The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 11/20/2005 - 11/27/2005

Saturday, November 26, 2005

U.S. military says top al-Zarqawi aide killed

The U.S. military also said it had received information confirming the death of a top aide to the leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Bilal Mahmud Awad Shebah, also known as Abu Ubaydah, was killed in an Oct. 14 raid in Ramadi, an insurgent stronghold 112 kilometres west of Baghdad, the U.S. command said in a statement. The confirmation came from "a close family member as well as coalition sources," the statement said.

"Detained members of al-Qaida claim Abu Ubaydah served as an 'executive secretary' for Zarqawi; met with Zarqawi frequently; served as a messenger and gatekeeper for Zarqawi; screened all messages and requests for meetings with Zarqawi (and) was one of Zarqawi's most trusted associates," the statement said.

Al-Qaida evidence along U.S. border?

Senator views Arab personal effects, concerned about possible infiltration

A U.S. senator says he's been shown "anecdotal evidence" suggesting an Arabic presence along the U.S.-Mexico border, noting the Bush administration has not publicly released the information because it is "a matter of intelligence."

Human Events reported that Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, head of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship, has seen beverage boxes with Arabic language and other items, including the image of a commercial airliner striking a building.

Cornyn, who is working with other senators to craft legislation that supports President Bush's proposed guest-worker program but adds stricter border and worksite enforcement measures, also told the magazine he thought it plausible that terrorists could easily find their way into the United States because of large, isolated and rural gaps in America's southwest border region.

"The message that America wants to hear, and the message that America needs, is security," Cornyn told the magazine. "We're seeing that now, not just in places like Texas and border states, but also across the nation. People realize instinctively in a post-9/11 world that we have to know who is coming into our country and why they are here. We have no confidence of that now."

Saying he had "no information" as to whether members of the al Qaida terrorist organization, or other similar groups, had already infiltrated through the U.S.-Mexico border, Cornyn said such an undertaking would be "easy to do."

Saddam's Hangman Details Torture

One of Saddam Hussein's official hangmen is speaking to the media for the first time - offering a firsthand account of some of the torture techniques he used on Saddam's orders.

Recalling his time working at Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, Abu Hussein [last name withheld] recalled that a new batch of political prisoners was brought in - without being charged with a crime - every week.

Deserters from Iraq's war with Iran faced the firing squad, the hangman told Reuters, while prisoners who had insulted Saddam were hanged because it was more cruel.

"A firing squad is more compassionate because people usually died immediately. But hanging is cruel because it can take time to die. If they don't die, we started over again," he said.

Death always came after weeks of torture, Abu Hussein said.
"Sometimes we would hang them upside down and beat their feet with clubs. Or we would electrocute them," he said.

"One of the worst things was putting 10 people in a one-square-meter room for weeks. They had a brief break every day and were allowed the toilet every three days," he said.

Three executions were carried out each Monday and Thursday. One day Saddam's feared son Uday showed up and asked about eight political prisoners standing nearby. He ordered their immediate execution, the ex-executioner told Reuters.

He recalled watching men writhe in agony as they died, which even he found upsetting. But nobody could afford to defy orders in Saddam's Iraq.

"We would have been killed on the spot," Abu Hussein said. "One time this executioner was one hour late in hanging someone and he was himself hanged."

Mass. Democrats Lament Iraq War Vote

Three years ago, Massachusetts congressmen Martin Meehan, Stephen Lynch and Edward Markey bucked their state Democratic colleagues and cast votes to give President Bush a green light to go to war in Iraq.

Since then, the three have renounced their votes and emerged as critics of the way Bush has handled the war.

Unlike the dramatic public change of heart by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a decorated Marine veteran who served in Korea and Vietnam, the three congressmen said they began gradually re-evaluating their views soon after the U.S.-led invasion, when no weapons of mass destruction were found.

"The war was based on the false premise that Saddam Hussein had an active nuclear weapons program," said Markey, who accused the administration of "manipulating facts."

They are not the first to express regret about their pro-war votes. Several members of Congress, including Reps. Walter Jones, R-N.C., and Robert Wexler, D-Fla., have had changes of heart about Iraq.
But for Meehan, Lynch and Markey, the shift has paid political dividends, helping them mend fences with top state Democratic leaders such as Sen. Edward Kennedy, and anti-war liberals who are active in the party ranks.

"I'd say that we have been the most vocal state delegation in the entire country in criticizing the president's handling of the war in Iraq," said Meehan, an early advocate of a phased troop withdrawal.

Shopper Fights With Security Guards At Orlando Wal-Mart

Security guards wrestled a man to the ground and handcuffed him, this morning at an Orlando Wal-Mart.

Eyewitnesses told Channel Nine that the man cut in line to get laptop computers that were on sale.

The man started arguing with people inside the store, and then scuffled with plain-clothed security guards.

One man told reporters that the laptops were being thrown into the air and people rushed toward them, collapsing on each other. Another man described the scene as crazy.

"It was absolutely pandemonium in there. They were throwing laptops twenty feet in the air, and people were collapsing on each other to grab them. It was ridiculous," said shopper Brian Horwitz.

"A guy came on top of me and hit my head," said Wal-Mart shopper, Jennifer Harris. "When he did it bounced against the other two people. I got hit on both of my ears."

Some people weren't fazed in the least. Many customers simply carted their stuff out of the store and passed right by the man in handcuffs, without any reaction.

When a Sheriff's deputy arrived, he gave the man a trespassing warning and let him go. It turns out, in the confusion, he fought off the plain-clothes security guards, when they grabbed him, because he thought they were other customers.

SEE THE VIDEO HERE !

SEASONS BEATINGS...

Orlando police officers were called to break up some fights between shoppers early Friday as Central Floridians flocked to stores for one of the busiest shopping days of the year, according to Local 6 News.

Line jumpers at a Best Buy at the Fashion Square Mall apparently started a fight at around 11:30 p.m. Officers responded and there were no arrests.

However, one person may be arrested for starting a fight at a Wal-Mart in east Orange County early Friday.

Some shoppers waited for as long as seven hours to be the first in the doors for bargains.

The day after Thanksgiving is known as "Black Friday" because traditionally it's seen as the day most retailers go into the "black" and start earning a profit for the year.

"I am looking for a plasma TV," Central Florida shopper Laura Campbell said. "I can get it for $287 instead of $700."

Local 6 News showed video of store shelves already empty.

According to a national survey, 64 percent of people polled said they plan to shop Friday.

Trampled shoppers say lack of security to blame...




It was a dangerous morning on Black Friday at a West Michigan Wal-Mart. Now, corporate representatives are responding to what happened.

An impatient crowd stormed the doors in the mad rush to get to those door-buster deals inside.

It was an ugly scene when the doors opened at the Cascade Township Wal-Mart. Hundreds of shoppers pushed and shoved their way into the store, trampling a number of customers, sending two to the hospital.

At 5:00 a.m. the doors opened, holiday shoppers rushed in, and immediately one customer is pushed to the ground.

"This is ridiculous. I do not want my life in danger for this," said shopper Karen Dietstra. "This is not worth it. This has been a tradition for years. I don't think that I have to get beat up to try to get a sale."

Two shoppers from Grand Rapids did. One of them, 13-year-old Deja McHerron, had to be taken away by ambulance.

"They stumbled over a pregnant lady and Deja was trying to help her get up. And they stumbled over her and they stepped on her back. And now she's going to the hospital," said McHerron's mother, Deborah.

Duretha Arnold-Youngblood, 37, was also taken to the hospital, complaining of an injured knee. Both were released from the hospital after being treated.

"It was really terrifying. If my husband wasn't there to cover me, I would not be home. Those people would have stepped on my back. They didn't care. It was bad," Arnold-Youngblood said.

Her husband, Johnny Youngblood, took issue with what he calls a lack of security. Youngblood believes Wal-Mart should hire trained uniformed security guards to help bring order to the early-morning holiday crowd and not leave those duties to Wal-Mart associates.

"They didn't have no security at all," said McHerron's sister, Sierra.

"Wal-Mart did not do enough to protect us," Dietstra said.

WalMart corporate spokesperson Marty Heires tells 24 Hour News 8 that the incident is regrettable.

Heires says that of the 3800 Walmart stores nationwide, there's trouble at only a handful of them during after-Thanksgiving shopping.

The spokesperson stressed such problems are rare, but that some stores do hire extra security for crowd control. He did not know if that was the case in Cascade Township. He did say there was staff outside directing the crowds and that next week managers will debrief the situation and assess if they could make changes to prevent it from happening again.

SEE THE VIDEO HERE !

N.Korea says CNN execution image fabricated

North Korea on Saturday called a recent CNN program depicting a public execution in the communist state a "sheer fabrication" and dismissed it as a ratings ploy by the U.S.-based broadcaster.

North Korea takes any criticism of its internal affairs sensitively and brands it a part of U.S. conspiracy to topple the government of its leader, Kim Jong-il.

CNN earlier this month broadcast a documentary, "Undercover in the Secret State," which among other images showed a grainy clip of what it called a public execution by firing squad of a man accused of helping a refugee cross into neighboring China.

"The video tape is full of sheer lies negating the popular and class nature and the democratic principle of the DPRK's laws and tarnishing its image from A to Z," the North's official KCNA news agency said in a commentary.

DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

KCNA said people "who know about the DPRK even a bit claimed that the way of speaking and dressing of those who appeared on the screen and the background against which the scenes were shot were quite different from the reality in the DPRK, a clear proof of a sheer fabrication."

A Japanese news agency and a British television channel have also broadcast images they say had been taken inside the North and showed public executions.

As in the CNN program, those images were captured from a distance and included no independent first-person accounts of what was taking place, making it difficult to discern the circumstances or the location of the actions.

