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Former Vice President Dick Cheney told a special prosecutor in 2004 that he could not remember playing any role in leaking the identity of Valerie Plame as a clandestine CIA officer, according to FBI records released under court order (PDF) today. After years of legal maneuvering to keep the documents secret, they were made public late today under a lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. That organization provided the FBI notes to The Washington Post. Portions of the three documents, totaling 67 pages, were redacted on grounds of national security, privacy or privileged presidential communications. Outline and Notes from the Cheney Interview (PDF) Second document from Cheney interview (PDF) Third document from Cheney interview (PDF)

Former Vice President Dick Cheney told a special prosecutor in 2004 that he could not remember playing any role in leaking the identity of Valerie Plame as a clandestine CIA officer, according to FBI records released under court order (PDF) today. After years of legal maneuvering to keep the documents secret, they were made public late today under a lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. That organization provided the FBI notes to The Washington Post. Portions of the three documents, totaling 67 pages, were redacted on grounds of national security, privacy or privileged presidential communications. Outline and Notes from the Cheney Interview (PDF) Second document from Cheney interview (PDF) Third document from Cheney interview (PDF)

A federal judge ordered the US Justice Department to release significant portions of statements former vice president Dick Cheney made to the FBI about the Valerie Plame case. The judge dismissed objections brought by the previous George W. Bush administration to the release of records about the leak of Plame's name to the media, which compromised her position as a covert CIA officer. The Bush administration had claimed it could withhold the documents because their release could hamper the cooperation of White House officials in future probes. The public interest group that filed the lawsuit in 2008 stressed "the particular urgency to inform the public about the role vice president Cheney played in the leak of Mrs Wilson's covert identity, and the basis for the decision not to prosecute him."

A federal judge ordered the US Justice Department to release significant portions of statements former vice president Dick Cheney made to the FBI about the Valerie Plame case. The judge dismissed objections brought by the previous George W. Bush administration to the release of records about the leak of Plame's name to the media, which compromised her position as a covert CIA officer. The Bush administration had claimed it could withhold the documents because their release could hamper the cooperation of White House officials in future probes. The public interest group that filed the lawsuit in 2008 stressed "the particular urgency to inform the public about the role vice president Cheney played in the leak of Mrs Wilson's covert identity, and the basis for the decision not to prosecute him."

Vice President Dick Cheney told the FBI he had no idea who leaked to the news media that Valerie Plame, wife of a Bush administration critic, worked for the CIA. An FBI summary of Cheney's interview from 2004 reflects that the vice president had deep concern about Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador in Africa who said the administration had twisted prewar intelligence on Iraq. Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was convicted of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI in the probe of who leaked Plame's identity to the news media. At the end of Libby's trial, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said that "there is a cloud over the vice president" in the leaking of Plame's identity.

Vice President Dick Cheney told the FBI he had no idea who leaked to the news media that Valerie Plame, wife of a Bush administration critic, worked for the CIA. An FBI summary of Cheney's interview from 2004 reflects that the vice president had deep concern about Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador in Africa who said the administration had twisted prewar intelligence on Iraq. Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was convicted of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI in the probe of who leaked Plame's identity to the news media. At the end of Libby's trial, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said that "there is a cloud over the vice president" in the leaking of Plame's identity.

F. Chase Hutto, a senior Cheney advisor, is the leading candidate to be appointed assistant secretary for policy and international affairs at the Energy Department, the Washington Post reports. Former EPA official Jason Burnett said Hutto is "naturally and philosophically opposed to regulation," adding, "I can't think of a case where Chase advocated more environmental or health protections." The Washington Post had more highlights from Hutto's career:

Well, the New York Times warmongering capability has apparently not been much diminished by the loss of Judith Miller, who, in intimate association with the Cheney Cabal, did so much on the Times' front-pages to enable the Bush-Cheney War of Aggression against Iraq (still in progress). You see, the NYT still has William Broad and David Sanger. Last week Broad and Sanger apparently somehow obtained access to the confidential report Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei had just submitted to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which included - among other things - its quarterly report on Iran's compliance with its NPT-related IAEA Safeguards Agreement. Broad and Sanger also apparently somehow obtained access to the confidential report ElBaradei had just submitted on Syria's compliance with its NPT-related IAEA Safeguards Agreement

Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald famously declared in the Valerie Plame affair that "there is a cloud over the vice president." Last week's release of an FBI interview summary of Dick Cheney's answers in the criminal investigation underscores why Fitzgerald felt that way. On 72 occasions, according to the 28-page FBI summary, Cheney equivocated to the FBI during his lengthy May 2004 interview, saying he could not be certain in his answers to questions about matters large and small in the Plame controversy.

Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald famously declared in the Valerie Plame affair that "there is a cloud over the vice president." Last week's release of an FBI interview summary of Dick Cheney's answers in the criminal investigation underscores why Fitzgerald felt that way. On 72 occasions, according to the 28-page FBI summary, Cheney equivocated to the FBI during his lengthy May 2004 interview, saying he could not be certain in his answers to questions about matters large and small in the Plame controversy.

While the Republicans were nominating Sarah Palin - who reportedly believes the Bush-Cheney war of aggression against Iraq was inevitable, part of "God's plan" - French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in Damascus, warning the "leaders of Syria, Turkey and Qatar" that an Israeli attack on Iran also appears to be inevitable. In comments broadcast on Syrian television, Sarkozy said "One day - whatever the Israeli government - we could find one morning that Israel has struck.

