The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 07/31/2005 - 08/07/2005

Saturday, August 06, 2005

NY Times Crossed The Line

Citing "simple decency," Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison demanded Friday that journalists quit poking around for details on Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' adopted children.

With a month to go before Roberts' confirmation hearings, news media and interest groups continue to scour his record.

Some have also focused on other aspects of his life. On Thursday, the online Drudge Report revealed that a New York Times reporter had made inquiries about the Roberts children, Josephine and Jack, ages 5 and 4.

On Friday, The Times said no one had ordered an investigation of the adoptions, calling the inquiry part of a routine effort to "report extensively on the life and career" of a nominee for high office.

"Our reporters made initial inquiries about the adoptions, as they did about many other aspects of his background. They did so with great care, understanding the sensitivity of the issue," said Times spokesman Toby Usnik. "We have not pursued the issue after the initial inquiries, which detected nothing irregular about the adoptions."
The newspaper denied assertions by conservative bloggers that it consulted lawyers about trying to unseal the adoption records. Usnik said the paper dropped the matter after learning that the records were sealed.
Hutchison called the newspaper's actions "reprehensible," saying the inquiry crossed the "fine line between legitimate background inquiries and invasion of privacy."

The National Council for Adoption also denounced the inquiry, saying the adoptions have no bearing on the judge's suitability to serve.

U.S., Iraqi Troops Repel Insurgent Attacks

U.S. and Iraqi troops repelled a series of coordinated attacks including suicide car bombs, killing six insurgents and capturing 12, in southern Baghdad, the military said Saturday.

The fighting erupted about 8 p.m. Friday when guerrillas opened fire on an Iraqi army position, the American military said. U.S. attack helicopters responded with rockets and gunfire.

At nearly the same time, a suicide attacker drove a truck loaded with explosives into a nearby Iraqi army checkpoint, killing an Iraqi soldier. A second suicide driver tried to attack another Iraq position in the area, but a U.S. tank opened fire and the car detonated prematurely.

Minutes later, insurgents at a fourth location fired two rocket-propelled grenades and a mortar round at another Iraqi army post in southern Baghdad. None of the rounds caused any damage, the U.S. statement said.

Over the next two hours, insurgents tried to launch further attacks on the two Iraqi army posts but were driven off by U.S. and Iraqi fire, the statement added.

U.S. troops suffered no casualties, but six insurgents were killed and 12 were captured in the fighting, according to the military.

In recent weeks, U.S. officials have said the insurgents had started using so-called "swarm" tactics � coordinating multiple attacks and firing from several locations � against coalition forces.

Despite woes, Bush is still at the top

George W. Bush has big problems. Fortunately for him, his opponents have bigger problems.

Gallup released a poll last week showing the President's approval rating at 44 percent and his disapproval rating at 51 percent. That finding can be seen two ways: On the one hand, it's not good that Bush, for the first time, is suffering majority disapproval. On the other, this is his last term in office anyway.

So while the President has gained some legislative victories lately -- a transportation bill, an energy bill, the Central American Free Trade Agreement -- those were mostly low-yield affairs, the subject of heavy compromise, with little galvanic energy. Meanwhile, his signature domestic policy initiative, "personal accounts" for Social Security, seems dead. And his own Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, announced he would support the stem-cell bill Bush opposes.

Overseas, the situation is also problematic. Fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan grinds on, albeit at a relatively low level; neither are the Battle of the Bulge. In Baghdad, the Shia-dominated government is moving toward a pro-Iranian theocracy. At the same time, the other "axis of evil" countries, Iran and North Korea, seem determined to pursue their nuclear ambitions. And Islamic radicalism threatens to overturn the pro-U.S. status quo in Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

But Bush's foes aren't doing any better. Saddam Hussein still is in jail. And many leading Bush antagonists on the world stage -- Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schroeder and Kofi Annan -- are on their last legs. Indeed, two huge institutional rivals to U.S. power, the European Union and the United Nations, are both in disarray.

On the home front, Bush is again blessed with weak adversaries. The top Democrats -- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean -- have not proved to be particularly effective in rallying the "loyal opposition." Reid is canny enough as an inside pol to block many of Bush's programs, but he is not a strong national spokesman.

As for Pelosi, she is simply a stereotypical liberal; the American people do not want to be led by a San Francisco Democrat.

As for Dean, he has been a disappointment as party leader. He is too strident for the party establishment -- fund-raising is down -- yet not strident enough for the activists.

Looking ahead, one can see Bush has two big assets and one looming potential liability.

The first asset is the economy: Despite war and high oil prices, the economy is growing strongly -- a reminder that tax cuts work. No wonder the Democrats are keeping quiet about their own tax-increase plans.

The second asset is the nomination of John Roberts for the Supreme Court. Democrats are examining 75,000 pages of documents and demanding more. And it's possible they'll excavate some "gotcha" item. But much more possible is that the Democrats, through knee-jerk hostility to a religion-minded cultural conservative, will convince a critical mass of the country that the one-time party of Al Smith and John F. Kennedy has become, for lack of a better phrase, the Catholic-bashing party.

So, yes, Bush has problems. But he's still President, leader of the majority party, and commander in chief. That makes him one of a kind in this world.

WMD Message Failure Damaging Bush

President Bush's decision to concede the argument that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction has hurt his credibility badly, with a majority of Americans now saying he lied when he took the country to war based on a threat that didn't exist.

A Gallup survey last week found that a majority of Americans - 51 percent - now believe that Bush "deliberately misled the people when he asserted Iraq had weapons of mass destruction."

On Friday, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that 50 percent no longer think he's an honest leader - with 48 percent disagreeing.

That's why it's so abominably tragic - and downright irresponsible - for the Bush White House to continue to ignore the evidence that Saddam Hussein did, in fact, pose a WMD threat.

Here's a few questions media pollsters never ask - featuring undisputed facts the White House needs to begin spotlighting:

� If you knew that Saddam Hussein was sitting on a stockpile of 500 tons of yellowcake uranium - and storing it at his nuclear weapons development plant - would you still think the Iraqi dictator posed no WMD threat?

