The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 04/30/2006 - 05/07/2006

Friday, May 05, 2006

Congressman says he doesn't remember events from Thursday morning...

Yet detailed his recollection of incident in previous statement...

Kennedy's first statement, released by his press secretary:

"I was involved in a traffic incident last night at First and C Street SE near the US Capitol. I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident. I will fully cooperate with the Capitol Police in whatever investigation they choose to undertake."

Kennedy's full written statement:

"Last Tuesday, the Attending Physician of the United States Congress treated me for Gastroenteritis. The Attending Physician prescribed Phenergan, an anti-nausea medication, which in addition to treating Gastroenteritis, I now know can cause drowsiness and sedation.

Following the last series of votes on Wednesday evening, I returned to my home on Capitol Hill and took the prescribed amount of Phenergan and Ambien, which was also prescribed by the Attending Physician some time ago and I occasionally take to fall asleep. Some time around 2:45am, I drove the few blocks to the Capitol Complex believing I needed to vote. Apparently, I was disoriented from the medication. At that time, I was involved in a one-car incident in which my car hit the security barrier at the corner of 1st and C St., SE. At no time before the incident did I consume any alcohol.

At the time of the accident, I was instructed to park my car and was driven home by the United States Capitol Police. At no time did I ask for any special consideration, I simply complied with what the officers asked me to do.

I have the utmost respect for the United States Capitol Police and the job they do to keep Members of Congress and the Capitol Complex safe. I have contacted the Chief of Capitol Police and offered to meet with police representatives at their earliest convenience as I intend to cooperate fully with any investigation they choose to undertake."

Rep. Patrick Kennedy to Enter Drug Rehab

Rep. Patrick Kennedy will enter rehab for addiction to prescription pain medication Friday evening after a highly publicized car crash near the Capitol.

Kennedy, D-R.I., plans to seek treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

The congressman was announcing his decision during a new conference Friday afternoon, then planned to travel to Minnesota later in the day.

Kennedy, who has struggled with addiction and depression, said he had checked into the Mayo Clinic over the Christmas holidays and returned to Congress "reinvigorated and healthy."

"Of course, in every recovery, each day has its ups and downs, but I have been strong, focused and productive since my return," Kennedy said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press.


The congressman said he became concerned about his condition after the Thursday morning car accident.

"I simply do not remember getting out of bed, being pulled over by the police, or being cited for three driving infractions," Kennedy said. "That's not how I want to live my life. And that's not how I want to represent the people of Rhode Island."

Police report indicates Kennedy 'impaired'

Capitol Police report says congressman's eyes watery, speech slurred

Here's the official Capitol Hill Police report on yesterday's early-morning crash involving a disoriented Representative Patrick Kennedy.

According to cops, the Rhode Island Democrat (and son of Senator Ted Kennedy) appeared unsteady on his feet, had "red and watery" eyes, and had "slightly slurred" speech upon exiting his Ford Mustang after crashing the vehicle into a barricade near Capitol Hill. The reporting officer checked off a box indicating that Kennedy was under the influence of alcohol and that the politician's ability was "impaired."

Kennedy, 39, has denied that alcohol was involved in the 2:45 AM accident, claiming instead that he was left disoriented by a reaction to the prescription drugs Abien, a sleep aid, and Phenergan, an antihistamine. Both drugs carry warnings that alcohol, taken in conjunction with the medications, may increase drowsiness and dizziness.

Following the accident, Kennedy was driven home by police, who did not administer any field sobriety tests to the six-term congressman.

See the report here:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0505062kennedy1.html

Did another Kennedy get a road pass?

Patrick blames wreck on prescription drug, bar hostess says congressman was drinking

Has another Kennedy received special treatment by police after another suspicious car wreck?

That's the question on everyone's lips in the nation's capital today following a report that Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., wrecked his car while admittedly under the influence of a prescription drug.

As Kennedy tells the story, "I never asked for any preferential treatment." Asked whether he received it, he said "that's up for the police to decide."

He also says he had taken a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness, but consumed no alcohol, before crashing his car near the Capitol.

However, a hostess at a popular Capitol Hill bar, the Hawk 'n' Dove, told the Boston Herald she saw Kennedy drinking in the hours before the crash.

"He was drinking a little bit," said the woman, who would not give her name.

Late last night as he left his office, Kennedy refused to say whether he had been to the Hawk 'n' Dove the night before, the paper reported.

A Herald reporter who visited bars where Kennedy is known to socialize said a bartender at the Tune Inn, next to the Hawk 'n' Dove, also said Kennedy was spotted Wednesday in the Hawk 'n' Dove, which describes itself as "Washington, D.C.'s oldest Irish bar."

The bar's manager, Edgar Gutierrez, said Kennedy is a regular, according to the Boston paper. Gutierrez said he was working Wednesday night but did not see the congressman.

Kennedy was cited for three traffic violations, according to a report by a U.S. Capitol Police officer.

Kennedy spokeswoman Robin Costello acknowledged the police report, but said "we have no knowledge of any citations."

In a statement explaining his actions, Kennedy said the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines.

Kennedy said that after working Wednesday evening he went home and took "prescribed" amounts of Phenergan and Ambien, another drug that he sometimes takes to fall asleep.

In his statement, Kennedy said he was apparently disoriented from the drugs when he got up a little before 3 a.m. Thursday and drove to the Capitol thinking he needed to be present for a vote.

"Following the last series of votes on Wednesday evening, I returned to my home on Capitol Hill and took the prescribed amount of Phenergan and Ambien," Kennedy said. "Some time around 2:45 a.m., I drove the few blocks to the Capitol Complex believing I needed to vote. Apparently, I was disoriented from the medication."


According the U.S. Constitution, congressmen have special protections on their way to and from a vote. Article 1, Section 6 says senators and representatives "shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same."

"At no time before the incident did I consume any alcohol," said Kennedy, going on to address questions about why he was not asked to take a sobriety test. "At the time of the accident, I was instructed to park my car and was driven home by the United States Capitol Police. At no time did I ask for any special consideration, I simply complied with what the officers asked me to do."


"I have the utmost respect for the United States Capitol Police and the job they do to keep Members of Congress and the Capitol Complex safe," he continued. "I have contacted the Chief of Capitol Police and offered to meet with police representatives at their earliest convenience as I intend to cooperate fully with any investigation they choose to undertake."


Louis P. Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, who was not on the scene, said the congressman had appeared intoxicated when he crashed his Ford Mustang into a barrier on Capitol Hill.

"The officers on the scene, it is my understanding, smelled alcohol. And based on his demeanor and their experience, believed him to be intoxicated," Cannon told CBS News.

Cannon also says officers at the scene were instructed by an official "above the rank of patrolman" to take Kennedy home.

A letter written by Capitol Police officer Greg Baird to Acting Chief Christopher McGaffin said Kennedy appeared to be staggering when he left the vehicle after the crash about 3 a.m. The letter was first reported by Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.

Baird wrote McGaffin that two sergeants who responded to the accident conferred with the watch commander and were ordered to leave the scene.

He said that after the officers left, Capitol Police officials gave Kennedy a ride home.

Continuing adventures of Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy

March 26, 2000:

A videotape captures Kennedy pushing a 58-year-old airport security guard backward and bumping the metal detector archway at Los Angeles International Airport. The catalyst apparently was that his luggage was too big for carry-on and he was disturbed the guard did not recognize him.

Summer 2000:

The Coast Guard removes a former Hub woman from a yacht for her safety after she and Kennedy had some drinks and a tiff. Kennedy had rented the yacht and trashed it, causing $28,000 in damage.

July 2001:

Kennedy makes remarks to the Pawtucket Times about U.S. Rep. Gary Condit of California. Kennedy says he is guilty of cheating on his wife and in the mysterious disappearance of the Washington intern he was having an affair with.

Saturday, April 15, 2006:

Kennedy tries to turn into a CVS parking lot in Portsmouth, R.I.,, but turns into the vehicle in front of him instead.

Thursday, May 4, 2006:

Kennedy crashes in D.C.

Why Al Qaeda Is Retreating From Iraq

Despite the many brickbats of the media, al Qaeda has been defeated in Iraq, and is now retreating to lick its wounds where it can. If it can. Just over four and a half years, al Qaeda has gone from being the dominant terrorist group in the world to a defeated shell of its former self. In trying to defeat the United States, al Qaeda made three big mistakes: They fought the last information war, they underestimated the American leadership, and they also managed to anger the Iraqi people.

From the moment the United States and al Qaeda began fighting in Afghanistan, the terrorists were looking for a chance to re-create images similar to those of American troops being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu in 1993 or Walter Cronkite calling the Vietnam War a stalemate in 1968. It was hoped that such a moment would cause a dramatic drop in support for the war among the American people and force the United States out of Iraq. It did not happen.

The first problem was that al Qaeda failed to realize just how much the terrain had shifted on the media battlefield, particularly the growth of alternative outlets. In 1993, CNN was the only 24-hour news network. In 1996, two other 24-hour news networks were founded, MSNBC on July 15, and Fox News on October 7. These started to establish competition. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Fox News began pulling ahead of the other two networks, largely because it was taking a position that was seen as being reasonably supportive of the American efforts.

