Dick Cheney

October 04, 2007 -- Chicago, IL -- Barack Obama today released the following statement in response to the new report in the New York Times this morning about the Bush administration's secret authorization of brutal interrogation techniques. For full story, click here:    » read more »

(As Prepared for Delivery)

October 4, 2007 -- "Mr. President, I rise today in response to the shocking news reported on the front page of the New York Times: the Department of Justice gave legal advice authorizing the use of extreme interrogation techniques not only in 2002 and 2003, but also at least two more times in 2005. This revelation shows that the Justice Department has fallen even lower than we had realized, and that it is up to Congress to take a firm stand against torture because this Executive can never be trusted to do so.    » read more »

October 4, 2007 -- Washington, DC – Today’s news revealed the Justice Department produced secret memos condoning the use of torture and other abusive interrogation techniques on detainees. U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) asked his colleagues to join him in condemning not only the Administration’s duplicity with Congress and the American people, but also its policy permitting torture. He reiterated his call for the Senate to support his legislation, which prohibits the torture, abuse, or mistreatment of any detainee in United States custody.    » read more »

04 October 2007 -- A key Democratic lawmaker says the State Department risks an escalating confrontation with his committee over the issue of U.S. government assessments of Iraqi anti-corruption efforts. The warning came during a hearing in which a former anti-corruption judge said rampant corruption is blocking progress in Iraq.

In his first appearance before U.S. lawmakers, Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi described corruption as rampant, affecting virtually every government ministry, and involving some of the most powerful officials in Iraq.    » read more »

04 October 2007 -- Acting amid continuing controversy over a recent incident involving Blackwater, the largest American private security contractor in Iraq, the U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved legislation that would subject contractors to prosecution by U.S. courts. A similar measure is expected to be introduced in the Senate.

Approved by a vote of 389 to 30, the legislation revises existing law called the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act.    » read more »

03 October 2007 -- Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says he believes the U.S. security firm involved in the fatal shootings of Iraqis last month should be barred from the country.

Maliki Wednesday said he is closely following investigations into the security provider Blackwater USA. He said he has been told that Blackwater has been involved in multiple incidents that have killed or wounded a total of 190 people.    » read more »

04 October 2007 -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he wants to give the coalition military command in Iraq a larger role in coordinating the activity of private security contractors that operate in the country. He says that is among the suggestions from a five-member panel he sent to Iraq in the wake of the incident last month in which armed guards from the Blackwater company, protecting a U.S. diplomatic convoy in Baghdad, allegedly killed at least 11 Iraqi civilians in a shootout.    » read more »

States have an obligation to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes in their courts

Private Contractors and Violations of the Law in Iraq and Afghanistan

Private contractors (also known as private military or security contractors) provide a range of services for and on behalf of the US armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Contractors prepare meals for soldiers, drive supply trucks, provide military training, and provide security for US civilian officials.    » read more »

02 October 2007 -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he expects to order several steps to improve the supervision of security contractors working for the U.S. military in Iraq.

Secretary Gates said he read a report early Tuesday from a five-member team he sent to Iraq last week to assess the use and supervision of security contractors. The secretary ordered the review two weeks ago after contractors from the Blackwater security company working for the State Department were accused of killing at least 11 Iraqi civilians during a shootout in Baghdad.    » read more »

Iraq Reconstruction, Defense and Security

October 01, 2007 -- Previously undisclosed information reveals (1) Blackwater has engaged in 195 “escalation of force” incidents since 2005, an average of 1.4 per week, including over 160 incidents in which Blackwater forces fired first; (2) after a drunken Blackwater contractor shot the guard of the Iraqi Vice President, the State Department allowed the contractor to leave Iraq and advised Blackwater on the size of the payment needed “to help them resolve this”; and (3) Blackwater, which has received over $1 billion in federal contract    » read more »

September 21, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Senate yesterday gave unanimous approval to three provisions sponsored by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill that will help reduce fraud, waste, and abuse in defense contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The three amendments were added to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, which authorizes funding for the Department of Defense.    » read more »

19 September 2007-- The U.S. and Iraqi governments are setting up a joint commission to examine the controversial role of private security companies operating in Iraq. The action follows a lethal incident Sunday involving the American security contractor Blackwater USA.

Officials here say the joint commission will not investigate the Sunday shooting incident, which is already the subject of parallel U.S. and Iraqi inquiries.    » read more »

08/22/2007 -- "The war in Iraq, which President Bush misled us into, has been a disaster. Not only has it caused us, and the Iraqi people, so much suffering and so much money – it has also made us less safe from the very serious problem of international terrorism. Now, there are increased rumblings that Bush and Cheney are thinking of waging an attack on Iran.    » read more »

2007-08-13 -- "If ever there was evidence that politically motivated lies led us into Iraq – resulting in the deaths of more than 3,700 U.S. troops and an estimated million Iraqis killed or wounded – take a look at what then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said in 1994 about the potential for a “quagmire” if the U.S. invaded Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein.

Was Cheney telling the truth then? Or has he lied since then for politically motivated reasons to deceive most members of Congress, the citizens of the United States, the United Nations, and the world community?    » read more »