Q U E S T I O N S:

~ The Embassy in Iraq that is being built by our tax dollars, how did we acquire the land it is being built upon? Did we buy it? Was it awarded to us? Did we just take it?

~ The buildings being built in Iraq by "private contractors" seem to be shoddy and falling apart, are these the same contractors that are building the U.S. Embassy? Is it reasonable to expect that the U.S. Embassy, like other buildings, will crumble and drain sewage on the employees relatively soon?

~ Scary to know that a girl's school being built as part of the reconstruction projects in Iraq was built with bombs encrusted within the cement and walls. How many other reconstruction projects that the U.S. has engaged in and supervised have these sort of surprises left to be discovered in them?

~ Was the AUMF of 2002 based on poorly feted and manipulated Intel? If so, does it still hold muster? How many supplemental and budgetary grants does it take to make an illegitimate resolution legitimate? How many violations of common law, Constitutional Law, and international law constitute a non-abridgment of any law?

~ When the president says to the American people that wiretaps require a court order and secretively breaks the law as provided to him by ordering wiretaps without court orders, when refuted and challenged in court and changes course without reprimand or consequences, who's to believe him when he says that he'll follow the law, as he sees fit? Why should he be trusted now, when he hasn't been held accountable with any sorts of consequences yet, but just a mere accounting of the lawlessness?

~ How much does it cost to not investigate a Republican scandal and instead, switch sides to support and endorse, that which you once were charge with to investigate? Answer found HERE. Standard practice? Payoff?

====================================================
You aren't defending, protecting, preserving the Constitution of the USA
When you allow the usurpations of the Constitutional laws of the USA.

The TSA has reported a lost or stolen hard drive that contained the Social Security numbers, bank data and payroll information for about 100,000 employees.

See article at: TSA Loses Hard Drive With Personal Info.

Wayne Madsen seems to think someone in this Administration wants to fully flesh out the supposedly disbanded TIA system. Wayne keeps a regularly updated chart on the data losses and thefts. PERSONAL DATA THEFTS 2005-2007

Congresman Conyers, there was a time you were looking for more backup to the Downing Street Minutes and the run-up to the Iraq war.

Wolf Blitzer, host of CNN's The Situation Room, on Friday, May 4th, interviewed Carne Ross, the author of "Independent Diplomat: Dispatches from an Unaccountable Elite."

To go to the interview in the transcript, click here and scroll not quite two-thirds of the way down the transcript.

However, since the transcript is so long, I've pulled out the excerpt of the interview with Carne Ross below. Sorry the excerpt is so long but it is a heartily interesting read:

[TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT BEGINS:]

"Now fresh claims that the war in Iraq was launched based on intelligence that was purposely manipulated -- a former British diplomat now is talking at length about his powerful charges that he says the British government tried to keep quiet.

Our Brian Todd has more on the accusations being leveled, the secrets being spilled right now.

Brian, Carne Ross, the British diplomat, why is he speaking out now?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, he says he couldn't speak out earlier, because the evidence he presented to a special British commission about the run-up to war was essentially sealed, until the British parliament requested that evidence and made it public themselves.

Now Carne Ross is not only speaking out. He is facing accusations of betraying his government for personal gain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): He was Britain's top expert on Iraq at the United Nations until just before the start of the war. Now Carne Ross says his government had this intelligence at that time on the threat posed by Saddam Hussein.

CARNE ROSS, FORMER BRITISH DIPLOMAT: Iraq did not pose a threat to us or its neighbors, that its stocks of WMD were residual and not substantial, and that containment was working.

TODD: In his new book, "Independent Diplomat," Ross says the case for war presented by the U.S. and Britain "was a gross exaggeration of what we knew," and Britain's behavior at the U.N. at that time "was, at best, manipulative and, at worst, dishonest." Ross has so angered the British government that he says London tried to discourage him from publishing it and deleted some sections after he sent the manuscript for approval. An official with Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office didn't respond to that claim, but did give us a statement, saying that office is "disappointed that Mr. Ross has chosen to betray the trust and confidence placed in him, and the book is also frequently inaccurate."

Ross not only stands by his claims; he says Tony Blair's government was submissive to the Bush administration, figuring it could do nothing to stop the Americans from going to war.

One analyst says Britain's reputation as a loyal, but honest behind-the-scenes partner with the U.S. did seem to break down at the most crucial time.