"CNN is losing popularity as the days go by although it had high audience rating in the world in the past," KCNA said. Much upset by this, CNN staged such poor farce to improve its image."

In the process, the U.S. broadcaster has been "reduced to a trumpeter and a political waiting maid for the U.S. administration," it said.

North Korea has been accused of gross human rights violations, including live human testing of biological agents and operating prison camps.

A UN General Assembly committee on November 17 adopted a resolution expressing serious concern about the state of human rights in the secluded state.

South Korea abstained from voting from concern for provoking the North. China, the North's ally, voted against.

Vt. Teacher Accused of Anti-Bush Quiz

A high school teacher is facing questions from administrators after giving a vocabulary quiz that included digs at President Bush and the extreme right.

Bret Chenkin, a social studies and English teacher at Mount Anthony Union High School, said he gave the quiz to his students several months ago. The quiz asked students to pick the proper words to complete sentences.

One example: "I wish Bush would be (coherent, eschewed) for once during a speech, but there are theories that his everyday diction charms the below-average mind, hence insuring him Republican votes." "Coherent" is the right answer.

Principal Sue Maguire said she hoped to speak to whomever complained about the quiz and any students who might be concerned. She said she also would talk with Chenkin. School Superintendent Wesley Knapp said he was taking the situation seriously.

"It's absolutely unacceptable," Knapp said. "They (teachers) don't have a license to hold forth on a particular standpoint."

Chenkin, 36, a teacher for seven years, said he isn't shy about sharing his liberal views with students as a way of prompting debate, but said the quizzes are being taken out of context.

"The kids know it's hyperbolic, so-to-speak," he said. "They know it's tongue in cheek." But he said he would change his teaching methods if some are concerned.

"I'll put in both sides," he said. "Especially if it's going to cause a lot of grief."

The school is in Bennington, a community of about 16,500 in the southwest corner of the state.

Mass. Investigates Defiance of 'Blue Laws'

Massachusetts' attorney general is launching an investigation into several supermarkets that stayed open opened on Thanksgiving in defiance of the state's Puritan-era Blue Laws.

The laws were passed in the 1600s to keep colonists at home or in church on Sundays. Parts of the laws, such as the ban on Sunday liquor sales, have been repealed, but a prohibition on most stores doing business on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, has not.

"If these stores want to open, there's a way to do it: Change the law," David Guano, a spokesman for Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, told The Boston Globe. The office didn't say what sort of penalty the stores could face.

The Globe reported that at least six stores, all Super 88 Markets, were open on Thanksgiving. One Super 88, in Quincy, shut down after a visit from police that day.

Reilly's office had earlier warned the Whole Foods supermarket chain not to open on Thanksgiving after a competitor complained. Wal-Mart, Family Dollar and Big Lots also received warnings.

Super 88 officials said they didn't know about the warnings.

"We don't celebrate" Thanksgiving, said Rudy Chen, a former manager of a Super 88 in Chinatown who now works at the chain's headquarters. He said the store he managed was always open on Thanksgiving and no one complained.

Boston "holiday tree" stirs controversy

Boston set off a furor this week when it officially renamed a giant tree erected in a city park a "holiday tree" instead of a "Christmas tree."

The move drew an angry response from Christian conservatives, including evangelist Jerry Falwell who heckled Boston officials and pressed the city to change the name back.

"There's been a concerted effort to steal Christmas," Falwell told Fox Television.

The Nova Scotia logger who cut down the 48-foot (14-meter) tree was indignant and said he would not have donated the tree if he had known of the name change.

"I'd have cut it down and put it through the chipper," Donnie Hatt told a Canadian newspaper. "If they decide it should be a holiday tree, I'll tell them to send it back. If it was a holiday tree, you might as well put it up at Easter."

Falwell and the conservative Liberty Counsel led a campaign that threatened to sue anyone who spreads what they see as misinformation about Christmas celebrations in public spaces.

The controversy reflects the legal vulnerability of city and state governments over taxpayer-funded displays of religious icons and concern over crossing the line in the separation between church and state.

Last year, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger lit what he called a "Christmas tree" at a state ceremony. The year before, he and former California Gov. Gray Davis presided over ceremonies for the more secular "holiday trees."

In Boston, many residents voiced their dismay over the Web site that promotes a December 1 ceremony for "Boston's Official Holiday Tree Lighting."

Christmas has become too politically correct, said 64 percent of people who responded to an online poll by a CBS television affiliate in Boston.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said he would keep calling the Nova Scotia spruce a "Christmas tree" regardless of what it said on the city's official Web site.

"I grew up with a Christmas tree, I'm going to stay with a Christmas tree," Menino told reporters on Thursday.

But the controversy cast a pall over a long-standing tradition between Boston and Canada. Nova Scotia donates a tree each year to Boston in gratitude for the city's help after an explosion killed about 1,900 people and injured 4,000 others in Halifax in 1917.

Friday, November 25, 2005

N.M. governor comes clean on MLB draft record

Gov. Bill Richardson is coming clean on his draft record - the baseball draft, that is, admitting that his claim to have been a pick of the Kansas City A's in 1966 was untrue.

For nearly four decades, Richardson, often mentioned as a possible Democratic presidential candidate, has maintained he was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics.
The claim was included in a brief biography released when Richardson successfully ran for Congress in 1982. A White House news release in 1997 mentioned it when he was about to be named U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. And several news organizations, including The Associated Press, have reported it as fact over the years.

But an investigation by the Albuquerque Journal found no record of Richardson being drafted by the A's, who have since moved to Oakland, or any other team.

Informed by the newspaper of its findings, the governor acknowledged the error in a story in Thursday's editions.

"After being notified of the situation and after researching the matter ... I came to the conclusion that I was not drafted by the A's," he said.

Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos declined to comment when reached by the AP on Thursday.

Reid thinks bin Laden killed in Pakistan quake

Nevada Senator Harry Reid thinks Osama Bin Laden was killed in last month's earthquake in Pakistan.

Speaking Wednesday on News 4's Nevada News Makers, Reid says he was informed today that Bin Laden may have died in the October temblor.

"I heard today that he may have died in the earthquake that they had in Pakistan, seriously." Reid says that if that is the case, "that's good for the world."

When asked about Bin Laden during an exclusive News 4 interview, Reid said, "I'm not sure he is alive anymore. I think perhaps the earthquake took him down. I certainly hope so."

EU: Iran Papers Solely for Making Nukes

The European Union is accusing Iran of possessing documents used solely for the production of nuclear arms and is warning of possible referral to the U.N. Security Council, according to a statement made available to The Associated Press on Thursday.

The press statement, made available before planned delivery later in the day, was described by a diplomat as a summary of what Britain, France and Germany would tell a closed session of the International Atomic Energy Agency board which began meeting on Thursday.

The statement said the EU would accuse Iran of possessing suspicious documents that "have no other application than the production of nuclear weapons."

"Failure to make progress" on easing international concerns about Iran's nuclear program "will hasten the day when the board decides that a report to the Security Council must be made," said the statement to be delivered by Peter Jenkins, the chief British delegate to the IAEA.

The European Union also reserves the right to call an emergency board meeting before the next scheduled gathering in March _ for possible Security Council referral - "if Iranian behavior makes it necessary," said the statement.

President Bush Makes Thanksgiving Calls to GIs

President Bush said Thursday that he's thankful for troops serving in a time of war as he made Thanksgiving Day phone calls to 10 members of the U.S. military services stationed around the world.

From his ranch here, Bush called troops serving in the Coast Guard, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Army early Thursday morning before sitting down for dinner with his family.

"He thanked all of them on behalf of the American people for their service," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. "He said all of them were patriots. He's very proud of them and thankful for them."

Perino said Bush asked those he spoke with to pass the message on to their fellow service members.

Talking to troops has been a tradition for Bush on Thanksgiving. He often makes such phone calls, but in 2003 he went further, surprising soldiers serving in Baghdad by showing up unannounced in their mess hall for the holiday meal.

The White House did not release the names of those the president called this year, but said at least one was serving in Afghanistan, one was in Iraq and one was on a ship at sea. The names were selected by the Defense Department.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

The Spirit of Thanksgiving Makes America Great

Depending upon your perspective, your experience or your history, the answer to that question will vary. For many nations, greatness is measured by military strength. By this measure, the United States is peerless.

The bravery with which young men and women volunteer to risk their lives in service to our country is a measure of American greatness. Today, we are mindful of those serving so far from their homes and families so that we could enjoy this holiday in peace and security.

Another measure of a nations greatness is it's diversity. Whether you use the term "melting pot" or "salad bowl" to describe it, the variety of races, religions, cultures and nationalities that have made their home in the United States is a characteristic of our nation that is uniquely American. Though there have been some serious lapses throughout our nation's history, America has always strived to offer all the opportunity to live in peace. Today, we have a peaceful nation where Muslims, Christians and Jews can be on a line in a department store or in the same restaurant and not fear the other. This is something of which many people in other nations are rightfully envious.

Some would argue that a nation's greatness comes from things over which they have no control, such as the physical land that nation occupies. For some countries, problems such as poverty or hunger are caused by their location. America is also great in this sense--from rich farmland to busy sea ports, from reserves of natural resources to thriving cities, from the Rocky Mountains to California's beaches.

All of these things make America great, but these are not all that make America great. There is something more, which encompasses all of these and reveals the true greatness of this nation. What makes America great is that it is the greatest experiment of faith ever attempted. Our nation was founded by Christians who were fleeing religious persecution. Our forefathers believed that each person had a soul, and that soul was made and given as a gift by a creator. They knew that the greatest gift in the heart of a soul was the freedom to chose between what is right and wrong.

