White House stonewalling drone inquiry: US lawmakers

Source :   The Express Tribune

Both Republicans and Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday denounced President Barack Obama’s administration for refusing to share key documents or details of the killings by armed, robotic aircraft.

“The need for oversight is clear,” said Representative John Conyers, a Democrat and normally a staunch ally of the Obama administration.

Conyers and other members of the committee said it was unacceptable that the Attorney General, Eric Holder, or other officials from the Justice Department declined an invitation to appear at the hearing devoted to the drone campaign.

“I don’t think the attorney general of the United States can decline to come before this committee on a subject that is so clearly within our jurisdiction,” Conyers said.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has asked the administration for a chance to review memos that outline the legal basis for killing Americans overseas suspected of having links to al Qaeda. But their requests have been mostly denied so far.

“The American people deserve to know and understand the legal basis under which the Obama administration believes it can kill US citizens, and under what circumstances,” committee chairman Bob Goodlatte said.

Debate about the use of drones has been mounting following the September 2011 killing in Yemen of cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a senior al Qaeda operative who was an American citizen.

At the hearing, lawmakers asked legal experts how the drone strikes might be better regulated by Congress or the courts, to provide a check on what they called potentially excessive presidential power.

Several committee members, including Goodlatte, said they were open to imposing more congressional or even judicial oversight over the drone campaign, possibly by reviewing the executive branch’s decisions on drone attacks after, but not before, operations.

“For me, it’s got to be retrospective, not prospective,” Goodlatte said, as otherwise the president’s ability to conduct a war against al Qaeda could be hampered.

He also said he favored Congress performing a review of the drone strikes instead of courts, as he worried that involving judges could interfere with a president’s commander-in-chief role.

“I would prefer we review it here in Congress in some form rather than handing over war-fighting to the judicial branch.”

Committee members and expert witnesses at the hearing for the most part did not question the legal basis for killing militants abroad who are deemed to be senior figures in the al Qaeda terror network, with which the United States is at war.

But they expressed concern about the intense secrecy around the strikes and questioned if sufficiently thorough procedures were in place when the administration decides what militant should be placed on a “kill list.”

A former senior legal adviser during George W. Bush’s presidency, John Bellinger, said Congress should consider adopting legislation offering a more detailed definition of the criteria needed to allow the targeting of terror suspects.

But he said the United States had to better explain to other governments the legal basis for its operations.

“No other country in the world has come out publicly and said that they actually agree with our position,” Bellinger said.

And he acknowledged that the United States should brace itself for the day when another country, such as Russia or China, carries out its own drone killing outside of its borders, under a similar veil of secrecy.

Obama has promised to work with Congress to ensure the drone operations are “more transparent” and that the public understands the constraints and legal rationales underpinning the drone war.

U.S. Ambassador hands over Hillary Clinton’s letter to Georgian PM

Source : Vesti Kavkaza

U.S. Ambassador Richard Norland handed over former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton's letter to Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. Hillary Clinton's message says when she was Secretary of State it was an honour for her to watch how the Georgian Prime Minister and his colleagues were able to ensure a peaceful transition of power and start the process of cohabitation. "In 2011, our countries marked the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Georgia has taken an important step in democratic development and in terms of the Euro-Atlantic integration. The U.S. is glad to be near Georgia during the peaceful transfer of power which could not take place without your participation," the letter says.

US Secretary of State invents a new country – ‘Kyrzakhstan’

Source : Voice of Russia

In his first speech after he was appointed as US Secretary of State, John Kerry confused the Republics of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and referred to a non- existent country “Kyrzakhstan”. "Brave employees of the US State Department ... work in the most dangerous places around the globe. They fight against corruption in Nigeria. They support the rule of law in Burma, they support democratic reforms in Kyrzakhstan and Georgia," John Kerry said, speaking on February 20 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

The transcript of Kerry’s speech, including his slip of the tongue, was posted on the websites of US embassies. It was noticed by The Global Post journalists, who suggested that before his official visit to Israel with President Barack Obama, the chief foreign affairs advisor should find out where exactly this “Kyrzakhstan” was located.

On February 22, on all the official websites of the American embassies the word “Kyrzakhstan” in Kerry’s speech was replaced by Kyrgyzstan.

