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Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Casey Anthony to stand trial in daughter's death
After nearly 3 years, Casey Anthony to
stand trial in daughter's death
(CNN) -- Before the tabloid headlines, before the media crush, before Casey Anthony and her daughter Caylee became instantly recognizable, there were only two phone calls. "I have a possible missing child," Cindy Anthony said in the first of two 911 calls made July 15, 2008. The little girl -- her granddaughter, Caylee -- "has been missing for a month," she said. In another call, she added an ominous statement: "There's something wrong," she said. "I found my daughter's car today, and it smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car." Caylee was actually 2 when she was last seen June 16, 2008. It wasn't until six months later the little girl's skeletal remains were found in woods about a quarter of a mile from the home of her grandparents. The girl's mother and Cindy Anthony's daughter, Casey Anthony, had also lived there, moving out around the time the child was last seen.
Anthony has pleaded not guilty, and denies harming her daughter or having anything to do with her disappearance. One of her defense attorneys, Jose Baez, has said that once all the facts are known, it will become clear his client is innocent.
The case has generated intense media attention, prompting the court to move jury selection to Clearwater, Florida, in Pinellas County, because of concern about getting an impartial jury in Orlando, in Orange County. Jurors were being transported Monday to Orlando in preparation for opening statements Tuesday.
Both the prosecution and the defense face hurdles, said "In Session" correspondent Jean Casarez, who has followed the case from the beginning.
The cause of Caylee's death was homicide by undetermined means, meaning there is no cause of death, she said.
"One of the elements in the statute for murder is that the defendant caused the death," Casarez said. "This is a circumstantial case, so prosecutors will build their building blocks toward that answer, but they don't have a definitive cause of death, and that can be a problem. I have seen cases where there are acquittals because the prosecution does not have a cause of death."
The fact that the remains were skeletal also prevented authorities from getting definitive answers on toxicology, as well as evidence that Caylee was abused -- something her mother is charged with doing. "How do you prove that when you just have skeletal remains?" Casarez said.
Duct tape was still stuck to the lower facial region of the child's body, authorities have said.
"(Caylee's) killer prepared some substance in advance that would render her physically unable to resist," prosecutor Jeff Ashton said at a December 2009 hearing, "administered the substance, awaited its effect and then methodically applied three pieces of duct tape to completely cut off the flow of air through her mouth or her nose and let nature take its course."
Authorities have said that the amount of decomposition would seem to indicate Caylee died shortly after she went missing.
Anthony initially told police that she had last seen her daughter in the custody of a babysitter named Zenaida Gonzalez. Investigators never tracked down the babysitter; later, a woman named Zenaida Gonzalez filed a defamation suit against Anthony, saying she had never met her and lost her job over the claims. Anthony countersued, accusing Gonzalez of attempting to cash in on the high-profile case.
Prosecutors allege that after killing her daughter, Anthony stashed her body in the trunk of her Pontiac Sunfire before disposing of it. A cadaver dog has alerted to the scent of human decomposition in the trunk, and testing showed the presence of chloroform. Orange County Superior Court Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. ruled last month jurors can hear the chloroform testimony. In addition, investigators have said they found Internet searches of websites mentioning chloroform on Anthony's computer.
Anthony's high-powered defense team, fighting to save her life, will likely try to cast doubt on prosecutors' scientific evidence. At pretrial hearings, they have argued that evidence regarding a potential odor of decomposition in the trunk, chloroform and other evidence is not reliable enough for jurors to consider.
Perry has also ruled jurors can hear testimony about a stain in the trunk, as well as the decompositional odor. In March, Baez contended that having jurors look at the stain might have a "prejudicial effect," alleging it could have been caused by a wet bag of garbage or gasoline cans. The stain was negative for DNA, as well as for the presence of blood or other bodily fluids, he said. "There is absolutely no proof whatsoever that this is a biological stain," Baez said.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle for the defense is the fact that Caylee had been missing for 31 days before authorities were aware of it, and her mother failed to report it, Casarez said.
In addition, some have alleged that Anthony didn't behave like the worried mother of a missing child during the search for Caylee. She went to nightclubs and sent hundreds of text messages to friends, according to cell phone and text transcripts and investigative reports released by police. Those records show she rarely mentioned her missing daughter.
