Probe of Al-Qaeda Leader's Handling Sought

March 17, 2007
Probe of Al-Qaeda Leader's Handling Sought

Two senators who observed last week's closed military proceedings against al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed called for an investigation into allegations that the accused planner of the Sept. 11 attacks was physically abused while in CIA custody.

Mohammed told the tribunal last Saturday that he had been mistreated during three years in CIA custody before his transfer to Guantanamo Bay, and he submitted a written description of the alleged abuse. The military panel immediately classified the submission and redacted from transcripts details of Mohammed's treatment in the CIA's secret prison program.

According to one portion of the transcript made public earlier this week, however, Mohammed told the panel of three unnamed military officers that his children had been held for four months and abused during his incarceration.

"Allegations of prisoner mistreatment must be taken seriously and properly investigated. To do otherwise would reflect poorly on our nation," Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a committee member, said in a statement issued yesterday.

GI Guilty in Iraqi Detainees' Deaths

March 17, 2007
GI Guilty in Iraqi Detainees' Deaths

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - A military panel found a 101st Airborne Soldier guilty of three counts of negligent homicide but not guilty of premeditated murder in the deaths of three Iraqi detainees.

Staff Sgt. Ray Girouard, 24, smiled as he hugged his defense lawyer and family members after the verdict was read. He faced up to life in prison had he been found guilty of premeditated murder.

The panel, which deliberated for four hours, also found Girouard guilty of obstruction of justice for lying to investigators, of conspiracy for trying to conceal the crime and of failure to obey a general order.

Plame testifies, lashes out at White House

March 16, 2007
Plame testifies, lashes out at White House

WASHINGTON — Valerie Plame, the former CIA officer at the heart of a four-year political furor over the Bush administration's leak of her identity, lashed out Friday at the White House, testifying in Congress that the president's aides destroyed a career she loved and slipped her name to reporters for "purely political motives."

Plame, speaking publicly about the case for the first time, contended that her name and job "were carelessly and recklessly abused" by the government. Although she and her colleagues knew that "we might be exposed and threatened by foreign enemies," she said, "it was a terrible irony that administration officials were the ones who destroyed my cover."

Why KSM's Confession Rings False

March 15, 2007
Why KSM's Confession Rings False

Just as importantly, there is an absence of collateral evidence that would support KSM's story. KSM claims he was "responsible for the 9/11 operation from A-Z." Yet he has omitted details that would support his role. For instance, one of the more intriguing mysteries is who recruited and vetted the fifteen Saudi hijackers, the so-called "muscle." The well-founded suspicion is that Qaeda was running a cell inside the Kingdom that spotted these young men and forwarded them to al-Qaeda. KSM and al-Qaeda often appear bumbling, but they would never have accepted recruits they couldn't count on. KSM does not offer us an answer as to how this worked.

How the Right Went Wrong

March 15, 2007
How the Right Went Wrong

These are gloomy and uncertain days for conservatives, who — except for the eight-year Clinton interregnum — have dominated political power and thought in this country since Reagan rode in from the West. Their tradition goes back even further, to Founding Fathers who believed that people should do things for themselves and who shook off a monarchy in their conviction that Big Government is more to be feared than encouraged. The Boston Tea Party, as Reagan used to point out, was an antitax initiative.

E-Mails Show Rove's Role in U.S. Attorney Firings

March 15, 2007
E-Mails Show Rove's Role in U.S. Attorney Firings

March 15, 2007 — New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials show that the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys was raised by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove in early January 2005, indicating Rove was more involved in the plan than the White House previously acknowledged. The e-mails also show how Alberto Gonzales discussed the idea of firing the attorneys en masse while he was still White House counsel — weeks before he was confirmed as attorney general.

The e-mails put Rove at the epicenter of the imbroglio and raise questions about Gonzales' explanations of the matter.

Kucinich: 'Impeachment may well be the only remedy

March 15, 2007
Kucinich: 'Impeachment may well be the only remedy

During a speech on the House floor on Thursday, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) declared that "impeachment may well be the only remedy which remains to stop a war of aggression against Iran." The 2004 presidential candidate, who is running again in 2008, told RAW STORY that his House floor statement "speaks for itself."

