is europe getting wise to the shenanigans of the bushevics?

seems so, because according to today's papers:

ABC News reported last night that just last month the U.S. moved the 11 top al-Qaida suspects held secretly in Europe to somewhere in North Africa.

wanna bet that the bushevics were kicked out of those countries?

well, DUH

when it comes to money, do you really think this administration would ever get graded poorly? from today's papers:

The former 9/11 commissioners, who are—really, honest—closing shop after this report, graded the administration's efforts on various homeland security fronts. In about half the categories, the administration was hit with a "D," "F," or "incomplete." "None of this is rocket science," said one Republican member of the commission. "None of it is in the 'too hard' category." The one area that got as high as an A-minus: the administration's work against "terrorist financing."

Letter Of The Day

comes today from my hometown newspaper.

President Bush has unveiled his “National Strategy For Victory In Iraq.” I am tempted to ask, shouldn’t he have had a strategy for victory before he started his war? He’s almost three years late.

But he did have a Plan A, it just didn’t work out so well. Remember Plan A? It was something about 30,000 troops, about throwing flowers, being greeted as liberators and being carried through the streets to George W. Bush Square.

Now comes his “National Strategy For Victory In Iraq.” It has an impressive title, but it’s just for public relations and damage control. It’s another PR stunt for the TV cameras, like “Mission Accomplished.” These things never live up to their impressive titles.

This administration relies on a constant parade of PR stunts and lies to hide the fact that, behind the facade, a bunch of incompetents are running the show.

Here’s Bush’s real “Plan For Victory”: Distract and mislead the American public long enough to get Republicans re-elected next November.

--ALAN L. LIGHT, Iowa City
attribution

so much crazy shit is happening today

i don't know which end is up.

IE, *cough* a browser i really hate, but cant seem to stop using, all of sudden lost all my history. cant even view today's sites. i have it set for 99 days, but like that makes any difference.

and that's only the beginning.

i've gone way above and beyond the call of duty to get this mac in shape to be my main machine, but every time i turn around, it kicks me in the ass with something really stupid. then i spend 3 hours trying to figure out why its acting like a sour pussed bitch, only to discover there's no reason whatsoever, it jus decided to act that way. anyway, that's nothing compared to what i went thru today with a client.

to sum it all up, i'm sick and tired of computers, ALL computers. so until tomorrow, i'm not touching one.

corruption defined

The LAT off-leads a deep look into the not-so-deep psyche of disgraced Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif. Cunningham came to Washington as a war hero, succeeding a predecessor who was plagued by scandal, and leaves in handcuffs. What's striking about him, the story says, is his brazenness: "Honest graft" has become the norm on Capitol Hill (as Michael Kinsley pointed out in his recent Slate column), but whereas other lawmakers bend the rules on the sly, Cunningham deposited checks for tens of thousands in bribes in his account at the congressional credit union, and partied on a defense contractor's yacht christened, in his honor, the "Duke-Stir." The paper speculates that some of his below-decks mischief may have gotten him in trouble with his wife, and that that in turn may have led to his sudden need for "the lavishly furnished mansion … to make things up."

one just has to wonder, with such brazenness, how nobody noticed until now this was all going on.

Letter Of The Day

General Motors is going to lay off 30,000 employees. Last November, union members voted 60 percent Republican. Union members today enjoy the wages and benefits they receive but refuse to recognize that every labor-friendly bill passed in the last 80 years was done by the Democratic Party.

All I can say is, "Merry Christmas. You guys got exactly what you wanted, and when your unemployment benefits run out, go to your Republican representative in Washington and see how much sympathy you receive."

-Steve Stanley, Earlham.

attribution

and speaking of incompetence

almost every aspect of the bush administration falls under the category of incompetent baffoons.

"We need everything you've got," Blanco is quoted in a memo as telling President Bush on Aug. 29, the day Katrina made landfall. But despite assurances from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that 500 buses were "standing by," Blanco's aides were compelled to take action when the FEMA buses failed to materialize, documents show. "We need buses," Andy Kopplin, chief of staff to Blanco, said in an e-mail to Blanco staffers late on Aug. 30, the day after the storm hit. "Find buses that can go to NO [New Orleans] ASAP."