"She doesn't report her child missing but she actively parties," Casarez said. Perry has allowed pictures of Anthony taken at nightclubs, both before and after Caylee went missing, to be presented at trial. Why before? "Probably (for prosecutors) to show that this was her lifestyle before and after her child was missing, and it's not a reaction to not knowing how to deal with Caylee suddenly out of her life," said Casarez.
Another potential defense hurdle: During the time Caylee was missing, Anthony also got a tattoo on her shoulder reading "Bella Vita" -- Italian for "beautiful life," Casarez said.
The car also poses a huge obstacle for the defense, with evidence of chloroform found inside along with hair that potentially showed signs of decomposition, she said.
The defense has also objected to the jurors chosen. Baez told Perry as the jurors were seated Friday that "we do not accept the panel as seated." The defense wanted more than the 10 peremptory challenges it was allowed. The challenges let attorneys on both sides reject jurors without having to provide a reason. Perry overruled his objections.
Early in the jury selection process, defense attorneys hinted that mitigating circumstances including "a history of sexual abuse" may have explained Anthony's behavior in the days after her daughter disappeared and her failure to alert authorities sooner. Anthony herself told police she had been trying to find her daughter on her own.
Defense attorney Ann Finnell raised a host of potential mitigating circumstances to gauge what would-be jurors might consider if they had to decide whether to sentence Anthony to death. Those circumstances included a "lack of maturity," "lack of impulse control" and "a history of sexual abuse."
Anthony alleged her father and brother sexually abused her in a letter from jail last year. In an interview with NBC News afterward, her father, George Anthony, denied the claims and criticized Baez's judgment in questioning him about the allegations.
(CNN) -- Before the tabloid headlines, before the media crush, before Casey Anthony and her daughter Caylee became instantly recognizable, there were only two phone calls. "I have a possible missing child," Cindy Anthony said in the first of two 911 calls made July 15, 2008. The little girl -- her granddaughter, Caylee -- "has been missing for a month," she said. In another call, she added an ominous statement: "There's something wrong," she said. "I found my daughter's car today, and it smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car." Caylee was actually 2 when she was last seen June 16, 2008. It wasn't until six months later the little girl's skeletal remains were found in woods about a quarter of a mile from the home of her grandparents. The girl's mother and Cindy Anthony's daughter, Casey Anthony, had also lived there, moving out around the time the child was last seen.
On Tuesday,
Casey Anthony, now 25, will stand trial, accused of a crime unthinkable to many:
Killing her daughter. Besides capital murder, she faces six other charges,
including aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and
providing false information to authorities. If she is convicted by jurors --
seven women, five men and five alternates -- she could face the death
penalty.
Anthony has pleaded not guilty, and denies harming her daughter or having anything to do with her disappearance. One of her defense attorneys, Jose Baez, has said that once all the facts are known, it will become clear his client is innocent.
The case has generated intense media attention, prompting the court to move jury selection to Clearwater, Florida, in Pinellas County, because of concern about getting an impartial jury in Orlando, in Orange County. Jurors were being transported Monday to Orlando in preparation for opening statements Tuesday.
Both the prosecution and the defense face hurdles, said "In Session" correspondent Jean Casarez, who has followed the case from the beginning.
The cause of Caylee's death was homicide by undetermined means, meaning there is no cause of death, she said.
"One of the elements in the statute for murder is that the defendant caused the death," Casarez said. "This is a circumstantial case, so prosecutors will build their building blocks toward that answer, but they don't have a definitive cause of death, and that can be a problem. I have seen cases where there are acquittals because the prosecution does not have a cause of death."
The fact that the remains were skeletal also prevented authorities from getting definitive answers on toxicology, as well as evidence that Caylee was abused -- something her mother is charged with doing. "How do you prove that when you just have skeletal remains?" Casarez said.
Duct tape was still stuck to the lower facial region of the child's body, authorities have said.
"(Caylee's) killer prepared some substance in advance that would render her physically unable to resist," prosecutor Jeff Ashton said at a December 2009 hearing, "administered the substance, awaited its effect and then methodically applied three pieces of duct tape to completely cut off the flow of air through her mouth or her nose and let nature take its course."
