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Susan Klebold The Columbine Essay - O Magazine

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Susan Klebold, the mother of Columbine killer, Dylan Klebold, has spoken out for the first time with an essay for O Magazine.

According to Suzane Levine of Gnews:

“The full text of the essay has not been released publicly but excerpts from Klebold’s essay share some of her feelings about what happened that awful day.

“In her O Magazine essay, Klebold says she is still struggling to make sense of what happened when her son Dylan Klebold and friend Eric Harris murdered 12 students and a teacher in during their shooting rampage at Denver’s Columbine High School. In all, 21 people were injured before Klebold and Harris turned their guns on themselves.”

Susan Klebold states: ”For the rest of my life, I will be haunted by the horror and anguish Dylan caused. I cannot look at a child in a grocery store or on the street without thinking about how my son’s schoolmates spent the last moments of their lives. Dylan changed everything I believed about myself, about God, about family, and about love.”

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ID card officials back away from scandal-hit database

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Government plans to store ID card biometrics data on a controversial system used by thousands of public workers might be scrapped.

Tony Collins

The Home Office has confirmed it is reconsidering plans to use the Customer Information System system to store biometric data for the ID card scheme.

The Customer Information System (CIS) - which is run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - has yet to meet the Cabinet Office’s latest standards on IT security, Computer Weekly has learned.

Computer Weekly revealed in August that thirty four council staff accessed the CIS database to snoop on the personal records of celebrities and acquaintances. Nine of the council workers were sacked.

The CIS database holds information on 85 million citizens, and is the government’s main citizen database. It is available to 140,000 users from eight government departments, and to 445 local authorities.

But it is proving difficult for the Department of Work of Pensions to allow thousands of public workers and local authorities to access the CIS Oracle-based database, yet keep it demonstrably secure.

The Home Office revealed plans to use the CIS system for ID cards in December 2006 in its Strategic Action Plan for the National Identity Scheme.

In the Strategic Action Plan for the National Identity Scheme, the Home Office said: “We plan to use DWP’s Customer Information System (CIS) technology, subject to the successful completion of technical feasibility work,” for National Identity Register biographical information.

It added: “DWP’s CIS technology is already used to hold records for everyone who has a National Insurance number - i.e. nearly everyone in the UK.”

The Home Office planned to separate DWP’s citizen data on the CIS information from the biometrics store being built up on the National Identity Register.

Now the government plans to avoid using CIS for the ID card scheme, if possible. A spokesman for the Home Office said using CIS is no more than an option for the future.

He said the possibility of using CIS will not be considered until the system has full security accreditation, which is due in 2010 at the earliest.

The Home Office will store biometric information for ID cards on a database run by Thales, one of the maincontractors for the ID card scheme.

Officials had planned to use CIS for the ID card scheme to save money. It would have allowed the government to avoid building an entirely new system and security architecture.

But Computer Weekly has learned that the security of the CIS has been so discredited that officials are keen to distance the ID card scheme from it, even if this means paying for a new system from scratch.

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Refugees Increasingly Being Refused Asylum

Monday, September 28th, 2009

By Lisa Schlein

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, is appealing to countries to open their borders to asylum seekers. He says the number of places where people fleeing conflict and persecution can find refuge is shrinking and this is forcing desperate people to resort to risky measures to find a safe haven. The High Commissioner outlined some of the most important challenges facing the UNHCR in an opening speech of the 60th annual refugee conference.

This pictorial montage shows just a few of the 42 million people who have been uprooted by conflict and persecution. The pictures convey the anguish of refugees seeking asylum and a roof over their heads. They show what the U.N. refugee agency calls real people with real needs from basic access to clean water to protection.

“I am gravely concerned by the shrinking asylum space, mostly but not exclusively in the developed world,” said Antonio Guterres. “These are times of economic crisis, of job losses. And, if I remember well, in times of economic difficulties, there are two easy scapegoats-governments and foreigners.”

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, says he is concerned about the global trend toward greater restrictions and fewer rights for asylum seekers. He accuses some developed countries of violating international and regional law by limiting access to those in need of refuge.

“Pushing asylum-seekers back to where protection is not available or further burdening developing countries who already host the vast majority of the world’s refugees is not wise and is not acceptable,” he said.