--nytimes

incompetence defined

this is why rummy has GOT to GO.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 - The prisoners were considered some of the most dangerous men among the hundreds of terror suspects locked behind the walls of a secretive and secure American military detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan.

Their escape, however, might as well have been a breakout from the county jail.

--nytimes

\

FARPOINT FACTOID

listening to MTP, and the 9/11 chairs, one thing that stood out when they were talking?
after 4 years, there still is no unified terrorist watch list.
that bears repeating:

AFTER 4 YEARS, THERE STILL IS NO UNIFIED TERRORIST WATCH LIST.

you tell me

ok, um, i'm baffled. had more coffee and apple fritter. then did some pain pills. 8M3PP, which is my usual dose. only i'm sweating, and its 59 degrees in here. jus turned on the heat AT 59. go figure. i havent had any of the explorer hanging either. and everything's running. so you tell me....

got a giggle out of this one

Yesterday's employment report—more than 200,000 new jobs—gets an unusual amount of discussion. The LAT fronts a straight story looking at the economy's strengths. But the WSJ's front-pager reports that opinion polls show Bush getting little credit, a development that has frustrated the White House.

source

watching hunter on tvlad

and its showing hunter going up into some fleabag hotel.

shivers went through my body watching it. reminded me so much of the whore hotel, formerlly the Amsterdam. on lexington & 26th, kitty corner from the armory.

that period deserves not only its own chapter, but probably a couple of books.

the bushies rule by fear

just like a good dictator would.

Cambria County -- In the most current issue of The New Yorker magazine, one article alleges that many of our military's most senior generals are deeply frustrated by the happenings in Iraq, but won't go public for fear they may jeopardize their career. Congressman John Murtha says he knows about these fears

source

FARPOINT FACTOID

no WONDER washington has lost its collective soul on ethics.

The WSJ's Washington Wire (following the Post) notes that the Office of Government Ethics, an executive branch office charged with "preventing conflicts of interest on the part of Government employees," has a position open: Its directorship. Must be a really tough gig though. They haven't found a taker for two years.

Letter(s) Of The Day

today we're blessed with 2, 2 on the same topic no less.

Cal Thomas ("Bush and Rove Finally Start Playing Hardball," Nov. 16) mistakenly attributes the administration's declining poll numbers to a lack of "offense." Thomas suggests that the Bush administration "play hardball with the left" to shape public opinion. I do not find the Bush administration lacking in offense, although I suspect I am using the word differently than Thomas.

I am deeply offended that the administration misled the country into going to war against a nation that had nothing to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I am offended that oil company executives met with the vice president's staff to influence the nation's energy policy. I am offended that the Medicare prescription drug benefit law was written by the nation's pharmaceutical companies.

I am offended that tax cuts for the wealthy are more important to this administration than providing basic services to citizens and communities. It is the offensive actions of this administration that has led to declining poll numbers. It is unfortunate but not surprising that Thomas recommends a hardball strategy rather than dealing with the issues.

-Neal Westergaard, Des Moines.

Cal Thomas says, "Republicans too often compromise their ideals, hoping the Left will like them" (Nov. 20). Exactly which ideals is he talking about? Astronomical spending, ill-conceived military action, rampant cronyism, mixing church and state, lining the pockets of war profiteers, cutting food stamps for kids and elderly, or ineptitude during disaster?

-Norene Kelly, Johnston.

attribution

a letter worth remembering

Regarding your call to convene a national summit on energy policy ("Convene National Summit to Chart Energy Future," Nov. 26):

The editorial failed to mention the National Energy Policy Initiative, a non-governmental, non-partisan, foundation-funded project, and its plan for implementation. For $180 billion (less than one year in Iraq) it returns $140 billion a year to the U.S. economy, revitalizes the auto industry and eliminates oil use by 2016.

This study offers solid solutions. Every citizen should study it for themselves, and any politician who opposes implementation is fighting against American interests and should be removed from office.

-Jere Busenbarrick, Des Moines.

source

Quote Of The Day

comes from the des moines register's editorial board:

"Republicans took control of Congress a decade ago with promises of bringing higher ethical standards to Washington. We're still waiting."

bush just never stops rewriting history

there's an article in today's des moines register from john carlson, a reporter who went to iraq and is making sure everybody knows it. he points out the things bush left out in his 'major speech on iraq' on wednesday.

well, john, here's your chance to come clean and proclaim your allegiance to truth and honesty in journalism. and you barely passed.

