News Blurbs for the Week of December 11, 2004

‘Dogmatic intelligence’ By Suzanne Goldenberg : A veteran CIA operative sues the agency for firing him after he refused orders to falsify his reports on Iraq’s WMD. (Salon.com free day pass or membership required to view.)

‘Iraq’s civilian dead get no hearing in the United States’ By Jeffrey D. Sachs : Evidence is mounting that America’s war in Iraq has killed tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, and perhaps well over 100,000. Yet this carnage is systematically ignored in the United States, where the media and government portray a war in which there are no civilian deaths, because there are no Iraqi civilians, only insurgents. (The insurgents are now “the terrorists” according to Bush in a speech earlier this week.)

‘Measure Expands Police Powers’ By Dan Eggen, Washington Post Staff Writer : The intelligence package that Congress approved this week includes a series of little-noticed measures that would broaden the government’s power to conduct terrorism investigations, including provisions to loosen standards for FBI surveillance warrants and allow the Justice Department to more easily detain suspects without bail. (Meanwhile, there is still no oversight on detentions, which means this will lead to even more people being detained without due process, only to be released years later never having been charged with any crime.)

‘Nephew Suggests Arafat’s Death Unnatural’ By Mohammed Daraghmeh, Associated Press Writer : Yasser Arafat’s nephew said Saturday his uncle may have died an “unnatural” death, a statement certain to renew speculation among Palestinians and in the rest of the Arab world where many already believe the late leader was poisoned despite Israel’s repeated and vehement denials. (It may or may not have been Israeli-supported. I’m seeing telltale signs of “spook” involvement here, and the recent reports of Ukrainian presidential candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, having been poisoned by dioxin also looks a little fishy.)

‘DaimlerChrysler recalls 600,000 vehicles’ By Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press Writer : Bowing to pressure from federal safety regulators, DaimlerChrysler AG said Friday it is recalling 600,000 Dodge Durango SUVs and Dakota pickup trucks because of a defect that can cause their wheels to fall off. (I should think wheels were kind of mandatory…)

And from the department of the Bizarre…

‘Official Killed After Tumbling from Car’ By David Schwartz : A top municipal official in Phoenix died in a bizarre incident that saw him crawl out of his fast-moving vehicle, stand atop its roof and extend his arms outward before tumbling off, authorities said on Thursday. (Noted : Mercedes-Benz’s do not have wings.)