MAR DEL PLATA, November 4 – As President Bush arrived in Argentina late Thursday night thousands of people came to protest his presence. Bush is in Mar del Plata for the annual Summit of Americas in which 34 nations come together to discuss improving the economy and overall well-being of the countries.
Bush was welcomed by Argentina’s president, Nestor Kirchner. Kirchner stated that Bush’s presence would benefit constructive solutions for the problems that are rising in many of the South American countries. Poverty is extremely high in many countries and the economies are suffering just as the rest of the world.
Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez also attends this summit, but it seems as though his only goal is to embarrass George W. Bush and shoot down every project he initiates. Current hot topic is the Free Trade Area of Americas accord which is supposed to stimulate economical growth, many South American countries oppose to this accord, such as Brazil, Argentina and of course Venezuela. Chavez made no secret of his agenda as he clearly stated “I’m here to bury the F.T.A.A.” and adding “I brought my shovel”. The U.S. government is often accused of trying to assassinate Chavez and possibly invade his oil-rich country. The White House strategy currently is simply to ignore any statements by the Venezuelan government.
Bush was also asked about tricky matters as the CIA leak case and Karl Rove, he refused to say anything about them. He clearly noted that he was disappointed that the confirmation hearings of Samuel Alito were scheduled for January after continuing pressure from the White House to get it done before Christmas. No Christmas present for Bush this year!
WASHINGTON, November 3 – The Washington Post shined a devastating light on illegal practices by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. According to published documents the CIA has several “black sites” in Eastern Europe which are used to hold Al-Qaeda prisoners under no legislation at all.
These covert prisons are likely located in countries like Poland and Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria have already denounced any claims of involvement. Frantiszek Bublan, interior minister of the Czech Republic admitted they were approached by the CIA to build such a compound but they denied the request.
Human rights organizations all over the world have reacted shocked to this news. The Washington Post claims they even know the countries that are involved but have been urged not to publicize this information to prevent potential retaliations by terrorist groups. The exact locations are only known to a select group of U.S. officials and officials of the involved countries. Even the U.S. Congress has been kept out of the loop on this matter although they are supposed to monitor all covert CIA operations.
The European Commission has announced they will look into the claims and investigate the matter. If any European Union member is hosting these sites this could have big consequences for their membership. Other Eastern European countries are looking to get into the European Union and such a violation against basic human rights would mean certain exclusion from the process of even negotiating to get into the Union.
BAGHDAD, November 2 – Today was another sad day in the history of the war in Iraq. In Baghdad a roadside bomb killed five civilians as their van hit the bomb and left nothing of the van. In a separate incident near Ramadi two U.S. Marines were killed when their helicopter crashed.
Just six hours later an U.S. Marine F-18 bombed an insurgent stronghold only 500 meters away from the crash site. There was no indication whether this means that the Marines were shot down by the insurgents as the statements released were done so by e-mail.
Yesterday a Marine and sailor were killed, also in Ramadi by a roadside bomb. This raises the death toll to approximately 2,022 U.S. deaths. Iraqi civilian death rate has raised from 40 a day to 60 a day right now since August 29th. This makes a staggering 1,800 Iraqi deaths in October alone. In addition to this the casualty toll for U.S. military personnel is at 8,154 since the beginning of the war in Iraq.
BAGHDAD, November 1 – Iraqi insurgents seem to get more skilled and skilled at making roadside bombs as this way of attacking the invading troops takes the leading spot for causes of U.S. casualties. In October a total of 92 U.S. soldiers found certain death, a large portion of them by the dreaded roadside bombs.
U.S. military announced on Monday that seven U.S. soldiers were killed in such attacks over the last two days. Four soldiers were killed in Yusifiya when they hit a roadside bomb, then two more soldiers died in a similar situation in Balad, just 50 miles north of Baghdad. On Sunday one Marine was killed by a roadside bomb in Amiriya, which lies southwest of Iraq’s capital.
Basra was the scene of a violent car bomb attack on Monday when an insurgent parked his explosive-filled car behind a police car in front of a restaurant. The massive explosion and shrapnel-rain led to the deaths of 13 people and another 55 were killed. Among the victims were many police officers, at least four were killed among the 13 total.
The U.S. military is increasing their efforts to disrupt the fabrication of roadside bombs and claim they’re getting increasingly successful at it. For now it is still almost impossible to detect such bombs and the rate at which they are advancing is astonishing.
