Bush Signs Bill Enabling Martial Law

Bush Signs Bill Enabling Martial Law: "An anonymous reader writes to point us to an article on the meaning of a new law that President Bush signed on Oct. 17. It seems to allow the President to impose martial law on any state or territory, using federal troops and/or the state's own, or other states', National Guard troops. From the article:

'In a stealth maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a provision which, according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually encourage the President to declare federal martial law. It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of laws that limits the President's ability to deploy troops within the United States. The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those prohibitions.'"

(Via /.)

Ethnic cleansing in Kagera in NW Tanzania??

Ethnic cleansing in Kagera in NW Tanzania??: "Are human rights respected during the repatriation of refugees from Kagera Region in Tanzania to Rwanda? Tanzania is highly respected for the way this low-income countries has treated refugees from nearby war-torn countries, in spite of limited support from the international community. I have in the past personally visited such refugee communities along the boarder with Mozambique and Burundi. I was deeply impressed by the respectful integration of the refugees.

In 2006 the Tanzanian president decided to repatriate the refugees from Rwanda that stay in Kagera Region. This is acceptable as conditions have improved in Rwanda and as the track-record of Tanzania suggests that refugees will be correctly treated. I was therefore disturbed when I learnt from a very reliable source in Geneva that local authorities are using the repatriation to also expulse Tanzanian citizen that are children of Rwandan immigrants that arrived several decades ago and since long have Tanzanian citizenship."

(Via Hans Rosling.)

Making Iranian Uranium

Making Iranian Uranium: "Reuters’ Mark Heinrich reports that Iran has completed a second 164 centrigue cascade at the Natanz pilot fuel enrichment plant—but that the Iranians are conducting only “dry runs” without any uranium:

“The second cascade was brought on line earlier this month but they appear to be just running it empty. That is, vacuum-testing to assess durability,” said the diplomat, close to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency.

George Jahn with AP had a similar story, but his nearly 800 word article was hacked to death by a number of newspapers. (The link I posted has everything, I think). ElBaradei confirmed the second cascade during his visit to the US (see stories by WaPo’s Linzer and NYT’s Sanger), adding that Iran was ready to introduce uranium into the new cascade."

(Via ArmsControlWonk.com.)

REPORT: Bush Officials Were ‘Rooting’ For North Korea to Test Nuclear Weapon

REPORT: Bush Officials Were ‘Rooting’ For North Korea to Test Nuclear Weapon : "Senior Bush administration officials wanted North Korea to test a nuclear weapon because it would prove their point that the regime must be overthrown.

This astonishing revelation was buried in the middle of a Washington Post story published yesterday. Glenn Kessler reports from Moscow as he accompanies Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice:

Before North Korea announced it had detonated a nuclear device, some senior officials even said they were quietly rooting for a test, believing that would finally clarify the debate within the administration."

(Via a DefenseTech.)

GOP, looking for racist votes, burns cash in Tennessee

GOP, looking for racist votes, burns cash in Tennessee: "The Republican ad that villifies Democratic candidate for Senate Harold Ford, a black man, as a playboy who wants white women, will certainly backfire. It wasn’t an ad grown in Tennessee—it was an ad cultivated by RNC apparatchiks outside the state, who thought that pandering to old stereotypes might help out their candidate."

(Via Martini Republic.)

The Lancet Study...

The Lancet Study... : "This has been the longest time I have been away from blogging. There were several reasons for my disappearance the major one being the fact that every time I felt the urge to write about Iraq, about the situation, I'd be filled with a certain hopelessness that can't be put into words and that I suspect other Iraqis feel also.

...

The latest horror is the study published in the Lancet Journal concluding that over 600,000 Iraqis have been killed since the war. Reading about it left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it sounded like a reasonable figure. It wasn't at all surprising. On the other hand, I so wanted it to be wrong. But... who to believe? Who to believe....? American politicians... or highly reputable scientists using a reliable scientific survey technique?

...

The chaos and lack of proper facilities is resulting in people being buried without a trip to the morgue or the hospital. During American military attacks on cities like Samarra and Fallujah, victims were buried in their gardens or in mass graves in football fields. Or has that been forgotten already?

...

Let's pretend the 600,000+ number is all wrong and that the minimum is the correct number: nearly 400,000. Is that better? Prior to the war, the Bush administration kept claiming that Saddam killed 300,000 Iraqis over 24 years. After this latest report published in The Lancet, 300,000 is looking quite modest and tame. Congratulations Bush et al."

(Via Baghdad Burning.)