The Nation Newspaper

Tag: George W. Bush

  • Obasanjo wrote Bush over my U.S property – Kalu

    A former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, told the Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday that former President Olusegun Obsanjo wrote his United States counterpart, George W. Bush, to enquire about his (Kalu’s) property in the U.S.

    The former governor accused Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who was impeached as deputy governor, of writing a petition against him due to “bad blood” between them.

    While cross-examining a prosecution witness in Kanu’s trial for alleged money laundering of about N2.9billion, the former governor’s lawyer, Prof. Awa Kalu (SAN), said Obasanjo had interest in the property.

    He, however, did not state the nature of the former President’s interest or what Obasanjo wrote in his letter to Bush.

    A forensic investigator at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Chidi Chukwuka, said he was not aware that Obasanjo wrote Bush over Kalu’s property.

    Kalu was said to have bought the Potomac house worth $1.7million in 2003.

    Chukwuka said the letter between Obasanjo and Bush, if there was any, was of no interest to the EFCC.

    Kalu also alleged that there was a similar correspondence between Obasanjo and former United Kingdom Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

    “I suggest to you that it was not only the EFCC that was interested in the property in Exhibit W1. I said so because then President Olusegun Obasanjo had correspondence with then U.S President, George W. Bush,” the lawyer said.

  • Trump’s CIA nominee sought to withdraw over interrogation role – Sources

    President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the CIA, Gina Haspel, sought to withdraw over concerns about her role in the agency’s interrogation program, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.

    Sources said Haspel’s offer to withdraw on Friday was prompted by growing concern among her supporters that White House staff was becoming nervous that the nomination was in trouble.

    The Washington Post first reported her offer to withdraw.

    Haspel was summoned to the White House on Friday for a meeting to discuss her history in the interrogation programme that employed techniques, including waterboarding, widely condemned as torture, the Post reported, citing four unidentified senior U.S. officials.

    She told the White House she would step aside to avoid a brutal Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday that might damage the CIA, the officials told the Post.

    She then returned to agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

    White House aides including legislative affairs liaison Marc Short and spokeswoman Sarah Sanders then rushed to Langley for discussions on Friday that lasted several hours but did not secure a commitment from her to stick with the nomination, the paper said.

    Only on Saturday afternoon was the White House assured she would not withdraw, the Post quoted the officials as saying.

    Read Also: Trump’s re-election campaign raises $10m so far in 2018

    “Acting Director Haspel is a highly qualified nominee who has dedicated over three decades of service to her country,” White House spokesman Raj Shah said in response to a request for White House comment.

    “Her nomination will not be derailed by partisan critics who side with the American Civil Liberties Union, a rights organisation over the CIA on how to keep the American people safe,” he added.

    Trump named Haspel, the first woman tapped to head the Central Intelligence Agency, to succeed Mike Pompeo, who became secretary of state in April.

    Haspel’s nomination has encountered opposition over her role in a defunct program in which the agency detained and interrogated al Qaeda suspects in secret prisons overseas using techniques widely condemned as torture.

    Former President George W. Bush authorized the Rendition, Detention and Interrogation Programme after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

    Many details of Haspel’s work remain classified. Sources familiar with her career who requested anonymity said that at one point she was the chief of the CIA station in a country where harsh interrogations were used on at least one terrorism suspect.

    Later, she served as chief of staff to Jose Rodriguez, the head of CIA undercover operations.

    In consultation with Rodriguez in 2005, Haspel drafted a cable ordering CIA officers to destroy videotapes of al Qaeda suspects being tortured.

    Haspel’s supporters argue that while she drafted the cable, Rodriguez sent it without the approval of CIA Director Porter Goss and without informing Haspel that he would do so.

    The destruction of the tapes is a key issue for Senate critics of Haspel, who complain that public agency disclosures regarding its interrogation programs have been inadequate.

    NAN

  • Russia meddled in U.S election, says George W. Bush

    Russia meddled in U.S election, says George W. Bush

    Former U.S. President George W. Bush accused Russia on Thursday of meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “brilliant tactician”.

    Bush, interviewed on stage at a business conference in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, said there was clear evidence that the Russians had meddled but whether that affected the outcome of the election was another question.

    “But they meddled and that is dangerous for democracy,” he said, adding that Russia had done the same thing during the Cold War and was adept at trying to manipulate opinion in the U.S. and Europe.

    “Putin is a brilliant tactician, who has the capacity to detect weakness and exploit it,” Bush said.

    Read Also: George W. Bush frowns at new era of U.S isolationism

    The Kremlin has repeatedly denied accusations by U.S. intelligence officials and others of interfering in foreign elections, including the 2016 U.S. vote.

