Asked to review case of class that had students 'become Muslims'
A public-interest legal group is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals allowing a California public school to engage in a three-week intensive course for 7th graders on how to "become Muslims."
A California federal trial court and the 9th Circuit, widely considered the nation's most liberal appeals court, determined the class did not violate the Constitution.
As WND reported, the lawsuit was filed by the Thomas More Law Center against the Byron Union School District and various school officials to stop the "Islam simulation" materials and methods used in the Excelsior School in Byron, Calif.
The 2001 course had students take Islamic names and wear identification tags that displayed their new Islamic name and the Muslim star and crescent moon. They also were handed materials that instructed them to "Remember Allah always so that you may prosper"; complete the Islamic five pillars of faith, including fasting; and memorize and recite the "Bismillah," or "In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate," which students also wrote on banners hung on the classroom walls.
Students also played "jihad games" during the course, which was part of the school's world history and geography program.
Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, said the "case cries out double standard."
"The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is the same court that held our Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because it contained the phrase 'under God,' and yet they allow a three-week intensive course on how to become Muslims, including class memorization of Islamic prayers and participation in Islamic religious rituals," Thompson said.
Edward L. White III, the Law Center's trial counsel handling the case, argued that although a public school may teach about religion, the school district "went far beyond an explanation of the historical or literary significance of Islam and placed these seventh graders into the position of becoming trainees in that religion."
"These young children were indoctrinated in Islam, which the Constitution forbids," White said.
The Supreme Court will decide within the next few months whether to review the case.
The Law Center argues the panel did not address the plaintiff's claims that their free exercise and parental rights had been violated.
White says parents were never told about the Islamic program and didn't know they had the option to remove their children from such an activity.
One of the parents found out by accident, looking through her son's schoolbag after the program had finished.
In December 2003, the San Francisco court determined the school district had not violated the Constitution.
In her 22-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton determined Excelsior was not indoctrinating students about Islam when it required them to adopt Muslim names and pray to Allah, but rather was just teaching them about the Muslim religion.
But White insists a line was crossed, placing the students in the "position of being trainees in Islam, which is impermissible in a public school."
The course was part of a curriculum taught to seventh-graders all over the state, included in the state's curriculum standards required by the state board of education. Although the standards outline what subjects should be taught and included in state assessment tests, they didn't mandate how they're to be taught.
At the end of the three-week course, Excelsior teacher Brooke Carlin presented a final test requiring students to critique Muslim culture.
The Islam simulations at Excelsior are outlined in the state-adopted textbook "Across the Centuries," published by Houghton Mifflin, which prompts students to imagine they are Islamic soldiers and Muslims on a Mecca pilgrimage.
The lawsuit also alleges students were encouraged to use such phrases in their speech as "Allahu Akbar," which is Arabic for "Allah is greatest," and were required to fast during lunch period to simulate fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Nevertheless, Judge Hamilton ruled the program was devoid of "any devotional or religious intent" and was, therefore, educational, not religious in nature
Friday, June 09, 2006
U.S. Troops Hunt al-Qaida in Raids in Iraq
U.S. troops conducted nearly 40 raids Friday in Iraq, taking advantage of information gleaned from searches following Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death, a military spokesman said, revealing new information about the man believed to be poised to take the terror leader's place.
U.S. troops conducted 39 raids across Iraq, including some directly related to the information they obtained from the strike against al-Zarqawi. Those were in addition to 17 raids conducted after the terror leader was killed Wednesday evening.
U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell also said Egyptian-born Abu Ayyub al-Masri would likely take the reins of al-Qaida in Iraq, providing the full name of the militant for the first time. Al-Masri was named in a February 2005 announcement by the U.S. Central Command as a close associate of al-Zarqawi and had a $50,000 bounty placed on his head.
He said al-Masri and al-Zarqawi met each other for the first time at an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan in 2001, but he said al-Masri came to Iraq before the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi.
Al-Masri is believed to be an expert at constructing roadside bombs, the leading cause of U.S. military casualties in Iraq.
In the second night of raids, Caldwell said 39 raids were carried out and that "clearly we picked up things like memory sticks, some hard drives" that would allow American forces to begin dismantling al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq. He said it was also helping them understand where the group's weapons and financing were coming from.
U.S. troops had carried out 17 simultaneous raids in the hours after al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike Wednesday near Baqouba, the capital of Diyala province. The region is in the heartland of the Sunni Arab-led insurgency and has seen a recent rise in sectarian violence. Baqouba is 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.
In announcing al-Zarqawi's death, Caldwell said the 17 raids had "produced a tremendous amount of information," which he described as a "treasure trove." He also said they waited to kill al-Zarqawi before carrying out the other raids, in an apparent effort not to spook the Jordanian-born terrorist.
"We had identified other targets that we obviously did not go after to allow us to focus on al-Zarqawi. Now that we got him, we will go after them," Caldwell said.
U.S. troops conducted 39 raids across Iraq, including some directly related to the information they obtained from the strike against al-Zarqawi. Those were in addition to 17 raids conducted after the terror leader was killed Wednesday evening.
U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell also said Egyptian-born Abu Ayyub al-Masri would likely take the reins of al-Qaida in Iraq, providing the full name of the militant for the first time. Al-Masri was named in a February 2005 announcement by the U.S. Central Command as a close associate of al-Zarqawi and had a $50,000 bounty placed on his head.
He said al-Masri and al-Zarqawi met each other for the first time at an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan in 2001, but he said al-Masri came to Iraq before the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi.
Al-Masri is believed to be an expert at constructing roadside bombs, the leading cause of U.S. military casualties in Iraq.
In the second night of raids, Caldwell said 39 raids were carried out and that "clearly we picked up things like memory sticks, some hard drives" that would allow American forces to begin dismantling al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq. He said it was also helping them understand where the group's weapons and financing were coming from.
U.S. troops had carried out 17 simultaneous raids in the hours after al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike Wednesday near Baqouba, the capital of Diyala province. The region is in the heartland of the Sunni Arab-led insurgency and has seen a recent rise in sectarian violence. Baqouba is 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.
In announcing al-Zarqawi's death, Caldwell said the 17 raids had "produced a tremendous amount of information," which he described as a "treasure trove." He also said they waited to kill al-Zarqawi before carrying out the other raids, in an apparent effort not to spook the Jordanian-born terrorist.
"We had identified other targets that we obviously did not go after to allow us to focus on al-Zarqawi. Now that we got him, we will go after them," Caldwell said.
Zarqawi Briefly Alive Moments After Strike
Terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was still alive when Iraqi police arrived at a site that was bombed by U.S. forces, a top-level spokesman for American military forces said Friday.
Brig Gen. Bill Caldwell, briefing military reporters at the Pentagon from his post in Baghdad, said he learned that al-Zawqari was alive after getting briefings on the military operation that netted al-Zarqawi and several others.
"He mumbled something but it was indistinguishable and it was very short," Caldwell said.
The U.S. military earlier had displayed images of the battered face of al-Zarqawi and reported that he had been identified by fingerprints, tattoos and scars. Biological samples from his body also were delivered to an FBI crime laboratory in Virginia for DNA testing. The results were expected in three days.
Caldwell said Friday that authorities made a visual identification of al-Zarqawi upon arriving at the site of the airstrike.
He said that when the terrorist "attempted to sort of turn away off the stretcher, everybody reached to insert him back. ... He died a short time later from the wounds suffered during the air strike.
Brig Gen. Bill Caldwell, briefing military reporters at the Pentagon from his post in Baghdad, said he learned that al-Zawqari was alive after getting briefings on the military operation that netted al-Zarqawi and several others.
"He mumbled something but it was indistinguishable and it was very short," Caldwell said.
The U.S. military earlier had displayed images of the battered face of al-Zarqawi and reported that he had been identified by fingerprints, tattoos and scars. Biological samples from his body also were delivered to an FBI crime laboratory in Virginia for DNA testing. The results were expected in three days.
Caldwell said Friday that authorities made a visual identification of al-Zarqawi upon arriving at the site of the airstrike.
He said that when the terrorist "attempted to sort of turn away off the stretcher, everybody reached to insert him back. ... He died a short time later from the wounds suffered during the air strike.
Slain Marine's parents appeal to Bush to save cross
Officer killed in Iraq memorialized under symbol threatened by court order
The parents of a Marine who died in Iraq are urging President Bush to help ensure their son continues to be memorialized under a historic cross threatened by a judge's order.
Robert and Sybil Martino want the federal park service to take over the Mt. Soledad war memorial site from the city of San Diego, which is at the center of a 17-year dispute begun by an atheist charging the cross violates the so-called "separation of church and state."
The Martinos' son, Capt. Michael Martino, was killed in action in Iraq last November when his Cobra helicopter was shot down by a Russian shoulder-mounted SA-16 surface-to-air missile.
As WorldNetDaily reported, U.S. District Judge Gordon Thompson ordered the city of San Diego May 3 to remove the mountain-top cross within 90 days or face a fine of $5,000 a day. Thompson ruled the 29-foot structure unconstitutional in 1991, but the case has remained in courts and become an issue of public policy.
In a letter to Bush, the Martinos write, "Our son loved his country and the many rights and liberties it provided. � Our son died with a strong belief that he was fighting to preserve the freedom of all Americans. Please let us have OUR freedom from activist judges and their personal interpretation of our Constitution."
The Martinos also have asked military veterans Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., to approach the president.
Last month, members of the slain officer's Camp Pendleton unit, which recently returned from Iraq, dedicated a plaque at Mt. Soledad to commemorate his legacy. More than 300 fellow Marines stood in line for over three hours to pay their respects to the parents.
Robert Marino, noting the cross's existence in one form or another since 1913, contends the Soledad cross "is no more an affront to personal beliefs than the thousands of crosses at Arlington."
In a letter to McCain, the Martinos asked, "is it fair to the majority and to those who have served or have fallen in the service for our nation who wish to keep the cross to appease a few who look to strip all religion from our country under a false interpretation of the separation of church and state? Our son died with a strong belief that he was fighting to preserve the freedom of all Americans."
Along with Hunter and McCain, the Martinos are asking newly elected Republican Rep. Brian Bilbray to help persuade the White House to federalize the site, making it a national war memorial.
The American Family Association has launched a campaign asking citizens to send an e-mail to the president to effectively take "the case out of Judge Thompson's hands" by signing an executive order transferring the land to the National Park Service.
The parents of a Marine who died in Iraq are urging President Bush to help ensure their son continues to be memorialized under a historic cross threatened by a judge's order.
Robert and Sybil Martino want the federal park service to take over the Mt. Soledad war memorial site from the city of San Diego, which is at the center of a 17-year dispute begun by an atheist charging the cross violates the so-called "separation of church and state."
The Martinos' son, Capt. Michael Martino, was killed in action in Iraq last November when his Cobra helicopter was shot down by a Russian shoulder-mounted SA-16 surface-to-air missile.
As WorldNetDaily reported, U.S. District Judge Gordon Thompson ordered the city of San Diego May 3 to remove the mountain-top cross within 90 days or face a fine of $5,000 a day. Thompson ruled the 29-foot structure unconstitutional in 1991, but the case has remained in courts and become an issue of public policy.
In a letter to Bush, the Martinos write, "Our son loved his country and the many rights and liberties it provided. � Our son died with a strong belief that he was fighting to preserve the freedom of all Americans. Please let us have OUR freedom from activist judges and their personal interpretation of our Constitution."
The Martinos also have asked military veterans Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., to approach the president.
Last month, members of the slain officer's Camp Pendleton unit, which recently returned from Iraq, dedicated a plaque at Mt. Soledad to commemorate his legacy. More than 300 fellow Marines stood in line for over three hours to pay their respects to the parents.
Robert Marino, noting the cross's existence in one form or another since 1913, contends the Soledad cross "is no more an affront to personal beliefs than the thousands of crosses at Arlington."
In a letter to McCain, the Martinos asked, "is it fair to the majority and to those who have served or have fallen in the service for our nation who wish to keep the cross to appease a few who look to strip all religion from our country under a false interpretation of the separation of church and state? Our son died with a strong belief that he was fighting to preserve the freedom of all Americans."
Along with Hunter and McCain, the Martinos are asking newly elected Republican Rep. Brian Bilbray to help persuade the White House to federalize the site, making it a national war memorial.
The American Family Association has launched a campaign asking citizens to send an e-mail to the president to effectively take "the case out of Judge Thompson's hands" by signing an executive order transferring the land to the National Park Service.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
How They Got Zarqawi
Intelligence breakthroughs and a hot tip about a meeting spelled his doom
In the end, the savagery of Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi may have earned him too many enemies. The terrorist responsible for some of the most gruesome killings in Iraq was killed in a joint U.S.-Iraqi military operation Wednesday, after the U.S. and its allies had finally located him. A well-placed intelligence source in Jordan told TIME that the CIA was tipped off after Jordanian intelligence learned of a meeting that Zarqawi planned to hold in the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad. His safe house was targeted in an air attack, and, says the same source, the Jordanian-born leader of the group al-Qaeda in Iraq was killed in the bombing. A senior Jordanian official confirmed that "there was a Jordanian security role in this." The official said he believed the breakthrough was a result of "cumulative intelligence," including from the recent arrest last month of a senior Al-Qaeda operative in Iraq. U.S. officials have said fingerprint and photographic evidence confirm Zarqawi's identity. Jihadi websites are also reported to have announced his death.
