The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 01/29/2006 - 02/05/2006

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Strategic rethink as U.S. digs in for 'long war'

The United States military announced yesterday that it would convert some of its largest ballistic nuclear missiles to carry conventional warheads for use in precision attacks against terrorist targets or rogue states.

The decision formed part of the most comprehensive review of military since the terrorist attacks of September 11 and came the week America adopted a foreboding new name for its global war on terror: The Long War.

The United States is a nation engaged in a long war," the military said in a long document.

Among numerous proposals in the paper the most startling concerned the role of America's "super-weapons", the strategic missile arsenal.

The report stated briefly that the navy would convert "a small number of Trident submarine-launched ballistic missiles for use in conventional prompt global strike".

America's defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, did not directly mention the missile scheme but he emphasised that the West must quickly face up to the threat from radical Islam.

"Compelled by a militant ideology that celebrates murder and suicide, with no territory to defend, with little to lose, they will either succeed in changing our way of life, or we will succeed in changing theirs," he said.

The document, which also detailed plans to double America's fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles and spend $1.5 billion on developing medical responses to possible bio-terrorism attacks, seemed timed to reassure the nation as the government began to use increasingly ominous language to describe its military campaign.

Iran launched 'secret' rocket test

IRAN secretly tested a new surface-to-surface missile (SSM) on January 17, seeking to establish the measurements needed for long-range missiles, the German daily Die Welt reported in its issue to appear today.

The test, conducted by members of the Revolutionary Guard led by Yahya Rahim Safavi, was successful, according to Western diplomats cited by the newspaper, which did not indicate the location where the test took place.

On January 28, Safavi said that Iran would use its ballistic missiles if it was attacked.

"Iran has a ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 kilometres," he said on Iranian public television.

"We do not intend to attack any country, but if we are attacked, we are capable of effectively responding. Our position is defensive."

Mr Safavi was referring to the Shahab-3 missiles that Iran possesses which can reach Israel and US bases in the Middle East.

IAEA Reports Iran to U.N. Security Council

The U.N. nuclear watchdog Saturday reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council in a resolution expressing concern that Tehran's nuclear program may not be "exclusively for peaceful purposes." Iran retaliated immediately, saying it would resume uranium enrichment at its main plant instead of in Russia.

The landmark decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board sets the stage for future action by the top U.N. body, which has the authority to impose economic and political sanctions.

Still, any such moves were weeks if not months away. Two permanent council members, Russia and China, agreed to referral only on condition the council take no action before March.

Twenty-seven nations supported the resolution, which was sponsored by three European powers � Britain, France and Germany � and backed by the United States.

Cuba, Syria and Venezuela were the only nations to vote against. Five others � Algeria, Belarus, Indonesia, Libya and South Africa � abstained, a milder form of showing opposition.

Those backing the referral included India, a nation with great weight in the developing world whose stance was unclear until the vote.

Iran reacted immediately, saying a proposal by Moscow to enrich Iranian uranium in Russia was dead.

"Commercial scale uranium enrichment will be resumed in Natanz in accordance with the law passed by the parliament," Javad Vaeidi, deputy head of the powerful National Security Council, told Iran state television in a telephone interview from Vienna.

Breakdown of U.N. Vote on Iran

Friday, February 03, 2006

Rep. Boehner Elected House Majority Leader

Rep. John Boehner of Ohio was elected House majority leader Thursday to replace indicted Rep. Tom DeLay.

Boehner defeated fellow Republican Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, 122-109, after lagging behind his rival in a first, inconclusive ballot. The third contender - John Shadegg of Arizona - withdrew after finishing last in the first round of balloting.

Boehner campaigned as a candidate of reform, and said his experience as chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee had demonstrated his ability to pass major legislation.

Blunt remains the GOP whip, third-ranking in the leadership. He has been a temporary stand-in for DeLay, who is charged with campaign finance violations in Texas.

Profile: Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio

NSA Leak Damaged Terrorist Hunt

CIA Director Porter Goss said Thursday that the disclosure of President Bush's eavesdropping-without-warrants program and other once-secret projects had undermined U.S. intelligence-gathering abilities.

"The damage has been very severe to our capabilities to carry out our mission," Goss told the Senate Intelligence Committee. He said a federal grand jury should be empaneled to determine "who is leaking this information."

His testimony came after National Intelligence Director John Negroponte, who directs all intelligence activities, strongly defended the program, calling it crucial for protecting the nation against its most menacing threat.

"This was not about domestic surveillance," Negroponte said.

Leaders of the nation's intelligence agencies appeared before the panel in a rare public session to give a rundown on threats facing the world.

Goss complained that leaks to the news media about the surveillance program and activities such as reported CIA secret prisons abroad had damaged his own agency's work.

"I use the words 'very severe' intentionally. And I think the evidence will show that," Goss said.

He said not only have these revelations made it harder for the CIA to gather information, but they have made intelligence agencies in other countries mistrustful of their U.S. counterparts.

"I'm stunned to the quick when I get questions from my professional counterparts saying, 'Mr. Goss, can't you Americans keep a secret?"' he said.

Goss cited a "disruption to our plans, things that we have under way." Some CIA sources and "assets" had been rendered "no longer viable or usable, or less effective by a large degree," he said.

