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CAMP PENDLETON -- Attorneys for the so-called "Pendleton Eight" are getting their first look at the government's evidence against their clients. A 250-page Pentagon report shows maps, diagrams, photos, and statements about an alleged incident in Hamdania, Iraq, in which military investigators say seven Marines and a sailor took an Iraqi civilian from his home, shot him and then tried to cover it up. Tuesday, the attorneys questioned the credibility of the Iraqi accusers, asking why it took the victim's family four days to report the death. Attorneys also said confessions were coerced, and that military members were not given...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The chief judge declared an end to hearing defense witnesses in Saddam Hussein's trial Tuesday and said the prosecution will present its closing argument next week. The declaration came despite complaints by the defense team that it has not had the freedom to properly present its case and that many of its motions were not ruled on by chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman in the nearly eight-month-old trial. "For your client alone, you've presented 26 witnesses. If that's not enough to present your case, then 100 won't work," Abdel-Rahman told defense lawyer Khamis al-Obeidi, who insisted he still...

Two British newspapers report Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may have have been beaten to death by US forces following the air strike on his house. The Observer and the Sunday Times both carry reports on events leading up to Zarqawi's death on Wednesday, citing apparent witnesses to the immediate aftermath of the attack. In a two-page report, the Observer says that although the claims have not been confirmed, revelations of revenge killings by US troops "means it cannot be discounted". It quotes one man as saying US soldiers pulled a man resembling Zarqawi from an ambulance...

In a development that got no media play over the weekend, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby's defense lawyer announced on Friday that he has located five witnesses who will testify that Joe Wilson outed his wife Valerie Plame as a CIA employee before Robert Novak did so in his July 2003 column. According to the NationalReviewOnline's Byron York, Libby's lawyer Ted Wells told the court that his witnesses "will say under oath that Mr. Wilson told them his wife worked for the CIA." Wells said that he expects Leakgate Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to call Wilson to testify in a bid to...

Researcher verifies testimony of key FBI witnes A researcher of the TWA Flight 800 downing says his use of the map program Google Earth to verify the claims of witnesses bolsters his belief that the 747 jetliner was shot down by a missile, contrary to the official explanation. Robert Donaldson, who has carried on the investigation of his brother, the late Cmdr. William Donaldson, re-interviewed a key witness, Mike Wire, whose testimony was used to create the government's explanation. Nearly 10 years ago, after an extensive investigation, the FBI and National Transportation Safety Board declared "mechanical failure" the cause of...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Dec. 11, 2005) -- “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have met the people I have, traveled to the places I’ve been and shared all the experiences that have enriched my life.” Navy Capt. Stephen Epperson, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Chaplain, serves U.S. service members at Al Asad, Iraq. With vivid detail, he can recount story after story from his 38 years of service. His career began making coffee for an admiral during the Vietnam era. During 1983, he was off the coast of Lebanon for 43 straight days, including Christmas, where...

I spent two days recently in the Circuit Court for Macon County, North Carolina, waiting to be a witness. The Bailiff called people to order, “This is a Court. Tuck in your shirt.” It’s an indication of folks hereabouts that half the males stood up and tucked in their shirts. At the end of this I have a suggestion for y’all. Here’s what I saw in this Court. First, of a total of more than 200 people, only two non-lawyers were wearing suits and ties. Maybe elsewhere, folks put on their best duds to go to court, but not in...

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli helicopters fired missiles in four separate air raids in the Gaza Strip in the space of an hour early on Friday, witnesses said. It was the most intense Israeli air raid in the occupied territory in months. The first strike destroyed a pro-Hamas Islamic charity in Gaza City and a minute later, the helicopters fired at a cemetery in Khan Younis militants used as a launching pad to fire mortars at an adjacent Jewish settlement, witnesses said. Crowds gathered at the site of the Gaza City blast and shouted as some sifted through the debris and...

SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- A former security supervisor at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch testified Monday she never saw the pop star exhibit any illegal or improper behavior toward young boys. The supervisor, Violet Silva, also admitted she could not get into Jackson's bedroom suite unless it had been unlocked from the inside. Under cross-examination by the prosecution in Jackson's trial on child molestation charges, Silva conceded there were "some occasions" when boys stayed alone with the entertainer in the main residence. She said security staff generally went into the house only when summoned. Silva said that based on her...

WAUSAU, Wis. - The family of a teen who broke her ankle when she fell off a horse during a lesson can sue her horseback riding teacher, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday. The decision from the 3rd District Court of Appeals revives the lawsuit the family filed accusing the instructor of negligence. At issue in the dispute is a state law that provides immunity from liability for people participating in equine activities. The appeals court said there are exceptions to that immunity, and the teen's family presented enough evidence about the teacher's actions to warrant a trial. According to...