The High Commissioner warns that global conflicts are becoming more complex and lines that used to clearly separate the civilian and the military are increasingly becoming blurred.

“There are peacekeepers where there is no peace to keep becoming parties to the conflict, while militaries are more and more undertaking “humanitarian” work in an effort to win hearts and minds,” said Guterres. “And, the resulting confusion is cynically and brutally exploited by some belligerents to target humanitarian workers.”

The U.N.’s top Human Rights Official, Navi Pillay, pinpoints discrimination as the source of forced displacement. She says no society is immune from this scourge. She examines the suffering endured by victims of intolerance and inequality and is particularly worried about the plight of women and girls.

“Harmful traditional practices, including genital mutilation, discriminatory customs, such as forced marriages, and outright attacks continue to be factors that make women flee conditions of unbearable hardship,” said Navi Pillay.

Pillay is urging countries to repeal laws and practices that reduce women and girls to second-class citizens.

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Police in Wales have taken DNA samples from more than 55,000 innocent people

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

POLICE in Wales have taken DNA samples from more than 55,000 innocent people, we can reveal.

Almost half of these – an estimated 23,651 – were taken by South Wales Police alone, costing the force a whopping £1.5m.

In total, the nation’s four police forces have spent an estimated £3.4m in gathering DNA samples from innocent people.

But, while the Government estimates that one in five people on the national DNA database are innocent of any crime, they have admitted they have NO IDEA what the real amount could be.

Since 2001, police have taken DNA samples from anyone they arrest or caution, even if no charges are brought against them. Current law allows an innocent person’s DNA profile to be kept for up to 12 years.

With an estimated 4.5 million profiles, the DNA database for England and Wales is the largest in the world, and includes adults and children as young as 10 who have been accused of such crimes as:

n Taking a bicycle without consent;

n Begging;

n Failing to provide a breath specimen;

n Taking part in an illegal demonstration;

n Being drunk in a public place.

Human rights campaigners Liberty called for the database to simply hold details of sexual and violent offenders, which would save millions of pounds of public money.

Liberty’s legal officer, Anna Fairclough, told Wales on Sunday: “The Government is fond of justifying its retention of innocents’ DNA with the trite phrase: ‘nothing to hide, nothing to fear’. Those affected do not agree. They have done no wrong and they deeply resent their DNA profiles being held alongside those of murderers and rapists.”

The figures for Wales were revealed in parliamentary questions put forward by Jenny Willott, the Lib Dem MP for Cardiff Central, over a space of two years.

They reveal a massive database with DNA profiles belonging to 268,853 people in Wales, 55,922 of whom are estimated to be innocent.

In North Wales, 12,014 innocent people’s profiles were gathered by police, while Gwent collected 10,382 and Dyfed Powys took 9,875.

Ms Willott will lead a Welsh Liberal Democrat campaign to call on the chief constables of each Welsh police force to allow innocent people to have their DNA profile deleted.

Clare Hutchinson, Wales Online

In an open letter to Barbara Wilding, chief constable of South Wales Police, Ms Willott calls the database, “disproportionate, unethical, costly and ineffective”.

Speaking exclusively to Wales on Sunday, she urged people in Wales who believe they might be on the database to write to police asking for their DNA profile to be destroyed.

She said: “It is appalling that the Government is still allowing innocent people to be put on the DNA database when they know it is a blatant breach of their human rights.

“Storing the DNA of people who have never been convicted of a crime, for the rest of their life, is a violation of a founding pillar of our justice system – innocent until proven guilty.

“The Government is moving at a snail’s pace. Over 300,000 innocent people’s DNA has been added to the database since the practice was ruled illegal, including 6,000 people in South Wales.

“Those affected in South Wales should use the template letter and advice on my website to write to the Chief Constable to ask for their DNA to be removed.

“Welsh Chief Constables have the power to remove innocent people from the database and to start to restore the faith in our criminal justice system that Labour has eroded. It is now up to them.”

The Association of Chief Police Officers said the matter was for South Wales Police, who were last night unavailable for comment.

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BBC Pays Google For Internet Marketing

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

By RINF.COM

It has been discovered that the BBC have been paying Google to place its website at the top of listings for a series of keywords, as part of its internet marketing plan.

The BBC is using £100 million of its £3.5 billion yearly revenue, from TV license fees, to promote itself.

