On Aug. 25, dozens of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested approximately 595 workers in a raid on an electric transformer manufacturing facility owned by Howard Industries, Inc. in Laurel, Miss., a town of 20,000. The agents sealed off all the plant's exits, trapping workers inside, and executed a federal criminal search warrant for evidence relating to aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes, as well as a civil search warrant looking for unauthorized immigrants. (ICE news release, Aug. 26; AP, Aug. 27; ABC News, Aug. 29; Washington Post, Aug. 28)

On the weekend before the Republican National Convention, law enforcement agencies in the Twin Cities temporarily detained dozens of people and issued a series of search warrants aimed at groups organizing protests. Attorneys for the National Lawyers Guild said those detained and photographed included both local residents and visitors in town to protest the convention. At least three were also arrested on conspiracy charges. Bruce Nestor, a lawyer at one house, told the New York Times: "In my mind it's a classic preventive detention charge." He said the authorities are permitted to hold those arrested for up to 36 hours—excluding weekends or holidays—in essence detaining them for the length of the convention.

Buried in a White House proposal for hearing legal appeals from detainees at Guantánamo Bay, is a provision that calls on Congress to "acknowledge again and explicitly that this nation remains engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated organizations, who have already proclaimed themselves at war with us and who are dedicated to the slaughter of Americans."

Iraq has signed its first major oil deal with a foreign company since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime—a 20-year, $3 billion contract with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to develop fields in southern Wasit province. The deal marks the first time in more than 35 years that Iraq has allowed a foreign oil company to do business within its borders. Iraq's cabinet must still approve the contract, but Oil Ministry spokesman Assim Jihad said that would happen soon and work could commence within a few months.

Thousands of Iraqis loyal to the Sadr movement protested in Kufa Aug. 29 to denounce the pending Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which they called a plan for the long-term US occupation of the country. Militant cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for the peaceful protests after Friday prayers. It was the 13th such demonstration against the SOFA.

With the choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is not backing down from oil drilling. Palin is a champion for drilling, the Bush-Cheney approach to energy policy that brought us $4-per-gallon gasoline and the rising threat of global warming.

A federal jury Aug. 28 acquitted former US Marine Sgt. Jose Luis Nazario Jr. of voluntary manslaughter and other charges in the first civilian trial for crimes allegedly committed by a member of the US military in Iraq. After six hours of deliberation, a jury in US District Court for the Central District of California found Nazario not guilty of ordering his squad to shoot four unarmed Iraqi men in a house they had just searched in Fallujah in 2004. In addition to manslaughter, Nazario was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

On the morning of Aug. 27, UC Berkeley campus police raided the Long Haul Infoshop on Shattuck Ave. in South Berkeley, breaking down the door and confiscating all computers on the premises. Computers taken included those used by East Bay Prisoner Support and the collective that publishes the Slingshot newspaper. Police also broke into cabinets, cut locks, and went through mail. A statement from the Long Haul claimed Alameda County deputies and FBI agents were also involved in the raid.