Saudi Arabia supports ‘surge’ – considers sending troops to Iraq

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Saudi Arabia believes the Iraqi government is not up to the challenge and has told the United States that it is prepared to move its own forces into Iraq should the violence there degenerate into chaos, a senior U.S. official told NBC News on Tuesday…

The Saudi government has signaled in the past that it would oppose an early withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, fearing it would leave minority Sunni Muslims at the mercy of Shiite Muslim militias.

via MSNBC

Related:

Is Iran driving the New Saudi Diplomacy? (CSMonitor)

Libby trial resumes: will “display the secret strategizing of an administration that cherry-picked information to justify war in Iraq”

U.S. v. Libby boils down to two drastically different versions of the same events in the spring and summer of 2003. The government alleges that Libby was involved in a concerted White House effort to discredit Plame’s husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, who had publicly accused the Bush administration of twisting information he provided on Iraq’s nuclear weapons program. Wilson led a CIA-sponsored mission to Niger a year earlier and found no grounds for claims that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium there.

Eight days after Wilson went public with his claims, Plame’s identity as a CIA officer appeared in Novak’s column.

The defense says that neither Libby nor the White House sought to retaliate against Wilson and that Libby misspoke to investigators looking into the disclosure because he was overwhelmed by a crush of national security and other matters. He has said he had no motive to lie about the details or timing of conversations he had with reporters.

Article via WashingtonPost

US comptroller says taxes would have to double to pay for Bush budget in 2040

“The picture I will lay out for you today is not a pretty one and it’s getting worse with the passage of time,” said David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, in a Thursday morning hearing of the Senate’s Budget Committee. “Continuing on our current fiscal path would gradually erode, if not suddenly damage, our economy, our standard of living, and ultimately even our domestic tranquility and our national security,” he warned.

The head of the GAO also warned that if no action is taken now to control government spending, severe tax hikes could be necessary. He stated that, “balancing the budget in 2040 could require actions as large as cutting total federal spending by 60 percent or raising federal taxes to 2 times today’s level.”

Article via RawStory

Iraq Punditry: Getting Rich by being Wrong vs. Right but Poor

“Surely those who warned us not to invade Iraq have been recognized and rewarded, and those who pushed for this disaster face tattered credibility and waning career prospects. Could it be any other way in America?

So we selected the four pundits who were in our judgment the most influentially and disturbingly misguided in their pro-war arguments and the four who were most prescient and forceful in their opposition.  Then we did a career check … and found that something is rotten in the fourth estate.”

A long overdue look at the pre-war statements of:

Tom Friedman
Peter Beinart
Fareed Zakaria
Jeffrey Goldberg
Robert Scheer
William S. Lind
Jonathan Schell
Scott Ritter

Article via RadarOnline.com

Military Expands Intelligence Role inside the U.S.


WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 — The Pentagon has been using a little-known power to obtain banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage inside the United States, part of an aggressive expansion by the military into domestic intelligence gathering.

The C.I.A. has also been issuing what are known as national security letters to gain access to financial records from American companies, though it has done so only rarely, intelligence officials say.

The military and the C.I.A. have long been restricted in their domestic intelligence operations, and both are barred from conducting traditional domestic law enforcement work. The C.I.A.’s role within the United States has been largely limited to recruiting people to spy on foreign countries.

via NYTimes

Analysts believe recent US actions could signal Iran conflict, despite White House denials

“But, also, look at what he said the United States is going to do. As previously reported, several weeks ago, the aircraft carrier, John Stennis, is being dispatched to the Persian Gulf. That gives the United States two aircraft carriers in the Gulf. Round the clock operations. He also, surprisingly, announced that the United States was going to be deploying Patriot anti-missile interceptors to the region. It’s difficult to imagine whose missiles those would be shooting down other than Iran. It’s looks to me like the United States is, at least, raising its capabilities in preparation for possible military confrontation with Iran.”

Video and Article via RawStory

Related:

Bush approved raid on Iranian consulate in Iraq, the arrest of operatives (NYTimes)

Patriot Missile Batteries, Aircraft Carriers, deployed to Mideast (Salon.com)

U.S. Embassy in Athens is Attacked

ATHENS, Jan. 12 — Shortly before sunrise today, a missile ripped through the United States embassy here, causing minor damage to the building but no injuries. The missile was fired from the street over a 10-foot high security wall, smashing the glass in front of the embassy and spraying debris inside.

Vyron Polydoras, the public order minister, said an anonymous caller, claiming to be a member of the Revolutionary Struggle terror group, had telephoned a local security company to claim responsibility for the attack, which occurred just before 6:00 a.m.

Revolutionary Struggle, a Marxist group with strong anti-American sentiments, emerged in 2003, bombing an Athens courthouse complex.  It remains the most active Greek terror organization since the downfall of the country’s most deadly urban guerrilla group, November 17, blamed for killing 23 people — including American, British and Turkish officials — and for dozens of bomb attacks.

via NYTimes

The Machiavellian case for public financing of elections

By failing to unite behind public financing, Democrats may be blowing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to, as President Bush is wont to say, “change the game” of American politics in their favor. It’s no accident that the rise of conservative power in Washington that began in 1980 and accelerated after 1994 coincided with an exponential increase in the cost of political campaigns. Any system that uses corporate dollars to fund candidates’ bids for office will, almost by definition, advantage the party that hews closest to corporate interests.

Article via Alternet/Washington Monthly

House Passes Increase in Minimum Wage to $7.25

The House yesterday overwhelmingly approved the first increase in the federal minimum wage in nearly a decade, boosting the wages of the lowest-paid American workers from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over the next two years.

The 315 to 116 vote could begin the process of ending Congress’s longest stretch without a minimum-wage increase since the mandatory minimum was created in 1938. In the past decade, inflation has depleted the value of the minimum wage to the lowest level in more than 50 years.

Eighty-two Republicans joined 233 Democrats to approve the increase. More surprisingly, 54 Republicans abandoned their leadership and voted with the Democrats on a procedural motion that would have forced House leaders to add business tax breaks to the bill.

via Washington Post

Bush adding 21,500 troops to Iraq force

no surprise here…

WASHINGTON – Unswayed by anti-war passions, President Bush will send 21,500 additional U.S. troops to Iraq and build the American presence there toward its highest level to quell worsening bloodshed. The move puts Bush on a collision course with the new Democratic Congress and runs counter to advice from some senior generals.

via AP/Yahoo! News

Related: US Moves to Confront Iran and Syria

US Deploying F-117A Stealth Fighters to South Korea – concerns over another North Korean nuke test?

SEOUL (Reuters) – The United States is deploying a squadron of stealth fighters to South Korea, a U.S. military spokesman said on Wednesday, amid speculation that North Korea may be ready to test a second nuclear device. 


The U.S. television network ABC cited U.S. officials last week as saying North Korea was preparing for another test. However, both U.S. and South Korean officials have publicly said that there was no evidence a test was imminent. 

via Reuters