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For Immediate Release
December, 03 2015, 11:00pm EDT
Contact:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
9/11 Whistleblower Coleen Rowley
COLEEN ROWLEY, rowleyclan at earthlink.net, @ColeenRowley
WASHINGTON
COLEEN ROWLEY, rowleyclan at earthlink.net, @ColeenRowley
Rowley, a former FBI special agent and division counsel whose May 2002 memo to the FBI Director exposed some of the FBI's pre-9/11 failures -- was named one of TIME magazine's "Persons of the Year" in 2002. Rowley wrote to the FBI Director again in February 2003 with some hard questions about the reliability of the evidence being adduced to "justify" the impending invasion of Iraq. She now warns of terror attacks being used as pretexts for official agendas. She also warns that bulk collection of personal data by government, like military interventions, is not only counter to liberty, but counterproductive to the alleged goal of stopping attacks.
She just wrote the piece "Visa Waiver Program Has Same Weak Links; Mass Surveillance and Terrorist Watchlisting Don't Work," which states: "Politicians are scoring points with a frightened U.S. population by hyping the supposed danger of letting in up to 10,000 Syrian refugees, but a much greater or actual risk exists in the current gaps in a visa-waiver program. Yesterday's massacre in San Bernardino again underscores the ineffectiveness of relying upon bulk data collection and intelligence agencies' watch-listing processes to 'keep us safe from terrorism.'
She wrote a piece for the Star Tribune, "Coleen Rowley: Ten years after Iraq," which in 2013 gave an overview of major issues: "Ten years ago, I made the ultimately futile effort of writing to FBI Director Robert Mueller warning that he needed to tell the truth about the Bush administration's unjustified decision to preemptively invade Iraq and the likelihood it would prove counterproductive. ...
"My letter compared Bush-Cheney's rush to war with the impatience and bravado that had led to the FBI's disastrous 1993 assault at Waco, where 'the children [the FBI] sought to liberate all died when [David] Koresh and his followers set fires.' On a much more tragic scale, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were killed and millions more were wounded or displaced. Iraq's infrastructure was destroyed. Severe problems remain with lack of clean drinking water, electricity and a lack of professionals in Iraq to help rebuild.
"Even worse, the flames of sectarian hatred were ignited, based on religious and ethnic differences, leading to violent civil strife, ethnic cleansing and terror bombings. Those fires continue to burn."
A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.
LATEST NEWS
'What Did These Cuban Children Do to Trump?': US Embargo Blamed as Infant Mortality Soars
"Is there anything worse than a child dying of cancer when it was preventable?" asked one observer.
Feb 12, 2026
Infant mortality is on the rise in Cuba as the Trump administration tightens a decadeslong economic embargo on the island nation in hopes of toppling a socialist government that's outlasted a dozen US presidents.
According to the United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, infant mortality in Cuba—which plummeted dramatically in the decades after the 1959 triumph of the Cuban Revolution—has increased from 4 to 7.4 per 1,000 live births since 2018, an 85% increase.
The rise in infant mortality comes amid a deadly surge in mosquito-borne illness, including dengue and chikungunya, that has inundated already struggling hospitals suffering shortages of staff and even basic supplies. Hospitals in Cuba—which in 2015 became the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and congenital syphilis—are now reliant upon donations and the black market for their needs.
The crisis is particularly dire among children with cancer. Cuba's free healthcare system—which prioritizes the health of the people instead of industry profits, as in the United States—once boasted a pediatric cancer survival rate of 80%, on par with the world's wealthy nations. Now that's down to around 65% as the blockade has forced healthcare providers to modify treatment protocols and medications.
“The situation is very serious at the moment. It was already in terms of acquiring supplies and medicines. But now it is intensifying and complicated with other aspects," Dr. Forteza Saéz, an oncologist at Havana's University of Medical Sciences, told La Jornada in an interview on Wednesday.
Dr. Luis Curbelo Alonso, former longtime director of the National Institute of Oncology and Radiology in Havana, told La Jornada: "You have the knowledge, the expertise, the team to face something that can be curable or can be controllable and yet not have the drug. It's a very lacerating thing as a professional, very cruel."
The situation is also driving Cubans to extreme measures to find treatment. Two-year-old Mía Rey Jiménez and her family left their home in Cardenas, Matanzas last May weeks after the child was diagnosed with metastatic stage 4 neuroblastoma, an extremely aggressive childhood cancer requiring complex treatment.
The family left Cuba to seek treatment in Nicaragua and then Costa Rica, where Jiménez underwent chemotherapy and high-risk surgery. Still left with a tumor in her lung and cancer in her bone marrow, Jiménez's family sought help from Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, one of the world's leading specialized facilities.
