In August 2004, “the Bush administration authorized the State Department to create the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization. The office is expected to develop the capacity (including a cadre of policy experts and professionals with on-the-ground experience) to aid countries in transition from conflict to a stable peace, democracy, and a market […]
8/15/2004
Regarding the torture of inmates at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Deputy Chief in the Office of Legal Counsel, John Yoo said: “Abu Ghraib operated under the Geneva Conventions from the start, as it should have under our laws. Several Pentagon investigations, most notably a bipartisan panel chaired by two former secretaries of defense, James […]
8/10/2004
On August 10, 2004, “the [Abu Hafs al-Masri] Brigades struck Istanbul [Turkey] again, this time sending a new form of distress around the world by successfully targeting a liquefied petroleum gas plant. On the same day…they also attacked two small tourist hotels, killing two and injuring eleven people.” – Antonia Juhasz, The Bush Agenda, Page […]
8/9/2004
“The ABA [American Bar Association] adopted two different sets of recommendations with regard to the Bush Administration’s torture policy. In August [9] 2004, the ABA urged the U.S. government to comply with ‘…the Constitution and laws of the United States and treaties to which the United States is a party, including the Geneva Conventions of […]
8/3/2004
“On August 3 [2004], the Washington Post reported that the ‘new’ information [Department of Homeland Security Director Tom] Ridge was referring to when he made his dramatic announcement two days earlier [that raised the threat level to orange in specific locations] actually was old, and that it pertained to surveillance activities that occurred before September […]
8/3/2004
“In its report to Congress in [August 3] 2004 the FBI indicated it had ‘increased the number of Special Agents assigned to terrorism matters by 111 percent, the number of intelligence analysts by 86 percent and the number of linguists by 117 percent.’ “ – Ian S. Lustick, Trapped in the War on Terror, Pages […]
8/3/2004
Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard, Saudi Abu Jandal, recalled in an August 3, 2004, interview in Al Quds al Arabi: ” ‘[Al Qaeda’s recruits] were not escaping from their economic conditions but rather from the political conditions [in their own countries] because many of them did not find an opportunity to express their ideas. Had the […]
8/3/2004
During interviews conducted by Khaled al Hammadi on August 3, 2004, and between March 30 and April 4, 2005, Saudi Abu Jandal, Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard, recalled: ” ‘According to our security arrangements, if enemy forces surrounded Sheikh Osama and there was no possibility that he would escape, I was to kill him before they […]
8/2/2004
President Bush on the Intelligence Reform, “Recently, the commission on the terrorist attacks upon the United States came to a conclusion that I share: that our country is safer than it was on September the 11th, 2001, yet, we’re still not safe. The commission members have worked hard and served our country well. I speak […]
8/1/2004
On August 1, 2004, after Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge’s decision to raise the threat level in specific locations from yellow to orange, former Governor of Vermont Howard Dean (D) spoke with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. Dean “said he was concerned ‘that every time something happens that’s not good for President Bush, he plays […]