The Corporation said: ”Promoting content like the Mercury Prize online is an effective way to inform the licence fee payers who will want to watch it or read about it. The BBC has an annual budget for marketing and value for money is at the heart of how decisions are made about spending it.”

So how can smaller webmasters and bloggers compete for a high rank in Google without paying for costly adverts?

As regular readers will be aware, I’m an SEO geek so here’s a few ideas, although non webmasters might lose interest around… now:

We all know the importance of using the correct keywords - but many who aim for broader / more general keywords often wonder why their site isn’t doing too well in Google. The trick here is to increase the number of target keywords, maybe move away from the near-impossible two word keyphrase and consider a ‘longtail’ keyword, containing a three or four word keyphrase.

Once your site or blog starts to become more established you can then begin to lose a keyword or two and move towards your original target. An effective method for small businesses is to include your location within the keyword phrase.

That is of course just one thing to consider in your overall SEO strategy, as I’ve said before, there’s at least 60 minor tweaks needed for top rankings, but it is quickly achievable - even if you have zero technical knowledge.

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Freedom of Information Act Cost BBC £3m

Monday, September 7th, 2009

The Guardian Newspaper has reported that the BBC was forced to spend over £3 million of licence payers fees on providing Freemdom of Information Act requests between 2005 and 2009.

Ironically, The Guardian obtained this information via the Freemdom of Information Act.

However the report doesn’t mention how many stories are broken by the BBC by using the Act. Read the report there

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U.S. Extends Blackwater Task In Iraq

Friday, September 4th, 2009

The U.S. State Department says a controversial U.S. private security company claimed to have been enlisted in a CIA hunt for al-Qaida members will continue its armed presence and task of shielding U.S. diplomats in Iraq.

Formerly known as Blackwater, Xe Services will retain an aviation service — mainly helicopter escorting of U.S. officials because the company hired to replace it was not yet ready to take over, the Trade Arabia Web site reported Wednesday.

The contract, ending Sept. 3, was the company’s last remaining deal with the U.S. State Department after revelations in June that the CIA enlisted Blackwater for an unknown role in a secret program designed to take out high-value members of al-Qaida.

“We have arranged for a temporary extension of the contract,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters, Trade Arabia reported. It said the decision was taken after the new company, DynCorp, was in need of additional time to prepare for its assignment because of a shortage in equipment.

The spokesman did not elaborate.

Xe’s continued presence in Iraq was bound to spark criticism.

When the Blackwater hit squad plan was reveal by The New York Times, congressional leaders lashed out against the CIA and for not informing them.

In addition, the agency’s director, Leon Panetta, pulled the plug on the program, maintaining that no hit missions had been launched and that no militants had either been located or captured.

About 1,000 Blackwater staff members were used to guard U.S. government personnel in Iraq following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, making it among the largest security companies operating in this country.

In 2004 the company drew scrutiny when four of its employees were killed by an angry mob in Fallujah, then a stronghold for Sunni Arab insurgents.

The bodies were mutilated, fanning a monthlong assault on Fallujah that left 36 U.S. soldiers, 200 insurgents and 600 civilians dead.

Three years later the company’s guards opened fire in the middle of Baghdad, killing 17 civilians. The incident uncorked public outrage with the government in Iraq scrapping Blackwater’s operating license earlier this year.

Bent on shedding its tarnished reputation, the North Carolina-based company renamed its operations it to Xe Services.

Last month a report in The Nation said the U.S. administration extended the company’s contract on July 31, increasing its payment by $20 million and bringing the total paid by the State Department to Xe’s aviation services in Iraq to $187 million.

by OfficialWire NewsDesk

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District 9 Hits UK

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

Set in an alternative reality that echos some very real historical events of our past, District 9 is one of the most thought provoking movies produced in years.

Written and produced by Neill Blomkamp, District 9 is inspired by the South African apartheid of District Six, that was declared a whites-only area in 1966 and began the forced the removal of over 60,000 inhabitants.

Created on a budget of just $30 million, it recouped investment during the opening weekend in the United States, making a gross $37,354,308.

It is released in UK cinemas on 4th September.

Besides the disturbing similarities between our not-so-sci-fi history and the story at hand, what the viewer is left with is much more than another bog standard Hollywood production. Perhaps because this is one movie that has very little to do with Hollywood, a gamble that has paid off.

