The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 08/20/2006 - 08/27/2006

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Russian scientist predicts global cooling

A Russian scientist predicts a period of global cooling in coming decades, followed by a warmer interval.

Khabibullo Abdusamatov expects a repeat of the period known as the Little Ice Age. During the 16th century, the Baltic Sea froze so hard that hotels were built on the ice for people crossing the sea in coaches.

The Little Ice Age is believed to have contributed to the end of the Norse colony in Greenland, which was founded during an interval of much warmer weather.

Abdusamatov and his colleagues at the Russian Academy of Sciences astronomical observatory said the prediction is based on measurement of solar emissions, Novosti reported. They expect the cooling to begin within a few years and to reach its peak between 2055 and 2060.

"The Kyoto initiatives to save the planet from the greenhouse effect should be put off until better times," he said. "The global temperature maximum has been reached on Earth, and Earth's global temperature will decline to a climatic minimum even without the Kyoto protocol."

US: We will independently impose sanctions on Iran

US worriedly watches as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated heavy-water reactor and prepares to implement measures after UN Security Council ultimatum expires this upcoming Thursday. Los Angeles Times: If Russia and China thwart international sanctions, US will build independent coalition to impose sanctions

According to the newspaper's headline report, the countries that will participate in a coalition against Iran will freeze assets and will impose sanctions on commerce with Iran. This upcoming Thursday the ultimatum put forth by the UN to Tehran to halt uranium enrichment within the framework of UN Resolution 1696 will expire.

The US believes that Japan and the European trio - Germany, France, and Britain � will provide the base for international rallying outside the Security Council in the case that Russia and China block the sanctions.

The most immediate sanctions will be directed at the Iranian administration, and will not, at this stage, hurt the Iranian people. The American proposal will include a prohibition on the Iranian leadership from traveling outside their country, and a freezing of Iranian leadership's assets outside of Iran. This comes on the heels of attempted sanctions on Iraq, which hurt the Iranian people, but not Saddam Hussein.

Bolton sounded optimistic in his interview saying that Russia and China will agree to impose sanctions after they see the suggested version. Bolton clarified that if Russia and China don't agree to sanctions in the Security Council, American diplomacy is already in action to achieve sanctions outside the framework of the UN.

The Los Angeles Times writes that according to US terrorism laws, the US can impose its own sanctions on Iran, and can, for instance, stop ships carrying missiles and material connected to nuclear production on their way to Iran.

"You don't need Security Council authority to impose sanctions, just as we have," Bolton said. "We will continue to enhance Proliferation Security Initiatives to cut off flows of materials and technology that are useful to Iran's ballistic missile program and nuclear programs. We will be constraining financial transactions under existing terrorism laws."


Bolton clarified in the interview that the US would focus efforts to pressure Japanese and European banks to stop doing business with Iran. This is a hint that the US Treasury Department is holding talks with other countries, which Bolton refused to identify. The Treasury Department reported that they are already seeing the fruits of this effort, including a decision by Switzerland's Union Bank to cut off relations with Iran.

Hizbullah surprised at Israeli offensive

Sheikh Naim Kassem told Lebanon's leading An-Nahar daily that Hizbullah's "resistance" to Israel would continue, saying "justifications for ending it do not exist."

Kassem said Hizbullah was surprised by the magnitude of Israel's response to the group's capture of IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.

Hizbullah had expected Israel to respond at most with "some limited attacks" and two or three days of bombing, Kassem said.

"We were surprised by the size and strength of the Israeli reaction. We expected that the IDF would bomb areas close to the border for several days and only cause minimal damage," he said. "In the last days [of the war], the enemy exercised military hysteria... The size of the aggression was beyond our expectation."

In addition to pounding Hizbullah's strongholds in east and south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs, Israeli warplanes and artillery also targeted Lebanese infrastructure, destroying bridges and roads throughout the country and bombing Beirut's airport and ports.

According to Kassem, Hizbullah had information that the US and Israel were planning an attack against the organization in September or October, but due to American and Israeli public pressure following the kidnapping of the two soldiers, the attacks were carried out earlier.

Kassem, whose son was badly wounded in the 34-day fighting, said Hizbullah would coordinate with the Lebanese army as it deploys in parts of south Lebanon controlled by the guerrillas. But he said the group would keep its weapons despite the deployment of more UN peacekeepers as well.

"When we agree on a defensive plan to confront Israel, defining the job of the resistance, the army and the Lebanese people, then we will see what the rules and roles are," Kassem said.

Hizbullah has said that it would not surrender its weapons as long as Israel holds Lebanese prisoners, occupies the Shaba Farms and IAF planes fly in Lebanese airspace.

In Lebanon, Some Disdain for Hezbollah

They pushed, shoved, shouted and cursed one another.

In the end, Hezbollah supporters were turned back from an attempt to plaster posters of their leader around Marwaheen, a Sunni Muslim village in southern Lebanon that is mourning the loss of 23 residents from an Israeli air attack during the war.

"Why do you want to put up an image of someone who is killing us?" a man screamed as dozens of villagers brandished fists and thrust open palms at Hezbollah loyalists clutching posters of Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the group's bearded and bespectacled chief. "We don't want to see it!"


Though everyone here blames Israel for the 23 deaths, many place equal blame on Hezbollah for bringing its militant Shiite fighters into the region and drawing Israeli fire.

Such displays of anger illustrate the complexities in a nation where Shiite, Sunni, Christian and Druse beliefs exist in a tumultuous mix that boiled over during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

Open criticism of Hezbollah is rare in southern Lebanon, a predominantly Shiite area where yellow Hezbollah flags fly over demolished houses and posters of Nasrallah adorn almost every utility pole and shop.

Anger at the Islamic militants is more common in a handful of Christian villages where residents blame Hezbollah - and its capture of two Israeli soldiers July 12 - for setting off the destructive 34-day war.

But some Sunni Muslims are furious, too. In Marwaheen, anger has welled up since the July 15 deaths of 23 civilians fleeing artillery and rocket duels between the Israeli army and Hezbollah guerrillas, who took up positions in and around the village.

On the war's third day, Israeli soldiers used loudspeakers to urge civilians to evacuate Marwaheen.

None of the dead could not be buried until after the fighting stopped Aug. 14.

As the bodies were brought in coffins from a morgue in Tyre on Thursday, Hezbollah supporters wanted the group's flags flown atop the vehicles, partly for journalists to see, said Adel Abdallah, a villager who lost several relatives in the attack.

An argument broke out, and it was decided that only the vehicles carrying coffins of the eight Shiite dead would fly the flags, he said. The other vehicles took another road to Marwaheen so they would not be associated with Hezbollah.

Some of the dead Shiites were buried wrapped in Hezbollah flags, but most of the villagers were lowered in coffins draped in Lebanon's national flag, emblazoned with a cedar tree.

"Nobody wants Hezbollah here," Adel Abdallah said. "They don't want to fight for Lebanon. They fight for themselves, for Iran, for Syria."


Residents talk bitterly of Hezbollah turning their village into a battleground.

When the war broke out, people said, Hezbollah fighters in civilian clothes entered the village and set up launchers to fire rockets south into Israel. The guerrillas moved the launchers around, putting one on top of a house that was subsequently destroyed, they said.

A teenage girl who was in Marwaheen for the first three days of the war said she saw a Hezbollah fighter set up a rocket launcher with a timer on a nearby hillside, then run to the other side of the village near her home, taking refuge between civilian houses.

Streaks of red crossed the sky as the launcher fired a volley into Israel, and minutes later Israel returned fire and huge explosions tore through the launch site, she said.

"We begged them to leave," the girl said, declining to be quoted by name because she feared retribution from Hezbollah. "We told them, 'Get out! We have children here. We don't want anybody to get hurt.' But they ignored us."


Wassim Abdallah, a 24-year-old who was in Beirut during the fighting, said Hezbollah fighters did not hurt anyone, but that one burst into his aunt's home.

"She pleaded for him to go away, but he put a gun to her head and told her to shut up," he said.


Hezbollah fighters have abandoned Marwaheen, but a white minivan incinerated by an airstrike stands beside a mosque. Villagers said it contained several rockets and a launcher that were later removed by guerrillas. What appeared to be a rocket tube covered with a green camouflage tarp lay dumped in a thicket beside an adjacent wall.

A few blocks away, people pointed out a destroyed house that they said was a Hezbollah weapons depot. The roof of the stone building had collapsed onto a pile of rubble, from which peeked rocket-propelled grenades, mortar tubes and a dark green box that apparently once stored ammunition.

"Nobody knew they were using our houses to store weapons. We were surprised to find them" after the war, said Wassim Abdallah, 24. "How could they keep weapons in the middle of all these civilian houses?"

Some Pentagon Leaders Distorting Haditha Facts

Unnamed sources in the Pentagon with their own agenda have been leaking false information about the killing of civilians in Haditha by Marines last November, NewsMax.com has learned.

A Marine intelligence agent who investigated last year's Nov. 19 shootings of civilians in Haditha in the immediate wake of the incident has stepped forward to defend the Kilo company Marines against charges that they massacred the victims.

In Thursday's Washington Post, Marine intelligence operative Sgt. J.M. Laughner is quoted as calling the shootings an appropriate response to a coordinated insurgent attack.

In a transcript of his interview with two investigating colonels, Laughner, described by The Post as a member of a Marine human-intelligence exploitation team that was hunting down insurgent bomb-makers, said his unit went from house to house in Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005, in the immediate aftermath of the incident. He acknowledges finding two dozen bodies, including some women and small children.


Laughner said the scenes of the slayings appeared to match the version of events the Marine squad provided that day and did not seem especially out of the ordinary, according to a transcript of his interview.

Laughner's account, The Post noted, supports the argument made by some Marines in Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines � that they believed they were following their rules of engagement when they opened fire on groups of people inside at least three homes after a roadside bomb killed a member of their unit. Several Marines are under criminal investigation in connection with the civilian deaths that day, but no one has been charged.

Laughner's statement is further evidence that Marines who were on the ground that day viewed the civilian deaths as accidental rather than the result of a vengeful rampage.

According to one well-placed NewsMax source, the misleading statements by unnamed Pentagon sources are the result of the anxiety felt by high-ranking Marine Corps officers who, out of misplaced political correctness and fear of media reaction, have committed themselves to a conviction of some kind even though unwarranted by the facts.

"If there is complete exoneration, they will be severely embarrassed," our source said.

NewsMax Has More

Read More Here:Marine Called Haditha Shootings Appropriate

Iran Opens Nuclear Reactor Against U.N. Wishes

An Iranian plant that produces heavy water officially went into operation on Saturday, despite U.N. demands that Tehran stop the activity because it can be used to develop a nuclear bomb.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated the plant, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes.

The announcement comes days before Thursday's U.N. deadline for Iran to stop uranium enrichment - which also can be used to create nuclear weapons - or face economic and political sanctions. Tehran has called the U.N. Security Council resolution "illegal" and said it won't stop enrichment as a precondition to negotiations.

Mohammed Saeedi, the deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said the heavy water plant is "one of the biggest nuclear projects" in the country, state-run television reported. He said the plant will be used in the pharmaceutical field and in diagnosing cancer.

Nuclear weapons can be produced using either plutonium or highly enriched uranium as the explosive core. Either substance can be produced in the process of running a reactor.

Reactors fueled by enriched uranium use regular - or "light" - water as a "moderator" in the chain reaction that produces energy. Reactors using "heavy water" contain a heavier hydrogen particle, which allows the reactor to run on natural uranium mined by Iran, foregoing the enrichment progress.

But the spent fuel from a heavy water reactor can be reprocessed to extract plutonium for use in a bomb.

Iranian Official: Iran might produce nuclear weapons

A top Iranian official warned on Friday that Tehran may develop nuclear weapons as a �preventative measure� against threats posed by the West.

�The patience of the Iranian nation has a limit. If [the West] crosses this limit, our nation, which is very suspicious of the good will of Western countries, will force Majlis to ratify the law for Iran to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty�, Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, the deputy speaker of Iran�s Majlis, or Parliament, said on Friday.

�The Iranian nation is facing illogical powers that have nuclear weapons and see no deterrent. If they exert pressure on us it is possible that our nation will ask the government to produce nuclear weapons as a preventative measure�, Bahonar, who is also secretary general of the Islamic Association of Engineers, said following a meeting by the group�s leaders.

�The West must accept Iran as a regional power. They cannot ignore this reality. � Illogical pressures over the nuclear issue must end�, he said. His remarks were reported by the government-run news agency ILNA.

Addressing the West, Bahonar said,

�You must fear the day that the Iranian people pour into the streets and demonstrate, calling on the government to produce nuclear weapons to counter the threats�.

He issued a stark warning that �any aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran will be met with a hard reaction by all Muslims across the world�.

Bahonar, a staunch ultra-conservative ally of the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wields considerable influence as a key power-broker in the hard-line government. Many of Ahmadinejad�s political appointees as ministers, governors, and senior administrators are Bahonar�s prot�g�s.

The Islamic Association of Engineers is part of the ultra-conservative camp loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mitt is a Hit !

The third week in August found three would-be 2008 GOP nominees campaigning for contributions and friends in Orange County, Calif.: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, his Virginia colleague George Allen, and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Amid a gaggle of events and gatherings one stood out: a Romney event on Aug. 18 at a coast resort. Nearly 1,000 people showed up and Romney's CommonwealthPac garnered more than $1 million. The locals were stunned: Where did that come from?

Romney's performance at the state's semi-annual GOP Convention in Century City on Aug. 20�he received a rousing standing ovation following his keynote address and kudos as well from the arch-conservative California Republican Federation�kept the political buzz mounting. One local congressman remarked that Romney "is the most gifted politician I've ever met."

Patient, persistent Bill Frist remains a compelling candidate in small groups, and he has a huge stage on which to work for another three months. Frist's VolPac is busy extending the same sort of assistance to Republicans that Romney is delivering, as are McCain and Giuliani. Frist is also the candidate best positioned to pick up faith-based voters uneasy with Romney's sincere Mormon commitment.

But the impression is growing of significant Romney momentum among Republican elites and grassroots alike, and some pros compare Team Romney's prowess to George Bush's organizational edge in 1999. Now that the internet has changed profoundly the nature of grassroots, no campaign can play a waiting game.

Friday, August 25, 2006

'Terrorist group funded' Dem congressman's trip to Sri Lanka...

Illinois congressman Danny Davis and an aide took a trip to Sri Lanka last year that was paid for by the Tamil Tigers, a group that the U.S. government has designated as a terrorist organization for its use of suicide bombers and child soldiers, law enforcement sources said.

Davis' seven-day trip came under new scrutiny this week following the arrests of 11 supporters of the organization on charges of participating in a broad conspiracy to support the terrorist group through money laundering, arms procurement and bribery of U.S. officials.

The five-term Democratic congressman said he was unaware that the Tigers paid for the trip and on his required congressional disclosure form he reported that the trip was paid for by a Hickory Hills, Ill.-based Tamil cultural organization, the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America.

During the visit, Davis spent most of his time in a region controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as the group is formally known, and visited the organization's political headquarters. He also met with a police chief for the region appointed by the Tigers.

The Tamil Tigers is a separatist group that has been fighting since 1983 for an independent state for 3.2 million ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, a tear-shaped island nation of 20 million off the southern tip of India. In addition to conventional guerrilla tactics, the group has used terrorist methods, including 200 suicide bombings, in a bloody conflict that has claimed more than 60,000 lives. Though the violence between the government and the separatist group abated during the past several years, it recently surged again, threatening a renewed civil war.

Davis said he believed that the trip, from March 30 to April 5, 2005, was paid for by the Tamil federation, which in accordance with congressional ethics rules sent him a written statement of the travel expenses, more than $7,000 each for Davis and his aide, Daniel Cantrell. Davis said he knew that the group was "associated" with the Tamil Tigers but did not realize that the trip's costs were covered with funds controlled by the rebel group.

"I know who I got the trip from," Davis said. "I don't know if any clandestine group gave them money. All I know is what I saw and was told."

As recently as this past Saturday, Davis talked in Chicago with a supporter of the Tamil Tigers who was among 11 people arrested on charges of conspiring to aid the rebel group through money laundering, procurement of arms, including surface-to-air missiles, and bribery of public officials.

That Tamil Tiger supporter, Murugesu Vinayagamoorthy, was described in a federal criminal complaint as a high-level operative who served as an intermediary between the Tigers' leaders and foreign backers. The complaint charges that he offered a $1 million bribe to an undercover FBI agent posing as a State Department official in an attempt to remove the Tamil Tigers' designation as a terrorist organization.

Davis said he first met Vinayagamoorthy, a 57-year-old London physician, at a Tamil cultural event in the Chicago suburbs at which both of them gave speeches "a few years ago." Vinayagamoorthy also participated in several of the meetings that Davis held while visiting Sri Lanka, the congressman said.

The Tamil supporter contacted the congressman's office again last week seeking a chance to brief Davis on events in Sri Lanka, where violence between the government and Tamil Tigers has flared anew. Vinayagamoorthy arranged to do so while walking alongside Davis Saturday for 10 blocks during the congressman's annual "Back to School" Parade in Chicago, Davis said.

The criminal complaint against Vinayagamoorthy asserts that he had "direct and frequent contact" with leaders of the rebel group and was "often dispatched" to facilitate Tamil Tiger projects around the world.

Without mentioning Davis or his aide by name, the complaint describes a series of transactions in which Vinayagamoorthy and others charged in the case allegedly laundered $13,150 in Tamil Tiger funds at the direction of a top guerilla leader to pay for travel of "two individuals" to Tamil-controlled Sri Lanka. The two individuals were Davis and Cantrell, law enforcement officials said.

Another person arrested in the case, Nachimuthu Socrates, was listed as a director in 2004 of the Tamil cultural organization which Davis listed in public disclosure forms as the trip's sponsor, the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America. Representatives of the federation did not return phone messages on Wednesday.

Davis said he always assumed that the organization had a connection with the Tamil Tigers.

"I knew that they were associated with the Tamil Tigers, yes," he said.

Davis has been an outspoken supporter of the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka.

This month, he issued a statement condemning an Aug.14 Sri Lankan Air Force bombing in Tamil-controlled territory that reportedly killed dozens of girls.

Davis' statement said the facility was an orphanage he had visited during his 2005 trip to Sri Lanka. The government said the site was a former orphanage being used as an LTTE training camp for female recruits.

"We've been engaged," Davis said. "There hasn't been anything clandestine about our position."

Davis has been one of the most prolific travelers in Congress, accepting 47 trips paid for by private groups since 2000. That total ranks Davis 15th among the 535 members of Congress, according to Political Moneyline, a nonpartisan watchdog group that compiles data from congressional disclosure forms.

The Tamil Tigers were designated by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997. As a result, federal law bars providing them funding, arms or other material support.

South Korea 'Certain' North Korea Has Nuclear Bombs

South Korea is certain North Korea has nuclear weapons and Seoul's best estimate is Pyongyang has produced one or two bombs, its defense minister said on Friday, amid reports that the North may be preparing a nuclear test.

Defence Minister Yoon Kwang-ing has previously said he believed the North had one or two nuclear weapons, but his remarks in parliament on Friday were among the strongest yet on the North's possession of atomic bombs.

"It is estimated that the North has one or two," Yoon told a parliamentary hearing when asked about the North's nuclear arsenal. When asked if the South has no doubt about the North's possession of a nuclear weapon, Yoon said: "That's correct."

Yoon also said there was not enough evidence at present to conclude the North is about to conduct its first nuclear weapons test.

North Korea declared in February 2005 it possessed nuclear weapons. U.S. and Japanese news reports have said the North might be preparing to conduct an underground nuclear test.

Yoon said there were activities at a North Korean nuclear site as have been described in news reports, but they did not yet amount to conclusive evidence of an imminent test.

"More analysis of data is needed to talk about the possibility (of a test)," Yoon said.

North Korea has been working for years to build a nuclear weapon, but proliferation experts have not been able to say with certainty if the North had built an atomic bomb.

North Korea had up to six nuclear weapons in 1994 when it agreed to freeze all related programmes, but the number is likely to have risen, Leon J. LaPorte, former commander of the U.S. military in Korea said in South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo in April.

"The estimate of one or two is actually fairly dated," said a senior expert on the North's nuclear programme at the Korea Institute of Defence Analyses, Kim Tae-woo.

"But to say he has no doubt about it is definitely a step forward," Kim said.

Most estimates of the North's nuclear arsenal vary between five to 10 and sometimes more, Kim said.

Exiles: Iran Builds Centrifuges for Nuclear Fuel

Iran has built at least 15 advanced P-2 centrifuges, which could dramatically speed up its production of nuclear fuel, and will have hundreds more ready next year, an exiled opposition group said on Thursday.

The France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, which has reported accurately on hidden Iranian nuclear activity in the past, said Tehran was making P-2 centrifuges at a secret site run by the "Iran Centrifuge Technology Company".

"According to the information obtained by the Iranian Resistance at least 15 P-2 centrifuges have been assembled so far and are being tested," Mohammad Mohaddessin, director of international relations for the NCRI, told a news conference. "Our intelligence shows that in the next year they would have hundreds of P-2 centrifuges," he added. It was not immediately possible to verify the NCRI's report. Iranian officials, and officials of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, were not immediately available for comment. Iran has denied claims by the group in the past.

Iran enriched uranium at its pilot nuclear fuel plant in April for the first time, using a network of 164 older, less sophisticated P-1 centrifuges, which spin at supersonic speeds to heighten the fissile element in uranium ore.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also announced then that Iran was pursuing research and development of P-2 centrifuges, which can purify uranium for use as power plant fuel or atomic bombs 2-3 times faster than the P-1 model.

Also in April, the NCRI said Iran was working at secret military sites to develop P-2s and that it was frequently relocating the operation to escape international scrutiny.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has been probing the origin and extent of secret nuclear activity in Iran since 2003.

The IAEA's governing board referred Tehran to the Security Council in February for failing to come clean on the work.

IAEA inspectors are monitoring Iran's declared operation of P-1 centrifuges at the Natanz pilot plant.

But tensions rose last week when Iran prevented inspectors from re-examining a larger underground section of Natanz under construction where "industrial scale" enrichment of uranium with thousands of centrifuges is planned, diplomats said.

Mohaddessin also said Iran was increasing the number of P-1 centrifuges - Iran has said it wants 3,000 working at Natanz by next year - and working quickly to complete a heavy water reactor at Arak that could yield produce plutonium for bombs.

Most diplomats and analysts say Iran remains 3-10 years way from enriching fuel to the high level required for a warhead.

The NCRI, which is on a U.S. list of terrorist groups and wants to oust Iran's clerical leaders, first disclosed covert uranium-enrichment work in the Islamic Republic in 2002.

Bush spends 90 minutes with slain soldiers' families

President Bush held private and at times emotional meetings Thursday with the families of five Maine soldiers who died in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon.

The midday meetings, which lasted a total of about 90 minutes, were held at Sea Road School in Kennebunk.

Reporters were kept outside, and the White House did not release the names of the families who attended. But after the presidential motorcade sped away, some of the families agreed to discuss their closed-door conversations.

"I said it's time to stop the bleeding," said Hildi Halley, whose husband, Army National Guard Capt. Patrick Damon, died June 15 in Afghanistan. "It's time to swallow our pride and find a solution."

She said Bush responding by saying "there was no point in us having a philosophical discussion about the pros and cons of the war."

The president became emotional, Halley said, when she tearfully described the impact her 41-year-old husband's death has had on herself and their two kids, ages 12 and 14, both of whom attended the meeting.

"He wept and hugged me and apologized for my pain," Halley said.

Shortly after her husband died, Halley asked Sen. Olympia Snowe to help arrange a meeting with Bush. Snowe subsequently wrote a letter to the president, asking him to meet with the fallen soldier's family.

After the meeting, Bush spoke separately with Damon's mother, Barbara Damon-Day of Newcastle. She has been seeking a congressional inquiry into her son's death. She questions the preliminary conclusion that her son died of an apparent heart attack. She said that Bush put her in touch with other high-ranking officials.

"I came to get contacts. I wanted to talk to people who could make a difference in Washington, D.C.," she said. "I am so glad I came."

Members of two other families who came to Kennebunk expressed support for Bush after their meetings.

"To meet with the president, it's something I never thought would happen," said Nancy Kelley, whose son, Army Capt. Christopher Cash, was killed in Iraq in 2004. "We were honored -- just to share our thoughts about Chris and how he felt about his service to our country."

During a half-hour audience with the president, Kelley said they spoke "on a number of subjects, but Christopher was first and foremost."

"I had brought him a framed picture of Chris in Iraq with Iraqi children," said Nancy Kelley, who has dedicated a Web site, a scholarship, and a 5K race to Cash's memory. She said she was impressed by the president's interest in her son.

"He cares about every single family, and he has been doing this all around the whole country."

Kelley and her husband, Robert, said the 30 minutes passed quickly, and that, thanks to the President's easygoing nature, the conversation drifted.

"We had a lot of just general banter about Scottish terriers and Old Orchard Beach and how it was changing," said Robert Kelley.

The couple chose to steer clear of politics.

"We just shared the fact that we were very proud of Chris, and that he was very proud to serve his country," Robert Kelley said. "We've supported the president all the way along.

"Chris supported him, we still support him, and we've never had any second thoughts about the president and what he's trying to do."

David Schlegel came with his mother Thursday to honor the memory of his brother, Navy Cmdr. Robert Schlegel, who died in the attack on the Pentagon nearly five years ago.

"The anniversary of it brings back a lot of memories," said Schlegel, who also served in the Navy, "and this meeting actually brings a little more meaning to it."

Schlegel said his impressions of the president changed in the quarter-hour they spent together.

"You see a different side in person from what you see in the TV," he said. "Once I met him in person, I was very impressed by his genuineness and sincerity. It wasn't like we were sitting across the table from somebody -- we were three chairs, grouped, and I probably could have reached out and touched him."

What Schlegel found most surprising was simply the attention.

"I was impressed that it lasted so long," he said. "It's nice to know that somebody that high up actually appreciates, and can take 15 to 20 minutes out of their schedule, with everything else that's going on in the world, to spend time with a family that was really affected by this."

Guard, Reserve Iraq Death Toll Declines

The death toll among National Guard and Reserve troops in Iraq has plunged this year as citizen soldiers play a smaller combat role against an insurgency that increasingly targets Iraqis.

Thus far in August, five members of the Guard and Reserve have died in Iraq, compared with 44 at this point in August 2005, the deadliest month of the war for the Guard and Reserve.

The number of Guard and Reserve deaths for the year totals 54 - less than one-third of the 189 recorded at this point last year. In the comparable period in 2004, the death toll was 92, according to Defense Department casualty records.

The death count for all U.S. forces in Iraq - both active and reserve - has slid from an average of a little over two per day last year to a little under two per day so far this year.

The main reason for the decline in reservist deaths is that fewer are being sent to Iraq. They comprise a little under 20 percent of the 138,000 U.S. troops now there, compared with about 40 percent last year.

Dynamite Found in Checked Airline Luggage

A stick of dynamite was found in a college student's checked luggage on a Continental Airlines flight from Argentina, authorities said, in one of six security incidents Friday affecting U.S. flights.

Federal authorities were investigating why the student, who got off the Continental plane in Houston before it continued to Newark, N.J., had the explosive, FBI spokeswoman Shauna Dunlap said. She said the student did not appear to be connected to terrorism.

Houston Fire Department Assistant Chief Omero Longoria said the man told authorities he works in mining and often handles explosives. Longoria said federal officials were investigating whether the explanation was true.


Huh? Explanation? They are calling "I work in mining and often handle explosives" an explanation? Oh, now we see, well don't worry about it, happens everyday. He's a long way from the mines and who carries Dynamite in their luggage? Hey, you never know when a good vein might appear.

The real question is how did it get past the baggage screeners and Who is he working for?

NewsMax has more on this incident and others that occurred today as well !

Nagin ridicules NYC's 'hole in the ground'

Confronted by accusations that he�s taking too long to clean up his city after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin defended himself by remarking on New York City�s failure to rebuild Ground Zero.

Nagin made the remarks in an interview conducted by CBS News National Correspondent Byron Pitts which will be broadcast on 60 Minutes, Sunday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. EDT.

On a tour of the decimated Ninth Ward, Nagin tells Pitts the city has removed most of the debris from public property and it�s mainly private land that�s still affected � areas that can�t be cleaned without the owners' permission. But when Pitts points to flood-damaged cars in the street and a house washed partially into the street, the mayor shoots back. "That�s alright. You guys in New York can�t get a hole in the ground fixed and it�s five years later. So let�s be fair."

Nagin is confident New Orleans will be whole again and will even be able to withstand another hurricane of Katrina strength, pointing out that taller and stronger levees are being built. It will take time.

"We�re into a five-to-seven-year build cycle � . At the end of the day, I see the city being totally rebuilt. I see us eliminating blight, still being culturally unique," Nagin says.

But before any rebuilding can take place, the clean-up and restoration of the city�s infrastructure must be complete and it will be Mayor Nagin, recently re-elected, who leads the efforts.

"Should things have happened quicker? Yes. But everyone has their own style of leadership, and right now our political leader, our political father is Ray Nagin," says Oliver Thomas, New Orleans City Council president.

"So for the next four years, we�re going to sink or swim with him," Thomas tells Pitts.

Video discloses alleged plot to target Sears Tower

Undercover video acquired by CBS 2's Miami sister station, WFOR-TV CBS 4, reveals an inside look at a suspected terror group leader accused in a plot to target U.S. landmarks, including the Sears Tower.

The suspected group was based in Miami and was allegedly led by a former Chicagoan.

As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, that Chicago suspect was apparently trying to recruit help with his mission when he was busted.

The �Liberty City 7�, as they have been dubbed, face terrorism charges after government agents uncovered an alleged plot to blow up buildings, including the Sears Tower, the Miami Federal Courthouse, and the Miami FBI offices, as well as other structures.

The undercover video shows Narseal Batiste, and others taking, what prosecutors claim, is an oath to the al Qaeda terrorist organization, as well as conversations in which Batiste tells and FBI undercover agent his plans for blowing up buildings.

It was a classic FBI sting, with hidden cameras rolling in a hotel room. The key players are the government informant, whose face is obscured, and the alleged ringleader of the terrorist plot.
FBI surveillance photos show Batiste, the former Chicago FedEx delivery driver, allegedly checking out Miami�s federal courthouse as a possible target.

The videotape of the front and side doors of that courthouse was to be given to the man they thought represented al Qaeda, a man Batiste first met when he entered a Miami hotel room hoping to make his dream of Islamic jihad a reality.

�My name is Brother Mohammed ali Hussein,� the informant said on tape.

�Ali Hussein,� Batiste asked.

�Yes,� said the informant. �My job is to determine if its worth it or not. My job is to say if these people are serious or not."

Batiste tries to convince him that he and seven other members of his so-called Moorish Science Temple, their mosque housed in a rundown warehouse in Miami, are very serious.

�What's the plan?� asked the informant.

�To build this army,� Batiste replied.

�Army? To build an army?� the informant asked.

�An Islamic army for Islamic jihad,� Batiste said.

�Jihad? To wage jihad?� the informant said.

�Yes,� confirmed Batiste.

Eventually, the others are introduced to the informant. On the tape, one by one, each pledges his allegiance. In another taped meeting, Batiste asks for money for boots and uniforms and more.

�Hand pistol machine guns,� Batiste said.

�Pistols? Machine guns. Pistol or machine guns? Two different,� the informant said.

�They make them in hand pistols. They make pistol machine guns. They're like pistols but they're also machine guns,� Batiste said.

At another meeting, also taped by the government, Batiste got down to specifics.

"We got to make a plan of attack," Batiste said.

They talk about waging war with an army of street gang members and two specific targets.

�I'm gonna tell you there's two major buildings that you gotta blow up. The Empire State Building and � the uh, and the uh, Sears Tower. With those two buildings down, all radio communication is out," Batiste said.

The video has been the subject of reports by WFOR-TV reporter Brian Andrews, and its broadcast has apparently upset some of the attorneys involved in the case.

The material shown on television and on the Internet was provided by prosecutors as part of the discovery process, and is part of the public record of the case. It includes hundreds of hours of CDs and DVDs, which CBS 4 has been examining for the material which was broadcast.

A federal judge denied a request for a temporary injunction that would have prevented CBS 2 sister station WFOR-TV CBS 4 in Miami and their Web site, CBS4.com, from showing undercover surveillance video of seven men implicated in a terrorism scheme that involved a plot to blow up the Sears Tower.

Attorney Ana Jhones had filed the request with Federal Court Judge Joan Lenard at the U.S. Courthouse in Miami, asking that CBS, and any other media outlet, be prevented from showing the undercover video showing her client, Narseal Batiste, the alleged ringleader of what prosecutors claim was a terrorist cell based in Liberty City.

The request was denied following a teleconference between Jhones, the judge, and attorneys for CBS.

Jhones argued in her motion that the audio and video tapes have not yet been published in the court file and are not available to the general public. She asked that the media be prevented from showing the material "in all media" until it could be determined if a "local rule" was violated in the sharing of the material with WFOR.

WFOR-TV has reported that the material was legally obtained from a source involved with the case, but has not disclosed the source.

53% say Islam poses threat to West

The alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners and last year's terrorist attacks on London have made more people fear Islam as a religion, not merely its extremist elements, a poll for The Daily Telegraph has found.

A growing number of people fear that the country faces "a Muslim problem" and more than half of the respondents to the YouGov survey said that Islam posed a threat to Western liberal democracy. That compares with less than a third after the September 11 terrorist attacks on America five years ago.

The findings were revealed as Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, conceded that the multi-culturalist approach encouraged by the Left for two decades had probably been a mistake and could have contributed to the alienation that many young Muslims said they felt and experienced.

Figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics also showed that immigration was now the driving force behind population growth. Last year the number of people living in Britain rose by 375,000 on the previous year to more than 60 million. That was the biggest annual rise since 1962 at the height of the post-war baby boom. Most of the rise was the result of record levels of immigration, which also produced the highest birth rate for 30 years.

The YouGov survey confirms ministers' fears that the country is becoming polarised between Muslims and the rest of the population, which is suspicious of them, and that a belief in "a clash of civilisations" has taken root.

Since a similar poll was conducted after the July 7 bombings in London last year, there has been a significant increase in the number of people worried about some of their Muslim compatriots.

The proportion of those who believe that "a large proportion of British Muslims feel no sense of loyalty to this country and are prepared to condone or even carry out acts of terrorism" has nearly doubled from 10 per cent a year ago to 18 per cent now.

The number who believe that "practically all British Muslims are peaceful, law-abiding citizens who deplore terrorist acts as much as any- one else" has fallen from 23 per cent in July last year to 16 per cent. However, there remains strong opposition to the security profiling of airline passengers based on their ethnicity or religion.

A higher proportion than last year now feels that the police and MI5 should focus their counter-terrorism efforts on Muslims and far fewer people are worried that such an approach risks dividing the country or offending law-abiding Muslims.

Most strikingly, there has been a substantial increase over the past five years in the numbers who appear to subscribe to a belief in a clash of civilisations. When YouGov asked in 2001 whether people felt threatened by Islam, as distinct from fundamentalist Islamists, only 32 per cent said they did. That figure has risen to 53 per cent.

Five years ago, a majority of two to one thought that Islam posed no threat, or only a negligible one, to democracy. Now, by a similar ratio, people think it is a serious threat.

Baghdad violence curbed

A security operation was helping to curb an increase in violence in Baghdad in recent months after a surge of bombings and shootings, America's two top generals in the Middle East said.

U.S. authorities attributed the reported improved security situation in the city to a joint American and Iraqi operation to deal with violence in the capital. The U.S. military has said the operation, for which 12,000 troops were redeployed to Baghdad, aims at curbing mostly sectarian warfare.

Army Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said the operation that began in early August was working.

"I think everybody has seen an improvement in the situation in Baghdad over the last weeks because of the operations of the Iraqi security forces supported by the American Army," he said. "And we're confident that we can sustain that."

Also Thursday, Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, said after meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani that he did not believe the country had fallen into civil war, although there is a danger that it could.

"I think Iraq's far from it. I think that there's been great progress in the security front here recently in Baghdad," he said.

Abizaid said he and Casey were "very optimistic that the situation will stabilize."

Col. Michael Shields, commander of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, which has been helping in the Baghdad operation, said the operation was a success in the districts of Ghazaliyah in west Baghdad and Shula in the northwest of the capital.

"There was a marked decrease in murders and violence in both Shula and Ghazaliyah during this operation," he said in a statement released by the U.S. military command Friday. "We cleared over 20,000 buildings without incident, capturing several personnel, weapons and 15 caches."

The military command also said Friday that U.S. soldiers confiscated a weapons cache and arrested one suspect on Tuesday after searching a convoy of civilian vehicles. They seized 28 assault rifles, three machine guns, a sniper rifle and ammunition.

Although accurate casualty figures are not available and statistics have not been provided for violent deaths in August, an Associated Press count indicates a downwards trend. Reported deaths, however, are thought to be considerably lower than the actual number of people killed.

With one week remaining in August, the estimated number of Iraqis killed around the country was at least 605, according to an AP count. That number was about 60 percent of the estimated AP total of at 1east 1,015 killed for all of July.

But the government's count for the number of deaths in July was far higher at 3,500, including 1,500 in Baghdad alone.

Political and sectarian violence across Iraq increased after a Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite mosque in the town of Samarra. Most of the violence has been sectarian, often involving death squads from the majority Shiites or minority Sunni Arabs.

"I think there's a large number of civilians that have been killed by various death squads," Abizaid said. "Certain militia groups have been responding in a way that's not in connection with the national government, and that situation is clearly not one that's good for Iraq."

He said the United States and its coalition partners want Iraqis to take control of security.

"Obviously, Iraqis being in control of their own future with their own national forces is what your country wants and what we want, and so we'll work together to help make that possible," he told Iraqi journalists.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Terror leader: Fox News files 'lying reports'

Fox News is controlled by Jews and Zionists, files "lying reports" from the Middle East and treats all Muslims as terrorists, the leader of a terror group that claims it represents the interests of al-Qaida in Gaza told WorldNetDaily in an interview today.

"Fox News is one more proof that all the media organizations in America are controlled by the Zionist lobby and the Jews. The journalistic policy of Fox is too pro-Israel. We are all terrorists in the eyes of Fox. It never tries to give an accurate image of what is happening on the ground. They show what is the opposite when it comes to Muslims," said Abu Mohammed, leader of the Palestine Army of Islam.

The Palestine Army of Islam is one of three terror groups that claimed responsibility in June for the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The group is a splinter of the Popular Resistance Committees, a coalition of terror organizations operating in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Abu Mohammed said although his group works with the Committees, it formed its own organization because the Committees was "not Muslim enough." He said his group is the closest Palestinian organization ideologically to al-Qaida.

