Politics

Just War, or just war?

Leading up to the war in Iraq, Evangelical Christians became perhaps the most enthusiastic advocates of imperium. Though “Just War theory” has often been abused by politicians, it is still an integral part of Christian ethics when examining issues of war and peace. Thus, one must ask, was the Iraq war “just” based on the criteria of historic Just War theory?

Nov. Death Toll in Iraq Nears Record

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military death toll in Iraq rose by at least three Monday and the November total is approaching the highest for any month since the American-led invasion was launched in March 2003. At least 133 U.S. troops have died in Iraq so far this month only the second time it has topped 100 in any month. The deadliest month was last April when 135 U.S. troops died as the insurgency flared in Sunni-dominated Fallujah, where dozens of U.S. troops died this month.

Trust Bush on Iran? Bad Idea

President Bush has consistently appealed to the American people for trust. He says he acted in good faith when he invaded Iraq, and he expects us to trust him. He granted unheard of power to the attorney general, and he asks us to trust him. He speaks of Iran's "unacceptable" nuclear program, and he asks us to trust him. Well, I don't trust him, and neither should you.

Credibility

Credibility, like virginity, can only be lost once and never recovered. Hence, the problem the Bush administration has in dealing with Iran is that having been so wrong about Iraq, who can believe it now? I recognize that a majority of Americans shrugged off going to war on false premises. The rest of the world is not so forgiving.

Get Real: The Case for Restraint With Iran

At issue is the question of whether preemption is justified; if so, how it should be carried out; and, if carried out, whether intervention would lead to a more conciliatory, non-nuclear Iran or if the effects of military action would be short-term, perhaps pushing back nuclear development a year or two, but precipitating a new level of hostility against the U.S. and Israel in Iran and the rest of the Muslim world that could continue for decades, if not centuries.

What Became of Conservatives?

I remember when friends would excitedly telephone to report that Rush Limbaugh or G. Gordon Liddy had just read one of my syndicated columns over the air. That was before I became a critic of the US invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration, and the neoconservative ideologues who have seized control of the US government. America has blundered into a needless and dangerous war, and fully half of the country’s population is enthusiastic.

U.S. Officials Say Iraq's Forces Founder Under Rebel Assaults

MOSUL, Iraq -- Iraqi police and national guard forces, whose performance is crucial to securing January elections, are foundering in the face of coordinated efforts to kill and intimidate them and their families, say American officials in the provinces facing the most violent insurgency.

Iraqi troops struggle to live up to U.S. hopes

NEAR YUSUFIYA, Iraq -- The future of Iraq is in Iraqi hands, U.S. commanders say as they look forward to the day they can go home and leave Iraqi forces in charge. A mission steeped in imagery from a past American war has given a small vision of that future -- and it doesn't work yet.

Pakistani Soldiers Abandon Search for bin Laden

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- The Pakistan army says it's withdrawing troops from the area where Osama bin Laden and a top aide are believed to be hiding. The withdrawals from the region near the Afghanistan border follow intense military operations by thousands of troops against remnants of bin Laden's al-Qaida organization and its allies. The top Pakistan general in the region says the army is removing checkpoints in return for local tribesmen's support against foreign militants. He adds that some Pakistani soldiers will remain nearby.

Bush to Ask for Canadian Help in Afghanistan and Iraq

OTTAWA -- U.S. President George W. Bush will ask for Canadian help in Afghanistan and Iraq when he arrives on Parliament Hill on Tuesday and sources say he'll get it - eventually. Don't expect any announcements on the two files Tuesday, key government sources said, but Canada will eventually come through.

Nuclear Agency Praises Iran

IAEA Supports Arms Pact, Won't Seek Sanctions
The International Atomic Energy Agency praised Iran yesterday for suspending its uranium-enrichment work and removed an immediate threat of sanctions against the Islamic republic, which built its program in secret over 18 years. The resolution endorses an agreement Iran struck with Britain, France and Germany two weeks ago to suspend its nuclear activity in exchange for assurances that it will not be referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

Thwarted U.S. May Seek Lone Push on Iran Sanctions

VIENNA -- Iran escaped U.N. censure over its nuclear program but Washington, which accuses it of seeking an atomic bomb, said on Monday it reserved the right to take the case to the Security Council on its own.

Louisiana teens getting driver's license also register for selective service

There may be no "plans" for a national military draft, but that hasn't kept Louisiana from registering teenagers too young to serve in case conditions change. During the recently concluded presidential campaigns, the major candidates repeatedly said they had no plans to resume compulsory military service. Selective Service is the agency charged with collecting names and information about all 18-year-old American and immigrant men for possible conscription.

Beware: The Tax Man Cometh

According to a 11/19/04 Associated Press article written by reporter Mary Dalrymple, the IRS increased its audits of "wealthy" taxpayers this year, and collected a record $43 BILLION dollars in unpaid taxes. They are so proud of their achievement, they are asking Congress to grant them an additional $500 million dollars to "expand efforts to track down tax evaders". That $43 billion dollars collected is 4 times greater than the IRS' annual budget of $10.2 billion dollars, which represents an excellent return on investment. In fact, if we could invest in IRS stock, now would be the time to do it.

The Education President Stikes Again

Bush has actively encouraged much more federal involvement in American schooling. One of his big campaign promises in his first term was to fix the swollen, festering system that masquerades as public education. His No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program, which is essentially reconstituted "Goals 2000" and "School-to-Work," is the centerpiece of this effort. This UNESCO-inspired program, so evil under Bill Clinton but strangely good under George Bush, is now hard at work fixing education, as promised.

Are Christians To Blame For America's Moral Freefall?

While the recent election results were certainly no surprise, they were very disappointing to those like me who have prayed that American Christians would arise from their slumber. The fault for returning the same socialist sovereignty destroying President, Congress and Senate to office, who are not only intentionally destroying the economy and moral fabric of our own country but making us hated by the rest of the world, lies at the feet of Christians.

Bush Picks Gutierrez as Commerce Secretary

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Monday chose Carlos Gutierrez, the Cuban-born CEO of Kellogg Co, as his nominee to be commerce secretary, his second selection of a Hispanic for a second-term Cabinet. The choice of Gutierrez, along with the pick earlier this month of White House counsel Alberto Gonzales for attorney general, reflected Bush's efforts to reach out to Hispanics. In the election some exit polls showed Bush boosting his share of the growing vote to 44 percent, up from 35 percent in 2000.

Not All Illegal Aliens Come Here To Work

You read about it in the newspapers, "They come here for a better life…they come for jobs." Today, in excess of 15 million illegal aliens now operate in the USA--not all of them come here to work. It’s not that we don’t have crime in America. Two million prisoners inhabit our prisons. However, according to the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, DC, an astounding 30 percent of those prisoners constitute illegal aliens at a cost of $1.6 billion annually. That adds up to 600,000 foreigners ripping off taxpayer dollars as prisoners sit in our cells during their incarceration period.

Bush Renews Migrant Pledge

President tells Mexican leader Vicente Fox that he plans to push ahead with a measure to give illegal immigrants guest-worker status. SANTIAGO, Chile — President Bush vowed Sunday to push a plan that would allow undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States as guest workers even though it appears less likely to win backing in a Congress that grew more conservative in this month's elections.

Fears over recovery as Wal-Mart sales stall

Worries about the sustainability of the US economic recovery were stoked on Sunday after Wal-Mart, the discount retailer that is a bellwether for the country's retail sector, announced that sales grew by only 0.7 per cent in the year to November. The world's largest retailer had estimated growth of 2 to 4 per cent just 10 days ago. But Wal-Mart revised its estimates down on Saturday evening after disappointing sales on “Black Friday”, the day after Thanksgiving so called because it is traditionally the time retailers move into profit for the year.

Lewis to take over Hillary Clinton's fundraising

New York, NY -- Democratic strategist and spinner Ann Lewis has been tapped to run Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's fundraising committee, the New York Observer said Monday. Lewis, a former Clinton White House communications director, will take over the leadership of Clinton's cash collecting efforts in January, something party insiders say demonstrates how seriously the New York Democrat is taking her upcoming re-election bid.

Hiding the Casualty Count

How many injured and ill soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are left off the Pentagon’s casualty count? Would you believe 15,000? 60 Minutes asked the Department of Defense to grant us an interview. They declined. Instead, they sent a letter, which contains a figure not included in published casualty reports: "More than 15,000 troops with so-called 'non-battle' injuries and diseases have been evacuated from Iraq."

The Euro Army

Battlegroups Are First Step Towards A Euro Army
European Union defence ministers will today sign off plans for battlegroups of troops poised for instant action, in a significant move towards a European army. The British and the French, the driving forces behind the scheme, will provide the first 1,500-strong battlegroup, or "expeditionary force", starting in January. The unit is to be ready for action anywhere within 15 days of a decision by EU ministers. "These are combat troops in their barracks with their boots on ready to go," a British diplomat said. The move comes as the EU takes on its first big military mission on Dec 2, replacing NATO in charge of the 7,000-man Bosnia task force.

US Infantry on North Korean Border Send 100 Tanks to Iraq

The U.S. 2nd Infantry Division stationed near the heavily fortified border with North Korea has started sending more than 100 tanks to Iraq as part of a weapons upgrade operation, U.S. officials said yesterday. Since August, U.S. armor regiment soldiers have been transporting M1A1 main battle tanks from the bases of the frontline area by rail to the southern port city of Busan.

Republicans Derail 9/11 Reform

WASHINGTON -- In a defeat for President Bush, rebellious House Republicans on Saturday derailed legislation to overhaul the nation's intelligence agencies along lines recommended by the Sept. 11 commission. Hastert's decision to send lawmakers home without a vote drew attacks from Democrats and capped an unpredictable day in which prospects for enactment of the measure seemed to grow, then diminish, almost by the hour. He left open the possibility of summoning lawmakers back in session early next month.

Bush Vows to Fight For Intelligence Bill

WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Sunday that he was "disappointed" at Congress' failure to pass a bill to restructure U.S. intelligence agencies. At a news conference ending a summit in Chile, Bush said he had pressed lawmakers to approve the legislation and would try again after Thanksgiving. The bill to create a powerful national intelligence director was championed by the independent commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks and outlined widespread failures of intelligence-gathering. But a political power struggle developed over a proposal to give the new director full authority over the $40 billion intelligence budget, now largely controlled by the Pentagon.

Generals Want More Troops in Iraq

BAGHDAD -- Senior U.S. military commanders in Iraq say it is increasingly likely they will need a further increase in combat forces to put down remaining areas of resistance in the country. Convinced that the recent battle for Fallujah has significantly weakened insurgent ranks, commanders here have devised plans to press the offensive into neighborhoods where rebels have either taken refuge after fleeing Fallujah or were already deeply entrenched.

Up to 50,000 more US troops needed in Iraq: Senator McCain

WASHINGTON -- Tens of thousands more US troops will be needed in Iraq, if Washington is to subdue the stubborn rebel insurgency there, a top US lawmaker said. Arizona senator John McCain told NBC television that as many as 50,000 more US soldiers will have to be sent to Iraq. "We still need more troops. We still need more people there," US Senator John McCain told NBC television Sunday.

Fallujah Assault Set to Music

Heavy metal. The Army's latest weapon.
AC/DC. Loud. Louder!
While the tanks flattened Fallujah this month, Hell's Bells bombarded the town.

