Perpetual War, the Afghan War Diary, and the WaPo Secret Government Investigation: What has been revealed?

We are fighting around the World to feed our military-industrial-energy-finance-media complex so its 'captains of finance and industry' can play dueling 'my kids' trust funds are bigger than yours' and 'my yachts and jets bigger and better than yours.''

The U.S. has one main export...a 21st century war enterprise with all its accouterments and trappings. The money is made in selling the energy required to wage it, in the laundrying and gambling of the vast Congressional funding that flows out of Washington and into the privatization casino, and then even more money is made in the hiding of the vast amounts of profits protected from taxation, oversight, or accountability while the American public is turned into a drug-addled, crazed consumer of all things.

All the smoke and mirrors are made possible by the media 'force multipliers' and the cable pundits that shill for the 'captains' while hawking 'erectile enhancers,' and 'death on a bun' to keep the American public distracted and hypnotized. They all must be fed...it is the Vampire Class and it needs US tax dollars to survive - and has for well over a century now, but never as the global mammoth it is today.

The big irony is the fact that the US taxpayers are then denied their fare share of the bounty as the coffers of international tax havens swell, and US citizens are still expected to supply the 'boots on ground' and buy yet more equipment to fight the resource wars -- wars that empty the Treasury while Wall Street posts record profits.  Once the 'mission accomplished' flags go up, our citizen soldiers then must remain to rebuild, protect, and secure the corporate interests 'from all enemies - foreign and domestic - with more lives and money...until it's time to destroy again and restart the cycle. 

Another irony: The jobs building this war machinery are outsourced to countries our government pays the shilling cable pundits to bash, so as to sell more conflict which will require more war accouterments, and on-and-on in a cycle of perpetual destruction and profit.

Morning Update: 

Wikileaks' Julian Assange Live Telecast on Afghan War Diary logs.

Watch Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, discuss the leaking of US military documents that reveal that British troops shot and bombed Afghan civilians, including women and children, at least 21 times.

BOMBSHELL:

Wikileaks takes on the US Secret Government - in what can best be described as "Pentagon Papers Redux" - and presents "a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, Taliban attacks have soared and Nato commanders fear neighbouring Pakistan and Iran are fueling the insurgency."

Following the Washington Posts disappointing 'investigative' report of the US Secret Government, Wikileaks' tweeted:

"WaPo expose of the US shadow-state smothered. Time to take the gloves off if we want reform."

Today, Wikileaks posted 92,201 Afghan War documents in what can only be described as "one of the biggest leaks in intelligence history."  The Guardian UK has created a down-loadable spreadsheet containing the full military logs of 300 key events that's a virtual historical blow-by-blow of the history of the Afghanistan war from 2004 thru 2010 -- with maps: 

We have reproduced full military logs behind more than 200 of the key events from the database - you can navigate around them. But if you want to download this data to play with it yourself, this is the place to come.

These detailed reports show coalition forces' attacks on civilians, friendly fire incidents and Afghan forces attacking each other - so-called green on green.

In addition to these documents, Wikileaks is rumored to have in its possession another 250,000 diplomatic dispatches on our other war.  The Iraq War Logs next leak? 

Wikileaks provided the documents to the Guardian, New York Times, and Der Spiegel -- links below:

*  Glenn Greenwald has more links:  The Wikileaks Afghanistan Leak

*  Video: Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, explains leak.

*  Wikileaks Afghan War Diary - Dedicated Site

*  White House Initial Response

*  NYTimes Interactive Site: "The War Logs"

*  Der Spiegel:  The Afghanistan Protocol

*  Guardian Interactive Site

*  Afghan War Diary -- Top 300

*  Pakistan's Dangerous Double Dealing

*  Polish intelligence warned of Taliban attack on Indian embassy in Kabul 

*  NYTimes dedicates "The War Logs" Blog to leak featuring updated responses.

*  The New York Times has created a detailed summary of the documents and provided an explanation on how they pieced the reports together and decided what to publish.