President Bush was delivering what was called "a major speech on Iraq" on Wednesday when he mentioned a very familiar name and spoke a few somewhat familiar words.

The president was discussing the training of Iraqi security forces and, to demonstrate the success of the effort, quoted Lt. Col. Todd Wood, an Indianola native who commands the Army's 2-7 Infantry Battalion based in Tikrit.
...
Bush's speech plucked Wood's quotes from four different places in the article and made it appear to be one statement.

The quotes accurately represent Wood's view of the Iraqi soldiers that his battalion has spent the better part of a year training. It's just that Bush's speechwriters carefully avoided the chief frustration faced by the American soldiers — at least the ones in Tikrit.

hey john, it's called cherry picking. something the bushisistas have mastered. they do it all the time to mislead you into thinking one thing, while the truth is something else.

the beginnings of civil war

BAGHDAD — A controversial oil exploration deal between Iraq's autonomy-minded Kurds and a Norwegian company got underway this week without the approval of the central government here, raising a potentially explosive issue at a time of heightened ethnic and sectarian tensions.

--source

Letter Of The Day

Once more it has been suggested that support for our troops is the same as support for the war. I served from 1968-1972. Part of my time was spent in Vietnam and part in California.

The entire time was spent in opposition to the war. I was a member of an organization of active-duty officers and enlisted persons, all of whom opposed the war. We participated in marches and demonstrations opposing the war. We were very active and vocal in our opposition to the war. Yet, we were the troops.

-Arthur Behn, Des Moines.

attribution

ya know?

ya listen to these service members, always seems to be men, talk about how 'they've never been happier' with lost limbs.

one has to wonder, what the hell kinda life did they lead before going to iraq??

didja see cbs news tonite?

how in the HELL are the iraqis supposed to defend themselves with only clubs and knives? this is why we haven't succeeded. we destroyed their equipment, disbanded their armies, and now we're whining that they can't defend themselves?

Quote of the WeeQ

"The people of Fallujah love Cindy Sheehan."
--Farouk Abd-Muhammed, a candidate for National Assembly (Iraq)

attribution

Letter Of The Day

Things have not been going well for Sens. Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin.

First, Grassley received a lot of flak regarding his part in obtaining $50 million in pork for the proposed rain forest. People have discovered that a tent full of man-made trees in zero-degree weather is a poor investment.

Then Harkin was denied naming rights to a new $200 million federal building. Well, you can't really blame him, he voted for it.

But not to worry, folks. Members of the Senate voted themselves a $3,000-plus raise to soothe their sorrows. With a national debt of $27,000 for each person in the United States, they obviously thought we could afford it.

But the question remains, how and when are we going to retire this debt? You can bet the family farm that that question will not be answered before their next $3,000 raise.

-Wendell Koch, Waterloo.

attribution

Quote Of The Day

"The ability to live somewhere is a right. The ability to travel is a right. Freedom from being punished twice for the same crime is a right. Freedom from being punished for a crime that is created after the fact is a right. Those rights are protected by the U.S. and Iowa constitutions — for everyone."
--Des Moines Register Editorial Board

wanna bet we're being set up for a lie?

from today's papers:

The Post says Karl's Rove's lawyer asked Novak (no relation to that Robert) to testify because he thinks it could somehow help Rove. We're not going to have to wait long for the details: "Viveca Novak is expected to write a firsthand account after she is deposed."

see what's key here? "somehow help rove" is code-speak for coverup.

today's MUST READ

seems things haven't gotten much better in iraq than what they were under saddam. and they talk about progress in iraq. some progress.

BAGHDAD — Shiite Muslim militia members have infiltrated Iraq's police force and are carrying out sectarian killings under the color of law, according to documents and scores of interviews.

--source

Letter Of The Day

The abortion rate went down under Bill Clinton and up under George W. Bush. Clinton understood that the way to decrease abortions was to provide hope. When a poor woman gets pregnant, it is one more brick on a load she has no hope of ever carrying, one more mouth she can't feed, one more child she has no health care for.

If we truly want to reduce the number of abortions, we have to provide our poor women and their children with health care and day care. (Five million more have slipped into poverty under Bush.) And we need to cover mental health as well, including treatment for drug and alcohol abuse so the baby has a chance to be healthy and the mother isn't living in despair.