I'm like evil, I get under your skin

Just like a bomb that's ready to blow

'Cause I'm illegal, I got everything

That all you women might need to know

Debt limit to rise to $8.18 TRILLION

Tax cut, spending caps are rejected
WASHINGTON -- The strict rules that once limited tax cuts and entitlement spending increases lapsed two years ago. Limits on spending lost their teeth. This year, Congress failed to pass a budget altogether. Last night, with the federal government warning that it was on the verge of defaulting on its debts, the House rejected efforts to reimpose restrictions on tax cuts and spending, then joined the Senate to raise the federal debt limit by $800 billion, to $8.18 trillion.

Iraq War Costs $5.8 Billion A Month

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is spending more than $5.8 billion a month on the war in Iraq, according to the military's top generals. That is nearly a 50 percent increase above the $4 billion-a-month benchmark the Pentagon has used to estimate the cost of the war so far. The Army alone is spending $4.7 million a month while the Air Force is spending $800 million a month transporting soldiers and flying combat missions. The Marine Corps is spending $300 million a month, the four service chiefs told the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday.

Falluja Will Get Government Aid

While US marines are bombing Falluja resistance from the air, Iraq's interim government has said it will send food and medical teams into the city. The move follows an appeal by the Red Cross, which said it feared for the plight of civilians after the US-led assault against insurgents. US-led forces continue to encounter fierce displays of resistance in southern zones of Falluja. But a top US commander says the offensive there has "broken the back of the insurgency" across Iraq.

US Losses in Fallujah to Overweigh Victory: Expert

Branding the US practices against the Fallujah residents as "state terrorism," Pascal Boniface, Director of the Institute for International and Strategic Studies in Paris, expected the onslaught to further fan anti-US feelings in the entire Islamic world. Addressing a seminar organized by the Arab World Institute on Wednesday, November 17, Boniface said the cold-blooded killing of an unarmed, wounded Iraqi by a US soldiers in a Fallujah mosques was not an isolated incident. He said the murder as well as the prisoners abuses in the infamous Abu Ghreib and Guantanamo Bay detentions demonstrate an established policy and doctrine.

Bounties Offered on Americans in Iraq

$3,000 for killing an American
The region has become a death zone for many Shiite Muslims, Westerners and members of the Iraqi security services, many of whom have become the victims of Sunni Muslim insurgents and gunmen some who receive bounties of several thousand dollars. The triangle, formed by the cities of Youssifiyah to the northwest, Latifiyah to the south and Mahmoudiya to the east, holds the fastest routes from Baghdad southward to the Shiite shrines in Najaf and Karbala. According to Bayan Jaber of the major Shiite political party, resistance leaders in the area offer cash bounties for killing certain kinds of people: $1,000 for a Shiite, $2,000 for a member of the Iraqi National Guard and $3,000 for an American.

With the Resistance running, can U.S. keep up?

WASHINGTON -- U.S. commanders in Iraq say the resistance is on the run. The problem is that when they're chased from one place, like Fallujah, they pop up in another, to deadly effect. It happened in Mosul this week and in Baqubah -- with car bombings and attacks on police stations -- as well as in Ramadi, a provincial capital just west of Fallujah. The scope of violence in those places is far smaller than in Fallujah, but it demonstrates that the overwhelming technology and firepower of the U.S. military has not broken the back of the insurgency.

Iraqi's interim government warns clerics inciting violence of arrests and trial

Baghdad -- The Iraqi government warned yesterday that Islamic clerics who incite violence will be considered "participating in terrorism," and said that a number of them have already been arrested. "The government is determined to pursue those who incite acts of violence. A number of mosques' clerics who have publicly called for taking the path of violence have been arrested and will be legally tried," said Thair Al Naqeeb, Prime Minister Eyad Allawi's spokesman.

U.S. Troops Storm Baghdad Mosque

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. soldiers, stormed one of the major Sunni Muslim mosques in Baghdad after Friday prayers, opening fire and killing at least three people, witnesses said. Another raid overnight at a hospital allegedly used by insurgents in Mosul led to three arrests, the military said. About 40 people were arrested at the Abu Hanifa mosque in the capital's northwestern Azamiyah neighborhood, according to the witnesses, who were members of the congregation. Another five people were wounded.

US forces storm Iraqi hospital

BAGHDAD -- Commandos with the Ministry of Interior's Special Police Force cordoned off the al-Zaharawi Hospital in the western Shefa neighbourhood of Mosul on Thursday, after getting information that resistance fighters were using the hospital to treat their wounded, said Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hastings with Task Force Olympia. US forces from the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment secured the outer area around the hospital, while Iraqi troops stormed the inside, detaining three individuals suspected of being participants in terrorist activities, he said.

US Expected to Boost Troop Levels in Iraq

Amid a spike in violence in Iraqi cities coinciding with the Fallujah offensive, the US military is now planning to boost combat forces to secure the country for elections in January. The US is likely to expand the force by thousands of GIs in coming weeks by delaying the departure of more experienced units from Iraq as fresh troops rotate in, military officials say.

Rare Blood Infection Surfaces in Injured U.S. Soldiers

ATLANTA -- An unexpectedly high number of U.S. soldiers injured in the Middle East and Afghanistan are testing positive for a rare, hard-to-treat blood infection in military hospitals, Army doctors reported on Thursday. A total of 102 soldiers were found to be infected with the bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii. The infections occurred among soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and three other sites between Jan. 1, 2002, and Aug. 31, 2004.

Bodies of four Iraqis are brought to U.S.

Autopsies scheduled as part
of probe of taped shooting
WASHINGTON -- The bodies of four Iraqi insurgents who died in the battle of Fallujah were expected to arrive last night at an Air Force base in Dover, Del., for autopsies as part of an expanding investigation into whether they were killed by U.S. forces after they stopped fighting, Defense Department officials said. The examinations are part of a Naval Criminal Investigative Service inquiry of the videotaped shooting of an apparently wounded and unarmed insurgent by a Marine at a Fallujah mosque last week, according to three Defense Department officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

US 'To Blame' For Journalist Deaths

THE global managing editor of British news agency Reuters said today the US military was entirely to blame for the deaths of three of its employees in Iraq since the start of the war there in March 2003, an allegation disputed by the Pentagon. "All of them were killed by the American army," Reuters chief David Schlesinger told reporters on the sidelines of a media conference in the southern Portuguese resort of Vilamoura, Portuguese national news agency Lusa reported.

UN request to enlarge HQ comes under attack

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A United Nations request to allow the international body to expand its headquarters building in New York City was met by an undiplomatic response from critics in the New York state legislature Thursday: handcuff the secretary general and move to France. A state bill is required for the UN to renovate its 52-year-old building and erect a 35-storey companion structure next door. But the bill that had quietly gained the favour of legislative leaders and state Gov. George Pataki was withdrawn from the state Senate agenda Thursday, under withering attack just before it had been expected to pass. "Why this city or state would want to do anything for the UN is beyond me," said state Senator Martin Golden, a Republican. He cited the UN's oil-for-food program, which is being investigated by the U.S. Congress for alleged corruption, including reports deposed Iraq president Saddam Hussein manipulated the $60-billion US program.

Some of Bush Fund-Raisers Got Appointments

WASHINGTON -- One-third of President Bush's top 2000 fund-raisers or their spouses were appointed to positions in his first administration, from ambassadorships in Europe to seats on policy-setting boards, an Associated Press review found.

Dollar Continues Record Declines

Investors are no longer willing to ignore the US economy's problems The dollar has continued its record-breaking slide against many of the world's major currencies, with analysts predicting it could fall further. Comments by the US administration that it favours a strong dollar failed to stem losses as analysts say little is being done to match words with actions.

Counties want to limit aid to illegal aliens

Idaho has joined the ranks of states looking at legislation to limit government benefits and services for illegal aliens. The Idaho Association of Counties is working on a bill for next year's legislative session that would allow county governments to reject applications for indigent medical care or reimbursement when they are made by undocumented aliens.

Judiciary Republicans pledge unanimous support for Specter

by Alexander Bolton / The Hill

EVERY REPUBLICAN MEMBER of the Senate Judiciary Committee has pledged to support Sen. Arlen Specter’s (R-Pa.) bid to become the panel’s chairman, paving the way for his ascension in January.

To ameliorate the concerns of his colleagues on the committee and in the Senate Republican Conference, Specter issued a statement pledging not to hamper the confirmation of President Bush’s judicial nominees or tort reform, one of the president’s top three legislative priorities.

“I speak for the whole committee that we support Arlen Specter, that he will be chairman of the committee on January 4,” said Hatch, the current chairman of Judiciary.

“It’s unanimous,” added Hatch, who must step down because of Republican conference-imposed term limits.

Hatch and seven other Republican members of the Judiciary panel joined Specter to demonstrate their support at a press conference in the Senate radio and television gallery yesterday.

“I have assured the President that I would give his nominees quick Committee hearings and early Committee votes so floor action could be promptly scheduled,” Specter said, reading from his statement.

In his statement, Specter also pledged to “consult with my colleagues on the Committee’s legislative agenda, including tort reform, and will have balanced hearings with all viewpoints represented. I have long objected to the tactic used of bottling up civil rights legislation in the Judiciary Committee when it should have gone to the floor for an up or down vote.”

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the one lawmaker other than Hatch who outranks Specter on the committee, was the only Republican member of the panel not to attend the press conference. However, Hatch said that Grassley agreed with his GOP colleagues.

It remains to be seen whether the unanimous support of Judiciary Republicans will quell the vocal opposition of social conservatives who have bombarded Republican offices with telephone calls, e-mails, and faxes opposing Specter. The committee will vote on Specter’s potential chairmanship in January after new members are sworn in and added to the panel.

Specter’s statement reflected assurances he has made privately to his colleagues in recent weeks. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), a member of Judiciary, said Specter had assured him before today that he would not obstruct tort reform.

And one lawmaker who attended yesterday’s Senate Republican Conference luncheon said that Specter promised his colleagues not to bottle-up legislation he disagrees with in the Judiciary Committee.

Specter also indicated his support for the so-called “constitutional option”, also known as the “nuclear option”, a parliamentary tactic that would enable Republicans to strip Democrats of the ability to filibuster judicial nominees through a ruling of the chair.

“If a rule change is necessary to avoid filibusters, there are relevant recent precedents to secure rule changes with 51 votes.

However, when asked directly, Specter seemed to equivocate, asserting that he was not taking a position on the controversial option.

Republicans hope that they hope they can negotiate with Democrats to avoid the drastic step of changing the rules through a ruling of the chair.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a Judiciary member, said that 55 Republicans in the Senate next year and the defeat of Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), which Cornyn attributed in part to Daschle’s obstruction of nominees, may make the tactic unnecessary.

Specter gets Frist's backing

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Arlen Specter on Wednesday went before his toughest audience to date - all the Republican members of the U.S. Senate - and won fresh support from many of his colleagues in his quest to secure the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee. Perhaps the most significant statement came from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who only a few days ago had sounded less than enthusiastic about Specter's prospects. "Today he had the opportunity to make some comments, which were received very well by members of the caucus," Frist said at a news conference following the meeting of the Republican Conference in the Old Senate Chamber in the Capitol. He added that Specter would likely have more to say publicly very soon.

Frist gains new powers

Majority leader will choose
half of ‘A panel’ committee seats

By Geoff Earle / The Hill

The Republican Conference changed its rules yesterday to give Majority Leader Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) new powers to ensure party discipline.