"I also believe that there has been an erosion of the culture of secrecy and we're trying to reinstall that," Goss said.

"I've called in the FBI, the Department of Justice. It is my aim and it is my hope that we will witness a grand jury investigation with reporters present, being asked to reveal who is leaking this information," he said.

Unemployment rate dropped to 4.7% in January; 4 1/2 Year Low

Employers stepped up hiring in January, boosting payrolls by 193,000 and lowering the nation's unemployment rate to 4.7 percent, the lowest since July 2001.

The fresh snapshot of the jobs climate, released by the Labor Department on Friday, suggested that the economy started the new year on fairly good footing.

Although the 193,000 gain in payroll jobs in January fell short of the 250,000 new jobs that economists said to anticipate before the release of the report, it still marked a sturdy showing and was the biggest increase in jobs since November.

Moreover, job growth in December turned out to be stronger than previously thought. Revised figures showed payrolls expanded by 140,000 _ an improvement over the 108,000 new jobs first estimated a month ago. Employment was revised up for some previous months as well.

The unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent in January, from 4.9 percent in December.

Job gains were fairly broad based, with employment growing in construction, manufacturing, professional and business services and education and health care. Those employment gains blunted job losses in retailing and government.

Tribes gave to Reid after hiring Abramoff

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada began receiving campaign contributions from at least four American Indian tribes only after they hired Jack Abramoff, Republicans charged this week in an effort to tie the Senate Democratic leader to the disgraced lobbyist.

On Thursday, Reid shrugged off questions about money he received from tribal clients of Abramoff, who pleaded guilty last month to three felonies after being accused of exchanging meals, travel and gifts for political favors.

"I've said that I received money from Indians in the past and will continue to do so," Reid said.

Asked what he would say about tribes who did not give him money until after hiring Abramoff, Reid said, "What I've said all along."

The National Republican Senatorial Committee this week revived a charge that Reid received more than $50,000 from four tribes with gaming interests between 2001 and 2004 after they hired Abramoff. The Nevadan had received no money from those tribes before then, Republicans said.

The donations included:

� $19,500 from the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of California.

� $5,000 from the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana.

� $7,000 from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

� $19,000 from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan.

"Harry Reid's ties to Jack Abramoff are too substantial for him to dismiss with Washington, D.C., denial and hypocritical accusations," Republican spokesman Tucker Bounds said.

Reid has acknowledged receiving $61,000 from tribal clients and lobbying colleagues of Abramoff. He has said the money was legally raised, that he has done nothing improper and does not plan to refund the donations.

An analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign watchdog group, shows that Indian gaming tribes as a general proposition increased their political donations substantially since the late 1990s, spreading money wider and deeper among members of Congress.

In the 1998 election cycle, tribes donated $1.5 million. In the 2004 cycle donations had increased to $7.2 million, the center found.

Gaming tribes "didn't break $2 million until 2000, and then it started going up," said center spokesman Massie Ritsch. "How much was due to Abramoff's influence, I don't know, He did not represent all the tribes."

Some Arabs aren't fans of Iranian leader

He wants Israel wiped off the face of the earth, dismisses the Holocaust as a myth and defies the world by pushing ahead with a nuclear program. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's fiery rhetoric has found instant appeal among some Arabs, who consider him a hero for standing up to Israel and the West. But not everyone is cheering the hard-line leader.

Many Arabs interviewed by The Associated Press said Ahmadinejad's rhetoric and defiance remind them of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, and worry they will result in violence and turmoil for the Middle East.

They say the Iranian leader's comments against Israel are meaningless, especially without a common Arab stand on the issue. They find his insistence on developing a nuclear program worrisome because he may use the technology against them. And many say Ahmadinejad's focus should be redirected toward Iran's foundering economy.

"The Iranian president is beating his head against the wall. He is as foolish as Saddam," said Hussein Kadhim Thijeel, a teacher from the Iraqi city of Karbala. "He will make his people go through the same suffering that Saddam brought to the Iraqi people."

Mohammed Ahmed, a 30-year-old Jordanian electrician, agreed: "Ahmadinejad is speaking irresponsible and nonsensical words. He is repeating the Iraqi president's mistakes."

"He's a liar because he doesn't possess enough resources to wage war against Israel," said Mohammed Salim, an Egyptian retiree.

Iran 'confident and ready to hit back at U.S.'

Iran's clerical regime is supremely confident, has a firm grip on power and is ready to retaliate against attacks by America or Israel with missiles or by activating terrorist allies, according to the latest US intelligence assessment.

In his first public address on the threats facing the US, John Negroponte, its national intelligence director, delivered an implied rebuke to those in Washington hoping the West can engineer regime change in Teheran.

But as the International Atomic Energy Agency's governing body prepared to vote on a resolution to report Iran to the UN Security Council, Mr Negroponte suggested there was no imminent threat of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Teheran "probably" did not have an atomic bomb or the fissile material to make one, he said. But the risk Iran could make or buy a nuclear device and mount it on its missiles was "reason for immediate concern", he added.

Mr Negroponte told the Senate's intelligence committee: "Iran already has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East. And Teheran views its ballistic missiles as an integral part of its strategy to deter and, if necessary, retaliate against forces in the region, including United States forces."

