Gazette 062614

Thursday June 26th 2014

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Iraqi PM welcomes Syria air strike on border crossing

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki of Iraq has told the BBC he supports an air strike on Islamist militants at a border crossing between Iraq and Syria.

Military and rebel sources say the strike took place inside Iraq, at the Qaim crossing, although Mr Maliki said it was carried out on the Syrian side.
Isis and its Sunni Muslim allies seized large parts of Iraq this month.
The government has struggled to hold back the militants' advance from the north and west.
It has also been receiving support from Iran, with whom its Shia Muslim leaders have close links.

Iraqi Parliament To Meet In First Step To Form New Government

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's vice president has called on parliament to convene Tuesday, the first step toward forming a new government to present a united front against a rapidly advancing Sunni insurgency.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's political bloc won the most seats in April 30 elections, but he needs support from other blocs to govern with a majority. Critics blame his failure to promote national reconciliation for the Sunni anger fueling the insurgent gains and want him to step down.
Khudeir al-Khuzaie issued a decree Thursday ordering the 328-member parliament to meet. Constitutionally the next step would be to elect a speaker and two deputies, then within 30 days to choose a new president who will ask the largest bloc to choose a prime minister and form the new government.

Iraq Insurgents Seize Oilfields, Hit Air Base As U.S. Advisers Arrive

BAGHDAD, June 25 (Reuters) - Militants attacked one of Iraq's largest air bases and seized control of several small oilfields on Wednesday as U.S. special forces troops and intelligence analysts arrived to help Iraqi security forces counter a mounting Sunni insurgency.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is fighting for his job and is under international pressure to create a more inclusive government, said he supported starting the process of forming a new cabinet within a week.

He also dismissed the call of mainly Sunni political and religious figures, some with links to armed groups fighting Maliki, for a "national salvation government" that would choose figures to lead the country and, in effect, bypass the election held nearly three months ago.

In northern Iraq, the Sunni militants extended a two-week advance that has been led by the hardline Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) but also includes an amalgam of other Sunni groups angered by Maliki's rule.

They blame Maliki for marginalizing their sect during eight years in power. The fighting threatens to rupture the country two and a half years after the end of U.S. occupation.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague in Baghdad to urge unity against insurgent threat

LONDON –  British Foreign Secretary William Hague has arrived in Baghdad to urge Iraqi politicians to unite against the "existential threat" from Sunni insurgents.
Hague said the country must form an inclusive government across sectarian lines to unite Iraqis against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.

According to a statement from his office Thursday, Hague said the militant group that has seized swathes of Iraq was a "mortal threat" to the country and threatened others in the region.
Britain has ruled out military intervention, but Hague said it would provide "diplomatic, counter-terrorism and humanitarian support."
Hague is due to meet with embattled Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, Kurdish regional President Masoud Barzani and other political figures.
Al-Maliki is under pressure to step down and form an interim unity government.

Kurdish Leader Warns Of A 'New Reality' In Iraq

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Iraq's top Kurdish leader warned visiting Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday that a rapid Sunni insurgent advance has already created "a new reality and a new Iraq," signaling that the U.S. faces major difficulties in its efforts to promote unity among the country's divided factions.
The U.N., meanwhile, said more than 1,000 people, most civilians, have been killed in Iraq so far this month, the highest death toll since the U.S. military withdrew from the country in December 2011.
Massoud Barzani, whose powerful minority bloc has long functioned as kingmaker in Iraqi politics, did not directly mention Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is facing the strongest challenge to his rule since he assumed power in 2006. But al-Maliki has made little effort beyond rhetoric to win the trust of his critics, who are led by disaffected Sunnis, Kurds and even several former Shiite allies.
Instead the Kurds have deployed their own well-trained security forces known as peshmerga and seized long-coveted ground of their own in the name of defending it from the al-Qaida breakaway group and other Sunni insurgents who have swept through the north. The Kurds are unlikely to give up that territory, including the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk, regardless of the status of the fighting.
Related: Up to 186 Kurdish students kidnapped by Isis in northern Syria

 Abu Qatada found not guilty by Jordan court of terror plot

Radical Muslim preacher Abu Qatada has been found not guilty of terrorism offences by a court in Jordan, over an alleged plot in 1998.

A panel of civilian judges sitting at the State Security Court in Amman cleared him of conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts.
Abu Qatada was deported from the UK in July 2013. A verdict on another alleged plot was adjourned until September.
The Home Office said Abu Qatada would not be able to return to Britain.
Torture evidence This verdict comes after a near decade-long legal battle to force the radical cleric to face trial in his home country, and will raise concerns that he may use his influence to destabilise the Jordanian state at a time of increasing turmoil on its borders.
Abu Qatada, whose real name is Omar Othman, was granted asylum in the UK in 1994 but the security service MI5 increasingly saw him as a national security threat as his views on jihad hardened.
He was accused of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts following a series of bombings, including of a hotel, in Jordan in 1998 and a foiled plot to carry out attacks on civilians in Jordan to mark the millennium.
He was convicted in his absence but the convictions were eventually thrown out because they had been based on evidence which may have been acquired by torturing Abu Qatada's co-defendants.

