At Legal Deadline, U.S. Seeks Ways to Continue War

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government
13 May 2011
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At Legal Deadline, U.S. Seeks Ways to Continue War in Libya 13 May 2011 President Obama and his legal advisers are deliberating about how the United States military may lawfully continue participating in NATO's bombing campaign in Libya after next week, when the air war will reach a legal deadline for terminating combat operations that have not been authorized by Congress. Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, a president must terminate such operations 60 days after he has formally notified lawmakers about the introduction of armed forces into actual or imminent hostilities. The Libya campaign will reach that mark on May 20.

White House: Libya 'mission' to go on until Gadhafi stops 13 May 2011 The U.S. and NATO will continue military operations in Libya as long as Moammar Gadhafi keeps attacking his people Exxon Mobil doesn't have the oil, the White House said Friday as top U.S. officials met in Washington with leaders of the 'Libyan' opposition. The meetings come as a deadline nears on the 60-day window President Barack Obama has to keep the U.S. military involved in the Libya campaign without congressional approval. While lawmakers do not appear likely to enforce the limits outlined in the War Powers Resolution, U.S. officials said they are looking for ways to keep U.S. action in Libya in compliance.

'Libya rebels' seek funds in White House meeting 12 May 2011 'Libyan rebels' will meet senior White House officials in Washington Friday, seeking both cash and diplomatic legitimacy in their war to topple Muammar Gaddafi. The head of the rebel National Transitional Council's executive bureau, Mahmoud Jebril, will meet President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, and other senior officials, the White House said in a statement. Jebril, a U.S.-educated technocrat [LOL] who has become the public face of the rebel council, made a plea for Washington to free some $180 million in frozen Gaddafi funds to fund the rebels fighting to end his rule.

NATO airstrikes kill 16 civilians in Libya 13 May 2011 NATO warplanes have dropped bombs on a civilian center in the key Libyan city of Brega, killing at least 16 people and wounding 40 others. Libyan state television announced on Friday that the air raid targeted a guest house in the city. Residents say most of the victims were Muslim clerics who had gathered there for a religious ceremony.

Iraq dossier drawn up to make case for war - intelligence officer --Newly released evidence to Chilcot inquiry directly contradicts Blair government's claims about dossier 12 May 2011 A top military intelligence official has said the discredited dossier on Iraq's weapons programme was drawn up "to make the case for war", flatly contradicting persistent claims to the contrary by the Blair government, and in particular by Alastair Campbell, the former prime minister's chief spin doctor. In hitherto secret evidence to the Chilcot inquiry, Major General Michael Laurie said: "We knew at the time that the purpose of the dossier was precisely to make a case for war, rather than setting out the available intelligence, and that to make the best out of sparse and inconclusive intelligence the wording was developed with care."
7/7 bombers 'were innocent patsies' 10 May 2011 A man sent a DVD to bereaved families from the July 7 attacks claiming the four London suicide bombers were "innocent patsies", a court has been told. One of the packages included a letter to John Hyman telling him his daughter Miriam did not die in the Tavistock Square bus blast but was murdered by the security services at Canary Wharf in London, Southwark Crown Court was told. Annabel Darlow, prosecuting, told the jury: "The video which you will watch as part of the evidence in this case was one which stated that the bombings which took place in London on July 7 2005 were in fact the product of a government conspiracy."
CIA has created own Taliban to wreak terror havoc on Pakistan, claims Pak paper 12 May 2011 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives have infiltrated the Taliban and Al-Qaeda networks, and have created their own Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) force in order to destabilise Pakistan, a Pakistani newspaper has claimed... According to sources, the CIA's operations, which were suspended in Balochistan, Punjab, Islamabad and other areas of the country after the Raymond Allen Davis (RAD) incident, have also been restored. Responding to a query, the sources said that the CIA operatives have infiltrated the Taliban and Al-Qaeda networks, and have created their own TTP force, the paper said. This force has been recruited, trained and equipped by these CIA operatives to target the Pakistan Army personnel, armed forces' installations, markets, hospitals, schools and public places to destabilise Pakistan, the paper added. The paper quoted the sources, as claiming that the Soviet Intelligence Agency had already disclosed that CIA contractor Raymond Davis and his network had provided Al-Qaeda operatives with chemical, nuclear and biological weapons, so that US installations may be targeted and Pakistan be blamed, and pressed to do more in areas such as conducting operations in North Waziristan.
Explosions kill 80 in NW Pakistan 13 May 2011 At least 80 people have been killed and 140 others injured in twin blasts at a military training center in Pakistan's northwestern city of Charsadda. The explosions took place at about 6:10 a.m. local time Friday morning at the Frontier Constabulary training site, AFP reported. The police chief of the northwestern Charsadda district, Nisar Khan Marwat, said the attacks occurred when newly-trained cadets, wearing civilian clothes, were getting into buses to go on a 10-day leave after the end of their training course.
Dozens of NATO trucks burn in Pakistan 13 May 2011 A powerful blast in Pakistan's troubled northwestern tribal belt has set two dozen NATO vehicles, heading for US-led foreign forces in neighboring Afghanistan, ablaze. The Friday explosion took place near the Torkham border crossing in the Khyber tribal region. Several fuel tankers were completely destroyed in the explosion. Pakistani authorities say the cause of the blasts is unknown.
Girl, 12, Killed in NATO Raid on Wrong Afghan Home 13 May 2011 A raid in Kabul by NATO troops singled out the wrong house, and 12-year-old Nelofar was killed along with her uncle, who was the target of the raid, because he was incorrectly believed to be a local Taliban leader. It was the third time in the past 18 months that raids had caused civilian casualties in Surkhrod District, which is just outside Jalalabad, the largest city in eastern Afghanistan.
Ireland arrests 'Taliban Terry' over threats to kill Obama 13 May 2011 Police have arrested Ireland's most notorious Muslim convert after he openly declared in a newspaper interview that he wanted U.S. President Barack Obama killed when he arrives. Khalid Kelly, real name Terry Kelly and known by Dubliners as 'Taliban Terry', was arrested at his home in Ireland's capital on suspicion of threatening to kill the U.S. leader. He can be held and questioned for up to three days before being arrested but it is thought he will be released without charge.
U.S. Bombs Kirtland Air Force Building in 'Search of Security Clues' 12 May 2011 A building at Kirtland Air Force base in New Mexico recently was the target of a bombing, to 'help the government' test precautions against real attacks on embassies overseas. The Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which is charged with protecting United States embassies overseas, gave Fox News exclusive access to the bombing of the building to test the capability of new retrofits and technology it used to construct this mock embassy. It has taken years of research and development to get to this point, where they will place their work in the line of an improvised explosive device (IED) designed to mimic a car bomb.
Senate Bill Gives Feds Power to Order Blacklisting of Websites 12 May 2011 Senate antipiracy legislation introduced Thursday would dramatically increase the government's legal power to disrupt and shutter websites "dedicated to infringing activities." A major feature of the Protect IP Act, introduced by 11 senators of all stripes, would grant the government the authority to bring lawsuits against these websites, and obtain court orders requiring search engines like Google to stop displaying links to them.
Nuclear meltdown at Fukushima plant 12 May 2011 One of the reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant did suffer a nuclear meltdown, Japanese officials admitted for the first time today, describing a pool of molten fuel at the bottom of the reactor's containment vessel. Engineers from the Tokyo Electric Power company (Tepco) entered the No.1 reactor at the end of last week for the first time and saw the top five feet or so of the core's 13ft-long fuel rods had been exposed to the air and melted down. Now the company is worried that the molten pool of radioactive fuel may have burned a hole through the bottom of the containment vessel, causing water to leak.
Fukushima reactor has a hole, leading to leakage --Water leaking from No. 1 reactor, complicating shutdown --Uncertain where radioactive water leaking -utility --Melted, collapsed fuel being cooled by water pumps 12 May 2011 One of the reactors at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant has a hole in its main vessel following a meltdown of fuel rods, leading to a leakage of radioactive water, its operator said on Thursday. The disclosure by Tokyo Electric Power Co is the latest indication that the disaster was worse than previously disclosed, making it more difficult to stabilize the plant. The battle to bring Fukushima under control has been complicated by repeated leaks of radioactive water, threatening both the Pacific Ocean and nearby groundwater.