A coalition of loyalist and new senators managed unexpectedly to push through the more sweeping version of the proposed changes, defeating a watered-down proposal.

The stronger one, which passed on a 27-26 secret-ballot vote, allows Frist to fill half of all vacancies on “A” committees as he chooses. The other half would be made by seniority, the traditional way Republicans award committee slots.

“It certainly leaves the option open for significant changes in the way we do business around here,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), an opponent of the idea.

Critics warned that Frist could use his new powers to punish those who challenge party orthodoxy and reward those to toe the leadership line. Asked how he would employ his new powers, Frist told The Hill, “Sensibly, reasonably, responsibly.” He said he looked forward to “maximizing the strength of each U.S. Senate member.”

But Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), a maverick who has criticized White House strategy, said, “I’m one who believes we must always be careful of centralization of power in any institution. We have to be careful with this. It has some unintended consequences.”

Most senators expressed optimism that Frist would wield the new authority wisely.

“See how it works,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “Change is good,” he added.

Opponents of the idea mostly rallied around a weaker version, sponsored by conference Chairman Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), which would grant the leader the ability to appoint two slots on each “A” committee as they became available.

One GOP aide said the stronger version prevailed partly because of support from a newly elected crop of seven GOP senators, who stand to gain from it. Since there were two mutually exclusive proposals on the table, “there was no middle ground,” the aide said.

Aides are already speculating about who will gain. Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) hopes to win an open seat on the Appropriations Committee, having helped deliver a four-seat gain as chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. Allen is up for reelection in 2006, and both he and Frist are mentioned as possible GOP presidential candidates in 2008.

Frist could use his powers to create a star out of the new freshman class. The highest-profile member of the class is probably Sen.-elect John Thune (R-S.D.), who knocked off Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.). Thune has already been a staple on television talk shows since the election.

The new class contains potential troublemakers, such as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who wrote a book strongly critical of party leaders. Frist could use the new powers to try to bring critics to heel.

He and other GOP leaders have taken some hits this week from conservative groups for failing so far to stop the ascension of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) to chair the Judiciary Committee, an outcome that appears increasingly likely.

In that case, the GOP’s seniority system has stood up, supported by a great deal of damage-control work by Specter himself.

Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) noted how Daschle employed his powers as leader to install home-state Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) on Appropriations to aid Johnson’s reelection in 2002. Democratic leaders have authority under caucus rules to make all committee assignments.

“That’s how it’s done, if you want to be blunt about it,” Craig said.

Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who crafted the proposal that passed, noted how incoming Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) used his authority to dole out a coveted Finance Committee seat to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and persuade him to stay in the Senate.

“Harry Reid did not want Schumer to run for governor, and — voila — he gets Finance,” Lott said, “Our leader couldn’t make a triple play like that.”

Lott, a former majority leader, said Frist would use the authority to put senators with certain expertise on appropriate committees while securing regional balance on panels — or putting a senator with a specific regional interest on a committee with direct responsibility in that area. Frist could also use choice slots to boost the portfolios of Republicans who are up for reelection.

Just how many slots are available is unknown. Frist and Reid have yet to negotiate the ratios of Republican-Democratic membership on each panel.

“As leader, I never wanted a whip,” Lott said. “What I wanted were rewards. … I’ve always found that works better than threats.”

There are 12 “A” committees, which include the most desirable panels, such as Agriculture, Armed Services, Appropriations, Finance and Judiciary.

The GOP conference also passed a rule change stating that no member can hold more than one “B” committee assignment. That will make several additional committee assignments available to new members.

The change will force some senior lawmakers to make difficult choices about which cherished assignments to give up. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), for example, will have to give up either a seat on Budget, a panel he once chaired, or Indian Affairs, a committee of great interest to American Indians in his state.

Ohio to recount votes

A statewide recount of the presidential vote appears inevitable after a pair of third-party candidates said they have collected enough money to pay for it. The recount would be conducted after the election results are certified in early December. Libertarian Michael Badnarik and the Green Party's David Cobb said on Monday they raised more than $150,000 in four days, mostly in small contributions. Ohio law requires payment of $10 per precinct for a recount, or $113,600 statewide. Badnarik and Cobb said they aren't trying to overturn President Bush's 136,000-vote victory in Ohio, but just want to ensure that all votes were counted properly in the face of concerns about Election Day irregularities.

Scalia tells university crowd to `get over' 2000 election

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Antonin Scalia, the controversial United States Supreme Court justice, addressed a packed crowd at the University of Michigan on Tuesday, taking the unusual step of taking questions from the audience and drawing some boos - and some applause - during his answers to those questions. Scalia, who was at Rackham Auditorium to speak on the philosophy of constitutional interpretation, was asked by a member of the audience whether, if he had the chance, he would revisit his decision in the Gore-Bush 2000 election. Scalia cut off the questioner , saying, "I'm inclined to say it's been four years and an election. Get over it." Scalia continued, "The issue is not whether the decision should have been decided in the Florida or U.S. supreme courts, but that the Constitution had been violated. ... The only decision was to put an end to it after three weeks and looking like fools to the rest of the world. It was too much of a mess."

Consumer Prices See Biggest Gain Since May

WASHINGTON -- Consumer prices — stoked by more expensive gasoline as well as pricier fruits and vegetables — heated up in October, rising by 0.6 percent, the biggest gain in five months. The newest snapshot of the inflation climate, released by the Labor Department Wednesday, bolstered the chances that the Federal Reserve would push up interest rates for a fifth time this year on Dec. 14.

Congress Told to Examine Insurance Scandal

WASHINGTON -- Congress should dig deeper into the burgeoning scandal within the insurance industry, a top investigator said Tuesday, claiming lawmakers will find a "Pandora's box" of unethical conduct. New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who launched an investigation Oct. 14 into major brokerages accused of bid-rigging and price-fixing, told the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee that more revelations about bad practices are coming.

U.S. Capitol Security Checkpoints Return

WASHINGTON -- Police have reinstated checkpoints around the U.S. Capitol, drawing a protest from Washington's representative to Congress, who called them inadequate protection against attacks. A temporary "security perimeter" was set up around the U.S. Capitol in August. It ended only after the U.S. government lowered the terror threat level on Nov. 10 for the financial services industry in New York City, northern New Jersey and Washington. The checkpoints were set up to inspect cars and trucks and avert any possible car bomb attack. They have clogged traffic and angered Washington residents, who were relieved when they were lifted and angered again when they came back less than a week later.

Iran Got Warhead Design, Bomb-Grade Uranium-Exiles

VIENNA -- Iran obtained weapons-grade uranium and a design for a nuclear bomb from a Pakistani scientist who has admitted to selling nuclear secrets abroad, an exiled Iranian opposition group said on Wednesday. The group, which has given accurate information before, also said Iran is secretly enriching uranium at a military site previously unknown to the United Nations, despite promising France, Britain and Germany that it would halt all such work.

Russia Developing New Nukes

They Are Said To Be Unlike Any Others
MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia is developing a new form of nuclear missile unlike those held by other countries, news agencies reported. Speaking at a meeting of the Armed Forces' leadership, Putin reportedly said that Russia is researching and successfully testing new nuclear missile systems. "I am sure that ... they will be put in service within the next few years and, what is more, they will be developments of the kind that other nuclear powers do not and will not have," Putin was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Gulf War Syndrome Exists UK Report Says

The Ministry of Defence has been urged to accept that thousands of veterans have suffered ill health as a result of their service in the first Gulf War. An independent inquiry into so-called Gulf War Syndrome, headed by Lord Lloyd of Berwick said there is "every reason" to accept its existence. The report has also called on the MoD to set up a special fund to compensate veterans who have suffered since the 1991 war to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. The report concluded: "Since the Gulf veterans were twice as likely to become ill as if they had stayed in the UK, the Government ought now, in fairness, and not before time, to accept that the illnesses of those who were deployed to the Gulf were caused by their deployment. "May their illnesses be described as a syndrome? Yes. The symptoms are not unique. They are not even very unusual. What is unusual is the extent and intensity of the symptoms."

Kmart Buying Sears in $11 Billion Deal

NEW YORK -- Discount retailer Kmart Holding Corp. will buy department store operator Sears, Roebuck & Co. in a surprise $11 billion deal that creates the third-largest U.S. retailer, the companies said on Wednesday. The new company, Sears Holdings, will have about $55 billion in annual revenue and nearly 3,500 retail stores.

Specter closes in on Judiciary chair

Sen. Trent Lott has been
urging support for Specter
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) waged a dogged fight yesterday to win over his Republican colleagues one by one in his bid to claim the Judiciary Committee chairmanship. “Senator Specter is a strong player around here,” said Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), the incoming Budget Committee chairman. “Going into a gunfight, you’d like to have Senator Specter at your side.” Specter was grilled by Republican leaders during a lengthy meeting with Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and the rest of the Senate leadership team yesterday. He then met with Republican Judiciary Committee members, who must select the next chairman under GOP conference rules. Under the rules, after the committee votes by secret ballot, the party conference must vote on affirming the chairman. That vote will not occur until January. Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) has been urging support for Specter. Specter backed Lott when he had to step down from his post as majority leader, and Lott also supported Specter’s reelection this year.

Hatch predicts Specter will chair US Senate panel

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch predicted on Tuesday that Sen. Arlen Specter would succeed him as Judiciary Committee chairman next year despite some conservative opposition to the Pennsylvania lawmaker's support for abortion rights. "I'm for Arlen," Hatch of Utah said as he and Specter emerged from a closed-door meeting with fellow committee Republicans. "I believe he will be a great chairman." Hatch said no committee Republican voiced opposition to Specter during the meeting, called to let Specter make his case for the chairmanship following a recent wave of criticism from anti-abortion groups and activists.

Specter Gets Hatch Support to Chair Panel

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Arlen Specter gained ground Tuesday toward winning the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which was thrown into doubt after he said judges who oppose abortion rights would face confirmation problems. "I expect him to have the support of the committee," the panel's current chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said after a closed-door meeting of the panel's 10 current Republicans. "Nobody in the meeting was against Arlen," Hatch told reporters, Specter at his side. "Senator Specter handled himself very well and frankly, I'm for him, as I should be."

Specter likely to lead Judiciary Committee

Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican, likely will assume the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee on schedule, despite opposition from many conservatives, say insiders familiar with talks among Republican Party leaders. Sen. Judd Gregg, New Hampshire Republican, supports Mr. Specter, saying he "has a good case to make for why he should be chairman." "He is someone who has stood by the president's nominees for the last four years," Mr. Gregg said. "And he's a tough guy who knows how to run a committee and is very effective. And I think he'll be a strong chairman of that committee and a great benefit to the president as chairman."

Specter Picks Up Support in Chairmanship Battle

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, a moderate opposed by anti-abortion groups, picked up the support of another Republican colleague on Monday in his bid to head the committee that oversees judicial nominations. "I believe he is capable, experienced and honest and I take him at his word when he says that President (George W.) Bush's nominees will receive fair hearings," Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon said in a statement backing Specter. The Judiciary Committee screens White House nominations to the federal bench, including the U.S. Supreme Court, which helps shape social policy on matters from gays rights to abortion.

