Koch Pipeline Spills Crude Oil in Texas
The protest against Keystone XL came amid reports that a pipeline in Texas owned by the Koch Pipeline Company spilled about 400 barrels of crude oil near Austin. The company is a subsidiary of Koch Industries, which is run by the billionaire Republican donors Charles and David Koch. A recent report by the International Forum on Globalization said the Koch brothers could win $100 billion in new profits if the Keystone pipeline is completed.
U.S. Gave Iraq Critical Intel for Chemical Attack on Iran
Newly disclosed CIA files show the United States provided critical intelligence to help Iraq’s Saddam Hussein launch chemical attacks on Iran. In the waning days of the Iran-Iraq War, the United States provided the Hussein regime with satellite imagery showing Iran was poised to exploit a hole in Iraq’s military positioning. The United States gave Iraq the location of Iranian troops, despite knowing Saddam Hussein would use nerve gas. The attacks killed anywhere between hundreds to thousands of Iranians. According to Foreign Policy magazine, the United States had “firm evidence” of Iraqi chemical attacks on Iran as early as 1983. According to Foreign Policy, the disclosures in internal CIA files that top U.S. officials were aware “are tantamount to an official American admission of complicity in some of the most gruesome chemical weapons attacks ever launched.”
NSA Spied on Vatican Phone Calls
An Italian magazine reported Wednesday that the National Security Agency has spied on Vatican phone calls, possibly including when Pope Benedict XVI’s successor was being discussed. Panorama magazine said in a news release that the NSA had “tapped the pope.” An NSA spokesperson denied the claims, saying that the agency “does not target the Vatican.”