Authorities have said that the amount of decomposition would seem to indicate Caylee died shortly after she went missing.
Anthony initially told police that she had last seen her daughter in the custody of a babysitter named Zenaida Gonzalez. Investigators never tracked down the babysitter; later, a woman named Zenaida Gonzalez filed a defamation suit against Anthony, saying she had never met her and lost her job over the claims. Anthony countersued, accusing Gonzalez of attempting to cash in on the high-profile case.
Prosecutors allege that after killing her daughter, Anthony stashed her body in the trunk of her Pontiac Sunfire before disposing of it. A cadaver dog has alerted to the scent of human decomposition in the trunk, and testing showed the presence of chloroform. Orange County Superior Court Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. ruled last month jurors can hear the chloroform testimony. In addition, investigators have said they found Internet searches of websites mentioning chloroform on Anthony's computer.
Anthony's high-powered defense team, fighting to save her life, will likely try to cast doubt on prosecutors' scientific evidence. At pretrial hearings, they have argued that evidence regarding a potential odor of decomposition in the trunk, chloroform and other evidence is not reliable enough for jurors to consider.
Perry has also ruled jurors can hear testimony about a stain in the trunk, as well as the decompositional odor. In March, Baez contended that having jurors look at the stain might have a "prejudicial effect," alleging it could have been caused by a wet bag of garbage or gasoline cans. The stain was negative for DNA, as well as for the presence of blood or other bodily fluids, he said. "There is absolutely no proof whatsoever that this is a biological stain," Baez said.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle for the defense is the fact that Caylee had been missing for 31 days before authorities were aware of it, and her mother failed to report it, Casarez said.
In addition, some have alleged that Anthony didn't behave like the worried mother of a missing child during the search for Caylee. She went to nightclubs and sent hundreds of text messages to friends, according to cell phone and text transcripts and investigative reports released by police. Those records show she rarely mentioned her missing daughter.
"She doesn't report her child missing but she actively parties," Casarez said. Perry has allowed pictures of Anthony taken at nightclubs, both before and after Caylee went missing, to be presented at trial. Why before? "Probably (for prosecutors) to show that this was her lifestyle before and after her child was missing, and it's not a reaction to not knowing how to deal with Caylee suddenly out of her life," said Casarez.
Another potential defense hurdle: During the time Caylee was missing, Anthony also got a tattoo on her shoulder reading "Bella Vita" -- Italian for "beautiful life," Casarez said.
The car also poses a huge obstacle for the defense, with evidence of chloroform found inside along with hair that potentially showed signs of decomposition, she said.
The defense has also objected to the jurors chosen. Baez told Perry as the jurors were seated Friday that "we do not accept the panel as seated." The defense wanted more than the 10 peremptory challenges it was allowed. The challenges let attorneys on both sides reject jurors without having to provide a reason. Perry overruled his objections.
Early in the jury selection process, defense attorneys hinted that mitigating circumstances including "a history of sexual abuse" may have explained Anthony's behavior in the days after her daughter disappeared and her failure to alert authorities sooner. Anthony herself told police she had been trying to find her daughter on her own.
Defense attorney Ann Finnell raised a host of potential mitigating circumstances to gauge what would-be jurors might consider if they had to decide whether to sentence Anthony to death. Those circumstances included a "lack of maturity," "lack of impulse control" and "a history of sexual abuse."
Anthony alleged her father and brother sexually abused her in a letter from jail last year. In an interview with NBC News afterward, her father, George Anthony, denied the claims and criticized Baez's judgment in questioning him about the allegations.
Finnell
asked potential members of the jury pool whether the assertion her client came
from a "dysfunctional family" might factor into their penalty
decision.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Remarks by our President, CIA and DNI Directors to our Intelligence Community
Office of the
Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
May 20, 2011
Remarks by the President, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and DNI Director James Clapper to the Intelligence Community at CIA Headquarters
CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia
2:55 P.M. EDT
DIRECTOR CLAPPER: Mr. President, Director Panetta, and members of the intelligence community, both those who are here and those connected electronically: Recently, I received an email from a former student of mine at Georgetown who lost his wife at the World Trade Center. He wanted to thank those responsible for the takedown of Osama bin Laden. It represented closure for him.