Leahy: Specter battle key signal of Senate future

WASHINGTON -- Vermont Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy says this week's debate over whether Senator Arlen Specter should chair the Judiciary Committee will provide a key signal for the course of the Senate. That debate is occurring behind closed doors in the Republican caucus, where conservatives say his support for abortion rights makes him unfit for the job of Judiciary chairman. Leahy -- the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee -- says the outcome of this battle will be a clear signal about how President Bush and the Senate will deal with anticipated vacancies on the Supreme Court. Leahy says if conservatives block Specter's promotion to committee chairman, that could signal especially rancorous fights over upcoming court appointments.

Filibuster Vote-Counter Will Lead Democrats

Reid: Committed Partisan With
Deceptively Moderate Record
Shortly after securing his place as the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Nevada's Harry Reid had a message for President Bush: "I will not shirk from my responsibility to stand up and fight for Nevada values and Democratic principles." As Daschle's loyal lieutenant for six years, Reid spent much of his time counting votes and making sure Senate Democrats were unified. His work paid off. The only other potential candidate for minority leader, Sen. Christopher Dodd (D.-Conn.), quickly backed away from a challenge to Reid. Democrats plan to formally vote for their new leader next month.

U.S. Launches Assault on Iraqi Resistance in Mosul

MOSUL, Iraq -- U.S. and Iraqi forces launched an offensive in Mosul on Tuesday to retake control of rebel-held areas after a week of anarchy with insurgents rampaging through Iraq's third largest city. Violence in Mosul was part of a surge in unrest in Sunni areas of Iraq that coincided with a major U.S. assault on the rebel bastion of Falluja. The U.S. military says it has taken control of Falluja, but scattered resistance remains.

61 US Soldiers Killed This Week

At least 40 killed in Fallujah alone
In a flurry of weekend press releases, the Department of Defense named another 26 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. These deaths bring the total killed since Nov. 8 to 61. Such facts may conflict with "official numbers" released to the unquestioning media. However, in an apparent response to this article, the DoD is now reporting that 38 US troops have died in Fallujah. The discrepancy in numbers may stem from unreported deaths. We will only know after the troops' names are officially released.

Fighting sweeps Sunni Muslim heartland as U.S. Offensive in Fallujah Winds Down

Explosions and gunfire broke out Monday in Baquba -- the latest in a wave of clashes that has swept Iraq's Sunni Muslim heartland even as U.S. and Iraqi forces move against the last remaining pockets of resistance in Fallujah. Witnesses said insurgents were fighting Iraqi police, and explosions and heavy gunfire were echoing through Baquba's streets.

Marines Probe Apparent Slaying of Wounded Unarmed Iraqi

WASHINGTON -- Marine commanders in Iraq are investigating an incident in which a Marine apparently shot and killed a severely wounded and unarmed Iraqi in a mosque in Fallujah, a Pentagon official said Monday night. Images of the incident, captured Saturday on videotape by Kevin Sites, a freelance correspondent working for NBC News who is embedded with a Marine unit, were broadcast Monday night on several news networks. The videotape shows a squad of Marines entering the building and seeing several Iraqis lying against a wall, either dead or gravely wounded. One Marine shouts something about one Iraqi feigning death. The Marine then shoots the man in the head.

U.S. military investigating television footage of incident

THE US military was last night investigating television footage that appeared to show a marine in Fallujah shoot dead an injured and apparently unarmed man inside a mosque. The images were set to inflame critics of the handling of the war in Iraq and the behaviour of US units engaged in the fighting. Pictures aired on TV networks showed a man slumped on the floor of a mosque, where rebels had earlier been shooting at US troops. When the troops realised the man was not dead, one opened fire, hitting him in the head at close range. The wounded man was half-sitting against the wall, wearing an orange headscarf.

Military Probes Mosque Shooting

The U.S. military is investigating a videotaped incident that appears to show a U.S. Marine shooting and killing a wounded and unarmed Iraqi prisoner in a mosque in the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

Informant Blows Cover

FBI informant sets himself on fire near White House
WASHINGTON -- Mohamed Alanssi, 52, who set himself afire Monday just outside a White House gate worked for the FBI as an informant. He said the FBI had not kept promises it made to him to secure his assistance. Witnesses reported hearing screams and seeing a man in flames. A Florida couple with a video camera taped the incident but they turned the tape over to the Secret Service.

Man Sets Fire to Himself Outside White House

WHITE HOUSE -- A man has apparently tried to set himself on fire on the north side of the northwest gate of the White House around 2 p.m. Monday. Witnesses tell WTOP Radio that uniformed Secret Service officers ripped off the man's burning clothes and extinguished the fire. D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman Alan Etter tells says the man, believed to be about 60, suffered burns over about 30-percent of his body. WTOP Listener Jim Clarke of Burke was walking his dog on the newly opened portion of Pennsylvania Avenue when it happened. "We just got in front of the White House when I heard the Secret Service radio go ... 'a guy set himself on fire outside the White House' ... and you could see the guy totally engulfed in flames." (Photo/Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Rice Is Top Candidate to Replace Powell -Sources

WASHINGTON -- National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, one of President Bush's closest confidantes, is the likely successor to replace resigning Secretary of State Colin Powell, senior administration officials said on Monday. Rice has been national security adviser since Bush took office in January 2001. Of his top aides, she spends more time with the president than any other except White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. She was at his side at all times in the run-up to the Iraq war.

Powell to Leave Bush Cabinet

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Colin Powell has told top aides he intends to resign from President Bush's Cabinet, high-ranking State Department officials said Monday. Powell, who long has been rumored planning only a single term with Bush, told his aides that he intends to leave once Bush settles on whom to succeed him, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. Word of Powell's imminent departure kicked off a new week of Cabinet shuffling for Bush, who is planning his second term.

Impeach Bad Judges

Will recycled Senate impeach bad judges?
It is my opinion that one of the greatest failures of the U.S. Senate for the past hundred years is their refusal to remove federal judges from the bench – including Supreme Court Justices – who bend and twist the Constitution to appease their masters or support their own political agenda.

Conservative Votes, Liberal Victories

by Darrell Dow
Looking to quickly capitalize on his election victory, George Bush bluntly extended an upright middle finger to the conservatives and Evangelicals who merrily and mindlessly put him back into office. Shortly before the election, Steve Sailer wrote that the primary issue in the election was accountability, i.e., would there be any. Sailer feared, quite rightly, "…that if we re-elect Bush, we will be rewarding the kind of behavior we've seen for the last four years, and thus we will get more of it in the future."

In Violaton Of Their Oath Of Office

This year, over three million illegal aliens crossed over our borders against the laws set forth in our Constitution and Federal immigration mandates. These laws are specific. They demand arrest and deportation for anyone within the United States of America without lawful entry. For anyone hiring an illegal alien, these laws provide fines of $10,000.00 per illegal hired and up to five years in prison.

Bush Faces Early Test on Immigration Policy

WASHINGTON -- President Bush faces an early test on immigration policy this week as Congress considers legislation denounced by Latino groups as anti-Hispanic and anti-immigrant. Several provisions that would affect the lives of immigrants and asylum seekers found their way into a bill passed by the House of Representatives to reform the nation's intelligence services.

Blue states buzz over secession

Secession, which didn't work very well when it was tried once before, is suddenly red hot in the blue states. In certain precincts, anyway. One popular map circulating on the Internet shows the 19 blue states won by Sen. John Kerry — Washington, Oregon, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Maryland and the Northeastern states — conjoined with Canada to form the "United States of Canada." The 31 red states carried by Mr. Bush are depicted as a separate nation dubbed "Jesusland."

The United States: A Hayekian Solution

We live in a country where slightly-less-than-half is bitterly opposed to the slightly-more-than-half who currently control the levers of power and are determined to use them in ways that are designed to teach the minority and the rest of the world a thing or two about American power. No short-term solution seems possible but at some point in the future, something will have to be done to restrain the problem. The goal should not be so much punitive as preventative. What to do? Let's turn to history.

Ads to Back Schwarzenegger Presidential Bid

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A new ad campaign being launched in the Golden State will urge Californians to help give Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other naturalized citizens the chance to run for president. The cable television ads, set to begin running Monday, are from a Silicon Valley-based group that wants to amend the U.S. Constitution, which limits the presidency to natural U.S. citizens. Those who obtain their citizenship at birth are referred to as natural citizens, while those who become citizens after birth are referred to as naturalized citizens. Schwarzenegger was born in Austria but became a U.S. citizen in 1983.

CIA tumult irks some in Congress

Washington -- Members of Congress said Sunday that they are concerned about turmoil within the CIA, following last week's retirement of the agency's deputy director and reports of more resignations to come. "The agency seems in freefall in Washington, and that is a very, very bad omen in the middle of a war," said Rep. Jane Harman, D-Rancho Palos Verdes (Los Angeles County), the ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Senator slams 'dysfunctional, rogue' CIA

Republican Senator John McCain blasted the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a "dysfunctional" and "rogue" organisation that needs to be reformed. Reform of US intelligence has been a priority in the US Congress since spy agencies failed to stop the September 11, 2001 attacks, as well as the failures of US spies to provide accurate pre-war information on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction. "This kind of shake up is absolutely necessary," the Arizona Republican told ABC television. "This is a dysfunctional agency and in some ways a rogue agency."

Kerry returns to Hill, Dems ponder strategy

Top Hill Democrats huddled last week to try to devise a strategy to combat President Bush’s agenda despite their weakened ranks in Congress. “Fifty-four-plus million Americans voted for healthcare,” Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said yesterday in his first visit to the Hill since losing the presidential race. “They voted for energy independence. They voted for unity in America. They voted for stem-cell research. They voted for protecting Social Security. We need to be unified and have a very clear agenda, and I’m going to be fighting for that agenda with all the energy I have, and all of the passion I brough to the campaign.”

U.S. Troops Raid Homes of Clerics Critical of Invasion

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- American troops raided the homes and offices of two prominent Sunni Muslim clerics Thursday after both men made fiery public speeches condemning the U.S.-led offensive in Fallujah and voicing their support for the resistance. There also were rising signs of friction between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, with Sunni clerics complaining that Shiite religious leaders had failed to condemn the U.S. attacks on the Sunni city of Fallujah.

Violence Erupts Across Iraq; Car Bomb Kills 17 in Baghdad

BAGHDAD -- Armed insurgents rampaged Thursday through Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, detonated a massive car bomb in the capital and apparently seized control of two smaller urban centers. This violence took place as U.S. forces continued their major offensive in Fallujah. The scattered and spreading guerrilla attacks appeared to be part of a threatened effort by insurgents to open new battle fronts away from Fallujah, an anti-American bastion 35 miles west of Baghdad in the Sunni Triangle.

New Resistance Confronts US Forces

US troops were drawn into a new offensive in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul yesterday to tackle a tide of resistance unchecked by the military assault on Falluja. In Baghdad at least 17 Iraqis were killed in a suicide car bombing as gunmen set up checkpoints on roads in the west of the capital and fought battles with US troops.

US Concedes Falluja Assault Won't Break Resistance

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military said on Thursday this week's Falluja offensive would not shatter Iraq's insurgency, while analysts argued merely seizing real estate does little to stop rebels able to relocate and keep fighting.

Iraqi police in Mosul accused of cooperating with resistance

MOSUL, Iraq -- As fighting intensifies in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, Iraqi police are being accused of cooperating with militant forces. A senior Kurdish party member is calling Iraqi efforts to oppose insurgents in the city "a failure." He says gunmen have laid siege to nine police stations, some of which were then just "turned over" to the attackers. The official also said militant forces include some who've "escaped from Fallujah and other cities."