Problems cited with nuclear backup power --Report comes as panel deems US sites safe 13 May 2011 Nuclear plant emergency generators like those that failed in Japan following the March earthquake and tsunami also failed during tests at the Seabrook Station in New Hampshire and 32 other US plants in the past eight years, according to a report by US Representative Edward J. Markey's office. The report was issued yesterday by the Malden Democrat's office as a federal task force vouched for the safety of the nation's nuclear plants in the aftermath of the Japanese crisis, triggered in part by the failure of backup generators at one plant.

Ron Paul launches 2012 presidential run in "spirit of liberty" 13 May 2011 Ron Paul, the Texas congressman whose libertarian-infused beliefs have put him at odds with Republican orthodoxy, launched his third presidential campaign in New Hampshire Friday, telling an Exeter town hall audience that "the people have awoken." "The revolution is spreading, and the momentum is building," he said. "Our time has come." Paul said that the federal government should not be an "intervener," either in personal liberty or foreign policy.

'Put your pants on and leave': Senate report reveals sordid details of top Republican's affair with aide's wife --Case referred to Justice Department and Federal Election Committee at end of 22-month probe 14 May 2011 Sordid details emerged today about the affair conducted between disgraced Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign and his mistress Cynthia Hampton following a 22-month probe. Ensign faces possible criminal charges in the wake of the scathing report which was released today by the Senate. His case has now been referred to the Justice Department and Federal Election Committee. The married father-of-three was forced to resign after it emerged he was having an extra-marital affair with his aide and best friend's wife. In the wake of the affair it is alleged that he also helped Cynthia Hampton's husband Doug find a lobbying job and gave them $96,000 as a 'gift'.
Governor signs Arizona-style immigration bill into law --New Georgia law will now empower police to check status, require employer verifications 13 May 2011 Gov. Nathan Deal (R) on Friday signed one of the nation's toughest immigration enforcement measures into law amid threats of court challenges and economic boycotts targeting Georgia. Partly patterned after a stringent law Arizona enacted last year, Georgia's House Bill 87 empowers police to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects.
The town that faces being wiped off the map: Flood waters engulf every single home in Mississippi community 13 May 2011 With the Mississippi River 10ft out of its banks and heading towards a crest (peak) of 48ft on the Memphis gauge, county planners and emergency management officials fear that flood waters will enter nearly all the now-abandoned homes on the unprotected side of the levee. On the bloated Mississippi River, the town of Tunica Cutoff, sits an hour's drive south of Memphis - recent flood waters have done significant damage to the town's housing and has left residents wondering if they'll have a community to return to when the water recedes. CBS News reports that there are about 300 homes in the small town, and they have all been flooded.

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