MICHAEL O'HANLON, SENIOR FELLOW IN FOREIGN POLICY STUDIES, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: But it did not convince the United States to slow down the decision about when to launch the war. It did not manage to secure a second U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the war explicitly. Therefore, it did not manage to create much international legitimacy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: As a result, Michael O'Hanlon says Tony Blair will take a serious historical hit from the Iraq experience, and Britain may be much less willing to publicly support the Americans in the future -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian, is there any comment from the prime minister's office referring to Carne Ross' specific charges that the British were -- quote -- "submissive" to the Americans before the invasion?

TODD: Well, we called Tony Blair's office. They wouldn't comment on the book or Carne Ross' added characterization that they were submissive.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office also wouldn't comment on that. But they are clearly furious over this book.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Brian, some very, very blunt talk about prewar intelligence, the case against Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

The former British U.N. Security Council diplomat Carne Ross is joining us now. He's the author of that new book, "Independent Diplomat."

Mr. Ross, thanks very much for joining us.

ROSS: Thanks for having me.

BLITZER: So, the bottom line is your suggestion that the intelligence was manipulated to justify going to war? Is that what you're suggesting? ROSS: Well, it's not really a suggestion. It's actually a recollection of fact. All the time I worked on Iraq as a British diplomat, our assessment, both inside the British government and inside the U.S. government, was that Iraq was not a threat.

And, yet, by the time the dossier or the public manifestation of the government's claims came out in September 2002, the governments were claiming something much more ambitious.

BLITZER: And, so, this was not an honest mistake, the fact that the U.S. and the British government and other governments around the world concluded Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons, but it was -- well, what are you suggesting? I don't want to put words in your mouth.

ROSS: Sure.

It's not an honest mistake. I mean, both governments claim to this day that they were somehow misled by the intelligence. The intelligence was, in fact, pretty clear that Iraq had only residual stocks. It's not that they had nothing, but they had not nearly enough to pose a threat.

And that, emphatically, was our internal assessment for all the years I worked on it, between '98 and 2002. So, for these governments now to pretend that it was the intelligence that misled them is false.

BLITZER: You're familiar with the so-called Downing Street memo that was written in July...

ROSS: Yes.

BLITZER: ... of 2002 by Sir David Manning. He was then a foreign policy adviser to the prime minister. He's now the British ambassador here in Washington.

ROSS: Yes.

BLITZER: Among other things, that memo, which was strictly classified, but was later revealed, said this: "Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military action justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD, but the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

The memo goes on to say: "The NSC had no patience with the U.N. route, no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath of military action."

Give us the context of this memo, because it's caused, as you well know over these years, a huge stir, especially the line that intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.

ROSS: Well, I think that confirms what I'm saying.

It's pretty clear the Bush and the Blair governments took a decision to go to war, and then tried to use the weapons inspection route and the claims of Iraqi WMD as a justification after the fact, when, in fact, the intelligence and the facts of WMD did not justify that course. That was not the real reason they went to war.

BLITZER: As you know, the -- the British government has issued statements to the effect that you betrayed the trust and confidence placed in you as a diplomat in order to seek personal gain by writing this book...

ROSS: Yes.

BLITZER: ... and that they don't agree with much of the content of the book. They argue that the book frequently is inaccurate and misrepresentative of the Foreign Office and foreign policy.

I want you to respond to those serious charges from your own government.

ROSS: Well, I challenge them to name where it's inaccurate. I mean, they have given me a list of supposed inaccuracies, but, in fact, they're differences in judgment over my own personal experience.

The book is a recollection of my own work. I'm not making claims about other people's experience, simply my own. And I think my memory of my own work is pretty accurate. And I would challenge the government to name those inaccuracies and debate me about them.

As for the betrayal of trust, well, that's a fair -- fair criticism. I am betraying the trust that was put in me, but I think these -- these issues are more important, frankly, that the public should know what their governments have done in their name.

And I think this is an extremely, extremely serious matter, to go to war on the basis of a falsehood.

BLITZER: The -- some have suggested you should have spoken up earlier, just before the war, or at the war, and gone public...

ROSS: Yes.

BLITZER: ... with your concerns then, when they might have had an impact. What do you say to those?

ROSS: They're right. I am ashamed that I didn't speak up earlier. I was afraid to. Friends of mine who were encouraging me to suggested I should have. I was too afraid. I was too attached to my career. I regret it.

Friends of mine, such as David Kelly, paid a very great price for the fact that some of us did not speak out at the time. I deeply regret it.

BLITZER: Carne Ross is the author of "Independent Diplomat: Dispatches from an Unaccountable Elite."

Thanks very much for coming in. ROSS: Thanks for having me."

[END OF TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT]

Chairman Conyers: Mrs. Johnson's wrongful death is the tip of the iceberg of corruption and abuse of law enforcement under the Bush Administration.

