The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 03/06/2005 - 03/13/2005

Friday, March 11, 2005

Schiavo's Husband Turns Down $1M Offer

A man fighting to have a feeding tube removed from his brain-damaged wife on Friday rejected a California businessman's offer to pay him $1 million to give up his right to decide her medical treatment.

Thursday's offer, which the husband's attorney labeled "offensive," came hours after a judge refused to let the state's social services agency intervene - a move that would have delayed next week's scheduled removal of the tube. Other such offers, including one for $10 million, had already been made and rejected by Michael Schiavo, said his attorney, George Felos.
Terri Schiavo's parents are trying to keep her alive, but Michael Schiavo contends he had once promised his wife he would not keep her alive by artificial means before she suffered a heart attack 15 years ago. Now 41, she has lived since then in what court-appointed doctors call a persistent vegetative state.

Even if the husband did walk away, Felos said, there is still a court order requiring removal of the tube at 1 p.m. next Friday. A judge ordered that the feedings be stopped after finding "clear and convincing" evidence that she would not want to be kept alive in her current state.

Judge George Greer denied a request by the state Department of Children & Families to delay that order for 60 days so it can investigate allegations of abuse and neglect against Michael Schiavo.

The judge said the allegations had already been investigated and found to be groundless. He said the agency was apparently trying to pull an end run around the court by getting involved at this late stage.

The case has drawn international attention, particularly among religious conservatives, who are supporting the woman's parents.

San Diego businessman Robert Herring, who founded an electronics company and later a cable and satellite channel, said he felt "compelled" to try to have the husband transfer the legal right to decide his wife's medical treatment to the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

"I believe very strongly that there are medical advances happening around the globe that very shortly could have a positive impact on Terri's condition," Herring said.

Herring's offer is valid until Monday, according to a statement from his attorney, Gloria Allred. The money has been deposited into a trust account at Allred's Los Angeles law firm, the statement said.

Felos said his client would not consider any such proposals.

"Michael has said over and over again that this case is not about money for him," Felos said. "It's about carrying out his wife's wishes. There is no amount of money anyone can offer that will cause him to turn his back on his wife."

The Schindlers still have two issues before the state's 2nd District Court of Appeal, which has said it will rule next week. They also are looking to the Legislature and perhaps Congress for help; both have bills in the works that lawmakers say could save Terri Schiavo's life.

The Schindlers doubt their daughter had end-of-life wishes and have fought their son-in-law in court for nearly seven years to save her life. They also dispute that she is in a vegetative state, saying she laughs, cries, interacts with them and tries to speak.

Schindler Family Calls for Judge's 'Immediate Impeachment'

A spokesman for the family of Terri Schindler Schiavo said Thursday the Florida judge presiding over her case "ignores the state's laws and orders the premeditated killing of a disabled Florida woman by her husband."

Pamela Hennessy, media director for the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation, in a press release Thursday called on disability and eldercare advocates to press for Circuit Judge George Greer's "immediate impeachment."

"If there is a single person following this who doesn't believe Judge Greer has legislated from the bench, trampled Florida's laws and deprived Terri Schiavo of her retained rights, they are simply not paying attention," Hennessy said in a statement.

According to the foundation's press release, on Tuesday and Wednesday Greer issued three orders that the foundation said all but assures Schiavo's death. First, Greer ordered that the family may not introduce oral nutrition and hydration following the removal of Terri's gastric feeding tube.

The foundation pointed out that Florida Statute 744.3215 (Rights of Persons Determined Incapacitated) requires that incapacitated people cannot be deprived of food and water.

"Ordering that Terri Schiavo may not receive nutrition or hydration naturally is against the law, in the opinion of the Foundation," it said in a statement.

Second, according to the foundation, Greer ruled that no further neurological tests may be conducted on Terri, using functional MRI to determine if she is in a "persistent vegetative state," as Greer found in 2002, or if Terri is "minimally conscious."

The foundation pointed out that Florida Statute 765.404, which defines persistent vegetative state, requires that the condition be determined and diagnosed as permanent prior to the withdrawal of life-prolonging means. Also, Florida Statute 765.309 prevents mercy killing and assisted suicide.

The foundation unless the "true neurological condition of Terri Schiavo" is determined prior to the removal of the feeding tube, Greer's order amounts to "a directive for her guardian to commit either a mercy killing or assisted suicide."

And third, "Greer denied an order from a judgment based on his error in dismissing pertinent testimony in 2000 that would assist the court in determining Terri Schiavo's true end of life wishes," the foundation added.

It pointed to Florida Statute 765.404, which says clear and convincing evidence of the ward's intent for medical treatment must be established.

