Britain has announced the deaths of eight more soldiers in Afghanistan, its worst death toll in a 24-hour period. Five of the soldiers on foot patrol were killed by twin blasts near Sangin in the southern Helmand province on Friday, the highest death toll in a single attack. Britain has now lost 184 soldiers in Afghanistan since it joined the US-led invasion in 2001, more than the 179 deaths during its campaign in Iraq that began in 2003. Fifteen soldiers, including four officers, have been killed in the past 10 days as British and US troops have carried out offensives aimed at pushing Taliban fighters out of Helmand province. The heavy losses threaten to damage British public support for the deployment in Afghanistan.
Britain has announced the deaths of eight more soldiers in Afghanistan, its worst death toll in a 24-hour period.
Five of the soldiers on foot patrol were killed by twin blasts near Sangin in the southern Helmand province on Friday, the highest death toll in a single attack.
Britain has now lost 184 soldiers in Afghanistan since it joined the US-led invasion in 2001, more than the 179 deaths during its campaign in Iraq that began in 2003.
Fifteen soldiers, including four officers, have been killed in the past 10 days as British and US troops have carried out offensives aimed at pushing Taliban fighters out of Helmand province.
The heavy losses threaten to damage British public support for the deployment in Afghanistan.
The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency's director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.The report that Mr. Cheney was behind the decision to conceal the still-unidentified program from Congress deepened the mystery surrounding it, suggesting that the Bush administration had put a high priority on the program and its secrecy. Mr. Panetta, who ended the program when he first learned of its existence from subordinates on June 23, briefed the two intelligence committees about it in separate closed sessions the next day. Efforts to reach Mr. Cheney through relatives and associates were unsuccessful.
The report that Mr. Cheney was behind the decision to conceal the still-unidentified program from Congress deepened the mystery surrounding it, suggesting that the Bush administration had put a high priority on the program and its secrecy.
Mr. Panetta, who ended the program when he first learned of its existence from subordinates on June 23, briefed the two intelligence committees about it in separate closed sessions the next day.
Efforts to reach Mr. Cheney through relatives and associates were unsuccessful.
Barack Obama, the US president, has said the military offensive currently under way against the Taliban in Afghanistan has "a long way to go". "We knew this summer was going to be tough fighting ... we still have a long way to go," Obama told Britain's Sky News channel in an interview on Saturday. The southern province of Helmand is the focus of the current operation where thousands of extra US marines have been brought in to drive out the Taliban fighters. Marines are concentrated in the southern tip of Helmand province, around the districts of Garmsir, Khanashin and Nawa. US special forces are also working with Afghan commandos around the Baramsha border crossing with Pakistan, in an attempt to cut off the Taliban's main supply route.
Barack Obama, the US president, has said the military offensive currently under way against the Taliban in Afghanistan has "a long way to go".
"We knew this summer was going to be tough fighting ... we still have a long way to go," Obama told Britain's Sky News channel in an interview on Saturday.
The southern province of Helmand is the focus of the current operation where thousands of extra US marines have been brought in to drive out the Taliban fighters.
Marines are concentrated in the southern tip of Helmand province, around the districts of Garmsir, Khanashin and Nawa.
US special forces are also working with Afghan commandos around the Baramsha border crossing with Pakistan, in an attempt to cut off the Taliban's main supply route.
The Peruvian president has named a member of his pro-business ruling party as prime minister after bowing to opposition pressure to shake up his cabinet. Saturday's appointment of Javier Velasquez came as Alan Garcia faced the worst crisis of his term in office with his approval rating plunging to 21 per cent. Velasquez, a member of the APRA party and the head of congress, will take over leadership of the cabinet. "The country wants order and social inclusion and I am sure the cabinet that Velasquez leads will meet these objectives," Garcia said at the presidential palace. He retained Luis Carranza, the finance minister and a favourite of investors, who is in the middle of rolling out a $3.2bn stimulus programme to boost the economy.
The Peruvian president has named a member of his pro-business ruling party as prime minister after bowing to opposition pressure to shake up his cabinet.
Saturday's appointment of Javier Velasquez came as Alan Garcia faced the worst crisis of his term in office with his approval rating plunging to 21 per cent.
Velasquez, a member of the APRA party and the head of congress, will take over leadership of the cabinet.
"The country wants order and social inclusion and I am sure the cabinet that Velasquez leads will meet these objectives," Garcia said at the presidential palace.
He retained Luis Carranza, the finance minister and a favourite of investors, who is in the middle of rolling out a $3.2bn stimulus programme to boost the economy.
I first heard about Baha Mousa from his family. He was working as a hotel receptionist in Basra when British troops surrounded the building and arrested seven men. They were taken to a British barracks, hooded and beaten. Two days later, as his weeping father recalled for me, Mousa was dead. His family was given $3,000 in compensation and rejected a further $5,000. What they wanted was justice. His father had been appointed a police officer by the British authorities themselves. He was wearing two pistols on his hips. He was "our man", and we killed his son. The outrageous death of his 26-year-old son, arrested in front of his own father, remains one of the most shameful episodes of our occupation of southern Iraq. As they beat the seven men, the British soldiers gave them the names of footballers. I guess it is always easy to demean those who you are going to brutalise. One of his comrades, who worked in the same hotel, and who spoke to me in great pain from his hospital bed, described how Baha had pleaded for his murderers to stop kicking him. "He was a decent guy. They didn't need to do that to him," he said.