Washington's neo-conservatives drew heart from President George W Bush's veiled call in Tuesday's State of the Union address for the Iranian people to rise up against the mullahs.

But Mr Negroponte's analysis highlighted the difficulties of confronting Iran, politically or militarily.

"The regime today is more confident and assertive than it has been since the early days of the Islamic Republic. Several factors work in favour of the clerical regime's continued hold on power," he added, citing Teheran's "generous public spending" funded by record oil revenues as one of them.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

THE STATE OF THE UNION

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, members of the Supreme Court and diplomatic corps, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: Today our nation lost a beloved, graceful, courageous woman who called America to its founding ideals and carried on a noble dream. Tonight we are comforted by the hope of a glad reunion with the husband who was taken so long ago, and we are grateful for the good life of Coretta Scott King. (Applause.)

Every time I'm invited to this rostrum, I'm humbled by the privilege, and mindful of the history we've seen together. We have gathered under this Capitol dome in moments of national mourning and national achievement. We have served America through one of the most consequential periods of our history � and it has been my honor to serve with you.

In a system of two parties, two chambers, and two elected branches, there will always be differences and debate. But even tough debates can be conducted in a civil tone, and our differences cannot be allowed to harden into anger. To confront the great issues before us, we must act in a spirit of goodwill and respect for one another � and I will do my part. Tonight the state of our Union is strong � and together we will make it stronger. (Applause.)

Click Here:Entire text of president's speech

Click Here: PodCast of Presidents Speech

FLASHBACK: Man Wearing Anti-Clinton T-Shirt Removed from Senate Gallery at Impeachment Trial

Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war activist who was removed from the House gallery last night before the State of the Union address for wearing a t-shirt with a political message, is not the first person to be tossed from a Congressional gallery at a high-profile event for wearing a political t-shirt.

In the early days of the Senate's impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in January 1999, a Pennsylvania man named Dave Delp was removed by the Capitol police from the Senate gallery for wearing a t-shirt that said, "Clinton doesn't inhale, he sucks."

The Pennsylvania school teacher was yanked out of a VIP Senate gallery and briefly detained during the impeachment trial for wearing a T-shirt with graphic language dissing President Clinton.

Delp, 42, of Carlisle, Pa., and a friend had just settled into their seats when four Capitol security guards approached them. Delp said at the time that he was ordered to button his coat and follow the guards. Outside the chamber, he was told "several people felt threatened by your shirt."

Even after establishing that Delp was a guest of Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), the guards wouldn't let him back in and escorted him to a basement security area, where they questioned and photographed him.

After being given one of the photos as a souvenir, Delp said he was banned from the Capitol for the rest of the day. "They were polite and professional," Delp added, "but they really did scare me. I think I should have been given the chance to cover up."

Police Remove Sheehan From Bush Speech

Cindy Sheehan, mother of a fallen soldier in Iraq, wasn't the only one ejected from the House gallery during the State of the Union address for wearing a T-shirt with a war-related slogan that violated the rules. The wife of a powerful Republican congressman was also asked to leave.

Beverly Young, wife of Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Florida _ chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee _ was removed from the gallery because she was wearing a T-shirt that read, "Support the Troops _ Defending Our Freedom."

"Because she had on a shirt that someone didn't like that said support our troops, she was kicked out of this gallery," Young said on the House floor Wednesday morning, holding up the gray shirt.

"Shame, shame," he scolded.

Mrs. Young was sitting about six rows from first lady Laura Bush and asked to leave. She argued with police in the hallway outside the House chamber.

"They said I was protesting," she told the St. Petersburg Times. "I said, "Read my shirt, it is not a protest.' They said, 'We consider that a protest.' I said, 'Then you are an idiot.'"

They told her she was being treated the same as Sheehan, a protester ejected before the speech Tuesday night for wearing a T-shirt with an antiwar slogan. Sheehan wrote in her blog Wednesday that she intends to file a First Amendment lawsuit.

"I don't want to live in a country that prohibits any person, whether he/she has paid the ultimate price for that country, from wearing, saying, writing, or telephoning any negative statements about the government," Sheehan wrote.

Capitol Police took Sheehan, invited as a guest of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., away in handcuffs and charged her with unlawful conduct, a misdemeanor. She later was released on her own recognizance.

Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said police warned her that such displays were not allowed in the House chamber, but Sheehan did not respond.

Woolsey gave Sheehan her only ticket earlier in the day _ Gallery 5, seat 7, row A _ while Sheehan was attending an "alternative state of the union" news conference by CODEPINK, a group pushing for an end to the Iraq war.

In her blog, Sheehan wrote that her T-shirt said, "2245 Dead. How many more?" _ a reference to the number of soldiers killed in Iraq.

She said she felt uncomfortable about attending the speech.

"I knew George Bush would say things that would hurt me and anger me and I knew that I couldn't disrupt the address because Lynn had given me the ticket," Sheehan wrote. "I didn't want to be disruptive out of respect for her."

She said she had one arm out of her coat when an officer yelled, "Protestor."

"He then ran over to me, hauled me out of my seat and roughly (with my hands behind my back) shoved me up the stairs," she wrote. She was then cuffed and driven to police headquarters a few blocks away.

