From Volume 7, Issue 24 of EIR Online, Published June 10, 2008

United States News Digest

Gates Begins Purge of Air Force

June 6 (EIRNS)—Defense Secretary Robert Gates has initiated what is seen by many as a purge of the U.S. Air Force, forcing the resignation of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne. The move follows an investigation into the unauthorized flying of six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles across the United States last August, and the more recent shipment to Taiwan of Air Force electrical fuses for ballistic missile warheads.

Moseley was knighted in 2006 by the Queen of England for "contributions to international relations." He also commanded the U.S. air forces in the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Wynne, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, spent most of his career in the aerospace industry, including Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, and dealt with ballistic missiles at different times in his career.

According to Associated Press, an investigation by Adm. Kirkland Donald found "lack of effective Air Force leadership oversight" in the Air Force's nuclear mission. Gates also announced that "a substantial number" of general officers and colonels were identified in the report as potentially subject to disciplinary action, including dismissal. He announced the formation of a new task force, led by former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger, to recommend ways to ensure the highest accountability in the handling of the country's nuclear weapons.

U.S. Subpoenas BAE Director in Bribery Inquiry

June 5 (EIRNS)—The U.S. Department of Justice, in late May, issued a subpoena to Alan Garwood, business development director of BAE Systems—the scandal-ridden British aerospace firm—in the DoJ's investigation of bribery and corruption over a £43 billion arms deal between BAE and Saudi Arabia. It is understood he was approached by DoJ officials as he changed planes in Miami.

Several days earlier, BAE chief executive Mike Turner, and Sir Nigel Rudd, a non-executive director, were issued subpoenas as they landed in the United States. Garwood, in 2002, had been a director of the Defence Export Service Organization at the British Defence Ministry, where he worked on projects, including last year's deal to sell Eurofighter Typhoons to Saudi Arabia.

Last night, according to a report in the London Guardian, a spokeswoman for BAE said: "The company has confirmed that the Department of Justice has issued a number of additional subpoenas in the US to employees of BAE Systems, Ltd. and BAE Systems, Inc. [the company's U.S. subsidiary] as part of an ongoing investigation."

Senate Fiddles with Climate Fraud as Financial System Burns

June 6 (EIRNS)—Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), and John Warner (R-Va.) announced "that we are in a moment to be remembered," in their press conference held at the Capitol just prior to the start of Senate floor debate on the Climate Security Act. The Act, also referred to as the Lieberman-Warner bill, calls for a 18% cut in carbon emissions by 2020, and a 71% cut in emissions by 2050, and sets up a mandatory cap-and-trade scheme in the United States.

The Senate floor debate on the Lieberman-Warner bill dominated that body's deliberations from June 2 until June 6, when the Democratic leadership was forced by GOP opposition to pull it. Ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee James Inhofe (R-Okla.) pointed out, "The last time the Senate debated a bill of this complexity, ... was during the 1990s, when the Senate debated the EPA's Clean Air Amendments, and that debate shut down the Senate for five months."

The "Mad Hatter's Tea Party" debate, backed up by fraudulent computer models, fails to take into account the systemic crisis of the financial system, or the hyperinflationary spiral in prices of commodities driven by speculation.

As the Senate started to debate the Climate Security Act, President Bush announced he was going to veto the bill if it remained in its present form.

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