Our Founders had faith in God, and tried to create a nation where everyone could choose their own way to serve him. Our national songs do not say, "God Save the Queen or King;" we sang "God Bless America." We imprint "In God We Trust" on our institutions; We pledge to be "one nation under God."

Today, there are many who disparage religion's influence on America. They don't want to hear that our leaders believe in God and openly practice their faith. They want to remove traces of religion from public places--whether it's a plaque of the Ten Commandments in a court house, or Christmas carols being sung in a public school. Yet, Thanksgiving isn't about turkey, Pilgrims or football.

Thanksgiving was first proclaimed by President George Washington in 1789 with these words "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor...[we] recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors Almighty God."

You'd expect to hear this from a member of the clergy. Yet, our first president, in proclaiming Thanksgiving a national holiday, articulated the belief that was in the hearts of the people who had entered into this great faith experiment that is America. When the United States finally became a truly free and independent nation, it must have seemed miraculous. So our forefathers thanked God for their many blessings.

As millions gather with their families this Thanksgiving, our prayer at this meal is obviously one of thanking God, but also a prayer of petition that Americans will be able to rediscover their spiritual selves, and draw strength and comfort from their individual spiritual faiths in the same matter that our Founders did, a faith that guided them in creating this great nation, and has sustained American greatness to this very day.

Give thanks for liberty's defenders

When America has called, they have put their lives on the line.

MOUNDS OF FOOD - turkey and all the trimmings. The joy of having family and loved ones close. A grateful prayer for all the blessings of life, liberty, health and plenty in this great nation.

And, of course, thanks for a day of rest from the demands of work.

On Thanksgiving Day, that's the agenda for most folks. It's a day to relax, overeat and indulge in the joys of the season. Americans have much for which to be thankful. It is an amazing blessing just to call the United States home, to have access to the most modern, successful and progressive nation ever constructed by mankind. Never forget that we stand on the shoulders of all those who worked and sacrificed to make America what it is today.

ON THIS THANKSGIVING DAY, however, we suggest that families take a few minutes to give thanks for a very special group of men and women - those serving in the military during these perilous times.

Hundreds of thousands of them will not be home for Thanksgiving. There are no holidays in war. While we carve the turkey, they will be standing watch on the front lines of the War on Terror.

Many of them are serving their second or third rotation in Iraq or Afghanistan. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the U.S. military has answered the call to arms with courage and devotion, doing all that has been asked of it.

It also should be remembered that military personnel took the lead in relief efforts when the deadly tsunami pounded Indian Ocean coastlines. And in New Orleans, the arrival of military personnel and equipment finally turned the tide toward effective relief and rescue. When the needs are greatest, the men and women in uniform perform best.

Today, think about this. Since Washington commanded a ragtag army of colonial volunteers more than 225 years ago there have always been soldiers willing to risk it all on behalf of their countrymen. They have carried the burden of freedom on land, sea and air. The white crosses that mark their final resting places stand as mute testimony to their commitment to liberty.

Give special thanks today for these brave souls, who are at-risk while we gather around the table. In more ways than we can count, they are the best of us.

Chefs plan `All-American Thanksgiving� in Iraq

The �All-American Thanksgiving� in Iraq will be festive, said Master Sgt. Mack E. Sumler, a food service supervisor for the 82nd Airborne Division.

The Thanksgiving feast will include staples such as turkey, ham, stuffing, glazed sweet potatoes, shrimp cocktail, and an assortment of deserts and drinks, Sumler said.

Kellogg, Brown and Root food service technician Melvin Young is making the necessary preparations required to feed an Army. He is planning on going through 4,000 pounds of turkey, 3,000 pounds of shrimp, and 4,000 hams. Young, retired from the U.S. Army, also said KBR is working hand-in-hand with Army food service workers to make the holiday a success.

As soon as the supplies arrive, Army cooks will be helping to put the finishing touches on the Thanksgiving feast by putting up decorations, setting up tables, assisting the chefs and using their culinary skills to erect sculptures out of chocolate and ice.

The Thanksgiving Day dinner will be available for all soldiers working in the 82nd Airborne area of operations, Sumler said.

With the extra surprises planned, as well as the extra effort being put forth by Army cooks, Sumler said he hopes it will allow soldiers to forget about their current situation for a short while.

�You take a moment, five minutes, an hour, a day, to realize what you are thankful for, make the soldiers feel like they are back home, and be thankful for what they have,� said Sumler.

�The goal is to take care of the Soldiers,� Sumler said. �A lot of planning has gone into this, and the chain of command has given us all of their support.�

Being away from home during the holidays is often part of Army life, Sumler said, but he added that this year�s �All-American Thanksgiving� will hopefully give Soldiers a morale boost and give them motivation to finish the deployment strong.

Give thanks for those who answer call

Thanksgiving is a special time for our nation. We remember our forefathers� journey to a new land � seeking freedom from persecution, finding a country that presented the opportunity for peace and a fruitful future -- for which we give thanks this time of year.

We also celebrate our military families this time of year during National Military Family Week. Many �- more than a quarter of a million people �- face this holiday without their loved ones. Their loved ones have traveled to a strange land.

They battle loneliness and have answered our country�s call to serve and bring that seed of hope to another nation. They are alone, working to band with their brothers, to survive � to bring hope � to one day come home.

It is sometimes difficult to remain aware of the sacrifice of military families. But it is our duty as citizens, as caring humans, to carry the lamp and recognize the meaning of duty and celebrate, embrace and support all those who answer the call.

So many families in our nation will sit across from an empty chair while we enjoy our feasts. Their table will be quieter than ours. Their hearts heavier. They will carry worries we do not share � but can remember. For we can give thanks for their service and pray for the safety of their loved ones until they return.

We give thanks and remember that each day we awaken rested, we remember those who pray for one night�s sleep without nightmares. We give thanks that for each step we take with our legs, there are those who have sacrificed their mobility. We give thanks that for each vision we see, every time we are able to look at our loved ones, we have the ability to revel in their joy.

Most of all, we give thanks that we are blessed. Blessed to be a part of a nation that is so prosperous. Blessed that we have our families and shelter and food.

We are also blessed to have the ability to pray for the strength and courage to maintain awareness of our brother�s sacrifice � to give to our community in any way we can, as they are giving in service to their call. This is our duty: to give thanks � to pray � to remember.

Polls Show Americans Less Supportive of Dems Than Repubicans

Recent polling data by the Cook Political Report from the National Journal shows that Americans are not enamored with calls by Democrats for the withdrawal of U.S. military troops from Iraq.

Further, a separate Harris Poll shows Americans are less supportive of congressional Democrats than they are of President Bush or congressional Republicans.

68 percent of respondents in the Cook poll said Democratic criticisms of Bush�s policies in Iraq hurt troop morale. Only 14 percent said it helps.

52 percent said Democratic criticism was an attempt to gain political advantage rather than to help US efforts in Iraq. 30 percent thought the criticism would help.

50 percent thought the US should withdraw troops as Iraq meets its goals. 29 percent said they should be withdrawn according to a publicly available timetable for withdrawal. Only 15 percent advocated an immediate withdrawal regardless of impact.
The poll numbers suggest that the Bush administration�s effort to re-engage the debate over pre-war intelligence and the general direction of the war in Iraq is working to the president�s advantage.

The most recent Harris poll shows that, while Americans still give negative ratings to the president and congressional Republicans, they give even worse ratings to congressional Democrats.

In the poll conducted from November 8 to November 13, 34 percent of respondents gave the president a positive job approval rating. 65 percent gave a negative rating.

27 percent gave a positive rating to Republicans in Congress. 69 percent gave a negative rating.

25 percent gave a positive rating to Democrats in Congress. 70 percent gave a negative rating.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was the only political figure to enjoy positive polling numbers. 52 percent gave Rice a positive job approval rating, while 41 percent gave a negative rating.

Sam Johnson Blasts Iraq War Naysayers

Former combat pilot-hero Rep. Sam Johnson is blasting Democratic critics of the Iraq war for undermining the morale of the troops and emboldening the enemy by calling for an early withdrawal.

In an open letter posted Wednesday on the web site of Human Events, Johnson began:

"I spent 29 years in the Air Force - served in Korea and Vietnam - and spent seven years as a POW in Vietnam - more than half of that time in solitary confinement."

The Texas Republican said he remembers what it was like to be held captive far from home, "risking your life, and hearing that America doesn�t care about you."

"When I was a POW, I was scared to death when our Congress talked about pulling the plug that I would be left there forever," he said.
Based on his own firsthand experience, Johnson said the constant negative talk from war critics hurts both the troops and the overall war on terror, explaining, "I know what it does to morale - I know what it does to the mission."

"Any talk - even so much as a murmur - of leaving now just emboldens the enemy and weakens the resolve of our of troops in the field," the Vietnam hero said, warning, "That�s just irresponsible and unconscionable."

Johnson vowed not to let Congress undermine today's troops, the way it did during Vietnam, saying: "So help me God, I will never, ever let our nation make those mistakes again. Never."

Al Qaida Devastated by U.S. Offensive

The U.S. military's recent offensive in Western Iraq has had a devastating impact on the al Qaida-backed insurgency, with coalition forces killing over 700 terrorists and capturing 1,500 in the last two months alone.

"It's been very successful," Major General Rick Lynch told a briefing in Baghdad on Wednesday, referring to a series of security offensives conducted by U.S. and Iraq forces in Anbar province since September 28.

Though media reports suggest recent U.S. casualties are due to deteriorating security conditions in Iraq as a whole, most were incurred during the new offensive - dubbed "Operation Steel Curtain."

In quotes picked up by Reuters, Gen. Lynch noted that despite the heavy combat, U.S. troop casualties had fallen more than 30 percent in November compared with last month. During the November 2004 assault on Fallujah, the monthly casualty rate was nearly twice what it is now.