Shot documentary style on the truly awesome RED ONE camera, almost every dollar of the budget has been spent on the visual effects, and it shows.

The basic premise of the story, without giving too much away, begins in 1982 when a stranded alien ship stops above Johannesburg.

28 years later, an MNU field operative, Wikus van de Merwe, is assigned to move the 2 million alien refugees from their slum camp of Disctrict 9, to a new camp 240 kilometers away, called District 10.

The journey then continues with following Wikus and his new found (much to his horror) ability to operate alien technology.

However, back in the real world the movie has sparked criticism from Nigerians, accusing the film of xenophobia as many in the movie play the roles of gangsters and prostitutes.

By Mick Meaney

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Internet Marketing - 7 Future Proofing SEO Tips

Monday, August 31st, 2009

The landscape of Internet marketing, specifically Search Engine Optimization (SEO), could look set to change yet again, at least according to some SEO’s. While it is too early to tell how much of an impact the Yahoo/Microsoft search partnership will truly have on the U.S search market, some experts are predicting the new joint venture, Bing, will hold a 28% share.

That’s a significant loss in traffic for websites not prepared for the coming 2010 search engine battle.

So does this mean webmasters will need to hire an SEO professional to make essential website changes?

The short answer, I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear is; no.

If your website is already ’engineered’ for Google, there is little need to make extra investment. While Bing currently operates in a different way to Google, it is still based on the solid cornerstones of SEO.

So now, more than ever, correctly optimizing your site for Google is important for long term success. Bing tends to give better rank to sites that have a strong Meta description, but does not give the same weight to backlinks.

This is a bonus for new and small sites as Google considers the age of a webpage, and indeed the age of the domain name the page sits on, before ranking.

So for Bing it looks like it’s back to basics at least in terms of SEO, but as the search engine often only displays 5 results per page, how do we ensure our sites are seen in the top 5 results of both Bing and Google, to avoid missing out up to 80% of search traffic from being ranked below the scroll bar?

The entire process, while very quick and easy to impliment, goes beyond the scope of this short news report, but here’s a few tips to get you started:

Unique and keyword based Titles for each page.
Unique and keyword based Meta Descriptions for each page.
Keyword based page URLS.
Topic specific pages containing on topic content and links.
Both a Sitemap and Site-Map.
Auto Pinging your RSS feeds.
Strong internal linking structure and navigation.

In fact, there’s over 60 essential core factors that Google uses to rank every page it indexes. To discover all of them to supercharge your search engine rank without getting too technical, grab these SEO videos.

Could it be the more things change the more they stay the same, as wherever Google goes others will follow?
What tips would you share for long term SEO success?

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Stop the War Coalition: Conspiracy Groups Distraction At Best, Antisemitic At Worst

Friday, August 28th, 2009

The Stop the War Coalition (StWC) has for the first time spoken out against British conspiracy groups illegally using its name and logo. Two conspiracy groups have been carrying StWC logos on their promotional material and claims the coalition is involved with co-organising conspiracy events.

These British conspiracy groups, ‘We Are Change’ and ‘Truth Action’, are the latest incarnation of the now defunct ’911 Truth Campaign’, that while active, organised events that promoted Holocaust denial, antisemitism and other right wing conspiracies. The campaign also allowed the harassment of journalists including George Monbiot, Nick Cohen, Robert Fisk and Jon Ronson, and encouraged the intimidation of terrorist attack survivors such as Rachel North and her family.

In a recent website post, the groups claimed: “WeAreChange London in collaboration with London Truth Action and Stop the War Hounslow will be holding a demonstration outside the BBC Television Centre.”

However StWC denies any involvement with either of these groups.

The StWC stated: “We have contacted Hounslow Stop the War and they have not been asked to support this event.”

It is not the first time these conspiracy goups have used branding without permission. Last year they attempted to host an event with Holocaust denier Nick Kollerstrom but promoted it as a ‘J7 Campaign’ event, when it was in fact organised by the ’911 Truth Campaign’.

The StWC continued: ”For the record, we consider groups such as these to be, at best, a distraction from our central focus of ending the war on terror, and at worst they can drift into anti-semitism.”