� If you learned that Saddam had ordered his top nuclear physicist to hide centrifuge parts from U.N. weapons inspectors and keep them available for future use - would it have been a good idea to leave Saddam in power?

� And if you knew that Saddam had begun to enrich that uranium to the point where weapons inspectors feared it could be turned into a terrorist dirty bomb - would you still think it was a mistake to launch a preemptive invasion?

Just last year, the New York Times - along with several other mainstream news organizations - offered new details about Saddam's 500 ton uranium stockpile - in a story prompted by the U.S. Energy Department's decision to remove 1.8 tons of the nuclear fuel that the Iraqi dictator had partially enriched.

Some highlights from the Times report:

The United States has informed an international agency that oversees nuclear materials that it intends to move hundreds of tons of uranium from a sealed repository south of Baghdad to a more secure place outside Iraq, Western diplomats close to the agency say. . . .

The repository, at Tuwaitha, a centerpiece of Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program until it was largely shut down after the first Persian Gulf war in 1991, holds more than 500 tons of uranium, none of it enriched enough to be used directly in a nuclear weapon. . . .

Nuclear experts had mixed reactions to the possibility of moving the uranium. The president of the Institute for Science and International Security, David Albright, said officials had long privately discussed plans to take the uranium out of Iraq.

"I would say it's a wise thing to do," Mr. Albright said. "The idea of theft isn't crazy." . . .

Of the uranium, 500 tons is naturally occurring ore or yellowcake, a slightly processed concentrate that cannot be directly used in a bomb. Some 1.8 tons is classified as low-enriched uranium, a more potent form but still not sufficient for a weapon.

Still, said Thomas B. Cochran, director of the nuclear program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, the low-enriched version could be useful to a nation with nuclear ambitions.

"A country like Iran," Mr. Cochran said, "could convert that into weapons-grade material with a lot fewer centrifuges than would be required with natural uranium."

The centrifuges are used to purify the material. . . .

Whatever its actual health risks, the uranium could sow terror over wide areas if dispersed by a conventional explosive. Such a "dirty bomb" remains a prime concern for counterterrorism experts in the United States and abroad. [END OF TIMES EXCERPT - May 22, 2004]

"Saddam kept funding the IAEC [Iraq Atomic Energy Commission] from 1991 ... until the war in 2003," Dr. Obedi revealed in his 2004 book, "The Bomb in My Garden."

"I was developing the centrifuge for the weapons" right through 1997, he explained.

And after that, Dr. Obeidi said, Saddam ordered him under penalty of death to keep the technology available to resume Iraq's nuke program at a moment's notice.

Dr. Obeidi said he buried "the full set of blueprints, designs - everything to restart the centrifuge program - along with some critical components of the centrifuge" under the garden of his Baghdad home.

"I had to maintain the program to the bitter end," he explained.

Despite the compelling nature of Dr. Obedi's revelations and the facts about al Tuwaitha - Bush officials almost never discuss this information.

That's probably because Saddam's uranium stockpile was actually not considered illegal according to officials at the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, who assured the world they were monitoring the nuclear fuel and had the situation well in hand.

Of course, the IAEA had no idea about Dr. Obedi's centrifuge stash, since he revealed his story to U.S. interrogators only after Saddam had been toppled. Then there's the dubious proposition of trusting IAEA assurances about rogue countries and their inability to develop nukes, especially since the bang-up job the agency did keeping an eye on North Korea.

Friday, August 05, 2005

U.S. Military Pounds Terrorists in Iraq

U.S. Marines and Iraqi troops pounded insurgents with bombs and tank cannons Friday during a major offensive along a stretch of the Euphrates River valley where 22 Marines were killed this week.

About 800 U.S. Marines and 180 Iraqi soldiers moved into Haqlaniyah, one of a cluster of western towns in Anbar province around the Haditha Dam that is believed to be a stronghold of Iraqi insurgents and foreign fighters.

Heavy Abrams tanks battled insurgents armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, while U.S. jets destroyed at least four buildings � two of which were found booby-trapped with explosives, a U.S. military statement said.

"The wires were connected to numerous 155-mm artillery rounds scattered throughout both buildings," the military said.

Operation Quick Strike is the third major campaign since May aimed at rooting out insurgents and foreign fighters in the Euphrates valley, which is believed to be a major infiltration route for extremists entering Iraq from Syria.

On Wednesday, 14 Marines and a civilian translator were killed near Haditha when a huge roadside bomb wrecked their lightly armored vehicle. Two days earlier, six Marine snipers died in a firefight with insurgents. The Islamic militant group Ansar al-Sunnah claimed its men staged both attacks.

Two other Marines have died in Anbar this week � one from a car bomb, the other from small arms fire.

Residents said U.S. and Iraqi troops had cordoned off Haqlaniyah, about 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, and were searching house to house. American warplanes prowled overhead and a number of heavy explosions were heard. Witnesses said 500-pound bombs were being dropped in the area.

The U.S. military has defended its operations in western Iraq, insisting it is reducing insurgent attacks despite the nearly two dozen Marine deaths this week. As of Thursday, at least 1,826 U.S. military personnel had died since the beginning of the Iraq war.

Tony Blair: We'll Deport the Hatemongers

Foreigners who preach hatred, sponsor violence or belong to extremist groups could be deported from Britain under strict new measures that Prime Minister Tony Blair announced Friday, nearly a month after suicide bombers killed 52 people on London's transit system.

Membership in extremist Islamic groups such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir would become a crime under the new measures. The group, which advocates the creation of an Islamic state in Central Asia, already is outlawed in several countries.

Blair said the government also would compile a list of Web sites, bookshops and centers that incite hatred and violence. British nationals involved with such organizations could face strict penalties. Foreign nationals could be deported, he said.
"They come here and they play by our rules and our way of life," Blair said at his monthly news conference. "If they don't, they are going to have to go."

Woman Details Her 20-Year Coma

For 20 years, Sarah Scantlin was seemingly unaware of the world around her after she was hit by a drunk driver in an accident that sent her into a comatose state in September of 1984.

Then in February, she shocked her parents and doctors when she began to speak. In her first national television interview, after undergoing surgery on her long-unused limbs and speech therapy to unlock her long-dormant tongue, Scantlin speaks with The Early Show national correspondent Tracy Smith in a two-part interview to be broadcast Thursday and Friday.

Scantlin�s speech is still limited.

However, it seems that throughout her 20-year coma, she could see, hear, and understand what was going on around her. Shortly after she awoke, her father asked what she knew about events that had occurred years earlier.

"Sarah, what's 9/11?" her father asks. She responds, "Bad�fire�airplanes�building�hurt people."

Smith says there are other things deep in Scantlin�s brain that also survived the accident, such things as her favorite 1980s song "Summer Lovin�," which she even sings for The Early Show.

Congress asked to probe ACLU

Accused of 'widespread use of frivolous lawsuits'

Following the ACLU's legal action against New York City for allegedly violating citizens' rights by random searches on subways, Congress is being asked to probe the group for "widespread use of frivolous lawsuits."

"The ACLU's abuse of the legal system is criminal," said Don Swarthout, president of Christians Reviving America's Values, an advocacy group asking for the investigation.

Calling it a "fund-raising stunt," Swarthout asserted the American Civil Liberties Union's action may also be dangerous to the citizens of New York City.

"These searches are part of a well-thought-out security plan and may stop a terrorist from walking onto the subway trains and blowing up innocent Americans," he said.

The ACLU's suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, will claim the city's new policy violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection and prohibitions against unlawful searches and seizures, according to New York Newsday.

There is no pleasing the ACLU, because improving society or protecting the rights of American citizens is no longer its goal," he charged.

Swarthout contends the ACLU is coming against the constitutional duty of the United States government, which requires the protection of citizens.

"What is in question here is the definition of freedom," he said. "Freedom comes with responsibility. The ACLU has become an anti-Christian, pro-terrorist, entity whose only goal is to get the headlines to keep donations rolling in."

Al-Qaida's 'final' warning

Something different about al-Zawahiri's videotape message

There was something different about al-Qaida's videotape communique delivered by Osama bin Laden's No. 2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, say intelligence analysts and terrorism experts.

"What you have seen in New York, Washington and Afghanistan, are only the initial losses," he said, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States for which al Qaeda claimed responsibility. "If you continue the same hostile policies you will see something that will make you forget the horrors you have seen in Vietnam."

Though it is not unusual for al-Qaida statements to suggest attacks more fearsome than 9-11 are coming, the reference to Vietnam suggests bin Laden and al-Zawahiri believe they can either wear down the U.S. in a protracted conflict in Iraq or demoralize the U.S. public with a continuing barrage of terrorist attacks.

But the next sentence contained a word, omitted in some Western translations of the speech, not seen or heard in previous al-Qaida messages.

"Our message to you is clear, strong and final: There will be no salvation until you withdraw from our land, stop stealing our oil and resources and end support for infidel, corrupt (Arab) rulers," he said.

Lawsuit Forces Release of More Casualty Images

In response to a lawsuit, the Pentagon has released a few dozen new and uncensored images of flag-draped coffins of U.S. troops and agreed to process "as expeditiously as possible" future Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for photo and video images of returning war casualties.

The decision was called a victory for open government by the National Security Archive, a nongovernmental research group here that helped the litigation. "We forced the Pentagon to admit that release of these images was not a mistake but was in fact required by law," said Thomas Blanton, director of the archive, which posted the images on its Web site yesterday. As a result, he said the parties to the suit agreed July 28 to dismiss the case.

Since the Persian Gulf War, the government has gradually tightened restrictions on the public release of images of returning war casualties, most recently at the onset of the Iraq war. The policy has sparked intense debate among the public and military. Some contend the images honor U.S. military sacrifice; others consider them tantamount to an antiwar statement.

The latest controversy arose after Dover Air Force Base, the main port for returning U.S. military remains, released 350 images -- including airplane cargo bays filled with flag-draped coffins -- during a spike in fighting in Iraq in April 2004. The Pentagon said that decision, in response to a FOIA request, was a mistake and ordered that no more photographs be released.

Begleiter's suit was filed to demonstrate that under the act, such photographs must be released as long as they do not harm national security or violate privacy laws.

The Pentagon yesterday said "further consideration" of a Begleiter appeal led it to release the latest photographs in an "unredacted form," meaning without the blacked-out faces. "The Department of Defense has an obligation and a responsibility to strike a balance between our strong desire to be as transparent as possible and the legitimate concerns to protect the privacy of military families and as necessary, operational security," a spokesman said.

U.S. Negotiating Guantanamo Transfers

Afghanistan Agrees To Accept Detainees

The Bush administration is negotiating the transfer of nearly 70 percent of the detainees at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to three countries as part of a plan, officials said, to share the burden of keeping suspected terrorists behind bars.

U.S. officials announced yesterday that they have reached an agreement with the government of Afghanistan to transfer most of its nationals to Kabul's "exclusive" control and custody. There are 110 Afghan detainees at Guantanamo and 350 more at the Bagram airfield near Kabul. Their transfers could begin in the next six months.

Pierre-Richard Prosper, ambassador at large for war crimes, who led a U.S. delegation to the Middle East this week, said similar agreements are being pursued with Saudi Arabia and Yemen, whose nationals make up a significant percentage of the Guantanamo population. Prosper held talks in Saudi Arabia on Sunday and Monday, but negotiations were cut off after the announcement of King Fahd's death.

The decision to move more than 20 percent of the detainees at Guantanamo to Afghanistan and to largely clear out the detention center at Bagram is part of a broader plan to significantly reduce the population of "enemy combatants" in U.S. custody. Senior U.S. officials said yesterday's agreement is the first major step toward whittling down the Guantanamo population to a core group of people the United States expects to hold indefinitely.