UK military cedes senior post in Kabul as troops pull out

Handover of the number two military job in Afghanistan comes as Taliban fighters launch attacks in Helmand province

Britain has relinquished its years-long grip on the number two military job in Afghanistan, a sign of fading influence as British troops head home faster than those of other Nato countries.
The handover from British Lieutenant General John Lorimer to a German officer came as Taliban fighters launched attacks on some of the most vulnerable corners of Helmand province. They killed at least 50 police and soldiers as well as up to 35 civilians, officials said, in a fight to reclaim territory as international forces head home.
"The people told me that hundreds of Taliban attacked, their target was checkpoints on both the north and south of the town," said Mohammad Sharif Sharifi, governor of Musa Qala, one of the districts under siege. "The police, local police and army were all fighting against them, we have 19 dead and 5 injured, security forces and civilians."
Others died in Sangin and Kajaki, for years the site of bloody battles between insurgents and US and UK forces. They had helped the Afghan government gain a shaky upper hand, but the last foreign soldiers left late this spring, and a Taliban spokesman said they had poured men and weapons into the latest attacks.
"This is the biggest operation we have launched against the government (in Helmand) for several years," spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said by phone. He said 44 police and soldiers had been killed in attacks on 17 checkpoints, and although the Taliban often exaggerate when claiming attacks, his figures seemed close to those of government officials.
There have long been fears that after the last US marines left remoter areas, the poorly trained and armed Afghan soldiers left behind might struggle to hold off insurgents, although provincial officials insisted Afghan forces had not ceded ground.

Romania: Basescu's brother's arrest prompts resign call

Romania's parliament has urged President Traian Basescu to resign over his brother's alleged links to the boss of a criminal gang.

Mircea Basescu was arrested last week and accused of taking a bribe from a man convicted of attempted murder.
A statement adopted by MPs called on the president to step down, saying the scandal had "gravely and irremediably harmed the prestige" of his office.
He says he will not resign and denies knowing about his brother's dealings.
Mircea Basescu was charged with taking the 250,000 euros (£200,000) bribe from the family of well-known crime boss Sandu Anghel in return for trying to get his sentence reduced.
President Basescu apologised to Romanians for his brother's alleged wrongdoing and insisted knew nothing about the alleged payment.

Al-Shabaab insurgents attack hotel in central Somalia

MOGADISHU: Explosions and gunfire were heard on Thursday at a hotel in central Somalia used by Somali soldiers and Djiboutian peacekeepers working for the African Union (AMISOM), residents said.

Militant group al-Shabaab said it was behind the attack.

"Our well-armed Mujahideen in similar uniform entered Hotel Amalow in Bulobarde again. They are carrying out the operations, shootings," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabaab's spokesman for military operation told Reuters.

Shopkeeper Farah Noor told Reuters from the town of Bulobarde that al-Shabaab fighters had hurled several grenades at the gate of the hotel then gone inside and started shooting.

"We don't know of any casualties. The place is now surrounded by many AMISOM and Somali forces," he said.

Report says North Korea test-fires 3 short-range projectiles into Sea of Japan

SEOUL, South Korea –  South Korea's Yonhap news agency says North Korea has test-fired three short-range projectiles into the Sea of Japan.
The South Korean Defense Ministry couldn't immediately confirm the report.

Such test firings aren't unusual. North Korea conducted a series of missile and artillery tests earlier this year.
They come during an unusually tense period between the Koreas. North Korea has threatened South Korea's leader, calling her a prostitute, and the South has vowed to hit North Korea hard if provoked. There has also been widespread speculation that North Korea is preparing for its fourth nuclear test.

New Jersey grants $1.25bn in public funds to firms that back Republicans

Corporations that contributed millions of dollars to the Chris Christie-led Republican Governors Association and other GOP campaigns have received public funding deals worth almost $1.25bn from his New Jersey administration in less than two years.
A review of the 30 biggest corporate subsidies awarded by the state of New Jersey since Christie appointed one of his closest allies as head of the state’s “bank for business” found that 21 went to ventures involving firms that made significant donations to Republicans, or had senior executives who did.
About half made contributions, totalling $1.8m, to the Republican Governors Association (RGA), the organisation that works to elect GOP candidates to statehouses around the US, since Christie became one of its senior officials. The New Jersey governor now chairs the RGA.
Others contributed millions more to Republican committees and candidates including Christie himself; 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney, for whom Christie was a campaign surrogate and senior fundraiser; and state senator Joseph Kyrillos, Christie’s former campaign manager.
Only one of the remaining nine subsidy recipients appeared to be strongly Democratic.
The Guardian’s findings prompted calls from Democratic state legislators and watchdog groups for reforms to the New Jersey economic development authority (EDA), which awards the subsidies and is led by Michele Brown, a close friend and veteran aide to Christie. Some favour barring firms that make political contributions from receiving state funding.