Also on the media front, the Internet was already becoming a major player. In 1998, Matt Drudge was showing that one person with a web site could break a major story. In 2004, a few bloggers were able to start the chain of events that led to Dan Rather's retirement from CBS. In 2006, bloggers are now an acknowledged player on the media battlefield. These efforts were dismissed by al Qaeda, and as a result, while al Qaeda hit its target, the effect was grossly minimized due to the fact that the "silent majority" now had tools by which they could be heard. The media created a false picture after the 1968 Tet Offensive, but was unable to do the same in Iraq.

The next mistake was underestimating American leadership. Al Qaeda assumed that the posture of the Clinton Administration (specifically, treating terrorism as a law-enforcement issue) would continue. Instead, the Bush Administration went after al Qaeda's host (the Taliban regime Afghanistan), then proceeded to go after another regime that sponsored terrorism (Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq - as indicated by documents recovered after the liberation of Iraq in 2003). Then, when the media firestorms hit, rather than fold as the Clinton Administration did after the CNN images were shown in 1993, the Bush Administration stayed the course. This eventually unnerved al Qaeda, and led to its third, and most fatal, mistake.

The third mistake was to wage a campaign of terror against Iraqi civilians. This was intended to intimidate them into at least acquiescing to al Qaeda's presence, if not supporting al Qaeda at all. It didn't work. Instead, as the car bombs went off , and drew CNN headlines in the United States, al Qaeda managed to become more and more unpopular with Iraqis. Even the Arab Sunnis began to view the Americans, who had displaced them from the power they had held under Saddam, as a better option than supporting al Qaeda. Eventually, the Sunnis joined the democratic process and when that happened, al Qaeda's eventual defeat was assured with increasing Sunni participation over three elections in the space of less than a year.


These three mistakes resulted in the defeat of al Qaeda in Iraq, a defeat has left that group largely discredited. Osama bin Laden is now reduced to making audio tapes with grand pronouncements which have little or no likelihood of ever becoming reality, since al Qaeda has no safe havens where they can train new recruits, nor countries willing to support them. In less than five years, al Qaeda has gone from being feared by the world, to little more than a sideshow in the long war that the United States is now fighting.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Video Shows Al-Zarqawi As Incompetent Idiot

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is shown wearing American tennis shoes and unable to operate his automatic rifle in video released Thursday by the U.S. military as part of a propaganda war aimed at undercutting the image of the terror leader.

The U.S. command showed the footage to reporters at a time when it is stepping up operations against al-Qaida in Iraq and making overtures to other Sunni groups. The Americans hope to isolate religious extremists from insurgents they believe are more likely to cut a deal to end the war.

The clips were part of a longer video that U.S. troops seized in a raid last month. Al-Qaida in Iraq militants posted an edited version of the same video on the Internet April 25 - but without the embarrassing segments.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, spokesman for the U.S. command, mocked al-Zarqawi as the previously unseen footage showed a smiling al-Qaida leader first firing single shots from a U.S.-made M-249 light machine gun. A frown creeps across al-Zarqawi's face as the weapon jams. He looks at it, confused, then summons another fighter.

"It's supposed to be automatic fire. He's shooting single shots," Lynch said. "Something is wrong with his machine gun. He looks down, can't figure out, calls his friend to come unblock the stoppage and get the weapon firing again."


His fellow fighters and associates appear similarly inept in the newly released footage. One reaches out to grab a just-fired weapon by the barrel, apparently unaware that it would burn his hand. The camera quickly pans to the ground and then away.

"His close associates around him ... do things like grab the hot barrel of the machine gun and burn themselves," Lynch said. "Makes you wonder" about their military skills.


Another clip showed the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi - who has derided everything Western - dressed in a black uniform but wearing New Balance tennis shoes as he walked to a white pickup.

Lynch said the full video was discovered during one of several raids against al-Qaida in Iraq safe houses in the Baghdad area starting with an operation last month near Youssifiyah, 12 miles southwest of the capital. U.S. forces have killed 31 "foreign fighters" since April and have captured 161 al-Qaida in Iraq officials since the beginning of the year, Lynch said.

View the Video here:
DOWNLOAD � .WMV
DOWNLOAD � .MP4

Hat Tip to Expose the Left

Bill to ban 'mom, dad' from texts advances

California law would remove sex-specific terms from books, mandate pro-homosexual lessons

A bill requiring students to learn about the contributions homosexuals have made to society and that would remove sex-specific terms such as "mom" and "dad" from textbooks has passed another hurdle on the way to becoming the law of the land in California.

Having already been approved by the state's Senate Judiciary Committee, SB 1437, which would mandate grades 1-12 buy books "accurately" portraying "the sexual diversity of our society," got the nod yesterday of the Senate Education Committee.

The bill also requires students hear history lessons on "the contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender to the economic, political, and social development of California and the United States of America."


"This bill is the most extreme effort thus far to transform our public schools into institutions of indoctrination that disregard all notions of the traditional family unit," said Karen England, executive director of Capitol Resource Institute. "SB 1437 seeks to eliminate all 'stereotypes' of the traditional family so that young children are brainwashed into believing that families with moms and dads are irrelevant."


SB 1437 not only affects textbooks and instructional materials for kindergarten and grades 1-12, it also affects all school-sponsored activities.

"School-sponsored activities include everything from cheerleading and sports activities to the prom," said England. "Under SB 1437 school districts would likely be prohibited from having a 'prom king and queen' because that would show bias based on gender and sexual orientation."


England also says the bill would likely do away with dress codes and would force the accommodation of transsexuals on girl-specific or boy-specific sports teams.

England says the measure amounts to unneeded social experimentation.

"SB 1437 disregards the religious and moral convictions of parents and students and will result in reverse discrimination," she said.


Sponsored by Democratic Sen. Sheila Kuehl � a lesbian actress best known for playing Zelda in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" in the 1960s � the legislation would add "gender" (actual or perceived) and "sexual orientation" to the law that prohibits California public schools from having textbooks, teaching materials, instruction or "school-sponsored activities" that reflect adversely upon people based on characteristics like race, creed and handicap.

"We've been working since 1995 to try to improve the climate in schools for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender kids, as well as those kids who are just thought to be gay, because there is an enormous amount of harassment and discrimination at stake," Kuehl explained. "Teaching materials mostly contain negative or adverse views of us, and that's when they mention us at all."

"In textbooks, it's as if there's no gay people in California at all, so forget about it," she added.

Read SB 1437

Americans fight back against illegals influx

With the federal government having a perceived do-nothing attitude to stop the ongoing invasion of illegal aliens into the U.S., fed-up Americans are logging on to the Internet to fight their own battle.

A number of websites have popped up in recent days to not only help authorities identify and locate the unlawful workers, but also expose the employers who provide them jobs and help consumers patronize businesses that hire only legal citizens.

Among the newest is HireUSfirst.com, which looks to provide a national database with an easy-to-use map helping consumers find companies whose employees are legal.

"Rather than outing businesses that hire illegals, we want to provide a listing of businesses that refuse to hire illegals, and encourage like minded consumers to patronize those businesses rather than spend their money at places that put their bottom line before the future of our country," founder Brett Gosch of Thornton, Colo., told WorldNetDaily.


"We ... understand that barring a [weapon of mass destruction] coming across one of our borders and vaporizing a city, our state and federal governments will never do anything serious about illegal immigration or border control. So the burden of doing something meaningful about it rests on the shoulders of common Americans," he writes on the site.


Another site is WeHireAliens.com, an online Hall of Shame whose stated purpose is to expose "alleged" employers of illegal aliens.

"The biggest incentive for illegal aliens to come to the United States is to find work," the site notes. "If there are no employers willing to hire the illegal aliens, then the flood of illegal aliens will subside."


WeHireAliens currently has more than 1,300 employers from at least 43 states on its list.

The page also encourages consumers not to patronize the companies featured, and provides prewritten letters to let businesses know their traffic will suffer directly as a result of their use of unlawful workers.

For those interested in making sure authorities are kept in the loop, there's ReportIllegals.com, which, for $10, "provides a simple, fast, and anonymous way to report illegal aliens and illegal employers to the appropriate U.S. government agencies. It takes only a few minutes to file a report with our service, whereas it would typically take you several hours on your own to find the proper agency and complete and submit a report."

IllegalAliens.us is a clearinghouse of information on the subject, and welcomes online visitors with the message, "Calling an illegal alien an undocumented immigrant is like calling a burglar an uninvited house guest."

It even provides links to sites that sell merchandise on the heated subject. Among the featured items are $18 T-shirts with messages such as "Secure Our Borders" and "Here Legally" on a map of the United States.

"Terrific for the grocery store or protest line," the ad for the "Here Legally" shirt states. "You will be surprised at the overwhelmingly positive comments you'll receive."

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Survey: 69 Percent Think News Is Biased

A new survey reports that 69 percent of Americans think the news media do not report "all sides of a story," whatever that means. I'll interpret it to mean that the American public sees right through the fa�ade of objectivity and knows that reporters are human beings with points of view and these inevitably make it into news reports.

Other interesting highlights:

Fox News and CNN tied for first as the "most trusted specific news sources mentioned without prompting"


"Americans (87%) are second only to Germans in preferring to check several sources of news rather than rely on just one � something that is correlated with the use of Internet news sources" (I guess we're figuring out how to get "all sides of a story")


When asked how much they trust specific news sources, Americans give the lowest ratings to blogs (25%).