"I was never told that I couldn't wear that shirt into the Congress," Sheehan wrote. "I was never asked to take it off or zip my jacket back up. If I had been asked to do any of those things...I would have, and written about the suppression of my freedom of speech later."

Florida Rep.'s Wife Says She Was Ejected From State Of Union

The wife of Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, told a newspaper that she was ejected during the State of the Union address for wearing a T-shirt that says, "Support the Troops Defending Our Freedom."

Beverly Young told the St. Petersburg Times that she was sitting in the front row of the House gallery Tuesday night when she was approached by someone who told her she needed to leave.

She said she reluctantly agreed, but argued with several officers in an outside hallway.

In a telephone interview with the newspaper, Young said she told them her shirt wasn't a protest but a message of support.

Young's husband found out about the incident after Bush's speech and called it unacceptable

Iran Said to Have Nuclear Warhead Plans

The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said in a report Tuesday that Iran obtained documents and drawings on the black market that serve no other purpose than to make an atomic warhead. Tehran warned of an "end of diplomacy" if plans to refer it to the U.N. Security Council are carried out.

The report by the agency, ahead of a meeting of its 35-member board Thursday, also confirmed information recently provided by diplomats familiar with the Iran probe that Tehran has not started small-scale uranium enrichment since announcing it would earlier this month.

Nevertheless, the findings added to pressure to refer Tehran to the Security Council within days. Such a move, Iran said, would lead to a halt in surprise U.N. inspections beginning Saturday and prompt it to resume frozen nuclear activities.

"If it happens, the government will be required under the law to end the suspension of all nuclear activities it has voluntarily halted," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said late Tuesday, speaking on Iranian television.

The four-page report also criticized Iran for refusing to provide interviews with at least one nuclear scientist linked to the military and dismissing requests for information on "tests related to high explosives and the design of a missile re-entry vehicle, all of which could have a military nuclear dimension."

RNC Outpaces DNC 5:1 in Campaign Funds

The Republican National Committee has five times as much cash as its Democratic counterpart after raising more than $100 million in 2005 � only the second time the RNC has exceeded that figure in a non-election year.

The RNC raised $105 million last year and had $34 million in the bank at the beginning of 2006, while the DNC raised $56 million in its first year under Howard Dean, and had only $6 million in cash on hand, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

But Democratic Party election committees have narrowed the gap with the GOP. They raised $143 million last year, up from $128 million four years ago, while GOP committees raised $206 million, down from $234 million in 2001.

DNC State of the Union Attack Misleading

An ad released by the Democratic National Committee in advance of President Bush's Jan. 31 State of the Union address accuses him of breaking his word on jobs, education, body armor for troops and the federal deficit. We find it misleading in most respects, but close to the mark on the deficit.

Jobs:The ad gives a misleading picture of Bush's record on jobs, which is weak but not as weak as the ad implies. It uses a misleading statistic that focuses only on one category of employment: manufacturing. In fact, counting all categories of employment, the economy has squeezed out a gain of nearly 2 million jobs since Bush took office five years ago.

Body Armor: The ad also takes liberties with a New York Times story that said the lives of 300 troops might have been saved with "improved" body armor. The ad calls it "proper" body armor, a term not used by the Times story. Actually, some military experts say the bulkier, heavier new armor would unduly weigh down troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Education: The ad says Bush's "No Child Left Behind" legislation has been "underfunded" by nearly $10 billion. That's misleading because federal aid for elementary schools and high schools actually has increased 33 percent under Bush, according to the Congressional Research Service. The "underfunding" refers to the gap that remains between the higher spending levels signed by Bush and the authorization level � the theoretical maximum that could be appropriated. In fact, federal appropritions usually fall short of their authorized levels for education programs, in both Republican and Democratic administrations.

Deficit: The ad is close to the mark, however, when it chides Bush on the deficit, which the President said four years ago would be "small and short-term." In fact, the deficit projected for this year is close to a record in dollar terms and higher than average even as measured as a percentage of US economic output. It is nearly the same as in 1968, when Lyndon Johnson was spending heavily for the Vietnam War and his Great Society programs, though less than half what it reached in 1983 under Ronald Reagan.


Read the full report here: FactCheck.org

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Justice Alito Sworn in for Supreme Court

Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. was sworn in as the nation's 110th Supreme Court justice on Tuesday after being confirmed by the Senate in one of the most partisan victories in modern history.

Alito was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts in a private ceremony at the Supreme Court building across from the Capitol at about 12:40 p.m. EST, court officials said.

Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann Bomgardner, along with other members of the court and their spouses, attended the ceremony in the justices' conference room. The 55-year-old New Jersey jurist took both the constitutional and judicial oaths so he can immediately participate in court decisions.

Alito will be ceremonially sworn in a second time at a White House East Room appearance on Wednesday.

The swearing-in came only hours after the Senate voted 58-42 to confirm Alito _ a former federal appellate judge, U.S. attorney, and conservative lawyer for the Reagan administration from New Jersey _ as the replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has been a moderate swing vote on the court.

All but one of the Senate's majority Republicans voted for his confirmation, while all but four of the Democrats voted against Alito.

That is the smallest number of senators in the president's opposing party to support a Supreme Court justice in modern history. Chief Justice John Roberts got 22 Democratic votes last year, and Justice Clarence Thomas - who was confirmed in 1991 on a 52-48 vote - got 11 Democratic votes.