Marines Send Tanks to Antiwar Protest in LA

Marine APCs showed up at an anti-war protest in front of the federal building in Westwood. The APCs circled the block twice, the second time parking themselves in the street and directly in front of the area where most of the protesters were gathered. Enraged, some of the people attempted to block the APCs, but police quickly cleared the street.

U.S. Launches Second Phase of Fallujah Assault

More Than 200 U.S. Casualties Reported
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq -- U.S. soldiers and Marines launched a large attack Thursday into the southern half of Fallujah, where Iraqis still holding, opening a second phase in the offensive, U.S. officials said. The news follows reports that more than 200 U.S. soldiers have been seriously hurt in the offensive and flown to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany.

Urban Resistance Poses Questions Over Tactics

The US military's ability to push into the heart of Falluja just 48 hours after it launched its offensive in the Muslim-held city is a sign that even a hardened and determined resistance has little hope of holding out against overwhelming American advantages in firepower and personnel. But military analysts and former coalition officials warn that taking the city, while far from complete, may actually prove the easy part of the operation; the hard part will be holding it.

Eyewitness: Defiance amid carnage

Wherever I went, I found broken buildings and bodies - local people and fighters killed on the streets. I also saw four crippled US tanks and three abandoned Humvees. In the Hasbiyyah area, I counted the bodies of at least six US soldiers lying on the ground. Some of them were badly mangled with various bits blown off. Others were in better condition, as if they had taken small-arms fire. I noticed two of the US soldiers were still clutching their guns tightly across their chests. But most of their weapons were missing. Some of the dead are beginning to rot in the streets.

At least 19 killed in Baghdad car bomb

A suicide bombing in central Baghdad targeting a vehicle carrying Americans and a police car has left at least 19 people dead, CNN reported Thursday. Fifteen other people were wounded in the car bombing on a busy street during the morning rush hour. The blast destroyed and burned 25 cars and damaged 20 shops and buildings.

650 US Troops in Iraq Hit by Parasite

More than 650 US troops deployed in Iraq have been infected with a fly-borne parasite that causes chronic, festering sores, officials said at a health conference in Miami. About 660 soldiers were found to have contracted the leishmaniasis parasite since US troops launched operations in Iraq in March 2003, Colonel Naomi Arenson, an expert on the disease at the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre, said.

Attacks continue throughout the country Iraq

Muslims continued their attacks across the country yesterday, including a series of raids near the town of Baquba, north-east of Baghdad. Insurgents claimed that 45 police officers were killed in the raids, but in Baquba, the official in charge of the main morgue denied it, saying he had not dealt with any dead from the attacks. Elsewhere, a suicide car bomb exploded at an Iraqi national guard camp at the K-1 oil pumping station in Kirkuk, in the north, killing at least three people and injuring several others.

HISTORY OF VETERANS DAY

Official recognition of the end of the first modern global conflict -- World War I - - was made in a concurrent resolution (44 Stat. 1982) enacted by Congress on June 4, 1926, with these words:

WHEREAS the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and

WHEREAS it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and...

What Is A "Veteran"

by Craig Roberts

November 11th, what we now call "Veterans Day," was originally called Armistice Day. It celebrated the end of World War I, when the guns fell silent across the Western Front on the 11th day, on the 11th hour of 1918. It is not a day to celebrate war, but to celebrate peace--and remember those for fought and died for it. I want to take this opportunity, as a veteran, to remember and to help those who enjoy this hard-fought peace to understand.

As a veteran, and as a military historian, I would like to define exactly what a veteran is.

Today is Armistice Day

by Ben Irvin

Today is Armistice Day (now Veterans Day) when at the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month in 1918, the guns of Europe became silent. The Great War, or The War to End All Wars, was fought with tens of millions of young men and boys, and cost the lives of tens of millions.

Out of the several million young Americans that served, as of two weeks ago, only 44 WW I veterans were still alive (according to the Washington Post). In 1997 there were almost 1400 survivors. The youngest Great War veteran is now 101 years old and soon all that served in that long horrible war will all be joining that great army of the dead.

Today. let us give pause and reflection to the veterans and remember that they all thought that they were fighting The War to End All Wars.

Veterans Day a time for reflection and honor

The United States is at war in Iraq and Afghanistan at a time when the nation is divided about foreign policy methods and objectives in the war on terror.

Because of that division, it can be easy to overlook those who carry out the orders of the people we elect.

Today is Veterans Day, a day when 15,000 U.S. soldiers are engaged in fighting in Fallujah, and some have already been wounded or died there. There are nearly 150,000 troops from all services deployed in Iraq alone (another 24,000 are in Afghanistan).

While Americans may disagree over policy, sometimes very strongly, these brave men and women, all of whom are volunteers, do not get to chose when and where they fight. Yet, they and their forebears have stepped forward to defend the United States for centuries, and continue to do so today.

Nearly 1.2 million members of the U.S. armed forces have died in service since the American Revolution, while 1.4 million more have been wounded. More information on the day is available from the Department of Veterans Affairs (www.appc1.va.gov/vetsday/).

There, people can learn that the holiday got its start as Armistice Day, established to commemorate the pact that ended World War I. It was signed at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918 - the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month."

In 1954, Congress, wanting to recognize the sacrifice of all veterans, changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day.

On Nov. 11, 1921, an unknown American soldier from World War I was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, in recognition of World War I veterans and in conjunction with the third anniversary of the end of what was then called "the Great War."

Initially inscribed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were the words: "Here lies in honored glory an American soldier known but to God." Since then, the tomb has been expanded to include unknowns from World War II and Korea.

The remains of a Vietnam War casualty placed there were disinterred and identified using DNA techniques in 1998. The Pentagon then decided not to place any more there because it is at least theoretically possible to identify all the remains from Vietnam.

In Maine, the day will feature parades and ceremonies at war memorials and cemeteries, where flags will mark the graves of those who served their country in uniform, whether they were combat casualties or not.

As millions of Americans continue this proud tradition, the rest of us should understand that patriotism means more than politics in spurring their devotion.

Bush picks pro-abort Gonzales to succeed Ashcroft

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has chosen White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, a Texas confidant and one of the most prominent Hispanics in the administration, to succeed Attorney General John Ashcroft, sources close to the White House said Wednesday. Gonzales wrote a controversial February 2002 memo in which Bush claimed the right to waive anti-torture law and international treaties providing protections to prisoners of war. That position drew fire from human rights groups, which said it helped led to the type of abuses uncovered in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Some conservatives also have quietly questioned Gonzales' credentials on core social issues. And he once was a partner in a Houston law firm which represented the scandal-ridden energy giant Enron.

'Body parts everywhere' in Fallujah

"Body parts everywhere!" cries a US soldier as a shell crashes onto a group of suspected rebels in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, where a punishing torrent of firepower thundered down on Tuesday. More than 500 rounds of 155-millimetre Howitzer cannon shells have been fired on the besieged Sunni stronghold west of Baghdad since a US-Iraqi offensive to take control of the city started on Monday evening. Casualty figures were unavailable from Fallujah, where estimates for the number of its 300 000-strong population who fled ahead of the long-threatened assault vary widely from 20 to 90 percent. An AFP reporter in the Jolan district said one building in every 10 had been flattened.

GI's Report Women & Children Are Shooting Back

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Soldiers with the Army's 1st Infantry Division made their way to the southeastern part of the city, a neighborhood of factories and warehouses where they expected to find guerrillas waiting for them. Instead, the district was relatively quiet, though the units reported being fired on by women and children armed with assault rifles. "There were multiple groups running around shooting at us," said Air Force Senior Airman Michael Smyre, 26, of Hickory, N.C., an airstrike spotter attached to the 1st Infantry who was wounded when a rocket hit his armored vehicle. "You could see a lot of rubble, trash everywhere. It was real nasty-looking."

House-to-house warfare in Fallujah

Lurking in a shabby house, Iraqi civilians fire gunshots and rockets at invading US soldiers before rushing to another building to escape a punishing barrage of American artillery and missiles, AFP correspondents in the city said.

US air raid on Fallujah clinic kills dozens: witnesses

FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Dozens of Iraqi people,including at least 20 medics, were killed in a US air raid on a government clinic in the center of Iraq's western city of Fallujah overnight, witnesses said Tuesday. "Over 20 medics were killed in the air raid and dozens others,including wounded people, were killed as a result of the US raid on the city early Tuesday," local residents told Xinhua. The sources said the one-storey Community Clinic, which had beenreceiving wounded insurgents and civilians, was totally destroyed.

Counting the Dead in Iraq

A study published on October 29th in the Lancet, a British medical journal, suggests the death toll is quite a lot higher than the newspaper reports suggest. The centre of its estimated range of death tolls—the most probable number according to the data collected and the statistics used—is almost 100,000. And even though the limits of that range are very wide, from 8,000 to 194,000, the study concludes with 90% certainty that more than 40,000 Iraqis have died.

Rumsfeld's stupidity

Rumsfeld looks to military
success to 'tip' Iraqi opinion.
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other officials say they are hoping that crushing militants in Fallouja will serve as a milestone for winning the backing of the Iraqi public and deflating the lethal insurgency.

Sunni party withdraws from interim Iraqi government in protest over Fallujah

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A major Sunni political party has quit the interim Iraqi government and revoked its single minister from the Cabinet in protest over the U.S. assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, the party's leader said Tuesday. The Iraqi Islamic Party wields significant influence over the country's Sunni community and its withdrawal from the government will likely be a blow to Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

Bush: Immigration 'High Priority'

MEXICO CITY -- Reform of U.S. immigration laws to let more Mexican migrants work legally is a high priority for President Bush in his second term in office, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Tuesday. The issue has been a source of Mexican frustration with the United States, as immigration-reform efforts languished low on a U.S. government agenda dominated by a war on terrorism and this year's national elections. "The president remains committed to comprehensive immigration reform as a high priority in his second term and he will work closely with our Congress to achieve this goal," Powell said at a ceremony before talks with Mexican officials.

Illegal Aliens Back In Spotlight

After almost four years of minimal progress, Secretary of State Colin Powell says prospects are improving for congressional action to grant legal status to millions of undocumented aliens in the United States. The immigration issue was high on Powell's agenda Tuesday as he headed into talks with President Vicente Fox and other senior Mexican officials. Powell flew to Mexico with five fellow members of President Bush's Cabinet (Powell Sees Better Chance for U.S. Immigration Reform).

Job cuts top 100,000 for second month

Employers announced plans to slash 101,840 jobs in October, the second straight month the number exceeded 100,000. Job-cut announcements fell by 5.6 percent from 107,863 in September. The October figure marked the first time since early 2003 that more than 100,000 cuts were announced in back-to-back months. Nationally, if employers announce more than 86,920 cuts in November and December, that would make 2004 the fourth straight year in which the cuts exceeded 1 million. Before 2001, the highest announced total was 677,795 experienced in 1998.

No euthanasia for Arafat

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's life support equipment will not be switched off "as long as there is warmth and life in his body", senior Islamic cleric Tayssir el-Tamimi has said at his hospital. "There is no question of switching off the equipment. It is against Islamic law which bans this type of practice. As long as there is warmth and life in his body, we cannot switch off the equipment," he said on arriving at the Percy military clinic.