John Kerry Has No Plans to Visit Syria – US State Dept

Source :   RIA Novosti

WASHINGTON, February 15 (RIA Novosti) - The United States does not plan to hold talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad on the regional settlement, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

“The Secretary of State [John Kerry] has no intention to go to Damascus, not on this first trip and not until we are in a place where the Syrian people have gotten on the road to meeting their aspirations for a free and democratic country,” Nuland told reporters Thursday.

“He also has zero intention to talk to Assad,” she said.

Nuland said the United States would keep pushing for a peaceful transition of power in Syria.

Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in Syria’s conflict since March 2011, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said earlier in February.

Russia has faced strong international criticism over its refusal to back UN sanctions against Syria, its la ally in the Arab world, over what it called the pro- rebel bias of some resolutions proposed by Wester nations.

Moscow denies it is backing President Assad and says it is concerned that the Syrian president’s forc departure would only worsen the conflict.

Military weighs cutbacks, shifts in drone programs

Source : Times Republican

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AP) — The Pentagon for the first time is considering scaling back the massive buildup of drones it has overseen in the past few years, both to save money and to adapt to changing security threats and an increased focus on Asia as the Afghanistan war winds down.

Air Force leaders are saying the military may already have enough unmanned aircraft systems to wage the wars of the future. And the Pentagon's shift to Asia will require a new mix of drones and other aircraft because countries in that region are better able to detect unmanned versions and shoot them down.

If the Pentagon does slow the huge building and deployment program, which was ordered several years ago by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates, it won't affect the CIA drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere against terror suspects. Those strikes were brought center stage last week during the confirmation hearing for White House counterterror chief John Brennan, President Barack Obama's pick to lead the CIA.

Gen. Mike Hostage, commander of Air Combat Command, said senior leaders are analyzing the military's drone needs and discussions are beginning. But he said the current number patrolling the skies overseas may already be more than the service can afford to maintain.

Overall, Pentagon spending on unmanned aircraft has jumped from $284 million in 2000 to nearly $4 billion in the past fiscal year, while the number of drones owned by the Pentagon has rocketed from less than 200 in 2002 to at least 7,500 now. The bulk of those drones are small, shoulder-launched Ravens owned by the Army.

The discussions may trigger heated debate because drones have become so important to the military. They can provide 24-hour patrols over hotspots, gather intelligence by pulling in millions of terabytes of data and hours of video feeds, and they can also launch precisely targeted airstrikes without putting a U.S. pilot at risk.

The analysis began before Brennan's confirmation hearings, where he was questioned sharply about the CIA's use of drones to kill terror suspects, including American citizens overseas. The CIA has its own fleet of drones that it uses on its counterterror missions, and any decision to stop building drones would be unlikely to have any effect on that program.

The Air Force discussions are focused more on whether the military's drone fleet is the right size and composition for future conflicts.

There has been a seemingly insatiable appetite within the military for the unmanned hunter/killers, particularly among top combat commanders around the world who have been clamoring for the drones but have seen most resources go to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We are trying to do the analysis and engage in the discussion to say at some point the downturn in operations and the upsurge in capabilities has got to meet," Hostage said.

Hostage, interviewed in his office at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Va., amid the intermittent roar of fighter jets overhead, said the military's new focus on the Asia-Pacific region will require a different mix of drones and other aircraft. Unlike in Afghanistan, where the U.S. can operate largely without fear of the drones being shot down, there are a number of countries in the Pacific that could face off against American aircraft — either manned or unmanned.

Right now, Predator and Reaper drones that pilots fly remotely from thousands of miles away are completing 59 24-hour combat air patrols a day, mostly in Afghanistan, Pakistan and areas around Yemen and the Africa coast. The standing order is for the Air Force to increase that number of air patrols to 65 a day by May 2014, although officials say that is an arbitrary number not based on an analysis of future combat requirements.

The staffing demands for that increase have put a strain on the Air Force, as they would require nearly 1,700 drone pilots and 1,200 sensor operators. Currently there are fewer than 1,400 pilots and about 950 sensor operators.

Lt. Gen. Larry D. James, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence, said no recommendations for changes to the projected drone fleet have been sent yet to Pentagon leaders. A key part of the decision will involve what types of drones and other aircraft will be needed as the military focuses greater concentration on the Pacific.

While Predators and Reapers have logged more than 1 million hours of combat patrols in the skies over Afghanistan and Iraq, where insurgents don't have the ability to shoot them down, they would be likely to face challenges in the more contested airspace over the Pacific.