The Committees itself is accused of orchestrating attacks along with groups affiliated with al-Qaida and has in the past carried out anti-American attacks. Israel says the Committees was responsible for the bombing of a U.S. convoy in Gaza in 2003 in which three American government contractors were killed.

After nearly two weeks of silence, an unknown Palestinian terror organization took credit today for kidnapping Fox News journalist Steve Centanni and his cameraman, Olaf Wiig.

The Holy Jihad Battalion says they have the two Fox News employees. Analysts are speculating the group is a front for al-Qaida.

The Holy Jihad released a statement to news agencies in which they demanded Muslim prisoners in U.S. jails be freed within three days in exchange for Centanni and Wiig. The group did not say what would happen if the deadline passed unanswered.

"We are going to exchange the Muslim female and male prisoners in American jails in return for the prisoners that we have. We are going to give you 72 hours beginning midnight tonight to take your decision," said the statement. "If you implement and meet our condition, we will fulfil our promise. If not, wait, and we are going to wait," the statement said.

Al Jazeera aired a video of Centanni and Wiig in which the men sat on the floor in sweatsuits and appeared to be in good health. No armed men were seen.

Sources in the Popular Resistance Committees told WND the Holy Jihad Battalion is affiliated with al-Qaida.

Abu Abir, a spokesman for the Committees, told WND it is possible Centanni and Wiig were smuggled out of Gaza to the neighboring Egyptian Sinai desert, which is known to be a stronghold of groups connected to al-Qaida.

Abu Mohammed would not say whether his group was involved in the Fox News kidnappings, but he said he understood the "necessity" of carrying out the abductions.

U.S. Says Iran Proposal Falls Short

The Bush administration said Wednesday a proposal by Iran for nuclear negotiations falls short of U.N. demands that it cease uranium enrichment, and the U.S. began plotting unspecified "next moves" with other governments.

Those could include U.N. sanctions against Iran unless it reverses course and agrees to a verifiable halt to enrichment activities that can be central to making nuclear weapons.

The State Department, in a terse statement, acknowledged that Iran considered its proposal to be a serious one. "We will review it," the statement said in what appeared to be a conciliatory gesture to a government it regularly denounces as a sponsor of terror.

But the statement went on to say that Iran's response to a joint offer of U.S, and European trade and other benefits if the enrichment program was halted "falls short of the conditions set by the Security Council" - full and verifiable suspension of all uranium-enrichment activity.

"We are consulting closely, including with other members of the Security Council, on next steps," it said. The United Nations has set a deadline of next Thursday for a formal reply by Tehran.

On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, the House Intelligence Committee issued a report that concluded Iran was a strategic threat and a country focused on developing nuclear weapons capability. It also linked Iran to Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist groups.

"Iran's support of radical Islamists with weapons and money demonstrates in real terms the danger it poses to America and our allies," said the committee's chairman, Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich. He said Iran "will not be satisfied until it poses a threat to the entire world."

The report also said there are gaps in the ability of U.S. intelligence agencies to keep up with developments in Iran's nuclear program and suggested hiring more intelligence agents who speak Farsi.

House intelligence report makes clear diplomacy won't end Iranian threat

Iran's much-ballyhooed proposal yesterday to enter into "serious negotiations" with the United States and Europe on an array of issues - including its so-called "nuclear program" - is being seized upon by some as a evidence that the Islamic Republic of Iran is actually prepared to abandon the ambitions and behavior that endanger American and international security interests.

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. As a brilliantly timed, bipartisan report released today by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) makes plain: "Iran poses a serious threat to U.S. national security and to the security of our friends and allies."

In 29-pages of hard-hitting, unclassified findings and analysis, the Intelligence Committee's report makes clear not only the true character of the Iranian regime - notably, its determination to spread the Shiite version of Islamofascism by various deadly means. It also documents ways in which that purpose is being systematically and steadily advanced. These include:

The Iranian regime is fixated on developing nuclear weapons and maintains a highly developed infrastructure of laboratories and industrial facilities to support this objective.

The Iranian regime is acting to retain and modernize key elements of its offensive chemical weapons research and development capability and dispersed mobilization facilities, and probably has an offensive biological weapons program.

The Iranian regime has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East, and is developing missiles with a range of up to 4,000 km that will be capable of striking Germany, Italy and Moscow.

The Iranian regime provides funding, training, weapons, rockets and other material to numerous terrorist groups.

The Iranian regime is actively supporting the insurgency in Iraq that daily takes the lives of U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians.


Taken together, the factual information and conclusions of the HPSCI report make one point abundantly clear:

The Iranian mullahocracy will be happy to pursue a delaying strategy to prevent the West from interfering with its nuclear weapons program and other threatening activities. But it will neither be deterred nor appeased into foreswearing such ominous policies and activities.

Iran Training Shiite Insurgents in Iraq

The Iranian government is training and equipping much of the Shiite insurgency in Iraq, a senior U.S. general said Wednesday, drawing one of the most direct links by the Pentagon.

Brig. Gen. Michael Barbero also said it was too soon to tell if the latest security crackdown in Baghdad has proved successful.

Barbero said it is a "policy of the central government in Iran" to destabilize Iraq and increase the violence there.

"I think it's irrefutable that Iran is responsible for training, funding and equipping some of these (Shiite) extremist groups and also providing advanced IED technology to them," Barbero said. "IED" refers to the improvised explosive devices - roadside bombs - that have caused much death and destruction in Iraq.

ADL Attacks Amnesty International

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) slammed the human rights group Amnesty International for its report on the Israeli-Hezbollah war, calling it "bigoted, biased and borderline anti-Semitic."

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director, called the Amnesty International report, "bigoted, biased and borderline anti- Semitic." Currently in Israel visiting devastated areas in the north, Foxman said, "I see deliberate destruction of Israeli homes, hospitals and other institutions."

He added that, "Amnesty International has a longstanding pattern of rushing to judgment to stigmatize Israel. They chose to ignore the fact that, after Hezbollah's unprovoked attack on Israeli soil, Israel did not deliberately strike civilian centers, while Hezbollah did, killing and maiming Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs and destroying their homes and businesses."

Foxman went on to say that, "One would have hoped that Amnesty International would have started with the victim, Israel, and conducted their study here first reporting on violations of international law and war crimes committed by Hezbollah. When it comes to Israel, Amnesty International has an anti-Israel bias."

Al-Jazeera : Iran planning nuclear 'surprise'

A senior official in Teheran said Wednesday that in the next few days, a "surprise" was expected regarding Iran's nuclear program, Al-Jazeera reported.

Teheran's apparent refusal to suspend uranium enrichment set the stage for a showdown at the UN Security Council later this month.

The United States said Wednesday that a proposal by Iran for nuclear negotiations falls short of UN demands for a halt to enrichment, and began plotting "next moves" with other governments.

Diplomats from Europe, the US, Russia and China pored over details of Iran's counterproposal
Wednesday, a day after Teheran presented it.
Initial comments from Russia and China, however, made clear that the US is likely to face difficulty getting at least those nations to agree to any tough sanctions against Iran.

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy made clear that his government was sticking by the UN demand for Iran to halt enrichment by the end of this month as a precondition to further talks.

"I want to point out again that France is available to negotiate, and to recall that, as we have always said ... a return to the negotiating table is linked to the suspension of uranium enrichment," Douste-Blazy said.

However, Russia's Foreign Ministry said it would continue to seek a political, negotiated solution to the dispute with Iran over the nuclear program. China appealed for dialogue, urging "constructive measures" by Iran but also urging other parties to "remain calm and patient, show flexibility, stick to the orientation of peaceful resolution and create favorable conditions for resuming talks as soon as possible."

In London, a British Foreign Office spokesman predicted "some hard discussions" when the UN Security Council takes up the Iran issue in the coming weeks. He spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity under British government regulations.

The White House has so far held off commenting until it can study the offer. But US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said Tuesday that Washington was prepared to move forward with sanctions against Tehran if the offer was not positive.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said the document was "extensive" and required "a detailed and careful analysis" France's foreign minister said Wednesday that the document was complex and that it was consulting with partners on it.

