CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Report on the United Nation's Oil For Food Program

Paul Volker's Second Interim Report on the United Nation's Oil For Food Program is available here as a PDF file.

The report is 90 pages plus an appendix and glossary. The findings and conclusions are less than 4 pages.

The mainstream media reports that Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been cleared. See MSNBC -
"U.N.'s Annan Cleared, But Criticized," the BBC's - "Annan Cleared Over Oil-For-Food," and Reuters' - "Oil, Food Probe Clears Annan, Raps Son"

The Volker report does find certain irregularities that if found in President Bush's administration would result in headlines with a much more negative tone. Read the report's findings, pages 77-80. Annan may be "cleared," but there were serious lapses.

At Outside the Beltway, James Joyner posts that although the report finds "there is no evidence that the selection of Cotecna in 1998 was subject to any affirmative or improper influence of the secretary-general in the bidding or selection process," it's a "hell of a coincidence."

Say Anything posts that these type of coincidences don’t take place in a vacuum.

More later.

Report Assails C.I.A. for Failure on Iraq Weapons

The New York Times reports that the final report of a presidential commission studying American intelligence failures regarding illicit weapons includes a searing critique of how the C.I.A. and other agencies never properly assessed Saddam Hussein's political maneuverings or the possibility that he no longer had weapon stockpiles:

The report particularly singles out the Central Intelligence Agency under its former director, George J. Tenet, but also includes what one senior official called "a hearty condemnation" of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.

The unclassified version of the report, which is more than 400 pages long, devotes relatively little space to North Korea and , the two nations now posing the largest potential nuclear challenge to the United States and its allies. Most of that discussion appears only in a much longer classified version.

In the words of one administration official who has reviewed the classified version, "we don't give Kim Jong Il or the mullahs a window into what we know and what we don't," referring to the North Korean leader and 's clerical leaders.

[. . .]

As early copies of the report circulated inside the government on Monday, officials said much of the discussion of Iraq went over ground already covered by the Senate Intelligence Committee and by the two reports of the Iraq Survey Group, which was set up by the government to search for prohibited weapons after the Iraq invasion, and came up basically empty-handed.

[. . .]

But in retrospect, those assumptions by American and other intelligence analysts turned out to be deeply flawed, even though some of Mr. Hussein's own commanders said after they were captured in 2003 that they also believed the government held some unconventional weapons. It was a myth Mr. Hussein apparently fostered to retain an air of power.

[. . .]

The commission's mandate was to examine the intelligence agencies' ability to "collect, process, analyze and disseminate information concerning the capabilities, intentions and activities of foreign powers." Besides Iraq, and North Korea, that mandate covered terrorist groups and private nuclear black market networks created by Dr. A. Q. Khan, the Pakistani scientist.

Doesn't sound like we will learn anything new from this report.

French Opposed To EU Constitution

Bloomberg reports that French opposition to the European Union's new constitution is increasing:

A March 25-26 Ipsos poll for Le Figaro newspaper found 54 percent against the treaty. That compares with 52 percent in a March 21 study and 40 percent on March 10.

According to Bloomberg, the Ipsos poll follows one published on March 25 by the CSA Institute that showed 55 percent of those with an opinion would vote against the treaty.

The Bloomberg article states that a defeat would scuttle the constitution, which requires unanimous approval of the bloc's 25 states. Spaniards voted in favor of the constitution on February 20, by a 77 to 17 percent margin.

Iraq Is Turning The Corner

The Washington Times' Rowan Scarborough reports that senior Pentagon officials think Iraq is turning the corner:

"This is still a tough fight. We don't want anyone to think that it is not," said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, a military analyst who strongly supports Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. "But the momentum is in our direction."

[. . .]

A military source in Iraq declined to give raw number of attacks, but said, "There has been a decided downward trend in the number and lethality of attacks since the January 30 elections."

A Pentagon official said the more that intelligence agencies analyze the insurgency, the clearer it becomes that a large part is criminal, not nationalistic.

It's interesting that with things looking up in Iraq there isn't a flurry of positive Iraq stories in the main stream media, just fewer stories.

UPDATE: At PowerLine, Hindrocket posts:

None of this is news to readers of this site and others in the blogosphere. But our success in Iraq, when it is finally acknowledged, will likely be puzzling to many who rely on mainstream media sources and have heard little about the positive developments that have occurred there over the past year.

Separation Of Bunny And State

In a web-exclusive Newsweek commentary Marc Gellman writes about the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach County apparently succeeding in finding a way to rally 100 percent of Americans against them:

They have now hunted down and killed, like a mangy dog … the Easter bunny! This follows the bah humbug performance during Christmas time in which America’s marketing geniuses demanded that their employees say “Season's Greetings” rather than the incendiary and divisive “Merry Christmas.” Henceforth and forever more, shoppers at The Gardens mall will be greeted by the Garden Bunny and his pagan entourage who will no longer conduct Easter egg hunts in the mall, but rather spiritually generic egg hunts.