I first heard about Baha Mousa from his family. He was working as a hotel receptionist in Basra when British troops surrounded the building and arrested seven men. They were taken to a British barracks, hooded and beaten. Two days later, as his weeping father recalled for me, Mousa was dead. His family was given $3,000 in compensation and rejected a further $5,000. What they wanted was justice. His father had been appointed a police officer by the British authorities themselves. He was wearing two pistols on his hips. He was "our man", and we killed his son.
The outrageous death of his 26-year-old son, arrested in front of his own father, remains one of the most shameful episodes of our occupation of southern Iraq. As they beat the seven men, the British soldiers gave them the names of footballers. I guess it is always easy to demean those who you are going to brutalise. One of his comrades, who worked in the same hotel, and who spoke to me in great pain from his hospital bed, described how Baha had pleaded for his murderers to stop kicking him. "He was a decent guy. They didn't need to do that to him," he said.
What did blair think we'd achieve ? keep to the Fen Causeway
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is leaning toward appointing a criminal prosecutor to investigate whether CIA personnel tortured terrorism suspects after Sept. 11, 2001, setting the stage for a conflict with administration officials who would prefer the issues remain in the past, according to three sources familiar with his thinking. Naming a prosecutor to probe alleged abuses during the darkest period in the Bush era would run counter to President Obama's oft-repeated desire to be "looking forward and not backwards." Top political aides have expressed concern that such an investigation might spawn partisan debates that could overtake Obama's ambitious legislative agenda. The White House successfully resisted efforts by congressional Democrats to establish a "truth and reconciliation" panel. But fresh disclosures have continued to emerge about detainee mistreatment, including a secret CIA watchdog report, recently reviewed by Holder, highlighting several episodes that could be likened to torture.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is leaning toward appointing a criminal prosecutor to investigate whether CIA personnel tortured terrorism suspects after Sept. 11, 2001, setting the stage for a conflict with administration officials who would prefer the issues remain in the past, according to three sources familiar with his thinking.
Naming a prosecutor to probe alleged abuses during the darkest period in the Bush era would run counter to President Obama's oft-repeated desire to be "looking forward and not backwards." Top political aides have expressed concern that such an investigation might spawn partisan debates that could overtake Obama's ambitious legislative agenda.
The White House successfully resisted efforts by congressional Democrats to establish a "truth and reconciliation" panel. But fresh disclosures have continued to emerge about detainee mistreatment, including a secret CIA watchdog report, recently reviewed by Holder, highlighting several episodes that could be likened to torture.
WASHINGTON -- Contrary to White House wishes, Attorney General Eric Holder may push forward with a criminal investigation into the Bush administration's harsh interrogation practices used on suspected terrorists. Holder is considering whether to appoint a prosecutor and will make a final decision within the next few weeks, a Justice Department official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on a pending matter. A move to appoint a criminal prosecutor is certain to stir partisan bickering that could create a distraction to President Barack Obama's efforts to push ambitious health care and energy reform.
Holder is considering whether to appoint a prosecutor and will make a final decision within the next few weeks, a Justice Department official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on a pending matter.
A move to appoint a criminal prosecutor is certain to stir partisan bickering that could create a distraction to President Barack Obama's efforts to push ambitious health care and energy reform.
President Barack Obama told CNN's Anderson Cooper that he has directed his national security team to look into the 2001 deaths of Taliban prisoners who allegedly were massacred by US-backed forces in Afghanistan. The President stated that the government needs to find out whether actions by the US contributed to possible war crimes. The comments to Anderson Cooper were aired on CNN on Sunday as it promoted excerpts from Cooper's exclusive interview with the President in Ghana that will air in full at 10 PM Eastern on Monday, July 13. Cooper raised new evidence from a New York Times report by James Risen that the Bush Administration impeded at least three federal investigations into an alleged massacre of as many as 2,000 prisoners in Afghanistan. The excerpts as transcribed by Physicians for Human Rights follow at the end of this post. "Physicians for Human Rights praises President Obama for ordering his national security team to collect all the facts in the Dasht-e-Leili massacre and apparent US cover-up," said Physicians for Human Rights Deputy Director Susannah Sirkin. President Obama's comments differ from statements made by Obama Administration officials on Friday, as reported by Lara Jakes of the Associated Press, that they had no grounds to investigate. In their statement, these officials claim that they lack legal grounds to probe these alleged war crimes because "only foreigners were involved and the alleged killings occurred in a foreign country."
The comments to Anderson Cooper were aired on CNN on Sunday as it promoted excerpts from Cooper's exclusive interview with the President in Ghana that will air in full at 10 PM Eastern on Monday, July 13. Cooper raised new evidence from a New York Times report by James Risen that the Bush Administration impeded at least three federal investigations into an alleged massacre of as many as 2,000 prisoners in Afghanistan. The excerpts as transcribed by Physicians for Human Rights follow at the end of this post.
"Physicians for Human Rights praises President Obama for ordering his national security team to collect all the facts in the Dasht-e-Leili massacre and apparent US cover-up," said Physicians for Human Rights Deputy Director Susannah Sirkin.
President Obama's comments differ from statements made by Obama Administration officials on Friday, as reported by Lara Jakes of the Associated Press, that they had no grounds to investigate. In their statement, these officials claim that they lack legal grounds to probe these alleged war crimes because "only foreigners were involved and the alleged killings occurred in a foreign country."