The hospital agreed to evaluate Jiménez and estimated her chances of survival with proper care at up to 80%—more than double her prognosis in Costa Rica. However, the humanitarian visa for which Jiménez's family applied was denied by US authorities due to what they claimed was "lack of evidence," even though the girl's father resides legally in the United States.
The family successfully appealed their denial and Jiménez and her mother Liudmila Jiménez Matos arrived in Miami in January.
“I can’t be happier," Jiménez Matos told Cuba Noticias 360 last month. "My daughter will be treated by doctors who have been waiting for her for a long time. That’s a love for the profession and for saving another life."
As President Donald Trump tightens the blockade on Cuba following a similar strangulation of Venezuela that ended with last month's US invasion and kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to face dubious "narco-terrorism" charges in the United States, critics are renewing calls to end Washington's embargo.
Imposed in the early 1960s after a successful revolution that overthrew a brutal US-backed dictatorship and replaced it with a socialist government, the blockade—which accompanied a decadeslong campaign of terrorism by US-based Cuban exiles—has claimed thousands of Cuban lives and cost the country's economy more than $1 trillion, according to official estimates.
The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly condemned the blockade 33 times.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned Wednesday of a potential "collapse" of Cuba's economy if the US keeps blocking oil from entering the country.
On Thursday, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who visited Cuba in 2024 as part of a delegation of progressive US lawmakers, called the ramped-up embargo, which is now targeting fuel imports, as "cruel and despotic."
Back in Havana, Cuban doctors vowed to do the best they can for their patients under the harrowing circumstances.
“We will continue to resist," Dr. Carlos Alberto Martínez, head of the Ministry of Health's cancer control section, told La Jornada. "We will continue to look for alternatives that allow the sustainability of what has been achieved."
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'Not an Anomaly... A Blueprint': Homan Says Minnesota ICE Surge Ending—But Mass Deportations Aren't
"Just as Minnesotans fought back, Congress must now follow suit and refuse to fund DHS agencies that enable such reckless and dangerous acts that, in some cases, have killed people in broad daylight," said one watchdog leader.
Feb 12, 2026
While people across Minnesota and beyond welcomed "border czar" Tom Homan's Thursday announcement that "Operation Metro Surge is ending," he also made clear that the administration's deadly immigration operations still threaten other US communities, declaring that President Donald Trump "made a promise of mass deportation, and that's what this country's gonna get."
Homan said last week that 700 agents were leaving the state, but around 2,000 would remain. However, as outrage from the public and local officials persisted, he announced Thursday that "I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude. A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue through the next week."
The administration's "tactical withdrawal" came just a day after a car crash involving federal agents led Democratic Saint Paul Mayor Kaohly Her to renew her call for an immediate end to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) operation, which has involved officers with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) terrorizing Twin Cities residents for over two months—and even fatally shooting Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
"Today's announcement reflects what happens when communities organize, speak out, and refuse to accept fear as public policy," said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Minnesota chapter. "This is a hard-fought community victory. But it comes after real trauma, real harm, and the loss of life. That cannot be ignored."
"This moment belongs to the community," Hussein added. "Faith leaders, organizers, tenants, youth, and everyday residents stood together and demanded dignity. That collective action forced change. And we will remain vigilant."
After ICE officer Jonathan Ross killed Good, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told the agency to "get the fuck out" of his city. After Homan confirmed the operation is ending, the Democrat acknowledged the strong local pushback to the invasion, saying on social media that "they thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation."
"These patriots of Minneapolis are showing that it's not just about resistance—standing with our neighbors is deeply American," Frey said. "This operation has been catastrophic for our neighbors and businesses, and now it's time for a great comeback. We will show the same commitment to our immigrant residents and endurance in this reopening, and I'm hopeful the whole country will stand with us as we move forward."
Outgoing Democratic Gov. Tim Walz similarly said that "the long road to recovery starts now. The impact on our economy, our schools, and people's lives won't be reversed overnight. That work starts today."
Minneapolis Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Congresswoman Angie Craig (D-Minn.), and US Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) were also among the Minnesotans welcoming the development. The senator, who is running to replace Walz, said that "Minnesotans stood together, stared down ICE, and never blinked."
Not everyone critical of the operation has been satisfied by local Democrats' response. Progressive organizer and lawyer Aaron Regunberg said Thursday that it is "important to remember that this victory belongs 100%—literally one hundred percent—to the people of Minneapolis. Elected Dems did essentially nothing to bring this about. Our political leadership is dogshit. Everyday Americans, on the other hand, can really do amazing things."
Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, said that "Minneapolis residents' heroic resistance has resulted in this retreat. We hope the people of Minneapolis can start to heal from the monthslong siege of their city, the murder of their neighbors, and the tragedy of families ripped apart by the Trump administration."
