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Cheney urging strikes on Iran

President Bush charged Thursday that Iran continues to arm and train insurgents who are killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and he threatened action if that continues.

At a news conference Thursday, Bush said Iran had been warned of unspecified consequences if it continued its alleged support for anti-American forces in Iraq. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker had conveyed the warning in meetings with his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad, the president said.

Source: McClatchy Newspapers  

Environment, Peak Oil

August 8

Peak oil: what’s ahead?

A number of analysts are saying that peak oil is here now. Suppose they are correct – what kind of changes can we expect to see in the years ahead?

In this chapter, we will look at the implications of peak oil now – how we can expect oil production to change between now and 2030, and how this decline in production is likely to affect the economy.

Source: Energy Bulletin  

Economy/Finance

August 7

China threatens ‘nuclear option’ of dollar sales

The Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States, hinting that it may liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries if Washington imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation.

Two officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning - for the first time - that Beijing may use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress. Shifts in Chinese policy are often announced through key think tanks and academies.

Source: Telegraph UK  

9/11, Intelligence

August 7

Airlines seek FBI, CIA September 11 testimony

Airlines sued by victims of the September 11 attacks filed complaints with a U.S. court on Tuesday to compel testimony from FBI and CIA agents in a bid to make the federal government more culpable for not preventing the attacks.

In separate complaints filed in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York, seven U.S. airlines sought testimony from two members of a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency unit that investigated Osama Bin Laden and five current and former FBI agents who investigated al Qaeda.

Source: Reuters  

Top Ten Myths About the Illegal NSA Spying on Americans

MYTH: This is merely a “terrorist surveillance program.” REALITY: When there is evidence a person may be a terrorist, both the criminal code and intelligence laws already authorize eavesdropping. This illegal program, however, allows electronic monitoring without any showing to a court that the person being spied upon in this country is a suspected terrorist.

MYTH: The program is legal. REALITY: The program violates the Fourth Amendment and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and will chill free speech.

Continued…

Source: ACLU  
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