And in a sense, this dramatic event represents a measure of closure as well for the intelligence community. It was an historic milestone in a relentless campaign which continues on.
Those heartfelt thanks of my student deservedly go to many. To the men and women in the intelligence community who contributed directly -- notably, from CIA, NSA, NGA, NRO, and NCTC -- and many others from intelligence organizations who contributed indirectly, taken together a magnificent example of teamwork and intelligence integration.
But most assuredly, thanks must go to the President, our Commander-in-Chief -- (applause) -- for making perhaps the most courageous decision I’ve witnessed in almost 48 years in intelligence. He made this decision based on very compelling, but largely circumstantial intelligence.
And, sir, we are all grateful to you for your faith and trust in us. We’re honored by your visit and by your speaking to the intelligence community. And I think it most appropriate that you do so here at the heart of American intelligence, in the presence of the stars on the wall. We remember as well, across the community, those who sacrificed their lives on and since 9/11.
It’s now my great honor and privilege and pleasure to introduce Leon Panetta, who himself played a crucial role in this operation. (Applause.)
Leon, you’ve been a superb Director of CIA, a great partner and a wonderful friend. My thanks to you and the men and women of this magnificent agency.
Leon. (Applause.)
DIRECTOR PANETTA: Thank you. Thank you, Jim. For all of us here at the CIA, it is a privilege and a pleasure to have our intelligence community family here with us, to have all of our military partners with us, and I also want to thank the White House staff, particularly those involved in the national security element, to be with us today. We welcome all of you.
And I think it’s fair to say that we’ve never had a closer, more effective working relationship, both within our community and across the national security sector of our government. We thank all of you -- all of you -- for the team effort that was involved in the operation to go after bin Laden. It would not have happened without your full cooperation.
Jim Clapper deserves a lot of credit for his leadership in bringing the intelligence community together. And I want to thank you, Jim, for everything you’ve done. (Applause.)
Mr. President, on behalf of everyone here at the CIA, we are truly honored and very proud to have you here. I can’t tell you how much it means to all of us to have you here, to mark one of the greatest intelligence operations in our history. And it’s one that had so many of our officers working day and night for so many years.
Throughout that time, some of our officers made the ultimate sacrifice. Last year we lost seven men and women to a terrorist suicide bomber at Khost Base in Afghanistan. Their stars are now on this wall behind me -- along with those who gave their lives in this fight. Their devotion, their skill, and the inspiration that we take from their sacrifice helped make this day possible.
Tracking down the most infamous terrorist of our time required the very best tradecraft and the very best technology. But it also demanded the very best of our people -- the highest level of creativity, dedication, teamwork, analysis, and just sheer, dogged determination to never give up when the trail went cold. Those are basic American qualities and they are reflected in our country’s intelligence officers and in our war fighters -- the team that really carried out this mission.
But it also required one other essential American quality -- the courage to take risks, the kind of risks that you have to take on if you want to succeed. And Mr. President, joining with Jim, all of us in the intelligence community deeply thank you for the gutsy decision you made to follow the intelligence, to conduct this operation, and to bring bin Laden to justice. (Applause.)
We are grateful to have a Commander-in-Chief who was willing to put great trust in our work. And in return, as we approach the tenth anniversary of 9/11, we commit to you that we will continue to do everything in our power to fulfill your mission of defeating al Qaeda and their militant allies. We will do whatever it takes to protect this country and to keep it safe.
This has been a long and tough fight, and it’s not over. But as we have just proven, it’s a fight that we’re going to win -- for you, Mr. President, and for the American people.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to introduce the President of the United States. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Thank you all. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Thank you very much, everybody. Well, thank you, Leon, and thank you, Jim.
When I chose Leon Panetta as Director of the CIA, I said he was going to be a strong advocate for this agency and would strengthen your capabilities to meet the threats of our time. And when I chose Jim Clapper as Director of National Intelligence, I charged him with making sure that our intelligence community works as one integrated team. That’s exactly what these two leaders have done, along with all of you.
So, Jim and Leon, thank you for your remarkable leadership, not just in recent weeks, but during the entirety of your tenure. You have done a great job. (Applause.)