On that last point: Of course blogs overall will get lower trust ratings than newspapers or television. But blogs are still relatively new on the information scene. Mainstream news organizations are adding blogs to their Web sites all the time and, as we saw in the cases of Ben Domenech and Michael Hitzlik, aggressively applying traditional ethical standards to those blogs. I think those blogs, if taken out of the sample, would rate higher than blogs overall.

Independent blogs will have to work hard to gain the same level of trust as mainstream media outlets, but some have already equaled or even surpassed their rivals in terms of the trust they've earned. Michael Yon comes to mind.

And here's where things converge: One way Michael Yon has built up a store of trust in his reporting is that he never pretended to be "objective" in the sense that traditional news organizations do. What I mean by that is not that he reports as a "conservative" or "liberal" � he reports as an American, and as someone who badly wants to see us succeed over there. He doesn't try to hide his opinions or report the news like a robot. You know where he stands, and time and again he's delivered the bad news and the good.

If the mainstream media want to correct the sorry ratings on one-sidedness, accuracy and negativism that this survey reflected, they should be dropping the pretense of objectivity and developing more correspondents like Yon, Michael Totten and others who don't check their citizenship at the press room door.

PUBLIC Says: ENFORCEMENT FIRST

A new Zogby poll of likely voters, using neutral language (see wording on following pages), finds that Americans prefer the House of Representatives� enforcement-only bill by 2-1 over Senate proposals to legalize illegal immigrants and greatly increase legal immigration. The poll was conducted for the Center for Immigration Studies.

On immigration generally, Americans want less, not more, immigration. Only 26 percent said immigrants were assimilating fine and that immigration should continue at current levels, compared to 67 percent who said immigration should be reduced so we can assimilate those already here.

While the Senate is considering various bills that would increase legal immigration from 1 million to 2 million a year, 2 percent of Americans believe current immigration is too low. This was true for virtually every grouping in the survey by ethnicity, income, age, religion, region, party, or ideology.

When offered by itself, there is strong support for the House bill: 69 percent said it was a good or very good idea when told it tries to make illegals go home by fortifying the border, forcing employer verification, and encouraging greater cooperation with local law enforcement while not increasing legal immigration; 27 percent said it was a bad or very bad idea.

Support for the House approach was widespread, with 81 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of independents, 57 percent of Democrats, and 53 percent of Hispanics saying it was good or very good idea.

When offered by itself, there is also some support for the Senate approach, thought not as much as for the House bill: 42 percent said the Senate approach was a good or very good idea when told it would allow illegal immigrants to apply for legal status provided they met certain criteria, and it would significantly increase legal immigration and increase enforcement of immigration laws; 50 percent said it was a bad or very bad idea.

There were few groups in which a majority supported the Senate plan, even when presented by itself, exceptions included Hispanics 62 percent of whom said it was a good or very good idea and the most liberal voters (progressives) 54 percent of whom approved of it.

When given three choices (House approach, Senate approach, or mass deportation), the public tends to reject both the Senate plan and a policy of mass deportations in favor of the House bill; 28 percent want the Senate plan, 12 percent want mass deportations; while 56 percent want the House approach.

But when given a choice between just the House and Senate approaches, without the choice of mass deportations, the public prefers the House approach 64 percent version to 30 percent.

One reason the public does not like legalizations is that they are skeptical of need for illegal-immigrant labor. An overwhelming majority of 74 percent said there are plenty of Americans to fill low-wage jobs if employers pay more and treat workers better; just 15 percent said there are not enough Americans for such jobs.

Another reason the public does not like Senate proposals to legalize illegals and double legal immigration is that 73 percent said they had little or no confidence in the ability of the government to screen these additional applicants to weed out terrorists and criminals.

Public also does not buy the argument we have tried and failed to enforce the law: 70 percent felt that past enforcement efforts have been "grossly inadequate," while only 19 percent felt we had made a "real effort" to enforce our laws.

Iraq Seeks Diplomacy to Stop Iran Shelling

The Iraqi government is using diplomacy to try to stop Iranian forces from shelling Kurdish rebel positions in the north and does not expect an incursion by ground forces, the foreign minister said Wednesday.

Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, made the comment in parliament after some Kurdish legislators demanded a strong statement against Iranian attacks against border camps operated by Iranian Kurdish rebels linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

"The Iraqi government is making necessary contacts with the countries concerned and with international sides," Zebari said. "There were some violations, but we do not think that there is a present threat or possibility of major incursion."


He said there were some "sticky issues and problems," but the border attacks "should be handled through diplomatic means."


Iranian forces fired artillery across the border north of Sulaimaniyah on Sunday and Monday, causing no casualties but forcing some families to move, according to Iraqi Kurdish officials. The Iranians launched a similar barrage April 21.

Rebels seeking self-rule in Kurdish areas of Iran operate from Iraqi territory and have been active recently, mounting attacks against Iranian army and Revolutionary Guard posts.

Oil Prices Fall As Gasoline Demand Weakens

Oil prices fell below $74 a barrel Wednesday after the U.S. government released data showing that gasoline demand has been flat over the past four weeks and that motor fuel supplies are growing as refineries ramp up output.

But a high floor persists underneath oil prices amid nagging concern that Iran, a key exporter, could cut supplies because of international pressure to modify its nuclear program. Strong global demand, unrest in Nigeria and concerns about the next Gulf of Mexico hurricane season have also exerted upward pressure on prices.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell $1.01 to $73.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A peak of $75.35 was reached April 21.

The decline in crude followed a sharp drop in gasoline futures, which sank 4.26 cents to $2.13 a gallon.

Pump prices in the U.S. average $2.92 a gallon, or 30 percent more than a year ago. And there is evidence that these high prices may be suppressing demand at the margins.

Over the past four weeks, average daily gasoline demand in the U.S. was 9.127 million barrels per day, barely higher than year-ago demand of 9.125 million barrels a day, according to the Energy Department. And since the start of the year, average daily gasoline demand has been just a hair over 9 million barrels per day, slightly below last year.

In its weekly report, the agency also said that:

Domestic inventories of gasoline climbed by 2.1 million barrels, reversing eight straight weeks of declines. U.S. gasoline supplies stand at 202.7 million barrels, or 5 percent below year ago levels.

Refineries ran their plants at 88.8 percent of capacity, compared with 88.2 percent a week earlier.

Crude oil inventories climbed by 1.7 million barrels to 346.7 million barrels, or roughly 5 percent above year ago levels; the supply of distillate fuel, which includes heating oil and diesel, fell by 1.1 million barrels to 114.5 million barrels, but is almost 10 percent above last year.
Still, crude oil prices are about 40 percent higher than a year ago as a result of geopolitical tensions that are not likely to ease soon, analysts said.

"Political tensions in Iran, a refinery outage in Italy and supply disruptions in Africa (are) keeping the bulls running towards record values," said Vienna's PVM Oil Associates, predicting near-term price increases. PVM also said that investments by hedge funds, pension funds and other investors seeking to cash in on rising energy prices were also creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. PVM noted reports that America's biggest pension fund, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, planned to allocate as much as $1 billion into oil and other commodities by August.

As of yet, there has been no talk of economic sanctions that could slow Iran's oil exports. China is a big customer for Iranian oil, and a cutoff of its oil exports would likely send oil prices surging.

In other Nymex prices Wednesday, natural gas fell 3.1 cents to $6.715 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Brent crude fell 68 cents to $73.96 a barrel on the London's ICE Futures exchange, below its intraday record of $74.97.

Posse Patrols to Curb Illegal Immigration Flow

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced that approximately 100 volunteer posse and Sheriff's Deputies will soon begin randomly patrolling the desert areas and main roadways in southwest Maricopa County as a part of an operation to curb the flow of illegal immigrants entering the county.

Arpaio made the announced just as 11 more illegal immigrants were being booked in jail after a Ford Windstar with California plates and 16 people packed inside was stopped by a Sheriff's deputy early Tuesday morning on a traffic violation near Gila Bend.

Despite the growing controversy about illegal aliens nationwide, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office remains the only Arizona law enforcement agency willing to enforce a new state anti-smuggling law.

"There are so many illegals trying to make it into the county that it's overwhelming my deputies, so I have called on members of my 3000 member volunteer posse to assist," says Sheriff Arpaio. "It's not only illegals we find and arrest out there, we've also made some recent huge drug seizures involving illegal aliens including nearly 100 pounds of methamphetamine and approximately three pounds of heroin."


Posse man Andrew Ramsammy, who was part of Tuesday's arrest team, says that he believes he represents many of his peers when he says that the posse is anxious to be a part of the Sheriff's solution to the immigration problem.

"As a group of law abiding people, we are fed up with the number of people who come into this county illegally. We're tired of the drugs that some of them bring to sell to our young people and we're ready and willing to assist the Sheriff's deputies in the fight against illegal immigration," says Ramsammy.


Sheriff Arpaio says Tuesday's arrests include two coyotes, one of whom may be charged with a far more serious offense - endangerment.