President Bush and Alito watched the vote together in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Bush shook Alito's hand and aides erupted in a long round of applause when final approval came.

Security Council to review Iran nuke case

The United States and other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed Monday that Iran should be hauled before that powerful body over its disputed nuclear program.

China and Russia, longtime allies and trading partners of Iran, signed on to a statement that calls on the U.N. nuclear watchdog to transfer the Iran dossier to the Security Council, which could impose sanctions or take other harsh action.

Foreign ministers from those nations, plus the United States, Britain and France, also said the Security Council should wait until March to take up the Iran case, after a formal report on Tehran's activities from the watchdog agency.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other foreign ministers discussed Iran at a private dinner at the home of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. After the four-hour meeting, which spilled over into the early hours Tuesday, a joint statement called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to report the Iran case when it meets in Vienna on Thursday.

Foreign ministers from Germany and the European Union also attended the dinner and agreed to what amounted to a compromise _ take the case to the Security Council but allow a short breather before the council must undertake what could be a divisive debate.

Bush to mention Iran nukes, Hamas tonight

After holding a Cabinet meeting at the White House Monday, President Bush gave several clues that his State of the Union address will hit on pressing international issues like nuclear pursuits in Iran and the election of the terror group Hamas to lead the Palestinian people.

During his Tuesday address, the president also will talk about health care, energy, education and the economy, with particular attention on the costs of energy and medical care for Americans. The speech comes less than a week before Bush sends his budget request for 2007 to Congress.

Watch full coverage of President Bush's State of the Union address live on FOX News Channel at 9 p.m. EST Tuesday.

Bush met with his advisers Monday to discuss with them their roles in implementing the agenda he will be presenting before millions of Americans. The State of the Union address is the largest single audience for a presidential address each year.

�I'm looking forward to speaking to the country, we have a lot to be proud of, we have a lot of work to do,� Bush told reporters after the meeting. "I can't tell you how upbeat I am about our future so long as we're willing to lead. ... We recognize that we can't just sit back and hope for the best, we�ve got to lead."

Illegal Iraqis nabbed trying to enter U.S.

Mexican officials say they've arrested four illegal-alien Iraqis trying to sneak across the border into the United States.

Acting on an anonymous tip, police found the four aliens on a bus in Navajoa, about 375 miles south of the Arizona border, Mexico's attorney general's office said.

Mexican immigration officials are investigating to try to determine how the Iraqis got into the country.

The Associated Press reports though many illegal-alien Iraqis have been captured in Mexican territory en route to the U.S. border, none has been found to have had any links to terrorism.

No. 2 terrorist: Next attack on U.S. soil

Al-Zawahiri video calls Bush 'butcher of Washington'

Al-Qaida's No. 2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, says on a new video played by Al-Jazeera satellite television today that the next terror attack will be on U.S. soil.

Al-Zawahiri confirms he survived the U.S. air strike targeting him in Pakistan earlier this month and calls President Bush "the butcher of Washington and a failure" with reference to the attack.

"The war will be transferred to Bush's soil," al-Zawahiri warns.

Al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor by training, says of Bush: "You are not only a liar, but also a failed crusader and a traitor." � a similar message to that of his last video, also broadcast by Al-Jazeera, which predicted Bush's defeat and "the victory of Islam" in Iraq.

He appears in his turban and pointing an admonishing finger.

"I cannot die if God does not want this,� says al-Zawahiri. "My life does not depend on you, but is in God's hands. Do you know where I am now? I am amongst Muslims, who are protecting me."

The second part of the message is addressed directly to the American people. Al-Zawahiri reminds them that their president did not accept Osama bin Laden's offer in his video message transmitted by al-Jazeera Jan. 19 � a truce in exchange for America's withdrawal from Iraq.

"Who has actually withdrawn from Iraq? Which soldiers are currently killing themselves?" al-Zawahiri asks. "When your sons come home in coffins, you should thank Messrs Bush and Blair for this."

In the video, al-Zawahiri spoke before a black background. No automatic weapon was visible, unlike past videos.

"The lion of Islam, Sheik Osama bin Laden, may God protect him, offered you a decent exit from your dilemma. But your leaders, who are keen to accumulate wealth, insist on throwing you in battles and killing your souls in Iraq and Afghanistan and � God willing � on your own land."

Half of Americans give Bush thumbs-up

For the first time this year, President Bush has broken the 50 percent mark in public opinion, with half of those polled now approving of the way he is performing his role as chief executive.

According to Rasmussen Reports, which conducted the survey, 49 percent of American adults disapprove of his performance.

Broken down by party, Bush earned the approval of 82 percent of Republicans, 25 percent of Democrats and 41 percent of those not affiliated with either major political party.

According to Rasmussen, the president's highest rating of 2005 was 54 percent on Feb. 4, while his lowest rating was 40 percent on Oct. 28. A survey released Jan. 12 of this year showed Bush's lowest rating for 2006 at 43 percent.

The national telephone survey of 1,500 adults was conducted Jan. 27-29. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.

Iran Plans to Activate Nuclear Plant

Iran is preparing to activate one of the world�s largest nuclear power plants, located in the Persian Gulf port of Bushehr.