The Anbar operations, and others in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, have been focused on foreign fighters and militants linked to al Qaida's chief of operations in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, Gen. Lynch said.
Noting that Zarqawi was nearly captured last week, Gen. Lynch said the close call was a result of the terror group's deteriorating position in the country.

"We come close to Zarqawi continuously," the top military man explained, adding, "At one point in time in the not too distant future, we will capture or kill him."

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Mall shooter disarmed by hostage Iraq Vet and Local Soldier

Iraq vet among 2 who escorted 20-year-old to police after 4-hour standoff

A U.S. soldier stationed locally and a veteran of the Iraq war were the two hostages who disarmed a 20-year-old shooter at a mall in Tacoma, Wash., ending a four-hour standoff in which six people were shot, one critically.

After being held with two other hostages, Joseph Hudson and Jon Black escorted a weeping Dominick Sergio Maldonado outside where he was arrested by police.

Black, 32, based at nearby Fort Lewis, said that at the end, Maldonado was a "scared kid."

"He had tears in his eyes when we were taking the weapons away from him and he was in tears as we were taking him out," Black said.

But Hudson told police that earlier in the ordeal "he was more frightened inside the store than he ever was in Iraq," according to court documents.

The men were taken hostage with two store managers when Maldonado came into the store after firing in the mall corridor.

Black said that at first, when he was face-down on the store's floor, he thought Maldonado would kill him.

The soldier was terrified, he said, as bullets flew over his head and Maldonado described what the ammunition would do to him.

"This guy had already hurt people," Black said. "My first thought is that we were going to die."

But over the next four hours, the hostages said they realized Maldonado was young and scared.

"When I'd look into his eyes, he was just a kid," Black said.

At the beginning of the standoff, when Maldonado demanded the hostages barricade the store entrance with displays, Black and Hudson found a 9-year-old boy hiding beneath a display. Hudson put boxes around the boy, and he stayed hidden for about an hour before being discovered by Maldonado, who released him to police about 45 minutes later.

Hudson told the Seattle paper Maldonado never took his finger off the trigger of one of his two loaded semi-automatic rifles.

But Maldonado's demeanor changed as they talked.

"It changed from being self-conscious, to being worried, and then to being sympathetic to us, and then to being scared," Hudson said. "He actually mentioned to us that he had taken some meth before all of this and then, when that wore off, he realized what he had really done."

Hudson said Maldonado told them he had intended to shoot himself but lost his nerve.

Black said he and the other hostages told Maldonado about their families.

Maldonado, Black said, then "shared everything about himself," telling how he grew up in a bad neighborhood and felt nobody listened to him.

Maldonado grew more nervous toward the end of the standoff, Black said, after the mall lights went out and there was a loud crash outside the store. Black now believes something likely gave way after being damaged by the shooting, but at the time, Maldonado and the hostages thought police were rushing the store.

Maldonado agreed to surrender soon after, taking apart his rifle and sliding it over to Black and Hudson.

"He didn't know what to do," Black said.

Meanwhile, in court yesterday, one of the wounded, Air Force veteran Frank Stiles, told how he was shot in the arm, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.

"It hurt like the dickens. It made me very angry," said Stiles, 68.

"I wanted to shoot back, and I didn't have anything to shoot back with," he said. "As far as I was concerned, I was hoping the cops were going to take him out."

Stiles' wife huddled up against a nearby kiosk for cover, the Post-Intelligencer reported.

"This guy was emptying three or four clips. I never thought he would end. I was flat on the floor, face on the floor," Stiles said.

New questions about who outed Valerie

Apparent meeting with couple discussing Niger violated CIA code

In violation of CIA regulations that bar contact with reporters without permission, Joseph Wilson's agency-employed wife Valerie Plame apparently accompanied him to a breakfast meeting with New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof in which they discussed the ambassador's controversial mission to Niger one month before Plame allegedly was "outed" by Robert Novak.

In a WND column, investigative reporter Jack Cashill points to a "stunning admission" by Wilson in a January 2004 Vanity Fair magazine story that apparently has been overlooked.

The article by reporter Vicky Ward says:

In early May, Wilson and Plame attended a conference sponsored by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, at which Wilson spoke about Iraq; one of the other panelists was the New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof. Over breakfast the next morning with Kristof and his wife, Wilson told about his trip to Niger and said Kristof could write about it, but not name him.
Cashill says if "his wife" refers not to Kristof's spouse but to Plame, "which it almost assuredly does," Wilson "has implicated Plame in a serious transgression."

Cashill points out that Wilson, himself, wrote in the preface to the paperback version of his book, "The Politics of Truth," that, "As an employee of the CIA, she could have no contact with the press without prior approval."

Sitting in at a breakfast with a Times reporter in which her husband discusses a CIA trip that she recommended "certainly qualifies as 'contact,'" Cashill writes. Citing the Vanity Fair article, the online reference source Wikipedia interprets "his wife" as Plame, stating in a timeline: "3 May, 2003: Wilson, Plame and Kristof meet for breakfast. Wilson tells Kristof about his trip to Niger, on the condition that Kristof not name Wilson as his source."

Cashill points out that at this breakfast, "Wilson began planting the seed that the forged Iraq-Niger uranium documents, about which little was still known, were the very same ones that he had allegedly discredited in February 2002."

Kristof wrote May 6, 2003, in the first article to result from a Wilson leak, "The envoy's debunking of the forgery was passed around the administration and seemed to be accepted � except that President Bush and the State Department kept citing it anyway."

But Cashill notes that in Wilson's preface to his book, he denies any claim to having debunked the forgeries and dismisses the Kristof remark as a "badly worded reference."

Cashill says this protest would carry more weight if several other reporters to whom Wilson leaked had not made comparable claims, including Walter Pincus of The Washington Post and reporters from The New Republic.

Murtha removes unfavorable troop poll

Online voters overwhelmingly opposed his call for withdrawal

The congressman at the center of the battle last week over withdrawal of troops from Iraq removed the results from his own Internet poll on the subject after online voters overwhelmingly opposed his stance.

Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., posted the poll after he ignited a firestorm in the House that led to Republicans forcing a quick vote on the issue Friday.

While a revised poll page remains on the site, the link to it from his homepage has been removed, making the survey effectively invisible to the public.

A contributor to Web forum Free Republic.com, however, posted results as of 3:34 p.m. Eastern time.

The call for immediate withdrawal garnered just 12 percent of the more than 12,000 votes.


Please indicate which of the following best summarizes your view on what the United States should do in Iraq:
A. We should immediately remove all troops. 1,562 votes, 12.3 percent

B. We should redeploy to the periphery of Iraq as soon as practical to protect troop safety and give the Iraqis incentive to take charge sooner, not later. 3,239 votes, 25.6 percent

C. We should maintain current troop levels until Iraq builds an army to defend and stabilize their country, even if that takes years. 6,726 votes, 53.1 percent

D. We should re-institute the national draft to increase troop levels to where we can seal the Iraqi borders and stop the passage of insurgents and insurgent-supply missions. 1,146 votes, 9 percent

E. None of the above. 3 votes, 0.0 percent

Kennedy Clan Profiting from Hugo Chavez's Oil?

A prominent member of the Kennedy family is joining forces with one of President George Bush�s most ardent foes � Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez.

A subsidiary of Venezuela�s national oil company will ship 12 million gallons of discounted home-heating oil to Massachusetts in a deal that former U.S. representative Joseph P. Kennedy II helped to arrange.

The $9 million worth of oil will go to 45,000 low-income families and institutions that serve the poor, such as homeless shelters, said officials from Citizens Energy, an organization founded by Kennedy in 1979.

But "some foreign-policy analysts said Chavez helped broker the deal in part as a jab at President Bush,� according to the Globe.

"It is a slap in the face,� to the Bush administration, said Larry Birns, executive director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs.

"Chavez is involved in petro-diplomacy.�

Citizens Energy Corp. is a nonprofit organization. But the Kennedy family has extensive oil interests, author Peter Schweizer reveals in his best-selling new book "Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy."

According to Schweizer, "oil deposits have generated tens of millions in profits for the Kennedy clan � In total, family revenue from crude oil and natural gas is more than $1 million a year.�

Bolton: U.S. to Bypass U.N. if Not Reformed

John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has laid it on the line; reform or we'll take our business elsewhere.

According to today's Washington Post, Bolton warned the controversial international organization that the U.S. might bypass it in dealing with thorny global problems if the U.N. is unable to make management changes that will make the world body more effective and prevent a recurrence of the kind of corruption revealed in the scandal-ridden Oil-for-Food program.

Bolton told reporters the General Assembly has "essentially not made progress" since President Bush and other world leaders convened a U.N. summit in September to endorse a platform of changes, including proposals to increase scrutiny of spending practices and to create a human rights council that would exclude such rights abusers as Sudan, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zimbabwe all of whom have served on the Council.

He warned that continued resistance to reforms in the U.N. would drive the American public away from the United Nations. "Americans are a very practical people, and they don't view the U.N. through theological lenses," Bolton said. "They look at it as a competitor in the marketplace for global problem-solving, and if it's successful at solving problems, they'll be inclined to use it. If it's not successful at solving problems, they'll say, 'Are there other institutions?'"

He added, "Making the U.N. stronger and more effective is a reform priority for us: Because if it's a more agile, effective organization, it is more likely to be a successful competitor as a global problem-solver."

CNN explains 'X' glitch over Cheney's face

CNN apologized on Tuesday and offered a rare explanation from its control booth for a technical glitch many viewers failed to notice -- a large "X" the network flashed over Vice President Dick Cheney's face.