Virgilio Parra Sabori may face a class 6 felony charge if it is determined that he recklessly left one of his customers to die in the desert.

That customer who may have paid as much as $1100 to gain entrance into the country, was a 24-year-old Mexican male found near death by deputies who combed the desert earlier today after being told by other people in the vehicle that one man was left behind. That young man was found lying in the sun on the desert floor and is currently in serious condition in a west valley hospital.

Arpaio says today his deputies so far have made seven anti smuggling cases in the last few weeks alone and that 120 illegals have been arrested and jailed.

World oil prices to stay high through 2007

World crude oil prices are expected to stay high through 2007 because of strong petroleum demand, limited surplus oil production and refining capacity and concerns about supply disruptions due to geopolitical risks in countries like Iran, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.

The EIA said none of these "forces that contribute to current high crude oil prices will ease significantly in the near future, so our best forecast is that crude oil prices will remain elevated through 2007."


The Energy Department's analytical arm also said in its weekly review of the oil market, "Strong growth in the world economy, and particularly in China and the United States, has fueled the need for more oil, thus putting upward pressure on prices."


U.S. oil prices have stayed above $70 a barrel also due to fear among traders that the West's dispute with Iran over its restarted nuclear program could disrupt that country's oil exports and a large part of Nigeria's oil exports remains halted because of militant violence.

"The situation in Nigeria may continue for many months (and) market concerns about a possible supply disruption from Iran are likely to remain through at least this year if not into next year," the EIA said.

U.S. Mass Transit on Alert

ABC News has learned that the Department of Homeland Security has alerted U.S. mass transit officials to "suspicious videotaping" of European rail systems that point to a continuing terrorist interest in targeting mass transit and "possible surveillance or pre-operational planning."

According to a short unclassified infrastructure security "private sector note" released Tuesday, May 2nd, DHS says a 17 minute hand held videotape by one foreign national detained in November in a major European city included footage of several stations, two routes and the interior of one "subway car." None of the footage was of tourist attractions. Information from a second suspicious videotaping, also in November 2005, was factored into the one page private sector note.

"Two incidents of suspicious videotaping of a European mass transit system in the last 120 days provide indications of continued terrorist interest in mass transit systems as targets, and potentially useful insight into terrorist surveillance techniques," DHS said.


The contents of the 17 minute tape that appeared suspicious included the recording of station signs from inside a moving train, shooting footage of the rail car and station platform ceilings and recording trash can and stairwell locations. This footage seems to mesh with known techniques and elements of prior casing reports of planned and executed terrorist plots including the London bombing and plots against the New York City subway system.

Tehran closer than believed to production

Iran is close to creating an ultra-sophisticated centrifuge that would dramatically accelerate its ability to produce enriched uranium in half the time of the current intelligence estimates, according to an exclusive report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

The intelligence, gathered by Israel's Mossad, has been shared with Britain's MI6 and the U.S.' CIA this past weekend, according to the report by Gordon Thomas. It is causing a major re-evaluation of the timetable necessary to stop Iran's development of nuclear weapons.

There's more breaking exclusively in G2 Bulletin:

Does the U.S. have a viable battle plan to deal with Iran? Washington plans to rely on its advancing military technology to take out Iran's nukes.

Find out why the Pentagon does not believe it needs a ground force to get the job done this time and when the attack is most likely to take place.

Meanwhile, it's not just Iranian nukes worrying U.S. officials. MI6 has confirmed that Osama bin Laden has acquired a small nuclear arsenal of his own.

G2 Bulletin has the scoop � along with the names of the Pakistani scientists who have collaborated with al-Qaida in their maintenance and testing of the small nuclear weapons.

Worse yet, al-Qaida is still planning its dreaded "American Hiroshima" nuclear attack on the United States, according to Hamid Mir, the Pakistani journalist who has met with both bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Mir tells G2 Bulletin he believes it is inevitable that the U.S. will some day be forced to negotiate with the terrorist leader.

Is the battle for Afghanistan over?

Not in the eyes of the Taliban and their al-Qaida allies. In fact, Mullah Omar is planning a major offensive against U.S. forces and, according to bin Laden's biographer, will release a taped message in the coming weeks designed to inspire the faithful.

GIs Raid Kills 10 Kill in al-Qaida Hide-Out

Coalition forces killed 10 terrorists, three of
them wearing suicide vests, and wounded one at approximately 1:30 a.m.
today at a safe house located approximately 40 kilometers southwest of
Balad, Iraq, while searching for an al Qaeda terrorist leader.

Upon the troops' arrival, a terrorist sleeping while on guard outside
the safe house woke up and attempted to engage the assault troops with a
pistol. The terrorist was shot before he could fire his weapon. As the
wounded terrorist fell backward, he reached toward his chest and
detonated a suicide vest. None of the assault troops were harmed in the
explosion.

Meanwhile, the troops killed nine other terrorists, seven who exited
the safe house during the fight and two who were killed inside. Two of
the nine terrorists were wearing suicide vests, but the troops killed
these bombers before either could detonate his vest.

The terrorists had grenades, rifles, a pistol, ammunition, explosives,
a machine gun and suicide vests in their possession. The troops found
$1,000 in U.S. currency on one terrorist. And after the suicide bomber
detonated his vest, they noticed hundreds of scattered pieces of charred
U.S. bills.

The safe house and all lethal material, including two remaining suicide
vests, grenades, weapons, explosives, and blasting caps were destroyed.
The injured terrorist was medically evacuated to Balad for further
medical care. No civilians were located in or nearby this safe house.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Iran Nuclear Negotiator Calls for Talks

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Monday said Tehran was "ready for any kind of negotiation to achieve our rights," renewing a call for further talks on the Islamic republic's atomic program.

As officials from the five permanent U.N. Security Council members gathered in Paris to discuss strategy, Ali Larijani also called again for Iran's dispute with the international community to be returned to the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, headed by Mohamed ElBaradei.

"Let's allow Mr. ElBaradei to do his job based on the international conventions," Larijani told group of students in Tehran University, the official Iranian news agency reported.

Diplomats representing the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, which hold Security Council vetoes, meet in Paris on Tuesday with Germany to discuss ElBaradei's report to the council that Iran was in violation of the council's demand that Tehran stop enriching uranium, a process that can produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or fissile material for a bomb.

The report opened the way for the council to take punitive measures against Iran, but immediate action was not seen as likely because Russia and China now are opposed to international sanctions against Tehran at this point.

Iran contends it has a right to enrich uranium as long as it does not attempt to use it for nuclear weapons. Its opponents contend Iran ceded that right by conducting secret nuclear research and development.

Iran Discovers New Uranium Deposits

Iran has discovered new deposits of uranium and was continuing its nuclear enrichment program despite international protests, a top Iranian nuclear official said Tuesday.

The deputy chief for nuclear research and technology, Mohammad Ghannadi, said Iran had found at least three new uranium deposits in central Iran and was working toward mining them.

"We have got good news: the discovery of new uranium mines in central Iran," Ghannadi told a conference Tuesday.

"One is in Khoshoomi region in central Iran. Studies have already been made and samples have already been taken there. The other two are in Charchooleh and Narigan in central Iran," Ghannadi said.

Real Story Behind the Protests

"We're going to close down Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Tucson, Phoenix, Fresno" on May Day this Monday, labor organizer Jorge Rodriquez told the British wire service Reuters.

"We want full amnesty, full legalization for anybody who is here [illegally]," said Rodriquez, organizer for one of the unions of AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees of the AFL-CIO. "That is the message that is going to be played out across the country on May 1."


Listen to the cynicism behind Rodriquez's arrogant statement. Government workers who belong to AFSCME unions will not see their jobs taken or wages depressed by illegal aliens, as will poor and undereducated American citizens. On the contrary, illegal aliens will generate more government jobs � the one sector where unionization is growing � with their demand for more taxpayer-funded services (read: welfare).

By one estimate, every illegal alien household in America on average consumes at least $2,736 more in taxpayer-funded services than it pays in taxes each year. This adds a total burden that could exceed $27 billion a year on American citizen taxpayers.


Six decades have passed since the last large organized labor protest in the United States staged on May Day, the traditional date of the Soviet Union's annual parade of its latest weapons through Moscow's Red Square and holiday for its Euro-socialist fellow-travelers.

The radicals have insisted on May Day for "day without immigrants" nationwide Hispanic rallies and "buy nothing gringo" business boycotts, as well as work and school walkouts, and planned disruptions of major American cities (including cities such as New York and Chicago that historically were never "Mexican" territories).

The radicals behind this protest chose May first, rather than Cinco de Mayo, for a reason � and their allies in the Democratic Party, the racist Hispanic reconquista movement, and the Mexican government are behind them all the way.

The most vocal of these radicals, who also set last month's nationwide pro-amnesty immigration protests that blocked Los Angeles streets with half a million Mexican flag-waving marchers, are activists with International ANSWER, a front group for the avowedly Marxist Workers World Party.


Do not be surprised on Monday if ANSWER activists in one guise or another try to cause violent confrontations with police, property damage or other violence. A longstanding radical tactic, such confrontations are intended to produce overreactions that polarize an issue and force those involved to "choose sides." Confrontations on May Day would be calculated to produce a public backlash and to push otherwise-culturally conservative Hispanics into the arms of the left.


It's no accident that those pushing hardest for the May 1 boycott," wrote Marc Cooper of the far-left Nation Magazine and host of its tax-exempt foundation's Radio Nation, "... have never shown much concern for real-world results, preferring to act out their ideological impulses."


May Day was chosen for this mass demonstration as a "conscious nod" to the class confrontation traditions of this day, wrote the Socialist Worker. This journal proudly describes itself as standing "in the tradition in the Marxist tradition, founded by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, and continued by V.I. Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg and Leon Trotsky."


Democrats, who dominate the California legislature, voted last week along party lines to endorse May Day's protests in resolutions describing the school, worker and buyer walkouts as the "Great American Boycott 2006."



"America wouldn't have been created without illegal action," said State Senator Richard Alarcon and Democratic Senate Whip of the Los Angeles suburb Van Nuys. "They dumped a bunch of tea in Boston harbor, illegally."



And where does Senator Alarcon fit on the ideological spectrum? His sister Evelina has been vice chair of the Communist Party USA and chair of the Southern California District of the Communist Party USA as well as a "state coordinator" for the United Farm Worker union. Senator Alarcon has been featured speaker at a banquet for the People's Weekly World, the newspaper of the Communist Party USA.



In voicing his support for the May Day protests, Democratic State Senator Gil Cedillo of Los Angeles "likened the debate over immigrant rights to the fights over slavery, women's suffrage, the internment of Japanese during World War II, and the Vietnam War."



Senator Cedillo has relentless authored bills to provide valid California driver licenses to illegal aliens, a legal document for the undocumented. He refuses to acknowledge that Mexicans in the United States can use a Mexican driver's license. Cedillo has rejected Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's request that any such California license carry a distinguishing mark so it could not be used as ID to register a voter or for other privileges requiring American citizenship.

As a student at the University of California Los Angeles in the 1970s, Cedillo was an activist in the racist Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan, MEChA, dedicated to reclaiming the southwestern United States for Mexico.

The head of UCLA's incendiary MEChA chapter in that era was Antonio Villaraigosa, later to become speaker of the lower house of the California legislature, later Los Angeles city councilman, and current mayor of Los Angeles. As documented in this column, both Cedillo and Villaraigosa attended and became lawyers at the People's Law School, a factory for the manufacture of radical left-wing lawyers.

Another close Villaraigosa friend and ally has been Mario Obledo, co-founder of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), who was awarded the 1998 Presidential Medal of Freedom by Bill Clinton.

"California is going to be a Hispanic state," Mario Obledo has proclaimed, "and anyone who doesn't like it should leave. They should go back to Europe." (Does this refer to the Europe that includes Spain and the Spanish language?)


This kind of racist MEChA-like thinking has largely taken control of California's Democratic Party, whose longtime chairman has been veteran politician Esteban "Art" Torres.

"Power is not given to you. You have to take it," said Torres at a January 1995 Hispanic gathering to discuss non-compliance with ballot Proposition 187 at the University of California Riverside. "Remember, 187 is the last gasp of White America in California!" (For audio of Torres' statement, check out this Web site.)


Proposition 187 would have denied taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal aliens. It passed with the support of 60 percent of California voters, including 30 percent of Hispanics. Recalled Democratic Governor Gray Davis refused to defend it in court. A federal judge set most of its provisions aside, her entire declared legal rationale for doing so being that "it would hurt people."

This same Art Torres, chairman of the California Democratic Party, who thrilled at "the last gasp of White America in California," has attacked Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for having spent many years on the advisory board of U.S. English. This organization advocates English as the common language for all Americans. (English is now also the world language of diplomacy, science and business, as Latin and French were in previous centuries.)


U.S. English "has used its English-first message," charged Torres, "to hide a more racially divisive agenda." But America's shared language, English, is a bridge that ends division and opens opportunities to members of all races. By contrast, leftists such as Torres have tried by hook and crook to keep Hispanics chained inside a Spanish language ghetto.



Research studies have found that when Hispanics learn to speak English and move from the barrio into the larger society, they start voting Republican in roughly the same proportion as other Americans. If this continues to happen with America's fastest-growing minority, it would mean demographic doom for the Democratic Party. No wonder its members in California want to deny opportunity and education to young Hispanics, as will happen during Monday May Day � when Hispanics will walk out of school and work.



More evidence of the left-wing divide-and-conquer effort to drive wedges that split Americans apart came this past week in what purported to be a Spanish language version of America's National Anthem, the "Star-Spangled Banner."



As this columnist has noted, it's odd to have a National Anthem that would get you arrested for speaking its lyrics about "bombs bursting in air" at a public airport or school. But the remixed Spanish version changes our anthem's lyrics to say such things as "These kids have no parents, cause all of these mean laws ... let's not start a war with all these hard workers; they can't help where they were born." These new lyrics pervert America's anthem into doublespeak making morality appear immoral and illegality appear legal.



The man who conceived this distortion is British music producer Adam Kidron, who will market it on the album Somos Americanos, "We Are Americans." One dollar of the album's $10 price, he said, will go to the National Capital Immigration Coalition (NCIC) in Washington, D.C.



No leftist mainstream media reporter pressed Kidron on what this organization is. NCIC is a front group for the radical Service Employees International Union (SEIU) that twisted arms to install Howard Dean as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. A majority of SEIU members are government employees, so it shares the same cynical politics against working Americans and in favor of higher taxes and bigger government as AFSCME. It is one of America's biggest and richest labor unions. SEIU also played a major role in organizing the massive illegal immigration rallies throughout the Southwest.



The president of the newly-formed NCIC is Jaime Contreras, who arrived from his native El Salvador in 1988 and worked his way up from an SEIU janitor's union to become one of the leaders of SEIU. No wonder he has been featured on every left-wing media outlet from National Public Radio (NPR), to Pacifica Radio, to Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now!" These outlets know how to build up and promote their own, although few bother to tell their audience of Contreras' union background or extremist connections.



Unlike many other unions, SEIU retains the old radical dream of concentrating all union power in a few hands able to shut down all of America at the snap of a union boss's fingers. It has welcomed illegal immigrants as a source of new membership to save the dying labor movement. SEIU has promoted the use of mass walkouts and disruption of entire cities to intimidate and force itself on employers and politicians.

It should not surprise us that this new anti-American anthem in Spanish is being used not only to advance radicalism but also to help fund the activities of a radical labor union disguised as a neutral-sounding immigration coalition.

"I think the National Anthem ought to be sung in English," said President George W. Bush (who grew up in Texas, speaking both English and Spanish). "And I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the National Anthem in English."


As we debate this issue, said President Bush, we should take care "not to lose our national soul." Unlike other nations rooted in a single religion, race, culture, or history, the United States has gathered its people from throughout the world; Americans are held together by our ideals, our laws, our shared language English and our Manifest Destiny. The radicals behind Monday's May Day demonstration advocate immigration that breaks our laws, rejects assimilation into America and insists on using Spanish as a language to keep it apart from the rest of America.

Radicals Running Immigrant Movement

A leftist anti-war group has seized control of the immigrant movement that staged mass protests across the U.S. on Monday, says CNN's Lou Dobbs.

Praising the Washington Post for being the only newspaper that has reported that the radical leftist group ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) was an active promoter of Monday's national boycott, Dobbs noted that the movement chose May 1, the traditional International Worker's day sanctified by the Soviet Union and Marxist movements throughout the year to stage their protest.

Speaking on his CNN show Monday, Dobbs said that "Some illegal immigration and open borders activists in the Hispanic community are deeply concerned about the involvement of the left-wing radical group [ANSWER]. But others, like Juan Jose Gutierrez, whom I've interviewed a number of times over the past several months, manages to be both director of Latino Movement USA and a representative of ANSWER.


"As Gutierrez told us on my show, 'The time has come ... where we need to stand up and make a statement. We need to do what the American people did when they pulled away from the British crown. And I am sure that back in those days many people were concerned that was radical action.'

"Just how significant is the impact of leftists within the illegal immigration movement?" Dobbs asked, explaining that "It is no accident that they chose May 1 as their day of demonstration and boycott. It is the worldwide day of commemorative demonstrations by various socialist, communist and even anarchic organizations."


Radicalism, Dobbs continued "is not confined to Gutierrez and Latino Movement USA, explaining that Ernesto Nevarez of the L.A. Port Collective is promising to shut down the Port of Los Angeles today: '[Transportation and commerce] will come to a grinding halt. ...They are going to put a wall along the border with Mexico. We're going to put a wall between us and the ocean. And those containers ain't going to move.'"


Dobbs is not alone in citing ANSWER's involvement in today's protest. On their web site, the Los Angeles ANSWER group spelled out their backing, proclaiming "On May 1, stand up for immigrant rights. Join immigrants and supporters to make May 1 a national 'day without an immigrant.' We will settle for nothing less than full amnesty and legalization for the millions of undocumented workers presently in the United States. Let�s show the government, corporations and politicians that a powerful, united peoples� movement has the power to win Civil Rights, workers� rights and make history. No Work! No School! No Business as usual!

"The ANSWER Coalition, along with other pro-immigrant organizations, has been working hard to build May 1 and the overall immigrant right struggle. We've passed out over 150,000 flyers for May 1, gathered thousands of petition signatures demanding amnesty for all immigrants and held public street meetings all over Los Angeles to promote the movement. Join the struggle for full equality and justice today!"


