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"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."

First Lady steps in to defuse anger at Bush
News Telegraph
By Philip Sherwell in Washington
(Filed: 11/09/2005)

The White House has turned to its most popular performer in an effort to rebuff criticism of its handling of Hurricane Katrina.

Laura Bush, the normally mildly spoken First Lady, is defending her husband in defiant terms - describing some of the criticism of President George W Bush as "disgusting".

Her remarks came as Mr Bush's attempt to defuse public anger by replacing the man in charge of the recovery operation appeared to have fallen flat. Although Michael Brown, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was recalled to Washington, he was not sacked from his job - and President Bush's approval ratings continues to hover at an all-time low.

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Are they really sure this is who they want to send out to put a good face on the administration's response? The woman who is so disconnected from the average American that she didn't even know the NAME of the hurricane? Really? Her? (She called it Hurricane Corinna twice in a recent interview).

This article is a good read. It references how our shameless President, in an attempt to bolster his historically-low approval ratings, has invoked the dead of 9/11 AGAIN for political gain and how his minions, who vis-a-vis their "talking points" claim to refuse to play the "blame game," continue to heap blame on state and local politicians.

For the whole article, CLICK HERE

"Hurricane Recovery Projects -- Apply Here!"

Firms with White House ties get Katrina contracts
FEMA taps Halliburton subsidiary, Shaw Group, Bechtel for cleanup
Saturday, September 10, 2005 Posted: 1726 GMT (0126 HKT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.

One is Shaw Group Inc. and the other is Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.

For the whole article, CLICK HERE.

"Corpses appear regularly in and around Baghdad and other areas."

UN raises alarm on death squads and torture in Iraq
08 Sep 2005 17:02:22 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Mussab Al-Khairalla

BAGHDAD, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The United Nations raised the alarm on Thursday about mounting violence in Iraq blamed on pro-government militias and urged the authorities to look into reports of systematic torture in police stations.

In a bi-monthly human rights report, released on a day when 14 more victims of "extrajudicial executions" were found near Baghdad, the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq also said "mass arrests" by U.S. and Iraqi forces, and long detentions without charge, could damage support for the new political system.

"Corpses appear regularly in and around Baghdad and other areas. Most bear signs of torture and appear to be victims of extrajudicial executions," it said, noting incidents reported after arrests by "forces linked to the Ministry of Interior."

"Serious allegations of extra-judicial executions ... underline a deterioration in the situation of law and order."


For the whole article, CLICK HERE.

"These guys run loose in this country and do stupid stuff."

Security Contractors in Iraq Under Scrutiny After Shootings
By Jonathan Finer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, September 10, 2005; Page A01

IRBIL, Iraq -- The pop of a single rifle shot broke the relative calm of Ali Ismael's morning commute here in one of Iraq's safest cities.

Ismael, his older brother Bayez and their driver had just pulled into traffic behind a convoy of four Chevrolet Suburbans, which police believe belonged to an American security contractor stationed nearby. The back door of the last vehicle swung open, the brothers said in interviews, and a man wearing sunglasses and a tan flak jacket leaned out and leveled his rifle.

"I thought he was just trying to scare us, like they usually do, to keep us back. But then he fired," said Ismael, 20. His scalp was still marked by a bald patch and four-inch purple scar from a bullet that grazed his head and left him bleeding in the back seat of his Toyota Land Cruiser.

"Everything is cloudy after that," he said.


For the whole article, CLICK HERE.

Powell: "It was painful. It's painful now."

Powell regrets 'mess' of Iraq
From Tim Reid in Washington

COLIN POWELL, the former US Secretary of State, harshly criticised the Bush Administration yesterday for its failures in Iraq, calling the country a mess and voicing concerns that it may slide into civil war.

General Powell, who left the Administration in January, also said that his speech in February 2003 to the UN, making the case for war, was a painful blot on his record.

For the whole article, CLICK HERE.