The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 09/24/2006 - 10/01/2006

Friday, September 29, 2006

Terror suspects 'disappearing'

Hundreds of suspects arrested in Pakistan as part of the "War on Terror" have disappeared after being taken into custody, according to Amnesty International.

In a report, the human rights organisation claims that many suspects are tortured and sold into US custody by bounty hunters.

It is alleged some of those tortured include children, and suspects are routinely transferred illegally to Guantanamo Bay and Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, as well as other secret locations around the world.

The organisation says US operatives are involved in some of the arrests.
Amnesty is calling on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to reveal the fate of the "disappeared" and calls for an end to "arbitrary detention."

It is also calling on the President, who is on a visit to Britain, to publish a list of detention centres in Pakistan and register all those held on suspicion of terror offences.

Al Qaeda in Iraq Severely Disrupted

The killing of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi in June severely disrupted the terrorist
organization's capability, but foreign fighters entering Iraq continue to cause
problems, a senior Multinational Force Iraq spokesman told reporters in
Baghdad yesterday.

"What the al Qaeda in Iraq could do in May and what they can do today
has been seriously degraded," Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said.
"They are not as effective or as organized today as they were back in May.
But they're still an organization out there."

The general said about 50 to 70 foreign fighters enter Iraq every
month. "We know that most of them come from Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt and
Syria," he said.

Iraqi and coalition forces are capturing or killing between 30 and 50
of these foreign fighters per month, he said. "Today in Iraq there are
currently 381 foreign fighters in detention," he said.

4 villages shun gift of free oil

Patriotism led to a rejection of the Venezuelan handout.

Leaders from four Western Alaska villages have rejected an offer of free heating oil from a Venezuelan- owned company because that nation's president this month called President Bush "a devil" and made other inflammatory comments about the United States.

"Despite the critical need for fuel in our region, the Unangan (Aleut) people are Americans first, and we cannot support the political agenda attached to this donation," read a statement from Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association released late Thursday.

Under a program from Texas-based refiner Citgo, which is owned by the Venezuelan government, that is giving cheap and free heating fuel to poor people across the country, more than 12,000 rural Alaska homes in about 150 villages are scheduled to receive 100 free gallons this winter.

But that gift has been criticized by some as politically motivated. They say Chavez is trying to make President Bush and the U.S. government look as if they don't care for their own people. Chavez also supports Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Nelson Lagoon, Atka, St. Paul and St. George face heating fuel costs between $5 and $6 a gallon, the press release said. They were the only four villages in the region scheduled to receive fuel.

Atka Mayor George Dirks said he didn't like the decision.

But tribal leaders and board members with APIA, the Native regional nonprofit, decided that supporting President Bush and the U.S. government was more important than free fuel, said Dimitri Philemenof, APIA president.
Philemenof called the decision strong and unified.

"When you look at the desperation in our region, especially with the fishing seasons poor and high unemployment, I take my hat off" to representatives of the four villages who made the decision, he said by phone from Tucson, Ariz., where he is on leave.

Philemenof said he's confident the right decision was made.

"People will say whatever they might want to say, but I feel from my heart and (others feel) also that this was the right choice because there's a lot of loyalty to the U.S. here," he said.

Ramadi has 'Tipped' to Iraqi Government, Coalition

The battle for Ramadi has "tipped" in
favor of the government of Iraq and the coalition, the commander of 1st
Brigade, 1st Armored Division, said today.

Army Col. Sean MacFarland told the Pentagon press corps in a video
teleconference call that attacks are down 25 percent over the past couple
of months, and coalition forces, together with the Iraqi security
forces, have steadily increased their presence inside of the city.

Ramadi, the capital and largest city in Anbar province, has been an al
Qaeda in Iraq and Sunni insurgent hotbed. But now the tide seems to
have turned, MacFarland said. "The Iraqi police recruiting has soared
tenfold, and the Iraqi army readiness has improved to the point where Iraqi
army battalions are now assuming the lead in portions of the city and
its suburbs," he said.

Coalition-sponsored public works projects are bringing improvements in
Iraqi quality of life. "Water and power projects are moving forward,"
he said. "And by February, we will have more than doubled both basic
services."