-Jeff Clingan, Van Meter.

attribution

seems every culprit is represented well

take a look at this:

According to the police commander in the city, the 10 men allegedly involved in the assassination plot were caught with a document containing orders to carry out the killing from Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam's former vice president and a man considered by many to be the leader of the insurgency. Investigators also found three car bombs, as well as other documents linking the men to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, and to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the deputy to Osama Bin Laden.

--source

one just has to wonder.... just who is in charge here?

FARPOINT FACTOID

• Consumer credit has skyrocketed from $672.2 billion to $2.1 trillion;
• Outstanding household debt has grown $2.7 trillion, to $10.764 trillion;
• The trade deficit has plummeted from negative $150.7 billion to negative $756.8 billion;
  The total of foreign-owned U.S. assets has shot from $1.7 trillion to $11.5 trillion.

SOURCE

fallujah, and american chemical weapons

Vivid images show civilians, including women and children, who had been burned alive in their homes, even in their beds. This use of chemical weapons – at the order of the Bushist brass – and the killing of civilians are confirmed by former American soldiers interviewed on camera. "I heard the order to pay attention because they were going to use white phosphorous on Fallujah," said one soldier, quoted in the Independent. "In military jargon, it's known as Willy Pete. Phosphorous burns bodies; in fact it melts the flesh all the way down to the bone. I saw the burned bodies of women and children. Phosphorus explodes and forms a cloud. Anyone within a radius of 150 meters is done for."

read more, much more @ http://www.chris-floyd.com/fallujah/

Letter Of The Year

and finally, we have a winner for the annual Letter Of The Year award. the register was chocked full of great letters today.

Powerful new evidence emerged recently that the United States dropped massive quantities of white phosphorus on the Iraqi city of Fallujah during the attack on the city in November 2004, killing insurgents and civilians with the appalling burns. Phosphorus melts the flesh down to the bone.

Phosphorus explodes and forms a cloud, and anyone within 150 meters is dead. As evidence, dozens of high-quality color close-ups show bodies of Fallujah residents, some still in their beds, whose clothes remain largely intact but whose skin has been dissolved or caramelized or turned the consistency of leather by the shells.

The use of phosphorus is a betrayal of core American values, is barbarism of the first order and displays the darkness of spirit that animates this ruthless administration.

—Frank P. Belcastro, Dubuque.

attribution

Letter of the WeeQ

I agree with Rekha Basu's column on torture ("Torture Policies Abuse Credibility," Nov. 13). We all know about the black hole at Guantanamo, and we know about the ugliness at Abu Ghraib, and reports are starting to leak out about a secret CIA gulag of interrogation cells all over the world.

So, what do Republican leaders in Congress want to do? Well, they want to investigate the leak rather than the reports. Meanwhile, our President is telling us, "We do not torture," but it's sounding more like, "We do not call it torture."

—Roy Applegate, Spencer.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

it's a long one, but worthy of the award.

I've had my bellyful of articles in the Register reporting how pheasant hunters are whining and crying because they are increasingly not allowed to hunt the private farmland in Iowa. I have little sympathy for these "sportsmen" from my experiences on our farm.

More than 30 years ago, I used to go hunting with my dad. He'd shoot a couple of squirrels or rabbits, just enough so Mom could pan fry them for a couple of weeks' worth of meals. He'd ask the farmer who owned the land for permission to hunt, and seldom was he denied.

The farmer knew there would be no full-scale ravaging of the wildlife since it was just the two of us — Dad shot only what we could eat. The farmer also knew there would be no vandalizing since we lived nearby and neighbors didn't — and still don't — destroy each other's property.

This relationship between farmer and hunter is long gone, and many examples prove it on our farm. We allowed pheasant hunters from the southern United States out on our land one year. They came in with a convoy of trucks and just as many dogs to run the fields for this thing they called a sport.

They didn't come just one day, but several, and "harvested" so many birds that we didn't see any pheasants for several years on our place. Since then, hunters, who haven't asked permission to hunt, have cut our fence wires, shot our "no trespassing or hunting" signs and killed our pets.

We've had trappers tie snare traps to our fence lines, only to find that the trapped animal tried to eat its leg off to get loose since the trapper didn't check snares as required by law. One morning, a kid who lost his head when a pheasant flew up shot across our highway and peppered the front right panel of my pickup. If he had shot a couple inches away from his mark, I would have been hit.

