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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dan B. who wrote (67201)	9/19/2005 3:42:38 PM
From: Orcastraiter	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 81568

Sorry, I'm not aware of murders at Abu Ghraib, and certainly not by policy. LINK???? You're not aware? I knew that. editorandpublisher.com Published: July 23, 2005 6:00 PM ET NEW YORK So what is shown on the 87 photographs and four videos from Abu Ghraib prison that the Pentagon, in an eleventh hour move, blocked from release this weekend? One clue: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Congress last year, after viewing a large cache of unreleased images: "I mean, I looked at them last night, and they're hard to believe.” They show acts "that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhumane," he added. A Republican Senator suggested the same day they contained scenes of “rape and murder.” No wonder Rumsfeld commented then, "If these are released to the public, obviously it's going to make matters worse." “Charges have been brought against seven service members, and investigations into events at the prison continue. “Military investigators have looked into -- or are continuing to investigate -- 35 cases of alleged abuse or deaths of prisoners in detention facilities in the Central Command theater, according to Army Secretary Les Brownlee. Two of those cases were deemed homicides, he said. "’The American public needs to understand we're talking about rape and murder here. We're not just talking about giving people a humiliating experience,’ Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told reporters after Rumsfeld testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. ’We're talking about rape and murder -- and some very serious charges.’ “A report by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba on the abuse at the prison outside Baghdad says videotapes and photographs show naked detainees, and that groups of men were forced to masturbate while being photographed and videotaped. Taguba also found evidence of a ‘male MP guard having sex with a female detainee.’ “Rumsfeld told Congress the unrevealed photos and videos contain acts 'that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhuman.’” ***************************************************** Read the entire article. We are behaving as badly...no worse than the terrorists. Is it by policy you ask? Certainly it is. These kind of abuses could not possibly be this wide spread without official sanction and orders. It is a sad moment for our nation, and it exposes the lack of judgement and vision by the folks running the show. Orca

To: Dan B. who wrote (67201)	9/19/2005 6:59:14 PM
From: Skywatcher	Respond to of 81568

Pombo Moving Legislation That Would Cripple Endangered Species Act Act that Saved the Bald Eagle Now Endangered Resource Committee Chairman Creates Loopholes that are a Developers' Dream WASHINGTON - September 19 - Legislation introduced today by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Cal.) would severely undermine the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and punch loopholes in the law on behalf of greedy developers, oil companies, and other special interests. Ironically called the "Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005," this legislation strikes at the heart of our nation's wildlife conservation efforts. "If Rep. Pombo's legislation were part of the original Endangered Species Act, the recovery of the bald eagle, grizzly bear, and peregrine falcon would have been extremely difficult if not impossible," said Rodger Schlickeisen, President of Defenders of Wildlife. "The bill contains provisions that would severely cripple the federal effort to recover endangered plants and animals. It runs counter to the very intent of the Endangered Species Act and flies in the face of Rep. Pombo's earlier professed desire to improve wildlife conservation." Jamie Rappaport Clark, former Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and now Executive Vice President of Defenders said, "Given Mr. Pombo's past statements about trying to make the Endangered Species Act work better, it's extremely disappointing to see him introduce a bill that does so much to eliminate opportunities for recovery of threatened and endangered wildlife." "The Endangered Species Act has been extraordinarily successful at preventing the extinction of our nation's precious wildlife. Since 1973, only nine out of the 1800 animals protected by the Act have been declared extinct. Rep. Pombo's legislation would put an end to that astonishing record of success and undermine any hope of protecting endangered plants and animals in the future," Clark said. An analysis of Congressman Pombo's bill by Defenders of Wildlife points to the following key problems: * Repeals critical habitat without providing adequate assurances that habitat necessary for recovery would be protected. * Undermines the requirement of federal agencies to ensure that their actions would not jeopardize the continued existence of listed plants or animals. Cuts wildlife experts out of the loop in determining whether agency actions would harm endangered plants and animals. * Puts road blocks in the way of the use of the "best available science" and limits the type of science that can be used for endangered species recovery. * Requires the federal government to pay landowners to not violate the law, setting a terrible precedent in regard to environmental protections. This would create a financial windfall for unscrupulous developers by requiring the government to compensate them for the value of any activity they propose on their land which would result in a take of a listed plant or animal. * Places endangered plants and animals at risk whenever the federal government fails to meet a 90-day deadline for telling developers whether their actions would take an endangered species. If the government misses the deadline, no matter what the reason, developers get a de facto exemption from the law and wildlife would suffer. * Eliminates the Endangered Species Committee, the Cabinet-level body created by Congress in 1978 to resolve truly irreconcilable conflicts between species conservation and development. "At a time when our country is still reeling from the impacts of Hurricane Katrina, one has to wonder why reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act has become the immediate priority of Congressman Pombo and the Natural Resources Committee," said Clark. For more information and detailed analysis of the Pombo bill and the Endangered Species Act, see www.saveesa.org.