"The only evidence in support of removing Terri's feeding tube was the self-serving hearsay testimony of her guardian (which is not admissible under FS 90.602) and hearsay from two members of his immediate family," the foundation said.

"Greer systematically ruled that testimony from Terri's friends and family was unreliable or not credible. His failure to consider all evidence of Terri Schiavo's attitude towards life-prolonging measures, in the Foundation's opinion, is a clear violation of Florida Statutes," it concluded.

Judge Nixes Schiavo Intervention by Agency

TAMPA, Fla. -- A judge ruled Thursday that Florida's social services agency cannot intervene to delay the removal of the feeding tube keeping brain-damaged Terri Schiavo alive.

The Department of Children & Families had asked for a 60-day delay in the removal of the tube, now set for March 18. The agency said it wanted time to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect against the woman's husband, Michael Schiavo.
But Circuit Judge George W. Greer said those allegations and many others had been investigated in the past and found to be groundless. He said the agency was apparently trying to pull an end run around the court by getting involved at this late stage.

The decision was another setback for Gov. Jeb Bush's administration.

Terri Schiavo is in what some doctors say is a persistent vegetative state, with no consciousness. She suffered brain damage in 1990 after her heart stopped because of a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder.

Michael Schiavo has gotten a court order to remove the feeding tube, contending his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. But her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, dispute that, and have fought their son-in-law in court for nearly seven years over their daughter's fate.

The DCF said it wanted to investigate accusations against Michael Schiavo � who is her legal guardian � that included denying his wife some medical treatment and therapy, isolating her in her room with the blinds closed, failing to fix her broken wheelchair and failing to file timely guardianship plans.

Michael Schiavo's attorney had criticized the last-minute attempt by the agency to get involved, saying it was engineered by the governor and others who have sided with the Schindlers.

The Schindlers will look again to the state Legislature and perhaps Congress for help. Both have bills in the works that lawmakers say could save Terri Schiavo's life.

In Tallahassee on Wednesday, a state House committee approved a bill requiring doctors to provide food and water to incapacitated patients who left no instructions. Bush, who has said he would do anything within his power to save Terri Schiavo, supports the bill.

In 2003, the governor pushed a law through the Legislature authorizing him to resume the woman's artificial feedings six days after the court stopped them. The law was later struck down as unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, Rep. Dave Weldon and Sen. Mel Martinez, both Florida Republicans, introduced legislation in Washington that could give the Schindlers access to federal courts in the effort to save their daughter's life.

Italian Papers: U.S. Wasn't Informed About Rescue Mission

ROME -- U.S. forces in Iraq were only partially informed about last week's Italian intelligence mission to release a hostage, which ended with a shooting on the road to Baghdad airport and the death of secret service agent Nicola Calipari, Italian newspapers said Friday.

While U.S authorities were informed of the presence of Calipari and a colleague, they did not know that the mission was aimed at freeing Giuliana Sgrena, a journalist who had been kidnapped in Baghdad on Feb. 4, Italian dailies La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera reported. Calipari's killing by American forces on March 4 shocked Italy and prompted Premier Silvio Berlusconi and other top officials to demand a full explanation from Washington.
A candlelit march was to be held later Friday at Rome's Capitoline Hill in memory of Calipari.

Both newspapers cited a report by Gen. Mario Marioli, an Italian who is the coalition forces' second-in-command. The report has been given to Rome prosecutors investigating the killing.

According to the newspapers, Marioli informed U.S. officials that Calipari and the other Italian officer were there, but not that the mission was aimed at releasing Sgrena.

The papers had conflicting versions over how much Marioli knew: Corriere said he knew the Calipari was working to have the hostage released, La Repubblica said he didn't.

Calipari was killed when U.S. troops opened fire on a vehicle carrying him, the other intelligence officer and Sgrena, who had just been released after being held hostage for a month. Sgrena and the other man were both injured.

Italy - which is one of the largest contributors to the U.S.-led coalition with 3,000 troops in Iraq - has said the shooting was an "accident," but has also disputed some elements of the account given by the Americans.

Berlusconi told the Senate this week that Calipari had informed the proper authorities that he was heading to the airport with the freed hostage. He said the car was traveling slowly and stopped immediately when a light was flashed at a checkpoint, before U.S. troops fired on the car.

In a statement released after the shooting, the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division, which controls Baghdad, said the vehicle was speeding and refused to stop. The statement also said a U.S. patrol tried to warn a driver with hand and arm signals, by flashing white lights and firing shots in front of the car into the engine block.

In interviews published Friday, Sgrena said that no light was flashed at the vehicle and that the shots were not fired in front of the car.

"It's not true that they shot into the engine," she told Corriere della Sera, adding that the shooting came "from the right and from behind."

In a parliament speech earlier this week, Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said photos of the vehicle, which is still in Iraq, show that the fire "hit the right side of the car."

The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq has ordered an investigation into the shooting, to be led by a U.S. brigadier general with Italian officials' participation.

Businessman Offers $1 Million to Keep Terri Schiavo Alive

Statement from today's press conference with Robert Herring, Sr. and his
attorney, Gloria Allred:

Statement from Gloria Allred, Attorney-at-Law, Representing Robert Herring,
Sr.:

We are here today to announce that our client, Robert Herring, Sr., is
making an offer to Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, which could
save Terri's life.

Terri Schiavo is currently in a coma in Florida. Michael Schiavo has asked
the court for permission to disconnect her feeding tube, which would result
in her death. Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schiavo, have opposed the
request. After a long court battle the court has set March 18, 2005 for the
removal of Terri's feeding tube.

It now appears that the court process is ending, and that the legislative
process has failed to stop the removal of the feeding tube.

This situation has deeply moved and distressed our client Mr. Herring who
has been observing the case in the media, as millions of others have for
about a year.

Mr. Herring is a successful, socially responsible entrepreneur who spent
more than 30 years in the electronics industry as the founder and owner of
HERCO Technology. In 2000, Mr. Herring sold HERCO Technology to a New York
Stock Exchange listed firm.

In 2003, Mr. Herring founded WEALTHTV, a lifestyle and entertainment
television channel. He is a supporter of and a believer in stem cell
research and the medical breakthrough that are occurring in this area. He is
married with 5 children and 19 grandchildren and lives in the San Diego
area.

He recognizes that unless something is done immediately, Terri Schiavo is
not likely to survive very long after March 18th. Knowing that time is of
the essence and realizing that he is fortunate enough to be able to help, he
has decided to take action.

He contacted me and retained my law firm to convey the following offer to
Terri's husband. If Mike Schiavo agrees to transfer the legal right to
decide all of Terri's current and future medical desicions to Terri's
parents, then Mr. Herring will pay Mr. Schiavo the amount of 1 million
dollars (subject to court approval of Terri's parents as her conservators or
guardians).

The million dollars was deposited into my law firm's client trust account
yesterday and this morning we communicated this million dollar offer in
writing to Mr. Schiavo's attorney.

This offer will remain open until Monday, March 14, 2005 at 5:00 p.m.

Mr. Herring thinks there might be hope for Terri Schiavo and wonders why
there is a rush to death, especially in view of the advances being made in
medical research. He feels that he couldn't live with himself if he didn't
make this offer and he sincerely hopes that it will be accepted.

We commend Mr. Herring on his creative and decisive attempt to peacefully
resolve this legal dispute over Terri.

We look forward to Mr. Schiavo's response.

Spanish Muslims Issue Fatwa Against Usama

MADRID, Spain � Muslim clerics in Spain issued what they called the
world's first fatwa (search), or Islamic edict, against Usama bin Laden
on Thursday, the first anniversary of the Madrid train bombings, calling
him an apostate and urging others of their faith to denounce the Al
Qaeda (search) leader.

The ruling was issued by the Islamic Commission of Spain, the main body
representing the country's 1 million-member Muslim community. The
commission represents 200 or so mostly Sunni mosques, or about 70
percent of all mosques in Spain.

The March 11, 2004, train bombings killed 191 people and were claimed in
videotapes by militants who said they had acted on Al Qaeda's behalf in
revenge for Spain's troop deployment in Iraq.

The commission's secretary general, Mansur Escudero, said the group had
consulted with Muslim leaders in other countries, such as Morocco � home
to most of the jailed suspects in the bombings � Algeria and Libya, and
had their support.

"They agree," Escudero said, referring to the Muslim leaders in the
three North African countries. "What I want is that they say so publicly."

The fatwa said that according to the Quran "the terrorist acts of Usama
bin Laden (search) and his organization Al Qaeda ... are totally banned
and must be roundly condemned as part of Islam."

It added: "Inasmuch as Usama bin Laden and his organization defend
terrorism as legal and try to base it on the Quran ... they are
committing the crime of 'istihlal' and thus become apostates that should
not be considered Muslims or treated as such." The Arabic term
'istihlal' refers to the act of making up one's own laws.

Escudero said a fatwa can be issued by any Muslim leader who leads
prayer sessions and as he serves such a role, he himself lawfully issued
the edict.

He called it an unprecedented condemnation of bin Laden. "We felt now we
had the responsibility and obligation to make this declaration," he said
in an interview.

"I hope there is a positive reaction from Muslims," he added.

Asked if the edict meant Muslims had to help police try to arrest the
world's most wanted man � who is believed to be hiding along the border
between Pakistan and Afghanistan � Escudero said: "We don't get involved
in police affairs but we do feel that all Muslims are obliged to ...
keep anyone from doing unjustified damage to other people."

Thursday, March 10, 2005

WAS TERRI SCHIAVO FRAUDULANTLY COMMITTED TO A HOSPICE TO BE KILLED?

Did Victor Gambone, MD Conspire With George Felos, George Greer, And Suncoast Hospice To Fraudulantly Committ Terri Schiavo To A Facility That It Is Illegal For Her To Be In?
I Have a few questions about the order that sentenced Terri Schiavo to living the remainder of her life in a Hospice intended only for persons with six months or less to live.

What was the medical and scientific basis for Victor Gambone, MD's determination that Terri Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state and what medical and scientific evidence did Victor Gambone, MD base his determination that a "persistent vegetative state" was a "terminal disease?" Further, on what evidence did he determine that Terri's condition would take her life in six months or less - some five years ago?

I personally challenge him to produce the medical and scientific literature to back-up what appears to be a contrived and fraudulant prognosis. I have looked and I find no evidence of any peer-reviewed medical literature that indicates that a life expectancy can be predicted for Terri, even if she was in a PVS, which she is not!

Ref 1:
Life expectancy of children in a persistent vegetative state - > or = 19 yrs of age: 9.9 years. Found NO medical literature that predicts life expectancy of PVS in months, only years


Ref 2: Life expectancy and median survival time in the permanent vegetative state. [On the basis of recent mortality rates, life expectancy in the VS is frequently higher than has generally been thought. For example, it is 10.5 additional years (+/- 2 years) for a 15-year-old patient who has been in the VS for 1 year, and 12.2 years for a 15-year-old patient who has been in the VS for 4 years.]

Lacking such evidence, just what the hell is she doing in a hospice held captive and under a sentence of death by Judge George Greer?

On March 11, 2000 Victor Gambone, MD signed the following statement:

Based on the patient�s diagnosis and current condition, I expect this patient has a limited life expectancy of six (6) months or less, if disease continues to take its(sic) usual course, and hereby certify this patient as eligible for Hospice care.

The "terminal diagnosis" on the form(see below - click to enlarge) was given as "vegetative state," with a "life expectacy" of "less than 6 months." Just what "usual course" is this idiot referring to?

It was also signed by Willam Moore, MD exactly one month later.

Continue reading "Did Victor Gambone, MD Conspire With George Felos, George Greer, And Suncoast Hospice To Fraudulantly Committ Terri Schiavo To A Facility That It Is Illegal For Her To Be In?"

Sgrena's Car (The Real One)

Italian communist Giuliana Sgrena�s editor said her car was hit by 300 to 400 bullets from an armored vehicle. She said she was picking up handfuls of spent rounds from the seats. Many accounts described her car as �riddled with bullets.�
La Repubblica.it now has photos of what they claim is the real thing. Click above title link to see photos.

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Italy Calls Shooting an Accident

Italy's foreign minister said Tuesday that the killing of an Italian intelligence agent and wounding of an Italian journalist by U.S. troops in Iraq was an accident, but he demanded that the United States conduct a thorough investigation and punish those at fault.

In a somber speech to Parliament, Gianfranco Fini disputed the U.S. military's version of the events that led to Friday night's shooting near Baghdad International Airport. The car carrying journalist Giuliani Sgrena to the airport -- less than an hour after her release by insurgents who had held her hostage -- was coming to a halt when it was riddled by gunfire at a U.S. checkpoint, Fini said. He also said the slain intelligence agent, Nicola Calipari, had made a series of phone calls in an effort to alert Italian and U.S. authorities.

In Washington, Army Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. general in Iraq, said an investigation of the shooting had been ordered. But Casey said he had been unaware Friday that Italian officials had entered Iraq to rescue Sgrena and said he had heard nothing since to indicate the Italians had informed U.S. forces of the route her car would take.

Casey told reporters at the Pentagon that a member of his staff, Brig. Gen. Peter Vangjel, would head the investigation. He said that "modalities" of the probe were still being discussed with the Italians but that he expected it to be conducted jointly.

Casey, in Washington this week for consultations, said that before he left Baghdad on Friday he had made "preliminary inquiries" into what went wrong. He declined to provide his own account, citing the probe.

The shooting has caused outrage in Italy, where 20,000 people turned out for Calipari's funeral Monday. Sgrena, a reporter for the Communist daily newspaper Il Manifesto, has fueled anti-American sentiment by suggesting that U.S. forces may have targeted the car because the United States opposes negotiating with hostage-takers.

Fini said there were no grounds to believe the shooting was deliberate, and he dismissed calls by opposition parties for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government to withdraw the 2,700 Italian troops serving in the U.S.-led force in Iraq.

But he said the government's conclusion that the shooting was an accident resulting from a series of "fatal coincidences" did not mean it should drop the matter. "This does not prevent us -- in fact, it obliges us -- to demand clarification, to ask that light be shed on points that are still murky, to identify who is responsible . . . and to obtain the punishment of the guilty," Fini said.

In an initial statement after the shooting last week, the Army's 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad said the Italians' car was "traveling at high speeds" and refused to halt at a checkpoint despite attempts by U.S. soldiers to warn the driver to stop "by hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots in front of the car."

A senior military officer in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that soldiers at the checkpoint reported that Sgrena's car was traveling about 60 mph and had been signaled with a spotlight to stop when it was about 125 yards from the checkpoint.

Fini's detailed description of the incident -- based on testimony by the driver, an unidentified Italian intelligence agent -- contained no mention of warning shots or hand signals. Fini said the car was traveling at no more than 25 mph on a wet road as the driver steered around cement blocks. Fini said the driver was already braking when the car was hit by a burst of automatic gunfire lasting 10 to 15 seconds.

U.S. soldiers ordered the driver to his knees outside the car, then repeatedly apologized once they realized who was in the car, Fini said.

Casey, asked about statements by Italian officials that the U.S. military had been informed of Sgrena's release and the plan to transport her to the airport, said he knew of nothing confirming that such communication took place. "I personally do not have any indication of that, even on a preliminary basis," he said.

The incident has focused attention on U.S. checkpoint procedures, a contentious topic among some Iraqis who regard U.S. forces as sometimes too quick on the trigger. A number of civilians have been killed after failing to stop or committing some other error on approaching checkpoints.

Casey said he had asked a subordinate to review all checkpoint incidents in the past six months to determine what lessons could be drawn. He said a separate checkpoint incident Friday, which resulted in the death of a Bulgarian soldier, had deepened his concern about procedures. "Obviously, the timing gave me cause for discomfort," Casey said. "It was troublesome."

Bush foes admit benefits of Iraq policy

Some of the harshest Democratic critics of President Bush's Iraq policy have grudgingly admitted that it has helped spark a growing desire for democracy in the Middle East.
Democrats aren't taking to the Senate floor to praise Mr. Bush's role in the spectacle of Lebanese protesters demanding independence from Syrian control, or the elections in Iraq, or the news that Saudi Arabia and Egypt have committed to freer elections.
But many critics of the war -- which Lebanese democrats cite as a turning point in their cause -- are slowly admitting that the president may have done the right thing in quickly taking out Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, the New Jersey Democrat who delivered a famous "chicken hawk" speech deriding the war advocates in the Bush administration and voted against funding the war, said yesterday that recent developments in Lebanon and Syria suggest the war was a force for good.
"The war gave the Lebanese the spine they needed," Mr. Lautenberg said yesterday. "It told them, 'We can get rid of these vultures.' "
Sen Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that Mr. Bush deserves some credit for the positive developments in the still volatile region.
"What's taken place in a number of those countries is enormously constructive," Mr. Kennedy said. "It's a reflection the president has been involved."
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, said he didn't hear Mr. Bush's speech yesterday on spreading freedom in the Middle East, but "if there were ever a place in the world where we need democracy, it's in the Middle East."
"Any breakthrough we get there, whether it's in Lebanon or Egypt, is a step in the right direction and I support the president in that regard," Mr. Reid said.
Asked whether Mr. Bush deserved credit for those developments, Mr. Reid said "we'll just have to wait and see."
But Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry, whose criticism of Mr. Bush's Iraq policy did not translate into a presidential victory in November, said Mr. Bush deserves no credit for recent developments in the Middle East.
"An assassination made this happen," Mr. Kerry said, referring to the car bomb that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri last month. The killing has been blamed on Syria.
Mr. Kerry said any good that comes from the Iraq war does not make it the right decision.
"This was not the reason we went to war, but it's a very good outcome," Mr. Kerry said.
A senior Democratic Senate aide acknowledged that many in his party were surprised by recent developments in the Middle East and realized that attacking the president on the war would have less bite.
"You have to give the guy a modicum of credit," the senior aide said. "There's no denying that the Iraq vote could be a catalyst for change in the region. Everyone up here, Democrats and Republicans, want to see peace in that region."
Such conciliatory comments, however, contrast sharply with the heated anti-war rhetoric of just six weeks ago. Mr. Kennedy was the most vocal, calling the entire Iraqi operation a "failure" and demanding immediate U.S. withdrawal.
"Our military and the insurgents are fighting for the same thing -- the hearts and minds of the people -- and that is a battle we are not winning," Mr. Kennedy said in a speech at Johns Hopkins University just three days before Iraq's first free election in decades.
Mr. Kennedy also called Iraq "George Bush's Vietnam" in a Jan. 12 speech at the National Press Club, insisting Mr. Bush "has bogged America down in an endless quagmire."
Another Democratic Senate aide said he doesn't expect to hear much of that kind of talk in the future.
"Even if things start to go south, I think we all agree that ripping Bush over this is not very constructive," he said. "And nobody wants to be on the wrong side of this if it continues to go well, either."

Bomb makers' skills in Iraq seen as eroding

The bomb-making abilities of the Iraqi insurgency have dropped off in recent weeks, possibly because the coalition has captured key terrorist leaders, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said yesterday.
Army Gen. George Casey also told reporters at the Pentagon that the insurgency owns years' worth of arms and ammunition, and that the only way to ultimately defeat the enemy is with a combined military-political solution.
"The level of attacks, the level of violence has dropped off significantly since the elections," Gen. Casey said. "Last week was the lowest level of attacks since April."
Gen. Casey, in Washington for consultations with the Bush administration and Congress, credited the pre-election capture of several key terrorists for a lower quality of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). One of those captured was the top bomb maker for Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi. Another ran his Baghdad operation.
"They weren't as artfully hidden as they had been in the past," Gen. Casey said of the IEDs. "I have heard some of my subordinate commanders say that they were crudely put together, and they seem to have lost some of the expertise. ... In general terms, they are falling off and not effective."
His assessment seems more optimistic, compared with statements made at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week.
Army Gen. John Abizaid, the top commander in the Persian Gulf, called on the Pentagon to do more to find the technologies to detect IEDs. He added that bomb-making techniques developed in Iraq were being exported to Afghanistan.
"It's almost a leapfrog," said committee Chairman John W. Warner, Virginia Republican. "As soon as we get a system which seems to be producing the effectiveness, they leapfrog to another technology and keep moving forward."
Gen. Abizaid said, "It is a problem that requires not just an American effort, but an international effort, because we see the technology moving, and the tactics and techniques, moving from Iraq to Pakistan to Afghanistan."
Gen. Casey said the average insurgency in the past century took about nine years to defeat.
"Most insurgencies are defeated by political means, rather than necessarily by military means," he said.
The four-star general also described neighboring Syria's role in supporting the enemy.
"There are former regime leaders who come and go from Syria, who operate out of Syria, and they do planning, and they provide resources to the insurgency in Iraq," he said. "I have no hard evidence that the Syrian government is actually complicit with those people, but we certainly have evidence that people at low levels with the Syrian government know that they're there and what they're up to."