"This House cannot avoid its constitutionally authorized responsibility to restrain the abuse of Executive power," Kucinich said on the floor today. "The Administration has been preparing for an aggressive war against Iran. There is no solid, direct evidence that Iran has the intention of attacking the United States or its allies."

House overturns Bush order on papers secrecy

March 14, 2007
House overturns Bush order on papers secrecy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Brushing aside a veto threat, the House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to overturn a 2001 order by President George W. Bush that lets former presidents keep their papers secret indefinitely.

The measure, which drew bipartisan support and passed by a veto-busting 333-93 margin, was among White House-opposed bills the House passed that would widen access to government information and protect government whistleblowers.

U.S. blocking inquest of 'friendly fire' on British

March 16, 2007
U.S. blocking inquest of 'friendly fire' on British

The American military won't co-operate with the inquest into the "friendly fire" killing of a British soldier by two U.S. pilots in southern Iraq, the British coroner charged Friday

"I believe that the full facts have not yet come to light," Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker said, reading the verdict about whether he believed two U.S. pilots unlawfully killed 25-year-old Lance Cpl. Matty Hull.

Four other British troops were wounded, but Hull was the only soldier who died in the March 28, 2003, attack.

Sen. Pryor: Attorney General lied to the Senate

March 13, 2007
Sen. Pryor: Attorney General lied to the Senate

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Arkansas Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor bluntly accused Attorney General Alberto Gonzales of lying to the Senate about replacing federal prosecutors with interim appointees and joined calls for Gonzales' resignation Thursday.

"When an attorney general lies to a United States senator, I think it is time for that attorney general to go," Pryor said on the Senate floor.

"He did not only lie to me as a person, but when he lied to me, he lied to the Senate and to the people I represent."

Bush asks for 8,100 more troops on top of original 21,000

March 14, 2007
Bush asks for 8,100 more troops on top of original 21,000

In addition, on March 10, Bush said he would send an additional 3,500 troops to Afghanistan as concerns mount about spring thaws bringing resurgent violence in the southern and eastern regions. In all last weekend, Bush announced an increase of at least 8,100 troops for both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The request for more troops, who are all to be in place by May, will bring the number in Iraq to nearly 160,000 – the highest it's been since January 2005, when there were 159,000 troops in Iraq. It's also the highest level since the invasion in March 2003.

"If you do straight-line math, it just presumes that everything is going to stay the same," says the official, who asked not to be named because he was expressing his own view and not necessarily that of the Pentagon. "Numbers are numbers: The level of effort in Iraq is going to reach 20 brigade combat teams."

Gen. Peter Pace denounces gays and lesbians who are busy defending their country.

March 14, 2007
Gen. Peter Pace denounces gays and lesbians who are busy defending their country

GEN. PETER PACE, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, yesterday refused to apologize for saying that homosexual acts are "immoral," explaining that he was expressing his "personal moral views." He's entitled to his opinions, of course. But when it comes to shaping public policy, he's obligated to reach a bit higher -- to consider facts and evidence and the impact of his public expressions of intolerance on the men and women he commands.

As Gen. Pace considers the uproar over his remarks on morality, he might reflect on Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Fidelis Alva, who like his father and grandfather chose to serve in the military. When he enlisted 17 years ago, he lied about his sexual orientation. Sgt. Alva was the first American wounded in the Iraq war, when he stepped on a land mine. President Bush presented him with the Purple Heart. His moral fitness for duty was unquestioned. What's immoral is that Sgt. Alva -- and thousands of other brave members of the armed forces -- had to lie or be silent for the right, the risk and the honor of serving his country.

Editorial Pages Call for Axing Attorney General

March 14, 2007
Editorial Pages Call for Axing Attorney General

NEW YORK The New York Times got the editorial ball rolling on Monday, calling for the firing of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales due largely, if not completely, to the burgeoning scandal involving the forced departure of eight U.S. attorneys. Now the notion has spread across the country.

"We haven't seen a renegade U.S. Justice Department like this since John Mitchell ran it for President Nixon," declared the Sacramento Bee. "With a new Congress beginning to exercise serious oversight, the problems at the Justice Department and with its leader, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, are becoming clearer by the day. And what is becoming most clear is that Gonzales must go."

Judges Say E.P.A. Ignored Order in Setting Emission Standards

March 14, 2007
Judges Say E.P.A. Ignored Order in Setting Emission Standards

The ruling said the agency had ignored the court's order to ensure that the basis for its standards was emission levels achieved by kilns using the most effective technology currently in use in the industry.

"If the Environmental Protection Agency disagrees with the Clean Air Act's requirements for setting emission standards it should take its concerns to Congress," the judges wrote in an unusually pointed final paragraph.

"If the E.P.A. disagrees with this court's interpretation of the Clean Air Act," they continued, the agency should appeal its earlier ruling. "In the meantime, it must obey the Clean Air Act as written by Congress and interpreted by this court."

Mental illness common in returning U.S. soldiers

March 12, 2007
Mental illness common in returning U.S. soldiers

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - High rates of mental health disorders are being diagnosed among US military personnel soon after being released from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to investigators in San Francisco.

They estimate that out of 103,788 returning veterans, 25 percent had a mental health diagnosis, and more than half of these patients had two or more distinct conditions.

Poll: 58 percent want U.S. troops out of Iraq by 2008

March 13, 2007
Poll: 58 percent want U.S. troops out of Iraq by 2008

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Nearly six in ten Americans want to see U.S. troops leave Iraq either immediately or within a year, and more would rather have Congress running U.S. policy in the conflict than President Bush, according to a CNN poll out Tuesday.

Tuesday's poll found most Americans support a withdrawal from Iraq, with 21 percent wanting an immediate pullout and 37 percent saying troops should be home within a year. Another 39 percent said the troops should stay in Iraq as long as needed.

They were more closely divided on the issue of funding the president's "New Way Forward," with 52 percent saying Congress should block funds for additional troops and 43 percent opposing such a move.

Gonzales Chief Aide Quits After Prosecutor Firings

March 13, 2007
Gonzales Chief Aide Quits After Prosecutor Firings

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- The chief aide to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned amid revelations that President George W. Bush's White House staff initiated the decision to fire federal prosecutors.

The Justice Department announced the resignation of Kyle Sampson, who was Gonzales's chief of staff. Sampson may be called to testify by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee who are demanding to know more about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys. Democrats have likened the dismissals to a political purge.

Army IG's report points to faulty rating of wounded soldiers

March 13, 2007
Army IG's report points to faulty rating of wounded soldiers

ARLINGTON, Va. — An Army Inspector General's report released Monday details shortcomings in the Army's system for rating how wounded soldiers are.

Among the findings: The Department of Veterans Affairs system for disability ratings needs to be updated to better represent how soldiers are injured, the report says.

The Army Times has reported that critics claim the Army is deliberately giving wounded soldiers less of a disability rating than they deserve to save money, but the Army has vehemently denied this.

Senator Tom Johnson of SD Recovering

March 13, 2007
Senator Tom Johnson of SD Recovering

Poll: Bush Does Not Support Wounded Vet

March 13, 2007
Poll: Bush Does Not Support Wounded Vet

A poll suggests a vast majority of U.S. citizens believe the Bush administration is not doing enough to help wounded Iraq veterans.

The CBS News/New York Times poll found that 76 percent of respondents -- including a majority of those who identified themselves as Republicans -- are critical of the administration's policies towards wounded vets, CBS News reported Tuesday.

The poll follows a week of Congressional hearings regarding poor treatment of veterans at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

Additionally, a 59 percent majority of respondents continue to oppose President Bush's decision to send 24,400 additional troops to Iraq. However, the number of respondents supporting Bush's decision, 36 percent, is a 7-point increase from a January poll.

Gonzales contradicts himself four times in nine minutes

March 14, 2007
Gonzales contradicts himself four times in nine minutes

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced the cameras for all of nine minutes yesterday, but he managed to contradict himself at least four times as he fought off calls to resign over the firing of U.S. attorneys.

Suddenly, the administration is in potentially a bigger flap than the Libby trial ever presented: allegations of political meddling with federal prosecutors at the highest levels of the White House with the complicity of Gonzales, the man Bush dubbed "mi abogado." And Schumer could not quite suppress a smile as he took the stage in the Senate television gallery, proclaiming, "This has become as serious as it gets."

Schumer said he was unsatisfied with Gonzales's sacrifice of his chief of staff. "Kyle Sampson will not become the next Scooter Libby, the next fall guy." Echoing a phrase used in the Libby trial, the senator continued: "The cloud over the Justice Department is getting darker and darker."

Investigators say Bush effort to relieve backlog likely will be unsuccessfu

March 14, 2007
Investigators say Bush effort to relieve backlog likely will be unsuccessful

WASHINGTON - The Veterans Affairs' system for handling disability claims is strained to its limit, and the Bush administration's current efforts to relieve backlogs will not be enough to serve veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, investigators said Tuesday.

In testimony to a House panel, the Government Accountability Office and Harvard professor Linda Bilmes detailed their study into the VA's claims system in light of growing demands created by wars. They found a system on the verge of crisis because of backlogs, cumbersome paperwork and ballooning costs.

Sen. Chuck Hagel: before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment

March 12, 2007
Sen. Chuck Hagel: before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment

"I believed what the administration said, that war would be a last resort," Hagel told Esquire magazine in an interview. "And the second thing is, at a critical time like this, the president needs a strong hand, and to some extent, you've got to trust him, until he lies or screws up or something."

Hagel also told Esquire that Bush appears to believe he's no longer accountable. "You can impeach him, and before this is over, I don't know. It depends how this goes."

If It's Sunday, It's Still Conservative

March 2007
Full Report
If It's Sunday, It's Still Conservative

• Despite previous network claims that a conservative advantage existed on the Sunday shows simply because Republicans controlled Congress and the White House, only one show, ABC's This Week, has been roughly balanced between both sides overall since the congressional majority switched hands in the 2006 midterm elections.


• Since the 2006 midterm elections, NBC's Meet the Press and CBS' Face the Nation have provided less balance between Republican and Democratic officials than Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday despite the fact that Fox News Sunday remains the most unbalanced broadcast overall both before and after the election.


• During the 109th Congress (2005 and 2006), Republicans and conservatives held the advantage on every show, in every category measured. All four shows interviewed more Republicans and conservatives than Democrats and progressives overall, interviewed more Republican elected and administration officials than Democratic officials, hosted more conservative journalists than progressive journalists, held more panels that tilted right than tilted left, and gave more solo interviews to Republicans and conservatives.
• 
  

Gay group demands apology from Pace

March 13, 2007
Gay group demands apology from Pace

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A gay advocacy group is demanding that the Pentagon's top general apologize for calling homosexuality immoral.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff likened homosexuality to adultery. Marine General Peter Pace said the military should not condone homosexuality by allowing gays to serve openly in the military.

Gen. Pace: Homosexuality "Immoral"

March 13, 2007
Gen. Pace: Homosexuality "Immoral"

WASHINGTON—The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday he considers homosexuality to be immoral and the military should not condone it by allowing gay personnel to serve openly, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace likened homosexuality to adultery, which he said was also immoral, the newspaper reported on its Web site.

"I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way," Pace told the newspaper in a wide-ranging interview.

British judge says government okayed Iraq abuse

March 12, 2007
British judge says government okayed Iraq abuse

BULLFORD (Reuters) - A judge said on Monday the reason he had ordered charges dropped against the most senior British officer to be tried for prisoner abuse in Iraq was because headquarters had approved some of the abuses.

The British military has denied that its commanders approved abusing prisoners.

But a witness, Major Anthony Royce, testified during a court martial of seven other soldiers over the death of an Iraqi hotel receptionist that some abuse was approved by higher-ups at British brigade headquarters.

Evangelicals slam torture in war on terrorism

March 12, 2007
Evangelicals slam torture in war on terrorism

DALLAS (Reuters) - A major U.S. association of evangelical Christians has condemned torture by the U.S. military and reaffirmed its commitment to environmental activism, positions that highlight broader splits in a movement associated with conservative causes.

"United States law and military doctrine has banned the resort to torture or cruel and degrading treatment. Tragically, documented cases of torture and inhumane and cruel behavior have occurred at various sites in the war on terror," the National Association of Evangelicals said in a statement.

Evangelical Christians have been among the staunchest supporters of the U.S. war in Iraq and the broader war on terror and many rankle at criticism of the American military which they see as unpatriotic and even un-Christian.

But divisions have emerged among the 60 million U.S. evangelicals as prominent figures publicly embrace causes such as global warming that are usually associated with the left of America's political divide.

Republicans See Divided Party and Trouble in '08

March 12, 2007
Republicans See Divided Party and Trouble in '08

In a survey that brought to life the party's anxieties about keeping the White House, Republicans said they were concerned that their party had drifted from the principles of Ronald Reagan, its most popular figure of the past 50 years.

Forty percent of Republicans said they expected Democrats to take control of the White House next year, compared with 46 percent who said they believed a Republican would win. Just 12 percent of Democrats said they thought the opposing party would win the White House.

Poll: 69 percent oppose pardon for Libby in CIA leak case

March 12, 2007
Poll: 69 percent oppose pardon for Libby in CIA leak case

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Nearly 70 percent of Americans oppose a presidential pardon for former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby after his conviction on perjury and other charges related to a CIA agent's exposure, according to a CNN poll out Monday.

Just 18 percent said they would support a pardon for Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, while 69 percent said they opposed the idea. Meanwhile, a narrow majority said they believe Cheney was part of a cover-up in the case.

Gonzales must go after 'abuse of power'

March 12, 2007
Gonzales must go after 'abuse of power'

US Senator Charles Schumer, who led the charge, cited a report last week that the FBI had misused its power under the Patriot Act as another egregious misstep by Mr Gonzales, who as White House counsel argued that war on terror detainees should not be afforded all the protections of the Geneva Conventions.

"The Justice Department must be above politics. Attorney-General Gonzales is a nice man, but he doesn't understand he's no longer the president's lawyer," Senator Schumer said on CBS television.

Army surgeon general forced to retire

March 13, 2007
Army surgeon general forced to retire

WASHINGTON— The Army's top medical officer was forced into retirement yesterday, yet another after effect of the disclosure of shoddy conditions for outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The ousted officer, Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, the Army surgeon general, became the third high-ranking official to lose his job because of shabby living quarters and bureaucratic tangles endured by wounded troops returned from combat.

"I submitted my retirement because I think it is in the best interest of the Army," Kiley said in a statement released by the military. "We are an Army Medical Department at war, supporting an Army at war. It shouldn't be and it isn't about one doctor."

The Justice Department's false statements

March 12, 2007
The Justice Department's false statements

Based on the DOJ's false assurances, Congress dismissed away the concerns of Russ Feingold and The Post and overwhelmingly voted to re-authorize the Patriot Act. In doing so, they re-authorized the dramatically expanded NSLs, which were first authorized (in expanded form) in September, 2001.

In other words: all of those assurances we gave you in order to convince you that we were using NSLs in strict accordance with the law were false. Now that the IG Report proves that what we told you is false, we are retracting what we said, and when we get around to it, we will also correct the false testimony we gave at Congressional hearings and the false assurances we gave you in secret, classified meetings -- all of which successfully convinced you to re-authorize the Patriot Act.

It is inconceivable that these false assurances were made in good faith. They were plainly the by-product of either deliberate deceit or a reckless indifference to finding out whether those statements were true. The IG Report documents that the illegal use of NSLs was not isolated in any way, but instead, was pervasive and systematic. As the Washington Post Editorial yesterday noted:

The Army is ordering injured troops to go to Iraq

March 11, 2007
The Army is ordering injured troops to go to Iraq

As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries and other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have said are medically unfit for battle. Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical records.

On Feb. 15, Master Sgt. Jenkins and 74 other soldiers with medical conditions from the 3rd Division's 3rd Brigade were summoned to a meeting with the division surgeon and brigade surgeon. These are the men responsible for handling each soldier's "physical profile," an Army document that lists for commanders an injured soldier's physical limitations because of medical problems -- from being unable to fire a weapon to the inability to move and dive in three-to-five-second increments to avoid enemy fire. Jenkins and other soldiers claim that the division and brigade surgeons summarily downgraded soldiers' profiles, without even a medical exam, in order to deploy them to Iraq. It is a claim division officials deny.