The takedown was largely a military effort. But a U.S. official told TIME that American intelligence operatives played an important role in determining that Sheik Abd-al-Rahman, Zarqawi's spiritual adviser, was a key link who could lead to Zarqawi himself. "Intelligence was useful in identifying this individual and his importance to Zarqawi," the U.S. official said. "It's as though you had identified Frank Nitti with the knowledge that eventually he would lead you to Al Capone. This was the culmination of a huge amount of effort."
Video of the Bombing
In the end, the savagery of Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi may have earned him too many enemies. The terrorist responsible for some of the most gruesome killings in Iraq was killed in a joint U.S.-Iraqi military operation Wednesday, after the U.S. and its allies had finally located him. A well-placed intelligence source in Jordan told TIME that the CIA was tipped off after Jordanian intelligence learned of a meeting that Zarqawi planned to hold in the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad. His safe house was targeted in an air attack, and, says the same source, the Jordanian-born leader of the group al-Qaeda in Iraq was killed in the bombing. A senior Jordanian official confirmed that "there was a Jordanian security role in this." The official said he believed the breakthrough was a result of "cumulative intelligence," including from the recent arrest last month of a senior Al-Qaeda operative in Iraq. U.S. officials have said fingerprint and photographic evidence confirm Zarqawi's identity. Jihadi websites are also reported to have announced his death.
The takedown was largely a military effort. But a U.S. official told TIME that American intelligence operatives played an important role in determining that Sheik Abd-al-Rahman, Zarqawi's spiritual adviser, was a key link who could lead to Zarqawi himself. "Intelligence was useful in identifying this individual and his importance to Zarqawi," the U.S. official said. "It's as though you had identified Frank Nitti with the knowledge that eventually he would lead you to Al Capone. This was the culmination of a huge amount of effort."
Video of the Bombing
Democrats call Zarqawi killing a stunt
Some Democrats, breaking ranks from their leadership, today said the death of terrorist leader Abu Musab Zarqawi in Iraq was a stunt to divert attention from an unpopular and hopeless war.
"This is just to cover Bush's [rear] so he doesn't have to answer" for Iraqi civilians being killed by the U.S. military and his own sagging poll numbers, said Rep. Pete Stark, California Democrat. "Iraq is still a mess -- get out."
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio Democrat, said Zarqawi was a small part of "a growing anti-American insurgency" and that it's time to get out.
"We're there for all the wrong reasons," Mr. Kucinich said.
Officially, Democratic leaders reacted positively to the news and praised the troops that successfully targeted al Qaeda's leader in Iraq with 500-pound bombs at his safe house 30 miles from Baghdad.
"This is a good day for the Iraqi people, the U.S. military and our intelligence community," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
President Bush said that yesterday's killing of the 39-year-old Jordanian-born terrorist offers an opportunity to "turn the tide" in the war and that Tuesday he will discuss with Iraqi leaders "how to best deploy America's resources in Iraq."
A senior White House official cautioned that Mr. Bush was not hinting at possible early reductions in U.S. troops there, according to Reuters news agency.
Meanwhile, Democrats sprinkled caveats throughout their praise.
"That is good news; he was a dreadful, vicious person," said Sen. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat. Mr. Conrad added that he hopes the military can get Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri, another top al Qaeda leader.
"They're even more important," he said.
Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Michigan Democrat, said it was good news but added, "I think we have a long way to go."
Republicans called Zarqawi's death a positive step and thanked Iraqi citizens for standing up to a threat against their nascent Democracy.
"I am more optimistic than ever that a free and stable Iraq can be achieved," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.
"This is just to cover Bush's [rear] so he doesn't have to answer" for Iraqi civilians being killed by the U.S. military and his own sagging poll numbers, said Rep. Pete Stark, California Democrat. "Iraq is still a mess -- get out."
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio Democrat, said Zarqawi was a small part of "a growing anti-American insurgency" and that it's time to get out.
"We're there for all the wrong reasons," Mr. Kucinich said.
Officially, Democratic leaders reacted positively to the news and praised the troops that successfully targeted al Qaeda's leader in Iraq with 500-pound bombs at his safe house 30 miles from Baghdad.
"This is a good day for the Iraqi people, the U.S. military and our intelligence community," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
President Bush said that yesterday's killing of the 39-year-old Jordanian-born terrorist offers an opportunity to "turn the tide" in the war and that Tuesday he will discuss with Iraqi leaders "how to best deploy America's resources in Iraq."
A senior White House official cautioned that Mr. Bush was not hinting at possible early reductions in U.S. troops there, according to Reuters news agency.
Meanwhile, Democrats sprinkled caveats throughout their praise.
"That is good news; he was a dreadful, vicious person," said Sen. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat. Mr. Conrad added that he hopes the military can get Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri, another top al Qaeda leader.
"They're even more important," he said.
Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Michigan Democrat, said it was good news but added, "I think we have a long way to go."
Republicans called Zarqawi's death a positive step and thanked Iraqi citizens for standing up to a threat against their nascent Democracy.
"I am more optimistic than ever that a free and stable Iraq can be achieved," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.
Oil prices fall on news of Zaqawi's death
Crude oil prices fell by about $1 on Thursday following the announcement that al-Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqaw had been killed in a joint US and Iraqi military raid north of Baghdad.
IPE Brent for July delivery fell 81 cents to $68.38 a barrel in early morning London trade, its lowest level for almost three weeks and bringing losses for the week to date to almost four per cent.
July West Texas Intermediate dropped 90 cents to $69.92 a barrel in electronic trade, extending the $1.68 slide from the previous session and is now at its lowest level in two weeks.
The slide in the current session follows bearish US inventory data from Wednesday, which showed a further rise in US crude and petroleum product stockpiles.
IPE Brent for July delivery fell 81 cents to $68.38 a barrel in early morning London trade, its lowest level for almost three weeks and bringing losses for the week to date to almost four per cent.
July West Texas Intermediate dropped 90 cents to $69.92 a barrel in electronic trade, extending the $1.68 slide from the previous session and is now at its lowest level in two weeks.
The slide in the current session follows bearish US inventory data from Wednesday, which showed a further rise in US crude and petroleum product stockpiles.
List of Terror Attacks Claimed by Al-Zarqawi
The following is a list of major attacks and killings claimed by Jordanian terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his followers:
2005:
Dec. 27: Volley of rockets fired from southern Lebanon into Israel.
Nov. 9: Triple suicide bombing against hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60.
Aug. 19: Rocket attack in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba, killing a Jordanian soldier. One Katyusha rocket lands in neighbouring Israel � causing no casualties � and another misses a U.S. Navy ship docked at Aqaba.
May 7: Two explosives-laden cars plow into an American security company convoy in Baghdad, killing at least 22 people � including two Americans.
Feb. 28: Suicide car bomber strikes crowd of police and Iraqi National Guard recruits in the southern city of Hillah, killing 125 people.
2004:
Dec. 19: Car bombs tear through funeral procession in Najaf and main bus station in nearby Karbala, killing at least 60 in the Shiite holy cities.
Oct. 30: Body of hostage Shosei Koda, 24, of Japan, is found decapitated in Baghdad, his body wrapped in an American flag.
Sept. 30: Bombings in Baghdad kill 35 children and seven adults as U.S. troops hand out candy at the inauguration of a sewage treatment plant. Al-Zarqawi's group claims responsibility for attacks that day, but it is unclear if these include the explosions that killed the children.
Sept. 16: British engineer Kenneth Bigley, and U.S. engineers Jack Hensley and Eugene "Jack" Armstrong kidnapped in Baghdad. By Oct. 10, 2004, all three men have been confirmed beheaded.
Sept. 14: Car bomb rips through a busy market near a Baghdad police headquarters where Iraqis are waiting to apply for jobs, killing 47.
Sept. 13: Video purportedly from al-Qaida in Iraq shows Durmus Kumdereli, a Turkish truck driver, being beheaded.
Aug. 2: Video from followers of al-Zarqawi showing shooting death of hostage Murat Yuce of Turkey.
June 29: Bulgarian truck drivers Georgi Lazov, 30, and Ivaylo Kepov, 32, are kidnapped. Al-Zarqawi's followers suspected of decapitating both men.
June 22: Kidnappers behead South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il; al-Jazeera television says the killing was carried out by al-Zarqawi's group.
June 14: Car bomb attack on a vehicle convoy in Baghdad kills 13, including three General Electric employees.
May 18: Car bomb assassinates Iraqi Governing Council President Abdel-Zahraa Othman.
May 11: Kidnapped American businessman Nicholas Berg is beheaded while being videotaped, and the voice of the knife-wielder is identified as al-Zarqawi's.
March 2: Coordinated blasts from suicide bombers, mortars and planted explosives strike Shiite Muslim shrines in Karbala and Baghdad, killing at least 181. United States and Iraqi officials link the attacks to al-Zarqawi.
2003:
Aug. 29: Car bomb in Najaf kills more than 85 people, including Ayatollah Mohammad Baqr al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Aug. 19: Truck bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad kills 23, including top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.
2002:
Oct. 28: Laurence Foley, a diplomat and administrator of U.S. aid programs in Jordan, is gunned down outside his home in Amman.
2005:
Dec. 27: Volley of rockets fired from southern Lebanon into Israel.
Nov. 9: Triple suicide bombing against hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60.
Aug. 19: Rocket attack in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba, killing a Jordanian soldier. One Katyusha rocket lands in neighbouring Israel � causing no casualties � and another misses a U.S. Navy ship docked at Aqaba.
May 7: Two explosives-laden cars plow into an American security company convoy in Baghdad, killing at least 22 people � including two Americans.
Feb. 28: Suicide car bomber strikes crowd of police and Iraqi National Guard recruits in the southern city of Hillah, killing 125 people.
2004:
Dec. 19: Car bombs tear through funeral procession in Najaf and main bus station in nearby Karbala, killing at least 60 in the Shiite holy cities.
Oct. 30: Body of hostage Shosei Koda, 24, of Japan, is found decapitated in Baghdad, his body wrapped in an American flag.
Sept. 30: Bombings in Baghdad kill 35 children and seven adults as U.S. troops hand out candy at the inauguration of a sewage treatment plant. Al-Zarqawi's group claims responsibility for attacks that day, but it is unclear if these include the explosions that killed the children.
Sept. 16: British engineer Kenneth Bigley, and U.S. engineers Jack Hensley and Eugene "Jack" Armstrong kidnapped in Baghdad. By Oct. 10, 2004, all three men have been confirmed beheaded.
Sept. 14: Car bomb rips through a busy market near a Baghdad police headquarters where Iraqis are waiting to apply for jobs, killing 47.
Sept. 13: Video purportedly from al-Qaida in Iraq shows Durmus Kumdereli, a Turkish truck driver, being beheaded.
Aug. 2: Video from followers of al-Zarqawi showing shooting death of hostage Murat Yuce of Turkey.
June 29: Bulgarian truck drivers Georgi Lazov, 30, and Ivaylo Kepov, 32, are kidnapped. Al-Zarqawi's followers suspected of decapitating both men.
June 22: Kidnappers behead South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il; al-Jazeera television says the killing was carried out by al-Zarqawi's group.
June 14: Car bomb attack on a vehicle convoy in Baghdad kills 13, including three General Electric employees.
May 18: Car bomb assassinates Iraqi Governing Council President Abdel-Zahraa Othman.
May 11: Kidnapped American businessman Nicholas Berg is beheaded while being videotaped, and the voice of the knife-wielder is identified as al-Zarqawi's.
March 2: Coordinated blasts from suicide bombers, mortars and planted explosives strike Shiite Muslim shrines in Karbala and Baghdad, killing at least 181. United States and Iraqi officials link the attacks to al-Zarqawi.
2003:
Aug. 29: Car bomb in Najaf kills more than 85 people, including Ayatollah Mohammad Baqr al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Aug. 19: Truck bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad kills 23, including top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.
2002:
Oct. 28: Laurence Foley, a diplomat and administrator of U.S. aid programs in Jordan, is gunned down outside his home in Amman.
Democrats Irked Over Zarqawi's Death
Grass-roots Democrats weighing in on several popular liberal Web sites Thursday morning said that they were troubled by reports that al Qaida's top operational terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been killed in a U.S. air strike.
Reacting to the news, one visitor to the Daily Kos complained that using military force to kill Zarqawi "violates everything my America stands for."
"It violates the rule of law and invokes the rule of force in what should be a criminal, not a military, matter."
Another Daily Kos'er was irked because he thought the news would benefit President Bush:
"No doubt Karl Rove will have the sock puppet president acting as if he personally dropped the bomb that killed that jackass," he wrote. "But other than a couple of photo ops of Bush looking cocky, it does nothing because two more tin-plated Zarqawi's will pop up."
A third Kos poster suggested that there was little difference between the top al-Qaida terrorist and the leader of the free world, writing: "Now [that] we are rid of one murderous tyrant - how about the removal of another one - believed hiding in a safe-house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?"
Over at the Democratic Underground, reaction to news of Zarqawi's death was also negative:
"Convenient too that this would happen now," complained one DU'er: "Guess we should just all forget about that Haditha mess, the fact that we are approaching 2,500 dead and the fact that our economy is in big trouble."
Another DU poster said that killing the al-Qaida chief really wasn't such a big deal, insisting: "Zarqawi was a fringe group of al-Qaida, and definitely not responsible for the bulk of the insurgency and civil war now occurring in Iraq. Any gains that they hope to receive will be short-lived when reality strikes home."
Reacting to the news, one visitor to the Daily Kos complained that using military force to kill Zarqawi "violates everything my America stands for."
"It violates the rule of law and invokes the rule of force in what should be a criminal, not a military, matter."
Another Daily Kos'er was irked because he thought the news would benefit President Bush:
"No doubt Karl Rove will have the sock puppet president acting as if he personally dropped the bomb that killed that jackass," he wrote. "But other than a couple of photo ops of Bush looking cocky, it does nothing because two more tin-plated Zarqawi's will pop up."
A third Kos poster suggested that there was little difference between the top al-Qaida terrorist and the leader of the free world, writing: "Now [that] we are rid of one murderous tyrant - how about the removal of another one - believed hiding in a safe-house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?"
Over at the Democratic Underground, reaction to news of Zarqawi's death was also negative:
"Convenient too that this would happen now," complained one DU'er: "Guess we should just all forget about that Haditha mess, the fact that we are approaching 2,500 dead and the fact that our economy is in big trouble."
Another DU poster said that killing the al-Qaida chief really wasn't such a big deal, insisting: "Zarqawi was a fringe group of al-Qaida, and definitely not responsible for the bulk of the insurgency and civil war now occurring in Iraq. Any gains that they hope to receive will be short-lived when reality strikes home."
Transcript: Bush's Statement on Al-Zarqawi
Text of President Bush's statement in the Rose Garden on Thursday on the death of al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, as transcribed by the White House:
Good morning. Last night in Iraq, United States military forces killed the terrorist al-Zarqawi. At 6:15 p.m. Baghdad time, special operation forces, acting on tips and intelligence from Iraqis, confirmed Zarqawi's location, and delivered justice to the most wanted terrorist in Iraq.
Zarqawi was the operational commander of the terrorist movement in Iraq. He led a campaign of car bombings, assassinations and suicide attacks that has taken the lives of many American forces and thousands of innocent Iraqis. Osama bin Laden called this Jordanian terrorist "the prince of al-Qaida in Iraq." He called on the terrorists around the world to listen to him and obey him. Zarqawi personally beheaded American hostages and other civilians in Iraq. He masterminded the destruction of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad. He was responsible for the assassination of an American diplomat in Jordan, and the bombing of a hotel in Amman.
Through his every action, he sought to defeat America and our coalition partners, and turn Iraq into a safe haven from which al- Qaida could wage its war on free nations. To achieve these ends, he worked to divide Iraqis and incite civil war. And only last week he released an audio tape attacking Iraq's elected leaders, and denouncing those advocating the end of sectarianism.
Now Zarqawi has met his end, and this violent man will never murder again. Iraqis can be justly proud of their new government and its early steps to improve their security. And Americans can be enormously proud of the men and women of our armed forces, who worked tirelessly with their Iraqi counterparts to track down this brutal terrorist and put him out of business.
The operation against Zarqawi was conducted with courage and professionalism by the finest military in the world. Coalition and Iraqi forces persevered through years of near misses and false leads, and they never gave up. Last night their persistence and determination were rewarded. On behalf of all Americans, I congratulate our troops on this remarkable achievement.
Zarqawi is dead, but the difficult and necessary mission in Iraq continues. We can expect the terrorists and insurgents to carry on without him. We can expect the sectarian violence to continue. Yet the ideology of terror has lost one of its most visible and aggressive leaders.
Zarqawi's death is a severe blow to al-Qaida. It's a victory in the global war on terror, and it is an opportunity for Iraq's new government to turn the tide of this struggle. A few minutes ago I spoke to Prime Minister Maliki. I congratulated him on close collaboration between coalition and Iraqi forces that helped make this day possible. Iraq's freely elected Prime Minister is determined to defeat our common enemies and bring security and the rule of law to all its people.
Earlier this morning he announced the completion of his Cabinet appointments, with the naming of a new minister of defense, a new minister of the interior, and a new minister of state for national security. These new ministers are part of a democratic government that represents all Iraqis. They will play a vital role as the Iraqi government addresses its top priorities _ reconciliation and reconstruction and putting an end to the kidnappings and beheadings and suicide bombings that plague the Iraqi people. I assured Prime Minister Maliki that he will have the full support of the United States of America.
On Monday I will meet with my national security team and other key members of my Cabinet at Camp David to discuss the way forward in Iraq. Our top diplomats and military commanders in Iraq will give me an assessment of recent changes in the political and economic and security situation on the ground. On Tuesday, Iraq's new ambassador to the United States will join us, and we will have a teleconference discussion with the prime minister and members of his cabinet. Together we will discuss how to best deploy America's resources in Iraq and achieve our shared goal of an Iraq that can govern itself, defend itself and sustain itself.
We have tough days ahead of us in Iraq that will require the continued patience of the American people. Yet the developments of the last 24 hours give us renewed confidence in the final outcome of this struggle: the defeat of terrorism threats, and a more peaceful world for our children and grandchildren.
May God bless the Iraqi people and may God continue to bless America.
Good morning. Last night in Iraq, United States military forces killed the terrorist al-Zarqawi. At 6:15 p.m. Baghdad time, special operation forces, acting on tips and intelligence from Iraqis, confirmed Zarqawi's location, and delivered justice to the most wanted terrorist in Iraq.
Zarqawi was the operational commander of the terrorist movement in Iraq. He led a campaign of car bombings, assassinations and suicide attacks that has taken the lives of many American forces and thousands of innocent Iraqis. Osama bin Laden called this Jordanian terrorist "the prince of al-Qaida in Iraq." He called on the terrorists around the world to listen to him and obey him. Zarqawi personally beheaded American hostages and other civilians in Iraq. He masterminded the destruction of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad. He was responsible for the assassination of an American diplomat in Jordan, and the bombing of a hotel in Amman.
Through his every action, he sought to defeat America and our coalition partners, and turn Iraq into a safe haven from which al- Qaida could wage its war on free nations. To achieve these ends, he worked to divide Iraqis and incite civil war. And only last week he released an audio tape attacking Iraq's elected leaders, and denouncing those advocating the end of sectarianism.
Now Zarqawi has met his end, and this violent man will never murder again. Iraqis can be justly proud of their new government and its early steps to improve their security. And Americans can be enormously proud of the men and women of our armed forces, who worked tirelessly with their Iraqi counterparts to track down this brutal terrorist and put him out of business.
The operation against Zarqawi was conducted with courage and professionalism by the finest military in the world. Coalition and Iraqi forces persevered through years of near misses and false leads, and they never gave up. Last night their persistence and determination were rewarded. On behalf of all Americans, I congratulate our troops on this remarkable achievement.
Zarqawi is dead, but the difficult and necessary mission in Iraq continues. We can expect the terrorists and insurgents to carry on without him. We can expect the sectarian violence to continue. Yet the ideology of terror has lost one of its most visible and aggressive leaders.
Zarqawi's death is a severe blow to al-Qaida. It's a victory in the global war on terror, and it is an opportunity for Iraq's new government to turn the tide of this struggle. A few minutes ago I spoke to Prime Minister Maliki. I congratulated him on close collaboration between coalition and Iraqi forces that helped make this day possible. Iraq's freely elected Prime Minister is determined to defeat our common enemies and bring security and the rule of law to all its people.
Earlier this morning he announced the completion of his Cabinet appointments, with the naming of a new minister of defense, a new minister of the interior, and a new minister of state for national security. These new ministers are part of a democratic government that represents all Iraqis. They will play a vital role as the Iraqi government addresses its top priorities _ reconciliation and reconstruction and putting an end to the kidnappings and beheadings and suicide bombings that plague the Iraqi people. I assured Prime Minister Maliki that he will have the full support of the United States of America.
On Monday I will meet with my national security team and other key members of my Cabinet at Camp David to discuss the way forward in Iraq. Our top diplomats and military commanders in Iraq will give me an assessment of recent changes in the political and economic and security situation on the ground. On Tuesday, Iraq's new ambassador to the United States will join us, and we will have a teleconference discussion with the prime minister and members of his cabinet. Together we will discuss how to best deploy America's resources in Iraq and achieve our shared goal of an Iraq that can govern itself, defend itself and sustain itself.
We have tough days ahead of us in Iraq that will require the continued patience of the American people. Yet the developments of the last 24 hours give us renewed confidence in the final outcome of this struggle: the defeat of terrorism threats, and a more peaceful world for our children and grandchildren.
May God bless the Iraqi people and may God continue to bless America.
Iran Ready for Nuclear Talks
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday Iran was ready to discuss "mutual concerns" over his country's nuclear program, but he refused to first suspend uranium enrichment.
His comments came a day after world powers backed off a demand that Iran commit to a prolonged moratorium on uranium enrichment, asking only for a suspension during talks on its nuclear program. Ahmadinejad did not say whether he accepted the proposal, part of a package of incentives in exchange for Iran suspending enrichment.
Last week, the United States agreed last week to join France, Britain and Germany in talks with Iran. If the talks occur, it would be the first major public negotiations between Washington and Tehran in more than 25 years.
However, Ahmadinejad insisted that Iran would never give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to produce nuclear fuel.
"On behalf of the Iranian nation, I'm announcing that the Iranian nation will never hold negotiations about its definite rights with anybody, but we are for talks about mutual concerns to resolve misunderstandings in the international arena," Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in Qazvin, west of the capital Tehran.
"Negotiations should be held in a fair atmosphere and on the basis of equality," he said. "If they think they can threaten and hold a stick over Iran's head and offer negotiations at the same time, they should know the Iranian nation will definitely reject such an atmosphere."
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has said the incentives package included both "positive steps" and "ambiguities that need to be cleared up." Tehran has said it will announce its position after carefully studying the package.
"International monopolists have been defeated in the face of your resistance and solidarity, and have been forced to acknowledge your dignity and greatness," Ahmadinejad told the crowd, referring to the U.S. and its allies.
His comments came a day after world powers backed off a demand that Iran commit to a prolonged moratorium on uranium enrichment, asking only for a suspension during talks on its nuclear program. Ahmadinejad did not say whether he accepted the proposal, part of a package of incentives in exchange for Iran suspending enrichment.
Last week, the United States agreed last week to join France, Britain and Germany in talks with Iran. If the talks occur, it would be the first major public negotiations between Washington and Tehran in more than 25 years.
However, Ahmadinejad insisted that Iran would never give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to produce nuclear fuel.
"On behalf of the Iranian nation, I'm announcing that the Iranian nation will never hold negotiations about its definite rights with anybody, but we are for talks about mutual concerns to resolve misunderstandings in the international arena," Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in Qazvin, west of the capital Tehran.
"Negotiations should be held in a fair atmosphere and on the basis of equality," he said. "If they think they can threaten and hold a stick over Iran's head and offer negotiations at the same time, they should know the Iranian nation will definitely reject such an atmosphere."
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has said the incentives package included both "positive steps" and "ambiguities that need to be cleared up." Tehran has said it will announce its position after carefully studying the package.
"International monopolists have been defeated in the face of your resistance and solidarity, and have been forced to acknowledge your dignity and greatness," Ahmadinejad told the crowd, referring to the U.S. and its allies.
Al-Qaida in Iraq's Zarqawi 'terminated'
Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the coalition's most wanted man in Iraq, was killed in an airstrike near Baquba, jubilant U.S. and Iraqi authorities announced Thursday.
Al-Zarqawi's death gives Iraq a chance to "turn the tide" in the fight against the nation's insurgency, President Bush said at the White House.
"The ideology of terror has lost one of its most visible and aggressive leaders," Bush said. "Zarqawi's death is a severe blow to al Qaeda." (Watch UK leader Tony Blair on how the attack hurts al Qaeda -- 2:35)
"Special Operations forces, acting on tips and intelligence from Iraqis, confirmed Zarqawi's location and delivered justice to the most wanted terrorist in Iraq," Bush said.
"Zarqawi personally beheaded American hostages and other civilians in Iraq," Bush said. "Now Zarqawi has met his end and this violent man will never murder again."
Later, U.S. military officials displayed a picture of al-Zarqawi taken after the attack and showed aircraft video depicting the strike.
U.S. and Iraqi officials first announced the attack at a news conference in Iraq.
The 3-year-old insurgency has "lost its leader," said U.S. Gen. George Casey, the highest-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq. Casey was joined during the announcement by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. (Watch the celebration following the announcement -- 4:31)
Although details of the attack remain elusive, sources at the Pentagon said that a U.S. military aircraft dropped two 500-pound bombs on a safe house with al-Zarqawi inside.
Casey said al-Zarqawi and a key lieutenant, spiritual adviser Sheik Abd-Al-Rahman, were killed at an isolated safe house outside Baquba at 6:15 p.m. (10:15 a.m. ET) on Wednesday. In addition, four others died in the attack, the military said. (Map of target)
A Web site used by Al Qaeda in Iraq confirmed al-Zarqawi's death and urged its followers to continue the insurgent fight.
Another Web site used by the group issued a statement: "People of Islam, God will not let our enemies celebrate and spread corruption in the ground. Expect the right that was stolen to come back to us and destroy the Crusaders" -- an apparent reference to U.S. troops in Iraq.
Al-Zarqawi's death gives Iraq a chance to "turn the tide" in the fight against the nation's insurgency, President Bush said at the White House.
"The ideology of terror has lost one of its most visible and aggressive leaders," Bush said. "Zarqawi's death is a severe blow to al Qaeda." (Watch UK leader Tony Blair on how the attack hurts al Qaeda -- 2:35)
"Special Operations forces, acting on tips and intelligence from Iraqis, confirmed Zarqawi's location and delivered justice to the most wanted terrorist in Iraq," Bush said.