Mitchell pointed out that the end of the Minnesota operation comes on the eve of a likely DHS shutdown due to a funding fight in Congress, which is narrowly controlled by Republicans. Because of their slim margins and Senate rules, most bills need some Democratic support to get through the upper chamber to Trump's desk.
"Donald Trump is trying to distract us and turn our attention away from the growing resistance in Congress to funding his campaign of cruelty and retribution," Mitchell said, taking aim at not only the president but also his deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, "and their cronies" who "refuse to make this agency and its criminal activities accountable to anyone."
"Democrats are using their power by voting NO as a bloc and pledging not one dollar more in DHS funding until demands for accountability are met," he highlighted. Various Democratic leaders have made demands for reforming the department, and specifically its immigration operations, and growing shares of the party's caucus and the public have even called for abolishing ICE.
Progressive Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, whose district includes Minneapolis, said on social media that "ending this operation is not enough. We need justice and accountability. That starts with independent investigations into the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, economic restitution for businesses impacted, abolishing ICE, and the impeachment of Kristi Noem."
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the watchdog group Public Citizen, said in a statement that "the people of Minnesota set the example of bravery, compassion, and strength against masked, lawless federal agents who vastly underestimated the power of community and peaceful protest."
While calling Homan's announcement "a crucial win," Gilbert also noted that congressional Republicans and the president gave ICE an extra $75 billion in their so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. She stressed that Trump's federal government "is still stripping families from their homes and throwing them into unlivable conditions in detention centers across the country in a militarized mass detention campaign. And there is no sign from the Trump administration that it plans on doing anything—including arresting and persecuting small children—differently."
Recent reporting—including by Wired, which obtained related federal records—has revealed ICE's ongoing expansion efforts across the country. As Wired executive editor Brian Barrett wrote Wednesday:
Its occupation of Minneapolis is not an anomaly; it's a blueprint. Communities deserve to know that they might be next. People have a right to know who their neighbors are, especially when they amount to an invading force.
What we've reported so far fills in only part of the puzzle. It shows what ICE had planned as of January, not beyond. More than 100 addresses remain unknown, some of them in high-concentration states like New York and New Jersey. The specific nature of the work being done in some of these offices remains unclear, as is how long ICE plans to be there.
The need to resolve these questions is urgent as ICE continues to metastasize. At the same time, the Department of Justice has become increasingly aggressive in its dealings with journalists, and has repeatedly claimed that revealing any identifying information about ICE agents or their activities is "doxing." In Minnesota and beyond, ICE and CBP agents have treated observers as enemies, arresting and reportedly harassing them with increased frequency. The DOJ has been quick to label any perceived interference with ICE activity as a crime.
While Barrett pledged that Wired "will continue to report on this story until we have the answers," Gilbert argued to the public that "the victory in Minnesota should galvanize our efforts to fight these atrocities."
"Just as Minnesotans fought back, Congress must now follow suit and refuse to fund DHS agencies that enable such reckless and dangerous acts that, in some cases, have killed people in broad daylight," Gilbert added. "We need drastic reforms now."
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'Billionaires Are Waging War Against the Rest of Us': James Talarico Responds to Class Warfare Accusations
The Texas Democrat accused US billionaires of "stealing from the American people, stealing the wealth that we created."
Feb 12, 2026
Texas Democratic US Senate candidate James Talarico turned the tables on a town hall questioner who asked him if he was pushing “class warfare” with his populist economic pitch and frequent criticism of billionaires.
Talarico responded that there is already class warfare in the US.
"It's the billionaires waging war against the rest of us, and right now the billionaires are winning," explained the Texas Democrat in a video clip of the town hall posted on social media Wednesday. "They've been winning for 50 years. Trickle-down economics is not a theory, it is theft."
A young man at our town hall asked if I was pushing class warfare.
I told him: “We already have class warfare in this country — billionaires are waging war on the rest of us.” pic.twitter.com/w238OfB8yH
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) February 12, 2026
Talarico went on to accuse billionaires of "stealing from the American people, stealing the wealth that we created."
"It's why everyone is so angry right now," he continued. "It's why, no matter how hard you work, you can't seem to get ahead. The American people are not asking for a whole lot: A job we don't hate, a house big enough to raise a family in, and a little left over so we can go on vacation every once in a while. That is a lot harder than it should be in America."
Talarico's answer on "class warfare" came two days after a Monday report in the Wall Street Journal revealed that labor compensation in the US has fallen to its lowest percentage of gross domestic income since at least 1980, even as corporate profits have risen to the highest percentage of gross domestic income over that same period.
"The divergence between capital and labor helps explain the disconnect between a buoyant economy and pessimistic households," explained the Journal. "It will also play an outsize role in where the economy goes from here."
An analysis released in January by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) found that the collective wealth of US billionaires surged to $8.1 trillion in 2025, even as many working-class Americans struggled with basic expenses such as groceries, housing and healthcare.
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