And a source close to Iran�s government says the nation already has "all the elements and expertise� necessary to build a nuclear weapon.

The source also warns that if the United Nations� atomic watchdog organization refers the matter to the Security Council, it will be "crossing a line in the sand.�

Later this week the watchdog group � the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) � will meet in an emergency session to hear a report from Director-General Mohammed El Baradei on Tehran's promise to resume its efforts to perfect nuclear fuel reprocessing.

Monday, January 30, 2006

9/11 Commission: FISA Court Too Slow

Bush administration critics continue to insist that the president could have gotten all the wiretap authority he needed from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to intercept terrorist communications as they plotted the next 9/11 attack.

But it turns out, the 9/11 Commission strongly disagreed.

As noted on yesterday's "Meet the Press" by National Review Online reporter Byron York, 9/11 Commission Report clearly states:

"The FISA application process continues to be long and slow. Requests for approvals are overwhelming the ability of the system to process them and to conduct a surveillance.�

In a passage not noted by Mr. York, the Commission blasts the FISA process even more harshly, complaining:
"The 'wall' between criminal and intelligence investigations apparently caused agents to be less aggressive than they might otherwise have been in pursuing Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) surveillance powers in counterterrorism investigations.

"Moreover, the FISA approval process involved multiple levels of review, which also discouraged agents from using such surveillance. Many agents also told us that the process for getting FISA packages approved at FBI Headquarters and the Department of Justice was incredibly lengthy and inefficient.

"Several FBI agents added that, prior to 9/11, FISA-derived intelligence information was not fully exploited but was collected primarily to justify continuing the surveillance."

Since the media generally regards the 9/11 Commission as the ultimate authority on such matters, we trust reporters will now stop insisting that the FISA process was wholly adequate to keep America safe from terrorists.

Syria Gave Al Qaida Saddam's WMDs

A former senior military advisor to Saddam Hussein is warning that the chemical weapons used by top Al Qaida terrorist Abu Musab al Zarqawi in a foiled 2004 plot to attack Amman, Jordan were the same weapons Saddam Hussein transported to Syria before the U.S. invasion.

Gen. Georges Sada offered the stunning revelation Saturday while explaining why he didn't decide to go public about Saddam's hidden WMD stockpile until recently.

"As a general, you see, we should keep our secrets," Gen. Sada told WABC Radio's Monica Crowley. But when news broke of the foiled WMD attack on Amman, he changed his mind.

"I understood that the terrorists were going to make an explosion in Amman in Jordan . . . . and they were targeting the prime minister of Jordan, the intelligence [headquarters] of Jordan, and maybe the American embassy in Jordan - and they were going to use the same chemical weapons which we had in Iraq," he told WABC.

"It was a major, major operation. It would have decapitated the government," said Jordan's King Abdullah at the time, in an interview about the Zarqawi plot with the San Francisco Chronicle.

Had it succeeded, the WMD strike would have been the most deadly terrorist attack in world history, with Jordanian officials estimating that Zarqawi's al Qaida team could have killed up to 20,000 people.

While King Abdullah said that trucks containing chemical weapons had come from Syria, he did not identify Iraq as the ultimate source of Zarqawi's WMDs.

Iran infiltrates U.N. nuke watchdog

Iran has formed a top secret team of nuclear specialists to infiltrate the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, the UN-sponsored body that monitors its nuclear programme, The Daily Telegraph has been told.

Its target is the IAEA's safeguards division and its aim is to obtain information on the work of IAEA inspectors so that Iran can conceal the more sensitive areas of its nuclear research, according to information recently received by western intelligence.

The operation to target the IAEA is being run by Hosein Afarideh, the former head of the Iranian parliament's energy committee.

Mr Afarideh, reported to have close links with Iran's ministry of intelligence, is in regular contact with a team of Iranian nuclear engineers seconded to work at the IAEA's Vienna headquarters.

According to western intelligence reports, Mr Afarideh heads a three-man team at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran in Teheran, to prevent more embarrassing disclosures about its nuclear facilities.

In the past the Iranians have managed to conceal key facilities from IAEA inspectors, including the Natanz uranium enrichment plant, 100 miles north of Isfahan. They were reluctantly forced to admit the existence of Natanz and other top secret facilities three years ago after Iranian exile groups provided details of their operations.

As a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran is entitled to full access to the IAEA for help with the development of its nuclear programme, so long as it is purely for peaceful purposes.

But western intelligence officials believe that the Iranians are now taking advantage of their access to the IAEA to spy on its inspection procedures so that they can conceal sensitive areas of their nuclear operations from the outside world.

"The Iranians are getting increasingly concerned about the effectiveness of the IAEA's inspections," a senior western intelligence official told The Daily Telegraph.

"For this reason they are deliberately targeting the IAEA so that they can be better prepared when the inspectors visit their facilities."

Iran Allows Inspectors Access to One Site

After more than a year and a half of resistance, Iran has given inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency access to a razed military site, but it has failed to meet other demands under its international treaty obligations, officials knowledgeable about the inspections said Sunday.