StWC meetings and events are still attended by conspiracy theorists, albeit not to the same extent as seen in previous years, which involve conspiracy theorists, such as Justin Walker, proclaiming the world is controlled by Zionist shape-shifting reptiles - widely regarded as conspiracy code for Jewish.

The StWC have always ignored the theorist, even when one theorists, Steven Williams, repeatedly begged the coalition to join forces with conspiracy groups, in front of hundreds of StWC meeting attendees. The use of StWC’s name and logo on conspiracy promotional material signals a new degree of desperation for these groups.

The StWC have written to these conspiracy groups demanding that they remove any reference to Stop the War Coalition.

The original flyers (click to enlarge/download):

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Laptop seach and seize will continue at US borders

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Cliff Saran

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the US has amended its policy to seize any electronic device brought into the country, in a bid to counter criticisms that the policy infringes civil liberties.

The DHS conducts border searches of computers and other electronic media on a percentage of international travellers seeking to enter the US. Most times, the traveller is asked to turn on a device to ensure it is what it appears to be. But out of the 1,000 laptop searches between October 2008 and August 2009, 46 searches were in-depth.

Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the new directives to clarify searches of computers and other electronic media at US ports of entry. “The new directives announced today strike the balance between respecting the civil liberties and privacy of all travellers while ensuring DHS can take the lawful actions necessary to secure our borders,” she said.

The changes do not affect the department’s ability to conduct searches of laptops.

In a blog posting on the previous DHS policy, Eugene Schultz, chief technology officer at consultancy Emagined Security, said, “Computers almost always contain a great deal of personal, sensitive information in the form of e-mail messages, photographs, and more- information that people deem private and that would be embarrassing to them if it were to be viewed by someone else. This information should thus not be available to DHS border agents at their whim.

“Additionally, having a computer system seized is very disruptive to individuals who use the system to get their work done. Furthermore, people should not have to surrender the password to a system they own unless there is a compelling rationale to require the person to do so.”

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ID cards snubbed in Manchester

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Matthew Davis

ONLY 8,000 people have enquired about getting the government’s controversial ID cards, which will be launched in Manchester.

During a live webchat at the M.E.N offices, Lord Bill Brett, the minister responsible for the introduction of the ID card scheme, admitted only a small percentage of the population had asked about the voluntary scheme.

The cards will cost £30 and contain biometric details of holders.

They can be used in place of a passport throughout Europe.

Lord Brett hopes the cards, available in Manchester in October, will be rolled out across the north west by 2010, and eventually the rest of the country.

He said he foresaw the cards becoming ‘the accepted form of ID in the UK’.

But a poll on this website revealed 81 per cent would not be taking part in the trial.

Lord Brett said: “We have not set targets for what is a purely voluntary scheme, but our research shows a majority of people support ID cards.

“We are confident that support and the number of ID cards will grow incrementally in the period from its introduction in Manchester to the ongoing rollout across the country.

“A lot of opposition to the cards has been based on fear from misconception and mischievousness. I don’t believe the initiative is doomed to failure, rather that it will grow over time to become the accepted form of ID, as the voluntary ID card in France has become.”

The cards will be valid for 10 years.

Lord Brett admitted the cards would not by themselves ‘provide a silver bullet’ in the fight against terrorism, but he said: “The security services and the police believe it will be a helpful tool in that task.”

The minister claimed the cards would provide ‘a secure and unique identity’ for holders. He said they would be targeted in particular at young people, who he said had ‘problems with security and identification’.

He said: “They will have all the information they need on one card. This will assist young people who want to buy cigarettes, alcohol, and in a city like Manchester with a lively nightlife, they can access clubs and bars while also having a document that protects against fraud and allows travel through Europe.”

Lord Brett, admitted that the cards - which should be available from 2012 to all British citizens aged 16 and over - could be scrapped by a future government.

He said: “No government can bind its successors.”

Lord Brett stressed the government had ‘no intention to make ID cards compulsory’. Asked why Manchester had been chosen for the pilot, he said: “Manchester is a major city, with a large young population, a large university and major airport.”

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Police admit CCTV not effective - solves less than 1 crime per year

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Ewan Turney

The news takes on extra relevance for pubs after reports of several police forces in parts of the country, including Islington, Richmond and Liverpool, objecting to licence applications where venues don’t agree to use fit CCTV.