This is my third visit here to Langley as President, and each of these visits has marked another milestone in our mission to protect the American people and keep our country safe.
On my first visit, just months after taking office, I stood here and I said that this agency and our entire intelligence community is fundamental to America’s national security. I said that I believed that your best days were still to come and I pledged that you would have my full support to carry out your critical work.
Soon after that visit, I called Leon into the Oval Office and I directed him to make the killing or capture of Osama bin Laden the top priority in our war to defeat al Qaeda. And he came back here, and you guys, who had already been working so hard on this issue, redoubled your efforts. And that was true all across the intelligence community.
My second visit, a year later, came under more somber circumstances. We gathered to pay tribute to seven American patriots who gave their lives in this fight at a remote post in Afghanistan. As has already been mentioned, their stars now grace this memorial wall. And through our grief and our tears, we resolved that their sacrifice would be our summons to carry on their work, to complete this mission, to win this war.
Today I’ve returned just to say thank you, on behalf of all Americans and people around the world, because you carried on. You stayed focused on your mission. You honored the memory of your fallen colleagues. And in helping to locate and take down Osama bin Laden, you made it possible for us to achieve the most significant victory yet in our war to defeat al Qaeda.
I just met with some of the outstanding leaders and teams from across the community who worked so long and so hard to make that raid a success. And I’m pleased today that we’re joined by representatives from all of our intelligence agencies, and that folks are watching this live back at all of those agencies, because this truly was a team effort. That’s not always the case in Washington. (Laughter.) But all of you work together every single day.
This is one of the few times when all these leaders and organizations have the occasion to appear together publicly. And so I thank all of you for coming -- because I think it’s so important for the American people to see all of you here today.
Part of the challenge of intelligence work is, by necessity, your work has to remain secret. I know that carries a heavy burden. You’re often the first ones to get the blame when things go wrong, and you’re always the last ones to get the credit when things go right. So when things do go right -- and they do more often than the world will ever know -- we ought to celebrate your success.
That’s why I came here. I wanted every single one of you to know, whether you work at the CIA or across the community, at every step of our effort to take out bin Laden, the work you did and the quality of the intelligence that you provided made the critical difference -- to me, to our team on those helicopters, to our nation.
After I directed that getting bin Laden be the priority, you hunkered down even more, building on years of painstaking work; pulling together, in some cases, the slenderest of intelligence streams, running those threads to ground until you found that courier and you tracked him to that compound. And when I was briefed last summer, you had built the strongest intelligence case against -- in terms of where bin Laden was since Tora Bora.
In the months that followed, including all those meetings in the Situation Room, we did what sound intelligence demands: We pushed for more collection. We pushed for more evidence. We questioned our assumptions. You strengthened your analysis. You didn’t bite your tongue and try to spin the ball, but you gave it to me straight each and every time.
And we did something really remarkable in Washington -- we kept it a secret. (Laughter and applause.) That’s how it should be.
Of course, when the time came to actually make the decision, we didn’t know for sure that bin Laden was there. The evidence was circumstantial and the risks, especially to the lives of our special operations forces, were huge. And I knew that the consequences of failure could be enormous. But I made the decision that I did because I had absolute confidence in the skill of our military personnel and I had confidence in you. I put my bet on you. And now the whole world knows that that faith in you was justified.
So just as impressive as what you did was how you did it. It was a tribute to your perseverance, your relentless focus and determination over many years. For the fight against al Qaeda did not begin on 9/11. Among you are veterans who’ve been pursuing these murderers for many years, even before they attacked our embassies in Africa and struck the Cole in Yemen. Among you are young men and women for whom 9/11 was a call to service. This fight has defined your generation. And on this wall are stars honoring all your colleagues and friends, more than a dozen who have given their lives in the fight against al Qaeda and its violent allies.
As the years wore on, others began to think that this terrorist might never be brought to justice. But you never quit. You never gave up. You pulled together across this agency and across the community.
No one piece of information and no one agency made this possible. You did it together -- CIA, National Security Agency, National Reconnaissance Office, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, everyone at ODNI and the National Counterterrorism Center. Folks across the country, civilian and military, so many of you here today.