Ashcroft resigns

While people cut the heads off children by abortion,
Ashcroft declares victory over crime and terrorism
WASHINGTON -- Bush said in a statement that Ashcroft had “served our nation with honor, distinction and integrity” and had “transformed the [Justice] Department to make combating terrorism the top priority, including making sure our law enforcement officials have the tools they need to disrupt and prevent attacks.” Justice Department sources have said privately for weeks that Ashcroft, 62, who has been a lightning rod for criticism by Democrats and civil liberties activists, was not likely to continue in a second term. Aides described him as “exhausted” from leading the Justice Department in fighting the domestic war on terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Stress was a factor in health problems earlier this year that resulted in removal of Ashcroft’s gallbladder.

Car bombs explode outside two Baghdad churches, blasts kills eight

BAGHDAD -- Car bombs at two Baghdad churches and outside a hospital treating the victims of those attacks have killed at least eight people and wounded dozens as a wave of blasts struck the Iraqi capital. A car bomb exploded outside St. George's Catholic church in southern Baghdad just before 6.30 p.m. (3.30 p.m. British time), followed just minutes later by a second outside St. Matthew's church. Victims from both blasts, some carried by injured friends or relatives in torn and bloodstained clothes, were rushed to Yarmouk hospital. A doctor said at least three people had been killed and 40 injured.

'We're here to fight the infidels'

"The most important thing is our religion, not Falluja and not the occupation. If the American solders came to me and converted to Islam, I won't fight them. We are here not because we want to liberate Iraq, we are here to fight the infidels and to make victorious the name of Islam." He continued to explain his jihad theories: "They call us terrorists because we resist them. If defending the truth is terrorism, then we are terrorists."

Al Qaida Suicide Bomber Was 'White'

The suicide bomber responsible for the death of three Black Watch soldiers last week is thought to be a white Europe-based al Qaida terrorist. A video of the attack - which left eight Black Watch soldiers injured and a civilian Iraqi interpreter dead - has been aired on an extremists' website. It apparently shows images of insurgents stamping on victims' body parts left at the scene. A senior military source in Iraq said: "The bomber was Caucasian. That means he could be from anywhere between Bosnia to Birmingham. We don't know any more because there wasn't much left of him.

Thousands of Iraqis flee to Jordan border

Thousands of Iraqi citizens late Saturday rushed to the Jordanian-Iraqi border after U.S. occupation troops closed the high way between the two countries and threatened to attack the two cities of al-Falluja and al-Ramadi.

Falluja rebels may lie low, strike back later

BAGHDAD -- Most hardcore Iraqi insurgents and foreign fighters are likely to have left Falluja to evade a U.S. offensive and fight again another day, Iraqi security officials and politicians said on Monday. Battle-hardened fighters may still strike back, even if American and Iraqi forces retake the Sunni Muslim city, they said, pointing to a recent revival in attacks by insurgents after a U.S.-led offensive on the city of Samarra last month.

U.S. launches Fallujah offensive, Troops Face Iraqi Booby-Traps

FALLUJA, Iraq -- Thousands of U.S. troops have streamed into Falluja, beginning an all-out assault aimed at driving insurgents out of the city. Pentagon officials said the operation involves more than 2,000 Iraqis and about 10,000 U.S. troops. U.S. tanks fired 120-mm rounds into booby-trapped barricades for about an hour, igniting massive explosions.

Phantom Fury, Phantom Victory

With Monday's launch of "Operation Phantom Fury" to regain control of the key insurgent-dominated Sunni city of Fallujah, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush appears to be moving toward another "phantom victory" in its broader quest to achieve a stable, pro-Western Iraq.

Neo-Con Agenda: Iran, China, Russia, Latin America

WASHINGTON -- An influential foreign-policy neo-conservative with longstanding ties to top hawks in the administration of President George W Bush has laid out what he calls ''a checklist of the work the world will demand of this president and his subordinates in a second term.'' The list, which begins with the destruction of Fallujah in Iraq and ends with the development of ''appropriate strategies'' for dealing with threats posed by China, Russia and ''the emergence of a number of aggressively anti-American regimes in Latin America,'' also calls for ''regime change'' in Iran and North Korea.

Air Force Studying Massive 30,000-Pound Bomb

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The Air Force built a weapon so big it was nicknamed "Mother of All Bombs" on the eve of the war with Iraq, but MOAB would be dwarfed by a much larger munition now under study. The proposed Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, would weigh 30,000 pounds, nearly 40 percent more than the 21,000 pound MOAB -- officially Massive Ordnance Air Blast -- that never saw combat. "The reason it's heavier than MOAB is that it has to penetrate a target," said Fred Davis, technical director for assessment and demonstrations at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Munitions Directorate. MOP would be designed to explode deep in the ground or inside a structure to destroy tunnels and bunkers or topple tall buildings.

Secret Service to Oversee Inauguration

WASHINGTON -- The Homeland Security Department designated President Bush's inauguration a national security special event, which makes the ceremony's high-profile gatherings eligible for federal money and heightened security overseen by the Secret Service. The department said Monday the Secret Service would handle protection for the Jan. 20 swearing-in at the Capitol, the inaugural parade along Pennsylvania Ave. and the inaugural balls.

Delta's 6,900 Job Cuts

ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines Inc. released new details Friday on the up to 6,900 jobs it plans to eliminate starting Jan. 1. The airline will cut between 1,500 to 1,800 administrative employees; 1,600 to 2,000 technical operations employees and 2,900 to 3,100 customer service employees, according to spokesman Anthony Black.

United Seeking $725M in Further Labor Cuts

CHICAGO -- United Airlines is moving to obtain another $725 million in labor concessions and eliminate employees' traditional pensions as it seeks the financing to come out of bankruptcy. A day after the troubled carrier formally informed employees that further steep reductions in pay and other benefits are coming, union leaders huddled to analyze the proposed cuts and decide how to respond. United's largest unions declined public comment until discussing the plan further.

United 'Nations' Agency for International Development (USAID) gives $6 million to Pakistan farmers

QUETTA -- Nancy Powell, the United States ambassador to Pakistan, launched a development project in Balochistan on Monday to increase earnings of small farmers by improving agriculture. The $6 million project is funded by the United Nations Agency for International Development (USAID) and would be implemented over the next three years by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in collaboration with the Agriculture Department.

U.S. Travel Warning for Ivory Coast

The U.S. Department of State issued a travel warning Sunday, urging U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to the Ivory Coast. "Ivory Coast government forces began aerial attacks on cities in northern Ivory Coast controlled by rebels, with those attacks resulting in the deaths of Ivorians and non-Ivorians," said a State Department statement.

U.S. State Department Issues Travel Warning For Central African Republic

This Travel Warning is being issued to inform American citizens of the decision to gradually resume operations at the U.S. Embassy in Bangui. Although the Department of State has approved the return of personnel to the Embassy, there is no official staff in-country. This Travel Warning supersedes that of April 15, 2004. The U.S. Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens against travel to the CAR. There continue to be reports of armed robberies along roads outside of the capital. Americans in CAR are urged to exercise caution and maintain security awareness at all times.

State Department issues Guatemala travel warning

GUATEMALA CITY -- The U.S. State Department is warning Americans about the dangers of street crime in Guatemala after a series of recent attacks on tourists. The warning, posted Wednesday on the State Department website, is in effect through next May. "Violent criminal activity on the highways in Guatemala has increased," it said. "Crimes against foreigners have included murder, rape, and armed robbery, increasingly in conjunction with highway banditry."

U.S. issues travel warning to the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines -- The U.S. said it has reports of continuing activities by known terrorist groups in the Philippines, which could include bombings on airports, passenger ships and seaports. The U.S. State Department said in an updated announcement on its Web site that Americans in the Philippines should be cautious because of the continuing threat by the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group, whose members are reportedly training in the southern Philippines.

2 lawmakers downplay new US travel warning

A DAY after incoming Army chief Lieutenant General Generoso Senga branded the latest United States travel advisory on the Philippines as "very unfair," two lawmakers called the move as "outdated" and "uncalled for." In the advisory, the US Department of State urged its citizens to defer nonessential travel to central, southern and western Mindanao, including the islands of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, citing reports that terrorists would be targeting airports, shipping vessels, and seaports in those areas.

Global Donor Community Makes Sustainable Tourism a New Priority

PLANETA.COM -- The first World Tourism Organization Tourism Policy Forum was held at The George Washington University on October 19-20 in Washington, D.C. This forum convened a variety of experts in the field of sustainable tourism and featured a full day of presentations by leading representatives of the global donor community who presented their planned approaches toward sustainable tourism. Andrew Natsios, Administrator, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington, D.C., USA stated that "astonishingly in 2001, one in every twelve workers globally work in the tourism sector." He reminded the audience that tourism is now 11% of the global economy and, "tourism receipts are of critical importance to many countries' balances of payment and general economic welfare."

Putin Signs Bill to Ratify Kyoto Protocol

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill confirming Russia's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, the Kremlin said Friday, clearing the way for the global climate pact to come into force early next year. After years of hesitation, Putin pledged in May to speed up approval in return for the European Union's support of Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization. The 1997 pact would take effect 90 days after Russia notified the United Nations of its ratification.

Arafat Is Dead

PARIS -- Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is dead, senior Palestinian political sources said on Tuesday. The information from sources close to Arafat could not immediately be confirmed. "He is dead," a senior political source close to Arafat told Reuters in Paris, where the 75-year-old leader has been lying in a coma at a French military hospital. Asked to confirm Arafat's death, another official close to the president said: "Yes, he is dead. There will be an announcement soon." None of the sources gave any details of the cause of death.

Arafat Dead, Say Palestinian Sources Amid Confusion
PARIS -- The fate of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was mired in confusion on Tuesday as French doctors contradicted reports by senior Palestinian officials that the veteran leader had died at a Paris hospital. Several political sources said Arafat, 75, in a coma for the past six days, had succumbed to the mystery illness that led to his being flown to Paris from the West Bank on Oct. 29, thrusting his Palestinian Authority into crisis. "He is dead. It is possible they will delay the announcement," one Palestinian source said. "He died after bleeding in the brain began last night. His bodyguards started hugging and kissing and telling each other to be strong."

Antonin Scalia is the obvious choice

But Bush is considering Clarence Thomas for Chief Justice
President Bush has launched an internal review of the pros and cons of nominating Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as the chief justice if ailing William Rehnquist retires, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. A top White House source familiar with Bush's thinking explains the review of Thomas as chief justice is one of several options currently under serious consideration. But Thomas is Bush's personal favorite to take the position, the source claims.

Bush Slaps Your Face

Hail to the dyke
Hasn’t Bush hired even more sodomites and other perverts to top federal jobs? Isn’t the man in charge of personnel at the Pentagon among them? Hasn’t Cheney said he supports "civil unions?" How does (Bush) reconcile his staunch support for organized sodomy and his staunch Christian faith? For instance, Bush says not only that Islam is the "religion of peace," but also that it is another way to approach God, another way that brings us to the same place.

American Electorate Rewards Lying, Anti-American Congress

No doubt the champagne flowed freely election night for the Republican party faithful, although for the life of me, I can't understand why. For a nation in turmoil and demanding change, the same Congress is being returned to Washington, DC! The same Congress that has been controlled by Republicans for the past ten years. America is sending back the same Senate (plus a few new faces) that has refused to remove one single corrupt federal judge or member of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Who Loves Big Government Now?