Each case helped by the use of CCTV costs around £20,000, according to the Telegraph, which obtained the information under the Freedom of Information Act.

A Met Police report said: “For every 1,000 cameras in London, less than one crime is solved per year.”

Tory David Davis told the paper: “CCTV leads to massive expense and minimum effectiveness. It creates a huge intrusion on privacy, yet provides little or no improvement in security.”

The Infomation Commissoner’s Officer (ICO) also voiced its concerns about CCTV in pubs earlier this year.

It said: “Hardwiring surveillance into the UK’s pubs raises serious privacy concerns.

“We recognise that CCTV plays an important role in the prevention and detection of crime, and can help to reduce crime in areas of high population density, such as city boroughs.

“However we are concerned at the prospect of landlords being forced into installing CCTV in pubs as a matter of routine in order to meet the terms of a licence.

“The use of CCTV must be reasonable and proportionate if we are to maintain public trust and confidence in its deployment. Installing surveillance in pubs to combat specific problems of rowdiness and bad behaviour may be lawful, but hardwiring in blanket measures where there is no history of criminal activity is likely to breach data protection requirements.”

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The Blackwater Targeted Killing Program

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

A U.S. district court will decide this week whether one of the darkest chapters of the Bush era, the relationship between the administration and the private security company Blackwater, should be reexamined. Former Blackwater employees want to shine light on the company’s shadowy activities.

Susan Burke supported the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign. But now that Obama is in office, she finds her views diverging widely from his.

Obama is opposed to investigating the excesses of the administration of his predecessor, former President George W. Bush. Burke, an attorney, favors an investigation. Obama has thus far avoided answering the question of whether the U.S. Constitution was violated in Bush’s so-called “war on terror.” Burke wants an investigation to focus on precisely this question. Obama is looking forward, while Burke is looking back.

What Burke sees when she looks into the rearview mirror is indeed ugly. She sees 17 dead, including women and children, lying on Nisoor Square in Baghdad, killed on Sept. 16, 2007, by mercenaries working for Blackwater, a private American security firm. She sees Blackwater employee Andrew Moonen who, after a Christmas party in 2006, drove through Baghdad, heavily armed, and shot a man for no reason. She hears the shot, fired from a Blackwater helicopter, that killed an innocent man on Baghdad’s Wathba Square on Sept. 9, 2007.

But most of all, Burke sees Erik Prince, Blackwater’s founder and former owner. In her suit, she refers to him as a “modern-day merchant of death,” and she alleges that the 40-year-old created a “culture of lawlessness and unaccountability” at Blackwater, where the “excessive and unnecessary use of deadly force” was commonplace. In her motion, Burke also accuses Blackwater of war crimes. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, in Alexandria, Virginia, will now decide whether to take on Burke’s civil suit.

Committed In the Name of America

The political world will also have to make some decisions. The first question is whether the U.S. government will make public on Monday the most comprehensive report to date on the treatment of terrorism suspects. That alone would trigger a political hurricane in Washington, says former CIA Director Porter Goss. It would also make it much more difficult for the government to rebuff calls for it to finally investigate all the alleged illegal activity carried out in the fight against terrorism.

It was not until the end of June that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder read the report, which was prepared by the CIA’s inspector general in 2004. But then he spent a full two days in his office in Washington, D.C., studying the document. When he had finished reading it, he apparently stood at the window for a long time, staring out at Constitution Avenue. Horrified over what had been done in the name of America, Holder looked into the possibility of appointing a special prosecutor. Sources in Washington say that he has now achieved his goal, which puts him more squarely in Burke’s camp than Obama’s.

Blackwater characterizes Burke’s accusations as “scandalous and baseless,” and claims that the cases she cites were isolated incidents. According to Blackwater attorneys, “no diplomat under the protection of this service died or even was injured during the entire duration of the contract.”

Symbol of an Era

Prince, who earlier in his career claimed to have “the heart of a warrior,” is intent on preventing the civil suit from going to trial. To that end, he has hired a team of lawyers working for the law firm of Mayer Brown, which also represents 89 companies on Fortune magazine’s list of the top 500 U.S. companies ranked by revenues.

