19/02/06 - Aussi barbares que les barbares d'Al Qaeda

Salon exclusive: The Abu Ghraib files
Salon 

More snaps from Abu Ghraib
SMH 15/02/06

Abu Ghraib leaked report reveals full extent of abuse
Guardian 17/02/06

Iraq : Outrage Spreads over New Images
IPS 16/02/06

The photos America doesn't want seen
SMH 15/02/06

Abuse photos authentic: Pentagon
Dawn 15/02/06


19/02/06 - Condolezza Rice voulant le faire plier, Hugo Chavez menace couper les approvisionnements pétroliers US 

Venezuela's Chavez warns Rice, 'Don't mess with me'
Reuters 19/02/06

"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday warned Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice not to "mess with" him days after Rice described Venezuela as a menace to regional democracy in the midst of tense diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"Don't mess with me Condoleezza. Don't mess with me, girl," Chavez said during his weekly Sunday broadcast, sarcastically offering her a kiss and jokingly referring to her as "Condolence."

The warning comes days after Rice described Venezuela as one of the "biggest problems" for the Western Hemisphere and promised to develop regional alliances as part of an "inoculation" strategy to expose what the State Department calls anti-democratic behavior in Venezuela..."


Chavez threatens to cut off oil to U.S.
Reuters 18/02/06

"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned Friday that the United States would get no more Venezuelan oil if Washington were to "cross the line" as relations between the two governments deteriorate in an escalating war of words.

The latest exchange between the United States and top oil supplier Venezuela came two weeks after left-winger Chavez expelled a U.S. naval attaché accused of spying and Washington sent home a Venezuelan diplomat in a tit-for-tat dispute.

Chavez's comments came a day after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington wanted to curb his influence in South America by lobbying allies against his government..."


Chavez Warns U.S. on Oil Exports
AP 17/02/06

"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned on Friday he could cut off oil exports to the United States if Washington goes "over the line" in what he has said are attempts to destabilize his left-leaning government..."


US says has "inoculation" strategy to curb Chavez
Reuters 17/02/06

"Washington wants to curb Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's anti-American influence by lobbying allies to try to expose any anti-democratic policies, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday.

The United States has tried different strategies to counter Chavez, ranging from confronting him to ducking a fight.

In what she termed an "inoculation" strategy, Rice said she had sought support from Europe and other Latin American nations to highlight U.S. charges that the populist Chavez abuses his power to target political opponents and business leaders.

"The international community has just got to be much more active in supporting and defending the Venezuelan people," Rice told a congressional hearing.

She said she had urged governments to go public with criticism of a treason trial against leaders of a movement, Sumate, that failed to oust Chavez in a recall referendum. "This kangaroo trial of Sumate is a disgrace," she said.

And she urged labor movements to back striking workers.

Speaking late on Thursday night, Chavez questioned what he called the confused signals in Washington's policy toward Caracas and dismissed attempts by Rice to isolate his government in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

"She's calling foreign ministers, she's called Spain, she has called Brazil, good friends of ours, and Austria, to warn them about Venezuela, to form a block against Venezuela," Chavez told reporters outside Miraflores Presidential Palace.

"What could be more aggressive? All we can do is resist this imperialist abuse and defeat it," he said.

Flush with revenues from high-priced oil exports and allied with Cuba, Chavez has thrived, is popular in Latin America and has come to symbolize much of the anti-American sentiment in a region that has increasingly opposed U.S. economic policies.

That regional popularity has undercut Rice's efforts to use neighboring nations to curb Chavez, who has used strengthened ties with leftist governments to reject America's free trade ambitions for the hemisphere.

His outspoken criticism of the Bush administration has also angered some U.S. lawmakers.

Rep. Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican, and influential player on U.S. policy toward Latin America, said Chavez may give $50 million to the Palestinian group Hamas, which the United States considers a terrorist organization.

Venezuelan Foreign Ministry officials were not available to comment on those remarks.

Such a move would further strain deteriorating ties between the United States and one of its top oil suppliers after the countries each expelled diplomats this year in a dispute over alleged U.S. espionage.