*  US Elite Unit - Task Force 373 Targeted Assassination Squad - Could Create Political Fallout for Berlin (Der Spiegel)

*  Afghanistan war logs: Task Force 373 - special forces hunting top Taliban

*  Security Advisory Gen. James Jones on Wikileaks Leak

*  Statement of John Kerry, Chair Senate Foreign Relations Comm:

"However illegally these documents came to light, they raise serious questions about the reality of America's policy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan. Those policies are at a critical stage and these documents may very well underscore the stakes and make the calibrations needed to get the policy right more urgent."

*  Newsweek:  The Pentagon Papers, Redux

*  Antiwar.com:  Bradley Manning's Gift

*  The 7 Most Shocking Secrets from the Wikileaks Files

1) Pakistan's spy service, according to revealed documents, is a major supporter of insurgents in Afghanistan, allowing its members to meet secretly with the Taliban, offering strategy advice, organizing groups to fight coalition troops, and plotting the assassinations of members of the Afghan government.

2) A top-secret group of American forces, nicknamed the "black" unit, is specially tasked with hunting down top Taliban leaders and either killing or capturing them on the spot--without a trial. The Obama administration has apparently increased the missions even though some have gone awry, killing civilians. 

3) NATO troops are relying on remote-controlled Predator drones more and more heavily, controlling them from a base in Nevada and using them to kill an increasing number of Taliban targets.

4) The Taliban has access to heat-seeking missiles and has used them against American aircraft, a fact never before disclosed publicly. Many of the missiles aren't successful, but Americans are forced into dangerous retrieval operations when the missiles crash, so that Taliban do not recover them.

5) Several documents detail the frustrating disappearance of money meant for humanitarian aid, such as the case of an orphanage erected with much fanfare and donations in Gardez. A year after its opening, American visitors reported that there we no orphans at the site, and that many had been called home for the holidays. (In Afghanistan, an orphan is defined as having no father, but many still have mothers.)

6) Civilian death tolls are rising consistently, with the Taliban conducting a successfull roadside bombing campaign. As of the writing of the report, one document cited 2,000 civilian deaths from roadside car bombs alone.

7) U.S. forces covered up a 2007 helicopter attack, according to the documents, claiming that Taliban brought down a coalition helicopter with conventional weaponry--when instead they used a missile. A U.S. official at the time said the attack, which killed seven soldiers, "had probably been brought down by a rocket-propelled grenade."

*  Strategic Plans Spawned Bitter End for a Lonely Outpost

*  Afghanistan war logs: Osama Bin Laden reported to have issued orders to suicide bombers in Afghanistan

*  Afghanistan war logs: 56 civilians killed in Nato bombing

*  Wikileaks says evidence of war crimes in document

*  View Is Bleaker Than Official Portrayal of War in Afghanistan

*  Murder on the Khyber Express

*  Afghan war logs: how the classified information was disclosed through Wikileaks

*  Afghan War Files 'Reveal Squalor of War 

*  Exclusive: After Revealing Afghan War Secrets, Wikileaks Prepares Document Dumps on Iraq and Diplomacy

For those who have been following the Gulf Oil Spill, Open Secrets Blog now offers a unique research tool to help interested parties "follow the money" as BP stretches its formidable muscle in federal politics as its 'butcher's bill' increases.

Investigate the Many Ways BP Seeks to Influence Federal Politics

With the Gulf of Mexico's oil spill crisis far from over, OpenSecrets.org now features a central resource page helping you track oil company BP's political money.
Called "BP Basics," the page in filled with details about the tens of millions of dollars BP, which operated the ill-fated DeepWater Horizon oil rig, has spent to influence federal politics. What you'll find includes:

• Detailed charts and data about the campaign contributions to federal politicians and committees by BP's political action committee and employees
• Comprehensive information on BP's federal lobbying activity, such as the tens of millions of dollars spends, the often powerful lobbyists it hires and issues and bills on which it lobbies
• Federal lawmakers' personal investments in BP's stock
• About two-dozen original OpenSecrets Blog articles since April investigating BP's influence on federal politics

The hyperlink below takes you to the Glenn Greenwald article:  "Why has the Post series created so little reaction?"  A secret corporate-government security/surveillance state that is rapidly transferring the Nation's treasury into the accounts of a select few - effectively killing the middle class -  is exposed in a major mainstream newspaper (same paper that exposed the Watergate affair) and the world yawns?