    In an apparent criticism of the immigration policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, Bush called for changes in U.S. immigration rules.

    According to him, it is important to recognise that the U.S. has a history of welcoming people regardless of their religion or their place of birth.

    “Our system is broken, but we have got to fix it. I had tried, but unsuccessfully,” he said without naming Trump.

    “It is important for our economy and also important for our soul that the immigration system functions well.”

    On Mexico, he said: “I view it as a relationship vital for our economy and our stability. We have got to enforce our borders and we have got to enforce our laws.

    “There are people willing to do jobs Americans won’t do. A lot of Americans don’t like picking cotton at 105 degrees.

    “But there are people, who want to put food on the tables of their families and are willing to do that.”

    NAN

  • George W. Bush frowns at new era of U.S isolationism

    George W. Bush frowns at new era of U.S isolationism

    Former U.S. president George W. Bush on Thursday urged the United States to push for democracy around the world and resist the temptation to turn inward.

    The rare public remarks by the former president seemed to take direct aim at President Donald Trump’s America First policies, but without ever actually naming the present occupant of the White House.

    “We have seen the return of isolationist sentiments forgetting that American security is directly threatened by the chaos and despair of distant places.

    “Where threats such as terrorism, infectious diseases, criminal gangs and drug trafficking tend to emerge.

    “In all these ways, we need to recall and recover our own identity. Americans have a great advantage: To renew our country, we only need to remember our values’’ Bush said in a speech hosted by his institute in New York.

    Bush denounced “nationalism distorted into nativism” and stressed the importance of immigration to the U.S.

    Trump has sought to restrict immigration, pushing for a wall along the U.S Mexican border and calling for other restrictions.

    He also pushed back against Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election, calling it a “sustained attempt by a hostile power to feed and exploit our country’s divisions” and said such attacks should not be tolerated.

    Trump has downplayed the Russian efforts. (dpa/NAN)

  • U.S. must reject all forms of bigotry, hate -Ex presidents Bush

    U.S. must reject all forms of bigotry, hate -Ex presidents Bush

     

    Former Presidents, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush said in a statement on Wednesday that the U.S. must turn away from all forms of racial hatred and anti-Semitism.

    “America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism and hatred in all forms,” the statement said.

    The former presidents said the founding document of the U.S. asserts that all people are created equal, and said they were praying for the city of Charlottesville, Virginia

    A 32-year old woman, Heather Heyer, was killed on Saturday by a man who rammed his car into a group of anti-white nationalist protesters in Charlottesville.

    The attack prompted outrage from Democrats and some Republicans, who criticised current US President Donald Trump’s response to the incident, which condemned the protesters along with the white supremacists demonstrators.

     

    “Recent incidents in California, Oregon, New Orleans and Kentucky, as well as Charlottesville, demonstrate the geographical spread of the problem,” they stressed.

    The experts noted that the Charlottesville far-right demonstrators had chanted anti-Black, anti-Semitic, and anti-immigrant slogans, and said it was of critical importance for those who had committed racist crimes or violence to be held to account.

    “We call for the prosecution and adequate punishment of all perpetrators and the prompt establishment of an independent investigation into the events,” they noted.

    On Sunday, thousands of white nationalists, neo-Confederates and

    After hours of brawls, a sports car ploughed into a group of counter-white supremacist protesters, killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring 19 others.

  • Five million people liberated from ISIS in three years – Pentagon

    Five million people liberated from ISIS in three years – Pentagon

    The Pentagon says five million innocent people have been liberated from the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria since the U.S.-led air campaign against the terrorist group in 2014.

    Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said this in a statement marking the third anniversary of the U.S.-led coalition air campaign against ISIS, which began on Aug. 8, 2014.

    Davis said the air campaign was a response to a terrorist army that came seemingly out of nowhere and emerged as one of the most well-funded, fastest-growing and most capable terrorist networks anywhere in the world.

    “On Aug. 8, 2014, two FA-18 Super Hornet jets launched from the USS George W. Bush in the Persian Gulf and dropped the first 500-pound laser-guided bombs on fighters near Irbil, Iraq.

    “ISIS was more than just an insurgency. They were capable of holding 40,000 square miles of territory and able to launch external attacks in Europe and the United States.

    “At one point, they held an area the size of Ohio, eight million people were being ruthlessly held captive by their rule, living in misery, many fleeing their homes.”

    He said many were forced into refugee status and into slavery adding, “we saw their depravity in videos that they posted on YouTube.”

    “Although five million people are now liberated from ISIS control, ISIS still presents a great threat.

    “We know that they continue to murder and wound innocent people — using them as human shields and displacing families into refugees.

    “And we know that they’re spreading to other places. We’ve seen their attacks in Europe and we’ve seen their influence shift into places like Afghanistan, Mali, and now even the Philippines.”