The wayward graphic, which CNN said lasted for about one-seventh of a second, appeared during the network's live coverage of Cheney's speech on Monday addressing critics of the Bush administration's conduct of the war in Iraq.

Word of the snafu quickly surfaced on the Internet, including still photos of the image posted by online columnist Matt Drudge, along with a story suggesting that some who saw the momentary "X" thought it might have been deliberate.

CNN, a unit of Time Warner Inc., later issued a mea culpa saying an investigation by senior management concluded "this was a technical malfunction, not an issue of operator error" and expressing regret for the incident.

The network followed up with a special on-air segment during its "CNN Live Today" broadcast, in which anchor Daryn Kagan joined the network's technical manager, Steve Alperin, in the control room to offer a fuller explanation.

The "X" image, a place-holding marker used by technicians to cue up graphics, is not supposed to be visible to viewers but was inadvertently projected onto the screen by a malfunction in a "switcher" device, they explained.

A spokesman for the vice president said Cheney had no comment on the incident.

U.S. to end "catch and release" at Mexican border

The United States is closing a legal loophole which has allowed tens of thousands of illegal immigrants to slip into the country and join the estimated 11 million undocumented foreigners already here.

Under long-standing procedure along the U.S. border with Mexico, illegal crossers of nationalities other than Mexican -- dubbed OTMs by the Border Patrol -- have been entitled to a hearing before an immigration judge before they could be deported.

Because of a severe shortage of space to hold them until the hearing, they were released after being fingerprinted and given a "notice to appear," a document stating they had agreed to show up at court at a certain date.

The notice serves as a travel document allowing its holder past Border Patrol checkpoints on the roads leading from the border to the interior. Most OTMs do not show up for their hearing and meld into the population.

"Catch and release" is gradually being replaced by "Expedited Removal," a process which cuts out the hearing before an immigration judge and allows border patrol agents to decide whether an illegal crosser should be deported.

In one of the many quirks of the complicated U.S. immigration rules, someone who crosses illegally, manages to get 100 miles beyond the border and stay undetected for more than 14 days cannot be subjected to Expedited Removal and is entitled to make a case for staying on to a judge.

(In another immigration law oddity, Cubans who sail across the Straits of Florida and make it to land are entitled to stay while those caught at sea can be returned.)

First introduced in the Laredo sector of the southwestern border, Expedited Removal is now being expanded to the entire 1,951-mile international line.

Administration officials stress that faster deportations and tighter border controls alone are no solution to illegal immigration. "We are going to need more than just brute enforcement," Chertoff told the Senate Judiciary Committee recently.



Known as "catch and release", the practice has become part of an increasingly acrimonious debate over immigration policy and border security, an issue likely to loom large in Congress, next year's mid-term elections and the 2008 presidential poll.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said last month his department's aim was to "return every single entrant -- no exceptions" but gave no deadline. Mexicans are usually returned immediately -- and most of them try again, some within hours.

Along the border, agents say ending the practice will take time and depends on how quickly the government can build additional detention space told hold OTMs before they are sent to their home countries.

APPREHENSIONS SET RECORD IN 2005

According to Border Patrol statistics, apprehensions of OTMs tripled from fiscal 2003 to fiscal 2005, which ended in October, from 49,545 to 165,175. Brazilians made up the second-biggest group this year, after Hondurans and before people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Rice Says Iraq Troop Levels May Draw Down

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the United States will probably not need to maintain its current troop levels in Iraq "very much longer," though she declined to provide a precise timetable for reduction in U.S. forces.

Rice appeared to set the stage for such a reduction, saying the Iraqi forces are doing a better job of holding their own against insurgents.

"I do not think that American forces need to be there in the numbers that they are now because - for very much longer - because Iraqis are stepping up," Rice told Fox News in an interview Tuesday. "This is not just a matter of training numbers of Iraqi forces, but actually seeing them hold territory."

The Washington Post reported in Wednesday's editions that the Pentagon tentatively plans to reduce the number of U.S. forces in Iraq early next year by as many as three combat brigades, down from 18 there now. There are now almost 160,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

The Post, citing unidentified senior military officers, said one brigade will be kept "on call" in Kuwait in case more troops are needed quickly.

Rice did not comment on specific troop levels.

Al Qaeda denies Zarqawi killed

Al Qaeda in Iraq said media reports that its leader Abu Musab Al Zarqawi was killed by U.S. forces were a "lie", according to an Internet statement posted on Wednesday.

"The media has lately circulated this news that was announced by the Crusaders (U.S.) about the death of the leader of the group in an armed confrontation ... which was an additional lie," the group said on a Web site statement.

A U.S. official said on Sunday U.S. authorities were looking
into whether Zarqawi was killed during fighting in northern Iraq but a White House spokesman later said that was "highly unlikely."

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

U.S. Citizen Convicted in Bush Assassination Plot

Jurors rejected a U.S. citizen's claim he was tortured by Saudi forces to extract a confession and found him guilty Tuesday of joining al-Qaida and plotting the assassination of President Bush.

Ahmed Omar AbuAli, 24, could be sentenced to life in prison on charges that include conspiracy to assassinate the president, conspiracy to hijack aircraft and providing support to al-Qaida.

AbuAli confessed shortly after his arrest at a Medina, Saudi Arabia, university in June 2003 that he joined al-Qaida and discussed various terrorist plots, including a plan to personally assassinate Bush and to establish himself as a leader of an al-Qaida cell in the United States.

CNN covers Cheney with mysterious 'X'


Matt Drudge calls it 'alarming,' network claims it's just glitch

Vice President Dick Cheney had his face covered by a mysterious giant "X" during CNN's live coverage of his speech from the American Enterprise Institute yesterday.

According to the Drudge Report, the "X" over Cheney's face "appeared each time less than a second, creating an odd subliminal effect."

A screen capture by Drudge notes that while one "X" flashed over Cheney's face, CNN ran a headline at the bottom of its screen: "CHENEY: I DO NOT BELIEVE IT IS WRONG TO CRITICIZE."

"This is the vice president of the United States. It is rather serious to be putting black 'Xs' over his face," online journalist Matt Drudge said on last night's "Hannity & Colmes" program on the Fox News Channel. "I felt it rather alarming that this is subliminally being sent out over the airwaves. ... I'm just knocked out."

When asked if he thought it was evidence of the so-called liberal media, Drudge answered, "I don't know. Is CNN liberal?"

The TVNewser website obtained a statement from a CNN spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg, explaining: "Upon seeing this unfortunate but very brief graphic, CNN senior management immediately investigated. We concluded this was a technological malfunction, not an issue of operator error. A portion of the switcher experienced a momentary glitch. We obviously regret that it happened and are working on the equipment to ensure it is not repeated."

"It glitched over and over again, huh?" Drudge responded. "The timing of the glitch is interesting."

Meanwhile, at a weblog called the Dan Report, a contributor manipulated a screen shot to expose text below the "X."

The text reads: "Transition begins after 5 frames of black."

That leads some bloggers, including Michelle Malkin, to conclude the flashing "X" likely was a glitch.

In an update this morning, however, the Drudge Report said a "well-placed CNN inside" claimed a control room staffer "laughed" when the image appeared.

CNN management has launched an internal investigation, according to Drudge.

"We are taking this matter very, very seriously, and I can assure you no one at this network would ever deliberately place an 'X' over the vice president's face," a top CNN source, who asked not to be named, said from New York.

Vice President Cheney himself is said to have brushed off the incident, a White House source said early this morning, according to Drudge.

Al-Zarqawi Likely Alive, Commander Says

A top U.S. commander in Iraq said Tuesday he has "absolutely no reason" to believe the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, died in a weekend raid in Mosul.

Lt. Gen. John Vines, chief of the Multi-National Corps Iraq, also confirmed that U.S. officials have the ability to determine if al-Zarqawi was there.

"I am told that there is a DNA database of some of his relatives that is able to be compared against some of those who were killed there," Vines told reporters. "If he had been in one of those houses that were part of the objective, we could confirm that."

Vines also staunchly refused to outline a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Despite mounting political pressure in the United States and among some Iraqi leaders, Vines said any recommendations for troop withdrawal that he makes will be based on the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, the ability of the government to sustain them, and the effectiveness of the insurgency.

Iraq's foreign minister has said that tests were being done to determine if al-Zarqawi was one of those killed.

Iraqi Leaders Call for Pullout Timetable

Reaching out to the Sunni Arab community, Iraqi leaders called for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces and said Iraq's opposition had a "legitimate right" of resistance.

The communique - finalized by Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni leaders Monday - condemned terrorism but was a clear acknowledgment of the Sunni position that insurgents should not be labeled as terrorists if their operations do not target innocent civilians or institutions designed to provide for the welfare of Iraqi citizens.

The leaders agreed on "calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable, through putting in place an immediate national program to rebuild the armed forces ... control the borders and the security situation" and end terror attacks.

The preparatory reconciliation conference, held under the auspices of the Arab League, was attended by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Iraqi Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers as well as leading Sunni politicians.

Sunni leaders have been pressing the Shiite-majority government to agree to a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign troops. The statement recognized that goal, but did not lay down a specific time - reflecting instead the government's stance that Iraqi security forces must be built up first.

On Monday, Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr suggested U.S.-led forces should be able to leave Iraq by the end of next year, saying the one-year extension of the mandate for the multinational force in Iraq by the U.N. Security Council this month could be the last.

"By the middle of next year we will be 75 percent done in building our forces and by the end of next year it will be fully ready," he told the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera.

In Egypt, the final communique's attempt to define terrorism omitted any reference to attacks against U.S. or Iraqi forces. Delegates from across the political and religious spectrum said the omission was intentional. They spoke anonymously, saying they feared retribution.

