Replies to post #11066 on Nothing But Politics

[Rick Faurot]

Judge Rules Against Patriot Act Provision
Wed Sep 29, 2004 02:09 PM ET

By Gail Appleson
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A key part of the Patriot Act, a central plank of the Bush Administration's war on terror, was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge on Wednesday, in the latest blow to U.S. security policies.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marreo ruled in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the power the FBI has to demand confidential financial records from companies that it can obtain without court approval as part of terrorism investigations.

The legislation bars companies and other recipients of these subpoenas from ever revealing that they received the FBI demand for records. Marreo held that this permanent ban was a violation of free speech rights.

In his ruling, Marreo prohibited the Department of Justice and the FBI from issuing special administrative subpoenas, known as national security letters. But he delayed enforcement of his judgment pending an expected appeal by the government. The Department of Justice said it was reviewing the ruling.

The ruling was the latest blow to the Bush administration's anti-terrorism policies.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that terror suspects being held in U.S. facilities like Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, can use the American judicial system to challenge their confinement. That ruling was a defeat for the president's assertion of sweeping powers to hold "enemy combatants" indefinitely after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The FBI first received power to get customer records in 1986 legislation, but its power to obtain confidential data was greatly expanded by the Patriot Act -- a controversial law the Bush administration pushed through Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to help it battle terrorism.

The ACLU argued that the anti-terrorism laws give the FBI unconstitutional power to demand sensitive information without adequate safeguards.

The judge agreed, saying the provision "effectively bars or substantially deters any judicial challenge."

"Such a challenge is necessary to vindicate important rights guaranteed by the Constitution," Marreo said.

Under the provision, the FBI does not have to show a judge a compelling need for the records nor does it have to specify any process that would allow a recipient to fight the demand for confidential information.

Prior to December, the letters could only be sent to certain financial institutions.

However, legislation signed by President Bush in December expanded the definition of companies from which information can be obtained and allowed FBI agents to send out the letters without first obtaining a judge's approval.

The legislation allows the FBI to seek information from businesses such as insurance firms, pawnbrokers, precious metal dealers, the Postal Service, casinos, and travel agents.

© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.

[Rick Faurot]

Baghdad car bombings kill 45
Rumsfeld: Violence in Iraq 'getting worse'
Thursday, September 30, 2004 Posted: 9:49 AM EDT (1349 GMT)


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Suspected insurgents launched deadly car bomb attacks Thursday in Baghdad, killing at least 45 people and wounding scores more in operations aimed at Iraqi government targets.

"We are obviously seeing a major onslaught by the terrorists on Baghdad and some other Iraqi cities," said Iraq interim Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, speaking to reporters.

The attacks come as U.S. military officials note a record number of car bomb attacks for month of September. In a radio interview, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged the violence in Iraq is "getting worse" and said he expects it to increase in the country as elections approach.

Most of the casualties occurred in western Baghdad where 42 were killed and 137 injured, Yarmouk Hospital officials said.

Around 1 p.m. (5 a.m. EDT), two car bombs detonated at the opening ceremony for a sewage plant, also in western Baghdad, according to U.S. military officials. The ceremony was being led by Iraqi officials.

About a half-mile away, another car bomb detonated at an Iraqi National Guard checkpoint, about two miles (3 km) west of Baghdad University, U.S. military officials said.

A suicide car bomber hit a compound used by the U.S. military and Iraqi police in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib neighborhood around 9:40 a.m. (1:40 a.m. ET), killing a Task Force Baghdad soldier and two Iraqi police officers, U.S. military and Iraqi police officials said.

Three other soldiers were wounded, the U.S. military said. The Ministry of Health said 60 more people were wounded.

"This despicable act killed not only a Multi-National Force Soldier, but Iraqis who were merely going about their business of defending this country," said Lt. Col. James Hutton, a 1st Cavalry Division spokesman. "The terrorists offer nothing but destruction."

Police targets killed
An attack Thursday on the Tal Afar police chief's convoy killed four Iraqi civilians and wounded seven others -- five civilians and two police officers, according to a Task Force Olympia officer.

Initial reports received by Task Force Olympia that were passed on by the Iraqi police say that it was a car bomb.

A Mosul police officer also confirmed the incident to CNN. Tal Afar is west of the city of Mosul in northern Iraq.

In the northern city of Mosul, an Iraqi police official was killed, along with his driver, in a drive-by shooting Thursday morning, according to the security chief for Nineveh province.

Another police official was wounded in the attack which killed Maj. Ghassan Mohammed and his driver, according to Maj. Gen. Salim al-Haj Issa.

10 reported kidnapped
A group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq says it has captured 10 hostages, including two Indonesian women, Al-Jazeera has reported.

The Arabic-language news channel broadcast video Thursday reportedly showing three of the hostages. The network's anchor said the hostages worked for an electricity company called Jibel.

The hostages include six Iraqis and two Lebanese, Al-Jazeera said. The group did not say anything about its demands. (Full story)

Meanwhile, the British government said it was ready to listen to kidnappers holding hostage Ken Bigley in Iraq but was not prepared to negotiate with them or pay them a ransom. (Full story)

Elsewhere, two French journalists abducted last month reportedly were close to being freed.

An agreement has been reached with a militant group for the release within 48 hours of the French journalists, negotiator Philippe Berthe told the Al Arabiya network. Berthe said the negotiations did not involve payment of a ransom.

Airstrike in Falluja
U.S. forces struck a suspected safe house in Falluja used by terrorists linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, according to the Combined Press Information Center (CPIC).

Three people died and eight others were wounded in the airstrike, an Iraqi hospital official said.

Four children were among the wounded, said the official from Falluja General Hospital.

CPIC did not report any casualties and noted multinational forces "take great care to minimize collateral damage and civilian casualties."

CPIC reported "significant" secondary explosions after the blast, a result of an illegal weapons cache stored in the safe house.

The United States believes al-Zarqawi has appealed to al Qaeda to help start a civil war in Iraq and has led foreign fighters there.

His group is blamed for the kidnappings and beheadings of some hostages, including Americans Nicholas Berg, Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley, as well as attacks on U.N. and Red Cross facilities.

From CNN Correspondent Brent Sadler, Producers Mike Mount, Ayman Mohyeldin and Ingrid Formanek, and CNN's Faris Qasira and Mohammed Tawfeeq in Baghdad and Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr in Washington