MacFarland said he is encouraged by the attitude of the people of the
city. The people who were fence-sitters in the battle between the Iraqi
government and al Qaeda in Iraq are stepping forward and cooperating
with Iraqi security forces against al Qaeda, he said.

"I think al Qaeda has been pushed up against the ropes by this, and now
they're finding themselves trapped between the coalition and (Iraqi
security forces) on the one side and the people on the other," the colonel
said. "Now it's the al Qaeda forces that need to be worried about
living in those neighborhoods. They stick out like a sore thumb. Everybody
knows who the terrorists are."

Local sheikhs are cooperating with the Iraqi government. Tribal leaders
are steering new recruits to the police, and they are becoming more
effective. MacFarland said that Iraqi police in Ramadi today intercepted
insurgents driving a car loaded with rocket-propelled grenades. "The
insurgents tried to run away," he said. "(The police) chased them, and
they killed or captured the entire group."

Thursday, September 28, 2006

7-11 Dropping CITGO gas!!

Convenience store operator 7-Eleven Inc. is dropping Venezuela-backed Citgo as its gasoline supplier at more than 2,100 locations and switching to its own brand of fuel.

The retailer said Wednesday it will purchase fuel from several distributors, including Tower Energy Group of Torrance, Calif., Sinclair Oil of Salt Lake City, and Houston-based Frontier Oil Corp.

A spokeswoman for Dallas-based 7-Eleven said its 20-year contract with Citgo Petroleum Corp. ends next week. About 2,100 of 7-Eleven's 5,300 U.S. stores sell gasoline.

Citgo is a Houston-based subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, and the foreign parent became a public-relations issue for 7- Eleven because of comments by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Chavez has called President George W. Bush the devil and an alcoholic. The U.S. government has warned that Chavez is a destabilizing force in Latin America.

7-Eleven spokesman Margaret Chabris said that, "Regardless of politics, we sympathize with many Americans' concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez."

"Iraq Al-Qaeda" make Kidnap call

The leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, has called for kidnapping of Westerners, according to a recording issued on the internet.

"I call on every holy fighter in Iraq to strive to capture some dogs of the Christians so that we can liberate our imprisoned sheikh," the tape says.

It is a reference to Egyptian cleric Omar Abdul Rahman, held in the US over the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Issued on Islamist websites, the tape's authenticity could not be verified.

It appears to have been issued to mark the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, normally a time for prayer and fasting.

"I congratulate the Muslim nation on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, the month of jihad (holy war).

"I ask God to make it a month for honour and victory for Muslims," the voice says.

Dirty bombs

The recording discloses for the first time the number of non-Iraqi insurgents said to have been killed fighting US-led forces in Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

"More than 4,000 emigres and many more of the supporters of righteousness [Iraqi insurgents] have given their blood to Iraq," the speaker says.

It also calls for explosives experts and nuclear scientists to help launch non-conventional attacks on US bases, using biological or radialogical weapons, so-called "dirty bombs".

The recording also offers an amnesty to those who had collaborated with US-led forces or fled the country, if they repented before the end of Ramadan.

Iranian Government Behind Shipping Weapons to Iraq

The Iranian government is behind shipping
components used to make improvised explosive devices to Iraqi
insurgents, a senior intelligence official in Iraq said yesterday.

Labels on weapons stocks seized inside and outside Iraq point to
Iranian government complicity in arming Shiite militias in Iraq, Army Maj.
Gen. Richard Zahner, the deputy chief of staff for intelligence with
Multinational Force Iraq, said at a news roundtable.

U.S. officials have said in the past that Iran is fomenting instability
in Iraq. In August, Army Brig. Gen. Michael Barbero said that the
Iranian government is training many members of the Shiite insurgency in
Iraq. Barbero is the deputy operations chief on the Joint Staff.

"Iran is definitely a destabilizing force in Iraq," Barbero said during
an Aug. 23 Pentagon news conference. "I think it's irrefutable that
Iran is responsible for training, funding and equipping some of these
Shiia extremist groups and also providing advanced (improvised explosive
device) technology to them, and there's clear evidence of that."