"Though resistance is a legitimate right for all people, terrorism does not represent resistance. Therefore, we condemn terrorism and acts of violence, killing and kidnapping targeting Iraqi citizens and humanitarian, civil, government institutions, national resources and houses of worships," the document said.

The communique included no means for implementing its provisions, leaving it unclear what it will mean in reality other than to stand as a symbol of a first step toward bringing the feuding parties together in an agreement in principle.

The gathering was part of a U.S.-backed league attempt to bring the communities closer together and assure Sunni Arab participation in a political process now dominated by Iraq's Shiite majority and large Kurdish minority.

Mich. Voters: Rice Run Changes 2008 GOP Race

A new poll of Michigan voters shows strong support for Condoleezza Rice as a presidential candidate in 2008.

In the survey conducted by Strategic Vision, LLC, Republican respondents were asked if they would like to see the Secretary of State run for the White House. Almost half � 45 percent � said yes, 30 percent said no and 25 percent were undecided.

When Republicans were asked whom they would support for president in 2008, the results were:

John McCain, 35 percent
Rudy Giuliani, 24 percent
Newt Gingrich, 13 percent
Mitt Romney, 10 percent
Bill Frist, 4 percent
George Pataki, 2 percent
George Allen, Rick Santorum and Chuck Hagel, 1 percent each
10 percent undecided.

But when Condi was included the poll, she drew more support than all but two potential candidates:

McCain, 30 percent
Giuliani, 20 percent
Rice, 10 percent
Gingrich, 9 percent
Romney, 5 percent
Frist, 3 percent
Santorum, Pataki, Allen and Hagel, 1 percent each
19 percent undecided.

Sen. Clinton: Murtha's Iraq Exit Plan a 'Mistake'

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would be "a big mistake."

The New York Democrat said she respects Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., the Vietnam veteran and hawkish ex-Marine who last week called for an immediate troop pullout. But she added: "I think that would cause more problems for us in America."

"It will matter to us if Iraq totally collapses into civil war, if it becomes a failed state the way Afghanistan was, where terrorists are free to basically set up camp and launch attacks against us," she said.

Economic Activity Increases in October

A widely watched measure of future economic activity rose in October, offsetting a notable drop in September largely tied to hurricanes that swamped U.S. Gulf states, a private research group said Thursday.

The Conference Board said that its Index of Leading Economic Indicators, which tries to gauge future economic growth, rose 0.9 percent in October.

The Conference Board's coincident index - a measure of current economic activity - rose 0.1 percent.

The Conference Board said October's increase showed gains across many different businesses, except housing. The largest positive contributors to the leading index were initial claims for unemployment insurance and average weekly hours in manufacturing.

The largest negative contributors were housing permits and stock prices, while the index of consumer expectations held steady.

US using 'technical means' to see if Zarqawi killed: official


The United States is using "technical means" to verify if Al-Qaeda frontman in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in battle, US coordinator for Iraq James Jeffrey said.

"We are using technical means to try to verify that," Jeffrey told reporters in Jordan during a videoconference from Washington.

"We are looking into the incident in Mosul but we have no indication at this time that any of the dead were Mr Zarqawi," said Jeffrey, who served as deputy chief of mission in Baghdad from June 2004 to March 2005.

"I don't have any more information for you on that," Jeffrey added.

Media reports have said Jordanian-born Zarqawi, the Al-Qaeda frontman, might have been among a group of insurgents killed in battle in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Saturday.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told Jordan's state-run news agency Monday that the Baghdad authorities were carrying out DNA tests on the bodies of insurgents killed in the battle to check if Zarqawi was among them.

US military commanders have said they were continuing the hunt for Zarqawi, who has a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head.

"We have no indication that Zarqawi was killed and we will continue operations to search for him," a US military spokesman told AFP in Baghdad on Monday.

Exiled Iranian Says Nation Hides Materials

An Iranian exile who opposes his country's Islamic government said Monday that Iran's military is building a series of secret tunnels to hide equipment for missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Alireza Jafarzadeh, who helped expose nuclear facilities in Iran in the past, told a news conference in September that tunnels were under construction mainly in an area called Parchin.

But on Monday he said the secret construction of missiles extends well beyond that location. He said that on orders of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the Iranian defense ministry has taken over an area in eastern and southern regions of Tehran.

North Korean experts have cooperated with Iran in the design and building of the complex, producing blueprints, for instance, the dissident said.

A leading Iranian aerospace group, Hemmat Industries, is located in the area and is building three versions of Shahab and Ghadar missiles, Jafarzadeh said.

The Shahab 3 has a range of 1,300 to 1,900 kilometers and Ghadar, still in the production stage, 2,500 to 3,000 kilometers, he said.

Some of the tunnels are located in Kahk Sefid Mountain, he said, pointing to a map.

In an interview, Jafarzadeh said the most significant development was that Iran was concentrating its work on missiles and nuclear warheads all together in tunnels underground in the Tehran area.

"I think the United States should be doubly worried about this because President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sped up its nuclear weapons program and the revolutionary guards are now dominating all three branches of power - executive, legal and judicial," Jafarzadeh said.

"It's a nightmare," he said.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack agreed that Iran has a covert nuclear program. "It's hidden from sight and it's hidden through a variety of means," he said.

However, McCormack said he did not know about Jafarzadeh's latest disclosures. And there's been "a very mixed record in terms of some of these groups in talking about so-called revelations about Iran's nuclear programs."

'Dirty Bomb' Padilla Indicted



Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen held for three years as an "enemy combatant" suspected of plotting a "dirty bomb" attack in this country, has been indicted on charges that he conspired to "murder, kidnap and maim" people overseas.

A federal grand jury in Miami returned the indictment against Padilla and four others. While the charges allege Padilla was part of a terrorism conspiracy, they do not include the government's earlier allegations that he planned to carry out attacks in the United States.
Padilla, a Brooklyn-born Muslim convert, has been held as an "enemy combatant" in Defense Department custody for more than three years. The Bush administration had resisted calls to charge and try him in civilian courts.

The indictment avoids a Supreme Court showdown. Padilla's lawyers had asked justices to review his case last month, and the Bush administration was facing a deadline next Monday for filing its legal arguments.

"They're avoiding what the Supreme Court would say about American citizens. That's an issue the administration did not want to face," said Scott Silliman, a Duke University law professor who specializes in national security. "There's no way that the Supreme Court would have ducked this issue."

The Bush administration has said Padilla, a former Chicago gang member, sought to blow up hotels and apartment buildings in the United States and planned an attack with a "dirty bomb" radiological device.

Padilla was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in 2002 after returning from Pakistan. The federal government has said he was trained in weapons and explosives by members of al-Qaida.

The others indicted are: Adham Amin Hassoun, Mohammed Hesham Youssef, Kifah Wael Jayyousi, and Kassem Daher. Hassoun also was indicted on eight additional charges, including perjury, obstruction of justice and illegal firearm possession.

Hassoun, a Palestinian computer programmer who moved to Florida in was arrested in June 2002 for allegedly overstaying his student visa. Prosecutors previously described him as a former associate of Padilla.

Monday, November 21, 2005

Bruce Willis Offers Bounty on Terrorists' Heads

Bruce Willis is apparently offering a $1 million bounty on the heads of A-list terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, Aymen Al-Zawahiri and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. We read this from WENN:

"Willis announced his reward on U.S. TV show 'Rita Cosby: Live & Direct,' where he also slammed biased media coverage of the Iraq war. He said, 'I am baffled to understand why the things that I saw happening in Iraq, really good things happening in Iraq, are not being reported on.'"

As far as we're aware, this is the first instance of a Hollywood celebrity offering a bounty on anything other than Mike Ovitz's head ...

Seriously, though, Mr. Willis is to be applauded for his proactive approach to celebrity activism! And this is certainly preferable to what we usually get from liberal Hollywood celebrities like Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Michael Moore, et al. After all, what else are all those 7-to 8- figure actor salaries useful for anyhow?

Kudos, too, to Mr. Willis for holding the media responsible for its distorted Iraq coverage. And Willis has actually been to Iraq, unlike most Hollywood celebrities who bloviate on the subject.

Willis is also said to have some interest in adapting 'The Deuce Four,' the story of Iraq soldiers whose heroic exploits have been chronicled by embedded blogger Michael Yon. We certainly hope Willis gets around to doing this, because it would be refreshingly original to actually have a supportive film made about the accomplishments of our brave soldiers serving in Iraq ...

Flint, Mich. Paper Slams Michael Moore's Hypocrisy

Even Michael Moore�s hometown newspaper is slamming the filmmaker over revelations contained in Peter Schweizer�s blockbuster new book.

In "Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy," Schweizer exposes Moore's "fake public persona,� the Flint Journal states in a review.

Moore proudly points to his upbringing in the working-class Michigan city, a former United Auto Workers Union stronghold, and much of his movie "Roger & Me� was filmed there.

But Moore does his film production in Canada to avoid paying union scale and threatened to fire half of his TV show's writing staff when they wanted to join a union, reviewer David Forsmark reports after reading Schweizer�s book.

"He's a proponent of affirmative action but never has hired a black person to do anything important on one of his projects.
"Moore claims he owns no stock and only puts �what little I can� in �something the old-timers call a savings account� - yet Schweizer writes that he owns stock in defense contractors and Halliburton.

"Moore says he gives away 40 percent of his money, but Schweizer reports that his tax returns show his foundations give the minimum necessary to stay tax exempt.�

Schweizer also exposes the hypocrisy of such high-profile liberals as Barbra Streisand, Ralph Nader, Nancy Pelosi, Al Franken, Noam Chomsky and Hillary Clinton, the review points out.

"Could the reason Streisand, Franken and Moore advocate for affirmative action be because they know from looking at themselves that it is necessary?� reviewer Forsmark concludes.