Peter White, the head of the Mayer Brown team, plans to convince the judges in Alexandria this week that the Blackwater case isn’t a case at all. In his written response to Burke’s lawsuit, White argues that any public disclosure of Blackwater’s methods would endanger its personnel in war zones, and her suit should be dismissed.

White also argues that if there is any culpability, it rests with the individuals who committed the acts in question, not the entire company. He points to unsuccessful lawsuits that were filed against US corporations after the Vietnam War, including the case of Vietnamese plaintiffs who tried and failed to sue the U.S. multinational corporation Dow Chemical, the manufacturer of the defoliant Agent Orange. In one respect, the comparison is apt: Blackwater has become a symbol of an entire era, just as Agent Orange was a potent symbol of the Vietnam War.

Outsourcing War

After the al-Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney began using large numbers of private security contractors for the first time. The mercenaries were intended to make up for a lack of manpower, especially in the area of personal security, as well as to perform the dirty work, such as interrogating detainees, thereby leaving U.S. military personnel untainted. Erik Prince’s company turned into an empire practically overnight, collecting more than $1 billion (€700 million) in revenues from U.S. taxpayers. Seventy percent of Blackwater’s contracts with the government were no-bid contracts.

The company’s most important personnel, its fighters, who were known internally as “shooters,” were recruited around the world, including from places like the Philippines and Latin America. In 2007, the company proudly changed its name to Blackwater Worldwide.

The advantage of privatizing the war was obvious for the Bush administration. Blackwater contractors are cheaper than regular U.S. soldiers. When they were killed, their widows received only minor compensation, while the U.S. military pays lifelong survivor benefits. Besides, Blackwater employees died quietly - in other words, they were never part of the official death statistics, which was convenient for the president.

With the end of the Bush administration, Blackwater received fewer contracts and the company changed its name to Xe Services. But its founder’s most determined adversary, Susan Burke, continued her fight.

‘A Christian Crusader’

Burke now plans to call 40 witnesses to testify against Prince. If the court agrees to hear her suit on Friday, eyewitnesses to the various killings will be summoned from Baghdad. In the United States, Burke, who made a name for herself defending detainees subjected to abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, will ask the court to subpoena several former Blackwater employees, including a former executive.

Two affidavits that have been filed in the Alexandria court contain serious allegations against company founder Erik Prince. The men who signed the affidavits, fearing that their lives could be put in danger if their identities were revealed, are identified anonymously as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2.

In his affidavit, John Doe 1, who served in Iraq, writes that he “personally observed multiple incidents of Blackwater personnel intentionally using excessive and unjustified deadly force.”

John Doe 2, who worked for Prince, writes that the former head of Blackwater “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe.” He claims that company employees treated the killing of Iraqis as sport.

The Blackwater attorney questions the validity of these witnesses, saying that much of what they claim is based on hearsay. The fact that the witnesses are remaining anonymous, says White, makes it impossible to verify their credibility. He calls the tactics “unfair” and highly prejudicial to defendants.

But the key witnesses’ fear of retaliation is considerable, which also has something to do with the fact that Prince has powerful friends in the government, particularly inside the CIA.

Assassination Teams and Extraordinary Renditions

In addition to working for government departments, Blackwater also worked directly for the intelligence agency, as the new CIA director recently confirmed in a closed-door hearing in the U.S. Congress. And, in a memo Spiegel has obtained, two other former employees describe, for the first time, the details of this covert collaboration.

The two informants are referred to as “Source A” and “Source B” in the internal memo. According to Source B, Blackwater, working on behalf of the CIA, flew terror suspects from Guantanamo to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, where the detainees apparently faced “special treatment” in secret prisons.

The intelligence service commissioned Blackwater and its subsidiaries to transport terror suspects from Guantanamo to interrogations at secret prison camps in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. The paper identifies aircraft movements and unveils how the flights were disguised. The memo reads: “The CIA hired Blackwater to conduct extraordinary renditions” and “Blackwater flew the rendition targets from Fort Perry and Cuba to Kandahar, Afghanistan.”

‘The CIA Hired Blackwater’

According to the informant, some of the flights were provided by two other companies Prince owned, Presidential Airways and Aviation Worldwide, which were given special clearance in 2003 by the U.S. Defense Department to conduct such flights. Source B even knew the tail numbers of the aircraft that were allegedly involved: N962BW, N964BW and N968BW.

