, which closed businesses and airports on Jamaica as it moved north in the Caribbean, may strike the U.S. East Coast next week with the potential to cause millions of dollars in damage. Sandy's top winds reached 80 miles (129 kilometers) per hour as it moved off the north coast of Jamaica after going ashore on the island earlier today, according to a U.S. National Hurricane Center advisory at 5 p.m. New York time. "The table is set for some pretty major weather," said Henry Margusity, an expert senior meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania.