Shooting Attack Kills Four in Mosul

MOSUL, Iraq — Gunmen attacked a car in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul (search) on Friday, killing four passengers, and witnesses said three of the victims were foreigners. The attack happened at the Yarmouk traffic intersection in Iraq's third-largest city, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.

The bodies of the four victims, including one whose head was almost severed, were seen lying on the road alongside their burning car. Police Capt. Zeid Waseem said police received reports that three foreigners and their Iraqi driver had been killed.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad, Saddam Hussein's defense minister, who surrendered to American forces last year, will appear alongside another notorious general — known as Chemical Ali (search) — when investigative trials open next week, an official said Friday.

Gen. Sultan Hashim Ahmad (search), who gave himself up in September 2003 at a coalition military base in the northern city of Mosul, will be among the first two to face the hearings, which interim Iraqi Prime Minister Prime Minister Ayad Allawi (search) announced will commence next week.

An Iraqi government official said on Thursday that Saddam's notorious former right-hand man, Ali Hassan al-Majid — known as Chemical Ali for his use of chemical weapons — would head the list of 11 top regime members to appear at the initial investigative court hearings.


posted by Frodgie at 9:30 AM

 

Bush to sign intelligence bill into law

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush is signing into law the largest overhaul of U.S. intelligence gathering in 50 years, hoping to improve the spy network that failed to prevent the September 11 attacks.

The 563-page bill, which endured a tortured path to congressional passage, also aims to tighten borders and aviation security. It creates a federal counterterrorism center and a new intelligence director, but Bush was not expected to fill that post at Friday's bill signing.

The new structure was designed to help the nation's 15 intelligence agencies work together to protect the country from attacks like the ones that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001.

The September 11 commission, in its July report, said disharmony among the intelligence agencies contributed to the inability of government officials to prevent the attacks. The government failed to recognize the danger posed by al Qaeda and was ill-prepared to respond to the terrorist threat, the report concluded.

Commission members and families of attack victims lobbied persistently for the legislation through the summer political conventions, the election and a postelection lame duck session of Congress. The bill was threatened over disagreements between the White House and key House Republicans about immigration issues and how the new national intelligence director would work with the nation's military.

Bush was criticized for not engaging aggressively enough with members of his own party to break the impasse. Pundits questioned what that meant for the president's ability to gain approval from a Republican-controlled Congress for his ambitious second-term agenda. But in the final days, he and Vice President Dick Cheney pushed hard for the legislation, and both the House and Senate passed it overwhelmingly.

Just as Bush changed his mind on supporting the creation of a Homeland Security Department and creation of the independent September 11 Commission, it took him a while to endorse the commission's strong recommendation that any new director of national intelligence have full budget-making control, necessary to wield true power in Washington. Bush at first rejected that idea but later supported it.

posted by Frodgie at 9:28 AM

 

Lisa Marie Presley Selling Elvis Estate

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Lisa Marie Presley is keeping Graceland but selling the bulk of the Elvis estate, including rights to her father's name and image, in a deal worth approximately $100 million.

Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. announced an agreement Thursday to sell 85 percent of its assets to businessman Robert F.X. Sillerman, founder of music and sports promoter SFX Entertainment.

The Presley estate brought in almost $45 million last year. Sillerman said more aggressive marketing, supported by capital raised through a new publicly traded company, can make Elvis an even bigger earner.

Presley occupies a unique place in American pop culture, and "I don't think there's much likelihood his influence is going to wane anytime in my lifetime," Sillerman said by telephone from New York, where he runs the Sillerman Companies.

As Presley's only child, Lisa Marie is the sole heir to the estate, most of which is now to become part of a publicly traded company that will be called CKX Inc.

The agreement will pay her $53 million in cash and absolve her of $25 million in debts owed by the estate. She also is to get shares in the new company expected to be worth more than $20 million.

Lisa Marie will retain possession of her father's home, its more than 13 acres of land and many of her father's "personal effects," an announcement on the agreement said.


posted by Frodgie at 9:24 AM

 

The Case for Democracy

Frontpage Interview's guest today is Natan Sharansky, a former Soviet dissident and political prisoner who is the co- author (with Ron Dermer) of the new book The Case For Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror. Mr. Sharansky has been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Freedom for his courageous fight for liberty. He currently serves as Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs.

FP: Mr. Sharansky, welcome to Frontpage Interview. It is an honor and privilege to speak with you.

Sharansky: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts with your readers. I also wanted to thank you for inviting me and my co-author Ron Dermer to the Restoration weekend last month. I really enjoyed participating in your program.

FP: Thank you, but believe us, it is our whole staff that is grateful to you for accepting the invitation. We were graced by your presence.

So let's get started. What inspired you to write The Case for Democracy?

Sharansky: I was inspired to write this book by those who are sceptical of the power of freedom to change the world. I felt that the arguments of these sceptics had to be answered. The three main sources of scepticism are first, that not every people desires freedom; second, that democracy in certain parts of the world would be dangerous; and third, that there is little the world's democracies can do to advance freedom outside their countries.

This scepticism is the same scepticism I heard a generation ago in the USSR when few thought that a democratic transformation behind the iron curtain was possible. Just as the sceptics were wrong then, I am convinced they are wrong now about the possibility of freedom spreading to the Middle East.

In this book, I explain why I believe in the power of freedom to transform our world. My optimism is not based primarily on the successful march of democracy in recent times but rather is based on the experience of having lived in a fear society and studied the mechanics of tyranny that sustain such a society. By helping readers understand these mechanics, I hope they will appreciate why freedom is for everyone, why it is essential for our security and why the free world plays a critically important role in advancing democracy around the globe.

FP: You distinguish between "fear" and "free" societies. Briefly explain to our readers what you mean by this paradigm.

Sharansky: Free societies are societies in which the right of dissent is protected. In contrast, fear societies are societies in which dissent is banned. One can determine whether a society is free by applying what we call the "town-square test." Can someone within that society walk into the town square and say what they want without fear of being punished for his or her views? If so, then that society is a free society. If not, it is a fear society.

People may believe that there can be a society where dissent is not permitted, but which is nonetheless not a fear society because everyone agrees with one another and therefore no one wants to dissent. But as we show in the book, such a monolithic society, which may occasionally emerge, will not last very long. Because of human diversity – different tastes, ambitions, interests, backgrounds, experiences, etc. - differences of opinion will be inevitable. Then the society will be confronted with the fundamental question....................

posted by Frodgie at 8:41 AM

 

Social Security Status Quo? - We simply can't afford it.

In November, the American people faced a clear choice on Social Security. George W. Bush proposed creating voluntary personal retirement accounts and permanently fixing Social Security's finances. By contrast, John Kerry committed to preserve the current program, charging that the Bush plan would cut Social Security benefits. The voters rejected the status quo and endorsed Social Security reform.

Social Security's fiscal problems start as soon as millions of baby boomers begin to draw Social Security checks for the first time. In 2018, Social Security begins spending more than it takes in; annual inflation-adjusted deficits will rise to $100 billion after 5 years, $200 billion after 10 years, and $300 billion after 15 years. In net-present-value terms, the unfunded liability of the program (the amount Social Security spends that is more than it receives in payroll and other taxes) amounts to $11 trillion in perpetuity.

According to the 2000 Social Security Trustees Report, released by the Clinton Administration, payroll taxes will only be able to cover two-thirds of promised benefits to retirees. Consequently, the Clinton trustees urged that Social Security's long-range deficits "be addressed in a timely way." As Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan recently put it, "Early initiatives to address the economic effects of baby-boom retirements could smooth the transition to a new balance between workers and retirees."

If nothing is done to fundamentally reform the program, Washington policy-makers will face an array of ugly options: raise taxes, endlessly borrow, or cut benefits. Specifically, payroll taxes would have to rise by 60 percent, or benefits would have to be slashed by 40 percent, or annual budget deficits would have to increase in excess of 300 percent of gross domestic product near the end of this century.

By increasing the American worker's personal wealth, personal accounts will provide higher benefits while reducing future claims on the Social Security system. These accounts would allow workers to pre-fund their retirement needs by earning much higher returns from diversified mutual funds, indexed bond funds, and other private capital investments than promised by Social Security today. Personal accounts would benefit low-income and minority populations the most.

posted by Frodgie at 8:37 AM

 

Christmas Peace

BEVERLY HILLS -- Today, I will let other people talk about politics and economics. I am going to talk about something more important: peace.

By total coincidence, my 60th birthday recently fell on Thanksgiving. It is perfectly apt though, because my whole life is about giving thanks, especially for still being alive and hearty at 60, and full of fight. But as I was asked over and over again what really makes me happy in my life now that I am no longer a young hippie, I only had to think for about two seconds.

Yes, of course, I am primarily grateful that I am in America, shining city on a hill, that I have a great wife and son, that I get to live in peace and prosperity. I would have to be insane not to be on my knees with gratitude to the men and women who fight for us, and I am stupendously grateful to them.

But there is someone very close to my heart who brings me the best moments of peace I ever have, and peace is truly God's greatest gift: Brigid, my gorgeous German short-haired pointer.

A word about Brigid. She was an abandoned dog. I got her at the Huntington Beach animal shelter.

She is my latest German short-haired pointer, the fifth one I have had, after owning two Weimaraners. Every one of these dogs is a heavenly gift. To lie next to Brigid for an hour in the afternoon, to have her next to me all night, to wake up to her soulful eyes and incredible joy, that is bliss.

I have worked for two Presidents in the White House, been in dozens of movies, played in one of the best sitcoms of all time, The Wonder Years, won Emmies for my quiz show. I have been married to a glorious wife for almost 40 years and we have a handsome, rugged son. This is all good stuff, even great stuff....But....

None of this gives me the serenity that being next to a sweet, loving big furry dog gives. There is a magical connection between dog and human that offers a glimpse of heaven.

It's Christmas. Time for gifts. You can get the best gift there is -- the gift of peace -- for free at your local animal shelter or pound and at many rescue societies. You have not fully taken advantage of God's gifts if you don't do it. Diamonds are nice and so are clothes and cars. But a loving, sweet dog of your very own, or for your spouse or for your child or parent, that's the best gift there is. That is the gift of love -- warm, unconditional, devoted, peaceful love. There is nothing better.

posted by Frodgie at 8:34 AM

 

Annan vows disclosure

Embattled U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday said he was determined to expose corruption in Iraq's oil-for-food program, promising to make public the findings of a U.N.-sponsored inquiry into the scandal.
Mr. Annan, who has faced calls from critics in Congress to step down, also insisted during a quick trip to Washington that he did not feel "snubbed" by his failure to meet with President Bush.
The administration has given Mr. Annan only a subdued and belated vote of confidence as charges of billions of dollars of payoffs and kickbacks in the oil-for-food program have swirled around top U.N. officials and even Mr. Annan's son.
The secretary-general met with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, discussing, among other things, the role of the United Nations in next month's Iraqi elections and a just-released report calling for wide-ranging reform of the world body.
"I don't feel snubbed," said Mr. Annan of his failure to meet Mr. Bush, noting the two have met on many previous occasions and talk by telephone.
"I don't feel that if I come to Washington and we don't get a chance to meet, I should feel offended or snubbed. This is the nature of things," he said after a brief meeting with Mr. Powell.
Mr. Annan prefaced an address on U.N. reform to the Council on Foreign Relations by again vowing to press forward with the internal investigation into the oil-for-food scandal.
He also said military action by individual states with the support of the U.N. Security Council would provide greater international backing.
"Where one takes action with support of the council and the legitimacy of the council, its acceptability around the world usually is much larger," Mr. Annan told the group.
"If one country is allowed to take action ... is that a privilege allowed [to] all countries?"
Although Mr. Annan's comments were general, they were likely a reference to the U.S.-led war on Iraq last year, which the secretary-general and many in the world body criticized.

posted by Frodgie at 7:31 AM

 

Don't meddle in Iraq, Bush tells neighbors

President Bush yesterday told Syria and Iran to stop meddling in Iraq, as the Iraqi defense minister accused his nation's two neighbors of aiding a terrorist insurgency to disrupt elections set to take place in six weeks.
"We will continue to make it clear to both Syria and Iran that ... meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq is not in their interests," the president told reporters in the Oval Office at the end of a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Mr. Bush called on Iraq's neighbors to work with the interim Iraqi government to enforce border security ahead of elections scheduled for Jan. 30.
"We expect there to be help in establishing a society in which people are able to elect their leaders, and that we expect people to work with the Iraqi interim government to enforce border, to stop the flow of people and money that aim to help these terrorists," the president said.
"We made that very clear, and we'll continue to make it clear."
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shara agreed during a September meeting with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to step up cooperation with the United States and Iraq along the border and stop terrorists from using Syrian soil as a base for operations in Iraq. An agreement with the Iraqi government on how to implement the pledge was reached in October.
Mr. Bush also said that despite the religious split in Iraq, other nations — especially Iraq's neighbors — should be working to ensure a future in which all religions can peacefully coexist.
"For the good of the area ... there ought to be a peaceful country where the different religions can come together," Mr. Bush said.
The president's comments came after Hazem Shaalan, the defense minister in Iraq's interim government, accused Iran and Syria of aiding al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi and former agents of Saddam Hussein to promote an Islamist insurgency in Iraq.

posted by Frodgie at 8:03 AM

 

Muslim Extremists Preach Violence in Europe

LONDON — He's called Sheik Terra.

With a Koran in one hand and pistol in the other, the British rapper calls for the murder of non-Muslims, including several world leaders, on a videotape.

The video is well known in one London mosque, whose imam — or leader — is accused of setting up a terrorist training camp in Oregon and whose followers don't like Western media.

Abu Hamza (search), who lost two hands and an eye in Afghanistan, is in jail now but other extremists from among Britain's two million Muslims continue to preach violence, veiling the message to take advantage of some of Europe's most liberal freedom-of-speech laws.

"We cannot tolerate a crocodile in our bedroom," said Sheik Omar Bakri. "U.S. forces in Muslim countries are crocodiles in our bedrooms. So we are not going to give them ice cream."

Bakri says the terrorists who staged the Sept. 11, 2001, (search) attacks on the United States are magnificent and Westerners in Arab lands need to be killed by any means necessary. He makes the threats with a smile.

"If we use violence, you will forget the name of your mother and father," he said.

The drawing power of the extremists, especially among the youth, has posed a challenge for mainstream Muslim leaders across Europe.

Part of Britain's problem is that it can't provide native-trained imams; more than 90 percent are foreigners with very limited training or, some like Hamza, have none at all.

To prevent more mosques from being hijacked, London's Muslim college is trying to educate home-grown British imams but the voices of moderation struggle to be heard over media-savvy terrorists.

When a hostage gets beheaded in Iraq, the images spread through this community almost instantly. It is a real mix of barbarity and technology.

The beheading of British engineer Kenneth Bigley (search) in Iraq went from videotape to the Internet, then from cell phone to cell phone, bringing a smile from one young British Muslim who says he knows who the real killers are.

posted by Frodgie at 8:01 AM

 

Baghdad Attacks Aim to Disrupt Iraq Vote

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Rebel strikes across Baghdad killed five people on Thursday — including three paramilitary policemen and a government official — as insurgents kept up their campaign to derail Iraq's upcoming general election.

Wednesday's launch of the campaign for the Jan. 30 vote for a 275-member National Assembly was marred by an explosion near one of Shia Islam's holiest shrines in the southern city of Karbala.

The attack in the heartland of Iraqi's majority Shiite population killed eight people and wounded 40, including a prominent cleric, Sheik Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalayee (search). Local leaders said the attack was an attempt by militants to fuel a civil war between the Shiites and the minority Sunnis.

The start of election campaigning was subdued due to security fears.

In the capital, unidentified gunmen on Thursday shot dead Qassim Mehawi (search), deputy head of the Communications Ministry as he was heading to work, police officials said.

Eight of Mehawi's bodyguards were injured in the attack and were taken to the hospital.

Government officials are frequent targets of the insurgents, who accuse them of collaborating with the Americans.

In western Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded near a passing SUV, badly damaging the vehicle, police said. After the blast, gunmen opened up on the survivors with automatic fire, killing a foreigner and wounding two others, Al-Khadra police commissioner Ali Hussein Al-Hamadani said.

There was no immediate information on their nationality.

Al-Hamadani said three Iraqi National Guardsmen died and six others were injured when another roadside bomb exploded in western Baghdad as their pickup truck was driving by.

And a U.S. soldier was wounded when the tank he was riding in struck a mine near Beiji, 150 miles north of Baghdad, a spokesman said Thursday.

U.S. and Iraqi security forces raided the Baghdad home of two Egyptian employees of an Iraqi mobile phone company belonging to Egypt's telecommunications giant Orascom, said Dina Abu Neda, a spokeswoman for Orascom Telecom.


posted by Frodgie at 7:51 AM

 

U.S. to name Hezbollah TV a terrorist organization

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The State Department plans to designate Hezbollah's television station, Al-Manar, as a terrorist organization for broadcasting incitement, a senior State Department official said Wednesday.

The designation could come later this week, the official said.

Hezbollah is a Lebanon-based group linked to the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 servicemen. It is already designated a terrorist organization by the United States. (Full story)

Al-Manar, which was licensed by the Lebanese government in 1997, has come under renewed scrutiny amid claims that the organization is inciting terrorism and has made outrageous claims against Israel and other nations.

In one recent broadcast, according to The New York Times, Al-Manar claimed Israel spread the AIDS virus and other diseases throughout the Arab world.

The station, which can be seen in the United States via satellite, has also shown images of a skeletal Statue of Liberty dripping blood and pictures of Adolf Hitler and his forces juxtaposed with President Bush and American troops.

The station's Web site says: "Al-Manar is the first Arab establishment to stage an effective psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy."

Terrorism expert Avi Jorisch, author of the recently published "Beacon of Hatred," which took a critical look at the television station, has a different view.

"Al-Manar makes Al-Jazeera look like a Girl Scout cookie infomercial," said Jorisch, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based nonpartisan anti-terrorism organization.

Al-Jazeera is an Arabic-language satellite television channel based in Qatar.

A top official at Al-Manar admitted that the network shares philosophical agreements with Hezbollah, but denied that it takes its marching orders from the group.

"George W. Bush says that he's a friend of peace and he is a peaceful man," said Ibrahim Mousawi, director of Al-Manar's political programs. "This is distorting the realities and the facts. But we never broadcast anything to incite hatred."


posted by Frodgie at 7:45 AM

 

Purported new bin Laden tape surfaces

(CNN) -- A new audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden and referencing the December 6 attack on the American consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, appeared on Arabic Web sites Thursday.

The voice on the tape says the current instability in Saudi Arabia is due to the regime there and not the action of the jihadis there.

"While the struggle in Saudi Arabia appears to be internal, it is part of the struggle between believers and non-believers" of Islam, the speaker said.

Near the end of the approximately 70-minute tape, the speaker asks for God's blessings for "our brothers who stormed the American consulate in Jeddah."

"We pray to Allah to accept the mujahedeen who stormed the U.S. consulate in Jeddah as martyrs," the speaker says.

Also on the tape is deep criticism of the Saudi royal family.

"Millions are suffering poverty, while rials (Saudi currency) pour into the hands of the Saudi royal family."

The quality of the recording is poor, but al Qaeda expert Paul Eedle says the voice seems to be that of bin Laden.

A Saudi militant group with ties to al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the December 6 attack in Jeddah, posting its claim on several Islamist Web sites often used by militants.

A U.S. State Department official had also said that al Qaeda was suspected in the attack.

The Saudi Interior Ministry said the attackers threw explosives at two gates of the sprawling, walled consulate and then entered, exchanging fire with guards.

Asked who the gunmen were, a Saudi Interior Ministry official said they were "wanted" -- but it was unclear if they were al Qaeda members.

Saudi forces killed three of the gunmen and captured two others, both of whom were wounded, the Saudi Interior Ministry said. One of gunmen later died.

Five consular employees -- four local staff members and a contract guard -- were also killed. Four other local staff members were injured and recovering in hospitals, U.S. officials said.

The group that claimed responsibility called itself the Qaeda al Jihad in the Arabian Peninsula.

In the Internet post, the group said: "This operation comes as part of several operations that are organized and planned by al Qaeda as part of the battle against the crusaders and the Jews, as well as part of the plan to force the unbelievers to leave the Arabian Peninsula."

The group said its fighters "managed to enter one of the crusaders' big castles in the Arabian Peninsula and managed to enter the American consulate in Jeddah, in which they control and run the country."

It claimed the fighters killed nine employees of the consulate, including two Americans, and seven Saudi soldiers.

The U.S. Embassy said no Americans were killed or seriously injured.

The group said two of its fighters were killed and that others escaped unharmed.

After the Jeddah attack, President Bush said the incident showed "terrorists are still on the move" trying to get the United States to leave Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

In April, the State Department ordered "nonemergency employees and all dependents of the U.S. Embassy Riyadh and Consulates General Jeddah and Dhahran ... to leave the country," because of security concerns, and urged Americans to defer travel to the kingdom.