[. . .]

The noble cause of the separation of church and state is trivialized, not upheld or ennobled by this insane and obsessive oryctolagusphopia (fear of bunnies). The Easter Bunny has as much religious significance as a Hanukah bush. It is a pagan fertility symbol tied by the slenderest of chocolate threads to the new life symbolized by the Resurrection. The steps leading from the Easter Bunny to the establishment of a national religion (Bunnyism?) are long and twisting indeed.

Happy Easter!

Angola Virus Spreading

Austrailia's Special Broadcasting Service reports that the Angolan outbreak of the Marburg virus is spreading:

Angolan health officials have appealed for outside help to prevent the spread of a lethal virus as the death toll from the Ebola-like Marburg disease rose to 120.

The country's deputy health minister, Jose Van-Dumen, said the situation was critical after returning from a two-day field visit to the province of Uige in northern Angola.

A health ministry official said a pregnant woman died yesterday of the Marburg virus in a hospital in Cabinda in the north.

It was the first fatality outside the capital, Luanda and the province of Uige.

Yesterday the Special Broadcasting Service reported that the outbreak has begun to sow panic:

“It’s complete panic here,” Quiala Godi, a Uige province health official, told the AFP news agency in a telephone interview.

The outbreak has killed two "two Italian and Vietnamese doctors" and five nurses.

There is no specific treatment for Marburg haemorrhagic fever.

California Yankee has followed this outbreak since March 16th. You can find all five posts here.

North Korea Confirms Bird Flu Outbreak

CNN reports North Korea acknowledges that it has an outbreak of avian flu:

"Hundreds of thousands" of chickens were burned before burial to prevent spread of the disease, which can spread to humans, the country's official media outlet Korean Central News Agency said on Sunday.

However, KCNA said North Korea had no reports of human infection.

According to CNN, it's not clear whether the North Korean outbreak involves the H5N1 virus which has been known to jump from birds to humans:

Since late 2003, WHO has registered a total of 69 human cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu. Forty-six of those were fatal -- 33 in Vietnam, 12 in Thailand and one in Cambodia.

In January 2004 California Yankee posted:

The three largest influenza epidemics of the 20th century are believed to have started in birds. The A(H5N1) strain now killing chickens across East Asia and infecting humans in Southeast Asia appears to be especially lethal.

[. . .]

The A(H5N1) virus was first documented to have jumped to people in 1997, when sick chickens infected 18 people in Hong Kong, including previously healthy adults, killing 6. All 1.5 million chickens there were slaughtered within three days, a step some influenza experts have credited as preventing a global epidemic.

Amassing Military Equipment

The Associated Press reports that is stockpiling arms and military equipment including armor-piercing snipers' rifles and night-vision goggles. 's buying spree has raised fears the arms could end up with militants in Iraq:

Much of the military hardware has been hard to hide — sales of tanks and anti-ship missiles by Belarus and China, or helicopters and artillery pieces from Russia have been well documented by U.S. authorities and international nongovernment agencies.

Other weapons are smuggled and may be revealed only by chance — such as the consignment of 12 nuclear-capable cruise missiles delivered by Ukrainian arms dealers to four years ago but divulged by Ukrainian opposition officials only recently.

The smaller weapons and related material is amassing may not be as eye catching. But they are of U.S. concern because of their origin — through U.N.-funded programs or technically advanced western countries — and because they could harm U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan or ultimately , which President Bush has not ruled out as a military target.

Some of the more sophisticated equipment comes from Europe:

Just four months ago, U.S. and Austrian authorities arrested two ians in Vienna on charges of trying to illegally export thousands of sophisticated American night-vision systems for Tehran's military — a powerful force in the region.

In a more recent — and legal — deal, last month took delivery of hundreds of high-powered armor-piercing snipers' rifles with scopes from an Austrian firm, as part of a consignment for 2,000 of the weapons. Confirming the sale, Wolfgang Fuerlinger, head of Steyr Mannlicher GmbH, told AP that U.S. Embassy officials had expressed concerns the arms could make their way to Iraq for use against American troops.

The Austrian government approved the sales in November after concluding that they would be used to fight narcotics smugglers. While wary of 's ultimate purpose, other European countries also have sanctioned similar deals when convinced Tehran would use the equipment to fight the drug trade, said an Austrian official, declining to offer details.

[. . .]

An internal U.N. summary of the program lists France and Britain as providing night vision equipment, mobile global positioning systems, computers and body armor to help ian anti-smuggler attempts. ian officials confirmed such items were shipped. A diplomat familiar with the program described the shipments of sensitive equipment as "likely in the hundreds."

In London, the Foreign Office confirmed 250 night vision goggles were approved by the British government two years ago for use by ian border patrols along the Afghan border.