New preamble: One nation, two parties - indistinguishable, zero-liberty, and 'straw-man' justice for all...

Wikileaks Leaks:

New release:  Message -- Real change begins Monday in the WashPost. By the years end, a reformation. Lights on. Rats out.

Politicians from all walks past and present should be getting on a plane and flying to their nearest 'rehab on retainer' facility.  It is not going to be pretty, I suspect.

 

Rand Paul: "Keep Kentuckians' Tax Dollars At Home."  All Three Halves of It?

Rand Paul is clueless about many things -- place math and economics at the top of the list.  Someone explain to him that three halves do not make a whole - except in his case, they make an incompetent asshole.

Kentucky is a state that receives much more in federal dollars than pays.  The state is currently on the public tit - big time - collecting $1.51 in federal dollars for every $1.00 in federal income taxes collected.  Pretty good deal for Kentuckians, wouldn't you say?   Apparently, Rand Paul does not think so...

"If elected, Paul said he would vote to keep Kentuckians' tax dollars at home to deal with issues instead of sending the money to Washington, D.C.

When tax money flows to the nation's capitol, half stays there, half is wasted and half of it goes to political cronyism, Paul said."

Duh....$1.51 return for $1?  What part of this deal upsets you, asshole?

According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, Kentucky has a FY 2010 FY budget deficit of $780 million with a projected deficit of $1.4 billion for FY 2011.   Rand's plan would further devastate a state already struggling. 

Other states' federal taxes have been graciously carrying Kentucky year after year.  For example:  Those Northern Yankees in New Jersey only receive a return of $.61 on every $1.00 they pay in federal income taxes.  With a projected $2 billion budget deficit this year, I'm sure New Jersey residents would prefer to see at least a dollar-for-dollar return.   

So please, Rand Paul stop the grand-standing "Tea Bagger" macho crap, humble yourself, and give thanks to the other citizens in the US - liberal or conservative - whose hard earned money goes to help Kentucky -- a state that has not pulled its own weight in decades - if ever.

 

 

Because HuffPo moderators are 'sanitizing' all comments at:

Dick Cheney In Recovery After Major Heart Surgery

How appropriate...Cheney's continuous pump device leaves him without a pulse and carrying a belly bag.

FADE IN: Darth Vader in cameo on True Blood as a cross-dressing, purse-toting, blood-sucking, heartless vampire who preys on the blood of US soldiers throughout history, first as a draft-dodger then later as a war criminal. Damn thing writing itself.

Imp

From C.S. in Augusta:

     I hope his fucking heart pump was installed by BP.

Feel free to add your un-moderated and un-sanitized response.

Can Sarah Palin repeat for GA GOP governor candidate, Karen Handel, what she did in SC for Nikki Haley?  Haley's campaign donations went through the roof following Palin's Facebook endorsement and she jumped to almost double-digits increases in the polls over-night.

This endorsement does not bode well for other Republicans in the running, especially John Oxendine, the former state insurance commissioner who the GOP-establishment doubts has the ability to defeat Democratic favorite, former governor Roy Barnes.  As of yesterday, Handel was trailing Oxendine in the polls with neither receiving enough support to avert a run-off in August. 

Will it be the Tea Party versus the Georgia Republican establishment?  Will this battle get ugly and if so, which side will emerge the most bloodied? 

Handel's new campaign release accuses Oxendine of 'illegally funneling' more than $120,000 to his campaign chest from 'shady insurance political action committees in Alabama.'
 

Game-changer: Sarah Palin endorses Karen Handel in GOP race for governor

We have a game-changer in the Republican contest for governor.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin today endorsed former secretary of state Karen Handel and her "underdog" bid for the GOP nomination.