Dave Obey, "Idiot Liberals" and Ending the War

March 7, 2007
Dave Obey, "Idiot Liberals" and Ending the War

However, the troubling thing out of the spat is not Obey's behavior: it is the reaction to it by the progressive movement, and what that reaction really says. The idea that Jack Murtha - the guy who voted for the war, the guy who was one of the most outspoken pro-war Democrats, the guy who has never seen a defense bill he didn't try to increase - is now an antiwar saint beyond reproach, but Dave Obey is some sort of pro-war villain is so fundamentally absurd it suggests that at least some who liken themselves as progressive movement leaders really are "idiot liberals" because they have positively no idea how the hell basic movement building or power works (mind you - I'm not saying Jack Murtha hasn't been courageous in opposing the war of late- he has, which is why I thought he should have been Majority Leader - but the point is that the basic understanding of "allies" and "enemies" can be wholly misunderstood).

Stung by Remarks, Nevada Democrats Cancel Debate on Fox

March 7, 2007
Stung by Remarks, Nevada Democrats Cancel Debate on Fox

Criticism had been mounting ever since the Aug. 14 debate for Democratic presidential candidates was announced last month. Liberal blogs and groups as well as some Nevada Democrats had demanded that Fox be removed as a sponsor, arguing that its coverage was slanted toward Republicans.

Nevada's Democratic leaders had stood firm against pressure over what had become an unpopular decision, until the Fox chairman, Roger Ailes, made a remark about Mr. Obama on Thursday night at an awards banquet here. In a series of jokes about various public officials as part of a speech, Mr. Ailes said, "It is true that Barack Obama is on the move. I don't know if it's true that President Bush called Musharraf and said, 'Why can't we catch this guy?' "

Federal officials secretly schemed to limit payouts for sick and dying nuclear weapons workers

March 10, 2007
Federal officials secretly schemed to limit payouts for sick and dying nuclear weapons workers

Federal officials secretly schemed to limit payouts for sick and dying nuclear weapons workers, including thousands from the Rocky Flats plant outside Denver, newly released documents show.

The officials responsible for helping those workers went behind their boss's back, called on White House officials for help and tried to hide their efforts, according to internal e-mails and memos obtained by a congressional committee and posted on its Web site.

They also wanted to get the White House to override scientific decisions granting compensation and pack the program's advisory board with members less sympathetic to workers.

Bush visits spark riots

March 9, 2007
Bush visits spark riots

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Police clashed yesterday with students, environmentalists and leftist Brazilians protesting against a visit by President George W. Bush and his push for an ethanol energy alliance with Latin America's largest country.

Riot police fired tear gas at protesters and beat them with batons in Sao Paulo after more than 6,000 people held a largely peaceful march, sending hundreds of demonstrators fleeing and ducking into businesses to avoid the gas.

To visit Colombia
Authorities did not immediately report any injuries but Brazilian news media said at least six people were hurt after marching three kilometres through the financial heart of South America's largest city just hours before Bush was scheduled to arrive.

The Failed Attorney General

March 11, 2007
The Failed Attorney General

First, there was Mr. Gonzales's lame op-ed article in USA Today trying to defend the obviously politically motivated firing of eight United States attorneys, which he dismissed as an "overblown personnel matter." Then his inspector general exposed the way the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been abusing yet another unnecessary new power that Mr. Gonzales helped wring out of the Republican-dominated Congress in the name of fighting terrorism.

The F.B.I. has been using powers it obtained under the Patriot Act to get financial, business and telephone records of Americans by issuing tens of thousands of "national security letters," a euphemism for warrants that are issued without any judicial review or avenue of appeal. The administration said that, as with many powers it has arrogated since the 9/11 attacks, this radical change was essential to fast and nimble antiterrorism efforts, and it promised to police the use of the letters carefully.

But like so many of the administration's promises, this one evaporated before the ink on those letters could dry. The F.B.I. director, Robert Mueller, admitted Friday that his agency had used the new powers improperly.