In wake of Snowden leaks, intel whistleblower law passed

Washington: The US Congress has passed a law offering whistleblower protections for government intelligence employees, a move cheered by supporters of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
The House of Representatives voted late on Tuesday to pass the final version of the annual provision authorising the US government's intelligence activities for the 2015 budget year, which begins on October 1. The Senate had already voted to approve the provision.

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Section VI forbids firing, demoting or other reprisals against any intelligence worker who reports violations of federal law, wasting of funds or any activity that puts the public in danger to the inspector-general of agencies such as the National Security Agency (NSA) or Central Intelligence Agency.
The statute also applies to anyone reporting issues to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or to lawmakers on intelligence committees.
"It's a no-brainer to restore safe alternatives to illegal leaks," said Tom Devine of the Government Accountability Project, which defends Mr Snowden.
Last year, the former intelligence contractor leaked details of vast US surveillance programs on everything from everyday people's phone calls to intrusions into high-tech companies' servers.
But non-staff contractors, such as Mr Snowden during his time working for the NSA, are not covered by the new protections. They had been protected under a law that was in effect between 2007 and 2012.
In congress, a number of lawmakers reproached Snowden for having leaked the NSA files to journalists and not through official channels within the government.
Mr Snowden says he tried, without success, to bring his concerns to his bosses.
The law also requires Senate confirmation for the director of the NSA, a post that until now had been outside senators' oversight.

US House plans to 'sue' Obama over executive authority  - why not impeach?

The US House of Representatives will vote next month on legislation authorising a lawsuit against President Barack Obama, the speaker has said.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner accused Mr Obama of illegally failing to carry out laws passed by Congress.
He said Mr Obama, a Democrat, was guilty of "aggressive unilateralism" in his use of executive authority.
The White House argues Mr Obama acts within his Constitutional authority and on behalf of the American people.
"On matters ranging from healthcare and energy to foreign policy and education, President Obama has repeatedly run an end-around on the public and Congress," Mr Boehner wrote in a letter to the Republican House caucus.
He also accused Mr Obama of "ignoring some statutes completely, selectively enforcing others and at times, creating laws of his own".
White House press secretary Josh Earnest dismissed the allegations.
"We feel completely confident that the president was operating within his authority as the president of the United States to take these steps on behalf of the American people," he said.

Lerner sought IRS audit of sitting GOP senator, emails show

Congressional investigators have uncovered emails showing ex-IRS official Lois Lerner targeted a sitting Republican senator for a proposed internal audit, a discovery one GOP lawmaker called "shocking." 
The emails were published late Wednesday by the House Ways and Means Committee and pertain to the woman at the heart of the scandal over IRS targeting of Tea Party groups. 

The emails appear to show Lerner mistakenly received an invitation intended for Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, in 2012. 
The event organizer, whose name is not disclosed, apparently offered to pay for Grassley's wife to attend the event, which caught Lerner's attention. The December 2012 emails show that in response, Lerner suggested to an IRS colleague that the case be referred for an audit. 
"Looked like they were inappropriately offering to pay for his wife. Perhaps we should refer to Exam?" she wrote. 
Her colleague, though, pushed back on the idea, saying an offer to pay for his wife is "not prohibited on its face." There is no indication from the emails that Lerner pursued the issue any further. 
Republicans pointed to the exchange as yet another example of Lerner using her position in the Exempt Organizations unit to apply scrutiny to conservatives.

Supreme Court Limits President's Recess Appointment Power

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has limited a president's power to make temporary appointments to fill high-level government jobs.
The court said Thursday that President Barack Obama exceeded his authority when he invoked the Constitution's provision on recess appointments to fill slots on the National Labor Relations Board in 2012.
The justices said in their first-ever consideration of the Constitution's recess appointments clause that Congress gets to decide when it is in recess and that there was no recess when Obama acted. The president said he made the appointments in the face of Republican refusal to allow the NLRB to function.

More missing emails, crashed hard drives, this time at EPA

WASHINGTON –  The Internal Revenue Service isn’t the only government agency dealing with missing emails or faulty hard drives.
Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy on Wednesday cited a similar cyber snafu during a House Oversight Committee hearing.

“Another missing hard drive?” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-NC, asked McCarthy.
She responded, “We are having trouble acquiring the data.”
Wednesday’s hearing was called in response to allegations of rampant employee misconduct as well as a pattern of obstruction of oversight efforts by the committee.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., threatened to hold the EPA in contempt of Congress over subpoenaed documents he claimed her agency was purposely withholding.
“You have not complied with the subpoena,” Issa charged. “I’m informing you today that it is my intention to hold the Environmental Protection Agency in contempt.”
The EPA is being accused of slow-walking several requests by the House committee to provide lawmakers with documents involving alleged employee misconduct on a number of thorny issues, including conflicts among the EPA, the Office of Inspector General and agency management as well as the EPA’s action related to the veto of the controversial Pebble Mine project in Alaska.
Lawmakers at the hearing wanted McCarthy to address lost emails from a hard-drive crash at the agency that wiped out some emails from former employee Philip North to his bosses at the EPA over the controversial Alaska mine project.
Complicating matters, North has gone off the proverbial grid, making it difficult for lawmakers to issue a subpoena for him to testify.
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