    In the three years since that first air strike, Davis noted, “we’ve worked very methodically over time with our defeat-ISIS coalition, and ISIS’ control has been reduced significantly.

    “In Iraq, about 70 per cent of the territory ISIS once held is now liberated. In Syria, 50 per cent of the territory they once held is liberated, and ISIS has not retaken one inch of territory liberated by the coalition.

    “This includes places where external operations were being hatched and that served as hubs for the flow of foreign fighters in and terrorists out.

    “Also, places like Manbij, and now Raqqa, their capital in Syria, which is surrounded and collapsing quickly.”

    The Pentagon spokesman noted that all was done with the cooperation of a large coalition, which now includes 73 partners – 69 nations plus the European Union, NATO, the Arab League and Interpol, he said.

    “The coalition is progressing and ISIS is facing its inevitable defeat; we will win and they will lose; our campaign against ISIS has been done with the utmost care to minimize civilian casualties.”

    He, however, expressed regret that even though the campaign had been the most precise in the history of warfare, “civilians do die in war and that’s a sad truth.”

    “But the five million innocent people liberated from ISIS would still be living under that brutality and the death toll would be even higher but for our efforts against ISIS,” the Pentagon spokesman said.

  • UN rights chief calls out uncooperative council members

    UN rights chief calls out uncooperative council members

    A number of countries that sit on the UN Human Rights Council are not cooperating with international experts who want to shed light on abuses, UN rights chief Zeid Al-Hussein said Tuesday in Geneva.

    Zeid’s unusual finger-pointing at the start of a UN Human Rights Council session came shortly before a highly anticipated address by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, to the 47-member body.

    The U.S. administration of President Donald Trump has been reviewing its future engagement with the council, and Haley was expected to lay out Washington’s criticism and reform demands.

    Zeid called out members such as Venezuela, Egypt, Nigeria and the Philippines for blocking multiple UN expert visits to these human rights hot spots.

    “Most astonishingly, in spite of having been elected to this council in 2015, Burundi continues to commit some of the most serious human rights violations dealt with by this council,” Al-Hussein said.

    Al-Hussein said China has let in rights monitors but they have not been able to move freely.

    Washington has questioned the legitimacy of the UN rights council, pointing not only at serious violations committed by some members, but also at the council’s strong focus on Israel and its occupation of Palestinian territory.

    In his speech, the human rights chief made a point of highlighting the suffering that both Palestinians and Israelis have had to endure in their conflict.

    “Maintain the occupation, and for both peoples there will only be a prolongation of immense pain,” he said.

    NAN reports that the U.S. threatened to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council unless reforms are ushered in including the removal of what it sees as an “anti-Israel bias”, diplomats and activists said.

    U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who holds cabinet rank in President Donald Trump’s administration, said on Friday that Washington would decide on whether to withdraw from the Council after its three-week session in Geneva ends this month.

    Under Trump, Washington has broken with decades of U.S. foreign policy by turning away from multilateralism.

    His decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement last week drew criticism from governments around the world.

    The Council’s critical stance of Israel has been a major sticking point for its ally the U.S.
    Washington boycotted the body for three years under President George W. Bush before rejoining under Barack Obama in 2009.

  • U.S. threatens to withdraw from UN Human Rights Council

    U.S. threatens to withdraw from UN Human Rights Council

    The U.S. threatened to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council unless reforms are ushered in including the removal of what it sees as an “anti-Israel bias”, diplomats and activists said.

    U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who holds cabinet rank in President Donald Trump’s administration, said on Friday that Washington would decide on whether to withdraw from the Council after its three-week session in Geneva ends this month.

    Under Trump, Washington has broken with decades of U.S. foreign policy by turning away from multilateralism.

    His decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement last week drew criticism from governments around the world.

    The Council’s critical stance of Israel has been a major sticking point for its ally the U.S.
    Washington boycotted the body for three years under President George W. Bush before rejoining under Barack Obama in 2009.

    Haley, writing in the Washington Post at the weekend, called for the Council to “end its practice of wrongly singling out Israel for criticism.”

    The possibility of a U.S. withdrawal has raised alarm bells among Western allies and activists.
    Eight groups, including Freedom House and the Jacob Blaustein Institute, wrote to Haley in

    May saying a withdrawal would be counterproductive since it could lead to the Council “unfairly targeting Israel to an even greater degree.”

    The groups also said that during the period of the U.S. boycott, the Council’s performance suffered “both with respect to addressing the world’s worst violators and with respect to its anti-Israel bias.”

    The council has no powers other than to rebuke governments it deems as violating human rights and to order investigations but plays an important role in international diplomacy.
    Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory are a fixed item on the agenda of the 47-member body set up in 2006.