Said Dobbs: "No matter which flag demonstrators and protesters carry today, their leadership is showing its true colors to all who will see."

Rep. Tom Tancredo: Boycott Is a Bust

Rep. Tom Tancredo, Republican from Colorado, a longtime opponent of illegal immigration, says the May 1 Latino worker boycott is "a bust� when it comes to changing public opinion in America.

Tancredo, appearing on Fox News Channel, said the waving of Mexican flags, the chanting of "Today We March, Tomorrow We Vote� and the in-your-face flaunting of U.S. immigration law will not win many converts outside of large Latino strongholds.

"When the average American looks out on the streets and sees people demanding �rights� ... even though the protesters illegally snuck into our country, it doesn�t play well in Peoria,� Tancredo said. "I don�t think it�s working in favor of the illegals, but I hope they keep it up.�


Tancredo said Americans who may have initially been sympathetic to the plight of families who genuinely wish to come to America by legal means will be turned off by the antics of illegal alien protesters.

"I think some of my [congressional] colleagues in New York and California may be influenced by them, but generally speaking, most of the people I talk to say �Don�t give in to them; don�t give in to the mobs,�� Tancredo said.


The congressman said most of the e-mails and phone calls he receives from constituents say he and his fellow congressmen should not "give them anything close to amnesty.� Most, he said, have asked Tancredo to persuade the House of Representatives and Senate to stick to the House bill and stricter enforcement of the U.S. borders.

ACLU Wants Soldier Funerals Disrupted

Portions of a new Kentucky law intended to prevent protesters from disrupting funerals for soldiers killed in Iraq are unconstitutional, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a federal lawsuit filed Monday.

The ACLU argues that sections of the law go too far in limiting freedom of speech and expression.

The new law, signed by Gov. Ernie Fletcher in March, bans protests within 300 feet of memorial services, wakes and burials. Violators can be charged with first-degree disorderly conduct, punishable by up to a year in jail.

But it is so broad that people could unknowingly violate it by stopping to chat on a public sidewalk near a funeral home, Lili S. Lutgens, an ACLU attorney in Louisville. It also could prevent pro-military groups from participating in counter-protests outside memorial services, she said.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Bart McQueary, a Kentucky man who has protested alongside the church members on three occasions. McQueary had no listed telephone number and couldn't be reached for comment. The ACLU has asked U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell to grant a preliminary injunction to allow the protests to continue.

The governor hasn't yet seen the lawsuit, said Fletcher spokesman Brett Hall.

However, Hall said mourning families deserve privacy.

"The public should respect their dignity in a very difficult time," he said. "That's why this law was passed. It's inconceivable why anyone would want to protest at a military funeral while family members are there."

Iran threatens Israel if US acts "evil"

Iran threatened on Tuesday to attack Israel in response to any "evil" act by the United States and said it had enriched uranium to a level close to the maximum compatible with civilian use in power stations.

The defiant statements were issued shortly before world powers meet in Paris to discuss the next steps after Tehran rejected a U.N. call to halt uranium enrichment.

Senior officials from the U.N. Security Council's permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany were to discuss how to curb an Iranian program that Western nations say conceals a drive for atomic warheads.

Iran denies the charge and refuses to back down from what it calls its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.

Driving home that message, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, said his country had now succeeded in purifying uranium to 4.8 percent, at the top end of the 3 to 5 percent range for fuel used in nuclear power plants.

"Enrichment above 5 percent is not on Iran's agenda," Aghazadeh told the students' ISNA news agency.

Iran has previously said it had enriched to more than 4 percent, far below the 80 percent level needed for bomb-making.

It has used a test cascade of 164 centrifuges to enrich uranium so far and is building two similar cascades. It says it will start installing 3,000 centrifuges later this year -- enough to yield material for one bomb within a year.

Pakistan detains al-Qaida fugitive Nasar

A top al-Qaida leader whose links stretch from Afghan terror training camps to extremist networks operating throughout Europe has been detained in neighboring Pakistan and possibly handed over to American authorities, according to a U.S. law enforcement official.

Mustafa Setmarian Nasar, a Syrian who also holds Spanish citizenship, was captured in a November 2005 sting in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta that left one person dead, said the American official, who declined to be identified further because the matter is sensitive.

The official, who spoke to The Associated Press late last week, said Nasar, who is also known as Abu Musab al-Suri, may now be in U.S. custody but did not specify where. He declined to comment further.

U.S. military officials aware of the detention of terror suspects at American prison facilities in Bagram, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had no immediate information Tuesday on whether Nasar had been incarcerated at either jail.

A senior Pakistani intelligence official told The AP from the capital, Islamabad, that Nasar had been flown out of Pakistan to an undisclosed destination "some time ago."

"I only know that he is not here. But, I do know that Syrian authorities had also requested to get him back," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of sensitive nature of his work.

Pakistani and American officials have long been tightlipped on the status of Nasar, who has had a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head. He has been described by the U.S. Justice Department as a former trainer at Osama bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan who helped teach extremists to use poisons and chemicals.

Another Pakistani official confirmed the Quetta arrest but had no information on Nasar's whereabouts.

"He had been interrogated by us. He had been interrogated by our American friends," said the official, who also declined to be identified because of the secretive nature of his activities. He added that both Syrian and U.S. authorities wanted to take Nasar into custody.

It would not be the first time Pakistan - a key U.S. ally in the war against terrorism - has detained al-Qaida terrorists and turned them over to the Americans.

Pakistan says it has captured more than 750 al-Qaida suspects since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and has handed most of them to the United States.

Media reports have linked Nasar, who holds Spanish citizenship, to the 2004 commuter train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people, and to the July 7, 2005 attacks in London that left 56 dead, including the four bombers.

In September 2003, Nasar was among 35 people named in an indictment handed down by a Spanish magistrate for terrorist activities connected to al-Qaida. His exact role, if any, to either the Madrid or London bombings is unclear.

He is also wanted for a 1985 attack on a restaurant near a military base close to Madrid airport that left about 20 people dead - regarded as the first international Islamic terrorist attack to take place in Spain.

Impact of illegal-alien boycotts unknown

Through rallies and boycotts of schools and businesses across the nation yesterday, illegal immigrants and their supporters sought to present a case to the American people that they are vital to the country's economy and should not be subject to deportation.

Demonstrators opposed to strict immigration proposals in Congress staged huge marches in Chicago and Los Angeles, curtailed operations at at least one major port, shut down construction sites in the District, forced the closing of crossings at the Mexican border and halted work at meat-processing plants in the Midwest. Although the protests caught the nation's attention, the economic impact was mixed, as many immigrants heeded the call of some leaders not to jeopardize their jobs, and businesses adopted strategies to cope with absent employees.

The action may have been stronger had the coalition of grass-roots organizations that advises immigrants not been deeply conflicted over whether to endorse a boycott. Some supported the effort to demonstrate immigrant power, but others discouraged it, saying it was premature because Congress has not taken action since the first demonstrations, and because the strike might induce a backlash by those born in the United States.

"I think that for the most part, people in the community understood the reasons why . . . we asked them to go to work and go to school," said Jaime Contreras, president of the National Capital Immigration Coalition of Washington, part of an immigrant coalition that discourages boycotting before Congress can act. "Rest assured, if we don't have a bill we can live with, we will have a general strike and a general boycott."


The protests drew few counter-demonstrations, though the chief House proponent of tough measures against illegal immigrants said the boycott would help his cause.

"I couldn't be happier, because every single time this kind of thing happens, the polls show that more and more Americans turn against the protesters and whatever it is they are trying to advance," Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) told the Reuters news agency in an interview.


Still, the boycotters tried to make their presence felt wherever they could.

In Las Vegas, the strike's effect seemed minimal, perhaps because of hardball tactics adopted by the larger hotels.

The Wynn Las Vegas hotel and casino told its 10,000 employees that "if they called out and were not sick that they would be disciplined up to and including termination," said Arte Nathan, chief human resources officer. As a result, only two workers called in.

"We are amazed. We are thrilled," Nathan said.

The MGM-Mirage, which runs casinos such as the MGM-Grand, Treasure Island and the Bellagio, reported minimal absences among its 60,000 employees, about one-third of whom are Latino, spokeswoman Debra Nelson said.

Iraqis arrested near Mexico border


Three Iraqi men claiming to be Christians were caught in Texas after entering the U.S. illegally.

FBI agents said the men, in their early 20s, said they are afraid of facing persecution if returned to Iraq, reported KRGV-TV in Brownsville, Texas.

Eleven Iraqis have been caught trying to enter the U.S. illegally since October.

The men, who are being held for questioning, were detained Saturday near the Los Indios International Bridge near Harlingen, Texas, the station said.

They previously were arrested in Mexico carrying Greek passports and were held for a month for entering Mexico illegally.

Mexican authorities reportedly released the men, however, and told them to "go north."

In January, Mexican officials said they arrested four illegal-alien Iraqis trying to sneak across the border into the U.S..

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.

