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Publicerad den 27 feb 2014
To be an ambassador you need
patience, tact and a solid dose of statesmanship. Or, if you want to be a top envoy for Barack Obama, just fund his campaign. Embarrassingly for the US president, his election bankrollers now outnumber career diplomats - but some have never even set foot in the countries they're supposed to serve in, as Gayane Chichakyan reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBlx5TBU4Wk
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Vidareläsning:
Obama-sponsorer fick toppjobb på ambassader som tack - trygg systematisk elitkorruption
--American general faces sex crimes trial--
SvaraRaderaRT - March 03, 2014
A military court in the state of North Carolina will start proceedings this week against Jeffrey Sinclair, the former deputy commander of American forces in southern Afghanistan accused of an array of sexual assault charges.
If convicted of the most serious of charges, Sinclair, 51, could be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison and would be permanently branded as a sex offender.
Proceedings against the soldier are expected to begin in Winston-Salem, NC on Tuesday, but don’t come without delay: last month, the military’s lead prosecutor abruptly resigned from the case citing “personal reasons.” Shortly after, it was revealed that the attorney, Lt. Col. William Helixon, doubted the allegations being made by Sinclair’s lead accuser.
Nevertheless, the start of proceedings this week is expected to not just shine a light on those allegations and others against Sinclair, but also offer a rare look at how sexual assault cases are handled by a military ripe with accusations of misconduct.
Diane Mazur, a former Air Force officer and professor of military and constitutional law at the University of Florida, told Reuters that "This case is illustrating why the current system can be very counter-productive.”
“Sinclair's attorneys argue that defense officials facing intense political pressure to curb sexual violence in the military have targeted an officer who has served five combat tours with sex charges that hang on weak evidence and an unreliable primary witness,” Reuters journalist Colleen Jenkins reported on Monday.
Indeed, reports of such assaults within the military increased by 60 percent between fiscal years 2012 and 2013, a spokesperson for the Pentagon told the newswire. With regards to the allegations against Sinclair, however, his case represents a rare instance in which an officer with a tremendous amount of authority is being court-martialed for alleged sex crimes.
Sinclair has been charged with forcible sodomy and adultery related to an extramarital relationship and inappropriate conduct with several women.[...]
http://rt.com/usa/jeffrey-sinclair-sex-trial-671/
--Navy’s second-in-command forced to resign amid corruption scandal--
SvaraRaderaRT - January 15, 2014
The US Navy has forced the second-highest ranked civilian official to resign as a result of a growing investigation into an alleged contracting conspiracy, which revealed sexual misconduct with a subordinate officer.
Robert C. Martinage, who was acting undersecretary of the Navy, was asked to step down by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus “following a loss of confidence in [his] abilities to effectively perform his duties.” The Navy announced the news Wednesday in an official statement.
At least three senior intelligence officials who reported to Martinage are currently under investigation for their part in purchasing firearm silencers from a California mechanic named Mark S. Landersman, who is related to one of the three intelligence officials. Landersman is accused of charging the Navy $1.6 million for the silencers, while court records indicate the pieces cost a mere $8,000 to manufacture. The weapons parts were intended for Navy SEAL Team 6, the military squad which ultimately killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden during a raid of his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011.
Sources told DefenseNews.com that Martinage is not thought to have committed any crimes but may have approved the deal with the contractor. He was asked to resign because, while investigating any role Martinage may have had in the deal, officials discovered that he had been engaged in an extramarital affair with a subordinate female officer. The US Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibits members of the service from having extramarital sex.
The Navy undersecretary reports directly to the Secretary of the Navy, a civilian position that oversees the entire branch of the military service.
Martinage – who’s usual position was as Navy undersecretary for plans, policy, oversight and integration - had been serving as interim undersecretary after his predecessor Robert Work resigned in May to work at a Washington think tank.[...]
http://rt.com/usa/navy-civilian-ranked-resigns-corruption-668/
--Obama Nominates Former SOPA Lobbyist to Help Lead TPP Negotiations--
SvaraRaderaby Maira Sutton, Electronic Frontier Foundation
President Obama has nominated former SOPA lobbyist Robert Holleyman to join the team of U.S. negotiators leading the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks.
If confirmed by the Senate, the former chief executive officer of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) would serve as a Deputy to the U.S. Trade Representative. Coincidentally, the current head of the BSA is former White House IP Czar Victoria Espinel.
Holleyman is an interesting choice for the Obama administration, given the current standstill in TPP negotiations. Reports from the TPP ministerial meeting last weekend said that nothing substantive came out of those talks and that an end date for this sprawling deal is growing increasingly uncertain. One of the many topics of contention is the copyright enforcement sections. On these, the U.S. refuses to agree to provisions that would allow signatory countries flexibility in their copyright regimes.
As a result, countries like Chile and Canada are standing firm against U.S. proposals--a stance confirmed by the "Intellectual Property" chapter published by Wikileaks in November.
These proposals include provisions that would place greater liabilities on Internet Service Providers, create new tools of censorship, and new restrictions on how users can access and interact with digital content. Instead of allowing other countries to choose their own approaches to copyright, Obama's choice to appoint a prominent supporter of the spectacularly failed SOPA bill indicates the White House's unwillingness to let up on its extreme stance on copyright enforcement.
The evidence of corporate influence on trade talks doesn't stop there. Recent reports revealed that prominent U.S. trade officials had received millions of dollars in bonuses before they left their corporate jobs to take up their position at the Obama administration. Soon after these revelations, the U.S. Trade Rep Michael Froman--who received $4 million in bonuses from banking giant CitiGroup--introduced plans to create a new Public Interest Trade Advisory Committee. If this was an attempt to address our criticism of the overwhelming influence of private interests in setting the U.S. trade agenda, it was--at best--a half-hearted one.[...]
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=46655