There is a tangled web of corruption woven by BushCo, with far reaching consequences for Americans. IMHO, this sad case of Mrs. Johnson is a symptom of the disease of corruption that is rampant in BushCo's administration and it's "trickle down from the federal to the local level". I fear that the “Big Picture” of the damage of BushCo’s corruption and the lack of oversight of the activities of the FBI, DoJ, and local law enforcement is having dire consequences for Americans. It’s a tangled and complicated story, but it calls out loudly and urgently for Congressional Oversight. It’s a danger to focus on just one aspect of this, because the problems are inter-related, and the solutions will be complex.

I have been reading a series of diaries at Daily Kos about the US attorney purge. This whole scandal has aspects of politicization of the DoJ, as well as the FBI. Here are some of the puzzle pieces:

1. USA Purgegate—There’s Even a Murder in the Mix Re: Firing of US Attorney McKay in Seattle for trying to pursue prosecution in the case of the murder of US Attorney Wales.

”…Shorter version: Unprecedented murder of a federal prosecutor. United States Attorney (John McKay) fired for over-aggressively pursuing justice Five and a half year-old murder case still unsolved…” Note: FBI resources for investigating Federal Prosecutor Wales’ death are being cut by BushCo.

2. Firing of USA Lam was a Crime

“…18 U.S.C. § 1512 c. which states: (c) Whoever corruptly—(1) alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding; or (2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both…”

3. Deaths of Four US Attorneys Lastly a comment by “Halcyon” in the “Lam” Diary: brings up some chilling and extremely disturbing questions:

“…(oddly) Two US Attorneys turned up dead in Houston, who were working on a huge case involving Novation LLC and Medicare fraud; and an Asst USA was murdered in Maryland.........and there were no press releases about them forthcoming from the DoJ........and the murder of Asst USA Tom Wales in Seattle.........”

In 1997, Congressional hearings investigated the extent and impact of international crime on the US and on Americans. These hearings brought up some disturbing facts and, given the current extent of corruption in the Bush Administration and the private sector, it seems that things have only gotten worse since that time. Here are some pertinent passages from that hearing,
The Threat From International Crime and Global Terrorism (1997!):

"(Hamilton?)...These new global cartels can ultimately be capable of buying entire governments...it is impacting on the United States and Americans, both now and the years to come, is becoming a huge problem with grave dangers....The size of this problem is really immense...

"...How does organized crime manifest itself in the life of the ordinary American, apart from drugs and apart from bombs going off, terrorism?"

"...Mr. FREEH. Yes, sir. I will give you a couple of examples. We have done several major health fraud investigations, both in Los Angeles and Miami..."

"...Mr. HAMILTON. Health fraud?

"...Mr. FREEH. Health fraud, individuals who are scamming Medicare systems or HMO systems; millions of dollars worth of fraud and losses being conducted by Russian organized crime groups; a recent case in Los Angeles, one in Florida, another one in New York....these groups hit the ground with gasoline excise tax frauds, health frauds, as well as...the traditional racketeering crimes. So they are very diverse. ((NOTE: Halcyon's comment Re: Current comment about untimely deaths ofTWO USAs who were investigating Medicare fraud;))

"...Mr. HAMILTON. ...I think you had 24 organized crime families in the United States, 2,000 people.."

"...Mr. HAMILTON. Groups. And 100,000 (organized crime) members...Do they cooperate with one another? Do they share information?..."

"...Mr. FREEH. ...They do work very closely with each other on particular joint ventures, criminal operations..."

"...Mr. HAMILTON... Where does this (international crime) fit in your priorities?...What percentage of your resources are given over to it?...

"...Mr. FREEH. A very small percentage...We attach a great priority to it...but I would probably spend maybe 5 percent" (Note: approx 85+ FBI agents) "of my investigative oversight time on cases relating to foreign operations..."

"...One of the things that I point out is that this is not just a law enforcement problem. It affects every part of our foreign policy, as we have talked about military issues...and what contractors we are dealing with... It affects political issues...”

BTW, one issue brought out in the Diary linked above, re: Carol Lam--diarist TocqueDeville comments: “There's a bit of stuff I left for later. Hopefully it will materialize. I'm trying to find out how Carol Lam may have been bought off with a fat gig at Qualcom which is, among other things, a defense contractor…‘The U.S. Army currently uses QUALCOMM's OmniTRACS® Mobile Communications Solution to track logistics vehicles throughout Europe and the Balkans. ‘ Maybe there's a there there. Maybe not. I think this is a valid line of research although difficult. “