Before Senate, McChrystal Cautiously Confident On Afghanistan

By Laura Smith - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal said Tuesday that the mission in Afghanistan is difficult, and that success will require steadfast commitment and may come at a significant cost.

Gen. McChrystal, Commander of the NATO Internation Security Assistance Force, and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Afghanistan on ways to protect the country from threats, such as al-Qaeda.

“To pursue our core goal of defeating al-Qaeda and preventing their return to Afghanistan, we must disrupt and degrade the Taliban’s capacity, deny their access to the Afghan population and strengthen the Afghan Security forces,” McChrystal said.

"Rolling back the Taliban is a pre-requisite to the ultimate defeat of al-Qaeda,” the General added.

However, McChrystal cited a bevy of reasons for optimism.

“My confidence derives first from the Afghans' resolve, since it is their actions that will ultimately matter most in ending this conflict, with their interests secured...Second, we do not confront a popular insurgency...Third, where our strategy is applied we’ve begun to show that we can help the Afghans establish more effective security and more credible governance. Finally, Afghans do not regard us as occupiers,” he said.

McChrystal also said that the American military faces many challenges in Afghanistan, but asserted that "our efforts are sustained by one unassailable reality: neither the Afghan people nor the international community want Afghanistan to remain a sanctuary for terror and violence.”

Before the committee hearing began, protesters expressed their opposition to the war, holding up signs that read, “Surge Big Mistake,” and “Jobs Not Bombs."

Tortured On The Order Of U.S. Government

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

If you were being tortured, both physically and mentally to the point of near-death, if your wife had been threatened with rape and your family with abuse would you sign a statement admitting to criminal offenses that you did not commit?

This may be the situation with Naji Hamdan, 47, a U.S. citizen, who claims that he admitted to perpetrating terror related crimes whilst under torture.

“[Hamdan] was placed in a blindingly white room, where he was unable to differentiate the day from the night for three months. In the room the AC was constantly on full-blast and Naji was denied a blanket or even a jacket to keep warm. For the three months that Naji was in state security custody the U.A.E. interrogators would alternate between placing him in solitary confinement for weeks at a time and taking him out blind-folded and handcuffed and torturing him,” said Reem Salahi, Hamdan’s lawyer from ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union).

According to Salahi the only evidence against Hamdan that the U.A.E. will present are confessions to crimes signed under torture.

Hamdan who lived for 20-years in Southern California, moved to the United Arab Emirates to expand his business in 2008. Today he faces life imprisonment under U.A.E. law for terror related crimes.

The FBI first investigated Hamdan in 1999, when he was placed under surveillance and taken in for questioning. Hamdan was never charged for any crime, but his lawyers say he was unfairly questioned because he is a Muslim activist.

In August 2008, after visiting family in Lebanon, Hamdan was taken and detained by U.A.E. security forces for three months. Salahi said “During that time he was interrogated about the years he spent in the U.S. and about information only U.S. federal agents would have. He was tortured severely. At least one American official participated in his interrogation and witnessed his torture,” Salahi said.

Salahi accuses the American government of allowing the U.A.E. to detain and interrogate Hamdan “knowing he would be subject to torture.”

In November 2008, the ACLU filed a habeas petition in the D.C. District Court alleging that the U.S. government was responsible for his improper detention and subjection to torture. One week after filing the petition Hamdan was charged in the U.A.E with “terror related crimes, based on nothing more than his forced confessions,” Salahi said.

On November 26, 2008 Hamdan was transferred to the U.A.E. criminal custody, a normal prison, where he was able to speak to family and legal representatives for the first time in three months since being detained. Salahi said, “the timing of this transfer is most certainly not coincidence, but a clear attempt of the U.S. government to avoid the reach of our lawsuit.”

Salahi added, “Naji Hamdan is a victim of the U.S. government’s policy and practice under the Bush administration, of requesting a foreign government to arrest and detain terrorism suspects, who we cannot arrest and detain ourselves under our laws.”

Salahi accused the American government of “asking another government to do its dirty work.”

Hamdan’s case will be heard in the U.A.E Supreme Court and no appeal following the decision will be granted.

Salahi is currently in Washington D.C. talking to Member’s of Congress about Hamdan’s trial. The ACLU is asking Congress for “Mr. Hamdan’s release because he is a victim of torture and the evidence against him was obtained through torture....If prosecuted in the U.A.E., ensure that Mr. Hamdan receives a fair trial and that evidence obtained under torture is not used against him....Investigate the role of the United States in Mr. Hamdan’s detention and torture.”

Speaking in support of Hamdan’s case, Dbraham Romey from The Muslim American Society (MAS) said, “We are saying to the Congress of the United States, to the President of the United States, to the Attorney General, to the Secretary of State, to leaders of the U.S. military, that we will not be silent and complicit in the ongoing abomination that is torture.”

The ACLU has made contact with Congressman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) who, as Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has written to Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton concerning this case. A response is still forthcoming from both Cabinet members.

