|
Facing war crimes charges,
Rumsfeld skips security summit
Vermont Guardian
Posted February 3, 2005
MUNICH — Claiming a prior commitment, U.S. Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has decided not to attend the Munich
Security Conference in February. But the decision may also be due
to a war crimes complaint against him in a German court,
according to Deutsche Welle.
In December, the New York-based Center for Constitutional
Rights filed the complaint with the Federal German
Prosecutor's Office, accusing Rumsfeld of war crimes and
torture due to his involvement in the war in Iraq.
The defense secretary later sent a message to the German
government through the U.S. embassy in Berlin that he
wouldn't attend the Feb. 11-13 meeting if there were a
chance a case will be launched against him in Germany. When he
informed the German government he would not take part in the
conference, however, he didn't refer to the charges.
In the Jan. 21 Münchner Abendzeitung newspaper,
conference chief Horst Teltschik reported that Rumsfeld will
instead send the Pentagon's number three official,
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith.
WASHINGTON — A new U.S. spying agency has been operating
secretly in Iraq and Afghanistan for two years. Called the
Strategic Support Branch, the unit also has been active in other
places, The Washington Post reported on Jan. 23.
The new agents may include "notorious figures'
whose association with the United States would be embarrassing if
revealed, according to a Pentagon memo. The initiative also
encroaches on the traditional territory of the CIA and gives
Defense Secretarty Donald Rumsfeld unprecedented authority over
foreign spying at a time when Congress is trying to group an
array of intelligence agencies under a new national intelligence
director.
A planning memo to Rumsfeld from the chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, said the initiative focuses
on emerging target countries such as Somalia, Yemen, Indonesia,
the Philippines, and Georgia.
|