Flashermac Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Criminals are out of work too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 The war on terror is getting results. http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100007185&docId=l:1440170891&start=13 As the Obama administration nears a crucial decision on how rapidly to withdraw combat forces from Afghanistan, high-ranking officials say that Al Qaeda's original network in the region has been crippled, providing a rationale for an accelerated reduction of troops. The officials said that the intense campaign of drone strikes and other covert operations in Pakistan - most dramatically the raid that killed Osama bin Laden - had left Al Qaeda paralyzed, with its leaders either dead or pinned down in the frontier area near Afghanistan. Of 30 prominent members of the terrorist organization in the region identified by intelligence agencies as targets, 20 have been killed in the last year and a half, they said, reducing the threat they pose. Their confidence, these officials said, was buttressed by information found in Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. They said the trove revealed disarray within Al Qaeda's leadership, with a frustrated Bin Laden indicating that he could no longer direct terrorist attacks by lieutenants who feared for their own lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/06/19/248151/clarence-thomas-resign/ Justice Clarence Thomas is an ethics problem in a black robe. Just eight months after ThinkProgress broke the story of Thomas’ attendance at a Koch-sponsored political fundraiser, we learn that Thomas doesn’t just do unethical favors for wealthy right-wing donors — they also do expensive favors for him. Leading conservative donor Harlan Crow, whose company often litigates in federal court, provided $500,000 to allow Thomas’s wife to start a Tea Party group and he once gave Thomas a $19,000 Bible that belonged to Frederick Douglass. The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank which frequently files briefs in Thomas’ Court, also gave Thomas a $15,000 gift. If this sounds familiar, it’s because America has seen this movie before. Indeed, the Thomas scandal is little more than a remake of the forty year-old gifting scandal that brought down Justice Abe Fortas. Like Thomas, Fortas liked to associate with wealthy individuals with potential business before his Court. And like Thomas, Fortas took inappropriate gifts from his wealthy benefactors. Fortas’ questionable gifts first came out when President Johnson nominated him for a promotion to Chief Justice of the United States in 1968. Fortas had accepted $15,000 to lead seminars at American University — far more than the university normally paid for such services — and the payments were bankrolled by the leaders of frequent corporate litigants including the vice president of Phillip Morris. Fortas survived this revelation, although his nomination for the Chief Justiceship was filibustered into oblivion. Just a year later, the country learned that Fortas took another highly questionable gift. In 1966, one year after Fortas joined the Court, stock speculator Louis E. Wolfson’s foundation began paying Fortas an annual retainer of $20,000 per year for consulting services. Fortas’ actions were legal, and he eventually returned the money after Wolfson was convicted of securities violations and recused himself from Wolfson’s case, but the damage to Fortas — and the potential harm to the Supreme Court’s reputation — were too great. Fortas resigned in disgrace. It is difficult to distinguish Fortas’ scandal from Thomas’. Like Fortas, Thomas accepted several very valuable gifts from parties who are frequently interested in the outcome of federal court cases. One of Thomas’ benefactors has even filed briefs in his Court since giving Thomas a $15,000 gift, and Thomas has not recused himself from each of these cases. Of course, Thomas is also the least likely Justice to actually follow the command of precedent. Thomas embraces a discredited theory of the Constitution which would return America to a time when federal child labor laws were considered unconstitutional. His fellow justices criticize him for showing “utter disregard for our precedent and Congress’ intent.†Even ultra-conservative Justice Antonin Scalia finds Thomas’ approach to the law too extreme — in Scalia’s words “I am a textualist. I am an originalist. I am not a nut.†But Thomas’ disregard for what has come before him changes nothing about the precedent he faces. If Abe Fortas had to resign his seat, so too should Clarence Thomas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lazyphil Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 thats all well and good steve but we have 1000's of super angry young muslims here in the uk who can or have been radicalised.....what was the point in going to afghanistan?...to wipe out training camps teaching men to do kung fu or battle charge a pumpkin with a fixed bayanete. you dont need all that bs to strap a bomb to your back and go on the underground, you can learn that online!!!, just makes no sense, the 9/11 bombers learned to fly in the states ffs and were saudis not afghanis! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 LP maybe your super angry young moslems just need a hug. Don't we all? :content: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 He couldn't get us out of Afghanistan soon enough. A few days ago friend's nephew was hit by an IED in Helmand, lost both legs below the knee. Really a great gift to a 20-year-old US Marine who wanted to serve his country. His second time in Afghanistan too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 He couldn't get us out of Afghanistan soon enough. A few days ago friend's nephew was hit by an IED in Helmand, lost both legs below the knee. Really a great gift to a 20-year-old US Marine who wanted to serve his country. His second time in Afghanistan too. what is even sadder is the reason we are in Afghastan. [color:red]I assume there is a reason.[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lazyphil Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 i could do with a shag not a poxy hug!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 "We" went into Afghanistan because the Taliban were openly supporting Osama and allowing al Qaeda to set up training bases there. At least it made more sense than invading Iraq, where Sodom left the US alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 "We" went into Afghanistan because the Taliban were openly supporting Osama and allowing al Qaeda to set up training bases there. At least it made more sense than invading Iraq, where Sodom left the US alone. How many of the 9/11 terrorist were Afghans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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