As recently as August, a vehicle from the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah was hit by gunfire from a single assailant while driving in the city. The two occupants of the vehicle -- the driver and a consulate American employee, were not injured in the attack.

Al Qaeda-led suicide attacks struck Riyadh housing compounds in May and July of 2003, killing 40 people, most of them Muslims.

In a videotape that aired in November, bin Laden's right-hand man pledged to continue fighting the United States until it changes its policies regarding Muslims.


posted by Frodgie at 7:41 AM

 

U.S. Troops Must Not Be at the Mercy of an 'International Criminal Court'

This week, Congress will send legislation to President Bush denying economic assistance to any foreign government that refuses to protect U.S. troops, government personnel, and civilians from arbitrary arrest and prosecution before the United Nations International Criminal Court (ICC). While nearly 100 nations have signed "non surrender" agreements with the U.S., many refuse to do so.

The United States is not a party to the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction. Even so, the court can currently arrest and prosecute our troops and personnel operating in U.N. peacekeeping missions if the host nation is a member of the ICC, accepts its jurisdiction voluntarily, or is directed by the U.N. Security Council.

Consider: A U.N. report issued last week called for the Security Council to refer suspected cases of war crimes to the ICC. Almost simultaneously, war crimes charges were filed in a German court against Defense Secretary Rumsfeld for prison abuses at Abu Graib in Iraq. A German human rights group argued, under the much abused and misunderstood concept of "universal jurisdiction," that any citizen or group can file a claim against any world leader who may be guilty of committing crimes against humanity. Can anyone reasonably believe that more such cases are not soon to follow?

Although the Clinton Administration helped negotiate the terms and scope of the ICC, and even signed the treaty that created it in 1998, it was never submitted to the Senate for ratification. On May 6, 2002, the Bush Administration formally renounced any commitment to join the ICC or recognize its jurisdiction, citing fundamental structural flaws that would allow the court to undermine the role of the U.N. Security Council in maintaining international peace and security, as well as concerns over unchecked prosecutorial power and efforts to assert jurisdiction over citizens of states that have not ratified the treaty.

Congress then overwhelmingly passed the American Servicemembers' Protection Act, which spelled out strong objections to the ICC and prohibited any level of U.S. government cooperation with it. The legislation also required the Administration to pursue measures to protect Americans from the Court's reach.

It is no secret that the majority of U.N. peacekeeping operations are conducted in countries that are non-democratic and whose leaders are hostile to U.S. policies. Leaving our leaders, troops, and personnel vulnerable to arrest and use as political pawns would be a colossal mistake and one the President was right to avoid. But given the likelihood that the United States will be called upon to send troops to future U.N. peacekeeping missions, it is critical that additional steps be taken now to create more concrete and permanent protections.

First, Congress and the Administration should conduct a review of where U.S. troops and personnel are operating as peacekeepers, and determine whether their continued deployment is an appropriate use of our resources in the ongoing war against terrorism. The Administration must insist on "non-surrender" agreements with host countries to prevent any Americans from being turned over to the ICC. No troops or personnel should be committed to any mission without such protection.


posted by Frodgie at 9:22 AM

 

Al-Qaida Bomber Kills 13 in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq – A suicide car bomber linked to al-Qaida killed 13 people in Baghdad on Monday, the first anniversary of Saddam Hussein's capture, and clashes resumed in Fallujah, a one-time insurgent stronghold that American forces believed they had conquered. Seven U.S. Marines died in combat in western Iraq.

The violence underlines the difficulties U.S.-led forces have encountered in the year since Saddam's ouster in trying to end a rampant insurgency. U.S. military commanders acknowledge they initially underestimated the strength of the insurgent backlash and say Iraqi security forces are not yet up to secure the country.

The fighting in Anbar, a vast province including Fallujah and Ramadi, was the deadliest for U.S. forces since eight Marines were killed by a car bomb outside Fallujah on Oct. 30. The deaths brought to nearly 1,300 the number of American troops killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
In Baghdad, a militant in an explosives-laden car waiting in line to enter the western Harthiyah gate of the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy and Iraq's interim government, detonated the vehicle as he drove toward the checkpoint, Iraqi police said.

Dr. Mohammed Abdel Satar of Baghdad's Yarmouk said 13 people were killed and at least 15 wounded in the suicide blast. The U.S. military said there were no injuries among its troops.

Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq group claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement posted on an Islamic Internet site regularly used by militants.

"On this blessed day a lion from the Martyrs' Brigade has gone out to strike at a gathering of apostates and Americans in the Green Zone," the group said in a statement posted on an Islamic Web site.

The international zone has been the scene of frequent attacks by insurgents during the past 18 months, killing and wounding dozens of people in car bombings or mortar barrages.

Shortly afterward, three explosions were heard in central Baghdad, but it was unclear whether any damages or casualties were caused. U.S. forces were investigating.

In the town of Mishahda, 25 miles north of Baghdad gunmen attacked an Iraqi National Guard patrol killing three soldiers and wounding thee others. The attackers fled, witnesses said.

Iraq's interim President Ghazi al-Yawer said in an interview broadcast Monday that the U.S.-led coalition was wrong to dismantle the Iraqi security forces.

"Definitely dissolving the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior was a big mistake at that time," al-Yawer told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

It would have been more effective to screen out former regime loyalists than to rebuild from scratch, he added.