"Zarqawi personally beheaded American hostages and other civilians in Iraq," Bush said. "Now Zarqawi has met his end and this violent man will never murder again."
Later, U.S. military officials displayed a picture of al-Zarqawi taken after the attack and showed aircraft video depicting the strike.
U.S. and Iraqi officials first announced the attack at a news conference in Iraq.
The 3-year-old insurgency has "lost its leader," said U.S. Gen. George Casey, the highest-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq. Casey was joined during the announcement by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. (Watch the celebration following the announcement -- 4:31)
Although details of the attack remain elusive, sources at the Pentagon said that a U.S. military aircraft dropped two 500-pound bombs on a safe house with al-Zarqawi inside.
Casey said al-Zarqawi and a key lieutenant, spiritual adviser Sheik Abd-Al-Rahman, were killed at an isolated safe house outside Baquba at 6:15 p.m. (10:15 a.m. ET) on Wednesday. In addition, four others died in the attack, the military said. (Map of target)
A Web site used by Al Qaeda in Iraq confirmed al-Zarqawi's death and urged its followers to continue the insurgent fight.
Another Web site used by the group issued a statement: "People of Islam, God will not let our enemies celebrate and spread corruption in the ground. Expect the right that was stolen to come back to us and destroy the Crusaders" -- an apparent reference to U.S. troops in Iraq.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
MARRIAGE AMENDMENT FAILS 49-48
A constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman stalled Wednesday in a 49-48 vote, but conservative backers say they are pleased to have had the vote nonetheless.
A constitutional amendment needs two-thirds votes to pass, but first had to get through the procedural cloture vote, which requires 60 senators to agree to end the debate and move toward final passage.
Shy 11 votes to go to a final debate, few crossed the political aisle to vote against their party's majority position. Republican Sens. John McCain, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Judd Gregg, Arlen Specter, Lincoln Chafee and John Sununu voted against the cloture vote. Democratic Sens. Ben Nelson and Robert Byrd voted for it, as they did in 2004.
Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel and Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd and Jay Rockefeller were absent.
A two-thirds majority would have been required to send an amendment to the states for ratification by three-quarters of the union. But since constitutional amendments originate in the Senate, failure to get it through that body means any vote in the House is purely for ceremony.
A majority of Americans define marriage as a union of a man and a woman, as does the amendment, according to a new ABC News poll. But just as many oppose amending the Constitution, the poll found.
Forty-five of the 50 states have acted to define traditional marriage in ways that would ban same-sex marriage � 19 with their own state constitutional amendments and 26 with statutes.
� Roll Call: Senate Vote
A constitutional amendment needs two-thirds votes to pass, but first had to get through the procedural cloture vote, which requires 60 senators to agree to end the debate and move toward final passage.
Shy 11 votes to go to a final debate, few crossed the political aisle to vote against their party's majority position. Republican Sens. John McCain, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Judd Gregg, Arlen Specter, Lincoln Chafee and John Sununu voted against the cloture vote. Democratic Sens. Ben Nelson and Robert Byrd voted for it, as they did in 2004.
Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel and Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd and Jay Rockefeller were absent.
A two-thirds majority would have been required to send an amendment to the states for ratification by three-quarters of the union. But since constitutional amendments originate in the Senate, failure to get it through that body means any vote in the House is purely for ceremony.
A majority of Americans define marriage as a union of a man and a woman, as does the amendment, according to a new ABC News poll. But just as many oppose amending the Constitution, the poll found.
Forty-five of the 50 states have acted to define traditional marriage in ways that would ban same-sex marriage � 19 with their own state constitutional amendments and 26 with statutes.
� Roll Call: Senate Vote
More illegals apprehended along border
The Border Patrol says apprehensions of illegal immigrants along the Mexican border are up nearly 4% so far this year because of increased enforcement.
There is no official data on the flow of illegal immigrants. Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar said Monday there has been no surge in the number of illegal crossings since President Bush announced in May that 6,000 National Guard troops would be sent to the border. Aguilar expects a decrease as more agents and Guard members are deployed.
Border Patrol spokesman Richard Rojas says apprehensions at the southern border are up this year to 826,109, from 795,218 at this point in 2005. �We're enforcing more; therefore, we're apprehending more,� he says.
There is no official data on the flow of illegal immigrants. Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar said Monday there has been no surge in the number of illegal crossings since President Bush announced in May that 6,000 National Guard troops would be sent to the border. Aguilar expects a decrease as more agents and Guard members are deployed.
Border Patrol spokesman Richard Rojas says apprehensions at the southern border are up this year to 826,109, from 795,218 at this point in 2005. �We're enforcing more; therefore, we're apprehending more,� he says.
Marriage amendment faces Senate defeat
The constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage is headed toward certain defeat Wednesday despite a fresh appeal for passage by President Bush.
While a majority of Americans oppose gay marriage, an equal majority oppose amending the Constitution to prohibit it, according to a poll this week by ABC News. And, according to one Republican, Americans do not yet buy the warning that traditional marriage is under attack by renegade judges.
"Most Americans are not yet convinced that their elected representatives or the judiciary are likely to expand decisively the definition of marriage to include same sex couples," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a possible presidential candidate in 2008. He told the Senate on Tuesday he does not support the amendment.
The measure's looming defeat in the Senate is by no means its last stand, said its supporters.
"Whether it passes or not this time, I do not believe the sponsors are going to fall back and cry about it," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "I think they are going to keep bringing it up."
The House plans a redux next month, said Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
"This is an issue that is of significant importance to many Americans," Boehner told reporters. "We have significant numbers of our members who want a vote on this, so we are going to have a vote."
Some of those closely watching the Senate's three-day debate on the proposed amendment are engaging that argument as if the measure stands a chance of passage.
"The administration believes that the future of marriage in America should be decided through the democratic constitutional amendment process, rather than by the court orders of a few," a White House statement said.
Despite the big names advocating it, the amendment was expected to fail a test vote early Wednesday after three days of floor time in which debate over the definition of marriage touched on issues ranging from child welfare to bigotry.
Democrats, all of whom except Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska oppose the amendment, say the debate is a divisive effort to energize social conservatives this election year.
"The Republican leadership is asking us to spend time writing bigotry into the Constitution," said Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, which legalized gay marriage in 2003. "A vote for it is a vote against civil unions, against domestic partnership, against all other efforts for states to treat gays and lesbians fairly under the law."
More than half of the 100-member Senate is likely to support the amendment on the test vote Wednesday, even if the vote fails to win the required 60 votes, said Hatch.
While a majority of Americans oppose gay marriage, an equal majority oppose amending the Constitution to prohibit it, according to a poll this week by ABC News. And, according to one Republican, Americans do not yet buy the warning that traditional marriage is under attack by renegade judges.
"Most Americans are not yet convinced that their elected representatives or the judiciary are likely to expand decisively the definition of marriage to include same sex couples," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a possible presidential candidate in 2008. He told the Senate on Tuesday he does not support the amendment.
The measure's looming defeat in the Senate is by no means its last stand, said its supporters.
"Whether it passes or not this time, I do not believe the sponsors are going to fall back and cry about it," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "I think they are going to keep bringing it up."
The House plans a redux next month, said Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
"This is an issue that is of significant importance to many Americans," Boehner told reporters. "We have significant numbers of our members who want a vote on this, so we are going to have a vote."
Some of those closely watching the Senate's three-day debate on the proposed amendment are engaging that argument as if the measure stands a chance of passage.
"The administration believes that the future of marriage in America should be decided through the democratic constitutional amendment process, rather than by the court orders of a few," a White House statement said.
Despite the big names advocating it, the amendment was expected to fail a test vote early Wednesday after three days of floor time in which debate over the definition of marriage touched on issues ranging from child welfare to bigotry.
Democrats, all of whom except Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska oppose the amendment, say the debate is a divisive effort to energize social conservatives this election year.
"The Republican leadership is asking us to spend time writing bigotry into the Constitution," said Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, which legalized gay marriage in 2003. "A vote for it is a vote against civil unions, against domestic partnership, against all other efforts for states to treat gays and lesbians fairly under the law."
More than half of the 100-member Senate is likely to support the amendment on the test vote Wednesday, even if the vote fails to win the required 60 votes, said Hatch.
Republican wins closely watched California race
Bilbray takes seat held by Cunningham
A former Republican congressman narrowly beat his Democratic rival early Wednesday for the right to fill the House seat once held by imprisoned Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a race closely watched as a possible early barometer of next fall's vote.
Republican Brian Bilbray emerged victorious after a costly and contentious race against Democrat Francine Busby, a local school board member who ran against Cunningham in 2004.
With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Bilbray had 56,016 votes or 49.5 percent. Busby trailed with 51,202 votes or 45 percent.
"I think that we're going back to Washington," Bilbray told a cheering crowd of supporters.
The race -- one of dozens of election contests in eight states -- was viewed by Democrats as an opportunity to capture a solidly Republican district and build momentum on their hopes to capture control of the House.
A former Republican congressman narrowly beat his Democratic rival early Wednesday for the right to fill the House seat once held by imprisoned Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a race closely watched as a possible early barometer of next fall's vote.
Republican Brian Bilbray emerged victorious after a costly and contentious race against Democrat Francine Busby, a local school board member who ran against Cunningham in 2004.
With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Bilbray had 56,016 votes or 49.5 percent. Busby trailed with 51,202 votes or 45 percent.
"I think that we're going back to Washington," Bilbray told a cheering crowd of supporters.
The race -- one of dozens of election contests in eight states -- was viewed by Democrats as an opportunity to capture a solidly Republican district and build momentum on their hopes to capture control of the House.
Still not charged with crime, sailor wears shackles
Lawyer says 'cruel and unusual' treatment is worse than what some alleged terrorists receive
The attorney for a 20-year-old corpsman � one of a dozen in an infantry company suspected in the April shooting death of an Iraqi man � criticized his treatment at the Camp Pendleton brig, where he's shackled at the hands and feet and held in solitary confinement for all but one hour a day.
Jeremiah "Jay" Sullivan III, a former Navy lawyer, said the sailor's treatment is worse than what some terrorists receive. "Even in Supermax (the federal high-security prison) people get to exercise," Sullivan said Tuesday during a press conference at his downtown office.
Sullivan would not reveal the identity of the sailor, who is married to another corpsman and who was on his second combat tour in Iraq.
No charges had been preferred against the third-class hospital corpsman assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, as of Tuesday afternoon, although Sullivan expects the Marine Corps to charge the sailor with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the coming days.
The sailor and seven Marines with 3/5 are being held at the brig at Camp Pendleton, where four other members of their infantry company are being restricted to the base. The rest of the battalion, which deployed in January, remains in Iraq.
"Anytime he is out of the room, he is shackled," Sullivan said, noting that even during an hour-long exercise period, a brig guard keeps one hand on the sailor's waist belt.
"It's cruel and unusual," he added.
Sullivan complained about reports circulated in the news media and in Washington about the actions of the unit, which have come amid allegations that Marines with another unit, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, may have killed 24 Iraqis, including children and women, in Hadithah last November. The men "are being tried on the five o'clock news, and that's wrong," he said.
The attorney believes that his client and the 3/5 men are getting hammered because of the ongoing 3/1 investigation. "There's no question," he said, noting comments made by senior leaders, including President Bush. "There's a huge prejudicial effect," he added.
Sullivan also took offense at reports of purported confessions. "I'm not saying there are confessions," he said. He would not detail the sailor's alleged role in the incident, which he noted was brought to the attention of military authorities by an Iraqi family who wanted payment for a wrongful death.
The sailor has been visited by his wife, who gave birth last year to the couple's daughter, and by Sullivan, who spent several hours on Sunday conferring with him.
The corpsman, a "young-looking kid" who comes from "America's heartland," graduated from high school in 2003 and enlisted in the service. He first deployed to Iraq in 2004 with an infantry battalion that lost 19 men killed in combat, seven of those from the sailor's company. Two of those men, Sullivan said, "died in my client's arms." The corpsman was wounded on that tour and received the Purple Heart medal, although Sullivan did not detail his injuries.
The allegations against him and his unit are "a crushing blow" to the sailor, Sullivan said. But he noted that the dozens of calls his office has received are helping lift his spirits.
The corpsman and the other 11 men from 3/5 were sent from Iraq to Camp Pendleton, where they were immediately placed into confinement or restriction. Sullivan said the corpsman had initially contacted his wife when he got back. But she didn't hear from him until she "got a collect call two days later from the brig," he said.
The sailor's wife has set up a defense fund and a Web site to raise money to help defray the costs of defending any charges in court.
The young couple can talk only through inch-thick Plexiglas. "During the visits, my husband's arms and legs remained shackled at all times," she wrote in a statement posted on the Web site. "I can only speak to my husband through the glass with a guard posted in the room. When I told my husband about the support he has received from across the country, it immediately lifted his spirits."
Contributions may be mailed to: Patriot Defense Fund, P.O. Box 80862, San Diego, CA 92138-0862. All checks should be made payable to the "Patriot Defense Fund."
The Patriot Defense Fund
You can email the Navy Corpman here:HM3@patriotdefensefund.com.
Contact his attorney here:Attorney Jeremiah J. Sullivan's Office at (619) 578-5958.
