Paul E. Ester's Flogger

WASHINGTON, May 29 Ñ As part of a sweeping effort to transform the F.B.I. into a domestic terrorism prevention agency, Attorney General John Ashcroft has decided to relax restrictions on the bureau’s ability to conduct domestic spying in counterterrorism operations, senior government officials said today.

Mr. Ashcroft and Robert S. Mueller III, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, plan to announce on Thursday a broad loosening of the guidelines that restrict the surveillance of religious and political organizations, the officials said. The guidelines were adopted after disclosures of domestic F.B.I. spying under the old Cointelpro program, and for 25 years they have been among the most fundamental limits on the bureau’s conduct.… Rest of Article

A key point in unraveling why the FBI failed to follow up leads on Al Qaeda terrorism now centers on the Bureau’s contemptuously brushing aside warnings from French intelligence a few days before 9-11. In a footnote to her May 21, 2002, letter to FBI director Robert Mueller, Coleen Rowley, the director of the FBI’s Minneapolis office, cryptically alluded to the FBI supervising agent in Washington being given info on the so-called 20th hijacker, Zacarias Moussaoui, by the French last summer, but choosing not to act on it.

French officials were long known to have been frustrated with Washington’s neglect. Shortly after the attack, Le Monde reported on a meeting between French and U.S. intelligence: “The first lapse has to do with the processing of intelligence items that come out of Europe. According to our information, French and American officials did in fact hold important meetings in Paris from the 5th to the 6th of September, that is, a few days prior to the attacks. Those sessions brought representatives of the American Special Services together with officers of the DST (Directorate of Territorial Security) and military personnel from the DGSE (General Overseas Security Administration).

“Their discussion turned to some of the serious threats made against American interests in Europe, specifically one targeting the U.S. Embassy in Paris,” Le Monde continued. “During these talks, the DST directed the American visitors’ attention to a Moroccan-born Frenchman who had been detained in the United States since August 17 and who was considered to be a key high-level Islamic fundamentalist. But the American delegation, preoccupied above all with questions of administrative procedure, paid no attention to this ‘first alarm,’ basically concluding that they were going to take no one’s advice, and that an attack on American soil was inconceivable. It took September 11 for the FBI to show any real interest in this man, who we now know attended two aviation training schools, as did at least seven of the kamikaze terrorists.” … Rest of Article

Breast Problem?

The piles of pristine white Chinese garlic at the Berkeley Bowl supermarket are making a mockery of Gilroy’s claim to be the “garlic capital of the world.”

Despite the costs of transporting it across oceans, and a tariff imposed by the U.S. government of nearly 400 percent, fresh Chinese garlic is coming into the state at far lower prices than the cost of garlic produced in Central California. … Rest of Article

BRITISH marines returning from an operation deep in the Afghan mountains spoke last night of an alarming new threat – being propositioned by swarms of gay local farmers.

An Arbroath marine, James Fletcher, said: “They were more terrifying than the al-Qaeda. One bloke who had painted toenails was offering to paint ours. They go about hand in hand, mincing around the village.”

… Rest of Article

Here is the story of the men and women of McAlester, Oklahoma, who run the factory that makes virtually every non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal.… Rest of Article

Memo: FBI Destroyed Evidence in Bin Laden Case After Glitch With E-Mail Surveillance System
… Rest of Article

China said yesterday that United States forces in Afghanistan had captured about 300 Chinese nationals fighting for the al-Qaeda and Taliban forces during the recent “war on terrorism”.

Liu Yaohua, of the Public Security Bureau in the capital of China’s far western Xinjiang autonomous region, said

Chinese officials were asking the US to return the detainees, whose whereabouts he did not know. They would then face authorities in China.

It was known during the conflict that some members of China’s Muslim Uighur ethnic minority had been trained at Taliban and al-Qaeda training camps.

Xinjian, a predominantly Muslim territory in China’s north-west, shares borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan and some central Asian republics.

The operations in recent years of Uighur separatists in Xinjiang fighting for an independent East Turkestan are seen as a trigger for China’s acquiescence to the US-led campaign after the September 11 attacks.

China hopes to gain support from the coalition for its efforts to stamp out separatists and religious extremists in the region.… Rest of Article

FBI chiefs so lax agents felt they were spies
… Rest of Article

ÊÊÊÊÊPARIS Ñ President Bush yesterday derisively challenged press claims of widespread anti-Americanism in Europe and ridiculed an American TV correspondent for suggesting as much Ñ in English and French Ñ to him and French President Jacques Chirac.
Ê”So you go to a protest and I drive through the streets of Berlin, seeing hundreds of people lining the road, waving,” Mr. Bush muttered to NBC News White House correspondent David Gregory during a joint press conference with Mr. Chirac.
ÊÊÊÊÊ”I don’t view hostility here,” Mr. Bush said in the ornate Palais de l’Elysee. “I view the fact that we’ve got a lot of friends here.”
ÊÊÊÊÊHe added: “And the fact that protesters show up Ñ that’s good. I mean, I’m in a democracy.”
ÊÊÊÊÊMr. Bush was responding to Mr. Gregory’s question about anti-American demonstrations in Germany, Russia and France during the president’s visits to these nations since Wednesday.
ÊÊÊÊÊ”I wonder why it is you think there are such strong sentiments in Europe against you and against this administration?” the reporter said. “Why, particularly, there’s a view that you and your administration are trying to impose America’s will on the rest of the world, particularly when it comes to the Middle East and where the war on terrorism goes next?”
ÊÊÊÊÊTurning to Mr. Chirac, he added in French: “And, Mr. President, would you maybe comment on that?”
ÊÊÊÊÊ”Very good,” Mr. Bush said sardonically. “The guy memorizes four words, and he plays like he’s intercontinental.”
ÊÊÊÊÊ”I can go on,” Mr. Gregory offered.
ÊÊÊÊÊ”I’m impressed Ñ que bueno,” said Mr. Bush, using the Spanish phrase for “how wonderful.” He deadpanned: “Now I’m literate in two languages.”
ÊÊÊÊÊRoars of laughter filled both the press conference room and a press filing center elsewhere in the city, where many members of the White House press corps were watching the exchange on live television.… Rest of Article