Chavez has said the United States wants to put sanctions on Venezuela for being a state sponsor of terrorism."


18/02/06 - Un plan stratégique de renseignement pour le département US de sécurité du territoire

From Fas :

HOMELAND SECURITY INTELLIGENCE STRATEGIC PLAN

Efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to assert itself as a
viable member of the U.S. intelligence community have yielded a new
strategic plan for homeland security intelligence and a management
directive organizing the Department's intelligence activity.

The new strategic plan is a handsome document, but largely devoid of
significant content.

See "DHS Intelligence Enterprise Strategic Plan," January 2006 (3.3
MB PDF file):

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dhs/stratplan.pdf

And see "Intelligence Integration and Management," DHS Management
Directive 8110, January 30, 2006:

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dhs/md8110.pdf

Relatedly, "DHS Has Not Implemented an Information Security Program
for Its Intelligence Systems," according to the title of a new DHS
Inspector General report (flagged by BeSpacific.com):

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interweb/assetlibrary/OIG_06-13-Dec05.pdf


18/02/06 - Une voix dissidente au sein du parti communiste chinois

China Reform Monitor No. 617, February 18, 2006
American Foreign Policy Council, Washington, DC
http://www.afpc.org

February 5:

In the midst of Beijing's deepening clampdown on national media, a dissenting voice has emerged in the ranks of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In early February, Caijing magazine published a scathing editorial taking aim at the policies of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. The author of the piece, according to the Ping Kuo Jih Pao, was Huang Fuping - a pseudonym used in the early 1990s by Deng Xiaoping's allies to jumpstart economic reform.


18/02/06 - Le président chinois, Hu Jintao, veut exercer un plus grand contrôle sur l'armée

China Reform Monitor No. 617, February 18, 2006
American Foreign Policy Council, Washington, DC
http://www.afpc.org

February 6:

Chinese President Hu Jintao is moving to exert greater control over the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Xinhua reports that the PLA's General Political Development section has issued a directive requiring the "propagation, and implementation" of Hu's "scientific development concept." According to the news agency, one of the primary goals of the edict is to "ensure that the entire military submits itself to the command of the CCP Party Committee, the Central Military Commission, and Chairman Hu."


17/02/06 - Chine et Iran proches de compléter leur deal sur les champs pétroliers de Yadavaran

Reports: China, Iran near huge oil deal
AP 17/02/06

"China and Iran are close to setting plans to develop Iran's Yadavaran oil field, according to published reports, in a multibillion-dollar deal that comes as Tehran faces the prospect of sanctions over its nuclear program.

The deal is thought potentially to be worth about $100 billion.

According to Caijing, a respected financial magazine, a Chinese government delegation is due to visit Iran as early as March to formally sign an agreement allowing China Petrochemical Corp., also known as Sinopec, to develop Yadavaran.

The Wall Street Journal also reported in Friday's editions that the two sides are trying to conclude the deal in coming weeks before potential sanctions are imposed on Iran for its nuclear ambitions. The report cited unnamed Iranian oil ministry officials familiar with the talks.

The deal would complete a memorandum of understanding signed in 2004..."


17/02/06 - Quand des satellites commerciaux révèlent la construction de bases stratégiques chinoises

A long-rumored but never before seen Chinese underground submarine base is shown for the first time in a new article written by analysts from the Federation of American Scientists and Natural Resources Defense Council. The article, published in Imaging Notes, shows newly acquired satellite images of the submarine base, three air bases, and China's nuclear weapons lab at Mianyang.

China's Nuclear Forces
The World’s First Look at China’s Underground Facilities for Nuclear Warheads
Imaging Notes Magazine


Commercial photos show Chinese nuke buildup
WashTimes 16/02/06

"Commercial satellite photos made public recently provide a new look at China's nuclear forces and bases -- images that include the first view of a secret underwater submarine tunnel.

A Pentagon official said the photograph of the tunnel entrance reveals for the first time a key element of China's hidden military buildup. Similar but more detailed intelligence photos of the entrance are highly classified within the U.S. government, the official said.