And that’s exactly how our intelligence community is supposed to work, using every capability -- human, technical -- collecting, analyzing, sharing, integrating intelligence, and then acting on it.
That’s what made this one of the greatest intelligence successes in American history, and that’s why intelligence professionals are going to study and be inspired by your achievement for generations to come.
Now, make no mistake -- this is not over. Because we not only took out the symbol and operational leader of al Qaeda, we walked off with his files -- (laughter) -- the largest treasure trove of intelligence ever seized from a terrorist leader. Many of you now are working around the clock; you didn’t have much time to celebrate. We’ve got to analyze and evaluate and exploit this mountain of intelligence.
So today, every terrorist in the al Qaeda network should be watching their back, because we’re going to review every video, we are going to examine every photo, we’re going to read every one of those millions of pages, we’re going to pursue every lead. We are going to go wherever it takes us. We’re going to finish the job. We are going to defeat al Qaeda.
Even as we stay focused on this mission, we need you to stay nimble and flexible to meet the full range of threats to our security, from plots against our homeland to nations seeking weapons of mass destruction to transnational threats such as cyber criminals and narcotraffickers.
So I’m going to keep relying on you -- for your intelligence, the analysis that comes across my desk every single day. And 300-plus Americans are counting on you to stay a step ahead of our adversaries and to keep our country safe.
I have never been more proud or more confident in you than I am today -- not just because this extraordinary success, but because it reminds us of who we are as a people and as a nation. You reminded us that when we Americans set our mind to something, when we are focused and when we are working together, when we’re not worried about who’s getting the credit and when we stay true to our values, even if it takes years, there is nothing we cannot do.
That’s why I still believe in what I said my first visit here two years ago: Your greatest days are still to come. And if any of you doubt what this means, I wish I could have taken some of you on the trip I made to New York City, where we laid a wreath at Ground Zero, and I had a chance to meet firefighters who had lost an entire shift; police officers who had lost their comrades; a young woman, 14 years old, who had written to me because her last memory of her father was talking to him on the phone while her mother wept beside her, right before they watched the tower go down.
And she and other members of families of 9/11 victims talked about what this meant. It meant that their suffering had not been forgotten, and that the American community stands with them, that we stand with each other.
So most of you will never get headlines for the work that you do. You won’t get ticker-tape parades. But as you go about your work with incredible diligence and dedication every single day, I hope all of you understand how important it is, how grateful I am, and that you have the thanks of a grateful nation.
God bless you. And God bless the United States of America. Thank you. (Applause.)
END 3:14 P.M. EDT
Somebody in Pakistan
Image via Wikipedia
Gates:
"Somebody" in Pakistan knew about Osama
Sec. of Defense believes Pakistani leadership was
unaware of bin Laden's lair,
but says someone had to
know
"Somebody" in Pakistan knew Osama bin Laden was hiding
there, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday. But he said he has seen
evidence that the country's senior leadership was unaware the terror leader was
in a compound a short distance from a Pakistani military
facility. read
more,...
Related articles
Thursday, May 19, 2011
ANOTHER BAD CHOICE PAKISTAN
Satellite images reveal alarming speed
Pakistan is rushing to finish weapons-grade nuclear
reactor
By Daily Mail
Reporter
New satellite images have shown the alarming speed at which Pakistan is constructing a weapons-grade nuclear reactor.
The aerial images, taken on April 20, show the rapid building progress of the fourth reactor to produce plutonium in Pakistan's Khushab facility.
The site was barren in 2009 and the facility 'costing billions' was undetectable by satellite just 17 months ago, but has since grown at an alarming rate.
Alarming:
The rate of construction at the Khushab nuclear facility has 'raised eyebrows'
with US officials
The facility in Khushab is the fastest growing nuclear program in the world, with the speed of the latest reactor's construction prompting concern from U.S. officials.
Pakistan first revealed the Khushab site and its plutonium production facility in 1998 after the country’s first nuclear test.
Although the U.S. has provided Pakistan with $20 billion in military and economic aid since September 11, 2001, it has been said that there is 'no explanation' as to how Pakistan are paying for the latest reactor.
Paul Brannon, a nuclear analyst with the Institute for Science and International Security, said: 'The buildup is remarkable.