As scientists debate whether global warming is affecting Earth, "climate witnesses" told a U.N. environmental conference Friday they are already feeling the heat of the changing weather patterns they say are drastically affecting the way of life from the Himalayas to the South Pacific. "In the past we just accepted it was the will of God," said Penina Moce, a woman from Udu, a fishing village in Fiji. "But now we believe there could be other reasons." Moce spoke as delegates from nearly 200 countries sat down in Buenos Aires for an annual gathering by government officials, scientists, and environmentalists...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - U.S. special operations forces accused of abusing prisoners in Iraq warned defense intelligence personnel not to talk about the alleged mistreatment they saw, according to a government memo to a top adviser of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. In the memo written June 25 after the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal had gone public, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency complained about the harassment of DIA personnel, including one case where special forces confiscated photos of a prisoner they had punched. Defense intelligence workers also had their e-mail messages monitored and were...

Witnesses: Jury Wrongly Convicted Peterson REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — In tearful testimony, Scott Peterson's (search) family and friends pleaded with jurors to spare his life, contending that he was mistakenly convicted of killing his pregnant wife, Laci.Defense witnesses have already testified that Peterson sang to seniors on Sundays, distributed food and clothes in Tijuana and that he was a good friend and loving son.On the fifth day of the trial's penalty phase, Peterson's relatives questioned the jury's verdict."I don't believe he's guilty," said his uncle, John Lathamke to see him die. It would tear our family apart."But jurors showed no expression, some...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Admin Mod...Please pull this thread if it is not appropriate I'm a fairly rational individual. I consider myself open-minded. I research obsessively, and tend to accumulate a great deal of information. I believe the Bible is the Word of God, interpreted and translated by humans. I believe things were left out of the Bible, deliberately and for a purpose. I have one friend I can discuss these topics with, who won't look at me as if I have lost my mind. What's this to do with Enoch, Noah, etc? Quite simply put, I believe then is now. We're there.

Last effort to hunt down Nazis seeks help from local witnesses By Toby Axelrod BERLIN, May 25 (JTA) — When the hot line in Vienna rings, Christine Schindler steels herself. It could be a tip leading to an old Nazi who has escaped justice. More likely, it’s another crank caller making anti-Semitic comments. “Why don’t you leave our grandparents alone? The Jews are guilty of everything,” Schindler has heard. “There is one Nazi murderer: Ariel Sharon,” is another line, or, “Austrians have paid enough for the Jews.” “Although I expected such calls, I did not know how stressful it would...

Moscow bans Jehovah's Witnesses A Russian court has barred Jehovah's Witnesses from operating in the capital, Moscow. The court ruled that group's practices broke up families, encouraged suicide and threatened its members' health by not allowing blood transfusions. Lawyers for the group said the ruling was a step back for democracy and was reminiscent of Soviet rule. They said they would appeal the verdict both in Russia and to the European Court of Human Rights. "Religious minorities are often a litmus test for where a society is going... this is an ominous signal," the group's lawyer, John Burns, said. In...

Publication:The New York Sun; Date:Mar 15, 2004; Section:National; Page:4 New Witness: Kerry Was Present at Dark Plot Meeting Group Debated and Voted Down Plan To Assassinate Senators By THOMAS H. LIPSCOMB Special to the Sun     Another witness has come forward to attest that John Kerry was at a November 1971 meeting of Vietnam Veterans Against the War at which the group debated and voted down a plan to assassinate senators who supported the Vietnam War.     A Kerry campaign spokesman, David Wade, has said Mr. Kerry did not attend the Kansas City meeting, and Kerry biographer Douglas Brinkley has said...

In a stark about-face, Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry is now denying that he ever accused U.S. soldiers of committing war crimes in Vietnam, despite amply documented comments - some televised, others delivered while under oath - where he did exactly that. Asked on Thursday whether he had accused his fellow soldiers of committing war crimes in Vietnam during his April 1971 testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry told CNN's Judy Woodruff: "No, I was accusing American leaders of abandoning the troops. And if you read what I said, it is very clearly an indictment of leadership. I...

EXCERPTS--SELECTED BIO's OF THE WITNESSES ON THE DVD: ----------------------------------------------------- Lt Col Dwynne Arneson; US Air Force (ret.) A 26 year veteran of the USAF with an above top secret SCI-TK clearance. He worked as a computer systems analyst for Boeing and was the director of Logistics at Wright Patterson AFB. While at Malstrom AFB in Montana he saw a message that said that a circular UFO was seen hovering near the missile silos and that all of the missiles went off-line so that they could not be launched ----------------------------------------------- Lt Col Thomas Beardon A leading conceptualist in alternate energy technologies,...