Garold Larson has the misfortune to be the Bush-Cheney Deputy Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, and hence, was required to "celebrate" the 40th anniversary of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Surely you already knew - without reading Scott McClellan's mea culpa - that the Cheney Cabal came to power in January, 2001, determined to firmly establish by any means an American Hegemony, removing or destroying any opposition regimes. But, how to rationalize to you the absolute necessity for "removing" those pesky regimes? And how to justify to you the use of nukes - if "necessary" - to effect those removals?

GOP Presidential candidate John McCain's ambitious plan to build 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030 as a means to combat global warming and add juice to the power grid is a policy ripped from the Bush administration's failed National Energy Policy, first introduced by Vice President Dick Cheney during the height of the California energy crisis seven years ago.

There's no legal problem here, officials with the U.S. Department of Energy say. Storing mercury at a federal site south of Whitewater won't violate the terms of an agreement the DOE signed with Mesa County more than a decade ago, a top official with the agency said. Well, that's a relief, at least to federal officials eager to find a permanent disposal site for thousands of tons of mercury. But it's not very reassuring to Mesa County residents who believed they had a commitment from the DOE years ago to keep the site near Whitewater free of additional hazardous wastes. That desert disposal site, originally known as Cheney Reservoir, was created to store millions of tons of low-level radioactive waste in the form of mill tailings from uranium milling that occurred in Grand Junction in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.

Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei - who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to prevent Bush-Cheney-Bolton from launching a war of aggression against Iraq on the basis of false accusations about Iraq's nuclear programs, then verified by ElBaradei to be in compliance with its Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency - has really had it tough the past several years. ElBaradei has had to contend with a Board of Governors that has acted in blatant disregard of the governing articles of the IAEA Statute, violating Iran's inalienable rights affirmed not only in Iran's Safeguards Agreement and in the IAEA Statute, but also affirmed by the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

About a year ago, according to reports by the fawning Mainstream Media, President Bush and Secretary Rice were "hanging their legacy hopes" on the expected to be "successful" outcome of the so-called Six-Party (China, Russia, Japan, United States and the two Koreas) talks, which began way back in 2003, shortly after Bush had forced North Korea to withdraw from the Treaty on Non-Proliferation and then launched his war of aggression against a virtually defenseless Iraq. What would constitute a "successful" outcome? Well, for Bush-Cheney-Bolton-Rice, it would mean getting everyone - especially the North Koreans - to miraculously reestablish the situation on the Korean peninsula as it existed on January of 2001, when President Clinton left office.

There has been significant publicity about the use of Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions, its ability to travel very long distances and the consequences to our health. So where does DU come from, why is it used in munitions, what do such weapons look like, and what is their application in today's warfare? Although it was widely believed that DU munitions were used extensively during the Balkans War (1991-2001) it didn't show its true face until the occurrence of an accident at a military camp in Kuwait. in 1991. Events prior to this accident had started intense US military activity in the region as a result of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on the 2nd of August 1990. Iraq forces had occupied Kuwait for seven months and in February the following year saw Operation Desert Storm liberate Kuwait. At the request of the Kuwaiti Government the United States sent re enforcements to the region in order to stabilise Kuwait and secure its borders. It was obvious at the time that this build up was showing clear signs of some other hidden agenda in the build up to an attack on Iraq. It was reported in the NY Times on the 19th of May 1991 that Dick Cheney had emphasized that the move was temporary and said: "It is our objective to get them out as quickly as possible. And the president's made it clear we don't want a permanent long - lasting ground presence in the gulf." It is ironic that 18 years later US Forces are still deeply emended in Iraq with clear intentions of permanent bases within Iraq.

This week several thousand delegates to the 2009 Policy Conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee will descend upon The Best Congress Money Can Buy, to conduct more than 500 separate meetings with congresspersons and key aides, to urge them "to deal with Iran's nuclear threat against the Jewish state." Or else. Of course, Secretary of State Clinton has already testified under oath that "The Non Proliferation Treaty is the cornerstone of the nonproliferation regime, and the United States must exercise the leadership needed to shore up the [associated nuclear-weapons proliferation prevention] regime." The nuclear-weapons proliferation prevention regime which Obama-Biden-Hillary just declared we must "shore up" - as a consequence of the largely successful attempt by Bush-Cheney-Bolton to tear it down - is based upon what the IAEA Secretariat is required to do in the event it discovers that some nuclear materials subject to one of its Safeguards Agreements is "diverted to a military purpose."

"The city of Grand Junction and private property owners are not held to the same regulations regarding the removal of uranium mill tailings uncovered during construction projects. FCI Constructors Inc. is dealing with radioactive waste as they dig up Main Street for the Downtown Uplift restoration project. The sand-like mill tailings were widely used in the Grand Valley during the 1950s and 1960s as fill dirt until federal officials halted the practice, citing health risks from exposure to gamma radiation and radon gas. FCI employees have hauled nearly 500 cubic yards of tailings to the temporary storage facility at the city yard along West Avenue, where the material awaits permanent disposal at the Cheney disposal cell, south of Grand Junction. "