Iran said Tuesday it was ready for "serious negotiations" on its nuclear program and cast the counterproposal as a new formula to resolve the crisis with the West. But a semiofficial news agency said the government was unwilling to abandon uranium enrichment - the key US demand.

ACLU probes trooper who nabbed 14 illegals

The American Civil Liberties Union is investigating a Rhode Island state trooper who apprehended 14 illegal immigrants during a traffic stop, charging "racial profiling" and insisting the officer had no right to ask for ID.

The Rhode Island affiliate of the ACLU filed the case after the driver and several passengers alleged Trooper Thomas Chabot overstepped his authority during the July 11 traffic stop by taking immigration enforcement into his own hands, the Providence Journal reported.

However, asking for identification during traffic stops is a department procedure, and when the passengers could not provide valid ID, Chabot contacted officials with the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division.

The federal authorities eventually determined the 14 passengers entered the U.S. illegally and now face deportation.

The complaint by the ACLU, an advocate of rights for illegals, also alleged Chabot threatened to shoot anyone who tried to escape the van as it was escorted to Providence by federal agents, the Journal reported.

Chabot, posted at a speed checkpoint, stopped the van's driver for failing to signal a lane change. After the driver provided him with a license and ID, the trooper asked the passengers for identification. Only a few could do so, prompting him to ask if any could prove their citizenship, according to his report.

The complainants seeking a probe, Astrid and Wendy Cabrera, charge Chabot engaged in "racial profiling."

"We believe that our van was pulled over, at least in part, because of our ethnicity," their compaint says. "As passengers, we also object that we were required to provide identification and asked about our immigration status, even though we had done nothing wrong. We do not think the trooper had any right to force us to go to ICE headquarters. We believe we were treated unfairly."

Steven Brown, executive director for the ACLU, said his group is seeking an internal review "because we find the incident as described in the complaint quite troubling."

He called the traffic stop "an egregious case of racial profiling, from beginning to end," the Providence paper reported.

The complaint also asks for clarification of state policies regarding how police collaborate with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A preliminary review of the case did not corroborate the Cabreras' account of the incident, particularly with regard to the trooper's alleged threat to shoot anyone who tried to escape the van, the Journal said.

"You should know, we take any allegation, and I stress allegation, seriously but our preliminary investigation did not bear any fruit, particularly regarding these threats," said Maj. Steven O'Donnell, a state police spokesman..

O'Donnell said the preliminary review was based in part on the in-car videotape that was running during the incident.

Chabot remains on duty, O'Donnell said.

"Anybody has a right to file a complaint; it doesn't mean it has merit," he said. "We don't react by disciplining someone where it's an allegation. That is different from, for example, situations where a trooper is suspended from duty pending investigation of a suspect's shooting."

Standing By Bush

The Post reported recently on Page 1 that "President Bush is facing a new and swiftly building backlash on the right over his handling of foreign affairs" ["Conservative Anger Grows Over Bush's Foreign Policy," July 19]. Judging by those quoted, the current backlash is centered among neoconservatives, until now Bush's most ardent foreign policy constituency.

But for neocons or any other conservatives to turn against George W. Bush would be a terrible mistake. Presidents invariably disappoint their strongest supporters. Their powers are limited, and they must cope with Congress, public opinion, unwieldy agencies and, where foreign policy is concerned, other nations that can help or hinder us. The results never match the elegance of the policies formulated by people like me, who grapple only with editors.

Neocons and other conservatives revere the memory of President Ronald Reagan now. But at the time, we weren't satisfied. "To say that neoconservatives [are] disappointed . . . understates the case to an incalculable degree," Norman Podhoretz, editor of the neocon flagship Commentary magazine, lamented about Reagan's foreign policy in 1982.

The contrast between Reagan's courage toward the "evil empire" and his faintheartedness toward Middle Eastern terrorists underscores the magnificence of Bush's achievement in marshaling our country for a war against terrorism. Middle Eastern terrorists had been coldly murdering Americans for three decades, but from Nixon through Clinton, no president dared face the issue head-on. The fight promised to be too nasty, and it required a strategy for changing the politics and psychology of the Middle East, for which there was no guidebook. So each administration had contented itself with shaking a symbolic fist or issuing some subpoenas while leaving the problem to metastasize.

This led to the Sept. 11 attacks, putting Bush to the test. Liberals said we should continue to treat terrorism as a law enforcement issue. Others would have attacked al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and left it at that. In contrast, Bush set forth the enormous goal of destroying terrorist groups; cutting off government support for terrorists, if necessary by regime changes; and engineering a new culture in the Middle East by means of democratization. This was a plan to warm the hearts of neocons, embodying ideas for which we had long been arguing (and giving rise to inflated tales of neocon influence, even though few neocons served in the administration).

The necessity for such a far-reaching strategy was brought home again last week by the revelation of another vast terrorist plot involving scores of British and Pakistani Muslims with apparently tenuous links to al-Qaeda. The diverse and seemingly endless supply of such volunteer killers suggests the depth of the challenge we face.

Bush's pursuit of a fundamental solution was especially courageous because he knew it could not all be achieved within the span of his presidency, thereby courting public impatience. But his courage has held.

When Israel was attacked by Hamas and Hezbollah, two tentacles of the international terrorist jihad, much of the rest of the world responded in knee-jerk fashion, chastising Israel's reaction as "disproportionate." But Bush insisted on supporting Israel's attempt to break the terrorist sword hanging over it.

None of this is to say that Bush's performance, including the campaign in Iraq, is above criticism by conservatives -- or liberals. I worry, for example, about whether he is conceding too much to our U.N. Security Council partners regarding Iran. But if he is going to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities -- as I believe he will have to do and will not shrink from doing -- his position will be strengthened by having exhausted every diplomatic possibility. I worry, too, about indulging North Korea. But no president can tackle every problem at once.

Bush has taken on the one problem that is by far most important, and he has done it with remarkable perseverance. He led our nation into a war that is both just and necessary and that he knew could not be finished on his watch -- a thankless undertaking. For this he deserves unflagging support from neocons and other conservatives, and indeed from all Americans.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Speculation Rages About Iran's Plans for Aug. 22

Aug. 22 could usher in an apocalyptic period in the Middle East thanks to some belligerent action on the part of the Iranian regime. Or maybe not.

The Internet is running hot with speculation about what Tuesday may bring, ranging from a new refusal by Iran to shut down its controversial uranium-enrichment activities to an attack - even a nuclear attack - against Israel.

The frenzy was prompted by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's announcement, more than a month ago, that his government would deliver its response on Aug. 22 to an international carrot-and-stick proposal aimed at defusing the standoff over its nuclear activities.

The date was chosen by Tehran and had no obvious relevance in international diplomacy. The only formal deadline the international community is currently awaiting with regard to Iran is Aug. 31 -- the date set by the U.N. Security Council for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment or face the possibility of sanctions.

Some commentators have downplayed the importance of Aug. 22, arguing that the decision was simply one of convenience, akin to saying "we'll respond by the end of the month." Aug. 22 marks the end of the Persian solar month of Mordad.

But others are less sanguine, noting that the date is significant in Islam, for several reasons.

It coincides with the Islamic calendar date Rajab 28, the day Jerusalem fell to the Islamic warrior Saladin, in October 1187. Many Muslims regard Saladin's victory as a high point in Islamic history, and just weeks ago, Syrian fans of Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah were likening him to the 12th century Kurdish hero.

On the night of August 21-22, Muslims believe Mohammed underwent his "night journey," a trip on a magical steed from Mecca via the "farthest mosque" - later said to be al-Aqsa in Jerusalem - and on to heaven and back.

The two-stage journey is known in Islam as the "isla and miraj," and tradition holds that a divine white light appeared over Jerusalem at the time.

"The night of August 21 is a very, very important night in Shi'a Islam," according to Farid Ghadry, a Sunni Muslim and president of the exiled Reform Party of Syria, based in the U.S.

