This is the way they treated the most important stories in their paper today:
Brief one: "Tactic Called Torture"
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) — Waterboarding, an interrogation technique that has been used by the United States, qualifies as torture, the United Nations human rights chief said Friday.
Louise Arbour, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, was referring to whether American officials could be tried for the use of waterboarding. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the Central Intelligence Agency director, told Congress Tuesday that his agency had used it on three detainees.
Violators of the United Nations Convention against Torture should be prosecuted under the principle of “universal jurisdiction,” Ms. Arbour said."
Brief Two: "Pentagon Assesses Strain on Military
WASHINGTON (AP) — A classified Pentagon assessment has concluded that long battlefield tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with persistent terrorist activity and other threats, have prevented the American military from improving its ability to respond to any new crisis.
I smell a DRAFT in the air, don't you, kiddos?
The Pentagon contends that efforts to increase the size of the military, replace equipment and bolster partnerships overseas will help lower the risk over time, defense officials said Friday.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has completed the risk assessment, which is expected to be delivered to Capitol Hill this month. Last year Admiral Mullen’s predecessor, Gen. Peter Pace, upgraded to “significant” from “moderate” the risk of failing that the military faced in carrying out tasks in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The risk has basically stayed consistent, stayed steady,” Admiral Mullen told the House Armed Services Committee. “It is significant.”
He said the 15-month tours in Iraq and Afghanistan were too long and must be reduced to 12 months, with longer rest periods at home. “We continue to build risk with respect to that,” he said."
The sky-is-falling rhetoric also has another function: FEED the MILITARY BEAST!
Notice how the debate is never about REDUCING our EMPIRE, readers?
That's in a "FREE" AmeriKa!
"Democrats May Again Seek to Delay Eavesdropping Vote" by ERIC LICHTBLAU
WASHINGTON — With the Senate at an impasse over the government’s wiretapping powers, Democratic leaders said Friday that they might again seek to put off a vote on a long-term resolution of the question, despite a deadline next week.
The White House is pushing to broaden the government’s ability to eavesdrop on terrorism suspects and to give legal immunity to phone carriers that have helped in past wiretaps.
While the Bush administration is expected to succeed ultimately on both counts, it has faced procedural hurdles in Congress, and the Senate last week agreed to a 15-day extension of the existing law to avoid a Feb. 1 deadline.
Sigh.
That extension expires on Feb. 16. The Senate is likely to vote next Tuesday in favor of a bill that would give the phone carriers the immunity the White House has long sought, but Democratic leaders said that might not leave them enough time to work out differences with the House, which rejected an immunity provision in a bill it passed last November.
The two chambers would probably meet in conference to try to reach a compromise, but Jim Manley, a spokesman for the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, said those discussions could take them past the Feb. 16 deadline.
With that in mind, Mr. Reid introduced a motion Friday that would allow the Senate to extend the wiretapping powers for another 15 days. “It’s an option that Senator Reid wants available,” Mr. Manley said.
Ever get the feeling Reid would extend it forever if that were an option,readers?
Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, said the administration did not want to see another temporary extension. “We’d like the Senate to get its work done,” Mr. Fratto said. “ Dealing with a patchwork of extensions isn’t good for the intelligence community.”
Mr. Manley blamed Republicans and the administration for slowing the process by refusing to consider changes in the administration’s plan. “It’ll be the president’s fault if the law expires,” he said.
While the House has already voted against immunity, 21 moderate Democrats who are part of the so-called Blue Dog coalition are lobbying in favor of immunity.
That's why DemocraPs SUCK!!!!
The Senate bill, including immunity, “will ensure a strong national security apparatus that can thwart terrorism around the globe,” those Democrats said in a letter."
I'm so sick of the damn agenda-pushing lies, readers!
And I am entirely sick of this government!