Pelosi Cautions Bush Not to Veto an Iraq Bill

March 11, 2007
Pelosi Cautions Bush Not to Veto an Iraq Bill

WASHINGTON, March 10 — Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, challenged President Bush on Saturday over his threat to reject an Iraq spending bill if it calls for a troop withdrawal, even as the administration sought to shift money to pay for additional forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

With a House committee set to consider the approximately $100 billion measure as early as Thursday, Ms. Pelosi said a veto would suggest to Iraqi leaders that the United States was not serious about making them more responsible for policing their own country.

Bush to add 8,200 troops to Iraq, Afghanistan

March 11, 2007
Bush to add 8,200 troops to Iraq, Afghanistan

ANCHORENA PARK, Uruguay — President Bush approved 8,200 more U.S. troops for Iraq and Afghanistan on top of reinforcements already ordered to those two countries, the White House said Saturday, a move that comes amid a fiery debate in Washington over the Iraq war.

The president is sending 4,700 troops to Iraq in addition to the 21,500 he ordered in January, mainly to provide additional support and to handle more Iraqi prisoners than anticipated. He also decided to send a 3,500-member brigade to Afghanistan to accelerate training of local forces, doubling his previous troop increase to fight a resurgent Taliban.

The war's endgame

March 11, 2007
The war's endgame

That's the core of the plan that House Democrats are now advancing, with a vote possible before the end of the month. Unlike an earlier resolution that was all talk and no teeth, this bill is clear and powerful, a message to friend and foe in Iraq.

Under the new plan, the president would have to certify by July 1 of this year, and again by Oct. 1, that the Iraqi government is making progress toward securing the country, allocating its oil revenues and creating a fair system for amending its constitution.

Bush Debt - $3.1 Trillion

March 8, 2007

Bush Debt

$3,105,407,209,442.59

March 08, 2007

FBI broke the law

March 10, 2007
FBI broke the law

WASHINGTON — Years of suspicion about the government's authority to secretly poke around in Americans' personal information boiled over yesterday when the FBI admitted it did so illegally in some cases over the past three years.

At a glance...

• Who did what: Federal law enforcement chiefs say the FBI broke the law in prying into Americans' personal information.


• So what: Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III apologized and pledged to stop it.


• What next: Disciplinary action, not criminal charges, are likely.

Where Is the Press on Internet Surveillance?

March 7, 2007
Where Is the Press on Internet Surveillance?

ABC just ran a story of whistleblower Mark Klein, AT&T technician, regarding government surveillance of internet traffic by AT&T and the National Security Agency. At a San Francisco switching center, Mr. Klein collected over 120 pages of technical documents showing how NSA installed splitters which would allow of both domestic and international internet communications to be copied.

Over at the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Klein's story by was killed at the request of National Intelligence Director John Negroponte and NSA Director Gen. Michael Hayden. However, the New York Times did publish it. An online news video is available here.

ABC, NBC still haven't covered U.S. attorney firings

March 7, 2007
ABC, NBC still haven't covered U.S. attorney firings

NBC's and ABC's nightly news programs have yet to cover the controversy over the Bush administration's dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys, despite considerable congressional attention to the issue, including hearings begun on March 6.

On March 6, both the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law and the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on the attorneys' dismissals. As The Washington Post reported, the witnesses "testified on Capitol Hill yesterday that they had separately been the target of complaints, improper telephone calls and thinly veiled threats from a high-ranking Justice Department official or members of Congress, both before and after they were abruptly removed from their jobs."

Gingrich had affair during Clinton probea

March 8, 2007
Gingrich had affair during Clinton probe

WASHINGTON - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich acknowledged he was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group.

"The honest answer is yes," Gingrich, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson to be aired Friday, according to a transcript provided to The Associated Press. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards."

Israel accused of using Palestinian children as human shields

March 9, 2007
Israel accused of using Palestinian children as human shields

he Israeli army is investigating whether its troops used two Palestinian children as human shields during a house search operation in the West Bank following claims by the Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem.