The Handel endorsement appeared on Palin's Facebook page - the same manner in which she endorsed GOP candidate for governor Mary Fallin of Oklahoma last month.

Her endorsement of Nikki Haley in the Republican race for governor of South Carolina was deemed crucial to Haley's surge last month.

Continued...

Update 1:46 p.m.: But not everyone is so enamored of Palin's choice.

Tricia Pridemore, chair of the conservative 9-12 Project Action Network, said Georgians "don't endorse candidates just because they wear lipstick. We endorse the candidate most qualified and most conservative, not based on gender. While I have tremendous respect for Sarah Palin, I don't believe this endorsement was well thought out."

 

From VoterGA:

VoterGA Supporters,

On Tuesday June 15, U.S. Senate candidate, Vic Rawl, a former judge and four term state representative filed an election protest concerning the controversial June 9 South Carolina Democratic primary. That primary and all South Carolina elections are conducted on statewide unverifiable electronic voting equipment manufactured by Election Systems & Software (ES&S). Mr. Rawl's claims were heard by the Democratic Party of South Carolina on Thursday June 17. As you already know this is the primary race where Alvin Greene, an unemployed former military veteran, won a 59%-41% victory and will challenge Republican Senator Jim DeMint in November.  Greene who paid a $10,000 qualifying fee, held no fundraisers, ran no paid advertisements, made no campaign speeches, had no established platform, hired no campaign manager, conducted no state wide tours, attended no Democratic Party events, printed no yard signs and did not even establish a web site.  This BradBlog link shows his interview with MSNBC's Keith Olberman: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7890 . Brad Friedman describes it as one of the most bizarre interviews ever seen on television.  

But Mr. Greene's campaign really had nothing to do with election protest and neither he nor his attorney were present at the hearing. Mathematicians, technology professionals and witnesses who experienced irregularities testified or submitted documents on behalf of the Vic Rawl's protest. The protest focused particularly on the huge discrepancy in the verifiable absentee ballot voting percentages when compared to the statewide unverifiable electronic voting percentages. A spreadsheet illustrating the differences that you can review and use to make your own decision is on the home page of www.voterga.org web site. I submitted this spreadsheet and cover letter to the state party officials a day before the hearing. After all was said and done, the chairs of the South Carolina Democratic Party voted to deny the protest. To understand the magnitude of this decision, here are some specific examples of the astounding, inexplicable discrepancies between the unverifiable total vote count and the mostly verifiable absentee vote count:

·         In Aiken County, Alvin Greene won the total vote  58% to 42% but Vic Rawl won the absentee balloting by 63% to 37%;

·         In Barnwell County, Alvin Greene won the total vote  62% to 38% but Vic Rawl won the absentee balloting by 66% to 33%;

·         In Beaufort County, Alvin Greene won the total vote 59% to 41% but Vic Rawl won the absentee balloting by 63% to 37%;

·         In Berkeley County, Alvin Greene won the total vote 67% to 33% but Vic Rawl won the absentee balloting by 54% to 46%;

·         In Dorchester County, Alvin Greene won the total vote 59% to 41% but Vic Rawl won the absentee balloting by 62% to 38%;

·         In Florence County, Alvin Greene won the total vote 67% to 33% but Vic Rawl won the absentee balloting by 56% to 44%;

·         In Greenwood County, Alvin Greene won the total vote 74% to 26% but won the absentee balloting by only 51% to 49%;

·         In Lancaster County, Vic Rawl won the total vote 52% to 48% but won the absentee balloting by 86% to 14%;

·         In Newberry County, Alvin Greene won the total vote 53% to 47% but Vic Rawl won the absentee balloting by 69% to 41%;

·         In Lee County, Alvin Greene won the total vote 62% to38% but Vic Rawl won the absentee balloting by 56% to 44%;

·         In Marion County, Alvin Greene won the total vote 65% to35% but Vic Rawl won the absentee balloting by 51% to 49%;

·         In Oconee County, Alvin Greene won the total vote 58% to 42% but Vic Rawl won the absentee balloting by 59% to 41%;