"As soon as we have efficient security forces that we can depend on we can see the beginning of the withdrawal of forces from our friends and partners and I think it doesn't take years, it will take months," he said.

U.S. forces retook Fallujah from the insurgents in a bloody battle last month in which hundreds died, including at least 54 Americans. The city had fallen under the rule of radical clerics and their mujahedeen fighters after Marines lifted a three-week siege of the city in April.


posted by Frodgie at 9:17 AM

 

The Power of Shame
Why so many American's don't get the Sunni opposition.

She was a Sunni Muslim, an attractive, thirty-something writer, one of the few women I met who eschewed a scarf in public. And she was overjoyed at the demise of Saddam. "I am so happy! Freedom at last! The world is open to me now!" she exclaimed during a small social function at an art gallery in Karada. "Can you recommend some American magazines I might send my writing to?"

I promised I'd draw up a list of suitable periodicals, then added — carelessly, for this was my first trip to Iraq — "You must not mind seeing American soldiers on the streets."

The woman's smile vanished. Her brow darkened and she shook her head. "Oh, no. I hate the soldiers. I hate them so much I fantasize about taking a gun and shooting one dead."

Stunned by her vehemence, "But American soldiers are responsible for your freedom!" I replied.

"I know," the woman snarled. "And you can't imagine how humiliated that makes me feel."

He was a short, intense, bespectacled lawyer from Baquba, who claimed he had connections with anti-Coalition forces in the Sunni Triangle. As we drove through the desert into Baghdad, "I hate your country," he informed me. "Every time I see a U.S. tank I feel like it is crushing my skull."

Less startled by this expression — for this was my second trip to Iraq — I asked the attorney the cause of his feelings. As if explaining the most self-evident thing in the world, he replied, "America is occupying my country — as a patriot, of course I must resist." He fixed his wire-rimmed gaze on me. "Imagine if a foreign power was occupying America — wouldn't you resist?"

I think of these people each time I read about violence in the Sunni Triangle, that one-hundred-mile area stretching from Tikrit to the north, Ramadi to the east, and Baghdad to the west. I think of similar Iraqi confessions of shame, resentment, or "patriotism" each time I hear of an American soldier or Iraqi civilian killed by an IED, mortar assault, or car bomb.

posted by Frodgie at 9:13 AM

 

Baghdad fears rise of 'Iraqi Hitler'

LONDON, England -- Iraq's interim president has criticized U.S. and British forces for dismantling Iraqi security forces and warned that long-term instability could give rise to an "Iraqi Hitler."

Ghazi al-Yawer said Monday the decision to dismantle Saddam Hussein's defense and interior ministries contributed to the violence and disorder seen since the Iraqi dictator was captured a year ago.

"Definitely dissolving the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior was a big mistake at that time," al-Yawer told BBC radio.

"We could have screened people out instead of screening them in and this could have saved us a lot of hassle and problems," he said.

In remarks published Monday in the Arabic press, al-Yawer also warned of a replay of post-World War I Germany, when Adolf Hitler came to power, if Iraqis continue to feel humiliated and despondent.

"This could in the long term create an environment in which an Iraqi Hitler could emerge like the one created by the defeat of Germany and the humiliation of Germans in World War I," al-Yawer told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

Al-Yawer -- a Sunni Muslim who was chosen for the largely symbolic post of president in June -- also urged Iraq's neighbors to break their "negative silence" about attacks in Iraq and play a positive role in helping stabilize the country.

"When a fire breaks out in your neighbor's house you should act quickly to put it out, not only for the sake of your neighbor but also so that you are not forced to put it out in your own home when it spreads there," the president told the newspaper.


posted by Frodgie at 9:10 AM

 

Generic GOP candidate
beats Hillary
Poll finds 46% of voters would choose Republican over N.Y. senator

A new poll finds if the next presidential election were held today, 46 percent of voters would choose a generic Republican candidate over front-running Democrat Sen. Hillary Clinton, who would get just 39 percent of the vote.

The survey, conducted by Rasmussen Reports, has the New York senator holding a narrow lead among women, 45 to 42 percent, while trailing by 17 points among men.

Conducted Dec.3-5, the survey of 1,500 likely voters had a margin of sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.

An early Rasmussen poll found that 42 percent of Democrats believe Clinton is the party's strongest candidate for 2008. Other survey data shows that 51 percent of Democrats want their next presidential candidate to be more of a centrist than John Kerry.

Many analysts believe Clinton is hoping to position herself as a moderate in the coming years, evidenced partly by her tough talk against illegal immigration and the hiring of illegal aliens by American employers.

Forty-five percent of voters have a favorable opinion of Clinton, while 42 percent have an unfavorable opinion.




posted by Frodgie at 9:00 AM

 

Getting Serious About Syria

"WE WILL pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."
George W. Bush, Address to Congress,
September 20, 2001
THE STORY was in the December 2, 2004, London Daily Telegraph, on page 14, by Jack Fairweather, datelined Damascus. Its headline: "All aboard the terrorists' bus to Iraq. Mujahideen mosques are springing up all over Syria to arm militants and send them across the border to do battle with the hated Americans."

Here are the highlights:

WHEN not in Iraq, Abdullah cuts meat for a living. He is a Syrian cook at the Kingdom of God restaurant in Damascus, in a bustling suburb dominated by Iraqi exiles.
For the past year, Abdullah has also been on the payroll of Iraqi resistance forces fighting American troops. . . .