'You can see the square of the reactor building, you can see the inner square of the reactor hall where the actual reactor goes, and if you measure the dimensions of the building it matches up exactly to the second and the third reactors.
'And that nobody in the U.S. or in the Pakistani government says anything about this — especially in this day and age—is perplexing.'
Describing the potential cost of the latest development, Mr Brannon added: 'It would be in the billions. 'This is a military reactor. It's outside of the civilian program.'
U.S. officials have been watching the Khushab facility for some time, but say there is no good explanation how Pakistan is paying for this.
The rapid progress of the nuclear facility comes as tensions between the USA and Pakistan increase.
Pakistan officials welcomed the death of Osama Bin Laden after a raid by U.S Navy Seals, but were still unhappy they were not informed about the attack, saying it 'violated Pakistan's sovereignty'.
And there was further anger yesterday when a Nato helicopter attacked a Pakistani army post near the Afghan border today, injuring two Pakistani soldiers.
Senator John Kerry, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, returned from Islamabad on Tuesday after Pakistan agreed to return the stealth helicopter tail of the downed Blackhawk MH-60 damaged in the raid that killed Bin Laden.
Senator Kerry has since warned about cutting off aid to Pakistan.
He said: 'Right now, we have about 100,000 reasons for worrying about our relationship with Pakistan.
'And they're called our young men and women, and they're in uniform in Afghanistan.'
Pakistan controls 70 percent of the supply routes into Afghanistan, according to Pentagon officials.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and others have warned that cutting off relations or aid to Pakistan would be dangerous because the government and military of Pakistan could fall under more influence from Islamic radicals who are sympathetic to Al Qaeda.
It is also feared any nuclear weapons made at the facility could fall into the hands of hardline militants.
Hardline Militants a/k/a
IDIOTS
Saturday, May 14, 2011
BAD CHOICE PAKISTAN
Pakistan's parliament condemns U.S. raid, threatens sanctions
(CNN) -- Pakistan's parliament threatened Saturday to cut off access to a facility used by NATO forces to ferry troops into Afghanistan, signaling a growing rift that began when U.S. commandos killed Osama bin Laden during a raid on a Pakistani compound.
A resolution adopted during a joint session of parliament condemned the U.S. action. It also called for a review of its working agreement with the U.S., demanded an independent investigation and ordered the immediate end of drone attacks along its border region.
Failure to end unilateral U.S. raids and drone attacks will force Pakistan to "to consider taking necessary steps, including withdrawal of (the) transit facility" used by the NATO's International Security Assistance Force, according to the resolution.
U.S. lawmakers have questioned how the world's most wanted terrorist managed to live in plain sight for years in Pakistan -- near the country's elite military academy -- without being detected.
Pakistani and U.S. intelligence officials have said there is no evidence that any active members of Pakistan's military or intelligence establishment knew about or actively protected the al Qaeda leader.
Publicly, leaders in both countries have downplayed a rift.
But the unanimous resolution made clear there was a growing dissatisfaction among Pakistani lawmakers.
The resolution also ordered a review of its counter-terrorism cooperation agreement with the United States.
The government is deeply "distress(ed) on the campaign to malign Pakistan, launched by certain quarters in other countries without appreciating Pakistan's determined efforts and immense sacrifices in combating terror," the resolution said.
It also said more than 30,000 Pakistani civilians and more than 5,000 military personnel had been killed in its fight against terror "and the blowback emanating from actions of the NATO/ISAF forces in Afghanistan."
Anger over U.S. drone strikes has mounted during the past year after it stepped up efforts along the Pakistani-Afghan border.
On Friday, a suspected U.S. drone strike killed four suspected Islamic militants in the Datta Khel region of North Waziristan, according to two Pakistani intelligence officials. They said an unmanned aircraft fired four missiles at a militant's vehicle on the border area.
The demands by the Pakistani civilian government come as new details emerge about the raid on bin Laden's Abbottabad compound.
Members of the U.S. Navy SEAL team that attacked the compound were wearing helmet-mounted digital cameras that recorded the mission, a U.S. military official told CNN on Friday.
The official described the digital recording as hazy, fast-moving and subject to poor lighting in the rooms. The source also said it is hard to get clear images from the footage.