Countries with significant air power or the ability to shoot do

Obama Says War in Afghanistan to Be Over by End of 2014

Source : RIA Novosti

WASHINGTON, February 13 (RIA Novosti) - US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday 34,000 American troops will return from Afghanistan over the next year.

“Already, we have brought home 33,000 of our brave servicemen and women. This spring, our forces will move into a support role, while Afghan security forces take the lead,” Obama said in his State of the Union address before Congress.

“Tonight, I can announce that over the next year, another 34,000 American troops will come home from Afghanistan. This drawdown will continue,” he said. “And by the end of next year, our war in Afghanistan will be over.”

The United States currently has 66,000 troops in Afghanistan.

The US president said in January he could not comment on the number of US troops who might remain in the country after the end of 2014

Obama says North Korea nuclear program threat to world security

Source : Maan News Agency

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- President Barack Obama said North Korea's latest nuclear test was a "highly provocative act" that hurt stability in the region and called its nuclear program a threat to US and international security.

"The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community. The United States will also continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies," Obama said in a statement.

"We will strengthen close coordination with allies and partners and work with our Six-Party partners, the United Nations Security Council, and other UN member states to pursue firm action," he said

Blizzard buries U.S. Northeast

Source : Xinhua | English.news.cn

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- A massive blizzard dumped as much as three feet (one meter) of snow in parts of the Northeastern United States, leaving some 650,000 households and businesses without power and two dead by Saturday.

Steady snow started falling on Friday afternoon. By Saturday morning, many roads were impassable in the densely populated New England region. More than 38 inches (97 cm) of snow fell in Milford in central Connecticut, and an 82 miles per hour (132 km per hour) wind gust was recorded in nearby Westport. Parts of southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire also saw snow accumulate to at least 2 feet. People across the region were having trouble opening their doors to get outside.

The blizzard wrecked major havoc to transportation. In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick enacted a statewide driving ban for the first time since the Blizzard of 1978. Airlines canceled more than 5,300 flights through Saturday, and the three major airports serving New York City as well as Boston's Logan Airport were closed.

At least two were killed in the blizzard, one in New York and the other in Connecticut. In New York, a 74-year-old man died after being struck by a car which lost control in Poughkeepsie, and in Connecticut, one pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and killed Friday night in Prospect.

Even as snow continued to fall, coastal flooding has become a major concern. On Saturday morning, officials in Massachusetts ordered the evacuation of some communities along the coast as waves lashed the shoreline and high tide brought a surge of water.

Among the big cities in the region, the situation in Boston seemed most precarious. Nearly 22 inches of snow fell in Boston and up to 3 feet was expected, the National Weather Service said, threatening the city's 2003 record of 27.6 inches.

Further exacerbating the problem, temperature dropped precipitously overnight in Boston, creating dangerous conditions for those without power. And the storm seemed to have gained strength in the Boston area on Saturday morning, with winds topping 70 miles per hour whipped through.

Kerry: Washington Evaluating Diplomatic Steps on Syria

Source : SANA, Syria

WASHINGTON, (SANA)-US Secretary of State John Kerry said that Washington is considering diplomatic steps to take to deal with the situation in Syria.

In his first press statement since assuming his office, AFP quoted Kerry as saying ''We are making an assessment of the situation to decide on what steps to take, diplomatic particularly, to reduce violence and deal with the situation there.''

''There is too much killing and too much violence, and we want to find a way forward,'' Kerry said, adding ''It is a very complicated and very dangerous situation .''

Commenting on the news about splits within the US administration on Syria, Kerry said ''I'm not aware of the delibrations at the White House and who said what, and I'm not going to go backward…We have a new administration now and President Obama's second term …I'm the new Secretary of State and we are going forward from this point.''

Panetta and Dempsey Publicly Admit Support to Plan to Arm Syrian Opposition

After many attempts to cover Washington's role in sabotaging the peaceful solution in Syria, U.S. Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, and Chairman of the U.S. Military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, admitted publicly that they support arming what they called the opposition in Syria.

During a Congress hearing session Thursday, Panetta and Dempsey said they were in favor of a recommendation advocated last year by the State Department and the CIA to arm "the Syrian opposition".

Senator John McCain pressed the Pentagon leaders about whether they backed the recommendation, to which they said yes.