In April, the 23-year-old boarded a convoy of American GMCs in Aleppo, northern Syria, with 10 other fighters from the area.

He had been recruited at a mosque 30 miles south of Aleppo, built last year by a local sheikh with business interests in Iraq and strong sympathies with the resistance. It is brazenly entitled the Mujahideen Mosque.

Abdullah, originally from the Aleppo area, and the other fighters, were provided with Iraqi passports and weapons. Abdullah was given a bazooka to carry.

They were told

they would be relieving Syrian mujahideen already in Iraq, part of a regular "troop" rotation, and would be expected to fight until they in turn were either killed or replaced.

In return Abdullah's family would be paid $3,000 a month by the mosque--more than most American soldiers in Iraq and a fortune in Syria where average salaries are less than 10 pounds a week.

To enter Iraq from Syria there are three border crossings. Abdullah's convoy took the most northerly, through Rabia, a dusty collection of concrete houses straddling the border, and with pictures of the former Syrian president Hafez Assad festooning the checkpoint.

Al-Jabouri tribesmen man the border. Like the al-Dulaimy tribe that guards the southern entry points into Iraq, they are deeply hostile to the US presence and Abdullah's convoy was waved through without checks.

The men were driven to a mosque in Mosul where, according to Abdullah, dozens of their fellow countrymen were staying. He would not disclose the name of the mosque, but one such building in Mosul is the Mahmud mosque, infamous for supporting the insurgency.

This squat building on the west bank of the city has seen some of the heaviest fighting between insurgents and US and Iraqi forces recently.

Sheikh Latif al-Jabouri, who runs the mosque, claims the Syrians he shelters are businessmen who come to buy and sell cars and pray. Inside the mosque, Abdullah was greeted by a former Iraqi military officer. He was assigned to a 10-man unit of Iraqi guerrillas, and the other Syrians he traveled with were spread among other units.



posted by Frodgie at 9:03 AM

 

Washington sours on Putin after Ukraine vote

WASHINGTON – The political crisis in Ukraine has touched off a fresh debate inside the White House and foreign policy offices over how President Bush should handle Russian President Vladimir Putin's increasingly authoritarian rule at home and assertive presence abroad, according to administration officials.

The relationship between Bush and Putin had been strained by the Kremlin's crackdown on political opposition, but it has taken a turn for the worse over the fraud-ridden presidential election in next-door Ukraine unleashed an angry torrent of Cold War-style rhetoric from Moscow.

Putin denounced the U.S. "dictatorship" in international relations, accused the West of acting like a "kind but strict uncle in a pith helmet" lecturing Russia and ridiculed Bush's plans for elections in Iraq next month. The tone has surprised some on the Bush team, according to officials, and demonstrated that Putin might be evolving from a partner into a foreign policy headache for Bush.

For an administration facing complex challenges in Iraq and the rest of the Mideast, friction with Russia represents an unwelcome distraction. The administration says it has improved cooperation with Moscow on terrorism and nonproliferation, and Bush does not want to jeopardize that, according to some aides.

"Clearly everybody in Washington is getting more and more concerned about where our friend is going," said a senior U.S. official who asked not to be named out of diplomatic sensitivity. In the past, he said, "it was a manageable situation. Now with the very angry response on their part, the question is: Is this just letting off steam? … Or is this a real turn in Putin's approach to us?"

posted by Frodgie at 8:58 AM

 

I don't recall the men in the military, or the Citadel pulling this shit. Equal opportunity for everyone except white males.

NEW YORK — A decision by Wells College (search), which has been all-women since 1868, to begin admitting male students in order to boost enrollment has riled female students.

Many students are threatening to leave the upstate New York college, but two have moved beyond threats and filed a lawsuit that says the decision to enroll men constitutes a breach of contract and fraud.

College administrators say the decision was necessary for the school's financial survival, because there aren't enough female applicants. Administrators don't want to admit men until the current freshman class graduates in 2008, and say the heart and soul of the school won't change.

"We are surviving as a college that will continue to educate women and will do so in a way that honors our history and meets the needs of current generations of students," said Wells spokeswoman Ann Rollo.

But many of the young women at the Aurora, N.Y., school say allowing men to attend would compromise the tight-knit community.

"We all leave our doors unlocked. We can run around in our nighties. It's all girls and we feel really safe and that will change," said student Starbuck Hersey.


posted by Frodgie at 8:50 AM

 

Baghdad Car Bomber Hits Green Zone

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A homicide car bomber linked to Al Qaeda (search) killed 13 people near Baghdad's Green Zone on Monday as clashes resumed in Fallujah, a one-time insurgent stronghold that American forces believed they had conquered.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced that seven U.S. Marines were killed in combat in Anbar province in western Iraq on Sunday.

On the first anniversary of Saddam Hussein's (search) capture, an explosive-laden vehicle waiting in line to enter the international area at its western Harthiyah gate exploded as it drove toward the checkpoint, Iraqi police said.

Besides the fatalities, Dr. Mohammed Abdel Satar of Baghdad's Yarmouk Hospital (search) said 15 people were wounded in the bombing. The U.S. military said there were no troop injuries.

The Green Zone (search) is the heavily fortified area that housed the interim Iraqi government and U.S. embassy. It has been the scene of frequent attacks by insurgents during the past 18 months, killing and wounding dozens of people in car bombings or mortar barrages.

Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al Qaeda in Iraq group claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement posted on an Islamic Internet site regularly used by militants.


posted by Frodgie at 8:46 AM

 

'A little overweight,' Bush admits

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush was found in good health and pronounced "fit for duty" after an annual physical Saturday that also showed that the 58-year-old chief executive is now, as he rather sheepishly conceded, "a little overweight."

"I obviously have gone through a campaign where I probably ate too many doughnuts, if you get my drift," said the usually trim Bush, who pledged to drop some weight in the new year. "But other than that, I feel great," he said upon leaving the National Naval Medical Center outside Washington.

The checkup, which took about three hours, found a few minor issues, according to a summary released later Saturday by the White House.

Bush's cholesterol level increased slightly, to 170 from 167 at his August 2003 physical, but he saw a large rise in his level of HDL, or "good" cholesterol, and a drop in his level of LDL, or "bad" cholesterol.

The doctors also put Bush in a "low" or "very low" risk category for coronary artery disease, saying he has evidence of mild coronary artery calcification. As a result, the president's doctors advised that he take aspirin and a cholesterol-lowering statin daily.

A small lesion was removed from his left shoulder. The doctors said it appeared benign, but ordered a biopsy from which results would be available within a week. They also recommended that other lesions observed on his face be removed with liquid nitrogen over the holidays.


posted by Frodgie at 8:42 AM

 

Christianophobia

"Tis the season to be jolly." But, as usual, not for all of us.

It is the Christmas season, that time in December when all good Christians celebrate the birth of the Savior of mankind, born in a stable in Bethlehem, 2,000 years ago.

It is a time of family gatherings and gift-giving, of joyous music and fond memories. For some, it is one of the few days of the year, Easter being the other, when they return to the old church for the feast day that yet retains its hold upon them from childhood.

Even many non-believers celebrate, for Christmas joy is contagious.

But not for all. For some, it is not too much to say that they hate the idea of Christmas with a deep abiding hate, not just the "Bah, humbug!" dismissal of old Scrooge. They want Christmas dead.

As usual, they are busy at work, going to court to get Nativity scenes expunged from public squares, demanding that statues of Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus be removed from department stores and parades, checking vigilantly to see that any and all caroling at public schools is free of such outrages as "Silent Night." For people such as these, even Santa has become an intolerably divisive figure who must be purged from public life.

And this year, again, they are meeting with some success, especially with a business community for whom Christmas has always been about sales volume, not salvation.

Target stores have told the Salvation Army it may no longer station volunteers at store entrances, with their red kettles, and solicit charitable contributions for the poor. The 30-year tradition that reaped the Army $9 million a year has been terminated

The reason? Says Target, unconvincingly, it is so the company can have a consistent policy of no solicitations outside its stores. But in recent years, the gay lobby has pressured Target to ban the Army because it is Christian and rejects homosexuality as sinful.

Now Macy's has stopped using the phrase "Merry Christmas" in all store advertising, replacing it with what Macy's calls the more inclusive "Season's Greetings" and "Happy Holidays."

But how is it "inclusive" to exclude the Christians' greeting? Is that not anti-Christian? Why would the Macy's of the "Miracle on 34th Street" do such a thing? Why would Federated Department Stores, Macy's parent company, impose such a policy?

By Newton's laws of motion, an object moving in a given direction will continue to do so unless an outside force intervenes. What hidden force intervened to cause Macy's to reverse course and suddenly sever its ties to Christmas? Who insisted that Macy's cease to mention Christmas, the holiday around which its selling season is built?


posted by Frodgie at 8:37 AM

 

Republican Insecurity

THERE'S A WORST CASE SCENARIO for Social Security reform that haunts the White House. It goes like this. With great fanfare, President Bush announces his plan for overhauling Social Security, creating private investment accounts for every American worker, and making the system solvent. He touts his proposal in his inauguration speech, the State of the Union address, and his budget. But when Bush unveils an actual bill--probably in February, maybe later in 2005--congressional Democrats scream that it would cut Social Security benefits by 40 percent. Worse for Bush, a number of prominent Republicans agree and criticize the president's plan, especially the benefits change. The result: Social Security reform is dead on arrival on Capitol Hill.

Democrats are a problem. On modernizing Social Security, most of them are reactionary liberals, committed to preserving an antiquated system. But at the moment, Republicans are an even bigger problem for the White House. For a reform measure to win approval in Congress, Republicans must be united. True, the conventional wisdom in Washington is that entitlement reform requires bipartisanship. With only a handful of Democrats likely to sign on, however, that won't happen. So that leaves the matter with Republicans, and they are anything but together.

They're divided on the two biggest reform issues: how big a chunk should be carved out of payroll taxes for individual investment accounts and whether the growth of Social Security benefits should be curtailed. In the past, the White House suggested it might settle for 2 percent accounts. In other words, workers

could invest up to 2 percent of their income using money from the 6.2 percent they already pay in payroll (FICA) taxes. Now the White House is expected to go for accounts as large as 4 percent. Or--and this is under discussion--the president could opt for a phase-in, leading to 6 percent accounts in 10 years.

Most Republican reformers insist on large accounts. The bill sponsored by Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire and Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin would instantly create 6 percent accounts. And they have a strong political argument. Since there's going to be a huge fight to get any private accounts at all, why settle for a piddling 2 percent? Why not go whole-hog and get what you really want? Sununu and Ryan have significant ties to the White House, where they've made this argument.

posted by Frodgie at 8:12 AM