The attorney for a 20-year-old corpsman � one of a dozen in an infantry company suspected in the April shooting death of an Iraqi man � criticized his treatment at the Camp Pendleton brig, where he's shackled at the hands and feet and held in solitary confinement for all but one hour a day.
Jeremiah "Jay" Sullivan III, a former Navy lawyer, said the sailor's treatment is worse than what some terrorists receive. "Even in Supermax (the federal high-security prison) people get to exercise," Sullivan said Tuesday during a press conference at his downtown office.
Sullivan would not reveal the identity of the sailor, who is married to another corpsman and who was on his second combat tour in Iraq.
No charges had been preferred against the third-class hospital corpsman assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, as of Tuesday afternoon, although Sullivan expects the Marine Corps to charge the sailor with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the coming days.
The sailor and seven Marines with 3/5 are being held at the brig at Camp Pendleton, where four other members of their infantry company are being restricted to the base. The rest of the battalion, which deployed in January, remains in Iraq.
"Anytime he is out of the room, he is shackled," Sullivan said, noting that even during an hour-long exercise period, a brig guard keeps one hand on the sailor's waist belt.
"It's cruel and unusual," he added.
Sullivan complained about reports circulated in the news media and in Washington about the actions of the unit, which have come amid allegations that Marines with another unit, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, may have killed 24 Iraqis, including children and women, in Hadithah last November. The men "are being tried on the five o'clock news, and that's wrong," he said.
The attorney believes that his client and the 3/5 men are getting hammered because of the ongoing 3/1 investigation. "There's no question," he said, noting comments made by senior leaders, including President Bush. "There's a huge prejudicial effect," he added.
Sullivan also took offense at reports of purported confessions. "I'm not saying there are confessions," he said. He would not detail the sailor's alleged role in the incident, which he noted was brought to the attention of military authorities by an Iraqi family who wanted payment for a wrongful death.
The sailor has been visited by his wife, who gave birth last year to the couple's daughter, and by Sullivan, who spent several hours on Sunday conferring with him.
The corpsman, a "young-looking kid" who comes from "America's heartland," graduated from high school in 2003 and enlisted in the service. He first deployed to Iraq in 2004 with an infantry battalion that lost 19 men killed in combat, seven of those from the sailor's company. Two of those men, Sullivan said, "died in my client's arms." The corpsman was wounded on that tour and received the Purple Heart medal, although Sullivan did not detail his injuries.
The allegations against him and his unit are "a crushing blow" to the sailor, Sullivan said. But he noted that the dozens of calls his office has received are helping lift his spirits.
The corpsman and the other 11 men from 3/5 were sent from Iraq to Camp Pendleton, where they were immediately placed into confinement or restriction. Sullivan said the corpsman had initially contacted his wife when he got back. But she didn't hear from him until she "got a collect call two days later from the brig," he said.
The sailor's wife has set up a defense fund and a Web site to raise money to help defray the costs of defending any charges in court.
The young couple can talk only through inch-thick Plexiglas. "During the visits, my husband's arms and legs remained shackled at all times," she wrote in a statement posted on the Web site. "I can only speak to my husband through the glass with a guard posted in the room. When I told my husband about the support he has received from across the country, it immediately lifted his spirits."
Contributions may be mailed to: Patriot Defense Fund, P.O. Box 80862, San Diego, CA 92138-0862. All checks should be made payable to the "Patriot Defense Fund."
The Patriot Defense Fund
You can email the Navy Corpman here:HM3@patriotdefensefund.com.
Contact his attorney here:Attorney Jeremiah J. Sullivan's Office at (619) 578-5958.
Air Force Hero To Defend Accused Marines
Honored Veteran Takes Lead Defense Position
Aero-News has learned that USAF Col (Retired) George Everett "Bud" Day MOH, one of the most highly decorated veterans of the Vietnam War, or of US history for that matter, has undertaken to defend "up to 20" Marines who have been accused of crimes up to and including murder in connection with an alleged massacre in Haditha, Iraq.
Col. Day is a veteran, peculiarly enough, of World War II as a Marine, and later of the Army, and then of Korea and Vietnam in the United States Air Force. In Vietnam, he started and led the Misty Super FAC program, which includes among its old boys Dick Rutan and several other aviation luminaries. In a tradition begun by Day, each Misty pilot had a unique numbered callsign beginning, of course, with Misty 1 (Day, of course; Rutan was Misty 40).
Day was marked for success in the Air Force early in his flying career, when he made a "no-chute" ejection from a doomed F-84F and survived. "I bailed out of a burning F-84 in 1957 in England," he wrote in response to an enquiry from the Free Fall Research Page. "My parachute did not open, but lucky for me I landed in the Queen's forest, and the riser cords of the chute wove in and out of the pine tree I fell in. I bailed out between 300 and 500 feet and lived."
On August 24, 1967, then-Major Day was breaking in a new pilot on F-100F "Misty" "fast FAC" duty in the southern reaches of North Vietnam. He was instructing pilot Corwin Kippenham on how best to approach the target, a missile site, when their aircraft was hit. At over 500 knots it became a fireball.
Day ejected, followed by Kippenham, and they landed in North Vietnam near the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Vietnam. Day had a broken arm -- broken in three places -- and a dislocated knee, and the North Vietnamese grabbed him only a mile or so from where Kippenham boarded a helicopter to safety. Later Day escaped, only to be wounded by US fire when he slept too near an enemy artillery site, and ultimately recaptured after being wounded yet again.
In almost six years of captivity, Day endured unspeakable tortures, and, his fellow captives recall, drove his captors wild. In one case he responded to them by singing "the Star Spangled Banner," which earned him a particularly violent beating -- as the other prisoners all joined in, and the guards saw it as a loss of face.
There's no official list of most highly decorated veterans, but Day and Army Colonel Bob Howard are more or less tied for the top title. There was a more highly decorated veteran in World War II, though: Douglas Macarthur. In all, Day has a staggering 70 awards and decorations, not to mention such post-service honors as having the Sioux City Airport named after him.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1977, Bud Day put his long-dormant law degree and he has been a lawyer and an activist for veterans ever since. He has not always won, but government attorneys have come to fear him almost as much as the North Vietnamese prison guards did.
These days, the old warrior even sees a rosy side to his bleak years of captivity: "Freedom has a special taste!" His legal record is a formidable as his military record; he has frequently argued appellate cases, and has taken cases to the Supreme Court and argued them there.
While there has been much reaction to probable charges in the Haditha case, no details have been released, charges laid, nor defendants named by officialdom -- yet. But the defendants, whoever they may be -- and we hadn't heard numbers like "20" before -- will not lack effective counsel.
Aero-News has learned that USAF Col (Retired) George Everett "Bud" Day MOH, one of the most highly decorated veterans of the Vietnam War, or of US history for that matter, has undertaken to defend "up to 20" Marines who have been accused of crimes up to and including murder in connection with an alleged massacre in Haditha, Iraq.
Col. Day is a veteran, peculiarly enough, of World War II as a Marine, and later of the Army, and then of Korea and Vietnam in the United States Air Force. In Vietnam, he started and led the Misty Super FAC program, which includes among its old boys Dick Rutan and several other aviation luminaries. In a tradition begun by Day, each Misty pilot had a unique numbered callsign beginning, of course, with Misty 1 (Day, of course; Rutan was Misty 40).
Day was marked for success in the Air Force early in his flying career, when he made a "no-chute" ejection from a doomed F-84F and survived. "I bailed out of a burning F-84 in 1957 in England," he wrote in response to an enquiry from the Free Fall Research Page. "My parachute did not open, but lucky for me I landed in the Queen's forest, and the riser cords of the chute wove in and out of the pine tree I fell in. I bailed out between 300 and 500 feet and lived."
On August 24, 1967, then-Major Day was breaking in a new pilot on F-100F "Misty" "fast FAC" duty in the southern reaches of North Vietnam. He was instructing pilot Corwin Kippenham on how best to approach the target, a missile site, when their aircraft was hit. At over 500 knots it became a fireball.
Day ejected, followed by Kippenham, and they landed in North Vietnam near the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Vietnam. Day had a broken arm -- broken in three places -- and a dislocated knee, and the North Vietnamese grabbed him only a mile or so from where Kippenham boarded a helicopter to safety. Later Day escaped, only to be wounded by US fire when he slept too near an enemy artillery site, and ultimately recaptured after being wounded yet again.
In almost six years of captivity, Day endured unspeakable tortures, and, his fellow captives recall, drove his captors wild. In one case he responded to them by singing "the Star Spangled Banner," which earned him a particularly violent beating -- as the other prisoners all joined in, and the guards saw it as a loss of face.
There's no official list of most highly decorated veterans, but Day and Army Colonel Bob Howard are more or less tied for the top title. There was a more highly decorated veteran in World War II, though: Douglas Macarthur. In all, Day has a staggering 70 awards and decorations, not to mention such post-service honors as having the Sioux City Airport named after him.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1977, Bud Day put his long-dormant law degree and he has been a lawyer and an activist for veterans ever since. He has not always won, but government attorneys have come to fear him almost as much as the North Vietnamese prison guards did.
These days, the old warrior even sees a rosy side to his bleak years of captivity: "Freedom has a special taste!" His legal record is a formidable as his military record; he has frequently argued appellate cases, and has taken cases to the Supreme Court and argued them there.
While there has been much reaction to probable charges in the Haditha case, no details have been released, charges laid, nor defendants named by officialdom -- yet. But the defendants, whoever they may be -- and we hadn't heard numbers like "20" before -- will not lack effective counsel.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
2002 Document: Chemical Material Hidden Underground (Translation)
Document Document ISGQ-2003-00004530 dated September 15 2002 is a memo from a General in Saddam Feedayeens to the Supervisor of those Feedayeens who is not other than Uday Saddam Hussein. The memo talks about a hidden large container that contain a Chemical Material and that it was buried under the ground near Fallujah back when Hussein Kamal Hussein was in charge of the Iraqi Military Industrialization Commission. Hussein Kamal was the brother in law of Saddam who fled to Jordan in 1995 exposed to the world that Saddam still have WMD and then Saddam tricked him to come back by granting him amnesty. When he returned to Iraq he was killed by the regime. If what in this document is true that this shows that one of the obvious way to hide the WMD was to bury it under the ground and in this case the difficulty of finding it in a country the size of California.
Beginning of the translation of Document ISGQ-2003-00004530 page 1 and 2.
In the Name of God The Most Compassionate The Most Merciful
The Republic of Iraq
The Presidency of the Republic
Saddam Feedayeens
Secretariat
The Supervisor of Saddam Feedayeens
2002/9
The Respected Supervisor of Saddam Feedayeens
Subject: Information
Salute and regards Sir
We received information that state the following:
1. A team from the Military Industrialization Commission when Hussein Kamel Hussein was conducting his responsibilities did bury a large container said that it contains a Chemical Material in the village (Al Subbayhat) part of the district of Karma in Fallujah in a quarry region that was used by SamSung Korean company and close to the homes of some citizens.
2. The container was buried using a fleet of concrete mixers.
3. Before the departure of the international inspectors in 1998 a United Nations helicopter flew over the region for two hours.
4. A large number of the region residents know about this container from the large number of machines used to hide it then.
5. It was noticed a non ordinary smell in the region.
6. No official visited the burial site through out the years which give the impression that it is not currently known by the Military Industrialization Commission.
7. Positions for the air defense were digged in the region that surrounds the quarry place without them knowing anything about the container. Also next to it are important headquarters like (Saddam factories-The warehouses of the Commerce ministry- Headquarters of Mujaheeden Khlaq).
Please your Excellency review and order what is appropriate Sir� With regards
Signature
General
Moohsen Abdel Karim Mahmood
General Relations
15/9/2002
End of the translation.
Beginning of the translation of Document ISGQ-2003-00004530 page 1 and 2.
In the Name of God The Most Compassionate The Most Merciful
The Republic of Iraq
The Presidency of the Republic
Saddam Feedayeens
Secretariat
The Supervisor of Saddam Feedayeens
2002/9
The Respected Supervisor of Saddam Feedayeens
Subject: Information
Salute and regards Sir
We received information that state the following:
1. A team from the Military Industrialization Commission when Hussein Kamel Hussein was conducting his responsibilities did bury a large container said that it contains a Chemical Material in the village (Al Subbayhat) part of the district of Karma in Fallujah in a quarry region that was used by SamSung Korean company and close to the homes of some citizens.
2. The container was buried using a fleet of concrete mixers.
3. Before the departure of the international inspectors in 1998 a United Nations helicopter flew over the region for two hours.
4. A large number of the region residents know about this container from the large number of machines used to hide it then.
5. It was noticed a non ordinary smell in the region.
6. No official visited the burial site through out the years which give the impression that it is not currently known by the Military Industrialization Commission.
7. Positions for the air defense were digged in the region that surrounds the quarry place without them knowing anything about the container. Also next to it are important headquarters like (Saddam factories-The warehouses of the Commerce ministry- Headquarters of Mujaheeden Khlaq).
Please your Excellency review and order what is appropriate Sir� With regards
Signature
General
Moohsen Abdel Karim Mahmood
General Relations
15/9/2002
End of the translation.
The 2006 Election Frontrunner Is: None of the Above
Democrats might want to wait a few more months before they order the champagne to celebrate their great 2006 election victory over the Republicans. The ever even handed main stream media gleefully points to President Bush's low approval ratings and asserts that on this alone, the Democrats will regain control of both Houses of Congress, and lay the foundation for retaking the White House in 2008.
Everyone knows about President Bush's job and approval ratings are hovering anywhere between the low to mid 30% range. Not a great statistic. However, according to an ABC News/Washington Post Poll conducted between May 11th and 15th of 2006; the approval rating of Congressional Democrats is only 39%, with a 58% disapproval rating. A five percent difference is hardly a number indicating a landslide victory in November.
Even more telling is a CBS poll conducted between April 6th to the 9th, 2006, which asked, "If the Democrats were in control of Congress now, do you think Congress would do a better job than it has with the Republicans in control, a worse job than it has with the Republicans in control, or about the same job as it has with the Republicans in control?" An astounding 48% of all adults surveyed answered "no difference," with 7% unsure. Let us see, 48% plus 7% equals something in the area of 55%, again, hardly an endorsement for the opposition party.
The Republicans have fared no better, showing ratings roughly equal or a bit lower than the Democrats and the President. However, both sides lost on the issue of the culture of corruption that has spread through Washington like a cancer, with the ABC News Poll from May 26-30, 2006 showing that 72% of respondents did not see much difference between the honesty and ethics of politicians of either party.
Everyone knows about President Bush's job and approval ratings are hovering anywhere between the low to mid 30% range. Not a great statistic. However, according to an ABC News/Washington Post Poll conducted between May 11th and 15th of 2006; the approval rating of Congressional Democrats is only 39%, with a 58% disapproval rating. A five percent difference is hardly a number indicating a landslide victory in November.
Even more telling is a CBS poll conducted between April 6th to the 9th, 2006, which asked, "If the Democrats were in control of Congress now, do you think Congress would do a better job than it has with the Republicans in control, a worse job than it has with the Republicans in control, or about the same job as it has with the Republicans in control?" An astounding 48% of all adults surveyed answered "no difference," with 7% unsure. Let us see, 48% plus 7% equals something in the area of 55%, again, hardly an endorsement for the opposition party.
The Republicans have fared no better, showing ratings roughly equal or a bit lower than the Democrats and the President. However, both sides lost on the issue of the culture of corruption that has spread through Washington like a cancer, with the ABC News Poll from May 26-30, 2006 showing that 72% of respondents did not see much difference between the honesty and ethics of politicians of either party.
Report: U.S. terror attack not far off
U.S. officials fear a domestic terror attack is likely before the end of the year, as activity by "homegrown" cells is increasing, CBS News reported Tuesday.
Various officials told the network last weekend's terror arrests of 17 people in Canadian -- all of them Canadian citizens or residents -- shows how the odds of a domestic attack are escalating.
Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton pointed out a little-publicized incident last summer when Muslim converts who had banded together in prison began with a string of gas station robberies in Torrance, Calif. They later admitted the money was to fund attacks on 20 Army recruiting stations, the report said.
"Make no mistake about it," Bratton told CBS. "We dodged a bullet here -- perhaps many bullets."
Then, police in Toledo, Ohio, broke up a cell of three men training to attack U.S. forces overseas in February.
The officials said domestic terror cells are developing that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is not funding or organizing and is likely unaware of, the report said.
Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Various officials told the network last weekend's terror arrests of 17 people in Canadian -- all of them Canadian citizens or residents -- shows how the odds of a domestic attack are escalating.
Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton pointed out a little-publicized incident last summer when Muslim converts who had banded together in prison began with a string of gas station robberies in Torrance, Calif. They later admitted the money was to fund attacks on 20 Army recruiting stations, the report said.
"Make no mistake about it," Bratton told CBS. "We dodged a bullet here -- perhaps many bullets."
Then, police in Toledo, Ohio, broke up a cell of three men training to attack U.S. forces overseas in February.
The officials said domestic terror cells are developing that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is not funding or organizing and is likely unaware of, the report said.
Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved
D-Day Remembered !
American D-Day
"This website pays homage to those young Americans, who fought 06 June 1944, at Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, and the Pointe du Hoc, places responsible for changing the course of history."
This would be a good day to visit American D-Day a website run by Captain Laurent Lefebvre of the Paris police who is one of the few Parisians that like Americans.
In fact, Laurent uses the profits from the books he writes about D-Day
to fly American D-Day vets back to France for the commemoration each year.
His wife, Sophie, is a very tolerant woman who spends part of her vacation in the USA listening to Laurent interview D-Day vets.
http://www.americandday.org/
"This website pays homage to those young Americans, who fought 06 June 1944, at Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, and the Pointe du Hoc, places responsible for changing the course of history."
This would be a good day to visit American D-Day a website run by Captain Laurent Lefebvre of the Paris police who is one of the few Parisians that like Americans.
In fact, Laurent uses the profits from the books he writes about D-Day
to fly American D-Day vets back to France for the commemoration each year.
His wife, Sophie, is a very tolerant woman who spends part of her vacation in the USA listening to Laurent interview D-Day vets.
http://www.americandday.org/
Australia Set to Outlaw So-Called 'Gay Marriage'
Australia's conservative government will overrule same sex marriage laws in the nation's capital, Prime Minister John Howard said on Tuesday, saying marriage should only be between men and women.
Howard's move, which mirrors the push by U.S. President George W. Bush to outlaw gay marriage across the United Sates, follows new laws by the self-governing Australian Capital Territory (ACT) to allow same-sex unions.
National laws in Australia say a marriage must be between a man and woman at the exclusion of all others, but the ACT laws would have given gay couples the same legal rights as married couples by describing the marriages as "civil unions".
"Our view is very simple. We are not prepared to accept something which is a plain attempt to equate civil unions with marriage," Howard told reporters.
Bush wants the U.S. Senate to pass a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage after several state courts since 2003 ruled that state legislatures did not have the right to ban it.
Canada became the fourth country to legalise same-sex marriage in mid-2005 but the new conservative government will allow a free vote in parliament to decide whether the laws should be overturned.
Australia's centre-left Labor opposition said Howard was wrong to intervene over laws passed by the democratically elected ACT government, which administers the nation's capital Canberra.
"The law should recognise caring and loving relationships," Labor spokeswoman Nicola Roxon said, adding that gay couples continued to be discriminated against in areas such as pensions, tax and health and welfare benefits
Howard's move, which mirrors the push by U.S. President George W. Bush to outlaw gay marriage across the United Sates, follows new laws by the self-governing Australian Capital Territory (ACT) to allow same-sex unions.
National laws in Australia say a marriage must be between a man and woman at the exclusion of all others, but the ACT laws would have given gay couples the same legal rights as married couples by describing the marriages as "civil unions".
"Our view is very simple. We are not prepared to accept something which is a plain attempt to equate civil unions with marriage," Howard told reporters.
Bush wants the U.S. Senate to pass a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage after several state courts since 2003 ruled that state legislatures did not have the right to ban it.
Canada became the fourth country to legalise same-sex marriage in mid-2005 but the new conservative government will allow a free vote in parliament to decide whether the laws should be overturned.
Australia's centre-left Labor opposition said Howard was wrong to intervene over laws passed by the democratically elected ACT government, which administers the nation's capital Canberra.
"The law should recognise caring and loving relationships," Labor spokeswoman Nicola Roxon said, adding that gay couples continued to be discriminated against in areas such as pensions, tax and health and welfare benefits
45 States Have Acted to Ban So-Called 'Gay Marriage'
Forty-five states have acted to define traditional marriage in ways that would ban same-sex marriage. Here is a breakdown of each state:
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Nineteen states have constitutional amendments: Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Utah.
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Twenty-six states have enacted statutes but not constitutional amendments: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
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Five states have not taken either action: New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
---
Nineteen states have constitutional amendments: Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Utah.
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Twenty-six states have enacted statutes but not constitutional amendments: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
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Five states have not taken either action: New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Ads bash McCain stance on same-sex-marriage ban
Two socially conservative Christian groups have taken out an full-page advertisement in USA Today, criticizing Arizona Sen. John McCain's opposition to a federal constitutional ban on gay marriages.
The Family Research Council and Focus on the Family paid for the ad, which also faults U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, R-N.Y. for not supporting a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union.
USA Today is an arm of McLean,Va.-based Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI). Gannett also is the parent of the Arizona Republic and KPNX-TV Channel 12, the Valley's NBC television affiliate.
McCain supports a proposed state gay marriage ban ballot question and voted for federal legislation that limits marriage to partners of the opposite sex. Sen. Clinton also supports that bill, which was signed into law by her husband, former president Bill Clinton.
Neither Mrs. Clinton or McCain support a proposed gay marriage constitutional amendment favored by President Bush, conservative Christians and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. McCain prefers the issue be left up to individual states.
The conservative jab at McCain comes as Bush makes a push for a federal gay marriage ban amendment and as the Arizona Republican tries to reach out to the political right and Evangelicals in preparation for a possible run in the 2008 presidential race.
McCain has been reaching out to Christian conservatives and attempting to heal wounds from the 2000 presidential primaries and fights over campaign finance reforms. Mrs. Clinton is also a top Democratic presidential hopeful for 2008.
The Family Research Council and Focus on the Family paid for the ad, which also faults U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, R-N.Y. for not supporting a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union.
USA Today is an arm of McLean,Va.-based Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI). Gannett also is the parent of the Arizona Republic and KPNX-TV Channel 12, the Valley's NBC television affiliate.
McCain supports a proposed state gay marriage ban ballot question and voted for federal legislation that limits marriage to partners of the opposite sex. Sen. Clinton also supports that bill, which was signed into law by her husband, former president Bill Clinton.
Neither Mrs. Clinton or McCain support a proposed gay marriage constitutional amendment favored by President Bush, conservative Christians and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. McCain prefers the issue be left up to individual states.
The conservative jab at McCain comes as Bush makes a push for a federal gay marriage ban amendment and as the Arizona Republican tries to reach out to the political right and Evangelicals in preparation for a possible run in the 2008 presidential race.
McCain has been reaching out to Christian conservatives and attempting to heal wounds from the 2000 presidential primaries and fights over campaign finance reforms. Mrs. Clinton is also a top Democratic presidential hopeful for 2008.
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton says gay marriage not main concern
Sen. Hillary Clinton said the discussion of gay marriage in Congress this week is a priority of the "political machine of the White House and the Republican majority" but her constituents put other concerns first.
"When I travel around and speak with people whom I'm representing, they worry about everything from terrorism to gas prices to the cost of health care to energy independence," Clinton, D-N.Y., said Monday at a fundraising luncheon. "There's a long list. What we're going to do this week is not on the list. It is unfortunately on the list of the political machine of the White House and the Republican majority."
Clinton spoke to a crowd of about 1,500 people at the New York Women for Hillary lunch, which was expected to raise more than $350,000 for her already well-funded re-election campaign.
After showing her campaign video, Clinton told her audience that in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks the country could have been brought together but the Bush administration didn't take advantage of that and instead focused on divisive issues like gay marriage.
President Bush has been outspoken in his support of a constitutional ban on gay marriage.
"When I travel around and speak with people whom I'm representing, they worry about everything from terrorism to gas prices to the cost of health care to energy independence," Clinton, D-N.Y., said Monday at a fundraising luncheon. "There's a long list. What we're going to do this week is not on the list. It is unfortunately on the list of the political machine of the White House and the Republican majority."
Clinton spoke to a crowd of about 1,500 people at the New York Women for Hillary lunch, which was expected to raise more than $350,000 for her already well-funded re-election campaign.
After showing her campaign video, Clinton told her audience that in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks the country could have been brought together but the Bush administration didn't take advantage of that and instead focused on divisive issues like gay marriage.
President Bush has been outspoken in his support of a constitutional ban on gay marriage.
Senator Ted Kennedy: "A vote for this (marriage) amendment is a vote for bigotry pure and simple."
The U.S. Senate will vote this week on the Marriage Protection Amendment, a bill which defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. Senator Edward M. Kennedy was quoted today as saying, 'A vote for this amendment is a vote for bigotry pure and simple."
Kennedy, who claims to be Catholic while opposing the Church on every major tenet of morality, was blasted by Catholic League president Bill Donohue.
"A vote for the Marriage Protection Amendment is a vote to maintain the traditional understanding of marriage as it has been accepted for thousands of years all over the world," said Donohue. "To brand those who support this amendment as bigots is mud-slinging: it is analogous to those who would call foes of the amendment 'gay lovers.'"
Donohue recalled that in 1996, President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act which denies federal recognition to same-sex marriages and allows states the right to deny recognition of gay marriages that have been performed in other states. "Only 14 senators voted against this bill, and Senator Kennedy was one of them," Donohue pointed out. "Thus, his proclaimed opposition to gay marriage is nothing but an empty gesture: he refuses to do anything that would protect the institution of marriage from legislative or judicial tinkering."
Donohue also noted the public support for the measure. "In the last election, all 11 states that had same-sex marriage on the ballot voted against it, including states with a 'progressive' reputation like Oregon," he said. "Moreover, more than 80 percent of the states have passed Defense of Marriage Acts."
Donohue reminded Kennedy the "Catholic" that "the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is in favor of a constitutional amendment." He also noted that "Black ministers, like Bishop Harry Jackson of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, have rallied in favor of the amendment. Even in New York City, surveys show the people don't want same-sex marriage."
Concluding Donohue asked, "Are all these people bigots, Mr. Kennedy?" Answering the rhetorical question with: "Reasonable people may disagree whether a constitutional amendment is the right remedy, but only fanatics will call those who support it bigots."
Kennedy, who claims to be Catholic while opposing the Church on every major tenet of morality, was blasted by Catholic League president Bill Donohue.