Italy didn't plan safe escape for hostage

Italian security forces failed to make arrangements for safe passage out of Iraq for a freed Italian reporter, whose car was fired on by U.S. troops, killing intelligence agent Nicola Calipari who brokered the reporter's release, according to an internal Pentagon memo.
The memo says checkpoint soldiers are trained to deal with erratic speeding vehicles whose drivers ignored warnings -- a profile that matches the Army's version of events in Friday night's shooting.
The memo says more than 500 American troops have been killed on the streets and at checkpoints in Iraq. Mistaken shootings of civilians resulted in "few deadly incidents" since the U.S. started checkpoints in March 2003, according to the memo.
Meanwhile, the White House dismissed as "absurd" the stated suspicion of the reporter, Giuliana Sgrena, who said the United States tried to kill her because it opposes negotiations with terrorists to free hostages. Miss Sgrena, a reporter for the Italian communist newspaper Il Manifesto, provided no evidence.
"It's absurd to make any such suggestion that our men and women in uniform would deliberately target innocent civilians," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan adding: "We regret this incident. We are going to fully investigate what exactly occurred."
Maj. Gen. William G. Webster Jr., who heads the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, yesterday completed the "commander's preliminary inquiry." He has decided to conduct a more extensive inquiry, called a 15-6 for the regulation that authorizes it. Gen. Webster will name one officer to head the probe.
A U.S. official said that of all the cars that passed through the checkpoint that night, the reporter's vehicle was the only one fired upon.
"Something that car did caused the soldiers to fire," said the official, who asked not to be named.
The shooting occurred at night at a checkpoint on a notoriously dangerous road that links Baghdad to the international airport.
The incident has put a spotlight on "friendly fire" episodes that occur with some regularity in Iraq when motorists fail to heed warnings to stop at roadside checkpoints and are fired on by American troops who fear that the vehicle might be a weapon. Cars and trucks are a common weapon in suicide bombings and drive-by shootings.
The soldiers did not know that Miss Sgrena and Italian agents were headed in their direction on the way to the airport for a flight back to Italy.
An internal Pentagon information memo states, "This is war. About 500 American service members have been killed by hostile fire while operating on Iraqi streets and highways. The journalist was driving in pitch-dark and at a high speed and failed, according to the first reports, to respond to numerous warnings. Besides, there is no indication that the Italian security forces made prior arrangements to facilitate the transition to the airport."
The left-leaning Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported yesterday that Mr. Calipari decided not to use available escort protection from the elite commandos who protect Italy's Baghdad embassy.
Instead, he rented an inconspicuous pickup trick to recover Miss Sgrena, wrote La Repubblica's top investigative reporter, Giuseppe D'Avanzo.
"In Iraq, the United States makes the rules and the Italian ally also must respect them. If it wants to break them, it must do so with a double game and some crafty tricks," Mr. D'Avanzo wrote.
Italian magistrates have opened an inquiry into the killing and are arranging for the truck to be flown to Italy for examination by ballistic experts, judicial sources said. The magistrates also have obtained from the U.S. military the cellular phone that Mr. Calipari was carrying when he was shot.
Analysis of calls logged on the cellular phone might allow investigators to determine the speed at which the vehicle was traveling when U.S. troops opened fire on it, the sources say.
Mel Sembler, U.S. ambassador to Italy, reiterated Washington's position in a 45-minute meeting with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi last night, diplomatic sources said.
Robert Maginnis, a retired Army officer and military analyst, said Rome should have done a better job coordinating Miss Sgrena's exit once the Italians negotiated her release.
"It seems to me that the Italian secret service considers this a James Bond movie in Baghdad," Mr. Maginnis said. "They're driving around at night picking up a journalist who has been kidnapped and pretending they can get through a phalanx of checkpoints along the deadliest road in all of Iraq without being detected, much less shot up."
The Army's 3rd Infantry Division, which last week resumed command of Baghdad operations after participating in the 2003 invasion, said the soldiers had warned the approaching car repeatedly before opening fire.
According to the division, the patrol attempted to warn the driver to stop by hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots in front of the car."
�John Phillips contributed to this report in Rome.

Ticket Agent Recalls Meeting Terrorist Mastermind Atta

Ticket Agent Recalls 9/11 Hijackers

SCARBOROUGH, Maine -- The alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was angered when he learned he had to undergo security screening between flights on the morning of the suicide attacks, a former U.S. Airways ticket agent says.

Michael Tuohey of Scarborough said he was suspicious of Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari when they rushed through the Portland International Jetport to make their flight to Boston that day. Atta's demeanor and the pair's first-class, one-way tickets to Los Angeles made Tuohey think twice about them.
"I said to myself, 'If this guy doesn't look like an Arab terrorist, then nothing does.' Then I gave myself a mental slap, because in this day and age, it's not nice to say things like this," Tuohey told the Maine Sunday Telegram. "You've checked in hundreds of Arabs and Hindus and Sikhs, and you've never done that. I felt kind of embarrassed."

In Boston, Atta and Alomari joined three other hijackers on American Airlines Flight 11, which they crashed into one of the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York. Five other hijackers left Boston on another flight, which they crashed into the other tower.

Tuohey, 58, who retired last year, said he was speaking out because his exchange with Atta was included in recently declassified material that had not been included with the 9/11 Commission's initial public report. His exchange was included in order to shed light on why Atta chose to fly to Boston from Portland.

Investigators' leading theory for Atta's decision to start his day in Portland, about 100 miles from Boston, was that he wanted to avoid suspicion that might arise if all of the hijackers arrived at once at Boston's Logan Airport.

But his decision meant that he had to go through security screening once in Portland and again between flights in Boston, because he had to take a bus and switch terminals.

Tuohey said Atta became angry when he was told he would have to check in again before boarding his flight out of Boston.

"He looks at me and says, 'I thought there was one-step check-in ... They told me one-step check-in,"' Tuohey said. "I looked in this guy's eyes, and he just looked angry. I just got an uncomfortable feeling."

"It just sent chills through you. You see his picture in the paper (now). You see more life in that picture than there is in flesh and blood," Tuohey said.

After the attacks, Tuohey was interviewed by an FBI agent. As he watched a security video, he picked out Atta and Alomari without a doubt, he said.

A few weeks later, another investigator showed him a large number of pictures and asked him to point out the men he had waited on that day.

"I went right to Atta," Tuohey said. "It's like the skull on a poison bottle. There's no mistaking that face."

Investigator: Bin Laden Approved Plot Two Years Before 9/11

HAMBURG, Germany � A U.S. investigator Tuesday told the retrial of a Moroccan accused of aiding the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers that Osama bin Laden personally approved the plot against the United States two years before the attacks.