Whilst in D.C. Salahi will contact other Members’ to ask for their support in releasing her client.

An U.A.E. Supreme Court trial date for Hamdan looks set to be given in the near future.

Nominee for Director of CIA may lack experience

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

Leon Panetta, nominee for Director of the CIA, was quizzed today in a full committee room by the Senate Select Intelligence Committee.

In his opening statement Panetta said: “First I want to work with the professionals to get into the detail of all our operations and to make certain that we are responding to our fundamental intelligence needs...Second, I want to focus on improving intelligence coordination and collaboration...Third, I want to rebuild a close working and consultative relationship with Congress.”

The hearing focused on Panetta’s lack of experience in the intelligence field, raised by Senator Kit Bond (R-Mo), Vice Chairman of the committee.

Senator Bond said: “Many of us were surprised by your nomination because we believed that the next CIA Director should have a professional intelligence background, which you clearly do not have. This raises a number of questions that I will seek your answers to today”.

Panetta began his career in the Army as an intelligence office, then went on to working with policy-makers and to serve in Congress. He leads a complex federal agency and has served as a White House Chief of Staff. At the White House Panetta worked on many sensitive issues. He has also worked with the Iraq Study Group, relying on CIA insight and other intelligence agencies.

Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla) posed a hypothetical situation to Mr. Panetta about his actions as Director of the CIA if a CIA member leaked classified information. Mr. Panetta responded to the committee that he would see this as a “breach” which he would alert to the committee and would “recommend pulling their clearance”.

Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) questioned Panetta on his views on Osama Bin Laden. Mr. Panetta said: “One of the responsibilities we have is to go after our worst enemy and that is Osama Bin Laden...there is a continuing effort to ensure that we try to do everything possible to try to find him and that would be one of my priorities frankly, to make sure that we do in fact find him and bring him to justice.”

Panetta was also questioned on torture, sharing intelligence, guantanamo bay and potential threats. The hearing lasted for over 120 minutes.

Pentagon estimates $527 billion spent on war on terror since 2001

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell held a press briefing today. Among issues being discussed was the Boeing/Airbus deal. Morrell stated that the Pentagon feels there is no indication that Boeing will protest Airbus’s victory over the contract. He further stated that he believed this to be a fair and transparent deal, and that the war fighters will be getting the best planes available.

Another topic briefly touched upon was the dirty water provided by KBR to US troops. Morrell commented that the bottled water provided had no issues in testing and that the other water may have been solely meant for washing. He also mentioned that there had been no widespread illness amongst the troops, and since 2006, all water has met health standards.

Morrell then proceeded to discuss the situation in Iraq. He stated that Secretary Gates has recommended pausing to determine the impact of the last four surge brigades to identify possible later courses of action. He stated that there has been a line of improvement in security conditions in Iraq.

In answering a question about estimates of the cost of the war, Morrell stated that since September 11, 2001, $527 billion has been spent on the war on terror: $406.2 billion on Operation Iraqi Freedom, 92.9 billion on Operation Enduring Freedom, and 27.8 billion on Noble Eagle, or homeland defense. When told that outside estimates of the cost of the war were $3 trillion, Morrell said that that seems to be way out there, and that the department has tried to be as transparent as possible.

Morrell reported that as we near the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq, 3,974 have regrettably been killed serving the US. In addition to this, there are 16,011 soldiers wounded-in-action whom have returned to duty, and 13,009 soldiers wounded-in-action whom have not returned to duty.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hears Testimony from John Negroponte on the Way Forward in Pakistan

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard testimony from United States Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on “U.S. Policy Options in Post-Election Pakistan.”

Chairman Joseph Biden (D-DE) and committee member John Kerry (D-MA) shared their experiences from their recent trip to Pakistan during the election and the mood was one of agreement on the general direction of support for Pakistani democracy, praise for the skill and devotion of our troops in both military and non-military capacities, and focus on the Afghanistan / Pakistan border as a key front in combating regional and global threats.

Biden recommended tripling non-military aid for education and infrastructure, stating that such assistance yields “enormous bang for the buck.” He urged more focus on Afghanistan, stating that resource diversion to Iraq has caused the U.S. to neglect its interests and obligations there.

Negroponte remarked that the February 18 election, in which President Pervez Musharraf’s party suffered striking defeat, showed higher turnout than prior elections despite an increased risk of violence. In light of the election results, he stated that the administration will support the Pakistani people and whatever government arises out of their democratic actions, while recognizing that Musharraf is still in office for the remainder of his term and the U.S. will continue to work with him.

Tension arose over the issue of reimbursement funds that the U.S. provides to Pakistan for its efforts against terrorism. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) cited a British article claiming that 70% of such funds had been misspent by Pakistan, and quoted Musharraf as saying that his troops are not searching for Osama bin Laden. Boxer also criticized the low priority Negroponte and the administration placed on an independent judiciary for Pakistan in light of considerable emphasis they place on that of Iraq.