"A vote for the Marriage Protection Amendment is a vote to maintain the traditional understanding of marriage as it has been accepted for thousands of years all over the world," said Donohue. "To brand those who support this amendment as bigots is mud-slinging: it is analogous to those who would call foes of the amendment 'gay lovers.'"
Donohue recalled that in 1996, President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act which denies federal recognition to same-sex marriages and allows states the right to deny recognition of gay marriages that have been performed in other states. "Only 14 senators voted against this bill, and Senator Kennedy was one of them," Donohue pointed out. "Thus, his proclaimed opposition to gay marriage is nothing but an empty gesture: he refuses to do anything that would protect the institution of marriage from legislative or judicial tinkering."
Donohue also noted the public support for the measure. "In the last election, all 11 states that had same-sex marriage on the ballot voted against it, including states with a 'progressive' reputation like Oregon," he said. "Moreover, more than 80 percent of the states have passed Defense of Marriage Acts."
Donohue reminded Kennedy the "Catholic" that "the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is in favor of a constitutional amendment." He also noted that "Black ministers, like Bishop Harry Jackson of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, have rallied in favor of the amendment. Even in New York City, surveys show the people don't want same-sex marriage."
Concluding Donohue asked, "Are all these people bigots, Mr. Kennedy?" Answering the rhetorical question with: "Reasonable people may disagree whether a constitutional amendment is the right remedy, but only fanatics will call those who support it bigots."
A reporter's shock at the Haditha allegations
It actually took me a while to put all the pieces together � that I know these guys, the U.S. Marines at the heart of the alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians in Haditha.
I don't know why it didn't register with me until now. It was only after scrolling through the tapes that we shot in Haditha last fall, and I found footage of some of the officers that had been relieved of their command, that it hit me.
I know the Marines that were operating in western al Anbar, from Husayba all the way to Haditha. I went on countless operations in 2005 up and down the Euphrates River Valley. I was pinned on rooftops with them in Ubeydi for hours taking incoming fire, and I've seen them not fire a shot back because they did not have positive identification on a target.
I saw their horror when they thought that they finally had identified their target, fired a tank round that went through a wall and into a house filled with civilians. They then rushed to help the wounded � remarkably no one was killed.
I was with them in Husayba as they went house to house in an area where insurgents would booby-trap doors, or lie in wait behind closed doors with an AK-47, basically on suicide missions, just waiting for the Marines to come through and open fire. There were civilians in the city as well, and the Marines were always keenly aware of that fact. How they didn't fire at shadows, not knowing what was waiting in each house, I don't know. But they didn't.
And I was with them in Haditha, a month before the alleged killings last November of some 24 Iraqi civilians.
I'm told that investigators now strongly suspect a rampage by a small number of Marines who snapped after one of their own was killed by a roadside bomb.
Haditha was full of IEDs. It seemed they were everywhere, like a minefield. In fact, the number of times that we were told that we were standing right on top of an IED minutes before it was found turned into a dark joke between my CNN team and me.
In fact, when we initially left to link up with the company that we were meant to be embedded with, the Humvee that I was in was hit by an IED. Another 2 inches and we would have been killed. Thankfully, no one was injured.
We missed the beginning of the operation, and ended up entering Haditha that evening. The city was empty of insurgents, or they had gone into hiding as they so often do, blending with the civilian population, waiting for U.S. and Iraqi forces to sweep through and then popping up again.
But this time, after this operation, the Marines and the Iraqi Army were not going to pull out, they were going to set up fixed bases.
Now, all these months later, while watching the tapes, I found a walk and talk with one of the company commanders that was relieved of his duty as a result of the Haditha probe.
After being hit by an IED, his men were searching the area and found a massive weapons cache in a mosque. Although it wasn't his company that we were embedded with, the Marines had taken me to the mosque so we could get footage of the cache.
And so began the e-mails and phone calls between myself and my two other CNN crew members, Jennifer Eccleston and Gabe Ramirez: Do you remember when we were talking with the battalion commander and his intel guy right outside the school and then half an hour later they found an IED in that spot? Do you remember when we were sitting chatting with them at the school? And all the other "do you remember whens."
There was also � can you believe it? � the allegations of the Haditha probe.
I don't know why it didn't register with me until now. It was only after scrolling through the tapes that we shot in Haditha last fall, and I found footage of some of the officers that had been relieved of their command, that it hit me.
I know the Marines that were operating in western al Anbar, from Husayba all the way to Haditha. I went on countless operations in 2005 up and down the Euphrates River Valley. I was pinned on rooftops with them in Ubeydi for hours taking incoming fire, and I've seen them not fire a shot back because they did not have positive identification on a target.
I saw their horror when they thought that they finally had identified their target, fired a tank round that went through a wall and into a house filled with civilians. They then rushed to help the wounded � remarkably no one was killed.
I was with them in Husayba as they went house to house in an area where insurgents would booby-trap doors, or lie in wait behind closed doors with an AK-47, basically on suicide missions, just waiting for the Marines to come through and open fire. There were civilians in the city as well, and the Marines were always keenly aware of that fact. How they didn't fire at shadows, not knowing what was waiting in each house, I don't know. But they didn't.
And I was with them in Haditha, a month before the alleged killings last November of some 24 Iraqi civilians.
I'm told that investigators now strongly suspect a rampage by a small number of Marines who snapped after one of their own was killed by a roadside bomb.
Haditha was full of IEDs. It seemed they were everywhere, like a minefield. In fact, the number of times that we were told that we were standing right on top of an IED minutes before it was found turned into a dark joke between my CNN team and me.
In fact, when we initially left to link up with the company that we were meant to be embedded with, the Humvee that I was in was hit by an IED. Another 2 inches and we would have been killed. Thankfully, no one was injured.
We missed the beginning of the operation, and ended up entering Haditha that evening. The city was empty of insurgents, or they had gone into hiding as they so often do, blending with the civilian population, waiting for U.S. and Iraqi forces to sweep through and then popping up again.
But this time, after this operation, the Marines and the Iraqi Army were not going to pull out, they were going to set up fixed bases.
Now, all these months later, while watching the tapes, I found a walk and talk with one of the company commanders that was relieved of his duty as a result of the Haditha probe.
After being hit by an IED, his men were searching the area and found a massive weapons cache in a mosque. Although it wasn't his company that we were embedded with, the Marines had taken me to the mosque so we could get footage of the cache.
And so began the e-mails and phone calls between myself and my two other CNN crew members, Jennifer Eccleston and Gabe Ramirez: Do you remember when we were talking with the battalion commander and his intel guy right outside the school and then half an hour later they found an IED in that spot? Do you remember when we were sitting chatting with them at the school? And all the other "do you remember whens."
There was also � can you believe it? � the allegations of the Haditha probe.
UK Times Smears Haditha Marines !
Michelle Malkin is reporting that the UK Timeson June 1 had printed a story about the alledged Haditha massacre and posted two photos (shown below)
If you are left with the impression that the dead bodies on the ground were massacred by our Marines, that is exactly what the Times intends. Note the caption: "Victims in al-Haditha. The US is carrying out two inquiries (AP)."
Now, look at this photo closely:
It is clearly the same location. The same set of dead bodies. The second is a wider shot with three additional bodies in the foreground.
But guess what? The photo, according to this Newsweek caption of the scene, is not of the Nov. 19 incident in Haditha involving our Marines, as the UK Times would have you believe.
Read the caption:
"Insurgents in Haditha executed 19 Shiite fishermen and National Guardsmen in a sports stadium."
Our Marines did not kill these people.
The terrorists did.
Here's more from the Newsweek article from last May--that is, six months before the incident involving our Marines:
Hussein Hashimi has a CD-ROM full of pictures of the dead. For the last two months, the young Shiite says, Sunni extremists rampaged through his hometown of Madaen. They torched the local police stations, abducted dozens of members of the local Shiite minority, burned down the mosque and killed not only the imam but his 8-year-old son. Many Shiite families fled; others barricaded themselves in their homes. Last week Iraqi security forces finally came in and restored order. Hashimi has lists of the missing and of the dead who have been identified. He has the names of the alleged perpetrators and a map showing the home of the Sunni he accuses of being responsible for the atrocities.
So is Hashimi fighting back? Not at all. "We just ran away," he says without a trace of embarrassment. "Sistani and the religious authorities in Najaf decided not to use force, so we couldn't do anything." To the Shiites of Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani's word is law. "We must obey."
Their obedience was tested yet again last week�and again it held firm. In Madaen and villages nearby, corpses bobbed to the surface of the Tigris River until police counted 60. Hashimi and his friends photographed 55 of the bodies and delivered the pictures and lists to Baghdad. Shiite politicians accused the insurgents of ethnic cleansing, and demanded that the caretaker government act. Insurgents in another town near Baghdad, Haditha, responded by kidnapping 19 Shiite fishermen and National Guardsmen, lining them up against a wall in a sports stadium and shooting them dead.
And more from an LA Times article from April 2005 (reprinted at SFGate.com):
In Baghdad, the Ministry of Defense said that 19 Iraqis who were kidnapped, taken to a soccer stadium in Haditha, lined up against the wall and fatally shot on Wednesday were actually Shiite fishermen, and not Iraqi troops, as previously described by an Interior Ministry official.
Saleh Sarhan, the ministry's chief spokesman, described the victims as fishermen from the Shiite cities of Najaf and Diwaniya who had traveled to the huge Lake Tharthar in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, northwest of Baghdad and east of Haditha. He offered no explanation for why insurgents would target the fishermen, or how they had been identified.
As Joe G., who blogged his discovery of this obvious, unconscionable error, writes:
"I think this goes beyond a slant, this is slander."
Reader Eric. T adds:
Notice in the photo that the slain people have their hands tied i.e. murdered assassination style. This makes it seem even more of an outrage against the Marines!
This must not stand. And the Times must not be allowed to make a covert correction without a public acknowledgement. The editors must apologize for this blatant smear.
Send a letter to the editor here (include postal address and daytime telephone number for publication):
letters@thetimes.co.uk
Also e-mail:
Gerard Baker, US editor of the UK Times...gerard.baker@the-times.co.uk
And cc:
news@timesonline.co.uk
update: photo removed...***
and an apology has been sent out by the UK Times, however the damage has probably already been done. This may or may not have been done intentionally, but don't you think that along with their journalistic responsibilities, it should also behoove them to make sure all the information they have is acuurate, including photos?.
If you are left with the impression that the dead bodies on the ground were massacred by our Marines, that is exactly what the Times intends. Note the caption: "Victims in al-Haditha. The US is carrying out two inquiries (AP)."
Now, look at this photo closely:
It is clearly the same location. The same set of dead bodies. The second is a wider shot with three additional bodies in the foreground.
But guess what? The photo, according to this Newsweek caption of the scene, is not of the Nov. 19 incident in Haditha involving our Marines, as the UK Times would have you believe.
Read the caption:
"Insurgents in Haditha executed 19 Shiite fishermen and National Guardsmen in a sports stadium."
Our Marines did not kill these people.
The terrorists did.
Here's more from the Newsweek article from last May--that is, six months before the incident involving our Marines:
Hussein Hashimi has a CD-ROM full of pictures of the dead. For the last two months, the young Shiite says, Sunni extremists rampaged through his hometown of Madaen. They torched the local police stations, abducted dozens of members of the local Shiite minority, burned down the mosque and killed not only the imam but his 8-year-old son. Many Shiite families fled; others barricaded themselves in their homes. Last week Iraqi security forces finally came in and restored order. Hashimi has lists of the missing and of the dead who have been identified. He has the names of the alleged perpetrators and a map showing the home of the Sunni he accuses of being responsible for the atrocities.
So is Hashimi fighting back? Not at all. "We just ran away," he says without a trace of embarrassment. "Sistani and the religious authorities in Najaf decided not to use force, so we couldn't do anything." To the Shiites of Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani's word is law. "We must obey."
Their obedience was tested yet again last week�and again it held firm. In Madaen and villages nearby, corpses bobbed to the surface of the Tigris River until police counted 60. Hashimi and his friends photographed 55 of the bodies and delivered the pictures and lists to Baghdad. Shiite politicians accused the insurgents of ethnic cleansing, and demanded that the caretaker government act. Insurgents in another town near Baghdad, Haditha, responded by kidnapping 19 Shiite fishermen and National Guardsmen, lining them up against a wall in a sports stadium and shooting them dead.
And more from an LA Times article from April 2005 (reprinted at SFGate.com):
In Baghdad, the Ministry of Defense said that 19 Iraqis who were kidnapped, taken to a soccer stadium in Haditha, lined up against the wall and fatally shot on Wednesday were actually Shiite fishermen, and not Iraqi troops, as previously described by an Interior Ministry official.
Saleh Sarhan, the ministry's chief spokesman, described the victims as fishermen from the Shiite cities of Najaf and Diwaniya who had traveled to the huge Lake Tharthar in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, northwest of Baghdad and east of Haditha. He offered no explanation for why insurgents would target the fishermen, or how they had been identified.
As Joe G., who blogged his discovery of this obvious, unconscionable error, writes:
"I think this goes beyond a slant, this is slander."
Reader Eric. T adds:
Notice in the photo that the slain people have their hands tied i.e. murdered assassination style. This makes it seem even more of an outrage against the Marines!
This must not stand. And the Times must not be allowed to make a covert correction without a public acknowledgement. The editors must apologize for this blatant smear.