The Register's articles don't depict these particular types of experiences we have endured out here in the country, and the Department of Natural Resources really is only interested in selling the hunting licenses to shore up the budget. All the suburbanites who can afford their quarter-million-dollar homes, and those who come from out of state and have the financial means to bring in a half-dozen extended-cab pickups with purebred dogs to hunt, should surely be able to afford to lease or buy a 40-acre parcel where they don't need to care if they shoot the hell out of everything.

—Robin Crabtree, Madrid.

attribution

Rant of the Day

Sometimes I think the entire Republican party either is or has been on long term Prozac therapy, and those who are now starting to finally wake up have either stopped taking the drug or have developed a tolerance. They "had trouble pinning their current discontent on any one thing?!" Come on! Fraudulent elections didn't bother them? The Constitution stripped of its original intent, and they don't find that disturbing? Hey, Bushies! Ever hear of separation of church and state? The blurring of that boundary doesn't bother you? How about this illegal, preemptive war? Any problems with that one? And you didn't think disaster preparedness should presuppose having qualified managers in important posts in the event of an emergency? It doesn't concern you that this administration has allowed wealthy industrialists to determine the course of environmental policy? It's okay that the government commits treason, during wartime no less, by exposing the identity of one of its own covert operatives? You don't note a certain inconsistency in our engaging in a "war on terror" while condoning torture ourselves? And last but certainly not least, the administration that pledged to bring respectability back into the White House is so scandal-ridden that it makes Bill and Monica look like just another episode of "All My Children," and this seems normal to you?
--source

this was in a thread about the nytimes article where some bushies were showing signs of discontent for their fuhrer.

everybody's denying it

In Germany, prosecutors are investigating both the alleged kidnapping by the CIA of one of its citizens and a number of suspicious flights into German air bases. Sweden and Norway launched investigations after similar incidents. The Dutch accused Washington of hiding its alleged use of secret prisons in Europe, and the 46-member Council of Europe told Romania to investigate reports that it was the site of such illegal detentions.

Investigations into alleged CIA landings or flyovers are underway in Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

source

Cartoon Of The Day

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,7371,1650498,00.html

incompetence defined (again)

The SBA has only processed half the number of loans it did in a similar period after last year's Florida hurricanes, despite having hired more staff. USAT has previously suggested the culprit was a glitchly computer "upgrade." Another potential factor not explored by USAT: The head of the SBA is a former GOP fund-raiser who appears to have little relevant experience and previously headed up the SBA's bumbling response to 9/11.

the numbers

and they're just beautiful! from the online journal

A majority of U.S. adults believe the Bush administration generally misleads the public on current issues, while fewer than a third of Americans believe the information provided by the administration is generally accurate, the latest Harris Interactive poll finds.

While the telephone survey of 1,011 U.S. adults indicates about 64% of Americans believe the Bush administration "generally misleads the American public on current issues to achieve its own ends," opinion on the topic is clearly divided along party lines. A large majority (68% to 28%) of Republicans say the Bush administration generally provides accurate information. However, even larger majorities of Democrats (91% to 7%) and Independents (73% to 25%) think the information is generally misleading.

When asked about former Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who has been indicted on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements, more than half of U.S. adults say the situation indicates "a larger problem in the Bush administration," while 35% say it was an "isolated incident." About 82% of Democrats say it indicates a larger problem, while 70% of Republicans feel the Libby case is an isolated incident.

The latest poll also finds U.S. adults are divided on the direction they feel Mr. Bush is trying to move the Supreme Court. About 42% of those surveyed think Mr. Bush is trying to make the high court too conservative, while 44% think he is trying to make it neither too conservative nor too liberal. Only 9% believe Mr. Bush is trying to make the Supreme Court too liberal, according to the poll.

the true reason we invaded iraq

Up to $US194 billion ($263 billion) in Iraqi oil revenues are going to multinational oil companies under long-term contracts, and not to the Iraqi people, a social and environmental group said.

--source

this thanksgiving day

i give thanks that there are young people out there able to win Letter Of The Day.

Congressmen are debating whether they can really give tax breaks to the wealthy while cutting money from programs for the poor.