Another shipment of 50 body armor vests and 100 body armor plates was en route as of last week, as part of British help to that's exempt from a strict embargo and arms and related material, said Foreign Office officials.

According to the Associated Press, is also seeking approval for a U.N.-funded satellite network that says it needs to fight drug smugglers. The U.S. worries such a network could be used to spy on Americans in Iraq or Afghanistan:

A draft proposal obtained by AP, to create a regional satellite network that would survey Afghanistan, and Iraq is on hold, with shifting it to the U.N. office on drugs and crime after opposition stalled it in the U.N. office on space affairs, also based in Vienna.

"The U.S. and Britain and France had questions as to what the intention and purpose of the proposal is," a senior U.N. official told AP, requesting anonymity because of the sensitive topic. "One of the worries — is it only drugs they are worried about or something they could use to track other things?"

Courtney Will Challenge Simmons Again

Joseph Courtney, will take another shot at unseating Republican Congressman Rob Simmons.

Courtney, an attorney and former state representative from Vernon, unsuccessfully challenged Simmons in 2002.

According to the Day, Congressman Simmons' chief of staff, Todd Mitchell, said Simmons will not comment on his would-be opponent until the party has chosen a nominee, but Simmons and his staff have said in the past that they expect every race in the district to be close:

“We are not paying attention to those who are announcing their intent to run against Rob,” Mitchell said. “We are focusing our attention on representing the people of the 2nd District.”

Courtney, meanwhile, is looking for a finance director, and starting to think about money. Courtney expects to need more than the $1.03 million raised by Simmons' last opponent.

The Hartford Courant reports that Simmons has been identified by the Republican House as one of the GOP's 10 most vulnerable incumbents:

"It is the least Republican district held by a Republican incumbent," Mitchell said. "We're going to be targeted every year until Rob is defeated or he retires."

Mitchell said that Simmons' cross-over appeal was demonstrated by his winning by 8 percentage points in the past two elections, but Courtney said he believes the district is growing disenchanted with the Republican national leadership.

[. . .]

On paper, the district is Democratic, but the party has been unable to entice its better-known names to challenge Simmons since he beat Gejdenson, who had been Connecticut's senior congressman.

U.S. Deserter Denied Refugee Status

The Canadian Press reports that U.S. Army deserter Jeremy Hinzman was denied refugee status by Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board:

Jeremy Hinzman, his wife, and their son, seek refugee protection in Canada. Mr. Hinzman enlisted in the US military and during his course of training and service gradually came to the conclusion that he could not participate in offensive operations. He sought conscientious objector non-combatant status from the US military while he was deployed in Afghanistan. His application was refused on the basis that he was willing to conduct defensive operations as a combatant, although not willing to conduct offensive operations as a combatant. Mr. Hinzman then resumed his regular military duties and training. When he received notice of his unit’s deployment to Iraq, he left the military without leave and came to Canada with his Family.

Mr. Hinzman claims that he is a conscientious objector. He fears that as a result of his desertion from the US military, he will be prosecuted and any punishment he faces as a result would be persecution for following his conscience. He also asserted that his likely sentence as a result of a court martial would amount to cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.

Counsel to the Solicitor General of Canada (“S-G”) argued that Mr. Hinzman had a heavy legal burden to overcome in establishing his claim since the US is a democratic state. In addition, the S-G submitted that Mr. Hinzman does not meet the criteria of a conscientious objector. The S-G also asserted that Mr. Hinzman failed to demonstrate that the punishment he would likely receive for desertion from the US military would be excessive and amount to cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.

The Refugee Protection Division (“RPD”) found Mr. Hinzman, his wife and son not to be Convention refugees or persons in need of protection and rejected their claims for refugee protection.

The RPD found that the claimants would be afforded the full protection of a fair and independent military and civilian judicial process in the U.S. As a result they had not rebutted the presumption of state protection and their claims for refugee protection must fail. The RPD also dealt with other matters in the public interest as they had been raised, including that Mr. Hinzman was not a conscientious objector and that the punishment Mr. Hinzman would likely receive as a result of his desertion was not excessive or disproportionately severe.

With respect to the claims of Mr. Hinzman’s wife and son, the RPD found that there was no evidence to support their claim that they would face a serious possibility of persecution in the US as a result of being part of Mr. Hinzman’s family, nor was there any evidence to support their claim that they would face serious harm as a result of any punishment Mr. Hinzman may receive as a result of his desertion from the US military.

The full decision is available here.

According to the Canadian Press, Hinzman enlisted voluntarily in the U.S. in November 2000.
He worked his way up to the rank of specialist, and was an infantryman with the 82nd Airborne Division based in Fort Bragg, N.C., until he deserted in January 2004, just days before being deployed to Iraq. He served in a non-combatant role in Afghanistan, where his application as a conscientious objector was refused.

So what happens to Hinzman and the other 5,500 U.S. soldiers have reportedly deserted since the war in Iraq started?