Send a letter to the editor here (include postal address and daytime telephone number for publication):
letters@thetimes.co.uk
Also e-mail:
Gerard Baker, US editor of the UK Times...gerard.baker@the-times.co.uk
And cc:
news@timesonline.co.uk
update: photo removed...***
and an apology has been sent out by the UK Times, however the damage has probably already been done. This may or may not have been done intentionally, but don't you think that along with their journalistic responsibilities, it should also behoove them to make sure all the information they have is acuurate, including photos?.
Monday, June 05, 2006
The Haditha Our Media Won't Tell You About
Behold this article from last August by a reporter for the UK�s Guardian
Guardian gains rare access to Iraqi town and finds it fully in control of 'mujahideen'
Monday August 22, 2005
The executions are carried out at dawn on Haqlania bridge, the entrance to Haditha. A small crowd usually turns up to watch even though the killings are filmed and made available on DVD in the market the same afternoon.
One of last week's victims was a young man in a black tracksuit. Like the others he was left on his belly by the blue iron railings at the bridge's southern end. His severed head rested on his back, facing Baghdad. Children cheered when they heard that the next day's spectacle would be a double bill: two decapitations. A man named Watban and his brother had been found guilty of spying.
With so many alleged American agents dying here Haqlania bridge was renamed Agents' bridge. Then a local wag dubbed it Agents' fridge, evoking a mortuary, and that name has stuck. A three-day visit by a reporter working for the Guardian last week established what neither the Iraqi government nor the US military has admitted: Haditha, a farming town of 90,000 people by the Euphrates river, is an insurgent citadel.
That Islamist guerrillas were active in the area was no secret but only now has the extent of their control been revealed. They are the sole authority, running the town's security, administration and communications.
A three-hour drive north from Baghdad, under the nose of an American base, it is a miniature Taliban-like state. Insurgents decide who lives and dies, which salaries get paid, what people wear, what they watch and listen to.
Haditha exposes the limitations of the Iraqi state and US power on the day when the political process is supposed to make a great leap - a draft constitution finalised and approved by midnight tonight.
For politicians and diplomats in Baghdad's fortified green zone the constitution is a means to stabilise Iraq and woo Sunni Arabs away from the rebellion. For Haditha, 140 miles north-west of the capital, whether a draft is agreed is irrelevant. Residents already have a set of laws and rules promulgated by insurgents. Within minutes of driving into town the Guardian was stopped by a group of men and informed about rule number one: announce yourself. The mujahideen, as they are known locally, must know who comes and goes.
The Guardian reporter did not say he worked for a British newspaper. For their own protection interviewees cannot be named.
There is no fighting here because there is no one to challenge the Islamists. The police station and municipal offices were destroyed last year and US marines make only fleeting visits every few months.
Two groups share power. Ansar al-Sunna is a largely homegrown organisation, though its leader in Haditha is said to be foreign. Al-Qaida in Iraq, known locally by its old name Tawhid al-Jihad, is led by the Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. There was a rumour that Zarqawi, Washington's most wanted militant after Osama bin Laden, visited early last week. True or not, residents wanted to believe they had hosted such a celebrity.
A year ago Haditha was just another sleepy town in western Anbar province, deep in the Sunni triangle and suspicious of the Shia-led government in Baghdad but no insurgent hotbed.
Then, say residents, arrived mostly Shia police with heavyhanded behaviour. "That's how it began," said one man. Attacks against the police escalated until they fled, creating a vacuum filled by insurgents.
Alcohol and music deemed un-Islamic were banned, women were told to wear headscarves and relations between the sexes were closely monitored. The mobile phone network was shut down but insurgents retained their walkie-talkies and satellite phones. Right-hand lanes are reserved for their vehicles. From attacks on US and Iraqi forces it is clear that other Anbar towns, such as Qaim, Rawa, Anna and Ramadi, are to varying degrees under the sway of rebels.
In Haditha hospital staff and teachers are allowed to collect government salaries in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, but other civil servants have had to quit.
Last year the US trumpeted its rehabilitation of a nearby power plant: "The incredible progress at Haditha is just one example of the huge strides made by the US army corps of engineers."
Now insurgents earn praise from residents for allegedly pressuring managers to supply electricity almost 24 hours a day, a luxury denied the rest of Iraq.
The court caters solely for divorces and marriages. Alleged criminals are punished in the market. The Guardian witnessed a headmaster accused of adultery whipped 190 times with cables. Children laughed as he sobbed and his robe turned crimson.
Two men who robbed a foreign exchange shop were splayed on the ground. Masked men stood on their hands while others broke their arms with rocks. The shopkeeper offered the insurgents a reward but they declined.
DVDs of beheadings on the bridge are distributed free in the souk. Children prefer them to cartoons. "They should not watch such things," said one grandfather, but parents appeared not to object.
One DVD features a young, blond muscular man who had been disembowelled. He was said to have been a member of a six-strong US sniper team ambushed and killed on August 1. Residents said he had been paraded in town before being executed.
The US military denied that, saying six bodies were recovered and that all appeared to have died in combat. Shortly after the ambush three landmines killed 14 marines in a convoy which ventured from their base outside the town.
Twice in recent months marines backed by aircraft and armour swept into Haditha to flush out the rebels. In a pattern repeated across Anbar there were skirmishes, a few suspects killed or detained, and success was declared.
In reality, said residents, the insurgents withdrew for a few days and returned when the Americans left. They have learned from last November's battle in Falluja, when hundreds died fighting the marines and still lost the city.
Now their strategy appears to be to wait out the Americans, calculating they will leave within a few years, and then escalate what some consider the real war against a government led by Shias, a rival sect which Sunni extremists consider apostasy.
The constitution talks, the referendum due in October, the election due in December: all are deemed collaboration punishable by death. The task now is to bleed the Americans and destabilise the government. Some call that nihilism. Haditha calls it the future.
[You can bet our one party media won't be telling us much about this town in their ongoing feeding frenzy. But just remember this article when you hear the denizens of Haditha express their outrage at the "American atrocities" they claim to have witnessed.]
Guardian gains rare access to Iraqi town and finds it fully in control of 'mujahideen'
Monday August 22, 2005
The executions are carried out at dawn on Haqlania bridge, the entrance to Haditha. A small crowd usually turns up to watch even though the killings are filmed and made available on DVD in the market the same afternoon.
One of last week's victims was a young man in a black tracksuit. Like the others he was left on his belly by the blue iron railings at the bridge's southern end. His severed head rested on his back, facing Baghdad. Children cheered when they heard that the next day's spectacle would be a double bill: two decapitations. A man named Watban and his brother had been found guilty of spying.
With so many alleged American agents dying here Haqlania bridge was renamed Agents' bridge. Then a local wag dubbed it Agents' fridge, evoking a mortuary, and that name has stuck. A three-day visit by a reporter working for the Guardian last week established what neither the Iraqi government nor the US military has admitted: Haditha, a farming town of 90,000 people by the Euphrates river, is an insurgent citadel.
That Islamist guerrillas were active in the area was no secret but only now has the extent of their control been revealed. They are the sole authority, running the town's security, administration and communications.
A three-hour drive north from Baghdad, under the nose of an American base, it is a miniature Taliban-like state. Insurgents decide who lives and dies, which salaries get paid, what people wear, what they watch and listen to.
Haditha exposes the limitations of the Iraqi state and US power on the day when the political process is supposed to make a great leap - a draft constitution finalised and approved by midnight tonight.
For politicians and diplomats in Baghdad's fortified green zone the constitution is a means to stabilise Iraq and woo Sunni Arabs away from the rebellion. For Haditha, 140 miles north-west of the capital, whether a draft is agreed is irrelevant. Residents already have a set of laws and rules promulgated by insurgents. Within minutes of driving into town the Guardian was stopped by a group of men and informed about rule number one: announce yourself. The mujahideen, as they are known locally, must know who comes and goes.
The Guardian reporter did not say he worked for a British newspaper. For their own protection interviewees cannot be named.
There is no fighting here because there is no one to challenge the Islamists. The police station and municipal offices were destroyed last year and US marines make only fleeting visits every few months.
Two groups share power. Ansar al-Sunna is a largely homegrown organisation, though its leader in Haditha is said to be foreign. Al-Qaida in Iraq, known locally by its old name Tawhid al-Jihad, is led by the Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. There was a rumour that Zarqawi, Washington's most wanted militant after Osama bin Laden, visited early last week. True or not, residents wanted to believe they had hosted such a celebrity.
A year ago Haditha was just another sleepy town in western Anbar province, deep in the Sunni triangle and suspicious of the Shia-led government in Baghdad but no insurgent hotbed.
Then, say residents, arrived mostly Shia police with heavyhanded behaviour. "That's how it began," said one man. Attacks against the police escalated until they fled, creating a vacuum filled by insurgents.
Alcohol and music deemed un-Islamic were banned, women were told to wear headscarves and relations between the sexes were closely monitored. The mobile phone network was shut down but insurgents retained their walkie-talkies and satellite phones. Right-hand lanes are reserved for their vehicles. From attacks on US and Iraqi forces it is clear that other Anbar towns, such as Qaim, Rawa, Anna and Ramadi, are to varying degrees under the sway of rebels.
In Haditha hospital staff and teachers are allowed to collect government salaries in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, but other civil servants have had to quit.
Last year the US trumpeted its rehabilitation of a nearby power plant: "The incredible progress at Haditha is just one example of the huge strides made by the US army corps of engineers."
Now insurgents earn praise from residents for allegedly pressuring managers to supply electricity almost 24 hours a day, a luxury denied the rest of Iraq.
The court caters solely for divorces and marriages. Alleged criminals are punished in the market. The Guardian witnessed a headmaster accused of adultery whipped 190 times with cables. Children laughed as he sobbed and his robe turned crimson.
Two men who robbed a foreign exchange shop were splayed on the ground. Masked men stood on their hands while others broke their arms with rocks. The shopkeeper offered the insurgents a reward but they declined.
DVDs of beheadings on the bridge are distributed free in the souk. Children prefer them to cartoons. "They should not watch such things," said one grandfather, but parents appeared not to object.
One DVD features a young, blond muscular man who had been disembowelled. He was said to have been a member of a six-strong US sniper team ambushed and killed on August 1. Residents said he had been paraded in town before being executed.
The US military denied that, saying six bodies were recovered and that all appeared to have died in combat. Shortly after the ambush three landmines killed 14 marines in a convoy which ventured from their base outside the town.
Twice in recent months marines backed by aircraft and armour swept into Haditha to flush out the rebels. In a pattern repeated across Anbar there were skirmishes, a few suspects killed or detained, and success was declared.
In reality, said residents, the insurgents withdrew for a few days and returned when the Americans left. They have learned from last November's battle in Falluja, when hundreds died fighting the marines and still lost the city.
Now their strategy appears to be to wait out the Americans, calculating they will leave within a few years, and then escalate what some consider the real war against a government led by Shias, a rival sect which Sunni extremists consider apostasy.
The constitution talks, the referendum due in October, the election due in December: all are deemed collaboration punishable by death. The task now is to bleed the Americans and destabilise the government. Some call that nihilism. Haditha calls it the future.
[You can bet our one party media won't be telling us much about this town in their ongoing feeding frenzy. But just remember this article when you hear the denizens of Haditha express their outrage at the "American atrocities" they claim to have witnessed.]
Iran warns of oil disruption if attacked
Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Sunday that oil shipments from the Gulf region would be disrupted if the United States attacked his nation, but his threat was dismissed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Khamenei also insisted in a speech broadcast live on state-run radio that Tehran will not give up its right to produce nuclear fuel. He added that Iran is not seeking a nuclear bomb as the West suspects.
"If you make any mistake (invade Iran), definitely shipment of energy from this region will be seriously jeopardized. You have to know this," Khamenei said.
He added that if there was a disruption, the United States and its allies could not secure all the oil shipments that transit close to Iran's coast. Much of the world's oil supply passes through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which links the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula.
"You will never be able to protect energy supply in this region. You will not be able to do it," he said, addressing the West.
Rice told "Fox News Sunday" that "we shouldn't place too much emphasis on a threat of this kind" because Iran also has an interest in protecting its major source of revenues.
"What we should place emphasis on is Iran's opportunity to find a way out of this impasse," Rice said.
Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil exporter and second-biggest power within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Iranian officials repeatedly have ruled out using oil as a weapon in the nuclear standoff with the West.
Western nations have offered an incentives package to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program. If Tehran refuses, the nations threaten U.N. sanctions.
Khamenei also insisted in a speech broadcast live on state-run radio that Tehran will not give up its right to produce nuclear fuel. He added that Iran is not seeking a nuclear bomb as the West suspects.
"If you make any mistake (invade Iran), definitely shipment of energy from this region will be seriously jeopardized. You have to know this," Khamenei said.
He added that if there was a disruption, the United States and its allies could not secure all the oil shipments that transit close to Iran's coast. Much of the world's oil supply passes through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which links the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula.
"You will never be able to protect energy supply in this region. You will not be able to do it," he said, addressing the West.
Rice told "Fox News Sunday" that "we shouldn't place too much emphasis on a threat of this kind" because Iran also has an interest in protecting its major source of revenues.
"What we should place emphasis on is Iran's opportunity to find a way out of this impasse," Rice said.
Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil exporter and second-biggest power within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Iranian officials repeatedly have ruled out using oil as a weapon in the nuclear standoff with the West.
Western nations have offered an incentives package to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program. If Tehran refuses, the nations threaten U.N. sanctions.
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