That is probably enough already to convince most anyone that something was wrong with the election results but there is more:

·         In 42 of 46 counties, Alvin Greene's percentage of total votes exceeded his percentage of absentee votes while in only 4 counties did Vic Rawl's absentee percentage of votes exceed his total percentage of votes;

·         In 20 of 46 counties, Alvin Greene's percentage of total votes exceeded his percentage of absentee votes by a total of 20+ candidate percentage points or more while Vic Rawl's percentage decreased by the same amount;

·         In not one county did Alvin Greene win the absentee vote count and lose the total vote count and in not one county did Vic Rawl lose the absentee vote count and win the total vote count;

·         In all, there is an average of a 17.7% total difference in the Election Day unverifiable electronic vote count and the absentee vote count, nearly the exact margin of Alvin Greene's 59-41% victory:

·         In addition, the statewide undervote in the race was also extraordinarily high, stretching from a minimum of just under 7% to a maximum of nearly 35% for the U.S. Senate race;

For those still not convinced there is even more. About half of the absentee votes were in-person votes that are recorded on the electronic voting machines. The other half were actual  physical ballots that were mailed into the elections offices. Therefore, the total percentage difference between mail in absentee votes and all other electronic votes must be about twice as great to compensate for the in-person absentee electronic votes embedded within the absentee vote totals. If the actual mail in ballots were counted, South Carolinians would likely find that the total difference between the verifiable and unverifiable votes would increase by another 18% or so, meaning that Vic Rawl may have actually won the verifiable vote count by about the same 59-41% margin that Alvin Greene allegedly won the election.

Now here is the kicker. South Carolina does not report mail-in absentee ballot votes separately from in-person electronic absentee votes even though those votes are recorded and counted separately before being totaled together and reported.  So there is no way for the public to know at this time exactly how many votes of each kind were recorded for the two candidates. The decision by the South Carolina Democratic Party chairs will likely prevent those votes from ever being reported individually. Therefore, the people of South Carolina may never get to see all of the evidence that could indicate election rigging or major calibration errors were present.

State Senator Phil Leventis petitioned the State Election Commission to impound voting machines used in the statewide election but the State Elections Commission and counties are resisting. The State Elections Commission issued a statement claiming that the  voting machines have always performed accurately and reliably, a claim that is technically impossible to establish since there is no way to independently audit the voting recording mechanism of the machine. www.scvotes.org. The Charleston Channel 2 news media outlet, "counton2.com"  even went so far as to show precinct reports produced internally by the machines and claim their audience that the reports are "independent" audit trails.

 

Ironically, South Carolina Democratic Party chairwoman, Carol Fowler, began attacking her own candidate, Alvin Greene, immediately after his victory. She claimed he may be charged for a crime in the future and asked him to withdraw. That would have conveniently gotten around the question of whether or not the machines counted correctly. Naturally, most of the local and national  media picked up her personal attack on Alvin Greene and ignored the evidence of vote fraud and errors. Greene rightfully won the contest according to the procedures that South Carolina has used for the last six years and the Rawl campaign has made it clear that they do not condone any such personal attacks. Vic Rawl rightfully contends that the election discrepancies warrant a new election in which he may or may not participate. But the biggest losers in this debacle are the people of South Carolina. Their elections, their public officials and some of their news media have been shown to lack credibility. The South Carolina "Democratic" Party, and I use that term loosely, has done as much as they could in this situation to help their Republican teammates and saddle South Carolinians with a one party, elitist political system. The people of South Carolina now face a tremendous uphill battle if they ever hope to have their vote protected through the use of voter verifiable, auditable voting equipment.

Garland Favorito

404 664-4044 CL

www.voterga.org

Was the S.C. U.S. Senate Election Rigged?  Here are the numbers you decide:

Click here to view spreadsheet of discrepancies in unverifiable Election Day vote count and absentte vote counts

Oil business practices abroad have finally com home to roost in the good ole US.  BP's mess in the Gulf represents what the oil companies have done - and continue to do daily - in other countries and the ocean - at large -  for decades. 