One legislator actually said Congress had to cut funds for the poor because that's where all the money is.

The other reasoning offered to justify cuts was that the programs were not as effective as they should be. I was just wondering how giving a struggling program even less money solves the very real problem that this person brings to society's attention?

It is not as if the money taken away is assisting the poor in another, more effective way. It's used to balance the tax breaks in the budget.

— Erin O'Hern, Johnston

attribution

i'd call it CHECKMATE

for bush to continue to say that congress saw everything he saw, is astounding in the fact that amongst the other lies he has made, this one screams for impeachment.

Ten days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush was told in a highly classified briefing that the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein to the attacks and that there was scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda, according to government records and current and former officials with firsthand knowledge of the matter.

The information was provided to Bush on September 21, 2001 during the "President's Daily Brief," a 30- to 45-minute early-morning national security briefing. Information for PDBs has routinely been derived from electronic intercepts, human agents, and reports from foreign intelligence services, as well as more mundane sources such as news reports and public statements by foreign leaders.

and there's more

if that's the mark of an accomplishment....

God help us for one that is a failure.

DHS Today will highlight FY05 Accomplishments in this column over the next several weeks. This week's focus is on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The top FY05 FEMA accomplishments included:

Hurricane Katrina: The response to Hurricane Katrina was FEMA's largest response in its history

--source

today's MUST READ

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/22/AR2005112201692.html

the cheney "X"

seems there's something that happened on cnn's larry king live, where there was an "X" that appeared over cheney's face for 1/15th of a second. c'mon, that's 2 frames.

they got the 2 frames, and it was a glitch. but the right-wingnuts are out for blood. and as someone on DU (thread HERE) posted:

This is the game the wingnuts play. Make a controversy where none exists or find a red herring in one that does and create such distortion and confusion that the main issue is long lost in the noise created by the uproar.

NO SHIT!
cheney deserves to be "X"d out of the video my pretty eyes see.

my first response was

is he NUTS? but then, i knew the answer, and it was affirmative.

US President George W. Bush planned to bomb pan-Arab television broadcaster al-Jazeera, British newspaper the Daily Mirror said today, citing a Downing Street memo marked "Top Secret".
--source

the news is travelling around rather quickly

SCOTSMAN: Blair 'convinced Bush' not to launch strike at Al-Jazeera

MIRROR: Bush Plot to Bomb his Arab Ally

goat, the new red meat

everytime i hear "goat" i am reminded of 7 long minutes while our country was under attack, where george bush jr. sat reading MY PET GOAT in some elementary school in florida.

Letter Of The Day

Thanks for printing Rick Johnson's Nov. 12 letter, "Take Out Your Dictionary." Of all the letters to the editor I've read in recent years, this sure did say a lot — especially to all those Americans that are so obsessed with attaching the words liberal or conservative to every political issue that comes up, as if there is no room for negotiation or compromise. All that does is create animosity and foil democratic discourse.

-Don Hill, Windsor Heights.
attribution

talk about rewriting history

i knew it wouldn't be long before rummy got into the action:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has asserted that he did not press for the US-led invasion of Iraq, as public disaffection for the US military operation there reaches new highs.

--source

i'll jus leave it up to the rest of the world to prove otherwise. even kindergarteners will find the task immensely easy.

and now the brits have to get into the act

British-trained police operating in Basra have tortured at least two civilians to death with electric drills, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

John Reid, the Secretary of State for Defence, admits that he knows of "alleged deaths in custody" and other "serious prisoner abuse" at al-Jamiyat police station, which was reopened by Britain after the war.

Militia-dominated police, who were recruited by Britain, are believed to have tortured at least two men to death in the station. Their bodies were later found with drill holes to their arms, legs and skulls.

The victims were suspected of collaborating with coalition forces, according to intelligence reports. Despite being pressed "very hard" by Britain, however, the Iraqi authorities in Basra are failing to even investigate incidents of torture and murder by police, ministers admit.

The disclosure drags Britain firmly into the growing scandal of officially condoned killings, torture and disappearances in Iraq. More than 170 starving and tortured prisoners were discovered last week in an Interior Ministry bunker in Baghdad.

American troops who uncovered the secret torture chamber are also said to have discovered mutilated corpses, several bearing drill marks

--source

jeee, i guess all that's missing are poland's contributions.