"This is not movie-quality stuff," the official said.
An official familiar with the material seized from the compound said Friday that Navy SEALs recovered a stash of pornography. The official would not discuss exactly where it was found, what it was or whether it is believed to belong to the al Qaeda leader or to someone else living at the site, such as bin Laden's couriers or his son.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Bin Laden's compound is also undergoing intense analysis, and U.S. officials say he apparently enjoyed a support network in Pakistan that allowed him to stay in one location for the past several years. He had no escape plan or means to destroy his reams and gigabytes of documents in the event of an enemy assault, according to the U.S. sources.
Two U.S. lawmakers joined a public chorus for the release of photos of bin Laden's body after seeing the images themselves.
"These are very graphic, gruesome pictures," said Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado. But seeing them "gave me a sense of finality and closure."
A conservative legal watchdog group has filed the first lawsuit seeking the public release of the video and photographs of the raid and its aftermath.
Judicial Watch
is asking the Department of Defense to comply with a Freedom of Information
request for the material, especially photos of bin Laden's body. The legal
complaint to force compliance was made in federal court in Washington on
Friday.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Gulf Oil Spill Execs get Bonuses
Here’s what’s wrong with
the world -
Gulf Oil Spill Execs get
Bonuses:
Gulf oil rig
owner apologizes for calling 2010 'best year' ever
The SEC report revealed a $200,000 salary
increase for Transocean President and CEO Steven L. Newman.
(CNN) -- The owner of the Gulf of Mexico oil rig that exploded last year, killing 11 workers and leading to what has been called the worst oil spill ever, said Monday that calling 2010 its "best year" in safety "may have been insensitive."
Transocean Ltd., in a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said hefty bonuses and raises to top executives were based in part on the company's "performance under safety" last year.
"We acknowledge that some of the wording in our 2010 proxy statement may have been insensitive in light of the incident that claimed the lives of eleven exceptional men last year and we deeply regret any pain that it may have caused," Transocean said in a statement to CNN. "Nothing in the proxy was intended to minimize this tragedy or diminish the impact it has had on those who lost loved ones. Everyone at Transocean continues to mourn the loss of these friends and colleagues."
The statement did not address the controversy over the decision to give out cash awards despite the oil spill disaster.
That includes a $200,000 salary increase for Transocean President and Chief Executive Officer Steven L. Newman, whose base salary will increase from $900,000 to $1.1 million, the SEC report said. Newman's bonus was $374,062, according to the report, which Transocean filed Friday.
Newman also has a $5.4 million long-term compensation package the company awarded him upon his appointment as CEO in March 2010, according to the SEC filing.
"Notwithstanding the tragic loss of life in the Gulf of Mexico, we achieved an exemplary statistical safety record as measured by our total recordable incident rate and total potential severity rate," the SEC statement reads. "As measured by these standards, we recorded the best year in safety performance in our company's history."
The company called that record "a reflection on our commitment to achieving an incident-free environment, all the time, everywhere," the SEC filing said.
The April 20, 2010, explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig injured 17 workers and killed 11 others, including nine Transocean employees, according to the SEC filing. It has been called the worst spill in U.S. history. The well was capped three months later, but not before millions of barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf.
In January, President Barack Obama's National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling released a report that spread blame for the accident among Transocean, BP -- which leased the rig -- and Halliburton, which installed the rig's cement casing.
The commission said problems with deepwater drilling are "systemic" and that only "significant reform" will prevent another disaster.
Another report released March 23 determined that the oil spill was caused by a piece of drill pipe trapped in the rig platform's blowout preventer, a device intended to stop oil from flowing into the Gulf. The report was commissioned by various U.S. agencies, including the Interior Department and the Department of Homeland Security.
The Interior Department has said a much broader report that relies on additional sources of data, including eyewitness accounts and photos, will be released this summer.
The oil spill has prompted a flood of lawsuits against BP, Transocean and Halliburton from a variety of plaintiffs, including owners of Gulf businesses who say they suffered heavy financial losses because of the spill.
The plaintiffs also include
Transocean shareholders who contend the company falsely claimed it had remedied
past safety problems with its blowout preventers before the Gulf spill.
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