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Publisher Peter Osnos, who admits to personally working with former Bush White House press secretary Scott McClellan on his new book, What Happened, began his career as an assistant to I.F. Stone, the pro-communist "journalist" named as a Soviet agent of influence who was the uncle of Weather Underground communist terrorist Kathy Boudin. But the connections don't end there. Boudin's son Chesa was raised by Barack Obama associates Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, who were Boudin's comrades in the communist terrorist group, after Kathy Boudin went to prison for her involvement in an armed robbery and assault that took the...

The United Nations' Cash for Kim Jong Il scandal is now six months old, so it's a good time to assess progress, if that's the right word. The evidence of misdeeds at the U.N. Development Program in North Korea continues to mount, but there's still no "urgent" and "external" inquiry, as ordered by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in January. Now the U.S. has uncovered evidence that in addition to transferring millions of dollars in cash that may have gone to help prop up Kim's grotesque regime, the UNDP also transferred dual-use technology. It did so without bothering to secure a U.S....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush should follow British Prime Minister Tony Blair's lead and start withdrawing troops from Iraq, former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said Saturday. "Engaging in a broad-based diplomatic offensive, and beginning a redeployment of U.S. forces in Iraq, represents the best way to secure America's interests in the region and combat the serious threat of terrorist networks," Holbrooke, who served under President Clinton, said in the Democrats' weekly radio address. Britain will withdraw about 1,600 troops in the coming months and aims to cut more by late summer. The announcement came as Bush is implementing his plan...

BRUSSELS, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Two former senior U.S. officials suggested on Monday deploying NATO forces in northern Iraq to forestall the risk of a Turkish invasion. In a policy paper issued before a summit of the 26-nation alliance in Riga next week, Richard Holbrooke and Ronald Asmus said NATO members had an interest in doing everything possible to maintain Iraq's unity and prevent a full-scale civil war. "Already today in Turkey there are voices openly calling for an invasion of northern Iraq to deal with the constant raids into southeastern Turkey by the terrorist organisation known as the PKK,"...

Secret diner in Washington Holbrooke and Thaqui planned terror Less than a week before the clashes in Kosovo and Metohija occurred, a group of Albanian lobbyists from USA held a meeting at which they decided to help Kosovo Albanians to force international community to give independence to Kosovo. 'Blic' got this information from well-informed sources in the US. As 'Blic' further finds out this informal meeting was held at the initiative of David Philips, deputy director of the Center for preventive action within Council for international relations in New York. The meeting was held at his home with light diner....

The punditry world is abuzz with talk of a recent New Yorker article (no link available) by writer Jeffrey Goldberg, who has interviewed Brent Scowcroft, the former national security advisor for the Ford Administration and the Administration of George H.W. Bush. In a number of passages in the piece, Scowcroft takes on the current Bush Administration over the issue of Iraq, something for which he has earned applause from many Democrats and other Bush critics. But when one reads the entire New Yorker piece, one finds that Scowcroft's critique is directed at foreign policy idealism in general. And it's a...

If John Kerry becomes President he will find himself on the horns of a dilemma - which close friend to ditch when he chooses a new Secretary of State. According to today's Washington Post, Kerry would pick his national security team within a few weeks after winning the White House and two of his closest friends, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) or Richard Holbrooke reportedly want the job of running the State Department.

Hand it to Secretary of State Rice. She knows how to make lemonade out of lemons. When asked on CNN this week her reaction to a communique signed by Iraqi leaders on Monday that recognized a "legitimate right to resistance," she said, "I think what they were trying to do was to get a sense of political inclusion while recognizing that violence and terrorism should not be a part of resistance." 'snip' The State Department, according to Iraqi officials I've spoken with, put tremendous pressure on elected leaders to attend this parley in Cairo. And the see-no-evil reaction to the...

New York -- As a result of a second scathing report on his administration of the scandal plagued U.N.-Iraq Oil-for-Food Prgram by U.N. investigator Paul Volcker, Benon V. Sevan is now threatening to name names. In a news conference, Volcker issued another "interim report" on the activates of Sevan, who ran the $67 billion aid program from 1997-2003. Volcker came to the conclusion that Sevan did indeed accept what amounted to several hundred thousand dollars in bribes funneled to him through various overseas channels. The most disturbing came through an aunt living in Cyprus who died in a mysterious apartment...

Professional critics have decried President Bush’s three-day “delay” in reacting to the tsunami disasters. But if the President used that time to understand the dimensions of the disaster, and to keep the United Nations from controlling relief efforts, every minute was justified. When the UN handles dollars, tens of millions disappear. When the UN handles protection and relief, tens of thousands of people die. Instead of leaving money and authority to the UN, the US created a “core group” with Japan, Australia and India. The lead personnel are the military of those nations. That makes sense, because military units are...

