SPB News for Friday.

Iraq team banned from Olympics

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles is set to probe Countrywide, IndyMac, and New Century Financial Corp. The investigation will examine whether fraud and other crimes have contributed to the current mortgage crisis. (LA Times)

ACLU Obtains Key Memos Authorizing CIA Torture Methods --Memo Instructed CIA to Document Both Torture Techniques and Agents Participating In Interrogations The American Civil Liberties Union today obtained three redacted documents related to the Bush administration's brutal interrogation policies, including a previously withheld Justice Department memo authorizing the CIA's use of torture. "These documents supply further evidence, if any were needed, that the Justice Department authorized the CIA to torture prisoners in its custody," said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. "The Justice Department twisted the law, and in some cases ignored it altogether, in order to permit interrogators to use barbaric methods that the U.S. once prosecuted as war crimes."

The Pentagon and Oil By Sarah Meyer Sohbet Karbuz has been following "Oil" and "the Pentagon" since 1999. Karbuz’ most complete article, US Military Energy Consumption- Facts and Figures, with extensive footnotes, was published in May 2007 on Energy Bulletin. From this article: ...The U.S. military is the single largest consumer of energy in the world. The American GI is the most energy-consuming soldier ever seen on the field of war. In 2005, The U.S. Navy was the largest diesel fuel user in the world.

On tape, Hamdan claimed he worked for charity Pentagon prosecutors on Wednesday screened a 2001 video of Osama bin Laden's driver lying and being evasive in his first battlefield interrogation, in a bid to prove he was an Al Qaeda [al-CIAduh] terrorist. In the video, defendant Salim Hamdan says he worked for a charity called Wafa.

FEMA seeks immunity from trailer fume suits The Federal Emergency Management Agency asked a federal judge Wednesday for immunity from lawsuits over potentially dangerous fumes in government-issued trailers that have housed tens of thousands of Gulf Coast hurricane victims. Lawyers for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita accuse FEMA of negligence for sheltering them in trailers with elevated levels of formaldehyde, a preservative used in construction materials that can cause health problems.

Pentagon Pressured, Intimidated Auditors to Favor Contractors, GAO Says --7 contractors cited: Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Fluor, Parker Hannifin, Sparta, SRS Technologies and a subsidiary of L3 Communications Auditors at a Pentagon oversight agency were pressured by supervisors to skew their reports on major defense contractors to make them look more favorable instead of exposing wrongdoing and charges of overbilling, according to an 80-page report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office. The Defense Contract Audit Agency, which oversees contractors for the Defense Department, "improperly influenced the audit scope, conclusions and opinions" of reviews of contractor performance, the GAO said, creating a "serious independence issue." Supervisors at DCAA attempted to intimidate auditors, prevented them from speaking with GAO investigators and created a "generally abusive work environment," the report said. It cited incidents of "verbal admonishments, reassignments and threats of disciplinary action" against workers who "raised questions about management guidance."

Plan Would Use $230M In 'Antiterror Aid' for Pakistani Jets The Bush regime plans to shift nearly $230 million in aid to Pakistan from counterterrorism programs to upgrading that country’s F-16 attack planes. Some members of Congress have greeted the proposal with dismay and anger, and may block the move. The financing for the F-16s would represent more than two-thirds of the $300 million that Pakistan will receive this year in American military financing for equipment and training.