The flights also involved Satelles Solutions, another Prince subsidiary, which operates a training and recruitment camp in the Philippines designed to accommodate about 1,000 soldiers.

According to Source A, Blackwater also helped out the CIA with another controversial activity during the Bush years. In the memo, Source A writes: “The CIA hired Blackwater to conduct targeted killings in Afghanistan.”

In June Leon Panetta, Obama’s new CIA director, told lawmakers in a closed-door hearing on Capitol Hill about a secret program to kill or capture al-Qaeda operatives that was begun eight years ago. The purpose of the so-called assassination program was to recruit and train special forces to assassinate senior al-Qaeda leaders.

Authority to Kill

According to Panetta, Cheney asked the CIA not to disclose the covert program to Congress. The argument that was used at the time was that when combating terrorism, the CIA has the authority to kill without special congressional approval. The program, however, never quite went beyond the training phase, according to CIA testimony before the U.S. Senate.

The memo by the two sources gets more specific. Source A names five people who were allegedly involved in the development of assassination teams, including a man who left Blackwater in mid-2005 and last worked as the head of the Blackwater’s OGA division. The acronym stands for “Other Government Agencies,” which included the connection to the CIA. The other men on the source’s list are a former member of Blackwater’s paratrooper unit, an employee of Blackwater Security Consulting who, according to the memo, was designated as a “hit man” within the unit and Alvin Bernard Krongard, the most senior employee on the list, who the source claims was responsible for assembling the teams. “Krongard set up the teams,” the paper claims.

But the memo does not specify whether agreements were made with individuals or the company itself, or what Krongard’s role was exactly. The latter is particularly difficult to determine, given that Krongard has worked on both sides of the desk. From March 2001 to September 2004, Krongard served as the CIA’s executive director, under then-CIA Director George Tenet. After leaving office, he switched to the private sector, joining Blackwater’s advisory board.

‘We Are Not Inclined to Comment’

Spiegel confronted the company, the CIA and Krongard with the contents of the memo last Wednesday, but they had declined to comment by Friday. A CIA spokesman was unwilling to confirm or deny cooperation with Blackwater with regard to the assassination program or the secret detainee transports. “We do not comment on our contractual relationships,” the spokesman said. He did note, however, that the details of the memo included “mistakes,” although he chose not to elaborate.

Stacy DeLuke, the spokeswoman of Xe Services (as Blackwater is now called), answered in an e-mail: “Due to the sensitive nature of these allegations, we are not inclined to comment at this time.” Krongard’s assistant Cathy Davis said: “I received your e-mail and confirm receipt by Mr. Krongard as well,” but did not respond to questions about Krongard’s role.

The allegations have triggered growing unease on Capitol Hill, where senators want to know more about the covert assassination program. Last Friday, it was also revealed that Blackwater assisted in drone attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In a letter to fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky urged the secretary of state “not to enter into further contracts with Xe and to immediately review any existing contracts.”

Intellpuke: You can read this article by Spiegel correspondent Gabor Steingart, reporting from Washington, D.C., in context here: www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,644571,00.html
This article was translated from the German by Christopher Sultan.

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Lawyers: Ban Bush from Canada for war crimes

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Canwest News Service

A lawyers’ group has asked the RCMP to bar former U.S. president George W. Bush from entering Canada, citing torture and war crimes committed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In a letter to the RCMP war crimes section and copied to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and other federal ministers and opposition MPs, the Lawyers Against the War group claims that Bush is “inadmissible to Canada . . . because of overwhelming evidence that he has committed, outside Canada, torture and other offences” as detailed in Canada’s War Crimes Act.

Bush is expected to visit Canada on March 17, to give a speech in Calgary as a guest of the city’s chamber of commerce.

The letter, dated Wednesday, asks the Mounties to “begin an investigation of George W. Bush for aiding, abetting and counselling torture between Nov. 13, 2001, and November 2008 at Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Bagram prison in Afghanistan, and other places.”

It also asks the prime minister, attorney general and ministers of immigration and public safety to ban Bush for heading an administration that “engaged in torture and other war crimes against humanity.”

The group offers to provide evidence of incidents of torture.

This isn’t the first time the group has protested against Bush.

In 2005, a B.C. Supreme Court judge rejected their attempt to put the then-U.S. president on trial for war crimes.

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