In an odd way, liberal Democrats won a historic victory in this year's presidential election. ... Small-government sentiment was aptly expressed by the late Senator Barry Goldwater who said, "Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have." The battle is now over and advocates of activist government won.

Inherent Autonomy

The Intrinsic Nature Of The Human Condition
Humanity has succumbed to the momentum of mediocrity. The modern age has forsaken the core values that created Western Civilization. The principles of meaningful social relationships have been relinquished to a reign of terror - Democratic Rule. What you get is the acquiescence of the mob to the dictates of the elites. Americans are especially afflicted with the ailment of amnesia. A country founded upon the prescript of liberty, has surrendered to the insanity of pluralism. The loss of emancipation is a direct result of relinquishing our Inherent Autonomy.

Assault to retake Fallujah underway

Two U.S. Marines, 10 Iraqis
killed as fighting intensifies
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - With warplanes pounding the city, U.S. troops fought their way into the western outskirts of Fallujah on Monday, seizing a hospital and two bridges over the Euphrates River in the first stage of a major assault on the insurgent stronghold. The U.S. military reported its first casualties of the offensive — two Marines killed when their bulldozer flipped over into the Euphrates River. Ten Iraqis were killed and 11 others injured during the night of fighting in Fallujah, according to doctors.

Coalition faces suicide army

AS at least 12,000 coalition and Iraqi forces massed in preparation for an all-out assault on Fallujah last night, insurgent commanders inside the rebel stronghold warned that hundreds of suicide bombers had been primed as part of planning for a ferocious counter-attack. With all eyes on Fallujah, west of Baghdad, insurgents struck a devastating blow in nearby Ramadi, rounding up 21 officers at two police stations and shooting them dead execution style.

Putting Fallujah to the Torch

On the American side, our troops have been used as pawns in a game of political chess that certainly will leave them more exposed in any battle for Falluja than might otherwise have been the case. Our ultimate threat, of course, is that those 10,000 soldiers backed by air power and artillery will make an example of Falluja, producing an American version of the Roman solution to Carthage.

Bush’s Iraq War: An Offer You Would Have Refused

Would you have bought into the Iraq War if George W. Bush had made you an honest offer? This question is a revealing variant of one that people often ask and answer: “Is the war worth its price?” Politicians and government officials are no strangers to such questions, and over the years they have given some amazing – frankly, shocking – answers. Thus, when General Curtis LeMay responded to questions about the U.S. fire-bombing of Tokyo’s residential neighborhoods in the latter stages of World War II, he declared: “We knew we were going to kill a lot of women and kids when we burned that town. Had to be done.” That is, the price was acceptable to him.

How Dangerous Is America’s Future?

In tomorrow's America of suffocating political correctness and clashing cultures, unrestricted immigration will prove a merciless weapon of war. It's importing conflicting languages, barbaric rituals such as female genital mutilation, deadly diseases like tuberculosis and leprosy, cultural antagonisms and loss of a cohesive national identity. California is our national harbinger of things to come. It is called Third World Momentum. The Roman Empire fell to immigration of the Vandals. Likewise, Celtic Britain, Germany's Prussia and Serbian Kosovo.

Bush 2nd-Term Agenda Would Add Big Costs

WASHINGTON -- With federal deficits already running amok, it is unclear how President Bush will pay for his second-term agenda, a potentially multitrillion-dollar smorgasbord that includes overhauling Social Security and revamping the tax system. Bush laid out lofty goals Thursday at his first news conference since his Election Day triumph. He said he wanted to buttress Social Security, simplify the tax system, strengthen the economy, fight terrorism, bolster education, and battle AIDS and poverty abroad. With the GOP's electoral successes this week, Bush can count for support on Congress' growing cadre of conservative Republicans - with some caveats.

Bush Won't Estimate Costs

Second-Term Agenda Includes Social Security, Tax Code
President Bush vowed yesterday to use the "political capital" gained from his victory on Tuesday to push an aggressive domestic agenda in a second term, beginning with limiting medical malpractice lawsuits and continuing with revamping the tax code and adding private accounts to Social Security. On foreign policy, Bush listed the fight against terrorism first when he was citing his priorities. He declined to estimate the cost of continuing operations in Iraq, saying that the United States would work with the government of Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, to "achieve our objective, which is elections, on the path to stability, and we'll continue to train the troops." He said he will continue to work for a Palestinian state coexisting peacefully with Israel, saying that when he laid out that vision in the Rose Garden in 2002, he "meant it when I said it, and I mean it now."

3 U.S. Troops Killed in Attacks

BAGHDAD — Two Marines and a soldier were killed Thursday in incidents north and west of the Iraqi capital, the U.S. military said early today. Four Marines were injured in addition to the two who were killed during combat operations in Al Anbar province. That province includes the militant stronghold of Fallouja, which U.S. troops pounded Thursday with airstrikes and artillery ahead of an expected assault. No details were given about how the Marines died.

Military Is Afraid to Tell Bush the Truth

NEW YORK -- Seymour Hersh, the famed reporter known for breaking stories from My Lai to Abu Ghraib, said in a Washingtonpost.com chat today that "the major media have been part of the problem since 9-11, merely because they have far too often taken the president's public utterances at face value." On Iraq: "The military are scared of telling Cheney and Bush the truth and that will have to end within the next six months. They cannot deliver in Iraq what the president wants, and we'll have to start getting out. So I believe anyway."

Marines prepare for Fallujah battle

WITH U.S. FORCES NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq -- The number of dead and wounded from the expected battle to retake insurgent-controlled Fallujah probably will reach levels not seen since Vietnam, a senior surgeon at the Marine camp outside Fallujah said Thursday. Navy Cmdr. Lach Noyes said the hospital here is preparing to handle 25 severely injured soldiers a day, not counting walking wounded and the dead.

A Volley of Fire From a Fast-Moving Target

ORWARD OPERATING BASE RAMADI, Iraq -- For most American soldiers and marines here, it was hard to tell which was louder: the 10 enemy rockets and mortars that rained down just before dinnertime with ear-splitting detonations that wounded two people and sent others diving to the ground, or what came next.

U.S. Soldiers Face Murder Charges for Iraq Killing

LOS ANGELES -- Two U.S. Army soldiers face murder charges in a military trial in Baghdad for shooting and killing a badly wounded Iraqi teenager mistaken for an insurgent by U.S. troops, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday on its Web site. The newspaper quoted the two Army staff sergeants as saying they shot and killed the Iraqi boy in a "mercy killing" as he lay moaning on the ground in an August incident in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City.

Team Bush...with a Few New Faces

Never known as a man who says "I goofed," George W. Bush made headlines in the second Presidential debate when he reluctantly admitted: "I made some mistakes in appointing people, but I'm not going to name them." This President rarely sacrifices a besieged ally -- as long as his or her fealty to Team Bush is not in question. So the President who won reelection by proclaiming his stay-the-course determination isn't likely to clear the decks. K Street lobbyists and Republican operatives mostly are speculating about who's too burned out to soldier on.

Newsweek set to unload on Kerry's campaign

NEW YORK -- When President Bush's poll numbers surged in April after a press conference where his performance was derided by the press and the chattering classes, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry was baffled, writes Newsweek Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas in an exclusive report in Newsweek's special election issue. "He said with a sigh to one top staffer, 'I can't believe I'm losing to this idiot.'"

Who Comes, Who Goes, Who Stays

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's re-election produced a scramble that administration officials said Wednesday could reshape the cabinet, with Attorney General John Ashcroft and the secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, considered the most likely to relinquish their posts. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has long been described by many people working with him as likely to leave office after tiring of the battles he has waged with administration hardliners. Associates of Mr. Powell said Wednesday, however, that they could not be sure that he would do so after all, especially if he feels that he can make progress on securing Iraq and holding elections there after the first of the year.

Powell set to go in Bush reshuffle

President George W Bush's re-election could herald a new look for his administration, with expectations that he will reshuffle his cabinet while maintaining enough continuity to tackle his priorities: Iraq and the war on terror. The biggest change could be in his diplomatic team, with Secretary of State Colin Powell, 67, widely tipped to leave his post. At the Justice Department, John Ashcroft, 62, appointed to please the Republican Party's right wing, is widely expected to depart. His replacement could be Tom Ridge, 59, the Homeland Security Secretary, or Rudolph Giuliani, 60, the New York City mayor at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Roadside bomb kills U.S. soldier in Iraq

BAGHDAD -- A roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier in Iraq on Wednesday, the U.S. military said. The bomb exploded as the soldier's patrol passed the device in Salman Pak, just south of the Iraqi capital. Another soldier was wounded, the military said in a statement. The bomb exploded as the soldier's patrol passed the device in Salman Pak, just south of the Iraqi capital. Another soldier was wounded, the military said in a statement. The death brings to 859 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in combat in Iraq. Almost 1,120 have died in action or from accidents or other causes since the start of last year's U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Hungary to remove 300 troops from Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- In a blow to the U.S. effort to hold the Iraq multinational forces together, Hungary announced yesterday that it will withdraw its 300 noncombat troops by the end of March. It had agreed to extend the deployment from an original deadline of Dec. 31 so its soldiers could help maintain security during elections in January, but Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said a further extension after the election would be "impossible."

Bomb targets US convoy in Baghdad

A suspected car bomb has exploded in Baghdad while a senior oil ministry official has been killed in continuing violence around the country. The car bomb went off near a checkpoint on the road to Baghdad international airport on Wednesday injuring nine Iraqis, medics and witnesses said. The bomb exploded not far from the first US checkpoint on the airport road in south-western Baghdad, setting fire to a US military Humvee vehicle, the US military said in a statement.

Four Iraqi soldiers shown beheaded; American kidnapped

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A car bomb exploded at an airport checkpoint, a Lebanese American was reported kidnapped from his home, three headless bodies were found under a bridge and a U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb as violence continued in and around the Iraqi capital yesterday. Gunmen killed a senior Oil Ministry official, Hussein Ali al-Fattal, after he left his house yesterday in western Baghdad, police said. Al-Fattal was general manager of a state-owned company that distributes petroleum byproducts.

Oil company man killed in Baghdad violence

Baghdad -- Rebels mounted fresh attacks in Iraq and kidnappers have seized an American-Lebanese contractor and four Jordanian drivers. Gunmen also killed Hussein Ali, director-general of the state-owned Refined Oil Products distribution company, and a car bomb blew up near a US convoy on the airport road, killing an Iraqi security man. Four gunmen seized Radim Sadiq, an American national of Lebanese origin, from his Lebanese company's office in the Mansour district of Baghdad late on Tuesday, the interior ministry said.

AP: Kerry Calls Bush to Concede Election

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush won a second term from a divided and anxious nation, his promise of steady, strong wartime leadership trumping John Kerry's fresh-start approach to Iraq and joblessness. After a long, tense night of vote counting, the Democrat called Bush Wednesday to concede Ohio and the presidency, The Associated Press learned. Kerry ended his quest, concluding one of the most expensive and bitterly contested races on record, with a call to the president shortly after 11 a.m. EST, according to two officials familiar with the conversation.

