A few weeks ago, [Mark] Benjamin wrote a piece exposing how a group of soldiers from the 3rd Brigade-3rd Infantry at Ft. Benning, GA had their medical statuses summarily downgraded in February so they could be re-deployed to Iraq.This week, Benjamin examines how some of those soldiers, plus many others, were recently sent to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, CA for "training," despite being physically unable to perform most usual exercises.
The injured soldiers were not forced to train, but were simply housed in tents on site--their physical presence apparently being good enough to count them among the numbers cited as "trained" for the surge.
Attorney Purge
Warned to shut up.
Carol Lam's dismissal is (okay, "allegedly") connected to the Duke Cunningham bribery case, the fallout of which is ongoing....[FBI] bureau chief for San Diego Dan Dzwilewski had complained to the press about Carol Lam's firing, said that he "guaranteed" politics was involved, and that without her, a number of ongoing investigations might be jeopardized. Specter didn't want to hear that from the press -- he wanted to hear that sort of thing from [Bureau Chief Robert] Mueller.Mueller responded that Dzwilewski hadn't passed such complaints up the chain, and that "my understanding is that our chief out there believes he was misquoted, but that our investigations were continuing, without any diminishment."
Misquoted? Sen. Dianne Feinstein followed up:
FEINSTEIN: Well, we followed up and I had my chief counsel call them to verify what they said. And they said, yes, they said it. But they also said they'd been warned to say no more. Are you aware that they had been warned to say no more?
MUELLER: Yes, I am.
[Congressman Henry] Waxman has asked for all MZM contracts related to the White House and other materials...[...]
It could be that MZM in the summer of 2002 managed to snag a small White House contract in legitimate fashion, even as Wade was plotting a quick, bribery-greased rise to the top. But given that the Cunningham/MZM tale is one of sleaze and crime--I haven't even mentioned the prostitutes Cunningham received as bribes--Wade's first contract with the Bush administration deserves scrutiny. Republican legislators--no surprise--expressed no interest in this when they ran Congress. And, coincidentally or not, the US attorney in charge of the Cunningham case, Carol Lam, is one of the prosecutors who was fired by the Bush administration. But here comes Waxman, and the Case of MZM's First Contract is alive and open.
Gettin' a little hot in the kitchen for Gonzo.
Rich.Attorney General Alberto Gonzales dashed out of a Chicago news conference this afternoon in just two and a half minutes, ducking questions about how his office gave U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald a subpar rating.Gonzales, who increasingly faces calls for his resignation, was here to promote a new ad campaign and had planned a 15-minute press availability. He left after taking just three questions over a firing scandal consuming his administration.
Before leaving, Gonzales said he wanted to "reassure the American people that nothing improper happened here."
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
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