After all, if these bitter enemies of racism and sexism can't be trusted to hire a diverse group of people, what hope can there be for corporate America to do so?
"Perhaps Moore rails against globalization because he knows first-hand about the insidious lure of cheap, foreign scab labor.�

Bill Clinton Waffles On Iraq: 'It Could Still Work'

Having declared last Wednesday that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was a "big mistake," former President Bill Clinton now thinks the Bush Administration policy may succeed.

Speaking to Arab students in Dubai, the capital of United Arab Emirates, Clinton said "Saddam is gone. It's a good thing, but I don't agree with what was done."

Last night however, he told an audience of 700 in Valhalla, New York that the recent vote on an Iraqi constitution went well, and the next test will be whether the once-dominant Sunni Arabs participate in the Dec. 15 elections, according to Westchester County's Journal News.

If they do, he said , "this enterprise could still work," and "we could look at having a fairly substantial drawdown (of troops) next year."

Taking a stance at odds with Democrat Representative John Murtha (D-Pa) and some of his fellow Democrats calling for immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, Clinton warned, "Sunni Iraq would become the very terrorist hotbed they were accused of being before."
The former President also differed from those Democrats who charge that President Bush lied us into a war, saying he had personally never seen any intelligence linking Iraq to al-Qaida: "No one I knew believed that was the case."

That however doesn't mean President Bush, a Republican, lied or deliberately misled the country about the reasons for going to war, Clinton said, adding that President Bush probably believed the information he was relying on was right.

Clinton, a resident of nearby Chappaqua, spoke at Westchester Community College for The President's Forum, a school fundraiser.

Abu Musab al Zarqawi Wore Suicide Belt to Prevent Capture

Al Qaida chief of operations in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, wears a suicide bomb belt so he can kill himself if capture appears imminent - a practice that apparently drove U.S. forces to suspect that he was one of three terrorists who blew themselves up after they surrounded a safehouse in Mosul on Saturday.

"He has sworn never to be taken alive by the U.S.," ABC newsman Brian Ross reported Monday, adding: "He actually travels with his own suicide explosive belt."

While U.S. officials remain publicly skeptical that Zarqawi was among those killed, DNA tests are continuing in a bid to determine the identities of the three terrorists who committed suicide using explosive devices.

Joint forces backed by U.S. military helicopters surrounded the house after receiving a tip that Zarqawi might be inside, the governor of Nineveh province, Duraid Kashmoula, told the Washington Post.

The Iraqi official put the chances that Zarqawi was among the dead at 30 percent.
Over the past month, Kashmoula told the paper, there has been a series of raids following a surge in tips from Iraqis who have turned on Zarqawi. "Their feeling is that al Qaida in Iraq has overstepped its bounds," he explained.

Zarqawi, who regularly issues public communiqu�s on audiotape and via the Internet, has not been heard from since Saturday's attack.

Military fears critics will hurt morale

Pentagon officials say they are increasingly worried that Washington's political fight over the Iraq war will dampen what has been high morale among troops fighting a tenacious and deadly enemy.
Commanders are telling Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that ground troops do not understand the generally negative press that their missions receive, despite what they consider significant achievements in rebuilding Iraq and instilling democracy.
The commanders also worry about the public's declining support for the mission and what may be a growing movement inside the Democratic Party to advocate troop withdrawal from Iraq.
"They say morale is very high," said a senior Pentagon official of reports filed by commanders with Washington. "But they relate comments from troops asking, 'What the heck is going on back here' and why America isn't seeing the progress they are making or appreciating the mission the way those on the ground there do. My take is that they are wondering if America is still behind them."
Mr. Rumsfeld appeared on several Sunday talk shows yesterday to express concern about the effects of the political discussion on U.S. forces.
"We also have to understand that our words have effects," he said on "Fox News Sunday." "Put yourself in the shoes of a soldier who thinks that we're going to pull out precipitously or immediately, as some people have proposed. Obviously, they have to wonder whether what they're doing makes sense if that's the idea, if that's the debate."
He repeated similar words on other shows, saying on CBS' "Face the Nation" that war critics should "think about the troops that are there and how it sounds to them." He also exhorted the audience on ABC's "This Week" to "put yourself in the shoes of the American soldiers."

Lawrence Di Rita, spokesman for Mr. Rumsfeld, said commanders are not telling the Pentagon that morale is sinking, although they have long-standing concerns about the press.
"The commanders often have expressed their incredulity at the difference between the progress they are seeing in Iraq and the manner in which that progress is obscured, in Washington, by the disproportionate focus on the challenges, in lieu of the many reasons to feel proud and satisfied at all that is happening," he said.

Zarqawi's 'days are numbered' says US as hunt goes on

The US ambassador to Iraq said that Al-Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's days were numbered as US forces kept up the hunt for Iraq's most wanted man following rumors he had been killed.

"His days are numbered. He is going to be ultimately found," Zalmay Khalilzad said in an interview with CNN.

"Either he will be brought to justice or he will die in the battle to capture him but we are getting closer to that goal every day. A lot of coalition forces and experts are working hard on this," he said.

"It is not a question of whether but when."

Iraqi and US troops were continuing to hunt for the Jordanian-born Zarqawi, who has a 25 million dollar US bounty on his head, after commanders dismissed reports that he had been killed in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

"We have no indication that Zarqawi was killed and we will continue operations to search for him," a US military spokesman told AFP in Baghdad.

In Beijing, where US President George W. Bush was wrapping up a visit, White House spokesman Trent Duffy described the reports of Zarqawi's death as "highly unlikely, not credible."

Media reports on Sunday said the Al-Qaeda frontman might have been among a group of insurgents killed in battle in Mosul on Saturday.

Cheney to Further Defend Iraq Policy

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, disagreeing with a battle-tested congressman who calls for pulling U.S. troops from Iraq, is not budging from the Bush administration's position that senior commanders know best.

With the administration sharply countering the critics of its war policies, Vice President Dick Cheney is to deliver Monday at 11 a.m. ET another speech defending the decision to invade Iraq in March 2003. Last week, Cheney dismissed allegations that prewar intelligence had been manipulated as "one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city."

Rumsfeld, appearing on the Sunday morning news shows, acknowledged that questions about war ought to be debated, but he also warned that words have consequences for both the insurgents in Iraq and the U.S. troops opposing them.

"The enemy hears a big debate in the United States, and they have to wonder: 'Maybe all we have to do is wait and we'll win. We can't win militarily.' They know that. The battle is here in the United States," Rumsfeld said on "Fox News Sunday."

Arguments over pulling out troops immediately, he added, may lead Americans serving in Iraq to question "whether what they're doing makes sense."

"We have to all have the willingness to have a free debate, but we also all have to have the willingness to understand what the effects of our words are," Rumsfeld said on ABC's "This Week."

Germans Say U.S. Used Bad Data to Justify Iraq Invasion

The German intelligence officials responsible for one of the most important informants on Saddam Hussein's suspected weapons of mass destruction say that the Bush Administration and the CIA repeatedly exaggerated his claims during the run-up to the Iraq war.

The LOS ANGELES TIMES is planning to front the allegation in Sunday editions, newsroom sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.

Five senior officials from Germany's Federal Intelligence Service, or BND, said in interviews with the LOS ANGELES TIMES that they warned U.S. intelligence authorities that the source, an Iraqi defector codenamed Curveball, never claimed to produce germ weapons and never saw anyone else do so.

According to the Germans, President Bush mischaracterized Curveball's information when he warned before the war that Iraq had at least seven mobile factories brewing biological poisons. Then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell also misstated Curveball's claims in his pre-war presentation to the United Nations on Feb. 5, 2003, the Germans said.

Curveball's German handlers for the last six years said his information was often vague, mostly second-hand and impossible to confirm.

``This was not substantial evidence,'' said a senior German intelligence official. ``We made clear we could not verify the things he said.''

The German authorities, speaking about the case for the first time, also said that their informant suffered from emotional and mental problems. ``He is not a stable, psychologically stable guy,'' said a BND official who supervised the case. ``He is not a completely normal person,'' agreed a BND analyst.

Iran Votes to Block Nuclear Inspections

Parliament approved a bill Sunday requiring the government to block international inspections of its atomic facilities if the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency refers Iran to the Security Council for possible sanctions.

The bill was approved by 183 of the 197 lawmakers present at the session, which was broadcast live on state-run radio. The vote came four days before the International Atomic Energy Agency board meets to consider referring Tehran for violating a nuclear arms control treaty.

When the bill becomes law, as is expected, it will strengthen the government's hand in resisting international pressure to abandon uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to produce fuel for nuclear reactors or an atomic bomb.

The United States accuses Iran of trying to build a nuclear weapon. Iran says its program is for generating electricity.

The bill will go to the Guardian Council, a hard-line constitutional watchdog, for expected ratification.

"If Iran's nuclear file is referred or reported to the U.N. Security Council, the government will be required to cancel all voluntary measures it has taken and implement all scientific, research and executive programs to enable the rights of the nation under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty," lawmaker Kazem Jalali quoted the bill as saying.

Canceling voluntary measures means Iran will stop allowing IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities and would resume uranium enrichment.

Iran resumed uranium reprocessing activities _ a step before enrichment _ at its Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility in August but said it preferred a negotiated solution to begin uranium enrichment.

Under an additional protocol to the treaty, Iran has been allowing IAEA inspectors to carry out short-notice inspections of its nuclear facilities. Iran has signed the protocol but never ratified it.

The United States and European Union want Iran to permanently halt uranium enrichment. But Tehran says the nonproliferation treaty allows it to pursue a nuclear program for peaceful purposes, adding it will never give up the right to enrich uranium to produce nuclear fuel.