Here's a story about Nigeria - also here

Here's a story about Ecuador

Here's a story about Peru

That's just a sampling of the 'carnage for profits.' Still want a Hummer?  It's BEYOND time for a global energy policy.

Where the fuck is Liz Cheney? 

I just had to ask. 


Seriously, what does she know about Halliburton's role in this fiasco that finally shut her trap up?

It's a media anomaly.  She was here, there, and everywhere in conservative media...then POOF, she's invisible.

Inquiring minds want to know.  WTF is up with Liz?

In this detailed WSJ investigative report, a picture emerges from eye-witness accounts, depositions, and testimonies that reveals BP as a "cavalier" and profit-driven corporation in its deep-sea drilling operations - an untenable mix in a dangerous and polluting business that led to a catastrophic loss of life, livelihoods, wildlands, and wildlife.  As problems mount, bad decision after bad decision and mistake after mistake amass into one tragic - yet avoidable - event.

BP Decisions Set Stage for Disaster

WSJ Excerpt:

"...Government investigators have yet to announce conclusions about what went wrong that day. The final step in the causation chain, industry engineers have said in interviews, was most likely the failure of a crucial seal at the top of the well or a cement plug at the bottom.

But neither scenario explains the whole story. A Wall Street Journal investigation provides the most complete account so far of the fateful decisions that preceded the blast. BP made choices over the course of the project that rendered this well more vulnerable to the blowout, which unleashed a spew of crude oil that engineers are struggling to stanch.

BP, for instance, cut short a procedure involving drilling fluid that is designed to detect gas in the well and remove it before it becomes a problem, according to documents belonging to BP and to the drilling rig's owner and operator, Transocean Ltd.

BP also skipped a quality test of the cement around the pipe--another buffer against gas--despite what BP now says were signs of problems with the cement job and despite a warning from cement contractor Halliburton Co.

Once gas was rising, the design and procedures BP had chosen for the well likely gave this perilous gas an easier path up and out, say well-control experts. There was little keeping the gas from rushing up to the surface after workers, pushing to finish the job, removed a critical safeguard, the heavy drilling fluid known as "mud." BP has admitted a possible "fundamental mistake" in concluding that it was safe to proceed with mud removal, according to a memo from two Congressmen released Tuesday night...d

BP had another oil spill in Alaska this week!! 

Please get active to protect our wildlands and wildlife from rampant corporate criminals.

Corporations like BP have proven time and time again that they do not operate - or care to operate- with the law, nor do they possess practical, reliable policies, methods, or the technology to prevent spills, to control them once they occur, or to conduct a timely and comprehensive clean-up. The government policy overseeing these corporations' access to America's natural, mineral, and energy resources is dysfunctional to the point that federal employees actively participated in gaming the system for their own personal profit with impunity. 

Has it ever been more apparent as we watch the horror unfolding in the Gulf that the system by which America's resources are leased and brokered is itself broken and complicit in the loss an entire corridor of the Gulf Coast for decades to come? These oil companies - especially BP -  with its history of fines, lies, and federal felony convictions - have no respect for the citizens or the country whose resources they rely upon for profit and survival.  I wonder what the reaction of BP CEOs would be if another corporation or country fouled the wildlands and wildlife within and around the gated and guarded fortress compounds where they reside in their multimillion dollar mansions with vistas uncluttered by platforms, drill pumps, and off-shore rigs or the stench of death wafting through open windows?  

UPDATE:  Elizabeth Birnbaum,  Director of Minerals Management Services, has been fired.

As the House Energy and Commerce Committee releases the first details from its review of documents and testimony based on BP's own inquiry into the cause of the Gulf Oil Spill, industry experts warn that the company is focusing on equipment failures and work performed by other contractors with "little indication it is looking into its own internal decision-making" preceding and during the event. 

Apparently the blame game is still alive and well at BP, casting doubt on Tony Hayward's claim that this would be a 'transformative' experience for the oil giant with a long history of safety violations and federal felony convictions.