"Did you support the recommendation by then Secretary of State Clinton and then head of CIA General Petraeus that we provide weapons to the resistance in Syria? Did you support that?" McCain (R-AZ) asked Panetta and Dempsey.

"We did," Dempsey responded.

Panetta however added that the plan was rejected by the White House.

The New York Times reported on February 2 about the plan developed last summer by Clinton and Petraeus, who have since left their jobs.

Panetta and Dempesy's public acknowledgment followed statements by Republican Senator Rand Paul Thursday in which the latter revealed confirmed information about weapon shipment from Libya to Syria under US supervision.

Paul told the CNN channel that in answer to a question he recently raised to Clinton on whether we coordinate to send weapons from Libya to Turkey, then to the gunmen in Syria, she answered no, but before one week of the assassination of US Ambassador in Libya, a ship loaded with weapons left Libya with the recognition of the Americans.

The ship captain talked about weapons which were sent to the gunmen in Syria who fight each other on who got weapons and who didn't, Paul added.

Barack Obama administration claims it provides only "non-lethal aid" to the Syrian opposition, without clarifying how this aid is non- lethal in its perspective.

Information on the US involvement in supporting the terrorist groups in Syria is plenty as the Washington Post recently revealed the role of the CIA in exchanging information with Saudi Arabia and Qatar who are supplying the gunmen with weapons.

The newspaper report noted that CIA agents are deployed along the Turkish-Syrian border and coordinating the passing of equipment and medical supplies to the gunmen in Syria and providing communications training.

H. Said/M. Ismael

Lawmakers to see drones report before CIA confirmation hearing

Source :   Shanghai Daily

President Barack Obama's choice to head the CIA was facing a Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing yesterday just hours after lawmakers were expected to receive a classified report providing the rationale for drone strikes targeting Americans working with al-Qaida.

John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism chief and Obama's nominee to run the nation's spy agency, helped manage the deadly drone program.

The confirmation hearing sets the stage for a public airing of some of the most controversial programs in the covert war on al-Qaida, from the deadly drone strikes to the CIA's use of interrogation techniques like waterboarding.

The CIA's drone strikes primarily focus on al-Qaida and Taliban targets in the tribal regions of Pakistan, while the military has launched strikes against al- Qaida targets in Yemen and Somalia. The agency also carries out strikes in Yemen, where three American citizens with al-Qaida connections have been killed - Anwar al-Awlaki, his 16-year-old-son and Samir Khan.

A memo leaked this week says it is legal for the government to kill US citizens abroad if it believes they are senior al-Qaida leaders continually engaged in operations aimed at killing Americans, even if there is no evidence of a specific imminent attack.

That unclassified memo is based on classified advice from the Office of Legal Counsel that is being made available to committee members.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Senate committee's chairwoman, laid out the administration's policy for targeting al-Qaida with lethal drone strikes ahead of the hearing, defending the use of such strikes but disavowing the harsh interrogation techniques used when Brennan was at the CIA.

In answers to pre-hearing questions, Brennan said no further legislation was necessary to conduct operations against al-Qaida.

He answered some of his critics who charged him with backing the detention and interrogation policy while he served at the CIA. Those allegations stymied his attempt to head the intelligence agency in 2009.

He was "aware of the program but did not play a role in its creation, execution, or oversight." He "had significant concerns and personal objections" to the interrogation techniques.

Brennan went on to describe how individuals are targeted for drone strikes, saying whether a suspect is deemed an imminent threat - and appropriate for targeting - is made "on a case-by-case basis."

Brennan defended the missile strikes by unmanned drones as a more humane form of war, but acknowledged there were "instances when, regrettably and despite our best efforts, civilians have been killed."

Florida outdoor exhibit to display designs by Iranian artists

Source : Tehran Times

TEHRAN -- Graphic designs by two Iranian artists will go on display at Embracing Our Differences, an outdoor art exhibition which will be held in Sarasota, Florida, in April and May.

Two works by Sina Afshar and Maedeh Mosavvarzadeh will be showcased in the adult section and the student section of the exhibit.

The Island Park of Sarasota will host Embracing Our Differences, which will put on show 41 billboard-size graphic designs.

Since 2004, “Embracing Our Differences” has been viewed by more than one million visitors.

The exhibition is an international outdoor art exhibition intended to demonstrate in a positive way that diversity enriches today lives.