The 35-member IAEA board of governors meets Thursday. In a preparatory report, the U.N. agency found that Iran received detailed nuclear designs from a black-market network run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic program. Diplomats say those designs appear to be blueprints for the core of a nuclear warhead.

The document given to Iran in 1987 showed how to cast "enriched, natural and depleted uranium metal into hemispherical forms," said the confidential IAEA report.

Hillary sponsors tax cut for Puerto Rico

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has sponsored a tax refund for Puerto Rico residents that could pay out more than $50 million over the next 10 years.

She's the sole sponsor of a bill letting some Puerto Rico residents � who pay no federal income tax � get child-credit refunds on their Social Security and Medicare taxes.

Clinton's camp declined yesterday to say why the former first lady wrote the legislation, but politicos say the move is obvious: Puerto Rican support is crucial to her re-election � and a potential White House run in 2008.

Filmmaker: No doubt Saddam had WMDs


The producer of a new documentary on Saddam Hussein says there is no question that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

The real question he says, should be: Where did they go?

Brad L. Maaske interviewed dozens of Iraqis in producing his film "Weapon of Mass Destruction: The Murderous Reign of Saddam Hussein." He says it is absurd that prominent Democrats, including a former U.S. president, continue to say the former dictator did not possess WMDs.

"There's interview after interview of people who say they saw truckloads of something going out through Syria and into the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon," he recalls. "And of course we've tried to track that as best we can. The U.S. military can't go into Syria; it can't go into Lebanon. But the question is: Where did those weapons go?"

"There's interview after interview of people who say they saw truckloads of something going out through Syria and into the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon," he recalls. "And of course we've tried to track that as best we can. The U.S. military can't go into Syria; it can't go into Lebanon. But the question is: Where did those weapons go?"

Maaske says it does not take much to create a weapon of mass destruction.

"There didn't have to be massive stockpiles of chemicals," he explains. "A few 55-gallon drums of a nerve gas could kill a million people if properly dispersed, so it's not that difficult for him to get rid of what he had."

The documentary, now available on DVD, exposes the historical facts about Saddam's rise to power, his world-defiant reign of terror, and the events leading to his demise. More than mere facts and figures, the work brings to life faces, names, and stories that encompass the unimaginable 1.3 million lives exterminated by Saddam's reign of terror.

Maaske's journey led him around the world, from California to Iraq � to the gravesites and into the souls of the families shattered by the dictator.

From interviews with the prosecution team trying Saddam Hussein and Chemical Ali, to the framers of the Iraqi Constitution, to the Iraqi orphanages, to patrols with the Iraqi and U.S. forces in Iraq, "Weapon of Mass Destruction" provides long-overdue evidence that millions of people were living in a perpetual hell inflicted by Saddam.

"Weapon of Mass Destruction" reveals:

The span of Saddam's rise to power, eventual demise, and progress in Iraq

Never-before-seen footage of chemical attacks, murders and torture leveled against the Kurdish population of Iraq spanning more than two decades

Intimate, never-before-revealed footage of the heroes of Sept. 11

The heart-wrenching interview with the parents of fallen soldier Daniel Unger and his memorial service in Maaske's hometown in California.

White House Doubts Al-Zarqawi Death Rumor

U.S. forces sealed off a house in the northern city of Mosul where eight suspected al-Qaida members died in a gunfight - some by their own hand to avoid capture. The White House said Sunday that it was "highly unlikely" that the terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among the dead.

On Saturday, police Brig. Gen. Said Ahmed al-Jubouri said the raid was launched after a tip that top al-Qaida operatives, possibly including al-Zarqawi, were in the house in the northeastern part of the city.

During the intense gunbattle that followed, three insurgents detonated explosives and killed themselves to avoid capture, Iraqi officials said. Eleven Americans were wounded, the U.S. military said. Such intense resistance often suggests an attempt to defend a high-value target.

But Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman, said reports of al-Zarqawi's death were "highly unlikely and not credible."

American soldiers controlled the site Sunday, and residents said helicopters flew over the area throughout the day. Some residents said the tight security was reminiscent of the July 2003 operation in which Saddam Hussein's sons, Odai and Qusai, were killed in Mosul.

The elusive al-Zarqawi has narrowly escaped capture in the past. U.S. forces said they nearly caught him in a February 2005 raid that recovered his computer.

In May, the group said he was wounded in fighting and was taken out of the country for treatment. Within days, it reported he had returned - though there was never any independent confirmation that he was wounded.

Al-Qaida Operative Nabbed Near Mexican Border

An al-Qaida operative who was on the FBI's terrorist watch list was recently captured near the Mexican border, housed in a Texas jail and turned over to federal agents, Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, said on Friday.

"A confirmed al-Qaida terrorist, an Iraqi national, was held in the Brewster County jail," Rep. Culberson told ABC Radio host Sean Hannity. "He was captured in Mexico. This was within the last six weeks. He was turned over to the FBI."

The Texas Republican said he obtained the stunning information about the terrorist's capture "from the sheriffs who were directly involved.

"In fact, one was the sheriff who incarcerated him in the Brewster County jail [and who] confirmed this as well," he explained. The same sheriff also confirmed "that this guy is on the FBI's al-Qaida list," he added.

The al-Qaida operative "had been in Mexico, living just about 60 miles east of El Paso," Rep. Culberson said. "He was captured in a little town called El Porvenir, right across from Fort Hancock."

Rep. Culberson said the detainee had been living in Mexico for up to a year, where the terrorist "was taking careful notes on the movement of people, police officers, wildlife, etc."

The Iraqi national "had apparently aggravated a neighbor in Mexico, who turned him in to Mexican authorities," he explained. Mexican officials then turned him over to the U.S. officials, who temporarily housed him in the Brewster County jail.

Asked why this news hadn't been reported earlier, Culberson told Hannity, "That's a very good question and one that I intend to get to the bottom of in my subcommittee."

Rep. Culberson sits on the appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the FBI and the Department of Justice. "I guarantee that we're going to get to the bottom of this," he pledged.

Rep. Culberson said news of al-Qaida's penetration of the U.S.'s southern border has him worried that the next terrorist plot could involve setting off simultaneous truck bombs in major urban centers.

"The day they blow us up," he predicted, "the border will be sealed tighter than the Berlin Wall and you'll have armed United States military forces" enforcing immigration laws.

Arab Reports: Zarqawi Possibly Killed

An Arab press report is claiming that al Qaida's chief of operations in Iraq may have been killed on Sunday after U.S. and Iraqi forces surrounded a safehouse where he was staying.

The Jerusalem Post is reporting on its web site:

"At least one Arab television media outlet reported that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of the al-Qaida in Iraq, was killed in Iraq on Sunday afternoon when eight terrorists blew themselves up in the in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul."

The Post noted that the report was "unconfirmed."

A second report from the Israeli news service Ynet News offers more details about Zarqawi's possible death, sourcing Arab news accounts:
"American and Iraqi forces are currently checking whether al-Zarqawi's body can be found among the bodies of other al-Qaida members that blew themselves up at a house that was besieged by the forces at the northern town of Mosul."

U.S. Probing Zarqawi Death Claim

The Bush administration has confirmed that U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq are investigating the possibility that al Qaida terror chief Abu Musab al Zarqawi was killed Saturday afternoon in a gun battle near Mosul.

"Efforts are being made to determine who was killed and if Zarqawi was among them," a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said late Sunday.

The same official told United Press International that efforts to confirm Zarqawi's death were "not a response to media reports but rather to what coalition forces found on the ground," the wire service said.

Traveling with President Bush in Beijing, however, White House spokesman Trent Duffy cautioned that there was no hard evidence Zarqawi was among the dead, saying early reports in the Arab press were "not credible."

Eight insurgents, including a woman, were killed on Saturday in clashes between joint U.S.-Iraqi forces and gunmen occupying the Mosul safehouse, Iraqi police told Reuters. Four more insurgents were arrested.
If Zarqawi has indeed been killed, it would represent the biggest victory in the war on terror to date. The Jordanian-born terror kingpin is believed to have killed thousands in car bombings and suicide attacks, and has reportedly personally beheaded at least one American, Nicholas Berg.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Is Armitage Woodward, Novak source in Plame leak?

Who was Bob Novak's source? It's a parlor game any Washington insider or media junkie can play�and most do. Novak, a conservative columnist sometimes called "the Prince of Darkness," was the journalist who kicked off the whole Valerie Plame imbroglio that has obsessed Washington and so far resulted in the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide, Scooter Libby, for perjury. It was Novak who identified Plame as the CIA operative who helped send her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, to Africa to check on reports that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from the country of Niger. Depending on whom you believe, the leak was (1) an insidious smear by the White House to retaliate against a critic of the Iraq war or (2) mildly interesting gossip.

So who is Novak's source�and Woodward's source�and why will his identity take the wind out of the brewing storm? One by one last week, a parade of current and former senior officials, including the CIA's George Tenet and national-security adviser Stephen Hadley, denied being the source. A conspicuous exception was former deputy secretary of State Richard Armitage, whose office would only say, "We're not commenting." He was one of a handful of top officials who had access to the information. He is an old source and friend of Woodward's, and he fits Novak's description of his source as "not a partisan gunslinger." Woodward has indicated that he knows the identity of Novak's source, which further suggests his source and Novak's were one and the same.

If Armitage was the original leaker, that undercuts the argument that outing Plame was a plot by the hard-liners in the veep's office to "out" Plame. Armitage was, if anything, a foe of the neocons who did not want to go to war in Iraq. He had no motive to discredit Wilson. On "Larry King Live" last month, Woodward was dismissive of the special prosecutor's investigation, suggesting that the original leak was not the result of a "smear campaign" but rather a "kind of gossip, as chatter ... I don't see an underlying crime here."