Inquiry by BP gives little attention to its procedures

"...All these issues have been discussed widely in congressional hearings, so there are few surprises, said David Pursell, an analyst with Houston-based energy research and investment firm Tudor Pickering Holt & Co.

"This is basically looking at more system failures and not taking a hard look at procedural shortcomings," Pursell said.

...

Two BP subsea engineers told Coast Guard investigators their job was to "set lock down sleeve for 9-7/8 casing," the production pipe that ran from the wellhead all the way to the oil formation. But in descriptions of their activities that day, neither says he completed the lockdown, according to their statements, obtained by the Chronicle. One said he sat in an office all day until the explosion.

Pursell said it's possible the men did the lockdown steps at another time, but he thought it was an area investigators should consider."

Committee Releases Details of BP's Internal Incident Investigation

MEMORANDUM

May 25, 2010

To: Members of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Fr: Chairmen Henry A. Waxman and Bart Stupak

Re: Key Questions Arising from Inquiry into the Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

On Wednesday May 12, 2010, the Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing entitled, "Inquiry into the Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill." In preparation for that hearing, Committee staff reviewed over 105,000 pages of internal documents from BP, Transocean, Halliburton, and Cameron. Committee staff spoke with representatives from each of the companies, numerous federal regulators, independent scientists, academic experts, and members of communities affected by the oil spill. The Committee has continued its investigation following the hearing. Today, Committee staff was briefed on the progress of BP's internal investigation of the causes of the blowout and the oil spill.

The interim report the Committee received from BP is preliminary and based only on incomplete evidence that BP knows at this time. It confirms many of the issues raised by the Committee at its hearing. The interim report also raises significant new questions.

The information from BP identifies several new warning signs of problems. According to BP there were three flow indicators from the well before the explosion. One was 51 minutes before the explosion when more fluid began flowing out of the well than was being pumped in. Another flow indicator was 41 minutes before the explosion when the pump was shut down for a "sheen" test, yet the well continued to flow instead of stopping and drill pipe pressure also unexpectedly increased. Then, 18 minutes before the explosion, abnormal pressures and mud returns were observed and the pump was abruptly shut down. The data suggests that the crew may have attempted mechanical interventions at that point to control the pressure, but soon after, the flow out and pressure increased dramatically and the explosion took place.

Further, BP's preliminary findings indicate that there were other events in the 24 hours before the explosion that require further inquiry. As early as 5:05 p.m., almost 5 hours before the explosion, an unexpected loss of fluid was observed in the riser pipe, suggesting that there were leaks in the annular preventer in the BOP. Two hours before the explosion, during efforts to begin negative pressure testing, the system  gained 15 barrels of liquid instead of the 5 barrels that were expected, leading to the possibility that there was an "influx from the well." A cementer witness stated that the "well continued to flow and spurted." Having received an unacceptable result from conducting the negative pressure test through the drill pipe, the pressure test was then moved to the kill line where a volume of fluid came out when the line was opened. The kill line was then closed and the procedure was discussed; during this time, pressure began to build in the system to 1400 psi. At this point, the line was opened and pressure on the kill line was bled to 0 psi, while pressure on the drill pipe remained at 1400 psi. BP's investigator indicated that a "fundamental mistake" may have been made here because this was an "indicator of a very large abnormality." The kill line then was monitored and by 7:55 p.m. the rig team was "satisfied that [the] test [was] successful." At that time, the rig started displacing the remaining fluids with seawater, leading to the three flow indicators described above.

Several concerns identified by BP relate to the cementing process. Cement work that was supposed to hold back hydrocarbons failed, allowing the hydrocarbons into the well bore. The float collar used in the cementing process did not initially operate as intended and required 9 attempts with higher than usual pressures to function properly. Moreover, the float test performed after cementing may not have been definitive, leading to concern that there may have been contamination of the cement due to density differences between the cement and the drilling mud.