Zahner said Iran is funneling millions of dollars for military goods
into Iraq. He noted that labels on C-4 explosive found in Baghdad make it
clear where the munitions came from. "You'll find a red label on the
C-4 printed in English and will tell you the lot number and name of the
manufacturer," he said.

In 2002, the Israelis seized a small ship bringing military supplies to
Hezbollah. "Compare the labels on the military C-4 in that and tell me
if they're not identical," Zahner said.

He said British, Iraqi and American officials in Basra also have found
blocks of C-4. "You will see the same red label for each and every one
of those," he said.

Zahner also said it's clear that the Iranian government is behind the
munitions shipments. "I will tell you that the control of military-grade
explosives in Iran is controlled through the state apparatus and is not
committed through rogue elements right there," he said. "It is a
deliberate decision on the part of elements associated with the Iranian
government to affect this type of activities."

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Taliban to ABC News: OBL Alive and Safe

In a surprise phone call to the home of an ABC News producer in Pakistan, the top Taliban military commander, Mulla Dadullah Akhund, said Osama bin Laden is alive and that there is no truth to the rumors of his death from typhoid.

"Sheikh Osama is all right. He is safe," Dadullah told ABC News' Rahimullah Yusufzai. Dadullah would not disclose the location from where he was calling.

In the past, Dadullah has issued statements to the effect that bin Laden and Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Omar are alive and leading the resistance against U.S.-led foreign forces in Afghanistan.

When pressed for evidence to show that bin Laden is alive, Dadullah hinted that there is a possibility of a tape being sent to media organizations to prove that the al Qaeda head isn't dead. Dadullah, however, declined to say as to when this tape would be made available.

The last time bin Laden released an audiotape was in late July. In it, he eulogized the sacrifices of al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, and described him as a martyr.

That audiotape was the fifth issued by bin Laden in 2006. His last videotape was released in October 2004 a few days before the presidential elections in the U.S.

The renewed interest in bin Laden's fate was triggered by the report in a French regional newspaper that the al Qaeda leader died after suffering from a serious bout of typhoid in Pakistan on Aug. 23. That report grew out of a rumor passed at an embassy party in Islamabad by a Saudi diplomat attache, according to intelligence sources in France and Pakistan.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Bush to Declassify Iraq Intelligence Report

Sending the U.S. military into Iraq was
not a mistake, and if America had never gone into Iraq, terrorists would
still be active and would still be promoting their radical movement,
President Bush said here today.

To dispel rumors and speculation about the findings of a National
Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, which was recently leaked to the media, Bush
announced today that he is declassifying the document so the public can
draw their own conclusions.

"You can read it for yourself. We'll stop all the speculation, all the
politics about somebody saying something about Iraq, you know, somebody
trying to confuse the American people about the nature of this enemy,"
Bush said during a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid
Karzai at the White House.

The media has reported that the classified report, which was completed
in April, finds that the Iraq war increased the terrorist threat to the
United States. Bush said he agrees that because of coalition successes
against the leadership of al Qaeda, the enemy is becoming more diffuse
and independent in Iraq, but said he does not believe that there would
be less terrorism in the world if America had not gone into Iraq.

"To suggest that if we weren't in Iraq, we would see a rosier scenario
with fewer extremists joining the radical movement requires us to
ignore 20 years of experience," Bush said. "We weren't in Iraq when we got
attacked on September the 11th. We weren't in Iraq, and thousands of
fighters were trained in terror camps inside (Afghanistan.) We weren't in
Iraq when they first attacked the World Trade Center in 1993. We
weren't in Iraq when they bombed the (USS) Cole. We weren't in Iraq when they
blew up our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania."

If the U.S. weren't in Iraq, the terrorists would find other places to
attack, because they have a history of killing to achieve their
objectives, Bush said. Going on the offense against these terrorists is the
only solution that will keep America safe, he said.

"This government is going to do whatever it takes to protect its
homeland," he said. "The best way to protect America is defeat these killers
overseas so we do not have to face them here at home. We're not going
to let lies and propaganda by the enemy dictate how we win this war."

See More Here:NIE report - declassified