When the stink threatens to make even bureaucrats gag, somebody has to mop up some of the mess.     When a gaggle of special pleaders met the other night in New York to talk about the puddle in the parlor at the United Nations, it wasn't clear whether they were interested in shaping up the U.N. or merely saving the job of Kofi Annan, the bureaucrats' favorite bureaucrat. [snip]What frightened the coterie to action then, and no doubt Mr. Annan yesterday, is the growing sentiment in Congress to do something about corruption at the U.N., or else. [snip]     There was...

We received this in our e-mail pile without any indication of who wrote it. It was so good, we decided to post it anyway. To Michael Moore: Sit down and shut up. Your fifteen minutes are up. And do something about your hair. Looks can be deceiving, but not in your case... To Jimmy Carter: Big mistake to sit down next to Michael Moore at the convention. Spend more time with drywall and the glue gun. Or start lusting in your heart again. To Tom Daschle: If you lean too far to the left, voters will tend to lean right...

"U.S. helicopters fly to places which haven't been reached for the whole week and drop food... No talking but action. European countries are until now invisible on the ground." "U.S. Navy flying aid missions, Bundeswehr still looking things over," said the headline Jan. 3rd in the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel (the Mirror). "While advance teams of the Bundeswehr (German army) are still camping in three tents at the Banda Aceh airport, Americans, Australians and New Zealanders have already flown tons of aid packages into disaster areas." At least the Germans were on the scene. On Jan 3rd, Canada's Disaster Assistance...

Secret Meeting, Clear Mission: 'Rescue' U.N. By WARREN HOGE NITED NATIONS, Jan. 2 - The meeting of veteran foreign policy experts in a Manhattan apartment one recent Sunday was held in strict secrecy. The guest of honor arrived without his usual retinue of aides. The mission, in the words of one participant, was clear: "to save Kofi and rescue the U.N." At the gathering, Secretary General Kofi Annan listened quietly to three and a half hours of bluntly worded counsel from a group united in its personal regard for him and support for the United Nations. The group's concern was...

John Kerry's Fellow TravellersA 5--part series exposing John Kerry's Communist connections.Part 5: John Kerry vs. the War on Terror: Candidate Kerry's Subversive CampaignBy Fedora *NOTE: The term “fellow traveller" as used in this article series refers to someone who is not a member of the Communist Party (CP) but regularly engages in actions which advance the Party's program. Some apparent fellow travellers may actually be “concealed party members": members of the CP who conceal their membership. Which of these classifications is applicable to the Kerrys is a question this series leaves unresolved. This series does not argue for any direct...

There are two ways to tell when a political party thinks it is losing an election. The obvious one is where the candidates are choosing to campaign. If they’re stumping in their own backyards and shoring up their bases, while the other side is on the attack, that’s a clear sign. But so is the level of lying. When all is almost lost, the unethical campaign will haul out the lies – the bigger the better. Others have commented on the political geography of where Bush and Kerry are respectively campaigning in the closing days of this campaign. This comments...

A participant on the sidelines of talks in Berlin between Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Richard Holbrooke, a would-be secretary of state in a John Kerry presidency, told a story about the meeting and the theme of how a Kerry-friendly Europe would leap to America's aid in bringing stability to Iraq. (Or maybe hide under the bed.) "Schröder," the American said, "asked Holbrooke what Kerry would do if he were elected. Holbrooke replied one of the first things would be to get on the phone and invite him and President Jacques Chirac to the White House. The chancellor laughed out loud....

ISSUE 3"We have to find a way not to have the politics that looks for the lowest common denominator, but one that reaches for the highest common denominator …"  Sen. John Kerry, Speech To The American Legion National Convention, Nashville, TN, 9/1/04KERRY'S COMMON DENOMINATOR___________________________________________________________________HIGHEST OR LOWEST?    Sen. John Kerry (D-MA):   "'This president has talked about compassion, but he's walked right by. He's seen people in need but crossed right by,' Kerry said. … 'We are not going to allow them to put a "do not enter" sign on the White House door,' Kerry said at the Washington Convention Center."  (Jim...

<p>By saying that "many leaders" would prefer him to George W. Bush, John Kerry caused a lively, if sanctimonious, stampede inside the Beltway. And when he refused to identify those who had indicated that they would prefer him to Mr. Bush -- a perfectly appropriate respect for confidential discussions -- the GOP launched a campaign demanding that he "name names." This included a comment by the president, made in the Oval Office itself, and a drumfire of criticism from Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, many senators, and even Colin Powell (who holds a job that by long tradition is supposed to be kept out of domestic politics).</p>

Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 160 January 29, 2004 No.160 The Beneficiaries of Saddam's Oil Vouchers: The List of 270 The following report from MEMRI's Baghdad office is a translation of an article which appeared in the Iraqi daily Al-Mada, [1] whichobtained lists of 270 companies, organizations, and individuals awarded allocations (vouchers) of crude oil by Saddam Hussein's regime. The beneficiaries reside in 50 countries: 16 Arab, 17 European, 9 Asian, and the rest from sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.Only a portion of the 270 recipients are listed and identified. BackgroundThe following points should be taken into consideration:...