Cheney: ‘Torture’ techniques kept US safe
May 11, 2009
Former US vice-president Dick Cheney says intelligence extracted from tough interrogations of suspected al-Qaeda militants had saved “perhaps hundreds of thousands” of US lives.
“No regrets. I think it was absolutely the right thing to do,” he said on CBS television arguing that techniques decried by critics as torture were essential to break the resistance of captured extremists.
Obama picks Egypt for Muslim address
May 10, 2009
Barack Obama will make his long-awaited address to Muslims in Egypt on June 4, accelerating his bid to mend the US image in the Islamic world from an epicentre of Arab civilisation.
The speech, fulfilling an Obama campaign promise, will focus on how Americans and Muslims abroad can secure the “safety and security” of their children in a more hopeful future, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Obama Eases Restrictions On Travel To Cuba
April 13, 2009
President Barack Obama directed his administration Monday to allow unlimited travel and money transfers by Cuban Americans to family in Cuba, and to take other steps to ease U.S. restrictions on the island.
Obama faces an angry nation
March 21, 2009
Stephen Colbert, a comedian who plays a slightly goofy conservative Republican, began his Comedy Central TV show The Colbert Report this week brandishing a pitchfork.
“Nation! I am enraged!” he yelled to his audience.
“AIG announced this week that they are giving executives $US165 million in bonuses. Excuse me? That bail-out money is supposed to be used responsibly – in ways we never see, to prop up businesses we don’t understand,”
New start in US – unBush’ing of America
March 15, 2009
If ever the world would have forgiven a man for not being able to walk and chew gum at the same time, it would have been now. No one would blame Barack Obama if he focused exclusively on the economic crisis, pushing the foreign policy in-tray to the back of his desk. After all, there’s only so much even a Messiah can handle.
For all that, the new US President has crammed a slew of foreign policy moves into his first six weeks, any one of which would have made big news in normal times.
Bipartisan drive hits second snag
February 13, 2009
BARACK OBAMA’S bold experiment in bipartisanship has taken another hit with his second nominee for commerce secretary, the Republican senator Judd Gregg, abruptly withdrawing his nomination citing “irresolvable differences”.
Senator Gregg pointed to the stimulus package and changes to the Census Bureau as the two areas where he could not support Administration policy.
White House turns up heat on stimulus bill
February 10, 2009
OBAMA Administration officials have intensified pressure on Congress to pass a huge stimulus package, warning of the consequences of delay.
The White House asked the Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, to focus on winning congressional support for the bill instead of detailing an initiative to aid financial firms, consumer credit markets and struggling homeowners. The announcement of that rescue plan was moved to today.
Obama to spruik for revised spending plan
February 8, 2009
BARACK OBAMA will hit the road today in an attempt to inject fresh momentum into his stimulus package and his presidency, after moderate Republicans in the Senate struck a deal with the Democratic leadership slicing more than $US100 billion off the $US920 billion package.
Mr Obama will head to Indiana today and Florida tomorrow, areas that have been hit by big job losses, to campaign for the quick reconciliation of the House of Representatives and Senate versions of his rescue plan.
Seal of approval for scaled down package
February 8, 2009
US PRESIDENT Barack Obama’s Democratic Senate allies unveiled a pared-down plan to pump at least $US780billion into the ailing US economy and vowed to pass it this week.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure that this severe recession we’re in does not become another Great Depression,” Senate Democratic majority leader Harry Reid said, as all but a handful of Republicans vowed to oppose the deal.
Wall Street has to adopt a bitter buzzword: restraint
February 6, 2009
Last week Barack Obama chided Wall Street for its “shameful” greed.
This week he did something about executive pay packets, beginning with the banks seeking large amounts of taxpayer assistance.
Under new restrictions, a company seeking government help must cap executive salaries at $US500,000 a year.
