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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (670401)	1/31/2005 11:50:14 AM
From: sandintoes	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 769670

It figures, another anti-American judge appointed by the worst President in US history..Jimmy Carter. How can they have constitutional rights when they are not USA citizens??? The US citizens are the only people promised protection under our Constitution.. Judge rejects Guantanamo cases news.com.au ^ \| 20 January 2005 Posted on 01/19/2005 3:25:53 PM PST by Aussie Dasher A US federal judge today dismissed the cases of seven Guantanamo Bay prisoners who sought to challenge the lawfulness of their continued detention. "To the extent that these non-resident detainees have rights, they are subject to both the military review process already in place and the laws Congress has passed defining the appropriate scope of military conduct towards the detainees," US District Judge Richard Leon said. "The extent to which these rights and conditions should be modified or extended is a matter for the political branches to determine," he wrote in the 34-page opinion. Until the Congress or US President George W Bush acted further, he concluded, there was "no viable legal theory" under which a federal court could issue the writ of habeas corpus sought by the detainees. Judge Leon said foreign nationals captured and detained outside the United States had no recognisable constitutional rights. About 550 people are being held at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, after being detained during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and in other operations in the US "war against terrorism". Bush administration lawyers have argued the prisoners have no constitutional rights and their lawsuits, challenging the conditions of their confinement and seeking their release, must be dismissed. Cases have been brought in federal court in Washington by more than 60 Guantanamo prisoners. The US Supreme Court ruled in June that the prisoners could bring the cases. Although Judge Leon, who was appointed to the bench by Mr Bush, dismissed the cases before him, US District Judge Joyce Hens Green is deciding whether the cases of 10 other Guantanamo prisoners can go forward. The lawyers for the 10 detainees have argued that they have the right to a fair trial and should be given the proper opportunity to defend themselves. Judge Leon's ruling involved one French national, an Algerian and five Algerian-Bosnian citizens. "In the final analysis, the petitioners are asking this court to do something no federal court has done before: evaluate the legality of the executive's capture and detention of non-resident aliens, outside the United States, during a time of armed conflict," he said.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (670401)	1/31/2005 12:19:03 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

Audit: $9 Billion Unaccounted for in Iraq By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The U.S. occupation authority in Iraq was unable to keep track of nearly $9 billion it transferred to government ministries, which lacked financial controls, security, communications and adequate staff, an inspector general has found. The findings were released Sunday by Stuart Bowen Jr., special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. Bowen issued several reports on the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the U.S. occupation government that ruled Iraq from June 2003 to June 2004. The inspector general said the occupying agency disbursed $8.8 billion to Iraqi ministries "without assurance the moneys were properly accounted for." U.S. officials, the report said, "did not establish or implement sufficient managerial, financial and contractural controls." There was no way to verify that the money was used for its intended purposes of financing humanitarian needs, economic reconstruction, repair of facilities, disarmament and civil administration. ...The inspector general cited an International Monetary Fund assessment in October, 2003 on the poor state of Iraqi government offices. The assessment found ministries suffered from staff shortages, poor security, disruptions in communications, damage and looting of government buildings, and lack of financial policies. Some of the transferred funds may have paid "ghost" employees, the inspector general found. CPA staff learned that 8,206 guards were on the payroll at one ministry, but only 602 could be accounted for, the report said. At another ministry, U.S. officials found 1,417 guards on the payroll but could only confirm 642. news.yahoo.com Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction: iraqreconstructionig.org Occupation Authority Did Not Properly Monitor Spending of Iraqi Money, U.S. Audit Says January 31, 2005 By ERIK ECKHOLM ...The new report covers money given to Iraqi ministries between the American invasion of early 2003 and the transfer of sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government in mid-2004. During that time, according to a United Nations resolution, the occupation authority was responsible for disbursing Iraqi oil money, leftover receipts from Iraq's oil-for-food relief program, and seized assets, which were combined into the Development Fund for Iraq. A large share of the money was transferred to Iraqi ministries, while several billions more were spent directly by the Americans for fuel imports and construction projects. An international auditing agency has questioned the occupation authority's management of the Iraqi money it spent directly, charging a lack of oversight and overuse of non-competitive contracts. ...Other American and international auditors have warned that weak financial controls are a continuing problem in Iraqi ministries, opening the door to possible fraud, kickbacks and misuse of funds. nytimes.com