    Washington, Israel’s main ally, often casts the only vote against the Arab-led resolutions.

    “When the council passes more than 70 resolutions against Israel, a country with a strong human rights record, and just seven resolutions against Iran, a country with an abysmal human rights record, you know something is seriously wrong,” wrote Haley.

    John Fisher, Geneva Director of the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, did not appear to fear an immediate withdrawal.

    “Our understanding is that it is going to be a message of engagement and reform,” Fisher said.

    However, Fisher said Israel’s human rights record did warrant Council scrutiny, but the special focus was “a reasonable concern”.

    “It is an anomaly that there is a dedicated agenda item in a way that there isn’t for North Korea or Syria or anything else,” he said.

    Haley also challenged the membership of Communist Cuba and Venezuela citing rights violations, proposing “competitive voting to keep the worst human rights abusers from obtaining seats”.

    She made no mention of Egypt or Saudi Arabia, two U.S. allies elected in spite quashing dissent.

    The U.S. envoy will host a panel on “Human Rights and Democracy in Venezuela” and address the Graduate Institute in Geneva before heading to Israel.

  • Trump revokes pro-abortion law

    Trump revokes pro-abortion law

    U.S. President Donald Trump has revoked the Presidential Memorandum on Mexico City Policy and Assistance for Voluntary Population Planning, which allowed voluntary abortion in the U.S.

    Trump, who has made anti-abortion policy one of his campaign promises, announced the revocation, according to the President’s statement issued by the White House.

    “I hereby revoke the Presidential Memorandum of January 23, 2009, for the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (Mexico City Policy and Assistance for Voluntary Population Planning), and reinstate the Presidential Memorandum of January 22, 2001, for the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (Restoration of the Mexico City Policy).

    “I direct the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to the extent allowable by law, to implement a plan to extend the requirements of the reinstated Memorandum to global health assistance furnished by all departments or agencies.

    “I further direct the Secretary of State to take all necessary actions, to the extent permitted by law, to ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars do not fund organisations or programmes that support or participate in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilisation.”

    Trump said: “the memorandum was not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person”.

    “The Secretary of State is authorised and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register,” Trump’s statement read.

    With the revocation, Trump has barred U.S  federal funding for foreign NGOs that support abortion, relaunching a battle that has long divided Americans.

    The abrogation came just two days after women led a massive protest march in Washington to defend their rights, including to abortion.

    The decision to ban foreign aid to groups that lobby in support of abortion rights is certain to deepen concern among already apprehensive U.S. family planning and women’s rights organisations, according to observers.

    Stenny Hoyer, a Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, sharply criticised Trump for using his first week in office “to attack women’s health”.

    “It should be no surprise to the millions of women and men who gathered in protest this weekend across the country and around the world that Republicans are focused more on making it harder for women to access health care than on the serious economic and security challenges we face.”

    The restrictions imposed on Monday prohibit foreign nongovernmental organisations that receive U.S. family planning assistance from using a non-U.S. funding to provide abortion services, information, counselling or referrals and from engaging in advocacy to promote abortion.

    They were first put in place in 1984 by Republican president Ronald Reagan.

    Later eliminated by Democratic president Bill Clinton, they were reinstalled by his Republican successor George W. Bush, and annulled again after Barack Obama took office.

    Galvanised by Trump’s November 8, 2016 election, abortion opponents in states where Republicans held power moved swiftly in December 2016 to adopt draconian anti-abortion measures that in some cases pose challenges to constitutional liberties.

    Trump, meanwhile, has pledged to nominate an anti-abortion justice to the Supreme Court, which could lead to overturning Roe Wade, the emblematic ruling that legalised abortion in the U.S. in 1973.

  • Former U.S presidents ‘will not endorse’ Trump

    Former United States presidents, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush will not endorse Donald Trump’s candidacy for president, aides have told local media.

    This marks a first for the 91-year-old former president Bush, who had endorsed Republicans in the past five elections, the BBC reports.

    Republican politicians are struggling to define their support, or lack thereof, for Mr.Trump.

    Mr. Trump’s remaining opponents dropped out earlier this week leaving him as the presumptive Republican nominee.

    Both Bush men had previously campaigned this year for former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush, who exited the race in February.

    They had each supported past Republican presidential nominees – John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012.

    Although neither former president has openly attacked Mr. Trump or his policy proposals, George W. Bush made a veiled criticism at a campaign event for his younger brother saying, “The strongest person usually isn’t the loudest one in the room.”

    “I understand that Americans are angry and frustrated. But we do not need someone in the Oval Office who mirrors and inflames our anger and frustration,” he told the South Carolina audience.