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

Monday, May 01, 2006

More Positive Economic News

Construction, Consumer Spending Up in March

Manufacturing cranked up, builders boosted construction spending to an all-time high and consumers opened their wallets wider - fresh signs the economy has snapped out of its end-of-year funk.

That was the message coming from the latest batch of economic reports released Monday.

A report from the Institute for Supply Management showed that factory activity expanded with gusto in April. The group's manufacturing index rose to 57.3 in April, from 55.2 in March. The showing was much better than the reading of 55 that economists were expecting.

In a second report, the Commerce Department said total construction spending in March climbed to $1.199 trillion, on an annualized basis, surpassing the previous record high set in February. That marked a big 0.9 percent jump from February's level - a performance that exceeded analysts' projections of a 0.3 percent gain.

Private builders ramped up spending on a wide variety of projects in March, including residential construction and factories. The government also spent more on big public works projects, including power plants.

In another report from the department, consumer spending rose 0.6 percent in March, an improvement from the 0.2 percent increase registered in February. Consumer spending plays a key role in shaping overall economic activity.

Incomes, the fuel for future spending, advanced by 0.8 percent in March. That was up from a 0.3 percent increase in February and marked the largest gain since September.

Income includes government payments as well as wages. Payments from the new Medicare prescription drug plan had the effect of helping to boost overall income in March. Wages, meanwhile, grew by a moderate 0.4 percent for the second month in a row.

Both the spending and incomes figures were better than economists were expecting. Before the release of the report, they were forecasting spending and income to each rise by 0.4 percent.

Newsweek: Rush Limbaugh 'Arrest' Reports Were Bogus

All weekend long news broadcasts were filled with reports that talk radio host Rush Limbaugh had been "arrested" on charges of doctor shopping as part of a plea bargain worked out with his lawyer.

But - as even the liberal newsmagazine, Newsweek, admitted - the "arrest" reports were bogus.

"LIMBAUGH ARRESTED was the immediate headline on the wires and on TV," the magazine said in Monday's edition. "But the word 'arrest' was misleading."


"In fact, Limbaugh had pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer had worked out a deal that would cause the single charge to be dropped after 18 months as long as Limbaugh stayed out of trouble and continued to see a doctor who has helped him with an addiction to painkillers."


Still, the rest of the press did its level best to portray Limbaugh's voluntary trip to the Palm Beach County jail for a mugshot as if John Dillinger had just been apprehended.

"RUSH LIMBAUGH ARRESTED ON PRESCRIPTION DRUG CHARGE," blared the CNN headline Friday night.

ABC's "World News Tonight" began its coverage of the Limbaugh case dismissal with Elizabeth Vargas announcing: "Rush Limbaugh, one of the most popular and influential radio talk show hosts in America, was arrested in West Palm Beach today. The charges involve allegations of prescription drug fraud."

The actual mugshot belied the "arrest," reports, showing a beaming Limbaugh clearly delighted over finally winning his case.

Other reporters went out of their way to paint the talk host as a common street drug user, noting a 1995 statement where Limbaugh said he favored jail for illegal drug users.

Newsweek was one of the few to note that the top talker's addiction had nothing to do with recreational drug use - but was instead prompted by intense back pain.
"Limbaugh's drug problems began after he made a medical choice to try to preserve his radio voice . . . . The doctors wanted to go in through the back of his mouth, but Limbaugh was worried about his vocal cords. A different procedure was performed, and Limbaugh's suffering did not go away. He began to take pain pills in ever-larger numbers."


The prosecutor's office leaked claims to the press that Limbaugh took thousands of pills -- suggesting not only a severe addiction but that Rush was manipulating his doctors -- "doctor shopping" -- to abuse his medications.

But Rush's medical records, ones turned over to state prosecutors, showed that the doctor shopping claim was a sham.

In July of 2005, Black detailed Rush's use of prescription drugs as detailed in his medical records:

"The prescription records that are in the search warrant affidavits should be put in perspective. Of the 2,130 pills prescribed, only 1,863 were painkillers, and of those only 1,733 were for hydrocodone. These were to be taken over a period of 217 days, from the date of the first prescription until 30 days from the date of the last prescription. The dose averages out to a little over eight pills a day, which is not excessive and is in fact a lawful dose.

"Ninety-two percent of the pain medication was prescribed by two doctors who were treating Mr. Limbaugh for back pain. They work in the same office from the same medical file, and there could be no doctor shopping between them. One of these doctors also prescribed 117 pills of a drug used to treat high blood pressure or to help wean patients off of painkillers.

"The other two doctors are the California surgeon who implanted the cochlear implant to restore Mr. Limbaugh's hearing and a Florida doctor he was seeing for follow up on the surgery. Of the 180 pills prescribed by the surgeon, 100 were vitamin pills. Of the 110 pills prescribed by the fourth doctor, 50 were non-painkillers prescribed for tinnitus, ringing in the ears.

"The bottom line is that these prescription records might tell a story, but it is not a story of doctor shopping. We continue to believe that Mr. Limbaugh is being pursued by overzealous prosecutors and that he should not be charged with any crime."


In fact, when news of the conservative talker's pain pill addiction first hit the National Enquirer in Oct. 2003, Palm Beach County prosecutor James Martz said going after low-level prescription drug users like Limbaugh was a waste of time.

Still, his office pursued the case as if they were prosecuting the Cali cartel.

Friday's dismissal showed that Martz had it right the first time.

New oil shock ahead as $100 spike looms

The growing international crisis over Iran's nuclear programme could trigger a catastrophic oil price spike, sending crude prices over $100 a barrel, senior Wall Street analysts are warning.

With prices already at around $72 a barrel, such an increase could mean drivers facing prices of 110p a litre on forecourts, according the the Petrol Retailers Association. Last week Lord Browne, chief executive of BP, warned that prices could rise to �1 as he unveiled bumper $5.27bn profits for the first quarter.

Shell is also expected to announce close to record numbers next week, with analysts expecting profits around $5.57bn, driven largely by the oil price.

A single political shock could be enough to send oil markets into panic, said Adam Sieminski, senior energy economist at Deutsche Bank in New York. 'If we have one more big problem we are going to have triple-digit oil prices.' Sieminski points to confrontation with Iran, a worsening of the situation in Iraq or a recurrence of devastating hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico as potential catalysts for a major rise.

Prices rose by as much as $1.20 in late trading on Friday after the United Nations inspector Mohamed El Baradei said Iran had not complied with demands to disclose the extent of its uranium enrichment programme. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad later said he 'did not give a damn' about the UN's opinion.

In a report, Sieminski argues that with the world consuming some 85 million barrels of oil a day, a supply disruption of 2 million barrels a day (60 per cent of Iran's exports) 'can only be rebalanced through an extraordinary rise in prices.'

But he believes any breaching of the $100 level would be short-lived, and that prices would fall to between $30 and $60 as increased investment brings new production and refining capacity on stream in oil-producing nations.


Mary Novak, managing director of energy services at consultants Global Insight, said Iran would not need to turn off the taps completely - even if it shut off just a 10th of its 3 million barrels a day of exports, the impact would be dramatic. 'With the situation we have, 300,000 barrels a day would drive prices up significantly,' she said, adding that with the global economy growing more quickly than expected this year 'demand is still expanding and supply is having trouble catching up'.

U.S. citizens urged to 'shop till you drop'

Hoosiers concerned about illegal immigration are encouraging like-minded citizens to "shop till you drop" Monday as a counter to the national "Day Without Immigrants" protest.

"We want the business people to know there are a lot of people like us, who are very worried about the negative impact of illegal immigration and who spend money at their business," said Greg Serbon, Crown Point, state director of the Indiana Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement.


Organizers nationwide are calling on immigrants to skip work and school, buy nothing and sell nothing Monday, although key local leaders are urging them to show up for jobs and classes.

Serbon and about 25 others upset at what they see as the government's lack of action on illegal immigration took their concerns to the streets Friday with a protest in Downtown Indianapolis during the lunch hour. They were scheduled to return today.
The goal of the protest was to get the attention of Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Evan Bayh, D-Ind., who Serbon said are failing their constituents by not taking a hard stand on closing the border with Mexico and enforcing immigration laws.
Protesters who gathered near the corner of Illinois and Market streets held signs with slogans including "Honk to stop illegal immigration" and "Close our borders now."

"We've got a lot of positive responses," Serbon said. "We've had a few people who don't like what we have to say, but that's to be expected."


Natisha Cooper, 41, Indianapolis, co-chairwoman of the Marion County chapter of the group, said it is getting harder to express negative opinions about illegal immigration.


"Many people are afraid to speak up because they will be labeled as racist," she said.

Serbon said the protesters are not racists or opposed to immigration. They want newcomers to obey the laws and, if they don't, they want the government to enforce the laws.

Participants came from FortWayne, South Bend, Seymour, Valparaiso, Michigan City and Columbus, in addition to Indianapolis.

Iran troops attacks Iraqis

Teheran has attacked an anti-Iranian Kurdish group based in Iraq, it emerged yesterday, raising fears that instability there could spill over into the rest of the region.

Iraq's defence ministry said more than 180 artillery shells were fired and Iranian troops crossed three miles into Iraqi territory before withdrawing.

The incursion, which occurred on April 21, came after Iranian claims that a number of attacks had been conducted against Iranian army and Revolutionary Guard posts in recent weeks.