In addition, key questions exist about whether proper procedures were followed for critical activities throughout the day. Negative pressure testing was initially done on the drill pipe rather than the kill line, even though the drill plan specified that it would be done on the kill line. After anomalous results, the negative pressure testing was conducted on the kill line and ultimately accepted. Evidence suggests that spacer fluid used during the displacement of drilling fluid with seawater did not rise above the BOP to the level required by the drilling plan; this increased pressure in the drill pipe and may have interfered with later pressure testing. In addition, the method of displacing the drilling mud with seawater may have interfered with the monitoring of the flow levels from the well because the mud was transferred to another boat instead of measured in the mud pits. Moreover, mudloggers were not informed when the offloading of drilling mud to the other boat was stopped.

Several concerns about the blowout preventer were identified by BP including the failure of its emergency disconnect system (EDS), the failure of its automated mode function or deadman switch, the failure of the BOP's shearing functions, and the failure of the remote operated vehicle interventions. The BP investigation has also raised concerns about the maintenance history, modification, inspection, and testing of the BOP.

New worries about damage to the BOP during the "top kill" - a plugging procedure - have led officials to delay again efforts to cap the well.  BP delayed the procedure to perform diagnostic tests to determine if the BOP could withstand the complex process Tuesday, but now are saying the delay may extend beyond Wednesday.  The extent of the damage to the 'safety' device during the explosion are still unknown.  Estimates from experts place chances of success in sealing the well with "top kill" at 60-70%.  Failure could be catastrophic releasing yet more gushing oil from the sea bed into the Gulf.  If the "top kill" is abandoned, it will be at least two months before the relief well is readied with no way to stop the gushing oil until its completion. Bowing to pressure, BP has agreed not to kill its live feed of the leak, if and when, it performs the plugging process:

BP may delay 'top kill' plan to stop oil leak

Excerpt:

"What we learn during this diagnostic phase will be crucial to us," said Wells, whose London-based company has seen around 25 percent, almost $50 billion, wiped off its market value.

Engineers were doing at least 12 hours of diagnostic tests Tuesday. They planned to check five spots on the well's crippled five-story blowout preventer to make sure it could withstand the heavy force of the mud. A weak spot in the device could blow under the pressure, causing a brand new leak.

Wells cautioned that engineers are speeding through a planning process that would normally take months. He warned that the top kill could be delayed or scuttled if Tuesday's pressure readings are bad.

Company executives said on Monday the procedure had only a 60 percent to 70 percent chance of working...

FULL ARTICLE

MUST SEE TV

In case you missed it earlier...ABC News VIDEO:  Philippe Cousteau Jr. and Sam Champion take hazmat dive into Gulf's oily waters. Cousteau says, "It's A Nightmare...Nightmare."

Incredible.  The situation is much worse than the public has been led to believe and BP is down there squeezing every nickel worth of profit it can while the well head continues to gush.  One has to wonder if BP is exerting more effort to capture the oil once it hits the shore than they are expending to keep the oil off the beaches and out of the marshes in the first place?

From Mother Jones:

"It's BP's Oil"

"...They rake the oil and sand into big piles; other workers collect the piles into big plastic bags, and still other workers take them to a plant where the sand is separated out and sent to a hazardous-waste dump and the oil goes on for processing. Then the tide comes in with more oil and everybody starts all over again. Ten dollars an hour. Twelve hours a day. When I joke with one worker that he should pocket the solid gobs of oil he's digging up to show me how far beneath the sand they go, he stops dead and asks me if BP's still trying to use the oil they all collect. "Aw, I knew it!" he says. Another leans on his rake to ask me, "Have they at least shut the oil off yet?" He randomly picks three spots in a three-foot-wide expanse of sand that he's already raked clean and drops his rake in an inch deeper to show me how the oil bubbles up from underneath. He can't count how many times he's raked this same spot in the 33 hours he's worked it since Thursday, but one thing he's sure of, he says, is that he'll be standing right here tomorrow and the next day, too.They take these bags to a plant and separate out the sand so they can process the oil. Another problem is that after surface cleanup, raking the sand brings up more oil.


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