The use of human shields to deter gunmen from opening fire on soldiers was banned by Israel's supreme court and forbidden by the army. However the practice, in which soldiers force Palestinians to approach, enter and search buildings where they believe gunmen may be hiding, remains common.

Edwards to Skip Debate Hosted by Fox

March 7, 2007
Edwards to Skip Debate Hosted by Fox

LAS VEGAS — Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards won't participate in a debate co-hosted by Fox News Channel and the Nevada Democratic Party, his campaign said Wednesday, as party officials tried to settle a dustup over their partnership with the cable network. Edwards' campaign said Fox News' participation was part of the decision to pass on the Aug. 14 debate in Reno, but it also cited scheduling conflicts.

Online activists and bloggers quickly hailed the decision as a victory in their campaign to urge Nevada Democrats to drop Fox News as a partner. MoveOn.org Civic Action says it has collected more than 260,000 signatures on a petition that calls the cable network a "mouthpiece for the Republican Party, not a legitimate news channel."

Government Scientists: "Don't discuss polar bears"

March 8, 2007
Government Scientists: "Don't discuss polar bears"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Polar bears, sea ice and global warming are taboo subjects, at least in public, for some U.S. scientists attending meetings abroad, environmental groups and a top federal wildlife official said on Thursday.

Environmental activists called this scientific censorship, which they said was in line with the Bush administration's history of muzzling dissent over global climate change.

GOP Was Aware of Problems at Walter Reed and Did Nothing

March 7, 2007
GOP Was Aware of Problems at Walter Reed and Did Nothing

Senior Republicans who knew about problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center while their party controlled Congress insist they did all they could to prod the Pentagon to fix them.

But C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., former chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, said he stopped short of going public with the hospital's problems to avoid embarrassing the Army while it was fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, who was the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations
Defense Subcommittee, said he sought appropriations to address problems he found during visits to
military hospitals. For example, he obtained money for air conditioners for the Landstuhl Regional
Medical Center in Germany and modern stretchers for a Baghdad field hospital.

Murtha focused blame for the Walter Reed scandal on the Bush administration and said the
Pentagon discouraged patients from talking to lawmakers in both parties.

"My impression is that the military was constrained, even intimidated, from telling me and
other congressional members about the real problems and the real needs," Murtha said.

Fourth Paper Drops Coulter

March 8, 2007
Fourth Paper Drops Coulter

NEW YORK The full statement by Alan English, executive editor of The Times of Shreveport, Louisiana, in announcing this morning that the paper would drop Ann Coulter as a columnist, follows.

This is the fourth daily to drop the Universal columnist this week following her use of "faggot" in a reference to former Sen. John Edwads in a speech last Friday. She also said last week that his campaign manager, former U.S. Rep David Bonior, was "fronting for Arab terrorists." The Human Rights Campaign has launched a letter-writing effort aimed at Universal and individual papers.

Gonzales Yields On Hiring Interim U.S. Attorneys

March 9, 2007
Gonzales Yields On Hiring Interim U.S. Attorneys

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales agreed yesterday to change the way U.S. attorneys can be replaced, a reversal in administration policy that came after he was browbeaten by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee still angry over the controversial firings of eight federal prosecutors.

Gonzales told Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and other senior members of the committee that the administration will no longer oppose legislation limiting the attorney general's power to appoint interim prosecutors. Gonzales also agreed to allow the committee to interview five top-level Justice Department officials as part of an ongoing Democratic-led probe into the firings, senators said after a tense, hour-long meeting in Leahy's office suite.

Firefighters Union Says No to Giulian

March 7, 2007
Firefighters Union Says No to Giuliani

John Edwards, John McCain, Barack Obama, Chuck Hagel, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Duncan Hunter and seven other candidates will make their case before the 1,000 delegates who will be attending the Forum and to our entire membership via same-day broadcast on our web site.

Early on, the IAFF made a decision to invite all serious candidates from both political parties — except one: former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Regrettably, the situation with former Mayor Giuliani is very different. His actions post 9/11 rise to such an offensive and personal attack on our brother and sisterhood — and directly on our union — that the IAFF does not feel Rudy Giuliani deserves an audience of IAFF leaders and members at our own Presidential Forum.