"This is not an effort to shut down Guantanamo. Rather, the arrangement we have reached with the government of Afghanistan is the latest step in what has long been our policy -- that we need to keep dangerous enemy combatants off the battlefield," Matthew Waxman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, said shortly after leaving Kabul with Prosper. "We, the U.S., don't want to be the world's jailer. We think a more prudent course is to shift that burden onto our coalition partners."

Jordan Arrests 17 in Alleged Terror Plot

Jordan has arrested 17 militants linked to al-Qaida who were allegedly plotting to attack U.S. troops and Jordanian intelligence agents, a military prosecutor said Thursday.

The militants belonged to the Iraqi chapter of al-Qaida, which is led by the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and a previously unknown Saudi group called the Brigades of the Holy Shrines, said prosecutor Maj. Fawaz al-Otoum in a statement.

"Jordan's public security forces brought before me 17 people who belonged to two terror organizations," al-Otoum said in the statement. "Both groups devised plots to attack officers of the Jordanian intelligence department and U.S. military personnel in Jordan."
Al-Otoum said the accused were also involved in "recruiting men and collecting contributions to carry out terror attacks."

Initial charges include "plotting to carry out terror attacks and destroying Jordan's relations with a foreign country," he added. People convicted of terror attacks can be condemned to death in Jordan.

Jordan's security forces stepped up their vigilance after warnings of attacks on Western targets in the kingdom following last month's bombings in London and the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik.

Liberals Attack Four Year Old Roberts' Boy

The NEW YORK TIMES is looking into the adoption records of the children of Supreme Court Nominee John G. Roberts, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The TIMES has investigative reporter Glen Justice hot on the case to investigate the status of adoption records of Judge Roberts' two young children, Josie age 5 and Jack age 4, a top source reveals.

Roberts' young son Jack delighted millions of Americans during his father's Supreme Court nomination announcement ceremony when he wouldn't stop dancing while the President and his father spoke to a national television audience.

Previously the WASHINGTON POST Style section had published a story criticizing the outfits Mrs. Roberts had them wear at the announcement ceremony.

Hat Tip: Mikes America

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Suicide Bomber Killed En Route By Car Bomb

Terrorist cells in Baghdad are in mourning for suicide bomber Ahmed al-Khalaf, 19, who was killed by a car bomb Monday, 200 yards from an Iraqi police station, his intended target.

Sources within the insurgency said al-Khalaf was "on his way to becoming a glorious martyr" when he was struck down by the car-bomb explosion. Twenty-three other civilians were also killed.

"What kind of God allows the death of people who are on their way to kill innocent people?" insurgent leader Abdulwahid al-Tomizie said. "On the one hand, I am elated that the car-bomb explosion was successful, but the loss of the suicide bomber is a tragedy, as is the survival of all the innocent people he might have killed."

According to al-Tomizie, al-Khalaf could have killed as many as 40 innocent people, had his life not been cut short.

"It is tragic that al-Khalaf died seven minutes sooner than he intended," said Hassan Abdul Aziz, leader of a local cabal of Sunni separatists. "To think that he was just yards from his intended target. Our thoughts and prayers are with his terrorist cell."

No insurgent groups have claimed responsibility for the car bomb, although as many as 18 separate insurgency factions have vowed to carry on the fight in al-Khalaf's memory.

Authorities arrest Maryland man for providing support to terrorists

A Maryland man was charged with conspiracy to help a terrorist organization after he boasted that he went to Pakistan, attended terrorist training camps and agreed to provide whatever assistance was necessary, prosecutors said Thursday.

Mahmud Faruq Brent, of Gwynn Oak, Md., was charged after a New York musician arrested on similar charges in May agreed to meet with him and let the FBI record the encounter, according to a joint release by federal prosecutors, the FBI and New York police.

Brent was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan with conspiracy to provide material support to the Lashkar-e-Taiba organization, which the United States designated a terrorist organization in December 2001.

During the taped conversation at a hotel in Columbia, Md., Brent indicated he had traveled to Pakistan and into the mountains for training "and stuff" with "the mujahideen, the fighters," the release said.

Prosecutors said Brent indicated that he would never go back on his decision to go to the training camps operated by Lashkar and that it was "one of the better decisions in my life."

He also said he had agreed to provide whatever "assistance" he could there and expressed hope that Allah would bless him for his efforts, according to the release.

Americans didn't flock to Canada after Bush win

Canadians can put away those extra welcome mats -- it seems Americans unhappy about the result of last November's presidential election have decided to stay at home after all.

In the days after President Bush won a second term, the number of U.S. citizens visiting Canada's main immigration Web site shot up sixfold, prompting speculation that unhappy Democrats would flock north.

But official statistics show the number of Americans actually applying to live permanently in Canada fell in the six months after the election.

Data from the main Canadian processing center in Buffalo, NY shows that in the six months up to the U.S. election there were 16,266 applications from people seeking to live in Canada, a figure that fell to 14,666 for the half year after the vote.

NYCLU sues city over subway searches

The New York Civil Liberties Union today filed suit against the city to keep police from searching the bags of passengers entering the subway, organization lawyers said.

The suit, which filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, will claimed that the two-week old policy violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection and prohibitions against unlawful searches and seizures, while doing almost nothing to shield the city from terrorism.

It argues that the measure also allows the possibility for racial profiling, even though officers are ordered to randomly screen passengers.

"While concerns about terrorism of course justify -- indeed, require -- aggressive police tactics, those concerns cannot justify the Police Department's unprecedented policy of subjecting millions of innocent people to suspicionless searches," states the suit.

President Bush Says al-Qaida Threat Won't Deter U.S.

President Bush said Thursday that videotape threats from al-Qaida's second-in-command will not drive the United States out of Iraq or the broader Middle East.

"We will stay on the offense against these people," Bush said of the comments by Ayman al-Zawahri.

"They're terrorists and they're killers and they will kill innocent people...so they can impose their dark vision on the world," Bush said as he stood alongside Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Evan Bayh: Democrats Come Up Short on National Security Issue

Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh, a possible presidential candidate in 2008, said Thursday that his party lacks credibility on national security and needs to convince Americans that Democrats are willing to use force when necessary.

Until the party can persuade voters, it will be unable to move the debate to issues that work for Democrats, Bayh said in an interview with The Associated Press.

"Unless the American people know that we will be good stewards of the nation's security, they're unlikely to trust us with anything else," said the two-term Indiana senator. "That's a very important threshold we have to get over."
Bayh said there are legitimate grounds to criticize President Bush's approach to fighting terrorism, but until Democrats establish more credibility on the issue, many voters won't listen.

"Many Americans wonder if we're willing to use force to defend the country even under the most compelling of circumstances," Bayh said. "The majority of Democrats would answer that question that, yes, there is a right place and a right time. We don't get to have that discussion because many people don't think we have the backbone."

Al-Qaida leader warns of attacks

Zawahiri: 'The truth that has been kept from you by Bush, Rice and Rumsfeld'

In a videotape shown on the Arabic al-Jazeera satellite channel, Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, warned of further terrorist strikes unless Britain and the United States withdraw troops from Iraq.

The al-Qaida leader blamed British Prime Minister Tony Blair for the bombings in London July 7, which killed 52 people, and the attempted July 21 attacks

"Blair has brought to you destruction in central London, and he will bring more of that, God willing," said al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor who joined forces with bin Laden in Afghanistan in the late 1990s.

"As to the nations of the crusader alliance, we have offered you a truce if you leave the land of Islam."

Al-Zawahiri added, "Hasn't Sheik Osama bin Laden told you that you will not dream of security before there is security in Palestine and before all the infidel armies withdraw from the land of Muhammad?"

"Our message is clear," the al-Qaida leader continued, "You will not be safe until you withdraw from our land, stop stealing our oil and wealth and stop supporting the corrupt rulers."

"As for you, the Americans, what you have seen in New York and Washington, what losses that you see in Afghanistan and Iraq, despite the media blackout, is merely the losses of the initial clashes," he said. "If you go on with the same policy of aggression against Muslims, you will see, with God's will, what will make you forget the horrible things in Vietnam and Afghanistan."

Pro-choice Kennedy was pro-life in 1971

Democrat believed humans have right to be born from moment of conception

The issue of abortion is expected to take center stage during the upcoming confirmation hearings for John Roberts, President Bush's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.

And one of the key questioners of Roberts will be Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

While many today regard the Democrat as a champion for abortion rights, the senator, who is Catholic, apparently held a staunch pro-life view before the Roe v. Wade decision in 1972.

In 1971, Tom Dennelly of Great Neck, N.Y., wrote to Kennedy expressing his personal views on abortion.

Kennedy responded to Dennelly, writing:

"While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life. Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized � the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old.
"On the question of the individual's freedom of choice there are easily available birth-control methods and information which women may employ to prevent or postpone pregnancy. But once life has begun, no matter at what stage of growth, it is my belief that termination should not be decided merely by desire. ...

"When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception."

"The same Ted Kennedy who once championed the rights of the unborn now champions the right of a doctor to jam a scissor into the skull of an infant who is 80-percent born," said William Donohue, president of the Catholic League. "Sadly for him, history will look back at this era and recognize that he didn't care enough about human beings to take responsibility for children from the very moment of conception."

Kennedy was in the news recently for another apparent flip flop.

The senator has been vocal about Roberts, saying the federal judge "will be expected to answer fully" any questions about his views on controversial issues; but the Democrat sang a different tune in 1967, when he noted that candidates should "defer any comments" on such matters.

President Makes It Clear: Phrase Is 'War on Terror'

President Bush publicly overruled some of his top advisers on Wednesday in a debate about what to call the conflict with Islamic extremists, saying, "Make no mistake about it, we are at war."

In a speech here, Mr. Bush used the phrase "war on terror" no less than five times. Not once did he refer to the "global struggle against violent extremism," the wording consciously adopted by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other officials in recent weeks after internal deliberations about the best way to communicate how the United States views the challenge it is facing.

In recent public appearances, Mr. Rumsfeld and senior military officers have avoided formulations using the word "war," and some of Mr. Bush's top advisers have suggested that the administration wanted to jettison what had been its semiofficial wording of choice, "the global war on terror."

In an interview last week about the new wording, Stephen J. Hadley, Mr. Bush's national security adviser, said that the conflict was "more than just a military war on terror" and that the United States needed to counter "the gloomy vision" of the extremists and "offer a positive alternative."

At the same time, Mr. Bush, by some accounts, told aides that he was not happy with the new phrasing, a change of tone from the wording he had consistently used since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

It is not clear whether the new language embraced by other administration officials was adopted without Mr. Bush's approval or whether he reversed himself after the change was made. Either way, he planted himself on Wednesday firmly on the side of framing the conflict primarily in military terms and appeared intent on emphasizing that there had been no change in American policy.

Democratic Pollster: We Don't Stand for Anything

Democratic Party pollster Stan Greenberg said Wednesday that "one of the biggest doubts about Democrats is that they don't stand for anything."

During a conference call with reporters, Greenberg said Democrats deal with "the same doubts they had about John Kerry" - the party's 2004 presidential nominee. The issue arose as Greenberg discussed what Democrats need to do to stop Republican gains among Hispanic voters.

Democrats' lack of clarity was a contributing factor for the gains made by Republicans among Hispanics in 2004, Greenberg said, adding "that stands out even more for voters generally and for white Catholics."

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Police Chiefs Say Shoot Suicide Bombers in Head

The International Association of Chiefs of Police, which represents the heads of police departments in the United States and across the world, has issued new guidelines saying that officers who confront a suicide bomber should shoot the suspect in the head.
The recommendations, the first from a major police organization to deal with the realities of a post-Sept. 11 world, take a more aggressive posture than typical lethal-force guidelines. The guidelines were published July 8 -- about two weeks before the London police, acting on a similar policy, fatally shot an innocent Brazilian seven times in the head because they mistook him for a suicide bomber.

The National Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board is developing the first national protocol for response to suicide bombers and is also recommending to police bomb squads nationwide that if a suspect is wearing a suicide bomb, an officer who needs to use deadly force should not shoot near the bomb.

American police officers and federal agents typically have been authorized to use deadly force if lives are in imminent danger. But since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the definition of imminent danger has changed, prompting law enforcement officials to rethink the rules of engagement.

"There is not a responsible chief or head of a law enforcement agency in this country who isn't now pondering the dilemma a suicide bomber presents to their officers," said U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer, who became the first chief in the nation to adopt a shoot-to-kill policy if his officers are confronted with a suicide bomber.
After the July 7 attacks on the London transit system by suicide bombers, the international police chiefs organization produced a detailed training guide for dealing with suicide bombers for its 20,000 law enforcement members. It recommends that if an officer needs to use lethal force to stop someone who fits a certain behavioral profile, the officer should "aim for the head" to kill the person instantly and prevent the setting off of a bomb if one is strapped to the person's chest.
The police organization's behavioral profile says such a person might exhibit "multiple anomalies," including wearing a heavy coat or jacket in warm weather or carrying a briefcase, duffle bag or backpack with protrusions or visible wires. The person might display nervousness, an unwillingness to make eye contact or excessive sweating. There might be chemical burns on the clothing or stains on the hands. The person might mumble prayers or be "pacing back and forth in front of a venue."

The police group's guidelines also say the threat to officers does not have to be "imminent," as police training traditionally teaches. Officers do not have to wait until a suspected bomber makes a move, another traditional requirement for police to use deadly force. An officer just needs to have a "reasonable basis" to believe that the suspect can detonate a bomb, the guidelines say.

Did Rumsfeld order Abu Ghraib rough stuff?

General reveals secret memo on 'aggressive' interrogations

The general formerly in charge of Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison claims she was ordered to institute "more aggressive" forms of interrogation of prisoners including "hooding" and "stress positions."

During an interview on the "America At Night" nationally syndicated radio talk show, Brig. Gen. Janice Karpinski said she viewed a memo signed by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, which listed those techniques.

In the margin of the memo, she said, there was a handwritten note that said: "Make sure this happens."

Karpinski said it appeared to be in the same handwriting as Donald Rumsfeld's signature on the document. A copy of the memo was sent to Gen. Geoffrey Miller, then the head of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, who had visited Abu Ghraib for 10 days prior to the controversy about prison abuse.

Dems Brand Ohio Loss as 'Shockwave of Voter Discontent'

Even though Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett lost Tuesday's special congressional election to GOP candidate Jean Schmidt 52 to 48 percent, Democratic leaders were delighted with the results, calling their Ohio loss "a shockwave of voter discontent." A Republican spokesman had a brief response: "We won."

More Democrat than Republican Operatives Involved in Voter Fraud

A report by a voting rights group regarding allegations of voter fraud, intimidation and suppression during the 2004 presidential election has found that "paid Democrat operatives were far more involved in voter intimidation and suppression activities than were their Republican counterparts during the 2004 presidential election."

Pentagon denies U.S. Marine captured in Iraq

The Pentagon on Wednesday denied a claim by an Iraqi insurgent group that it had captured a U.S. Marine in western Iraq.

"I don't have anything to suggest that is accurate. I have no indication that there are any unaccounted for personnel," Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters in response to questions.

An Iraqi insurgent group said earlier in the day it had captured a U.S. Marine who was wounded in a clash in western Iraq in which eight other Marines were killed.

The Army of Ansar al-Sunna said on its Web site that it would soon issue pictures of the Marine, who it said it captured after ambushing U.S. forces near the town of Haditha, northwest of Baghdad.

The U.S. military said on Tuesday six Marines were killed on Monday in the same area. The body of one Marine was initially unaccounted for but was recovered later, according to the statement.

2nd NYC official backs racial profiling

Middle Easterners should be targeted for searches on city subways, two elected officials said, contending that police have been wasting time with random checks in efforts to prevent terrorism in the transit system.

The city began examining passengers' bags on subways and buses after the second bomb attack in London two weeks ago. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have said several times that officers will not engage in racial profiling.

But over the weekend, state Assemblyman Dov Hikind said police should be focusing on those who fit the "terrorist profile."

"They all look a certain way," said Hikind, a Democrat from Brooklyn. "It's all very nice to be politically correct here, but we're talking about terrorism."

On Tuesday, Republican City Councilman James Oddo said the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack by Middle Eastern men in hijacked airplanes prompted him to publicly declare his support for Hikind's statements.

"The reality is that there is a group of people who want to kill us and destroy our way of life," he said. "Young Arab fundamentalists are the individuals undertaking these acts of terror, and we should keep those facts prominently in our minds and eyes as we attempt to secure our populace."

Oddo commended Hikind for "rushing headlong against the strong undertow of political correctness."

Hikind said he planned to introduce legislation allowing police to racially profile, and Oddo said he intended to introduce a resolution in the City Council supporting the measure.

Poll: McCain, Giuliani would both beat Hillary

Survey shows Clinton, Kerry losing in hypothetical races

With three years to go until the next presidential election, potential Republican candidates for the presidency fare better than Democrats in a new poll by the Gallup Organization.

In hypothetical matchups, both Arizona Sen. John McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani would defeat New York Sen. Hillary Clinton by a margin of 50 to 45 percent.

If Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry were the Democrats' nominee, the margin of victory for the GOP candidates is even greater, at 54 to 41 percent margins among registered voters.

Of the four figures Gallup asked about, Giuliani is rated most positively, with 64 percent of Americans saying they have a favorable opinion of him and only 19 percent with an unfavorable opinion. Clinton (53 percent) and McCain (51 percent) have similar favorable ratings, although Clinton is the much better-known figure (only 4 percent do not have an opinion of her, compared with 27 percent for McCain).

Clinton's unfavorable ratings (43 percent) are nearly twice as high as McCain's (22 percent).

Kerry is the only candidate of the four with higher unfavorables (48 percent) than favorables (42 percent). That reflects a significant shift from last fall, when Kerry averaged a 52 percent favorable rating and a 44 percent unfavorable rating in five October Gallup polls leading up to the presidential election.

At least a majority of Americans had viewed Kerry favorably following his surprise victory in the Iowa caucuses and continuing through Gallup's final pre-election poll.

Bolton Presents Credentials at U.N.

John Bolton presented his credentials Tuesday as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a job which will challenge him to work with diplomats from 190 nations in a place he has called irrelevant.

"Glad to be here," the controversial diplomat told Secretary-General Kofi Annan before handing over his letter of appointment five months after he was nominated by President Bush.

The two exchanged greetings and then held a brief private meeting. Bolton entered and left U.N. headquarters smiling and waving, but staying uncharacteristically mum.
The 56-year-old arms control expert with a reputation for brilliance, obstinacy and speaking his mind arrived just weeks before a summit in which world leaders will seek to adopt sweeping changes to enable the U.N. to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Bolton will be thrust into intense negotiations on contentious issues ranging from Security Council reform and poverty alleviation to stepping up the global fight against terrorism and improving U.N. management.

"He will be one of the key players because the United States is the largest contributor and a great power in the Security Council," Germany's U.N. Ambassador Gunter Pleuger said. "There are conflicting views on nearly every issue that is on our plate for the reform, and the largest player in the U.N., of course, plays a key role."

"No one should make prejudgments on reputation," said Chile's U.N. Ambassador Heraldo Munoz. "One must do it on the merit of the facts, when we see what happens here."

Many U.N. diplomats say Bolton will be judged on his performance here, not on his past, which features sharp criticism of the world body and resistance to his appointment as U.S. ambassador.

The fact that Bolton failed twice to win Senate confirmation, forcing Bush to appoint him Monday after Congress adjourned for the summer, was also unlikely to have an impact, diplomats said.

"He's a colleague like any other and will be received as such," said Denmark's U.N. Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Loj, who noted that in many countries no confirmation of ambassadors is required.

Annan said Monday he looks forward to working with Bolton, in the same way that he works with ambassadors from the other U.N. member states.

Nix 107-year-old Phone Tax

Grover Norquist and his Americans for Tax Reform are backing an effort to abolish a "temporary" tax on telephones imposed to help fund the Spanish-American War.

"Repealing the Spanish-American War tax is long overdue," said Norquist, president of the anti-tax advocacy group.

"We've been stealing money from telephone users for 107 years to fund a war it took us four months to win. Getting rid of this relic is a major priority of the taxpayer movement."

The Congress passed a law in 1898 imposing a 3 percent tax on every telephone in the country.

At the time there were only 1,300 phones in the U.S., and only a wealthy few could afford phone service, so the levy was considered a luxury tax.

It was aimed at offsetting the cost of the $250 million war against Spain, and in the words of the Revenue to Meet War Expenditures Act, would "be naturally repealed or modified when the [necessities] of war and the payment of war expenses have ceased."

Yet more than a century later, the tax remains in effect, bringing in at least $3 billion a year.

Congress voted to repeal the tax in 2000, but President Bill Clinton vetoed the measure.

Now Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif.,) has introduced a new bill to ax the tax.

The Americans for Tax Reform Web site is urging the group's supporters to take action, encouraging them to send an e mail to their elected officials demanding an end to the tax.

The Web site (atr.org) says the tax is "highly regressive, as it amounts to a greater share of the income of low-income Americans, minorities and senior citizens."

Norquist's group also says the tax "has strangled the telecommunications industry for a century, stifling innovation and keeping prices high."

ATR urges, "Tell your Congressman and Senators to support a repeal of the Spanish-American War tax!"

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Howard Dean is a liar

Howard Dean recently gave a speech in which he stated that the Kelo ruling was not only a conservative ruling but has something do to with President Bush. Here�s the full quote:

�The president and his right-wing Supreme Court think it is �okay� to have the government take your house if they feel like putting a hotel where your house is.�

Allright, first of all Bush hasn�t even appointed a single justice to the court yet. So there�s no way anyone can rationally associate the current Supreme Court with President Bush. Secondly, um, all three of the conservatives on the court dissented in the Kelo decision, and all four of the liberals voted for it. The two moderates split. This isn�t even in the realm of appropriate political spin. This is downright ridiculous.

And hilariously enough, even liberals are starting to notice this too. Daily Kos ironically has some good stuff on the speech.

The original townhall.com article from CNSNews is here.

Thanks to Instapundit and Paterrico�s Pontificiations.

Hat Tip: Save the GOP

Dems Attack Bush For Working Out...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a fact sheet released today by the Democratic National Committee:

The White House this weekend announced that President Bush received good news during his annual physical. Doctors pronounced the President to be in "superior" physical condition, which media reports attributed to his rigorous, six day a week exercise routine. While President Bush has made physical fitness a personal priority, his cuts to education funding have forced schools to roll back physical education classes and his Administration's efforts to undermine Title IX sports programs have threatened thousands of women's college sports programs.

"President Bush's has dropped the ball when it comes to fully funding physical education in public schools and women's athletic programs at the college level," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Josh Earnest. "His personal habits indicate that physical fitness is not just fun and games for him. Don't our kids deserve the same opportunities to be physically fit? President Bush should stop running from his responsibility and make sure that all American children have access to physical fitness programs."

+

NYC politician: Profile terrorists

A Brooklyn Assemblyman says the NYPD is handcuffed by political correctness in the war on terrorism - and should profile subway passengers for bag searches.
"The individuals involved look basically like this," Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) said yesterday, brandishing a printout of the FBI's most wanted terrorists - all with Arabic names, most with facial hair, some wearing turbans.

"Why should a policeman have to think twice before examining people of a particular group?" Hikind asked. "They all look a certain way. It's all very nice to be politically correct here, but we're talking about terrorism."

The NYPD's random bag checks at subway stations are pointless if they force 75-year-old grandmothers to open their purses, but not people who fit the "terrorist profile," he said.

But the NYPD says it isn't in the profiling business - and doesn't think singling out members of an ethnic group would work, anyway. "Racial profiling is illegal, of doubtful effectiveness, and against department policy," the NYPD said in a statement.

Some subway riders were dubious as well, saying profiling Middle Eastern men on the subway would take away from the freedoms that allNew Yorkers are supposed to share.

Mahmoud El-Bouridy, 26, who came to Queens from Egypt, said profiling would be unfair to folks like him.

"That's very bad," said El-Bouridy, who runs a cell phone store. "We left our countries for liberty, freedom. I would feel discriminated against."

Ron Nesbitt, 30, of the Bronx, said profiling is an invasion of civil liberties.

"We're fighting a war in Iraq. Our freedoms are diminishing while we're fighting for theirs," said Nesbitt. "I'm not sure if the enforcers even know what they're looking for."

But others said Hikind may have a point.

"I think it's more rational to limit your search," said Lisa Wood, 22, a paralegal from Harlem. "There's no way they can search everyone

Monday, August 01, 2005

100,000 British Muslims Back Bombers

Islamic leaders in Britain are urging their flocks to turn away from "the harbingers of hate" in the wake of a survey showing that 100,000 members of the nation's Muslim community support the London train bombers.

"The word 'Islam' means peace," insisted Rafiq Hayat, national president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association U.K. "But we have to live by it in order to grow," he warned, in quotes picked up by the Washington Times.

A YouGov survey commissioned by the London Telegraph last week, however, shows that Hayat and other pro-Western Muslim leaders are facing an uphill battle.
Twenty-four percent of 500 Muslims responding said they sympathize with the suicide bombers. More troubling still, 6 percent said the attacks were necessary.

And 1 percent said they'd be willing to commit actual violence in the name of jihad.

YouGov analyst Anthony King told the Times that the 6 percent who insist that the bombings were necessary "may seem a small proportion, but in absolute numbers, it amounts to about 100,000 individuals who, if not prepared to carry out terrorist acts, are ready to support those who do."

The 1 percent who professed a willingness to actually commit violent acts translates into 16,000 Muslims, King said.

Bush Bashing Fizzles

This summer, one big story is replaced by another--the London bombings July 7, the speculation that Karl Rove illegally named a covert CIA agent, the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court, more London bombings last week. But beneath the hubbub, we can see the playing out of another, less reported story: the collapse of the attempts by liberal Democrats and their sympathizers in the mainstream media--the New York Times, etc., etc.--to delegitimize yet another Republican administration.

This project has been ongoing for more than 30 years. Richard Nixon, by obstructing investigation of the Watergate burglary, unwittingly colluded in the successful attempt to besmirch his administration. Less than two years after carrying 49 states, he was compelled to resign. The attempt to delegitimize the Reagan administration seemed at the time reasonably successful. Reagan was widely dismissed as a lightweight ideologue, and the rejection of his nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court in 1987 contributed to the impression that his years in office were, to take the title of a book by a first-rate journalist, "the Reagan detour." As time went on, as the Berlin Wall fell and Bill Clinton proclaimed that the era of big government was over, it became clear that Reagan was a successful transformational president--something the mainstream media grudgingly admitted when he died in 2004 after a decade out of public view.


You think they'd learn. But for the past five years, the same folks have been trying to undermine the presidency of George W. Bush. The Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore was denounced as an outrage, and Democrats noted, accurately, that Bush did not win a plurality of the popular vote in 2000. The nation rallied to his support after September 11, but Democrats held up his judicial and other nominations even if they had to violate Senate tradition to do so. Coverage of Bush during the 2004 campaign was heavily negative; for months the mainstream media mostly ignored the swift boat vets' charges against John Kerry and broadcast accusations against Bush based on forged documents eight weeks before the election. News of economic recovery in 2003 and 2004 was pitched far more negatively than it had been when Bill Clinton was president in 1995 and 1996.

Bush Appoints Bolton As U.N. Ambassador

President Bush sidestepped the Senate and installed embattled nominee John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations on Monday, ending a five-month impasse with Democrats who accused Bolton of abusing subordinates and twisting intelligence to fit his conservative ideology.

"This post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about UN reform," Bush said. He said Bolton had his complete confidence.

Bush put Bolton on the job in a recess appointment - an avenue available to the president when the Congress is in recess. Under the Constitution, a recess appointment during the lawmakers' August break would last until a newly elected Congress takes office in January 2007.

Bolton was to be sworn in later Monday and go immediately to U.N. headquarters in New York to begin work, said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

Bolton joined Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the announcement ceremony and said he was honored and humbled by the president's appointment. "It will be a distinct privilege to be an advocate for America's values and interests at the U.N. and, in the words of the U.N. charter, to help maintain international peace and security," he said.

Bush said that Bolton's nomination had been supported by a majority of the Senate but that "because of partisan delaying tactics by a handful of senators, John was unfairly denied the up-or-down vote that he deserves."

Bush had refused to give up on Bolton even though the Senate had voted twice to sustain a filibuster against his nominee. Democrats and some Republicans had raised questions about Bolton's fitness for the job, particularly in view of his harsh criticism of the United Nations.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan welcomed Bolton's appointment and steered clear of the controversy over whether Bolton would be weakened by the recess appointment. "We look forward to working with him as I do with the other 190 ambassadors, and we will welcome him at a time when we are in the midst of major reform," Annan said. He said the manner of Bolton's appointment was Bush's prerogative.