Cursor's Media Patrol - 12/09/05

Extraordinary Rendition "Evidence" used by the White House in 2002 to assert links between Al Qaeda and Iraq was reportedly "fabricated" by a fearful ghost detainee after he had been "secretly handed over to Egypt" by "the Pinochets of the next generation."

The state department's top legal adviser admitted that the U.S. has not given the Red Cross access to all detainees in its custody, and a Human Rights Watch analyst reportedly said that "Poland was the main base for CIA interrogations in Europe, while Romania played more of a role in the transfer of detained prisoners."

Richard Reeves describes "Mr. Victory" as "talking as fast as he can," while laying out a "strategy to mask defeat" in Iraq.

Norman Soloman revisits Defense Secretary 'Rumsfeld's Handshake Deal With Saddam,' and recalls a photo "notably absent" from coverage of the trial said to have 'put Saddam back in charge.'

'Dangerous Assignment' The American Journalism Review finds "little surprise that terrorists and criminal gangs would strike at journalists. But no one expected 15 deaths to come at the hands of American troops."

A UN report finds 'Two-thirds of Palestinians living in poverty,' and a poll identifies a more "pressing problem" than security in Israel, which 'leads West in child poverty.'

New Mexico reportedly plans to build a $200 million spaceport in the desert, to serve as "a launching pad for space tourists." Earlier: 'New Mexico's Most Exclusive Circles.'