Election Results 2004
National Results

The red and the blue
Check to see latest map – county by county

THE GREAT DECEPTION

by Lee Shelton
I can't read minds and I certainly don't pretend to know what lies in a man's heart. However, I think I have seen enough to know that George W. Bush is a fraud. He knows how to talk the talk, but when it comes to walking the walk he's just stumbling around aimlessly in the dark. What's worse, he has convinced countless gullible Christians to follow his lead. The only feasible explanation is that many have fallen into a form of idolatry. When a sinful, fallible human being can do no wrong in the eyes of believers, something has gone awry.

Voters Choose Double Dubya

President Bush is headed back to the White House after a stunning re-election victory over John Kerry that confounded the pundits and the exit polls, according to vote tallies and TV network projections last night. Bush was called the winner in Ohio, Florida and Alaska and was leading in New Mexico, Nevada and Iowa after a squeaker election in a divided nation at war. That would guarantee Bush at least a 269-269 tie in electoral votes and send it to the GOP-controlled House of Representatives, where he would win.

White House 'Convinced' of Bush Victory

WASHINGTON -- President Bush crept close to re-election early Wednesday, leading challenger John Kerry in a campaign cliffhanger framed by war in Iraq and joblessness at home. Ohio held the key, stirring echoes of Florida in 2000, but this time Bush's advantage was substantial. Ceding nothing, Kerry went to bed without conceding. "We will fight for every vote," his running mate, Sen. John Edwards, told supporters in Boston, where he and the four-term Massachusetts senator waited out the late, long count.

Bush won by "decisive margin" - White House

WASHINGTON -- US President George W. Bush was to declare victory in his hard-fought election battle with Democratic rival John Kerry after winning by a "decisive margin," a senior White House aide said. "President Bush decided to give Senator Kerry the respect of more time to reflect on the results of this election. The president will be making a statement later today," said Chief of Staff Andy Card.

Republicans Extend Decade of House Control

WASHINGTON -- Republicans extended their decade-long hold on the House for another two years, knocking off four veteran Texas Democrats along the way. Among their few setbacks was the defeat of the longest serving GOP member of the chamber, Rep. Phil Crane. By winning their 218th seat — with several more likely to come — Republicans were set to control the House for a dozen consecutive years, the first time they have achieved that feat since the 12 years that ended in January 1933. With the GOP also renewing its majority in the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Daschle Loses Seat

WASHINGTON -- Republicans tightened their grip on the Senate early Wednesday, dealing defeat to Democrat Leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota and capturing a string of seats across the South.

Chuck Baldwin courts third-party vote

Local minister the VP under Constitution ticket
The Rev. Chuck Baldwin of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola has an easy answer for voters unhappy with President Bush and Sen. John Kerry: Vote for Baldwin's ticket. Baldwin is the vice presidential running mate of Maryland attorney Michael Peroutka, the Constitution Party's presidential nominee. Baldwin, who has been Crossroad's pastor for 29 years, hopes that voters disillusioned with the choices of the two dominant political parties might decide Tuesday on a third-party choice.

Rehnquist Misses Supreme Court Returns

WASHINGTON - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist disclosed Monday that he's undergoing radiation and chemotherapy for thyroid cancer and said he is delaying his expected return to the Supreme Court, a sign he may have a more serious form of the illness. Rehnquist had planned to join fellow justices when they were back on the bench after a two-week break. But instead he issued a statement saying "at the suggestion of my doctors, (I) am continuing to recuperate at home."

GOP Sen. Specter Vows to Block Bush's Nominees

Recall that alleged Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, upon winning the primary, immediately backstabbed President Bush, who had campaigned for him instead of actual Republican Pat Toomey. Turns out Specter was just getting started. We now see that the usually pro-Democrat Pittsburgh Post-Gazette endorsed the sharp-horned RINO in Tuesday's general election for this reason: "Before the Post-Gazette editorial board, he promised that no extremists would be approved for the bench."

Related
The Pennsylvania Treason
I have often asserted that, for the pro-life movement, the only practical distinction between the Democrat and Republican parties is that one is an enemy who will stab us in the chest and the other is a friend who will stab us in the back. Tuesday's Republican primary in Pennsylvania proved my point. President George W. Bush personally rushed to Pennsylvania and implored Republicans to get behind the candidacy of ... Arlen Specter. Equally amazing, Pennsylvania's other senator, Rick Santorum, also chose to walk away from his long-espoused pro-life principles. He joined Bush on the campaign trail and urged voters to defeat the pro-life challenger... Through their participation in The Pennsylvania Treason, the Republican Party, George Bush and Rick Santorum have lost the right to ever again ask for the support of pro-lifers.

Prolife Betrayal in PA
Santorum, Christian radio station sell out
Prolife candidate for 30 pieces of silver
PITTSBURGH, PA - Living in western Pennsylvania, I got to watch and hear the Republican Senate primary ads first hand. On one hand you had Pat Toomey, a prolifer and well-respected politician. Two years prior, he was the Republican nominee for PA governor's race. On the other, you had Arlen Specter - long time pro-abortion advocate and PA senator. (You might remember his whimpy vote of "not proven" during the Clinton impeachment trial).

NASA photo analyst: Bush wore a device during debate

George W. Bush tried to laugh off the bulge. "I don't know what that is," he said on "Good Morning America" on Wednesday, referring to the infamous protrusion beneath his jacket during the presidential debates. "I'm embarrassed to say it's a poorly tailored shirt." Dr. Robert M. Nelson, however, was not laughing. He knew the president was not telling the truth. And Nelson is neither conspiracy theorist nor midnight blogger. He's a senior research scientist for NASA and for Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and an international authority on image analysis. Currently he's engrossed in analyzing digital photos of Saturn's moon Titan, determining its shape, whether it contains craters or canyons.

Bush Campaign Digitally Altered TV Ad

The original photograph shows a sea of soldiers sitting behind the president as he stands at a podium just left of the center of the frame. Bush was speaking at Fort Drum in New York on July 19, 2002. (AP Graphic)

Votes From the Dead May Still Be Counted

RALEIGH, N.C. -- An untold number of ballots from people who have died since casting them will be counted this year because of the haphazard and cumbersome process of enforcing laws in many states to weed out these votes. With millions of voters taking advantage of new, in-person early voting in at least 30 states this year, it's even more likely that such "ghost" votes will be counted because, in most cases, those ballots are impossible to retrieve. Besides, it could be days or weeks after the election before local officials get word someone has died.

Fresh U.S. Troops Arrive in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A brigade of fresh American troops arriving in Baghdad will push the total U.S. military presence in Iraq to around 142,000, the highest level since the summer of 2003. At Camp Victory North, the sprawling headquarters of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division, the mess hall and housing trailers were brimming to capacity with the arrival of the 3,700-member Louisiana-based 256th Enhanced Separate Brigade, a National Guard unit that has been rolling into the Iraqi capital the past few days.

GIs Lack Armor, Radios, Bullets

U.S. Has $400 Billion Defense Budget
Two weeks ago, a group of Army reservists in Iraq refused a direct order to go on a dangerous operation to re-supply another unit with jet fuel. Without helicopter gunships to escort them over a treacherous stretch of highway, and lacking armored vehicles, soldiers from the 343rd Quartermaster Company called it a suicide mission.

Car Bomb Kills 8 Marines Outside Fallujah

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq -- A car bomb killed eight U.S. Marines outside Fallujah on Saturday, the deadliest attack against the U.S. military in nearly six months. Marines pounded guerrilla positions out the outskirts of Fallujah, where American forces are gearing up for a major assault on the insurgent stronghold.

Iraqis vow to use chemical weapons

AS the US reeled from the death of nine marines in Iraq at the weekend, insurgents in Fallujah claimed to have obtained chemical weapons and threatened to use them in any battle for control of the rebel stronghold. Rebel commanders said chemicals such as cyanide had been added to mortar rounds and missiles that would be deployed against coalition troops reported to be preparing for a major assault on the town west of Baghdad.

US forces take major losses across Iraq

Three US marines have been injured in an attack on their convoy in Ramadi, a day after eight others were killed in another assault west of Baghdad. The marines were wounded on Sunday after a homemade bomb exploded shortly before 7.30am (0430 GMT) as the convoy passed through the town 100km west of Baghdad.

Soldier Punished for Criticizing Vaccine

Despite medals, special operations missions and an unblemished service record spanning 14 years, Jason Adkins says commanders at Dover are making an example of him because he complained about his medical issues linked to the anthrax vaccine. Adkins believes he's being punished to send a warning to other personnel that they shouldn't call attention to the most controversial issue to hit the base since the Vietnam War.

100,000 Iraqi Civilians Killed By Allies

At least 100,000 Iraqis have been killed since their country was invaded by US-led forces last March. Scientific journal the Lancet published a study that revealed the real number of Iraqi dead was at least 100 times that of the invading coalition armed forces. And there was anger that George Bush and Tony Blair made no effort to keep count of the Iraqis killed and maimed by the Allied militaries.

Britain pledges to 'seriously' study report of 100,000 Iraqi deaths

LONDON -- British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the British government would study "in a very serious way" a report that around 100,000 civilians in Iraq had died as a result of the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. The research was published Friday in the respected British medical weekly The Lancet, and was based on interviews among Iraqi households and an extrapolation of the data, by experts from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in the US state of Maryland.

Video Shows Slaying of 11 Iraqi Guardsmen

BAGHDAD, -- Eleven kidnapped Iraqi National Guardsmen were shown being killed in a video posted Thursday on the Internet, extending a succession of recent slayings of Iraqi and foreign security forces by insurgents. Two U.S. soldiers were also killed Thursday, and a Polish woman was added to the ranks of foreigners taken hostage in Iraq.

Car bomb hits U.S. patrol, killing one soldier

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded Thursday in southern Baghdad, killing a U.S. soldier and at least one Iraqi civilian, the U.S. military said. The attack against a 1st Cavalry Division patrol happened about 7:30 a.m. local time in the Rashid district of the capital, the military said. The name of the soldier killed was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

USAID's New Boss Vows to Assist Peace Building Process

The newly sworn-in Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Liberia, Dr. Wilbur G. Thomas has vowed to spare no effort to assist in strengthening the peace-building process in the country. "I will spare no effort in doing our part in preparing Liberia for a free, fair and transparent election in October 2005. I also view USAID's current and future programs as one of the key elements toward moving Liberia to economic recovery. Economic development cannot occur unless there is a lasting peace in Liberia."

U.S. Give Russia $50,000 for Peacebuilding & Conflict Resolution

World Vision Russian Federation recently received a $US50,000 grant from USAID to implement a peace-building and conflict resolution project in response to mounting ethnically driven tension in the North Caucasus since the Beslan school hostage crisis.

U.S. Deploys Satellite Jamming System

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Air Force quietly has put into service a new weapon designed to jam enemy satellite communications, a significant step toward U.S. control of space. The so-called Counter Communications System was declared operational late last month at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, the Air Force Space Command said on Friday in e-mailed replies to questions from Reuters.

EU leaders trumpet historic new constitution

ROME -- EU leaders signed a historic constitution for the expanding bloc in a fanfare ceremony on the spot where the European Union's forerunner was born, although doubts remain over whether it will ever come into force. The Rome event was also clouded by a row over the EU's incoming executive Commission, which was withdrawn at the last minute this week, leaving the Union in the hands of a caretaker team in Brussels.

Woman sues Ireland in EU court over abortion

A woman who was "forced" to travel to Britain to obtain an abortion is suing the Irish government in the EU Court of Human Rights. The case could potentially result in Ireland’s constitutional ban on abortion being challenged by a panel of European judges.