Ghadry claimed that Ahmadinejad would deliver his answer to the international community in the form of a "light in the sky" over the al-Aqsa mosque on the night of Aug. 21-22.

He urged the world to take the date seriously, adding that "nothing happens without a reason in Iran."

GOP Fund-raising Outpaces Democrats

Republicans trying to hold onto the House raised $12.5 million in July, outpacing Democrats by a 3-to-1 margin but leaving the GOP just $1 million ahead in cash on hand.

The influx of money - largely from political action committees - gives Republicans a slight advantage more than two months before the November elections. Democrats hope to gain 15 seats to seize control of the House.

The NRCC has raised $70 million so far and has $34.1 million in the bank. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised $4.2 million in July, taking the group's total to $81 million this cycle and $33 million cash on hand.

"Our phenomenal fundraising in July is the product of our members' hard work and the support of Americans who want leaders with a record of accomplishment and a positive vision moving forward," Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement. "It stands in sharp contrast to the Democrats, who spent the month of July raising dollars by exploiting the deaths of U.S. soldiers."

Democrats lagged behind Republicans by $6.4 million in July 2004, a gap it has narrowed to about $1 million this cycle. Most of the GOP's income - $9 million of the $12.5 million - came from political action committees.

The DSCC raised $4.2 million during July, outpacing its GOP counterpart's $3.3 million. It also raised $77.2 million so far this cycle and has $35.1 million in the bank.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has raised $65.9 million this cycle and has $20.6 million on hand.

The National Republican Senatorial Campaign, meanwhile, said the national effort is only part of the midterm spending.

"As of the end of the quarter, our incumbents they're targeting had a $24 million cash advantage," said committee spokesman Brian Nick. "We're right where we need to be."

School kids appear in Gay Parade

Action Center calls for accounting from district leaders

Elementary-age students have marched in a homosexual pride event under the banner of a San Diego public school, amidst triple-X rated behavior by "gay" activists, according to a Christian blogger who reports daily to 7,000 people.

James Hartline, who issues "Action Alerts" in response to situations in the city, said he was shocked by the "immoral" actions.

"In one of the most appalling displays of gross disregard for the safety of young children, the San Diego City School system allowed a number of small children to march inside of the San Diego Gay Pride parade under the banner of one of its schools," he said.

That, despite the fact, "that these children were brought into the midst of a number of businesses promoting pornography and nearly nude men and women in graphic sexualized demonstrations."

Hartline told WorldNetDaily that he lived as a homosexual for many years, but left that lifestyle choice after becoming a Christian seven years ago. He now watches with trepidition the activities of the community where he used to live.

"We're going to be investigating what they're teaching these kids in school," he confirmed.

Hartline reported that his photographer snapped pictures of the children in the promotional event for the homosexual lifestyle, and during his investigation he found that the school district even used a similar picture to publicize its activities.

The newsletter photograph shows a group of clearly-elementary age children with some adults and a banner that reads: "San Diego Cooperative Charter School."

The school identifies those in the photograph as "families, friends and staff."

"In the photograph, one little girl can be seen holding up a shark with the letters 'Diversity' printed on it," Hartline said. "Standing in front of a taxpayer funded yellow school bus, another adult in the photo can be seen holding up a sign that reads, 'SDCCS � School With Pride.'"

"What school being funded by the taxpayers of San Diego would be so immoral as to allow small children under the official banner of the San Diego school system to march in the midst of this pornographic gay parade?" Hartline asked.

"Did the teachers miss the man who marched down the street giving out goodies while only wearing a g-string? Did they overlook the car filled with men that advertised for RentBoy, a male escort service?"

Hartline noted that just a year earlier, there was an investigation into the San Diego Gay Pride organization for allegedly employing numerous pedophiles as volunteers and staff supervisors during its annual parade and festival.

"How the teachers of an elementary school thought it was okay to march as a group under the official banner of the charter school along with children is beyond the pale of anything that the taxpayers and parents of San Diego ever envisioned when they voted to allow the establishment of the public satellite charter schools," Hartline said.

He noted that the school's website carries the slogan: "You've never seen a public school like this one!"

Iran Denies Inspectors Access to Site

Iran turned away U.N. inspectors from an underground site meant to shelter its uranium enrichment program from attack, diplomats said Monday, while the country's supreme leader insisted Tehran will not give up its contentious nuclear technology.

Iran's unprecedented refusal to allow access to its underground facility at Natanz could seriously hamper U.N. attempts to ensure Tehran is not trying to produce nuclear weapons, and might violate the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, diplomats and U.N. officials told The Associated Press.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, the diplomats and officials from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, described other signs of Iranian defiance.

They said Iran denied entry visas to two IAEA inspectors in the last few weeks after doing the same earlier this summer for Chris Charlier, the expert heading the U.N. agency's team to Tehran. Additionally, they said, other inspectors were given only single-entry visas during their visits to Iran last week, instead of the customary multiple-entry permits.

Diplomats told AP on Monday that sanctions could include a ban on the sale of missile and nuclear technology to Tehran, international refusal to grant entry visas to people involved in Iran's nuclear program and a freeze of their assets, and a ban on investment in Iran.

IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei is to report by Sept. 11 to the agency's board on Iran's compliance with the Security Council deadline on freezing enrichment and on other aspects of Tehran's cooperation with U.N. inspectors.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said that "nothing surprises me about how Iran treats its obligations" under the nonproliferation agreement. He said Iran concealed things from inspectors in the past and alleged Tehran also has falsified data.

Although Bolton said he had no specific knowledge of the reported recent blocking of U.N. inspectors, he said, "More obstructionism doesn't surprise me at all."

IAEA officials at the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, refused to comment.

The Islamic republic has promised to formally respond Tuesday to an offer of economic and political rewards for it to freeze enrichment and negotiate strengthened monitoring of its nuclear program.

The proposal from six world powers - the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - includes promises that the United States and Europe will provide civilian nuclear technology and that Washington will join direct talks with Iran.

But Iran's supreme leader again ruled out an enrichment freeze.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has made its own decision and in the nuclear case, God willing, with patience and power, will continue its path," Khamenei was quoted as saying Monday by state television.

He accused the United States of pressuring Iran despite Tehran's assertions it is not working on nuclear weapons, as Washington and its key allies contend. Iran says its enrichment work is intended solely to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that will generate electricity.

"Arrogant powers and the U.S. are putting their utmost pressure on Iran while knowing Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons," Khamenei said.

Iran said Sunday that it would offer a "multifaceted response" to the incentives proposal but already insisted a full enrichment freeze was out of the question.

In Washington, President Bush said Iran already was giving an inkling of its response. "Dates are fine," he said, "but what really matters is will. And one of the things I will continue to remind our friends and allies is the danger of a nulear-armed Iran."

Tehran says uranium enrichment does not violate any of its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

But U.N. officials suggested the refusal to allow IAEA inspectors access to the underground nuclear site being built at Natanz was in itself a violation of the treaty because it contravenes Tehran's commitment to inform the agency of the progress of such projects.

GOP up after terror arrests

The arrest of terror suspects in London has helped buoy President Bush to his highest approval rating in six months and dampen Democratic congressional prospects to their lowest in a year.

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, support for an unnamed Democratic congressional candidate over a Republican one narrowed to 2 percentage points, 47%-45%, among registered voters. Over the past year, Democrats have led by wider margins that ranged up to 16 points.

Now 42% of Americans say they approve of the job Bush is doing as president, up 5 points since early this month. His approval rating on handling terrorism is 55%, the highest in more than a year.

The boost may prove to be temporary, but it was evidence of the continuing political power of terrorism.

"The arrests reminded people that terrorists were out there, and this is his strong suit," says political scientist Gary Jacobson of the University of California, San Diego. Now, as in 2002 and 2004, Bush and GOP congressional candidates argue that they can be better trusted to combat terrorism.

The alleged plot to bomb flights to the USA "also changes the subject of public discussion from the war in Iraq, which people are not very happy about," says Christopher Gelpi, a political scientist at Duke University.