The concession seemed aimed at derailing an American and European initiative to immediately send Iran's nuclear case for judgment by the United Nations Security Council.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the foreign ministers of Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany will meet in London on Monday to plot a joint strategy on how best to curb Iran's nuclear activities. Then on Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-country board will hold an emergency session in Vienna to decide whether and how the case should be considered by the Security Council.

But the limited cooperation given to the inspectors leaves open a number of major issues about the nature and scope of Iran's nuclear program that have been raised by the United States and Europe.

News of Iran's uneven cooperation came as the Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, in an interview in Tehran on Sunday, reiterated Iran's position that it would not close down its uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, as demanded by the United States, Russia, China, the Europeans and the atomic energy agency. Like other Iranian officials, he argued that Iran has only restarted nuclear research, a sovereign right it would never relinquish.

"Nuclear technology is the right of Iran," he said. "We can discuss about the way this right can be implemented, but realization of this right is not bound by any preconditions."

Iran's decision to allow inspectors into the razed military facility in Tehran, named Lavisan, followed repeated demands by the atomic energy agency for access and information since June 2004, several months after the site was dismantled, the officials said.

Inspectors were allowed to take environmental samples that they will examine for traces of uranium particles. They also examined equipment taken from the site when it was bulldozed, before it could be inspected, the officials said.

A report by the nuclear agency's director, Mohamed ElBaradei, in November 2004 said that the destruction of the site raised "the possibility of a concealment effort" by Iran to hide uranium-enrichment activities.

But the inspectors failed to persuade Iran to be more forthcoming on a number of other outstanding issues. That means that the agency will most likely deliver a mixed report to its board before the emergency session, the officials said. The officials were speaking on condition of anonymity under customary diplomatic rules.

"Some people will see this as an important step; others won't," said one diplomat familiar with the issue. "It can be said that this should have happened a year and a half ago. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done."

Iran's cooperation on the visit to Lavisan is certain to be seen as an inadequate gesture by the United States and its European allies, which believe that the Security Council must begin to pass judgment now on Iran for its nuclear behavior, most recently its reopening of its nuclear enrichment plant.

But the small steps by Iran may strengthen the position of Russia and China, which are resisting Security Council action and at the very least prefer to give Iran another month, as it was promised, to meet international demands.

U.N. pushing to end nation-states

All it will take, says the draft of a visionary proposal by the U.N. Development Program, is to getting rid of all the pesky nations of the world.

In fact, the plan endorsed by prominent world figures including Nobel laureates, bankers, politicians and economists to end nation-states as we know them is also designed to end health pandemics, poverty and "global warming." So far, the U.N. hasn't mentioned whether the proposal will do anything for obesity.

The authors of the ambitious report don't expect nations to fold up and take the hint any time soon. But the idea is to start the ball rolling � and maybe years or decades from now the world will actually be ready to listen.

If the scheme seems far-fetched, consider that it already has the backing of the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according to the London Independent.

The U.N. plan includes six immediate action steps:


Reduce greenhouse gas emissions through pollution permit trading;

Cut poor countries' borrowing costs by securing the debts against the income from table parts of their economies;

Reduce government debt costs by linking payments to the country's economic output;

An aggressive campaign of worldwide vaccinations;

Tapping into the vast flow of money from migrants back to their home country;

Aid agencies underwriting loans to market investors to lower interest rates.
It's not the first time the U.N. has come out openly to suggest global government is the only solution to the world's problems. "Our Global Neighborhood" was a 410-page final report of the Commission on Global Governance, and was first published in 1995 by Oxford University Press. That 28-member "independent commission," created by former German Chancellor Willy Brandt, developed the following strategy, as reported in the EcoSocialist Review: "To represent a shot-across-the-bow of George Bush's New World Order, and make clear that now is the time to press for the subordination of national sovereignty to democratic transnationalism."

Then-U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali endorsed the commission, and the U.N. provided significant funding. The plan calls for dramatically strengthening the United Nations, by implementing a laundry list of recommendations, including these:


Eliminating the veto and permanent member status in the Security Council;

Authorizing global taxation on currency exchange and use of the "global commons;"

Creating an International Criminal Court;

Creating a standing army under the command of the secretary-general;

Creating a new Economic Security Council;

Creating a new People's Assembly;

Regulating multinational corporations;

Regulating the global commons;

Controlling the manufacture, sale and distribution of all firearms.

Dean Implicates Harry Reid in Abramoff Scandal

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Sunday that Democrats who took money from Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff and who did something on behalf of those tribes have "a big problem."

Dean made the statement apparently unaware that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has reportedly done exactly that.

Under questioning by "Fox News Sunday's" Chris Wallace, Dean claimed that Democrats did no favors for Abramoff's Indian tribe clients:

"Nobody got anything out of the Democrats from Jack Abramoff," the top Democrat insisted. "No Democrat delivered anything and there's no accusation and no investigation that any Democrat ever delivered anything to Jack Abramoff. And that's not true of the Republicans."

But Wallace countered: "So if we find that there were some Democrats who wrote letters on behalf of some of the Indian tribes that Abramoff represented, then what do you say, sir?"
Dean's response: "That's a big problem. And those Democrats are in trouble. And they should be in trouble."

In November 2005 the Associated Press reported that Senate Minority Leader Reid had accepted tens of thousands of dollars from an Abramoff client, the Coushatta Indian tribe, after interceding with Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton over a casino dispute with a rival tribe.