The mission of “Embracing Our Differences” is to use art as a catalyst for creating awareness and promoting throughout our community the value of diversity, the benefits of inclusion and the significance of the active rejection of hatred and prejudice.

 

Florida judge reportedly allows gay man, lesbian couple to be on daughter's birth certificate

Source : Fox News

i-Dade circuit judge has reportedly approved an adoption allowing three people — a gay man and a married lesbian couple — to be listed on the birth certificate of their 23- month-old daughter.

The Miami Herald reports that Maria Italiano and Cher Filippazzo, who married in Connecticut, and their attorney, Kenneth Kaplan, declined to be interviewed. The women, according to Miami family attorney Karyn Begin, are longtime partners who unsuccessfully tried to become pregnant via fertility clinics.

“We’re creating entirely new concepts of families,” said Begin, who represented father Massimiliano Gerina in a two-year paternity case involving lesbian friends who had his baby. “If you have two women seeking to be listed as Parent One and Parent Two, that does not exclude listing a man as father.”

Following a verbal agreement, Gerina gave the women his perm and Italiano conceived. The couple planned for Filippazzo to later adopt the baby and both would raise the child.

According to Florida law, sperm donors have no legal rights in artificial inseminations. But Gerina said he considered himself a parent, not simply a donor.

The women, he claimed, “wanted a father for the baby, not just the sperm.”

Roughly seven months after learning Italiano was pregnant, the women asked Gerina to sign a contract to give up his rights to the child. He declined and hired Begin.

“My papers said I would have parental rights, a visitation schedule,” Gerina said. “They hated it. They said this wasn’t what they wanted. I said, ‘Now that you’re already pregnant, you should have thought about that before.’”

Their daughter, Emma, was born March 10, 2011. The three parents feuded in court for nearly two years. A trial was set for Jan. 31, 2013, but a week earlier, Gerina, Italiano, Filippazzo and their attorneys settled the case privately, the newspaper reports.

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Antonio Marin later approved the settlement and the court adoption clerk submitted paperwork for Emma’s new birth certificate, which indicated that Italiano, a retail saleswoman, received “sole parental responsibility,” Begin told the newspaper.

Filippazzo, a financial services professional, legally adopted Emma and the state recognized Gerina as Emma’s father. He was granted time with her for the next two years and overnight visitations will be considered after she turns 4. All visits must be pre-arranged and at the mothers' discretion, the newspaper reports.

“The mothers are in charge,” Gerina said. “I’m just going to spend time with her. They are the parents.”

Justice memo sets rationale to kill U.S. citizens

Source : The Seattle Times

A confidential Justice Department memo says it is legal for the government to kill U.S. citizens abroad if it believes they are senior al-Qaida leaders continually engaged in operations aimed at killing Americans.

The document, first reported Monday night by NBC News, provides a legal rationale behind the Obama administration's use of drone strikes against al-Qaida suspects.

The 16-page document says it is lawful to target al-Qaida linked U.S. citizens if they pose an "imminent" threat of violent attack against Americans, and that delaying action against such people would create an unacceptably high risk. Such circumstances may necessitate expanding the concept of imminent threat, the memo says.

"The threat posed by al-Qaida and its associated forces demands a broader concept of imminence in judging when a person continually planning terror attacks presents an imminent threat," the document added.

A September 2011 drone strike in Yemen killed Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, both U.S. citizens linked to al-Qaida.

The memo does not require the U.S. to have information about a specific imminent attack against the U.S.

"A decision maker determining whether an al-Qaida operational leader presents an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States must take into account that certain members of al-Qaida ... are continually plotting attacks against the United States" and that "al-Qaida would engage in such attacks regularly to the extent it were able to do so," says the document.

The document also says that a decision maker must take into account that "the U.S. government may not be aware of all al-Qaida plots as they are developing and thus cannot be confident that none is about to occur; and that...the nation may have a limited window of opportunity within which to strike in a manner that both has a high likelihood of success and reduces the probability of American casualties."

US State Department doubts launch of Iranian monkey into space

Source : Vesti Kavkaza

Spokeswoman of the US State Department Victoria Nuland has expressed doubts about the launch of a monkey into space by Iran, ITAR- TASS reports.

The State Department noticed differences in the appearance of the monkey on photographs. Iran has commented, stating that newspaper reporters confused the photos and posted the one of the backer-up monkey