The testimony by Dietrich Snell, a New York deputy attorney general, was based on the Sept. 11 Commission's report to the U.S. Congress, which he worked on. The report said the three Hamburg-based suicide pilots were recruited by bin Laden and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, an al-Qaida leader in U.S. custody and alleged mastermind of the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. The Hamburg state court called Snell as a witness in the retrial of Mounir el Motassadeq to find out more about the interrogations of Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh, the Hamburg cell's suspected contact with al-Qaida. The court has received summaries of the questioning of Binalshibh and Mohammed, but has repeatedly asked the United States for more details.
Judge Ernst-Rainer Schudt asked Snell if he knew whether torture was used in the interrogations, which would make the evidence inadmissible at the Hamburg trial. Snell said he didn't know.

"It was made clear to us that we would not be given any information about the interrogations themselves and how they were conducted," he testified.

El Motassadeq, 30, is being retried on more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder and membership in a terrorist organization on charges he provided logistical support for suicide pilots Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah.

He was convicted in 2003 on those charges and sentenced to the maximum 15 years.

But an appeals court dismissed the conviction last year, ruling he was unfairly denied testimony by key al-Qaida suspects in U.S. custody, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Binalshibh.

Binalshibh was arrested in Pakistan on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and is now in secret U.S. custody.

Whether el Motassadeq's terrorism charge will stand may depend on how much of the plot was planned in Hamburg.

Snell said Khalid Shaikh Mohammed allegedly approached bin Laden in 1996 with the general idea of using aircraft to attack buildings. About three years later, the al-Qaida chief approved what became the Sept. 11 plot, Snell said.

"According to KSM, it appears to be somewhere early in 1999," Snell said.

The Sept. 11 Commission report includes a section on "The Hamburg Contingent" in which el Motassadeq is identified as an "associate" who helped conceal a 1999 trip to Afghanistan by the three future suicide hijackers and Binalshibh.

"While the four core Hamburg cell members were in Afghanistan, their associates back in Hamburg handled their affairs so that their trip could be kept secret," the report said. "Motassadeq appears to have done the most."

It was unclear how much new insight Snell would be able to add, as the section in the report is largely based on testimony heard in el Motassadeq's first trial and at the trial of his friend and fellow Moroccan Abdelghani Mzoudi, who was tried on the same charges and acquitted in February 2004.

Syria Getting Missiles From N. Korea

United Nations -- "We are concerned about the North Koreans in Syria and the missiles they are selling," revealed a senior official in the Israeli foreign ministry.
The official, who spoke on background, made it clear that Jerusalem is "increasing" concerned about the North Korean presence in the Middle East.

According to the Israeli official and seconded by U.S. officials, the North Koreans are in Syria "to service and train" the military in the use of newly acquired ballistic missiles.

CIA chief Porter Goss reported on the North Korean activity in Syria during a recent hearing on Capitol Hill.

"These are updated Scuds with far more accuracy," explained the Israeli. He went on to explain that "all of Israel" is within range of these new weapons.

North Korea, explained the Israeli, is picking up part of the weapons void left by the dissolution of the old Soviet Union. "They sell weapons and the price is cheap," he added.

The Syrian missiles take on an additional importance when one considers that Iran has recently tested domestically produced ballistic missiles that also put all of Israel within range.

Both Tehran and Damascus recently reaffirmed a "defense" alliance aimed at Washington and Jerusalem.

The Iranian and Syrian missiles are both believed capable of delivering "unconventional" warheads. In the Iranian case, nuclear and chemical/bio-weapons could be delivered. It is not clear whether the Syrian missiles have nuclear capabilities, but the Israelis believe they too could be modified.

The number of missiles sent by Pyongyang and the size of the North Korean military presence in the country were not revealed by the Israeli, though he explained the Israel Defense Forces "are dealing with the problem."

Monday, March 07, 2005

Italians kept U.S. forces in dark

"Italian intelligence decided to free Sgrena paying a sum to the kidnappers without informing American colleagues in Iraq who, if they had known about this, would have had to oppose it, to have impeded the operation,"
Italian agents likely withheld information from U.S. counterparts about a cash-for-freedom deal with gunmen holding an Italian hostage for fear that Americans might block the trade, Italian news reports said yesterday.
The decision by operatives of Italy's SISMI military intelligence service to keep the CIA in the dark about the deal for the release of reporter Giuliana Sgrena, might have "short-circuited" communications with U.S. forces controlling the road from Baghdad to the city's airport, the newspaper La Stampa said.
That would help explain why American troops opened fire on a car whisking the released hostage to a waiting airplane, wounding Miss Sgrena and killing the Italian intelligence operative who had just negotiated her release.