Reid "sent a letter to Norton on March 5, 2002," the AP said. "The next day, the Coushattas issued a $5,000 check to Reid's tax-exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund. A second tribe represented by Abramoff sent an additional $5,000 to Reid's group. Reid ultimately received more than $66,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004."

Dems' Obama Criticizes Filibuster Tactic

To more effectively oppose Supreme Court nominees in the future, Democrats need to convince the public "their values are at stake" rather than use stalling tactics to try to thwart the president, said a senator who opposes Samuel Alito's confirmation.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., predicted on Sunday that an effort to try to block a final vote on Alito would fail on Monday. That would clear the way for Senate approval Tuesday of the federal appeals court judge picked to succeed the retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

"We need to recognize, because Judge Alito will be confirmed, that, if we're going to oppose a nominee that we've got to persuade the American people that, in fact, their values are at stake," Obama said.

"There is an over-reliance on the part of Democrats for procedural maneuvers," he told ABC's "This Week."

Alito's supporters must produce 60 votes to cut off a filibuster; an Associated Press tally shows at least 62.

The AP tally also shows that at least 53 Republicans and three Democrats intend to vote to confirm Alito; that is well over the required majority.

But Obama joined some Democrats, including Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Charles Schumer of New York, in expressing his unhappiness with the filibuster bid.

"There's one way to guarantee that the judges who are appointed to the Supreme Court are judges that reflect our values. And that's to win elections," Obama said.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said he, too, would support the filibuster attempt but agreed that it was not particularly wise.

"I think a filibuster make sense when you have a prospect of actually succeeding," Biden said on CNN's "Late Edition." "I will vote one time to say to continue the debate. but the truth of the matter" is that Alito will be confirmed, he said.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Iran crisis 'could drive oil over $90'

Oil markets are braced for a nail-biting week, as world leaders demand action against Iran over its nuclear ambitions, and analysts warn that crude prices could reach $90 a barrel if the oil-rich state retaliates by blocking supplies.
The International Atomic Energy Agency meets on Thursday to decide whether to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, has threatened to respond to any punitive action by cutting off the 2.6 million barrels of oil a day it pumps into the markets - 5 per cent of the world's supply.

Jittery investors sent the price of Brent crude to $67.76 a barrel in New York on Friday night, as fears about the Iranian crisis and rebel attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria rocked confidence in an already tight market.

Kona Haque, commodities editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said the worst case scenario of a shutdown of supplies from Iran would be 'absolutely devastating ... I wouldn't be surprised to see the price go over $90 a barrel'. She said fears about Iran are already adding a $10 risk premium to oil prices, which could remain in place for months as the crisis escalates. Davoud Danesh-Jafari, Iran's oil minister, has warned that the result of punitive action against his country would be 'the unleashing of a crisis in the oil sector'.

'The resumption of nuclear research by Iran is currently the market's largest preoccupation,' said BNP Paribas oil analyst Eoin O'Callaghan. He has pushed up his forecast for average oil prices this year to $65 a barrel because of geopolitical risk. He points out that the oil price rose more than 60 per cent in the run-up to the Iraq war; a similar increase now would take prices to $94.

Haque said that with little spare capacity in the market, prices are much more vulnerable to political shocks: 'We need a lot more supply capacity to have a cushion; it's going to take another couple of years until that happens.'

The oil producers' organisation Opec meets in Vienna on Tuesday amid calls from some members, including Iran, to cut back production and push up prices further. But most analysts believe production quotas will be left unchanged. 'There's no pressure on Opec to do anything,' said Rob Laughlin, oil analyst at Man Financial.

Tehran fast-tracking bomb with North Korea purchase?

While the U.S. and E.U. nations are scrambling to convince Iran to abandon its program of uranium enrichment and debating bringing the Islamic Republic before the U.N. Security Council, Tehran may be in the process of directly purchasing the plutonium it needs to make a bomb from North Korea, intelligence sources say.

As WorldNetDaily reported, North Korea made 30 pounds of plutonium last summer � during the six-party talks hosted by China to end their weapons program � by reprocessing 8,000 nuclear fuel rods. Beijing is currently working to restart a reactor capable of producing enough plutonium to manufacture 10 atomic bombs a year.

For the first time since the nuclear crisis began in 1994, reports the London Times, North Korea has sufficient fissile material to sell some to its ally while retaining enough for its own purposes. Recent reports of Iran offering North Korea oil for nuclear technology has U.S. intelligence experts concerned that a deal is being put together by the two nations for the "surplus" plutonium.

In 2004, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) discovered North Korea had sold 1.7 tons of uranium to Libya, demonstrating how difficult trade in nuclear weapons-related materials is to detect and stop.

While constructing a weapon from plutonium is more complicated, only 15 to 20 pounds of the material is needed to make each nuclear bomb � a relatively small amount of material to transport between the two countries. Already, Iran is believed to be sharing results from its missile tests with North Korea in exchange for nuclear technology and, according to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, Iran is building a research reactor "optimal for the production of weapons-grade plutonium."

Tehran sources say Iran's Revolutionary Guards has established its own links with North Korea, bypassing standard diplomatic channels. "Whatever they're up to, it's probably done through the Revolutionary Guards," said a western diplomat.