They are accused of operating from bases around Haj Oman, which was the centre of the Iranian attack. Four people were said to have been wounded.

The group, known as the Pejak, is fighting for the creation of a ''Greater Kurdistan'' linking predominantly Kurd- populated areas in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran.

Sunday, April 30, 2006

U.S. Forces Kill Key Al-Qaida Leader in Iraq

U.S. forces killed a local al-Qaida in Iraq leader and two other insurgents in a raid north of Baghdad on Friday, and roadside bombs killed an American soldier and an Iraqi policeman, officials said.

Al-Takhi, known as the "emir" of Samarra, was gunned down while fleeing the house, and the other two militants were killed while trying to defend it with grenades, the U.S. military said. After they were killed, the U.S. troops found a car parked nearby containing a grenade launcher, rockets, AK-47s, grenades and a shotgun, the U.S. military said.

Iraqi police said al-Takhi had been responsible for many insurgent attacks against coalition forces and civilians in the area.

The police initially said Iraqi commandos had carried out the raid but the U.S. later said American troops had conducted the operation using Iraqi intelligence.

Al-Qaeda leader plans an Iraq army

THE leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is attempting to set up his own mini-army and move away from individual suicide attacks to a more organised resistance movement, according to US intelligence sources.
Faced with a shortage of foreign fighters willing to undertake suicide missions, Zarqawi wants to turn his group into a more traditional force mounting co-ordinated guerrilla raids on coalition targets.

Al-Qaeda is sending training and planning experts to help to set up the force and infiltrate members into Iraq with the assistance of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the sources said.

Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq�s national security adviser, said this weekend that the majority of American and British troops would have left by the end of next year. �By the middle of 2008 there will be no foreign soldiers in the country,� he predicted.

In a video posted yesterday on an Islamist website, Ayman al-Zawahiri, deputy leader of Al-Qaeda, claimed that 800 �martyrdom operations� in three years had �broken the back of America in Iraq�.

The change of strategy will make it easier for Zarqawi to link up with Iraqi insurgents and evade the allied special operations teams trying to track him down.

Zarqawi came close to capture two weeks ago, Defense News, the international news weekly, reported yesterday. An American raid on a terrorist safe house in Yusifiya, 20 miles southwest of Baghdad, was aimed at capturing one of his lieutenants, but when five men at the house were interrogated, it emerged that Zarqawi had been in a house close by.

British troops in Iraq are afraid to open fire

British troops in Iraq "lack the confidence to open fire" because of a "fear of prosecution", says a confidential Ministry of Defence (MoD) report seen by The Sunday Telegraph.

It confirms that soldiers believe that if they shoot dead insurgents they will become embroiled in a "protracted investigation" and if prosecuted will receive "no support from the chain of command".

British troops show restraint when attacked in Basra

The study into soldiers' confidence is understood to have been ordered by senior officers because of a growing belief that the fear of prosecution could result in a soldier being killed because he was too scared to open fire.

Senior officers from the Land Warfare Centre flew to Iraq to question dozens of soldiers from the 7th Armoured Brigade. The report's observations are "drawn solely from those discussions".

Under the heading "Confidence to Open Fire", the report says: "All agreed that there was a certain British reticence to open fire, and that this was largely a positive feature at the start of an operational deployment. Further, given that this reticence will be reduced as the tour continues there should be some caution in case it is reduced too much. However, there remained a common belief that many soldiers lack the confidence to initiate opening fire when it is tactically and legally sound to do so.

"There is a widespread fear of being investigated for having opened fire, and of a protracted prosecution system that might ensue. Some believe that individual soldiers would not open fire as a result of this fear."

In a section headed "Lack of Support from the Chain of Command", the report indicates "widespread feeling that whilst the battalion/regiment would support an individual, the wider chain of command (senior officers) provided insufficient support".

The report follows persistent denials by the MoD of claims made by senior officers to this newspaper that soldiers were becoming "over cautious" because they feared investigation and prosecution.

The Royal Military Police Special Investigation Branch has conducted more than 150 investigations in Iraq involving British soldiers, with more than 100 of these launched after troops opened fire when attacked by insurgents.

The report's findings come at the end of a three-year investigation into the death of Sgt Steven Roberts, who was killed in a friendly fire incident in the opening days of the Iraq war. Five soldiers, including an officer, faced a variety of charges including murder, manslaughter and negligence over the death of Sgt Roberts, a tank commander, who was shot dead by a soldier under his command. On Thursday, the Attorney General told Parliament that none of the soldiers would face charges because of a lack of evidence.

How and when U.S. will hit Iran

British sources say Bush 'significantly closer' to attack

A secret crisis meeting of Britain's military and political chiefs has been told President Bush has moved "significantly closer" to launching attacks on Iran's nine nuclear plants, reports Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

Both Washington and the International Atomic Energy Agency believe the facilities are now "advanced in providing uranium enrichment and plutonium materials which will be used to provide nuclear bombs," according to the report in the premium, online intelligence newsletter published by the founder of WND. The time frame for this to happen "is within three years at the outside," the meeting was told.

The report, authored by intelligence analyst Gordon Thomas reveals the U.S. strategy for the air assault and the capabilities of the Iran defenses. Though no date has been fixed, it is likely for later this year or early in 2007, it says.

Iran claims nuclear project breakthrough

Iran is developing an advanced centrifuge that would allow it to accelerate its controversial uranium enrichment programme, a senior official told state television yesterday.

Mohammad Saidi, the vice-president of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, made the claim a day after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran had ignored a United Nations ultimatum to end enrichment work.

A more sophisticated breed of centrifuge would allow scientists to speed up purification of uranium towards the 90 per cent level required for bomb-making. They recently achieved an initial enrichment level of 3.6 per cent - the purity required to generate electricity. "We have told the agency [IAEA] that we are studying and conducting research on different types of machines," Mr Saidi said. "We cannot limit ourselves when we have an enrichment programme."

His comments were supported by a television interview with Gholamreza Aghazadeh, Iran's nuclear chief.

"As for more advanced machines - we indeed have plans to develop such machines," he said. "Having the advanced type of centrifuges and the new technology enables one to multiply production."

Iran's secret plan if attacked codenamed 'Judgment Day'

8 Islamist groups funded to strike U.S. military, economic interests

Tehran has recruited and funded eight Islamic fundamentalist organizations to undertake retaliatory strikes against U.S. and British military and economic interests across the Middle East � and perhaps in the U.S. and Europe � in the event Iran's nuclear facilities are attacked, reports a London Arab daily, Asharq Al-Awsat.

The plan, which has been heavily funded and was created by a number of experts in guerilla warfare and terrorist operations, includes suicide attacks against U.S. and British targets in the region as well as their allies. According to information gleaned from a senior source in the Iranian armed forces' joint chief of staff, logistical support for the groups that would participate in the plan comes from Brigadier General Qassim Suleimani of the of the Revolutionary Guards' al Quds Brigades.

"Most of Iran's visitors in the last four months, including the leaders of revolutionary groups in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon, as well as the heads of Hezbollah cells in the Persian Gulf and Europe and North America were asked, when they met with the Iranian intelligence minister Gholamhossein Mohseni Ezhei and his aides: 'Are you ready to defend the Islamic revolution and vilayat e faqih (rule of the clergy)?'" the source said. "'If you agree to take part in the great jihad, what would you need to be ready for the great fight?'"


The leader of one of the Iraq groups that is part of the "Judgment Day" plan told the Iranians his men would turn Iraq into hell for Americans in the event of an attack on Iran. The Revolutionary Guards' military training camps have been made available to Moqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army. Al Sadr has received more than $20 million from the Iranians.

Street-fighting training has been given in Isfahan, Iran, to members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as large sums of money and large quantities of arms.

As reported by WorldNetDaily, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has recruited Imad Mugniyah, the Lebanese commander of Hezbollah's overseas operations, to oversee retaliation against Western targets following any U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Officers sent to southern Lebanon last month are in command of more than 10 thousand rockets aimed at Israel's cities. It is believed they've been given control of Hezbollah's missiles to attack Israel if Iran's nuclear sites are hit. U.S. officials and Israel intelligence sources believe Mugniyah is in charge of these operations.

"When and if the Iranians decide to hit the West in its soft belly, Imad will be the one to act," a Western intelligence source said.


Approximately 80 members of Hezbollah received training last year in ultralight aircraft and undersea operations in order to carry out suicide attacks.

Implementation of the plan is set to begin immediately following a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities and would progress in six stages:

U.S. bases in Iraq and the Persian Gulf region to be struck by Iranian missiles.
Suicide attacks in a number of Muslim countries against U.S. embassies, military bases, economic and oil-related facilities tied to U.S. and British firms, and targets in countries allied with the U.S.
Attacks by Revolutionary Guards and Iraqi insurgents loyal to Iran against U.S. and British forces in Iraq.

Hundreds of rockets launched by Hezbollah against pre-selected targets in Israel.
If U.S. military attacks continue, more than 50 Shehab-3 missiles will be launched against Israel and 50 terrorist cells in the U.S., Canada and Europe will be given approval to launch attacks against civil and industrial targets in those countries.
Maximize civilian casualties with germ agents and "dirty bombs."