"The Chinese have a whole network of secret facilities that the U.S. government understands but cannot make public," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "This is the first public revelation of China's secret buildup."..."


15/02/06 - Les Etats-Unis poursuivent la construction de bases permanentes en Irak (suite)

Tomgram: A Permanent Basis for Withdrawal?
Can You Say "Permanent Bases"?
The American Press Can't
By Tom Engelhardt

Football and pizza point to US staying for long haul
Telegraph 11/02/06

"...For as the news from Washington focuses on troop withdrawals, the US military is beginning to implement at immense cost the next stage in its policy for Iraq. And it is one likely to disappoint those hoping for a quick exit of all foreign troops..."


15/02/06 - Les rebelles irakiens confiants en leur victoire

In Their Own Words: Reading the Iraqi Insurgency
Middle East Report N°50, ICG 15/02/06


15/02/06 - Irak, Moktada al-Sadr impose le premier ministre de son choix

Shiite Alliance Votes to Retain Iraq's Premier
NYT 13/02/06

"Shiite lawmakers decided by a one-vote margin on Sunday to retain Ibrahim al-Jaafari as prime minister in Iraq's next government, after a bitter internal struggle that exposed the growing power of anti-American fundamentalists within the new Parliament.

As the largest single bloc in the Parliament, the Shiites have the right to choose a prime minister under Iraq's Constitution, and they will now begin negotiating with the leaders of other political groups to fill out Iraq's first full-term, four-year government.

Mr. Jaafari, a moderate Islamist, has been widely criticized as a weak leader over the past year and was considered a long shot to continue in his post. But he defeated his main rival by 64 to 63 in a vote of members of the Shiite bloc on Sunday morning after gaining support from followers of Moktada al-Sadr, the renegade Shiite cleric who is outspoken in his hostility to the United States.

Mr. Sadr's followers now control the largest bloc of seats — 32 of 130 — within the Shiite alliance. They decided to vote for Mr. Jaafari after he promised to help carry out their political program, said Bahaa al-Aaraji, a member of Parliament and a spokesman for Mr. Sadr's group.

Mr. Aaraji would not say exactly what the prime minister had agreed to. Mr. Jaafari may also have benefited from Mr. Sadr's longstanding grudge against the religious Shiite party of Mr. Jaafari's main rival

But Mr. Jaafari's surprise victory illustrated the growing political power of Mr. Sadr, who led two bloody uprisings against the American occupation and the interim government in 2004 and has made it clear that he favors a prompt American withdrawal from Iraq.

In recent visits to Iran and Syria, Mr. Sadr has expressed solidarity with the leaders of those countries and angry opposition to American policy toward them. Mr. Sadr also commands the Mahdi Army, a broad-based militia that has been largely quiet since 2004 but is still armed and is said to be behind some recent deadly attacks on British troops in Basra..."


13/02/06 - Chine et prolifération de missiles et WMDs

China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles: Policy Issues 
CRS Report updated January 31, 2006


13/02/06 - La police russe s'enfonce dans le crime

Russia Reform Monitor No. 1348, February 3, 2006
American Foreign Policy Council, Washington, DC
http://www.afpc.org


RUSSIA'S CORRUPT POLICE. The Interior Ministry's internal security department has said that crime in the police force grew dramatically in 2005, with nearly 50 percent more crimes recorded and one-third more officers held responsible for crimes. The Moscow Times, citing Interfax, reports that the ministry's figures include 156 police officers in the North Caucasus who were found to have cooperated with rebels or even participated in terrorist attacks. Recorded crimes by police officers rose by 46.8 percent year on year, and a total of 4,269 officers, including 630 senior officers, were held criminally responsible, most often for corruption and abuse of office.

In particular, the Interior Ministry cited the case of a counterfeit ring that sold fake identification cards and passes, including for the Kremlin. Stamps with the forged signatures of President Vladimir Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and Mayor Yuri Luzhkov were seized, along with 200 fake ID cards, passes and car plates. Three police officers were arrested in the case and more than 20 others will be held criminally responsible.